We build on that sure foundation by hearing and obeying the words of Jesus (Matt. This foundation is absolutely secure; it cannot be moved, and on either side of it there is a seal or inscription. God does not change His mind on His purpose for our life, or for a church. Key verse: 2 Timothy 2:19, In both of Paul’s letters to Timothy there are strong warnings against the dangers of the apostasy which was appearing in the Church, and which would increase, especially in the last days - look up and compare 1 Timothy 1:3-4; 4:1; and 2 Timothy 4:3-4. Roman Catholics contend that the Protestant “right of private interpretation of Scripture” has resulted in thousands of denominations, while their view has preserved the unity of the church. Good News Translation Your kingdom is founded on righteousness and justice; love and faithfulness are shown in all you do. How big is that number? Prayer. As you know, He was crucified between two criminals, but buried in the tomb of a rich man. Paul, as an apostle, "laid the foundation," namely, Jesus Christ. We are to depart from every thought, word and deed which is contrary to the moral law of God, and in particular we are to depart from worldliness, impurity and pride. Jesus came to save us from our sins (Matthew 1:21). Verse 14 tells us that “the wall of the city had twelve foundations, and on them were the twelve names of the twelve apostles of the Lamb.” 40:3-5). ), “the Word of God is a more reliable verification of the teachings about the person, atonement, and second coming of Christ than even the genuine first hand experiences of the apostles themselves.”, While I greatly respect John MacArthur, I have to agree here with Thomas Schreiner, who argues (p. 320), “this would subvert the argument in vv. If you look back at Ephesians 2: 7 in our last devotion, we see that Paul gave a quick glimpse of Ephesians 2: 8-9: “that in the coming ages he might show the immeasurable riches of his grace in kindness toward us in Christ Jesus” (RSV). Let’s go back to Zechariah 7: 9 from the first devotion in the series. Even some who claim to be evangelical Christians say that we cannot know the exact meaning of Scripture. Q. From 1977-1992 he was the pastor of Lake Gregory Community Church in Crestline, California. The NIV gives an interpretive translation, “no prophecy of Scripture came about by the prophet’s own interpretation.” In favor of this view is that the word “is” (NASB) means, “comes” or “came about.” Also, verse 21 seems to support this view by further explaining how the prophets got their message. He states (Study Bible, ibid. A Lasting Legacy: Choosing A Wife For Isaac (Gen. 24:1-67). The Doctrine of the Trinity asserts that God is one in being or essence who exists eternally in three distinct coequal persons. It is an alarming situation and it threatens to bring discouragement to God’s people. For me, 100 feels more like 25.” Sorry, but 25 mph is not a subjective feeling; it is an objective standard by which anyone may be judged. “All Scripture is God-breathed and is useful for teaching, rebuking, correcting and training in righteousness” (Tim. But Paul did not speak of himself as part of the foundation. It is called a foundation in order to express better its immobility - now compare Psalm 11:3-4; Matthew 7:24-25; Matthew 16:13-19 and Ephesians 2:19-22. So he probably means that now, in the darkness, the prophetic word shines to illumine our path. He wrote, “inspiration was an influence of the Holy Spirit on the minds of certain select men, which rendered them the organs of God for the infallible communication of his mind and will. Words mean something and languages put words together in structured ways. Jesus Christ is our chief cornerstone, the sure foundation, the Word made flesh. In this verse there are three words to which we should give careful heed:-, What is it? In the context of the Lord’s coming (v. 16), the “prophetic word” refers to the Old Testament prophecies relating to “the day of the Lord,” the day of judgment and salvation (Thomas Schreiner, The New American Commentary, 1, 2 Peter, Jude [Broadman], p.319). He goes on to show that if you take 16 prophecies, the odds increase to 1 in 1045, an unimaginably huge number. What should you say? 35:5-6), and His triumphal entry into Jerusalem on the foal of a donkey (Zech. But it will be a time of terror and awful regret for those who have rejected Christ. To claim that your view is the only right view is divisive. They will cover the entire state two feet deep. We apostlesa… 4. Ironically, these verses challenge us with some difficult interpretive issues, so I will try to explain the text as we work through it, so that we can apply it correctly. When they set it off, the building implodes. This very fact is affirmed by Jesus Himself. Read the Passage. What does the Bible say to the church, and to the individual Christian, about the role of politics in the church? But vv. Are they right? For example, John MacArthur (The MacArthur Study Bible, New American Standard Bible Updated edition [Nelson Bibles], p. 1924; also, see, The MacArthur New Testament Commentary, 2 Peter & Jude [Moody Publishers], pp. This is the force of the word ’nevertheless’ in verse 19. We pay attention to the foundation of a house for a reason. Mercy and truth stand in front of you. The Bible says that the world is like that. "The firm foundation laid by God" is the Church of Christ, which is here termed a foundation laid by God, because it, the Church of Christ, is the ground-storey of the glorious Temple of the future. When Scripture refers to something that has been true “ from the foundation of the world,” it means “for all of human history.”. The apostolic witness to Jesus Christ, which we now have in the New Testament, is one leg of the foundation of our faith. The One of whom the prophecies spoke will be with us personally, shining fully into our hearts. 3:16; see also, 2 Tim. Before we leave this point, consider for a moment just some of the prophetic Scriptures with regard to Jesus Christ. It would be utterly tragic to spend your life on a path that you thought led to heaven, only to find out too late that you were wrong! He thinks that Peter is saying that Scripture ranks even above his experience of seeing the transfigured Christ. And, since even Christians interpret the Bible in so many different ways, how can we know that our interpretation is correct? 5:10; Rom. Every God-ordained church starts off on a Prophetic Foundation. But what about those who fall away? But Peter clearly believed in the objective, bodily, personal return of Christ. Psalm 22, written hundreds of years before crucifixion was known as a means of execution, describes His death on the cross. When you get beyond the entrance, it’s pitch black in there and there are a lot of places where the footing is uneven and there are low overhead rocks. The words of the apostles and prophets are His revelation and they are all still true. Then Jesus explained how it was necessary for Him “to suffer these things and to enter into His glory” (Luke 24:27; see, also vv. As Peter Davids writes (The Letters of 2 Peter and Jude [Eerdmans], p. 210), “One treasures a love letter while the beloved is absent, but once he or she is present, the letter is laid aside and exchanged for the personal contact.”. The day dawning (v. 19) refers to the second coming of Jesus Christ. The “foundation of the world” is a reference to God’s act of creation. When a … Hebrews 11:1 In the phrase "faith is the substance of things hoped for," Paul is not really defining what faith is, but rather he is showing what faith does in an operative sense: Faith undergirds what we hope for.Substance means "that which stands under." 42:1-4; 61:1-2), His miracles (Isa. Walk by the light that it gives you to avoid the pitfalls in this dark world. Since we have the solid foundation of God’s inspired Word, we must pay careful attention to it and interpret it correctly. 3:7; 10:15.) © 2021 Words of Life Ministries - an independent evangelical Registered Charitable Trust (no.269381) Cookie Policy | Privacy Policy Website by: TEKOA Creative, Study 10 A GREAT CHRISTIAN’S DYING TESTIMONY, Study 11 BODILY SICKNESS AND DIVINE HEALING, Study 4 A CALL FOR CONSTANCY AND PERSEVERANCE, Study 6 GOD’S SOLID FOUNDATION STANDS FIRM. The foundation of our world dates from this event in the garden when Adam and Eve rejected God and chose to go their own way. 1:25). The foundation of God is secure. His very first temptation challenged Eve (Gen. 3:1), “Indeed, has God said …?” He has attempted to bring down our faith through liberal theologians, who undermine its veracity. But, what does Peter mean when he says “more sure”? You can’t put a big house on a small or faulty foundation. PAUL’S SECOND LETTER TO TIMOTHY by Francis Dixon Scripture Portion: Psalm 87:1-7. This foundation series is designed to form a Biblically based image of what God looks like to you and what you look like to God in truth. It is called a foundation in order to express better its immobility - now compare Psalm 11:3-4; Matthew 7:24 … This also refers to the coming of Christ, who calls Himself “the bright morning star” (Rev. As He transforms our life through His Spirit, our actions and … First, we must always interpret a text in light of its context. That solid foundation is the revealed Word of God. 3:16-17). Engineers put dynamite at strategic places in the foundation. The comfort is found in the inscription, ”The Lord knows those who are his!” Notice that it does not only say that the Lord knows about all who belong to Him, but that He actually knows them and He has a tender regard for them because they are His. Third, interpret the Bible based on grammatical, linguistic, and historical considerations. 23:16-22; Ezek. His answer is, 1 in 1017. His chances of picking the marked silver dollar are the same chance that the prophets would have had of writing just these eight prophecies (apart from divine inspiration) and having them all come true in one man. You can’t become what God wants you to be on a faulty foundation. Peter continues, “for no prophecy was ever made by an act of human will, but men moved by the Holy Spirit spoke from God.” The idea is, you are not free to interpret the Bible according to your feelings or to take or leave parts of it as you like, because (“for”) the Bible is the very word from God to us through these inspired men. He graduated from Dallas Theological Seminary (Th.M., 1976 in Bible exposition) and Califo... More. ~ The Urantia Book, 111:5.1 (1221.2) Every mortal who is consciously or unconsciously following the leading of his indwelling Adjuster is living in accordance with the will of God. (Matthew 7) We find scriptural references to the triune nature of God both in the Old and the New Testaments. If we are really the Lord’s people we shall turn away from wickedness; if we are not doing this - or ’standing aloof from it’, as the word really means - there is no evidence that we really are the Lord’s people. Before we leave verse 19, let’s apply it by asking, “Are you paying attention to the lamp that is shining in the darkness?” Do you read the Word regularly to gain the light that you need to live in a manner pleasing to the Lord? In this verse Paul brings us the picture of the foundation of a building. Jesus told Peter it was not of his (Peter's) own that he had had such a revelation. GOD'S WORD® Translation Righteousness and justice are the foundations of your throne. They predicted His sufferings and the glory that would follow. The tense of the Greek verb here suggests that the foundation has stood and yet stands; and, in that it was laid by God, the firm and enduring constancy of it is not to be questioned. Evolution, which (against all reason) is accepted as fact in our public educational system, does away with the need to submit to the Almighty Creator. It is the whole number of God’s elect - the true Church of Jesus Christ - joined to Him in a vital union effected by the Holy Spirit. We live with the tragic results in the unending wars, crime, suffering and death we see all around us in this world. When Paul wrote this letter there were plenty of false teachers in the professing Church, and today the same condition still exists. Years ago, a math professor named Peter Stoner wrote a little book, Science Speaks [Moody Press, 1963]. Turn to God. It gives us a solid foundation on which to build our lives and to stake our eternity. 2:28; Num. In Revelation 21, we read of the magnificent vision of the New Jerusalem, the heavenly city that comes down from above. 2. Some follow the King James Version, which translates, “We have also a more sure word of prophecy ….” The idea is that the written word is more sure than the disciples’ experience on the mount of transfiguration was. 16-18 demonstrate that Peter believed that the transfiguration was decisive proof for his view, not questionable in the least.”. These three sins are mentioned in this chapter:-. It is the word of the Sovereign of the universe, to whom we will give account. Even in all of this, he was able to find and hold onto the ‘joyful expectation’ that defines hope in God – not the joy of the world, but rather a deep, abiding spiritual joy that is anchored in a faith that cannot be shaken, a faith that is built on the sure foundation of all the promises of God. They would say that if you claim to know what the Bible says, you are dogmatic and arrogant. The same is true for our lives. They were in such a sense the organs of God, that what they said God said.”. 7:14), of the tribe of Judah (Gen. 49:10), of the lineage of David (2 Sam. Yet, in spite of the attacks, the Word of God endures forever (1 Pet. To interpret it according to your subjective feelings would be to twist the Scriptures, something that the false teachers were doing (2 Pet. Let us rest on the word of confidence, rejoice in the word of comfort and respond to the word of caution. There are many hazards where you can conk your head or fall into a pit. The foundation, Paul tells us, consists of the prophets and the Apostles (Eph. We must seek to determine what the text meant to the original author and readers in their historical setting before we ask how it applies to us in our culture. Charles Hodge gives one of the best explanations (Systematic Theology [Eerdmans], 1:154). The practical result of this has been that many Roman Catholics have never read or studied the Bible on their own. The gospel plan of salvation is still valid. 16:16-18). But, what does Peter mean when he says, “the morning star arises in your hearts”? The Bible teaches the absolute security of God’s people, of those whom He has made His own by election, by His holy calling, by the miracle of the new birth, by the blood-washing of the Lord Jesus and by the operation of the Holy Spirit by whom they have been built into the building of God, the body of Christ. Other prophecies speak of His ministry (Isa. All we believe, all we trust, all we do is to glorify Christ, who in turn glorifies God. Perhaps there is some of both, that the false teachers were accusing the apostles of following cleverly devised tales, but Peter is turning it back on them, saying, “It is not we who are following cleverly devised tales (as they assert), but rather they are following cleverly devised tales. 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