Original Christianity is like a powerful medicine. A powerful medicine heals from the disease and restores someone’s health. Likewise original Christianity heals, saves from sin – our greatest disease And it restores life; eternal life with God.
In Peter’s first letter Peter saw how original Christianity would soon be insulted and persecuted and he wrote a letter to encourage and to help persevere. Upcoming Sunday we will start to read Peter’s second letter. This is his farewell letter, he wrote it shortly before he died. His great concern in this letter is that he saw that while Christianity was growing rapidly, twisted versions of the original would rapidly become popular. He saw that this would happen in a very subtle way. As a result, many would begin to regard original Christianity as outdated. And so the healing, saving power of original Christianity would be lost. In his second letter Peter reminds us in a powerful way of what original Christianity is. He helps us to see how it can get twisted and how damaging that is. And he encourages us to persevere in original Christianity.
This Sunday service we will read II Peter 1 : 1-4, where Peter reminds us of what original Christianity is all about.