Open the Bible UK Daily

Colin Smith
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3 minute daily Bible reflections from Open the Bible UK, authored by Colin Smith, read by Sue McLeish.

  1. 13h ago

    Four More Characteristics of False Teachers

    There will be false teachers among you.2 Peter 2:1What is the difference between a genuine believer and a counterfeit believer? Here are four more characteristics that Peter gives us. 4. Different Character. (What kind of people are being produced?) The true believer pursues virtue, knowledge, self-control, steadfastness, godliness, brotherly affection, and love (1:5-6). The counterfeit Christian is marked by arrogance and slander (2:10), greed and adultery (2:14), and they “despise authority” (2:10). 5. Different Appeal. (Why should you listen to the message?) God has spoken, and the true teacher appeals to this, “We have the prophetic word more fully confirmed, to which you will do well to pay attention” (1:19). But the false teacher makes “loud boasts” trying to entice people by appealing to the “sensual passions of the flesh” (2:18). So, the true teacher asks: What has God said in His Word? But the false teacher asks a very different question: What do people want to hear? 6. Different Fruit. (What result does the message have in people’s lives?) The true believer is effective and fruitful in his or her knowledge of Jesus Christ (1:8). The counterfeit is described as “waterless springs” (2:17). He or she promises much but produces little. 7. Different End. (Where does the message ultimately lead you?) Here we find the most disturbing contrast of all. The true believer will receive “richly provided for you an entrance into the eternal kingdom of our Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ” (1:11). The false believers will experience “swift destruction” (2:1). “Their condemnation from long ago is not idle, and their destruction is not asleep” (2:3). Jesus tells us that there will be many who have been involved in ministry in His name, to whom He will say, “I never knew you; depart from me” (Mat. 7:23). Who are these people? Surely Peter is describing them right here. Take a moment to thank God for the faithfulness you see in your leaders.

  2. 1d ago

    Three Characteristics of False Teachers

    There will be false teachers among you.2 Peter 2:1Second Peter 1 describes genuine believers. Second Peter 2 describes counterfeit believers. Put these chapters side by side, and you will see the differences between them. 1. Different Source. (Where does the message come from?) Peter says, “We did not follow cleverly devised myths when we made known to you the power and coming of our Lord Jesus Christ” (1:16). Then he says the false teachers exploit you “with false words” (2:3). The true teacher sources what he says from the Bible, the false teacher relies on his own creativity. He makes up his own message. 2. Different Message. (What is the substance of the message?) For the true teacher, Jesus Christ is central. We have “all things that pertain to life and godliness” in Him (1:3). For the false teacher, Jesus is at the margins: They “will secretly bring in destructive heresies, even denying the Master who bought them” (2:1). It’s rare for someone in church to openly deny Jesus. Movement away from Him is subtle. Listen carefully to what the false teacher is saying, and you will see that Jesus is not essential to his message. 3. Different Position. (In what position will the message leave you?) The true Christian has “escaped from the corruption that is in the world because of sinful desire” (1:4). Listen to how Peter describes the counterfeit Christian: “They promise… freedom, but they themselves are slaves of corruption. For whatever overcomes a person, to that he is enslaved” (2:19). Two very different dynamics are at work here. The true believer is escaping corruption, while the counterfeit believer is mastered by it. Thank God for the faithfulness you see in your leaders and teachers.

  3. 2d ago

    The Trouble with the Perfect Church

    False prophets also arose among the people, just as there will be false teachers among you.2 Peter 2:1There are no ifs, ands, or buts here. It’s a clear and definite statement. There were false prophets among the people (of Israel in the Old Testament). That’s a matter of history. False prophets were a constant problem in the Old Testament, and those who falsely claimed to be prophets of God were to be stoned. The people rarely had the will to deal with them, and so they multiplied, causing disaster to the spiritual life of God’s people. In the same way Peter says, “There will be false teachers among you” (2:1). Notice the words “among you.” Peter is writing to the church and he says, “There will be false prophets among you.” So, he is not talking about new-age people on television. He is talking about people in the local church, members of a local congregation. This is telling us that there is no such thing as a pure church this side of heaven. You will never find one. The wheat and the tares grow together. Warren Wiersbe writes in his book, Be Alert: “Satan is the great counterfeiter…[He] has a false gospel (Gal. 1:6-9), preached by false ministers (2 Cor. 11:13-15), producing false Christians (2 Cor. 11:26)…Satan plants his counterfeits wherever God plants true believers” (Mat. 13:38). What difference could knowing this make to your life?

  4. 3d ago

    Don’t Miss the Boat

    Therefore I intend always to remind you of these qualities, though you know them and are established in the truth that you have.2 Peter 1:12Why would you get up tomorrow morning and read the Bible? It’s more than gathering information, it’s about grasping all that Jesus is for you, savouring all that He has done for you, and receiving all that He holds in His hand for you. We miss the boat when we tell ourselves we know stuff that in biblical terms we don’t know. Like when a girl says, “I know God loves me, but I hate myself.” If Peter were her pastor, he would put his arm around her shoulder and say, “You think you know His love, but if you were savouring God’s love for you right now, you would never say that you hate yourself.” When a guy says, “I know the gospel, but I can’t overcome this compulsive sin,” Peter would put his arm around him and say, “You think you know the gospel, but the moment you gave way to temptation, you lost touch with the power and the presence of the Spirit in your life.” There’s an old song that captures this well: Make the book live to me, O Lord,Show me Yourself within Your Word,Show me myself and show me my Saviourand make the book live to me. Come humbly like this to the Word every day. Come to worship and hear the Word like this every week, and it’ll change your life. You will find everything you need for life and godliness. Are you coming to the Word and to worship like this?

  5. 4d ago

    Remembering in the Bible

    Therefore I intend always to remind you of these qualities, though you know them and are established in the truth that you have.2 Peter 1:12Being reminded of something you already know gets annoying fast. So, when Peter says, “I intend to always remind you of what you already know and are firmly established in,” it looks like a formula for frustration. But “remembering” in the Bible is much more than being able to recall something that happened. When Peter describes a person who professes faith but never grows, he says that he has “forgotten that he was cleansed from his former sins” (1:9). But if you went up to this person and said, “Jesus died for your sins,” he or she would say, “I already know that.” The problem is not that he cannot recall forgiveness, but that his forgiveness doesn’t mean much to him anymore. It is no longer something that is real and alive, fresh and present for him. It is no longer shaping his life. When Jesus instituted the Lord’s Supper, He took the bread and the wine, and said, “Do this in remembrance of me” (Luke 22:19). What does it mean to remember the Lord Jesus? If you never took communion again for the rest of your life, would you forget that Jesus died on the cross? Of course not! But Jesus wants His death and resurrection to be more than something you can recall. He wants you to savour its blessing, taste its goodness, and experience its power. He wants you to live in the sufficiency of all that He has accomplished for you. Have you “remembered” Jesus’ death and resurrection this week? Have you savoured its blessing? Tasted its goodness? Experienced its power?

  6. 5d ago

    The Prophets Were “Carried Along”

    No prophecy of Scripture comes from someone’s own interpretation. For no prophecy was ever produced by the will of man, but men spoke from God as they were carried along by the Holy Spirit.2 Peter 1:20-21The best way to grasp what Peter is saying is through a story. Paul is under arrest and he is being taken to Rome. Luke describes the journey: “A tempestuous wind, called the northeaster, struck down from the land. And when the ship was caught and could not face the wind, we gave way to it and were driven along” (Acts 27:14-15). The word Luke uses here for the ship being “driven along” by the wind is the same word Peter uses for the prophets being “carried along” by the Spirit. How much control do you have when your ship is being carried along by a storm? The direction of the boat was controlled by the wind in the same way that the message of the prophets was controlled by the Spirit. These men did not control the message; the message controlled them. It came to them from God like a mighty wind. If they were “carried along,” so that what they wrote was exactly what God wanted them to say, then this puts the Bible in a different category from every other book written—religious or secular—since the beginning of time. And if what Peter says here were not true, we would hardly know God at all. If God had not spoken, then all we would have is the sum of human experience found on Amazon, and much of it is immensely painful. In a world of opinion God has given us this revelation. Do you agree with Peter that God has spoken to us? Rewrite 2 Peter 1:20-21 in your own words.

  7. 6d ago

    A Message from God

    No prophecy of Scripture comes from someone’s own interpretation. For no prophecy was ever produced by the will of man.2 Peter 1:20-21Peter wants us to know how the Scripture came to be written. Where did the Old Testament come from? Peter begins by telling us where the Scriptures did not come from: “No prophecy of Scripture…” (1:20). He is distinguishing “prophecy of Scripture” from all other prophecy. If you lived in ancient Israel, you’d think twice about getting up and saying, “I have a message from God.” The penalty for being a false prophet (claiming you had a message from God, when it was really your own idea) was stoning. The severity of this law reminded people of the seriousness of claiming the authority of God for your own ideas. People in ancient Israel knew that there was a world of difference between the thoughts of men and the Word of God. How did the millions of books on Amazon come to be written? The authors felt that they had something to say. These books come from man’s will, man’s insight, man’s initiative, man’s creativity… and women’s too. Postmodernism has recognised that the world is full of ideas people want to push on us. The history of the world is littered with interpretations of life and truth. There’s the communist view, the new age view, the liberal view, the conservative view, and many more. Peter says, “The Scripture doesn’t belong in this line-up. It’s not another bunch of men pushing their own ideas of life on us.” If you want to understand the Bible, you need to know that it is fundamentally different from any other writing the world has ever known. What makes the Bible different from other books?

  8. Aug 15

    What the Apostles Saw

    We did not follow cleverly devised myths when we made known to you the power and coming of our Lord Jesus Christ, but we were eyewitnesses of his majesty.2 Peter 1:16Peter is talking about the second coming of our Lord Jesus, when He will appear in power and glory, and all His people will be with Him. Peter says, “This isn’t a cleverly invented myth. I know because I’ve seen His power and glory. I saw him transfigured.” Peter saw the glory of Jesus as one day you will see Him. The Apostles were eyewitnesses and the New Testament records what they saw, “The Word became flesh and dwelt among us, and we have seen his glory” (John 1:14). “We were eyewitnesses of his majesty… We ourselves heard this very voice borne from heaven, for we were with him on the holy mountain” (2 Peter 1:16, 18). The church is “built on the foundation of the apostles and prophets, Christ Jesus himself being the cornerstone” (Eph. 2:20). The Prophets of the Old Testament point forward to Christ. The Apostles in the New Testament bear witness to Christ. The phrase “the apostles and prophets” is a shorthand way of referring to the whole Bible—the Old Testament and the New. Jesus Christ is the message of the whole Bible. We see in the Law, He is needed. In the Prophets, He is predicted. In the Psalms, He is worshipped. In the Gospels, He is described. In the Acts, He is proclaimed. In the Epistles, He is explained. In the Revelation, He is unveiled. React to this statement: “Jesus Christ is the message of the whole Bible.”

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About

3 minute daily Bible reflections from Open the Bible UK, authored by Colin Smith, read by Sue McLeish.

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  • Creator
    Colin Smith
  • Years Active
    2023 - 2026
  • Episodes
    1.1K
  • Rating
    Clean
  • Copyright
    © Colin Smith
  • Show Website
    Open the Bible UK Daily

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