Monday, February 2, 2026

PT-1 “Doctrinal Perceptiveness” (2 Peter 3:15b-17)

 

EVENING SPIRITUAL DIARY FOR 2/2/2026 7:22 PM

My Worship Time                                                           Focus:  PT-1 “Doctrinal Perceptiveness”

Bible Reading & Meditation                                                           Reference:  2 Peter 3:15b-17

            Message of the verses: “just as also our beloved brother Paul, according to the wisdom given him, wrote to you, as also in all his letters, speaking in them of these things, in which are some things hard to understand, which the untaught and unstable distort, as they do also the rest of the Scriptures, to their own destruction.  You therefore, beloved, knowing this beforehand, be on your guard so that you are not carried away by the error of unprincipled men and fall from your own steadfastness,”  (NASB).

            “just as our beloved brother Paul also wrote to you according to the wisdom given him, 16  as he does in all his letters when he speaks in them of these matters. There are some things in them that are hard to understand, which the ignorant and unstable twist to their own destruction, as they do the other Scriptures. 17  You therefore, beloved, knowing this beforehand, take care that you are not carried away with the error of lawless people and lose your own stability.” (ESV)

            Now because I have not yet installed the NASB onto my Online Bible Program I am suing the ESV.  Not sure when I will get that done.

            Now it looks like by the end of this week or before I will begin looking at the book of Luke, and I am not sure yet whether or not I will make that my Morning SD or Evening SD, as I may wait until I get done with Nahum and do that in the morning, also on my other blog where I am finishing up with the book of Psalms, I think that I will go over First and Second Thessalonians there, as those two books have much to say about the end times and prophecy in general as the second coming of Christ is mentioned in each of the chapters in both letters.

            I will now begin by quoting from John MacArthur’s commentary on the verses above: “With the phrase just as also, Peter referenced similar warnings that the apostle Paul had give about false teaching.

            “Peter graciously spoke of his fellow apostle as our beloved brother Paul, underscoring their common life and mission.  As the two foremost leaders of the early church, Peter and Paul were certainly well aware of each other’s ministry.  In fact, both had been present at the pivotal Jerusalem Council (Acts 15:6-21), and both had ministered with Silas (cf. Acts 15:40 with 1 Peter 5:12).”

(Acts 15:6-21)

“6 ¶  The apostles and the elders were gathered together to consider this matter. 7  And after there had been much debate, Peter stood up and said to them, "Brothers, you know that in the early days God made a choice among you, that by my mouth the Gentiles should hear the word of the gospel and believe. 8  And God, who knows the heart, bore witness to them, by giving them the Holy Spirit just as he did to us, 9  and he made no distinction between us and them, having cleansed their hearts by faith. 10  Now, therefore, why are you putting God to the test by placing a yoke on the neck of the disciples that neither our fathers nor we have been able to bear? 11  But we believe that we will be saved through the grace of the Lord Jesus, just as they will." 12  And all the assembly fell silent, and they listened to Barnabas and Paul as they related what signs and wonders God had done through them among the Gentiles. 13  After they finished speaking, James replied, "Brothers, listen to me. 14  Simeon has related how God first visited the Gentiles, to take from them a people for his name. 15  And with this the words of the prophets agree, just as it is written, 16  "’After this I will return, and I will rebuild the tent of David that has fallen; I will rebuild its ruins, and I will restore it, 17  that the remnant of mankind may seek the Lord, and all the Gentiles who are called by my name, says the Lord, who makes these things 18  known from of old.’ 19  Therefore my judgment is that we should not trouble those of the Gentiles who turn to God, 20  but should write to them to abstain from the things polluted by idols, and from sexual immorality, and from what has been strangled, and from blood. 21  For from ancient generations Moses has had in every city those who proclaim him, for he is read every Sabbath in the synagogues.’”

(cf. Acts 15:40 with 1 Peter 5:12)

“40 but Paul chose Silas and departed, having been commended by the brothers to the grace of the Lord.”

12  By Silvanus, a faithful brother as I regard him, I have written briefly to you, exhorting and declaring that this is the true grace of God. Stand firm in it.”

“More than twenty years earlier, Peter had even been confronted by Paul when he wrongly refused to eat with Gentile Christians (Gal.2:11-21; cf. vv. 8-9; 1 Cor. 1:12: 3:22).”

(Gal.2:11-21; cf. vv. 8-9; 1 Cor. 1:12: 3:22)

“11 ¶  But when Cephas came to Antioch, I opposed him to his face, because he stood condemned. 12  For before certain men came from James, he was eating with the Gentiles; but when they came he drew back and separated himself, fearing the circumcision party. 13  And the rest of the Jews acted hypocritically along with him, so that even Barnabas was led astray by their hypocrisy. 14  But when I saw that their conduct was not in step with the truth of the gospel, I said to Cephas before them all, “If you, though a Jew, live like a Gentile and not like a Jew, how can you force the Gentiles to live like Jews?” 15  We ourselves are Jews by birth and not Gentile sinners; 16  yet we know that a person is not justified by works of the law but through faith in Jesus Christ, so we also have believed in Christ Jesus, in order to be justified by faith in Christ and not by works of the law, because by works of the law no one will be justified. 17  But if, in our endeavor to be justified in Christ, we too were found to be sinners, is Christ then a servant of sin? Certainly not! 18  For if I rebuild what I tore down, I prove myself to be a transgressor. 19  For through the law I died to the law, so that I might live to God. 20  I have been crucified with Christ. It is no longer I who live, but Christ who lives in me. And the life I now live in the flesh I live by faith in the Son of God, who loved me and gave himself for me. 21  I do not nullify the grace of God, for if righteousness were through the law, then Christ died for no purpose.”

“8  (for he who worked through Peter for his apostolic ministry to the circumcised worked also through me for mine to the Gentiles), 9  and when James, and Cephas and John, who seemed to be pillars, perceived the grace that was given to me, they gave the right hand of fellowship to Barnabas and me, that we should go to the Gentiles and they to the circumcised.”

“12  What I mean is that each one of you says, “I follow Paul,” or “I follow Apollos,” or “I follow Cephas,” or “I follow Christ.’”

“22  whether Paul or Apollos or Cephas or the world or life or death or the present or the future—all are yours,”

“As a primary spokesman for the early church, Peter was undoubtedly embarrassed by Paul’s public admonition.  Nevertheless, he graciously accepted the rebuke and responded with repentance.  His request for Paul was undiminished.”

2/2/2026 7:51 PM

 

 

 

 

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