Be Steadfast in Your Walk with God

by Beebe Kauffman

One of the first toys that we give our children, especially the boys, is building blocks.  We teach them to put the red ones together with the yellow or blue ones to build a tower or to spell a word.

God gives His children building blocks of knowledge (of how spiritual things work and of God’s will) and grace (wanting to do God’s will and supplied with what is needed to do it). He helps us to put these blocks together to build satisfying and meaningful lives.

But false teachers come and try to add building blocks that have no power, that don’t add any richness to life. Their bits of “knowledge” tear down what God is working to build up.

So the book of 2 Peter gives us a heads up. The key to making the most of the Christian life is heeding the knowledge that God has given us, especially the knowledge of His Son. The heads up also includes a warning against false teachers. If we buy into the knowledge that they peddle, we buy into the bondage of corruption.

One of the common arguments that false teachers use, is about judgment. “If God has delayed judging sin this long, it’s probably not going to happen. So why not enjoy yourself?” Second Peter refutes that argument by citing an impressive example from history, by giving the real reason why judgment has been delayed, and by setting the record straight on how God wants believers to live now.

The book of 2 Peter shows us that we who are and how we live are determined by the knowledge that we receive and practice, so let’s be diligent to grow in the grace and knowledge of Jesus Christ.

Be Steadfast

Read 2 Peter Chapter 3 and then the application below.

Ch. 3  Beloved, be steadfast in holy conduct and Godliness, and don’t be led away with the error of the wicked.

v.1-7  Don’t heed scoffers who question whether sin will be judged; the world has already been judged by the flood, and one day, it will be judged with fire.

v.8-9  The Lord delays His judgment of sin and the world, because He is not willing that any should perish, but that all should come to repentance.

v.10  The day of judgment will come as a thief in the night, and the earth and its works will be burned up.

v.11-13  Therefore let us not live according to worldly ways that are temporary, but according to the forever righteousness that will replace them.

*This adapted excerpt comes from Beebe Kauffman, A Whole Lot of Wonderful—Application of the New Testament for Today (Buford, Georgia: Lighthouse Bible Studies, 2018), 648-649 and 656.