To Encourage You

2 Peter 2:18 “. . . those who live in error.”

So many times, the Bible categorizes all of humanity in simple terms.  It talks of those who are lost in contrast to those who have been found. It talks of those who believe as opposed to those who do not. It speaks of those who are condemned and those for whom there is no condemnation.  And it differentiates the good from the wicked.  In the verse above we have another such contrast.  It tells of “those who live in error.”  In contrast, elsewhere the Bible speaks of those who “walk (i.e., live) in the truth” (2 John 4). Simple terms but with profound implications. 

Surely, no one would want to be known as one who has been “living in error,” in other words, living a life that is rooted in errors and lies.  This describes a life lived in a state of deception.  It speaks of one who may think he or she is living in a good and right way, while it is actually the very opposite. Such a person is believing lies and acting on those beliefs to their own detriment.  They call good evil and evil good.  They have opinions and strong viewpoints on what is moral, while their own life may be rooted in immorality. 

Paul was such a person.  At one time in his life, he described himself “as to righteousness under the law, blameless” (Philippians 3:6). He further described himself as zealous. He was so convinced that he, as a proud “Hebrew of Hebrews” and “righteous” Pharisee, was defending God’s Law by persecuting those of the fledgling Church, whom he thought were living in opposition to God. But then God opened his eyes on the road to Damascus, and there he learned the truth about his life of error. Suddenly he was stunned to learn that in persecuting the Church he had been persecuting the very Son of God.  As a result, Paul was shocked into the realization that all he had stood for, all he had lived for, all he had given his life to, had been a lie.  As this dawned on his consciousness, he looked back at all he had held on to so tightly and saw it for what is truly was with these words: “I count everything as loss because of the surpassing worth of knowing Christ Jesus my Lord. For his sake I have suffered the loss of all things and count them as rubbish in order that I may gain Christ” (Philippians 3:8).  Other translations of this verse more accurately render “rubbish” as “dung.” All his views, all his zealously held beliefs, all his own righteousness had been based on lies, and as such he could now see them for what they were; total and complete garbage. 

So have you ever seen yourself in that way? Have you ever taken stock of what you are basing your life upon?  You see, the fact of the matter is that there are only two ways.  There is a life based on the truth of the Word of God that has come from the lips of Jesus, the very embodiment of all Truth, or it will be based on something else – and something other than the Truth is, by definition, a lie.  Each of us must come to a decision about this most vital point.  We will either turn from our life of error to the Truth that can save our soul, or we will “refuse to love the truth” and thereby continue to “believe what is false” (2 Thessalonians 2:11).  And who in their right mind would want to do that?  But that’s just it! Without a complete change of mind, what the Bible calls “renewal of the mind,” a life lived in error can never be changed to a life lived in truth.  It’s all summed up in these words: “Do not be conformed to this world, but be transformed by the renewal of your mind, that by testing you may discern what is the will of God, what is good and acceptable and perfect” (Romans 12:2).

That’s what Paul needed, and that’s what you and I need, for there is no other way to be saved from the condition of being “those who live in error.”