Friday, January 30, 2026

“Practical Purity” (2 Peter 3:14)

 

EVENING SPIRITUAL DIARY FOR 1/30/2026 9:52 PM

My Worship Time                                                                                   Focus:  “Practical Purity”

Bible Reading & Meditation                                                                  Reference:  2 Peter 3:14b

            Message of the verse:  “spotless and blameless”

            I am wrapping up my study in 2 Peter, and I have ordered a commentary on the gospel of Luke from Grace To You, which is the ministry that John MacArthur founded and the commentary was written by John MacArthur, and I think that there are four commentaries on the gospel of Luke that he wrote.  I do remember that this was the second to last Gospel that he preached through, with the gospel of Mark being the last.  This will be the last gospel that I am doing and I realize that it will take a very long time to go through it as it took MacArthur ten years to preach through it.  Now I will treat this SD the same as I have been treating the Spiritual Diaries that I have been doing this month and that is quote from MacArthur’s commentary, put in some of my thoughts, and also add most if not all of his Biblical references.

            “In sharp contrast to the false teachers, who were ‘stains and blemishes’ (2:13), Peter exhorted his readers to be spotless and blameless.  Spotless can denote Christian character, the kind of people believers really are; and blameless denotes Christian reputation, the kind of righteous and virtuous people others perceive them to be—because they are.

            “Obviously, within the church there are those whose lives are neither blameless nor spotless.  Such people, characterized by sinful lifestyles, may or may not be Christians (Matt. 13:20-22; Gal.  5:19-21; Eph. 5:5; 1 John 1:6, 8, 10; 2:9-11; 3:10-12; cf. John 8:34; Rom. 6:16).

(Matt. 13:20-22; Gal.  5:19-21; Eph. 5:5; 1 John 1:6, 8, 10; 2:9-11; 3:10-12; cf. John 8:34; Rom. 6:16).

“20  As for what was sown on rocky ground, this is the one who hears the word and immediately receives it with joy, 21  yet he has no root in himself, but endures for a while, and when tribulation or persecution arises on account of the word, immediately he falls away. 22  As for what was sown among thorns, this is the one who hears the word, but the cares of the world and the deceitfulness of riches choke the word, and it proves unfruitful.”

“19  Now the works of the flesh are evident: sexual immorality, impurity, sensuality, 20  idolatry, sorcery, enmity, strife, jealousy, fits of anger, rivalries, dissensions, divisions, 21  envy, drunkenness, orgies, and things like these. I warn you, as I warned you before, that those who do such things will not inherit the kingdom of God.”

“5  For you may be sure of this, that everyone who is sexually immoral or impure, or who is covetous (that is, an idolater), has no inheritance in the kingdom of Christ and God.”

“6  If we say we have fellowship with him while we walk in darkness, we lie and do not practice the truth.”

“8 ¶  If we say we have no sin, we deceive ourselves, and the truth is not in us.”

“10  If we say we have not sinned, we make him a liar, and his word is not in us.”

“10  By this it is evident who are the children of God, and who are the children of the devil: whoever does not practice righteousness is not of God, nor is the one who does not love his brother.  11 For this is the message that you have heard from the beginning, that we should love one another. 12  We should not be like Cain, who was of the evil one and murdered his brother. And why did he murder him? Because his own deeds were evil and his brother’s righteous.”

“34  Jesus answered them, "Truly, truly, I say to you, everyone who practices sin is a slave to sin.”

“16  Do you not know that if you present yourselves to anyone as obedient slaves, you are slaves of the one whom you obey, either of sin, which leads to death, or of obedience, which leads to righteousness?”

            “There are some who are neither, and others who publicly appear blameless, but whose private lives are actually far from spotless.  Like modern-day Pharisees, they work hard on looking good, but fail to truly cultivate a heart of righteousness (cf. Matt. 15:7-8; 23:25, 27).  Although outwardly them maintain an honorable reputation, they do so only by hypocritically hiding  their unrepented sin.”

(cf. Matt. 15:7-8; 23:25, 27)

“7  You hypocrites! Well did Isaiah prophesy of you, when he said: 8  "’This people honors me with their lips, their heart is far from me;”

“25  "Woe to you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites! For you clean the outside of the cup and the plate, but inside they are full of greed and self-indulgence.”

“27  "Woe to you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites! For you are like whitewashed tombs, which outwardly appear beautiful, but within are full of dead people’s bones and all uncleanness.”

            I really thought that I would get through this short section this evening, but as I look at the last two paragraphs from MacArthur’s commentary I see a great deal of verses that I will have to copy and paste.  I’ll try and finish this tomorrow evening.

1/30/2026 10:18 PM 

 

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