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Patience means Salvation

Patience means Salvation

Words of Faith 3-23-2020

Dr. Jeffrey D. Hoy © 2020

Jeff.Hoy@faithfellowshipweb.com

Faith Fellowship Church - Melbourne, FL

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2 Peter 3

     [15] Bear in mind that our Lord's patience means salvation just as our dear brother Paul also wrote you with the wisdom that God gave him.

 

         A considerable issue in the early church was the apparent delay of Jesus' return.  But Peter made it clear that this simply represented the patience or long-suffering of the Lord, not wanting that any should perish.  What appears to be slowness was and is, in fact, mercy. Or more succinctly, salvation.

         As Christians look forward to the end of history, we are not only to strive for holiness, we are also to bear in mind that our Lord's patience means salvation.  It is only the patience of the Lord-- His "long-suffering" mercy-- that allows the possibility that any of us should be saved!

         Our attitude toward the apparent delay in Christ's return should be exactly opposite to that of the false teachers Peter has been addressing.  The false teachers understood the delay of Christ's return to be a sign of God's "slowness" (v. 9).  They concluded that judgment may never come, and they were, therefore, quite unconcerned about having to answer for their immoral conduct. Sound familiar? It is all around us today.

        The call of Christ is for us to consider the delay as an opportunity to pursue salvation. As Peter has pointed out already (v. 9), God's delay in sending Christ to judge the earth is a reflection of his "patience."  We are to use the opportunity afforded by the delay in Christ's coming to share the Gospel seeking to bring as many to a knowledge of Christ as possible before it is too late.  

         This season of patience is also a time to make sure of our own relationship with Him.  Peter would not be writing as he does to these believers if some of them were not in danger of succumbing to the false teachers' destructive influence.  For that reason, he wanted them to consider the time they have before Christ's return as an opportunity to secure their relationship before the Lord.

          Peter appealed to the writings of Paul to confirm these thoughts.  Peter pointed out that these very same thoughts and spirit were very much a part of Paul's ministry and communications. 

         The way Paul is here addressed as "our dear brother" has been surprising to some who assume that Paul and Peter were in conflict because of issues such as the law and the inclusion of Gentiles in the Christian community.  What we actually see here is an affirmation that the grace of the Gospel overcomes the conflicts that arise within the church.  For whatever differences there may have been between Peter and Paul, they were, after all, on the same team!  They were coworkers in the ministry of the Gospel.

          What are you doing with this time?  Are you securing your relationship with Jesus?  Are you reaching out to others who do not know Him?  Are you experiencing the patience of the Lord as salvation?

 

           Father God, teach me how to use my days and hours.  Show me the areas of my life that I need to secure with You.  Reveal to me those You would have me reach out to.  Make my walk be one of patient expectation.  In Jesus' Name.

 

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The Words of Faith devotion is published five days a week by E-mail, and our website, and our church app, excluding Federal holidays. Please feel free to forward this devotion to a friend who might be blessed by this devotion. Unless otherwise noted, all Scripture is quoted from the New International Version (R) of The Holy Bible. Copyright (c) 1973, 1978, 1984 by International Bible Society. Used by permission of Zondervan Publishing House. All rights reserved. Words of Faith (c) 1997, 2010 Jeffrey D. Hoy. All rights reserved. Permission is granted to forward this copyrighted material or use portions of it with appropriate notation of the source for non-profit purposes.  

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