Marsha's Musings: Twisting Hard to Understand Things in the Bible. (II Peter 3:13-16 NKJV)

                           

Nevertheless we, according to His promise, look for new heavens and a new earth in which righteousness dwells. Therefore, beloved, looking forward to these things, be diligent to be found by Him in peace, without spot and blameless; and consider that the longsuffering of our Lord is salvation—as also our beloved brother Paul, according to the wisdom given to him, has written to you, as also in all his epistles, speaking in them of these things, in which are some things hard to understand, which untaught and unstable people twist to their own destruction, as they do also the rest of the Scriptures. (II Peter 3:13-16 NKJV)

If we are looking forward to a new heavens and a new earth where righteousness dwells, shouldn't we be diligent to be found by God in peace, without spot or wrinkle?  In other words we should be living righteous and holy lives in preparation for our new dwelling place. Somehow this escapes many who claim the name of Christ.

Peter mentions Paul's epistles and the fact that some things he wrote are hard to understand and that many twist those hard to understand things up to their own destruction.  I can't help but wonder if he might have had Romans 9 among others in mind. I would have imagined that even Paul might have had some hesitation over Romans 9, but he was writing under the direction of the Holy Spirit and who was he to argue with God?  

Peter says that people who twist the hard to understand writings of Paul do the same to the rest of the Scriptures. This is very true.  If you change one thing to make the Bible more palatable then it creates a domino effect and you have to twist or leave out other parts of Scripture in order to keep your straw man together. Actually, it's a molding and shaping of a god of man's imagination when people do this.

  I, as we all should, need to be very careful of how we treat God's Word. Am I making it mean something it does not because the God it protrays isn't in line with how I would think God should be?This is dangerous ground to be on. If I shape a false image of God in my mind, then necessarily, I have also shaped a false Christ that can not save.

Let's be very careful!