The 2nd Epistle of Peter was written by Simon Peter, an apostle of Christ, who also penned First Peter (see 2 Peter 3:1). The principal design of this letter was to “stir” Christian minds to a greater level of spirituality, and to fortify them against the danger of certain false teachers who threatened their faith.
A looming heresy involved a denial of Christ (2:1), and ridiculed the promise of his return (3:3-4). Certain teachers were consumed with fleshly lusts and despised divine authority. They were rebels—sneaky, reckless, and bold in their opposition to truth. They lived more on the “animal” level than as godly human beings (2:1, 10-12). These peddlers of error delighted in seducing and taking captive ignorant souls, all the while promising them freedom to live independently of the will of God (2:14, 18-19). They were church outlaws!
A key verse within this larger context is chapter 2, verse 1. “But there arose false prophets also among the people, as among you also there shall be false teachers, who shall secretly bring in destructive heresies, denying even the Master who bought them, bringing upon themselves swift destruction.” Let us carefully consider the sacred words of this brief and ominous prophecy.
The text begins with “But” (de, an adversative particle), intended to distinguish what follows from a previous affirmation. The apostle had just alluded to men who “spoke from God” and were “moved by the Holy Spirit” (1:20-21). He then described those of a different character, “false teachers,” who, would be reflections of certain “false prophets” who were “among” God’s people in the OT era (e.g., Balaam – v. 15).
“False teachers” derives from the compound Greek pseudo-didaskalos. Pseudo suggests the idea of deception; that which is not true, hence deceives. It is an assault against the “God of truth” (Psalm 31:5; Isaiah 65:16). A “false teacher” is disingenuous in character and in the composition of his message.
The apostle declares that these “false teachers” will arise “among you” (en humin), i.e., “in your midst.” Some suggest that the future tense is rhetorical, and that these teachers were among them already (Davids, 2006, 218).
The prophet Elijah was a mixture of emotions and convictions. At times he stands as a giant of faith and courage. On other occasions, he appears to wilt in the face of adversity. Perhaps that is why so many of us are drawn to him; we are cut from the same fabric. In this study, let us survey one of the grander occasions in the life of God’s great prophet, who was one of only two men never to experience death (2 Kings 2:11; cf. Genesis 5:24; Hebrews 11:5).
In approximately 935 B.C., the kingdom of Israel split. The northern segment of ten tribes continued to be known as “Israel.” The southern regime consisted of the tribes of Judah and Benjamin, together with a smattering from Levi and perhaps Simeon (cf. Genesis 49:7b).
In the 9th century B.C. (ca. 875-50 B.C.), during the reigns of Ahab and Ahazriah (a span of approximately 24 years), the northern kingdom was at the height of its economic and political prosperity; but it was on a spiraling spiritual departure from Jehovah, to be culminated by the brutal invasion of the Assyrians, and the deportation of Hebrews into Assyrian captivity. According to Assyrian records, some 27,290 captives were led away, in the most horrible fashion imaginable (Pritchard, 195).
Noble prophets of God, however, had warned the people repeatedly to repent of their sins (with a heavy focus on their idolatry), and return to the Lord. The messages fell on deaf ears for the most part. One of the courageous spokesmen to appear on the scene was Elijah, the prophet. Very little is known of Elijah directly. He was a Tishbite of the region of Gilead, the central region to the east of the Jordan River (sandwiched between Bashan and Moab).
From the prophet’s name certain inferences may reasonably be drawn. First, in a land saturated with the idol worship, e.g., Baal and Asherah, what dedication it must have taken on the part of those Hebrew parents to name a baby boy “Elijah” (“Yahweh is God”). The very name was a challenge to heathenism. Second, what courage it would have taken, on the part of the prophet himself, to retain the name, which would have been the equivalent of waving a red flag before a dust-pawing bull. This tells something of the intestinal fortitude of the prophet and his dedication to the true God.
In his classic work, Biblical Hermeneutics, Milton S. Terry, one-time Professor at the Garrett Biblical Institute, declared there is a “general harmony” which pervades the entire Scriptures. Consequently, “no single statement or obscure passage of one book can be allowed to set aside a doctrine which is clearly established by many passages” (1890, 449). This procedure is called “the analogy of faith.”
Another expression is labeled the Synthetic Method (cf. synthesis — “to bring together”). This is a study procedure whereby one assembles the relevant biblical information on the same theme, then draws reasonable conclusions of action, based upon a harmonization of the material. This is a form of “Inductive Logic,” which is reasoning from independent but related points, to a general conclusion.
While this mode of reasoning is used by everyone to some degree (though many would not know how to formally identify it), it is a tragedy that this common sense procedure is flung to the four winds when applied to biblical truth — specifically, the components of God’s plan of salvation for humanity.
Let us first consider a number of the terms that are used to depict the “no-longer-lost” state. Here are several: saved, forgiven, delivered, cleansed, blotted out, washed, redeemed, life, set free, etc.
We will now reflect upon a number of New Testament texts in which these various expressions are connected with conditions preliminary to the reception of the associated goal. Along the way, we must remind ourselves that we are seeking biblical harmony among these passages — not contradiction. The Bible, being the inspired word of God, is harmonious. No “interpretation” may be placed on one text that forces it to conflict with another on the same theme. Note the following.
The first chapter of Genesis is a literary phenomenon. Though written 3,500 years ago, it still is unblemished in its accuracy and sublimeness of presentation. Some years back, one of the world’s foremost archaeologists declared that “modern cosmogonies show such a disconcerting tendency to be short-lived that it may be doubted whether science has yet caught up with the Biblical story” (Albright, 1948, 135).
The narrative begins with a fiat declaration of the origin of the entire universe. “In the beginning God created the heavens and the earth.” The material universe was created ex nihilo (out of nothing) by the spoken word of God. The term bara’ is used only of God in the biblical record, and it lends itself to the sense of a “creation out of nothing” (Unger & White, 1980, 84). “For he spoke, and it was done; he commanded, and it stood fast” (Psalm 33:9). “By faith we understand that the worlds have been framed by the word of God, so that what is seen has not been made out of things which appear” (Hebrews 11:3). The sense is, “God summoned into existence what had no existence before” (Bruce, 1990, 279).
Earth is given special attention. Initially, it was without its current spherical form and was uninhabited. The Spirit of God moved upon the face of the deep (i.e., an organizing process was begun), and God (elohim – a term hinting of power) spoke light into existence out of darkness (though this “light” was not the sun; cf. v. 14ff). The expression “God said” is found 10 times in this chapter.
On the second day an “expanse” was created to separate the waters above from those below (vv. 6-8). The next day earth’s waters were gathered together in one place, and dry land appeared. Too, God spoke and vegetation sprang up to bless the earth, the various forms being designed “after their kind” (vv. 9-13). On day four heavenly luminaries were created to accommodate both daytime and nighttime (vv. 14-19). Day five saw the birth of various forms of marine life, then birds as well (vv. 20-23). Finally on day six, animals of various “kinds,” both wild and domestic, came forth to populate the planet (vv. 24-25). And “it was good” (v. 25b). At this point no death or destruction had marred the pristine environment.
The pinnacle of the initial week was the unique commencement of humankind. Moses wrote: “And God said, Let us make man in our image, and after our likeness … And God created man in his own image … male and female created he them” (vv. 26-27). There are three points we would like to develop from this text: (1) the significance of the plural pronouns; (2) the verbs used of the action; (3) the implication of the “image and likeness” phrase.
Plural pronouns are employed by God on several occasions in the OT (cf. 3:22; 11:7; Isa. 6:9). Various views are suggested to explain this phenomenon. First, some allege that God was speaking to angels. This theory has no biblical support. Nowhere is it indicated that God and angels share the same nature, or that humans are in the image of angels (cf. “his” image v. 27). Second, more commonly a number of modern scholars have advanced the theory that these plurals are the so-called “plurals of majesty,” a form allegedly used by ancient pagan kings. In response one may ask: Why would the Lord pattern his declaration after pagan rulers—especially since there weren’t any at the time! Further, there is no example of this alleged figure elsewhere in Hebrew scripture (Leupold, 1942, 1.86-87; Aalders, 1981, 1.70).
Jesus Christ declared there are three elements to appropriate Christian worship. It must be directed to deity (Father, Son, and Holy Spirit); worship must be rendered in “spirit” (sincerely), and it must be offered consistent with revealed “truth” (John 4:24; 17:17).
Paul declared worship must be “in the name of Christ”; the phrase signifies by his authority (Colossians 3:17; cf. Matthew 10:1; Mark 16:17), not a rote recitation of certain words. The apostle condemned “will-worship,” which is any form of worship explicitly “forbidden,” or “unbidden” (Thayer, 1968, 168). There are three components of proper music in corporate Christian worship:
The two major categories of “music” are mechanical and vocal. Which is authorized by the New Testament? Clearly only vocal music. All passages mentioned in the New Testament having to do with Christian worship authorize singing (Acts 16:25; Romans 15:9, 1 Corinthians 14:15, Ephesians 5:18-19; Colossians 3:16-17; Hebrews 2:12; James 5:13) — nothing more. Mechanical accompaniment was an innovation that came centuries later.
The renowned McClintock & Strong Cyclopedia notes that while the Jews used instruments in their worship, the early Christians did not. “The general introduction of instrumental music can certainly not be assigned to a date earlier than the 5th or 6th centuries” (1968, VI.759). Even leading Protestant scholars have opposed the use of instrumental music in Christian worship, e.g., Calvin (Presbyterian), Clarke (Methodist), and Spurgeon (Baptist). These men acknowledged that the early church did not employ instruments and that such were human additions unauthorized by the Lord. The Wycliffe Bible Dictionary states: “There is no record in the [New Testament] of the use of instruments in the musical worship of the Christian church” (Pfeiffer, et al. 2003, 1163).
© 1997-2010 by Christian Courier Publications. All rights reserved. ISSN: 1559-2235. Website version: 3.0a
The Christian Courier is a journal dedicated to the study of religious doctrine, Christian evidences, and biblical ethics. It is associated with the churches of Christ.