The idea of “losing one’s salvation” is a shocking thought. Reading through 2 Peter, the shock sizzles immediately in the very first verse. The false teachers whom Peter later condemns in chapter 2 aren’t outsiders slipping in through cracks. They are insiders like Peter himself. He speaks to all his readers as those who have “obtained a faith of equal standing with ours” (2 Pet 1:1). Whoever “us” refers to—apostles or other believers—the point is clear. Peter is talking to p

This is the fifth and final blog in the series “The Apostle Peter’s Relational Framework: The Structure of the Spiritual Life.” In earlier posts, we introduced Peter’s relational framework and noted that his concern is not abstract theological categories—whether someone is “eternally saved” or whether salvation can be “lost.” Instead, Peter consistently describes the concrete, experiential reality of a person’s relationship with the Lord Jesus Christ. His letter assumes three

This is the fourth blog in the series “The Apostle Peter’s Relational Framework: The Structure of the Spiritual Life”. In previous blogs, we have seen the first state of spirituality of the people Peter describes in his second letter. Peter describes them as rebellious and enslaved, as those who do not yet know Jesus. We have also seen the state of those who have moved from the first state to the second state of spirituality: the state of those who have come into a genuine an

This is the third blog in the series “The Apostle Peter’s Relational Framework: The Structure of the Spiritual Life”. In our last blog we looked at Peter’s first spiritual state: spirituality before knowing Jesus. In this blog we will discuss Peter's second spiritual state. The spiritual state of being in a genuine relationship with Jesus: This is Peter’s second, or middle state of three states. 2. The Middle State: Real Participation in Jesus as the Christ The middle stat

This is the second blog in the series “The Apostle Peter’s Relational Framework: The Structure of the Spiritual Life”. Peter's First Spiritual State: Life Before Knowing Jesus. This blog is the second in the series “The Apostle Peter’s Relational Framework: The Structure of the Spiritual Life”. In our last blog we introduced the idea of Peter’s three-tiered spiritual framework and in this blog, we will move past introductory remarks to discuss Peter's First Spiritual State:

This is the first blog in the series “The Apostle Peter’s Relational Framework: The Structure of the Spiritual Life”. Peter Describes States, Not Categories In his second letter to a wayward group of Christians, wavering in their estimate of the value of their relationship to Jesus, Peter does not use terminology that divides humanity into fixed theological categories such as “saved vs unsaved” or “regenerate vs unregenerate.” Instead, he frames their salvation experience and

"Mellow," according to the Urban Dictionary is a word that refers to “a person’s composure.” It's a reference to “a person’s ability to give others around them the feeling of calm and relaxation especially in the midst of a stressful situation.” Notice that the core component of “mellowness” is the effect this person’s composure has on others. One's mellowness, although one's personal trait, affects other people. A modern way of defining this word is to be “chill” or “be pa

Is Peter persnickety? If by defining him as, "requiring a particularly precise or careful approach," or “requiring great precision” then, by all means, he is particularly persnickety. As we noticed in our last blog, Peter's Greek is the most excellent of all Greek New Testament writings. Yet, in Peter's persnicketiness, he mentions the difficulty of understanding some of the apostle Paul’s writings saying, “There are some things in them [Paul’s writings] that are hard to u