2 Peter 2:10-22 Revised Standard Version

10 and especially those who indulge in the lust of defiling passion and despise authority. Bold and willful, they are not afraid to revile the glorious ones,

One of the great things about my bible study group is that we are not in a hurry to finish. The week I missed, they made no progress at all. Just kidding, they did get to know one another better. I walked away this past week thinking we had only made it through half a verse, but we did make it through a whole verse (10). It was definitely a good learning experience.

1. First Impression?

When I first read the passage out loud, I paused after somewhere in 13 or 14 because it was just a little overwhelming. It was too much for me to even retain a first impression. If first impression was not the first prompt every week, I probably would have sat speechless for a long while. I am sure the others shared first impressions of some sort, but if verses were meat, this would be a nice chewy piece. 

2. Why do we despise authority? Why is it so prevalent among Christians?

When I was creating the questions, I had no idea how long we would end up discussing despising authority. The normal response is pride and we as Christians struggle with pride as does everyone else. “I know better.” “They don’t understand.” and similar phrases give us a hint of how we fall into the traps of thinking we are superior to others and develop a predilection for believing those in authority are not worthy of being our leaders.

I studied Job 12:24 today and it is a doosie for leaders. Feel free to look that one up and see how it applies.

One of my favorite thoughts as a civil engineer with one class in transportation is how different a speed limit I would set in various places. I always seem to think “me and my car” can go faster with no issues. I drove one of the roads with a low-speed limit in our area today and as I saw the car in front of me pass the car in front of them (in the other lane), I realized the problem was not so much the speed limit on the road as letting a small road with many hidden driveways become a major route for local traffic.

Just as people with a vaccine sometimes think they are immune from carrying and transmitting a disease, Christians seem to think pride is not an issue because we are forgiven. Our struggle is no longer in achieving something, but in swallowing pride.

3. Indulge in passion, bold, and willful? Are these not the characteristics that the world rewards? How does this differ from our need to be bold in our faith and willful in our actions?

The world greatly rewards those who are bold and willful and cheers those who indulge in passion. The problem here is that people look at being bold and willful from the perspective of a zero-sum game. For one to be successful, another must lose. Games are like that, and life is not a game.

Success in life is receiving salvation and it is a reward that we can all share in. Giving love does not diminish the ability to continue to love, as God is the source for love, and He is an overflowing fountain. Trying to be bold for oneself is to play the game and trying to be bold for God and others sometimes puts our well being in jeopardy. We should be willful in our actions, not for our own gain, but for the gain of God and others.

4. Who are the glorious ones being reviled? And what is a reviling judgement?

Thor was always one of my favorite characters. I knew he was not God, and he was not really a god, but his image seems similar to my mental image when reading “the glorious ones”. Initially, I assumed these were angels, but when the next verse starts with “whereas angels” and later has “upon them”, I gathered that they were not angels.

I am not sure we ever really came up with a satisfactory answer, but it is obvious that they are not angels and not the unrighteous (from verse 9). As the chapter starts talking about false prophets, false teachers, and destructive heresies and equate them with the unrighteous, logic would tell us “if not a, then the opposite of a”, or here the righteous.

Those who are righteous are giving glory to God and become targets of the false prophets, false teachers, and destructive heresies. After all this time, I think it finally makes sense. Peter is telling us that we are the glorious ones when we follow God and seek to honor Him in all we do. It is we who are attacked and ridiculed and argued with when we are doing the right things.

As I mature as a Christian, I find myself learning at a faster pace than ever expected. There is a desire to spend more time in God’s Word and it feels different than when I was younger preparing Sunday School lessons. The goal of being a glorious one sounds so weird, but if that is simply a name for someone trying to follow the will of God, then sign me up.