Sound Doctrine

     Peter describes our journey with Christ in 2 Peter 1. He opens with this assurance: “Grace and peace be multiplied to you in the knowledge of God and of Jesus our Lord, as His divine power has given to us all things that pertain to life and godliness, through the knowledge of Him who called us by glory and virtue by which have been given to us exceedingly great and precious promises, that through these you may be partakers of the divine nature, having escaped the corruption that is in the world through lust.” (vs. 2-4).
     “But also for this very reason, giving all diligence, add to your faith…” (v. 5). Giving all diligence. We have to be deliberate and intentional about growing in the faith through the Word of God, not only for our sake but also for those around us who are blinded by the devil’s deceptions.
      Timothy adds, “I charge you therefore before God and the Lord Jesus Christ, who will judge the living and the dead at His appearing and His kingdom: Preach the word! Be ready in season and out of season. Convince, rebuke, exhort, with all longsuffering and teaching. For the time will come when they will not endure sound doctrine, but according to their own desires, because they have itching ears, they will heap up for themselves teachers; and they will turn their ears away from the truth, and be turned aside to fables” (2 Tim. 4:1-4).
       Paul puts it this way: “Now then, we are ambassadors for Christ, as though God were pleading through us: we implore you on Christ’s behalf, be reconciled to God. For He made Him who knew no sin to be sin for us, that we might become the righteousness of God in Him” (2 Cor. 5:20-21). Why is this so important? Paul gives the answer. “Behold, now is the accepted time; behold, now is the Day of salvation” (2 Cor. 6:2).
       The Chronos Lesson: What is the accepted time? It is the New Covenant of grace by which we are accepted by the Father as righteous and forgiven through Jesus’ shed blood on our behalf. He is our Redeemer and we are the redeemed. Paul warns us not to take this grace in vain. That means not to render it useless or ineffectual by reverting back to works for the basis of our relationship with the Father.
        None of us can do enough good works to be justified before God. Galatians 5:6 says faith works through love. This is why we need to get the full revelation of how much God loves us. “For this reason I bow my knees to the Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, from whom the whole family in heaven and earth is named, that He would grant you, according to the riches of His glory, to be strengthened with might through His Spirit in the inner man, that Christ may dwell in your hearts through faith; that you, being rooted and grounded in love, may be able to comprehend with all the saints what is the width and length and depth and height—to know the love of Christ which passes knowledge; that you may be filled with all the fullness of God” (Eph. 3:14-19).
       Once we truly know how much God loves us and who we are in Christ, our lives will change as we learn to walk by the leading of the Holy Spirit. We will become His workmanship, reaching out to others as the Spirit leads, sharing our faith and the Gospel, and confirming the Word with signs and wonders following as Jesus instructed. This must be our main concern in the days ahead, for the time is very short.