Tara-Leigh Cobble

I hope you're planning to join us again or for the first time starting with Genesis 1 on January 1st.

If you missed our episode called Prep for Next Year on December 18th, be sure to check that out.

Hey Bible Readers, I'm Tara Lee Cobble and I'm your host for The Bible Recap.

Merry Christmas!

What a great day to be in the Bible!

New Testament readers, we finished books 22 and 23, and whole Bible readers, we finished books 61 and 62.

Only four more books left.

The two books we read today both deal with leaders in the church who are trying to squash the lies of some false teachers.

In both situations, the teachers are slandering the apostles, denying the truth of the gospel, and telling people that God is okay with you doing whatever you want because, hey, grace, he's not going to judge your sin.

And in both books, the authors prove the false teachers wrong by giving multiple examples of times when God did bring judgment for sin and rebellion.

Let's look at Peter's letter first.

As a refresher, Peter is living in Rome under the rule of Governor Nero, a renowned persecutor of Christians.

Peter knows he's going to die soon.

He writes this letter to churches in modern Turkey and wants them to pass it around now and even in the generations to come to remind people to hold tightly to the truth.

In the midst of such great persecution, he reminds his leaders that God in his great power has given them everything they need for life and godliness.

Because they have access to holy power the general population doesn't, their lives should look different than their culture.

He lists out seven traits he wants to see them growing in.

Faith, virtue, knowledge, self-control, steadfastness, godliness, brotherly affection, and love.

He says if those are on the increase, you'll be fruitful and effective in your knowledge of God.

On the other hand, if those things aren't on the increase, you might be living a lie.