Through This Door ...
Posted by: forthright <forthright@...>
http://www.forthright.net
Going straight to the Cross
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Editor's note: I'm on the road, and you've
haven't gotten your daily dose of Forthright.
Great articles are on site by Barry, Mike, and
Emmett. Please do check those out. Now, for
another great thought, just go ...
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Through This Door ...
by Tim Hall
"You just go through that door down the hallway
..." "Excuse me for interrupting, but which door
exactly do you mean? I want to make sure I go to
the right place." It's an exchange we've all had
at one time or another. In getting directions on
how to get to our desired destination, someone
tells us which door we should enter. What happens
if we go through a different door? Sometimes, we
find ourselves in a place we didn't want to be.
Peter used the word "through" a couple of times
in his second letter, and his thought is vitally
important for those wishing to get to heaven. For
example, in 2 Peter 1:3, he wrote "As His divine
power has given to us all things that pertain to
life and godliness, through the knowledge of Him
who called us by glory and virtue" (New King
James Version). Is it our goal to obtain life and
godliness? Certainly. Then in order to obtain
those precious gifts, we must go "through" the
right door, a door Peter specified as
"knowledge". The knowledge of Jesus Christ, to be
more specific.
The same concept appears in 2 Peter 2:20: "For
if, after they have escaped the pollutions of the
world through the knowledge of the Lord and
Savior Jesus Christ ..." Here again is a desired
destination for Christians: to escape the
pollutions of the world. Sin defiles us and
separates us from God (Isaiah 59:1,2), and those
who remain in sin have no hope of spending
eternity with God. Then how can we "escape the
pollutions of the world"? Through that same door
of knowledge, Peter affirmed.
"The knowledge of the Lord and Savior Jesus
Christ" - Isn't that just another way of saying
"Read your Bible"? That's about the size of it.
It's an old adage we've heard too many times to
count. But how many of us have taken heed?
Instead, the world distracts us with its glitter
and buzz, and we lay down night after night
without having opened the pages of God's word.
Far too many Christians neglect their Bible
study, and thus do not have the knowledge of
which Peter speaks. (But how many of those same
Christians neglect their television programs,
daily newspapers or favorite hobbies?)
According to Peter, there is only one door
through which to enter if we want the blessings
of (1) life and godliness and (2) escape from the
pollutions of the world. We dare not take a wrong
turn on this journey! We must be careful to
search God's word daily so we will have this
knowledge that leads to so many desirable things.
Oh, did I mention that Peter spoke of the idea a
third time in this same short letter? "But grow
in the grace and knowledge of our Lord and Savior
Jesus Christ" (2 Peter 3:18). As long as we live,
we'll never get too much knowledge. It's time
Christians took the admonitions of Peter
seriously!
"Excuse me, Lord, but which way do I go to get
to heaven?" "You just go through this door . . ."
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