99. 2 Peter

2 Peter. (Thru the Bible #55) J. Vernon McGee. 1979. 96 pages. [Source: Bought]

First sentence: Simon Peter is the author of this epistle (see 2 Pet. 1:1). However, the Petrine authorship of this epistle has been challenged more than the authorship of any other book in the New Testament.

I am reading the Bible in 2020 using the daily M'Cheyne (Robert Murray M'Cheyne) plan. I thought it would add a layer of substance to in addition to the four chapters a day, to also read commentaries for those chapters. For that I am using Matthew Henry's Commentary on the Whole Bible. But the plan goes through the New Testament (and Psalms, I believe) twice. So now that I've finished Henry's commentary for the New Testament, I am tackling the New Testament commentary section of J. Vernon McGee's series.

This is not my first time reading J. Vernon McGee. I've read probably thirty or so of his commentaries. Most recently James.

I really am LOVING McGee. This has been the best idea--to correspond my Bible reading with commentary reading. 

2 Peter is short--that is true enough--but it has a LOT to say to us. I think it is definitely relevant for believers today. 

Quotes:

• As I mentioned in the Introduction, this marvelous little epistle is the “swan song” of the apostle Peter; that is, it is his final word to believers before his death by crucifixion.
• We are not like criminals who have been pardoned and turned loose; we have been given a standing before God, and that standing is in Christ—accepted in the beloved!
• I can say dogmatically today that I not only believe the Bible is the Word of God, I know it is the Word of God. The Holy Spirit has confirmed it to me, and, friend, you cannot have a higher confirmation than when the Holy Spirit confirms the Word of God to your heart and life and makes it very real to you.
• Some folk accuse me of being too dogmatic. No, I’m not too dogmatic; I am just sure and positive, that’s all. If I didn’t believe the Bible to be the Word of God, I wouldn’t be teaching it.
• Like a growing tree, a Christian should be developing courage, then knowledge, then self-control, and then endurance.
• The Bible is not a pack of lies. The Bible is not a fairy story. The Bible is not a myth. The Bible is historical and factual. If you are sincere and want to give up your sins, God will make it real to you. If there is a veil over your eyes, it is not because you are mentally blind; it is because you do not want to give up your sins.
• It is sheer nonsense for a preacher to stand at a pulpit and preach a sermon showing that he does not believe that the Bible is the Word of God.
• We do not need to pay any attention to false prophets, but let me say this to you: You do need to check false teachers. You need to check all teachers, including the one whose book you are reading right now.
• A false teacher knows what he is doing, and he does it deliberately.
• This says that this earth has been stored up for fire. This is a very interesting expression, by the way, and it not only means stored up for fire but also stored up with fire (that could easily be the translation of it).
• The suggestion is that there are resident forces present in the world which could destroy it. It is not that God is going to rain fire down from heaven but that this earth carries its own judgment. How well we know this today! You and I are living on a powder keg-or, more literally, on an atom bomb.
• Do you know that you cannot keep God from loving you? You can reject His love, but you cannot keep Him from loving you. Neither can you keep it from raining, but you can raise an umbrella to keep the rain from falling on you. Also, you can raise the umbrella of indifference or the umbrella of sin or the umbrella of rebellion so that you won’t experience God’s love, but you cannot keep Him from loving you.

© Becky Laney of Operation Actually Read Bible