Way of The Warrior- A Daily Devotional

Therefore, beloved, since you already know these things, be on your guard so that you will not be carried away by the error of the lawless and fall from your secure standing. But grow in the grace and knowledge of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ. To Him be the glory both now and to the day of eternity. Amen. – 2 Peter 2:3:17-18 BSB

Warrior;
Dr. J Vernon McGee in his introduction to 2 Peter, compares it to 2 Timothy. He notes similarities between the letters written by 2 of The Kingdom’s great saints; Paul and Peter. “Second Peter is the swan song of Peter, just as 2 Timothy is the swan song of Paul. There are striking similarities between the two books. Both epistles put up a warning sign along the pilgrim pathway the church is traveling to identify the awful APOSTASY that was on the way at that time and which in our time has now arrived. What was THEN like a cloud the size of a man’s hand, TODAY envelops the sky and produces a storm of hurricane proportions. Peter warns of heresy among TEACHERS; Paul warns of heresy among the laity”. Both Peter and Paul speak in a joyful manner of their approaching deaths, and both apostles anchor the church on the Scriptures, on the Word of God, as the only defense against the coming storm of apostasy. It has been said, when we pray, we talk to God. When we read the Bible, God talks to us. Peter is convinced that there is only 1 way to be secure during this falling away, this apostasy that has engulfed the church today and that is KNOWLEDGE of the WORD OF GOD! Peter begins and ends this letter with GRACE, PEACE, and KNOWLEDGE. Notice the beginning of this epistle; Grace and peace be multiplied to you through the knowledge of God and of Jesus our Lord. His divine power has given us everything we need for life and godliness through the knowledge of Him who called us by His own glory and excellence. (2 Peter 1:2-3) As with Paul’s standard greeting, Grace always comes before Peace. This truth is foundational to our faith. It is only through the GRACE of God, and that being by our FAITH IN JESUS, can we have PEACE WITH GOD. NO JESUS, no peace. KNOW JESUS, know peace. Peter adds to Paul’s Biblical eschatology by saying; it is only by KNOWLEDGE of God, that we can get to that PEACE, through FAITH, by GRACE.

Leader, PRECIOUS PETER wants us to understand that when we have the KNOWLEDGE of WHO GOD is, and WHAT GOD is doing, and HOW GOD expects us to act and WHY GOD is allowing this chaos to occur- then we REALIZE GOD’S GRACE and have HIS PEACE, because we have KNOWLEDGE of HIS PLANS and HIS DESIRE. Hear the Word of the Lord; I no longer call you servants, because a servant does not know his master’s business. Instead, I have called you friends, for everything that I learned from my Father I have made known to you. (John 15:15) And Peter tells us that through this KNOWING we have a benefit; His divine power has given us everything we need for life and godliness through the knowledge of Him who called us by His own glory and excellence. (ibid 1:3) Peter tells us that by developing this KNOWLEDGE of God we have everything we need to BEWARE of the WILES of the devil. Remember we are called to fight the GOOD FIGHT, with the ARMOR OF GOD. We need the SHIELD OF FAITH, to quench the fiery darts of the enemy! It is written: Above all, taking the shield of faith, wherewith ye shall be able to quench all the fiery darts of the wicked. (Ephesians 6:16) We are assured that if we have our shield of faith lifted high in front of us, we will be empowered to defend ourselves against the fiery darts of the enemy. That means we must KNOW the WORD. Peter tells us that a growing, deepening knowledge of Jesus and relationship with Jesus will allow GRACE and PEACE to multiply. You know the difference between addition and multiplication? One grows a lot faster, it is exponentially greater to multiply than to add. 1+1= 2, 2+2= 4, 8, 16, 32, 64….2X2= 4, 4X4= 16, 256, 65,536…. That is how deeper, richer, and fuller our relationship with Jesus can be when we KNOW JESUS, by KNOWING HIS WORD. The transitive principle says: if a=b and b=c, then a=c. If you want to know Jesus, then know His Word. Jesus= The Word of God. The Word of God= Bible. Therefore Jesus=Bible.

Conduit, there are 2 Greek words that we translate know\knowing; Gnosis and Epignosis. One is an understanding of something, the other is FULLER KNOWLEDGE. One is knowing intellectually, one is knowing practically, realistically, applicationally. Peter is saying by having a “FULLER KNOWLEDGE OF GOD”, this will allow for one to anticipate and be aware, and thus be prepared for the attack that is coming upon the Godless speculations of the “False Teachers”. In 2 Peter we see that apostasy is approaching, the STORM IS COMING. How are we to prepare to meet it? There is only one way, Peter says, and that is through knowledge. Not only through faith in Christ, not only by believing in Him, but also to KNOW CHRIST. During the LORD’S PRAYER of John 17, Jesus called out to HIS FATHER on behalf of His friends, the Apostles, and spoke these words: “And this is eternal life, that they know you, the only true God, and Jesus Christ whom you have sent”. (John 17:3) We are to know Him, not only know about Him. If you are a Christian, you must know Christ. That means, not just to know about Him but to know Him—there is a great difference there. It is written; You say you have faith, for you believe that there is one God. Good for you! Even the demons believe this, and they tremble in terror. (James 2;19) This is about getting off the surface in your relationship with God. This is going from ‘Ginosko’; to know, understand, perceive, have knowledge of- to ‘epiginosko’; to become thoroughly acquainted with, to know thoroughly, to know accurately, know well. This is the point of this letter, 2 Peter. It is not only warning of the APOSTASY, but also it tells us about our DEFENSE, which is knowledge, intimate knowledge, Epignosis! Where is this knowledge, and how does it come to us? Peter will say, and I agree, that the only way to get this KNOWLEDGE is through the Word of God, “a more sure word of prophecy”. (2 Pet. 1:19). WE WILL NOT be able to LIVE for God in these days of apostasy, unless we have a knowledge of the Word of God, which helps us to KNOW JESUS, to KNOW our FATHER and to know OUR FUTURE, because IT IS WRITTEN. This allows for GRACE and PEACE to be multiplied through KNOWLEDGE! Remember KNOW JESUS, KNOW PEACE! No Jesus, no peace!