… and the command given by our Lord and Savior through your apostles.
Summary: What does Peter mean by “the” command? How many commands are there? What is a command anyway?
As a little kid, I was sometimes allowed to play in the public wading pool at the City Park. It was a concrete pond about two feet deep in the middle and about six inches deep at the edge. The whole thing was a big circle about twenty feet in diameter. On a hot day, it seemed like a hundred other little kids were running around in this thing, yelling, splashing, and having a great time.
As I got older, I could swim in the “big kids” pool. This pool had a shallow end about three and a half feet deep and a deep end that was eight feet deep. The pool was deep enough that there was a fence around it so nobody would fall in and drown when the pool was closed.
As you might expect, at first I stayed in the shallow end, content to swim in waters that I could stand up in if I got tired. Only when I was stronger and feeling brave would I venture out into the deep end of the pool. Out there, in the deep waters, it was “sink or swim.”
Today’s passage feels like we are in the deep end of the pool.
Why? Because the word “command” carries certain implications that we need to unpack and sort through.
When I searched for, “What did Jesus command?” on the internet, the search results brought me to pages of lists. Each list had between thirty and fifty “commands” attributed to Jesus.
Wow. That seems like a lot!
Yet today’s passage does not say, “… and the commands given by our Lord.” Instead, Peter uses the singular, “command.” One command, not many.
This brings us to the question: “What is a command?” How is a command different from instruction or guidance? What does it mean to be “commanded” to do something? Are we judged on our ability to follow the command? Is there a difference between an Old Testament command and a New Testament one?
In John’s Gospel, chapter fifteen, Jesus is giving his disciples their final instructions before he is arrested and put on trial. In verses 9 – 15, he gives them a command and says in summary:
“This is my command: Love each other.” (John 15: 17)
The question then becomes: If this is Jesus’ command for us, what are all the other things that people call “commands”? I humbly suggest that anything else is simply a partial answer to the question, “What does Jesus mean by ‘Love each other?’”
Can we truly love each other and not love God above all else? (1 John 4:8)
Can we love one another and not forgive? (Mark 11:25-26) Is it possible to be wrong and not repent? (Matthew 3:2, 8) Does someone filled with love take the Lord’s name in vain? (Matthew 6:9)
I could go on. Every example is simply another way of saying love God above all else and your neighbor as yourself. (Matthew 22: 37-40)
This is difficult for us to understand. How can Peter remind us we should love each other after he just unleashed an epic rant against false teachers? They are people, too, right?
Keep in mind that the love Jesus is commanding of us is agapé. It is not an emotional love; it is a godly love. Godly love does not conform to the world (Romans 12:2). Instead, godly love conforms to the will of God. If it is God’s will that we are aware of false teachers, then so be it. If it is God’s will that we turn the other cheek, then that is what we should do.
Life is easy in the kiddie pool. Nobody panics and nobody drowns. In the deep end, things are different. We need faith to float.
Application: Consider what it means to love your neighbor as yourself.
Food for Thought: Has Jeff gone off the deep end? Is it better to divide our attention between many commands?
Has Jeff gone off the deep end 😊. Now that is an interesting question. I don’t think so in this case 😊.
I have a slightly different take. I personally think what was commanded by the Lord through the apostles, and in context, in the OT Scriptures, was to place our faith in Christ and His work for our salvation. I think the command here in context is to adhere to the gospel. However, loving God and others is an extension of the gospel. So, even if I am correct, we are still on the same page.
I will ponder the significance of Jeff going off the deep end for a while 😊.
Rich,
If I get in over my head, I trust you will not let me go under … too long! 🙂
So, of course, you are right. The first requirement is to believe and accept Jesus as Lord. I could have been more clear on this point. So, yes, without that we are nothing.
Once you get past that point, once you accept Jesus as Savior, then what? I think that is the part of the pool I am trying to swim in here. To stretch the metaphor a bit, people who haven’t accepted Jesus as Lord are not yet in the pool. 🙂
12-04-2021, 2 Peter 3:2b, Has Jeff gone off the deep end? Is it better to divide our attention between many commands?
I do believe you are definitely in the DEEP END here, at the same time I believe this is exactly where we should be.
We are mutable beings ( prone to change, capable of change or of being changed ) created by an immutable God ( not capable of or susceptible to change ). God is all that He is all the time. He is Wise, Loving, Just, Merciful, Good, Holy and more, all the time. We are incapable of fully understanding our God.
“This is my commandment, that you love one another “AS I HAVE LOVED YOU.” John 15:12
When we read what is written in the following verses of 2 Peter 3, we begin to get a picture of the standard for Christlike behavior we are being called to seek as we live as imperfect beings in the midst of total chaos and evils we don’t even want to think about.
9, The LORD is eternally patient toward all, not wishing for any to perish but for all to come to repentance. 11, grow in holy behavior, in a pattern of daily life that sets you apart as a believer, displaying profound reverence toward our awesome God. 13, expectantly await new heavens and a new earth, in which righteousness dwells. 14, Look forward to these things, be diligent and make every effort to be found at His return spotless and blameless, inwardly calm with a sense of spiritual well-being and confidence, having lived a life of obedience to Him. 15, Focus on the patience of our Lord in His delay in Judging and avenging wrongs, allowing time for more to be saved. 18, grow spiritually mature in the grace and knowledge of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ.
“ FOCUS ON SELF, SEEK TO LIVE IN HUMBLE OBEDIENCE TO GOD. “
2 Peter 3:9, 11, 13-15, 18
God’s law is written in our hearts, our own conscience and thoughts either accuse us or tell us we are doing right. God so loved the world He offered up His own Son as the only acceptable sacrifice for all sins of all mankind, for all time. God has sent His Holy Spirit to convict the world of sin, righteousness, and judgement to come. Whoever chooses to believe will receive eternal life. In addition to John 15:12, Jesus tells us to give first priority to Seeking the Kingdom of God and His righteousness and everything else will work out.
Romans 2:14-15, John 3:16, John 16:8, Matthew 6:33
It’s process….All who CHOOSE to accept Christ, listen and obey the conviction of the Holy Spirit, will seek to live in humble obedience to God, will find themselves in a relationship with God, in His presence, becoming more Christlike and enjoy the blessing of feeling His love for others flow from our hearts toward others.
ONLY JESUS CAN LOVE OTHERS AS HE HAS LOVED US!
This one goal is a lifetime goal which we will never achieve. But the few moments we actually feel the presence of God working through us to serve others is enough to increase our desire to allow Christ grow and do more. As we grow, the world around us will lose all value and in fact become dim.
AND WE WILL LOVE ONE ANOTHER AS HE LOVES US!
Ron,
Welcome to the deep end! 🙂
You make a very interesting point when you write, “Only Jesus can love others as he has loved us.” I want to agree with that statement, but another part of me wants to add a caveat. The caveat is, only Jesus can love others as perfectly as he loved us.
I think this is where you are leading us in your comments, that only with Jesus in us can we love as [meaning in a way similar to] Jesus.