And account that the longsuffering of our Lord is salvation; even as our beloved brother Paul also according to the wisdom given unto him hath written unto you. 2 Peter 3:15
One of the most amazing things about our Bibles is its harmony. The Holy Spirit used some 39 men, over a period of about 1,500 years, to pen the 66 books that are included in the Canon of Scripture. Those writers included such diverse characters as kings, high government officials, fiery prophets, humble prophets, shepherds, fishermen, tax collectors, and military generals. Across that great span of time and through that tremendous variety of authors, most would assume that the message would change with the times and with the minds of the penmen. But the writers were not writing on their own, they were under divine direction, recording an eternal message that has not, will not, and can not ever change. Their writings must agree, and they do. That is why we can trust the Scriptures, and those who wrote them. Today’s text is an example of how each portion of the Scriptures agrees with each other portion. And even its writers agree with and endorse each other.
You would assume from Peter’s affectionate reference to Paul in our text that these men were very much of one mind. But this affectionate reference comes from the pen of a man who had been publicly challenged and rebuked before a council of leading brethren. Paul had called out Peter publicly for his partiality in refusing to eat with Gentiles when some of the legalistic Jews had come to visit in Antioch. This was a huge issue at the time, an issue that threatened to split the Christians into two opposing camps of doctrine. Paul did not mince words, as he reported later: ‘But when Peter was come to Antioch, I withstood him to the face, because he was to be blamed’ (Galatians 2:11). We never read of Peter defending himself against Paul’s rebuke, so we must assume that he bore the rebuke with good grace. And our text reminds us that Peter certainly never held a grudge against Paul. He was submissive, not to Paul, but to the Word of God that Paul presented. It is that same spirit that will build harmony in the Lord’s people today.
When two people disagree on the Scriptures, it means that one of those two people is wrong, or else they are both wrong. The approach to resolving such disagreements is often to bring the two opposing parties to a compromise. The devil likes this approach, because compromise always leads to a distortion, and even a contradiction, in what the Word of God actually says. Some of these disagreements actually don’t matter because they have no bearing on doctrine or our Christian behaviour and exercise. In these cases, we simply agree to disagree agreeably. But in Scriptural issues that really matter, it is important that brethren agree. It is even more important that their agreement be with the Word of God rather than with each other. That way, truth is preserved and error is avoided. And Christians will be able to appreciate each other, just like Peter and Paul did.
If our fellowship is based on what the Bible teaches, we will enjoy the same fellowship with each other as we do with our Lord. – Jim MacIntosh