Tag: unstable

2 Peter 3:16 – Only God’s Truth

Posted on by Will

as also in all his letters, speaking in them concerning these things, in which some things are hard to understand, which ignorant and unstable people distort, as also they do the other Scriptures, to their own destruction.

Truth to Learn

The hard truths of the Bible are often distorted and mistaught by those claiming to be teachers of truth.

 

Behind the Words

The word “ignorant” is translated from amathēs, which is made up of the privative a, meaning “not” or “without” and a form of manthanō, meaning “to learn.” Hence, it means “unlearned, uneducated, or ignorant.”

“Unstable” is from astēriktos, made up of the privative a, meaning “not” or “without” and a form of stēridzō, meaning “to confirm” or “to establish.” Hence, this word refers to those who are “unsettled, unsteady, or unstable.”

 

Meaning Explained

Today’s verse is another one that, on the surface, seems confusing and hard to understand, so let’s look at it one phrase at a time.

“as also in all his letters” As we saw in the previous verse, Peter is talking about the Apostle Paul. At the time of the writing of 2 Peter, many of Paul’s epistles had been written. Peter, no doubt, had read them and had been himself instructed by them.

“speaking in them concerning these things” In Paul’s letters the subjects of the return of Christ, the judgment of the wicked, and the coming of a new heaven and a new earth are all spoken of.

“in which some things are hard to understand” In Paul’s letters there are a number of topics that are not easily understood by these mortal minds of ours. Things such as

  • the timing of the coming of Christ, which Paul believed would be any day;
  • the manner of His coming in person with all His saints and His mighty angels;
  • the destruction of antichrist at His coming, which will be with the words of His mouth
  • the rapture both of living and sleeping saints together, with a shout, the voice of the archangel, and trump of God, to meet our Lord in the air;
  • the standing of all believers before the judgment seat of Christ, and the account we all must give of our deeds.

“which ignorant and unstable people distort, as also they do the other Scriptures, to their own destruction” Those who have great human knowledge but who have not been taught by the Spirit of God, those scoffers who don’t really believe, those who have not the Spirit of Christ and are none of His, who are ignorant and unstable will pervert the teachings of Paul as they have done to the teachings of the rest of Holy Scripture.

 

Application

Let us treat with sacred care the contents of this Book, teaching as truth only those things that are taught in it and denying all teaching that is contrary to what is taught in it! All truth is God’s truth. But when it is mistaught by false teachers it becomes man’s lies. We must uphold the truth of the Bible!

In God's service, for His glory,

Copyright © 2017 Will Krause. All rights reserved

2 Peter 2:14 – Greedy Practice

Posted on by Will

Having eyes full of adultery, they never stop sinning, seducing unstable souls, having a heart trained in greed, they are accursed children;

Truth to Learn

False teachers serve themselves, not those whom they teach.

 

Behind the Words

The word translated “seducing” is deleadzō, which means “to entrap with bait.” It is a picture of a fisherman (like Peter) who baits a hook with the intent of ensnaring the fish.

“Unstable” is translated from astēriktos, which is made up of the privative a and stēridzō, meaning “firm or established.” Hence, this word means “unstable, unsteady, or unsettled.”

The word “trained” is from gumnadzō (from which we get our English word gymnasium), which means “to practice.” It is expressed here in the perfect tense which implies past completed action with an ongoing effect. In other words, they are “well practiced.”

“Greed” is translated from the Greek word pleonexia, which refers to “covetousness or greediness.”

 

Meaning Explained

Peter has been quite open in his condemnation of these false teachers, and he has still more to say about them. He says that they have “eyes full of adultery,” which can be literally translated as “eyes full of an adulteress.”  What he is saying is that even at these feasts where they are ostensibly “fellowshipping with other believers,” these false teachers cannot even look upon a woman without lustful thoughts. They are, as Peter has said previously, totally consumed in their fleshly lusts, and now he also says that they “never stop sinning;” they allow their eyes to lead their souls into sin without any hindrance whatsoever.

Once again, let me remind you that, outwardly, these false teachers are pious and righteous, pretending to teach the word of truth but instead they are corrupting the message, turning it into their own message instead of God’s message. Their purpose, of course, is to satisfy their own desires for power, possessions, and passion. These false teachers are preying on the souls of immature or unstable Christians with a message that, instead of freeing them, is entrapping them further in their ways of sin. And, these false teachers were well practiced in greedy covetousness.

These false teachers are not at all what they appear to be. Perhaps they do not even recognize what it is that is driving them. Instead of being caring and loving shepherds of the flock entrusted to them, they are more focused on what they can get out of the flock than what they can give to the flock. Their message may sound, innocent, and comforting, but their real purpose is not to meet the spiritual needs of the flock but to meet their own physical needs.

 

Application

The next time you hear a message that doesn’t seem quite right, let me urge you to be like the Christians of Berea in Acts 17:11 who “searched the scriptures daily to see whether these things are so.” Do not assume that because they are in the pulpit they have some special revelation from God regarding the truth of the Word. Check it out yourself and let the Spirit of God teach you.

In God's service, for His glory,

Copyright © 2017 Will Krause. All rights reserved

James 1:8 – Single Focus

Posted on by Will

he is a double-minded man, unstable in all his ways.

Truth to Learn

We must not get distracted from focusing on God and on Him alone.

Behind the Words

“Double-minded” is translated from dipsuchos which is a compound word made up of dis meaning “twice” and a form of psuche which means “soul” or “mind.” This is a term that was used among the Jews to express the man who attempted to worship God and yet retained the love of self and things. One of their teachers, Rabbi Tanchum, said:

Behold, the Scripture exhorts the Israelites, and tells them when they pray that they should not have two hearts, one for the holy blessed God, and one for something else.

The word translated “unstable” is from the Greek akatastatos which is a double compound word made up of a, meaning “not,” kata, meaning “down,” and a form of histēmi, meaning “to stand, set, or settle.” Hence, this word means “one who is not settled down” or “one who is not stable.”

Meaning Explained

James was just talking about the type of person who prays with a doubting faith. He is now making the point that this kind of person is not just inconsistent in faith regarding his prayers, he is inconsistent in everything he does.

In the gospel account of Jesus’ life and ministry, He was once challenged by one of the Pharisees, a teacher of the law, who asked,

Teacher, which is the great commandment in the law? (Matthew 22:36)

The next verse says,

Jesus said to him, “You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart, and with all your soul, and with all your mind.” (Matthew 22:37)

Jesus’ teaching was that the most important thing a person can do is to love God with all his heart, soul, and mind. If we are able to do that, then we can’t also be double minded. If our love of self or things of the world take on equal or greater importance than our love for God, then we are double minded. These things have become idols to us and we must turn away from them. As Christians we cannot allow our focus to be distracted. We must always walk facing Him. We must turn over all of our thoughts and desires to Him. Only then will we be stable and have the peace that passes all understanding, a peace that the world doesn’t know.

Application

In the middle of life’s challenges it’s easy to become focused on ourselves and our problems. What God wants, however, is for us to focus on Him and His greatness. We can’t focus on God every Sunday morning and focus on ourselves for the rest of the week and expect to see God working in our lives. Our focus must be on Him even when we don’t feel like it.

Where is your focus today? Is it solely and completely on God, or is something else distracting you?

In God's service, for His glory,

Copyright © 2015 Will Krause. All rights reserved

2 Peter 3:16 – Only God’s Truth

Posted on by admin

2 Peter 3:16

He writes the same way in all his letters, speaking in them of these matters. His letters contain some things that are hard to understand, which ignorant and unstable people distort, as they do the other Scriptures, to their own destruction.

Truth to Learn

The hard truths of the Bible are often distorted and mistaught by those claiming to be teachers of truth.

Behind the Words

The word “ignorant” is translated from amathēs, which is made up of the privative a, meaning “not” or “without” and a form of manthanō, meaning “to learn.” Hence, it means “unlearned, uneducated, or ignorant.”

“Unstable” is from astēriktos, made up of the privative a, meaning “not” or “without” and a form of stēridzō, meaning “to confirm” or “to establish.” Hence, this word refers to those who are “unsettled, unsteady, or unstable.”

Meaning Explained

Today’s verse is another one that, on the surface, seems confusing and hard to understand, so let’s look at it one phrase at a time.

“He writes the same way in all his letters” As we saw in the previous verse, Peter is talking about the Apostle Paul. At the time of the writing of 2 Peter, many of Paul’s epistles had been written. Peter, no doubt, had read them and had been himself instructed by them.

“speaking in them of these matters” In Paul’s letters the subjects of the return of Christ, the judgment of the wicked, and the coming of a new heaven and a new earth are all spoken of.

“some things that are hard to understand” In Paul’s letters there are a number of topics that are not easily understood by these mortal minds of ours. Things such as

  • the timing of the coming of Christ, which Paul believed would be any day;
  • the manner of his coming in person with all his saints and his mighty angels;
  • the destruction of antichrist at his coming, which will be with the words of his mouth
  • the rapture both of living and sleeping saints together, with a shout, the voice of the archangel, and trump of God, to meet our Lord in the air;
  • the standing of all believers before the judgment seat of Christ, and the account we all must give of our deeds.

“which ignorant and unstable people distort, as they do the other Scriptures, to their own destruction” Those who have great human knowledge but who have not been taught by the Spirit of God, those scoffers who don’t really believe, those who have not the Spirit of Christ and are none of His, who are ignorant and unstable will pervert the teachings of Paul as they have done to the teachings of the rest of Holy Scripture.

Application

Let us treat with sacred care the contents of this Book, teaching as truth only those things that are taught in it and denying all teaching that is contrary to what is taught in it! All truth is God’s truth. But when it is mistaught by false teachers it becomes man’s lies. We must uphold the truth of the Bible!

In God’s service, for His glory,

signature

Copyright © 2009 Will Krause. All rights reserved.

– – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – –

If this message or this link was forwarded to you by a friend and you wish to receive future verses directly to your inbox, you can call the church phone (618) 614-3070 and leave a message telling us your name and e-mail address or you can send an e-mail to:e-mail address

2 Peter 2:14 – Greedy Practice

Posted on by admin

2 Peter 2:14

With eyes full of adultery, they never stop sinning; they seduce the unstable; they are experts in greed—an accursed brood!

Truth to Learn

False teachers serve themselves, not those whom they teach.

Behind the Words

The word translated “seduce” is deleadzō, which means “to entrap with bait.” It is a picture of a fisherman (like Peter) who baits a hook with the intent of ensnaring the fish.

“Unstable” is translated from astēriktos, which is made up of the privative a and stēridzō, meaning “firm or established.” Hence, this word means “unstable, unsteady, or unsettled.”

The word “experts” is from gumnadzō, which means “to practice.” It is expressed here in the perfect tense which implies past completed action with an ongoing effect. In other words, they are “well practiced.”

“Greed” is translated from the Greek word pleonexia, which refers to “covetousness or greediness.”

Meaning Explained

Peter has been quite open in his condemnation of these false teachers, and he has still more to say about them. He says that they have “eyes full of adultery,” which can be literally translated as “eyes full of an adulteress.” What he is saying is that even at these feasts where they are ostensibly “fellowshipping with other believers,” these false teachers cannot even look upon a woman without lustful thoughts. They are, as Peter has said previously, totally consumed in their fleshly lusts, and now he also says that they “never stop sinning;” they allow their eyes to lead their souls into sin without any hindrance whatsoever.

Once again, let me remind you that, outwardly, these false teachers are pious and righteous, pretending to teach the word of truth but instead they are corrupting the message, turning it into their own message instead of God’s message. Their purpose, of course, is to satisfy their own desires for power, possessions, and passion. These false teachers are preying on the souls of immature or unstable Christians with a message that, instead of freeing them, is entrapping them further in their ways of sin. And, these false teachers were well practiced in greedy covetousness.

These false teachers are not at all what they appear to be. Perhaps they do not even recognize what it is that is driving them. Instead of being caring and loving shepherds of the flock entrusted to them, they are more focused on what they can get out of the flock than what they can give to the flock. Their message may sound, innocent, and comforting, but their real purpose is not to meet the spiritual needs of the flock but to meet their own physical needs.

Application

The next time you hear a message that doesn’t seem quite right, let me urge you to be like the Christians of Berea in Acts 17:11 who “searched the scriptures daily to see whether these things are so.” Do not assume that because they are in the pulpit they have some special revelation from God regarding the truth of the Word. Check it out yourself and let the Spirit of God teach you.

In God’s service, for His glory,

signature

Copyright © 2009 Will Krause. All rights reserved.

– – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – –

If this message or this link was forwarded to you by a friend and you wish to receive future verses directly to your inbox, you can call the church phone (618) 614-3070 and leave a message telling us your name and e-mail address or you can send an e-mail to:e-mail address