Category: Blog

2 Pet 1:3-11

³ His divine power has granted to us all things that pertain to life and godliness, through the knowledge of him who called us to his own glory and excellence, ⁴ by which he has granted to us his precious and very great promises, so that through them you may become partakers of the divine nature, having escaped from the corruption that is in the world because of sinful desire. ⁵ For this very reason, make every effort to supplement your faith with virtue, and virtue with knowledge, ⁶ and knowledge with self-control, and self-control with steadfastness, and steadfastness with godliness, ⁷ and godliness with brotherly affection, and brotherly affection with love. ⁸ For if these qualities are yours and are increasing, they keep you from being ineffective or unfruitful in the knowledge of our Lord Jesus Christ. ⁹ For whoever lacks these qualities is so nearsighted that he is blind, having forgotten that he was cleansed from his former sins. ¹⁰ Therefore, brothers, be all the more diligent to confirm your calling and election, for if you practice these qualities you will never fall. ¹¹ For in this way there will be richly provided for you an entrance into the eternal kingdom of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ.

His divine power has granted to us all things that pertain to life and godliness. (2 Pet 1:3).   Firstly,  the gospel is the power of God granted for eternal life in Christ Jesus (Rom 1:16) and secondly,  His precious promises are the power of God granted for growing godliness in Christ Jesus. (2 Pet 1:4).   Chief among the precious promises are the ministry of the Holy Spirit and the correction and instruction of the Word of God.

God will not make us holy against our will and without our involvement though He has given us all things necessary for us to become more and more like Christ.  We must want it and we must make every effort through discipline in supplementing our faith in Christ with the following graces of holiness :

1. Virtue. Moral excellence which is also spiritual courage to stand for what is right.
2. Knowledge. Knowledge of spiritual truth which can only come through studying and obeying the Word of God.
3. Self control. We must have discipline in feeding on the Word of God, prayer, curbing our appetites and giving sacrificially.
4. Steadfastness. Patient endurance in the face of persecution and adversity as the world will hate us on the account of our Lord and the gospel.
5. Godliness. Our godly conduct will show others that we are truly children of God.
6. Brotherly affection. When we love one another,  others will know we are the disciples of Christ.
7. Love. Love for the brothers will lead to love for all man.

We must be diligent in practicing these qualities otherwise we will regress.  There is no standstill.  Either we advance or retreat in our path of discipleship in knowing our Lord more and more and be like Him. 2 Pet 1:8.  Retreat will lead to shortsightedness, blindness and forgetfulness.  2 Pet 1:9.

And if we practice these qualities diligently, we will never fall.   2 Pet 1:10.

In contending against false teaching over the years,  I have tried my best to show the whole counsel of the Word of God concerning the true gospel and Christology.  Yet the defenders of the false gospel such as hyper grace gospel usually resorted to the following argument tricks.

I am contending for the gospel and Christology truth because it concerns eternal life and death and I will be most uncharitable not to try to bring back those who have wandered from the truth and will face the second death.  I am always wondering even if the defenders of the false gospel and false Christology are to wear me down with the following argument tricks, what profit is there for them ?

(The definition of the terms are gleaned from various internet sources such as Wikipedia.)

1.  Red Herring.  It is a kind of fallacy that is an irrelevant topic introduced in the argument to divert the attention of readers from the original issue.

2. Argumentum Ad Hominem. It is a logical fallacy in which an argument is rebutted by attacking the character, motive or other attribute of the person making the argument, or persons associated with the argument, rather than attacking the substance of the argument itself.

3. The Straw Man Argument. It deliberately misrepresents and weakens the argument of the opposing side by leaving out key points of an opposing argument, quoting a person’s words out of context, or presenting a particular person’s poor defense as the entire defense of an opposing side.

4. Weak Analogy Argument. It is used to prove or disprove an argument, but the analogy is too dissimilar to be effective, that is, unlike the argument more than it is like the argument.

Mark 9:38-40
John said to him, “Teacher, we saw someone casting out demons in your name, and we tried to stop him, because he was not following us.” But Jesus said, “Do not stop him, for no one who does a mighty work in my name will be able soon afterward to speak evil of me.  For the one who is not against us is for us.

Prior to these verses, we saw the immaturity of the disciples in failing to cast out demons and arguing who was the greatest.  And now they possessed a sectarian spirit.

Today, there are some evangelicals who will go around discrediting all charismatics as though they belong to the devil. Some charismatics are merely doing great works in the mighty name of our Lord in casting out demons or prophesying for the good of Christendom. Yet they are discredited like as though they are preaching a false gospel or living in sin.

(Side note :  I say some charismatics and not all because I am also disgusted with pagan-like signs and wonders which may be demonic in nature. Such abuse should not be the reason to discredit all charismatics and all spiritual gifts.)

It seemed to me in the above Scriptural passage that the only qualm was those casting out demons were not a team with the apostles. That was all. Jesus our Lord had clearly said that these people who did mighty works in His name were not damaging His name and would surely not speak ill of Him.

(Side note :  Though I agree that the signs and wonders performed by the apostles were to substantiate their apostleship,  we saw from this Scriptural passage that others, not traveling with Jesus our Lord and the apostles, could also perform mighty works in His name which our Lord did not deny.)

On the contrary, I am wondering today if those, who harbor such critical sectarian spirit, are being influenced by the enemy instead to deprive God of the glory for such works. Matt 5:16.

We must have a good balanced stance. Like for the gift of prophecy, do not despise straightaway. Test all of them and hold fast what is good as exhorted by Scripture. 1 Thess 5:20-21.

Rom 4: 2-5
For if Abraham was justified by works, he has something to boast about, but not before God. For what does the Scripture say? “Abraham believed God, and it was counted to him as righteousness.” Now to the one who works, his wages are not counted as a gift but as his due. And to the one who does not work but believes in him who justifies the ungodly, his faith is counted as righteousness.

James 2: 21-23
Was not Abraham our father justified by works when he offered up his son Isaac on the altar? You see that faith was active along with his works, and faith was completed by his works; and the Scripture was fulfilled that says, “Abraham believed God, and it was counted to him as righteousness”—and he was called a friend of God.

On the cursory reading of these 2 passages, they seem to contradict each other. But if we delve further into the wider context of these 2 passages, we will soon realize that the Works mentioned are different. I will call the Works in Romans as Law-works while that in James as Faith-works.

In Romans, Paul was addressing the Jews who might still be trying to earn their salvation by law-works in keeping the Halakha, the Jewish Law, which includes 613 prohibitions so devised as to comply with the Mosaic Law, the Ten Commandments. But we read in Phil 3:4-6 that Paul could be blameless in keeping this Jewish Law like many Pharisees at that time and yet he persecuted the church. The Pharisees could keep the Jewish Law meticulously yet their hearts were not repentant – they were lovers of money, mean-spirited and self righteous. They could go through the physical circumcision meticulously but their hearts were not circumcised.

In James, James was not talking about keeping this Jewish Law but about Action or Faith-works which will prove that Faith is legitimate. He quoted 2 examples of legitimate faith in Abraham and Rahab. One was about to perform child sacrifice and the other committed treason – not good works exactly. But their action proved that they believed God and it was counted to them as righteousness.