King James Bible Study – [And when he had called the people unto him with his disciples also, he said unto them, Whosoever will come after me, let him deny himself, and take up his cross, and follow me. – Mark 8:34]
Date: Thursday, December 25, 2025
Chapters: The Books of II Peter & Jude
Message: II Peter/Jude: Brute Beasts
Hello My Friend,
Happy Birthday Jesus! And Merry Christmas Everyone! [Isaiah 9:6 For unto us a child is born, unto us a son is given: and the government shall be upon his shoulder: and his name shall be called Wonderful, Counsellor, The mighty God, The everlasting Father, The Prince of Peace.]
On a day filled with traditions, gatherings, and expectations, we are reminded of the foundation of it all. Christ came to us as the promised Son, carrying every title our souls would ever need. He is our Wonderful, our Counselor when life feels uncertain, our Mighty God when we feel weak, our Everlasting Father who never leaves us, and our Prince of Peace in every season. Christmas is a celebration of His arrival, His love, and His unchanging reign. No matter how unexpected the day may look, the meaning remains beautifully the same: Jesus came, and because He came, we have hope. And to those whom have accepted Him as their Saviour we have another reminder. As we read through II Peter and Jude today we are reminded of why we stay faithful.
[2 Peter 3:9-10 The Lord is not slack concerning his promise, as some men count slackness; but is longsuffering to us-ward, not willing that any should perish, but that all should come to repentance. 10 But the day of the Lord will come as a thief in the night; in the which the heavens shall pass away with a great noise, and the elements shall melt with fervent heat, the earth also and the works that are therein shall be burned up.]
The Book of 2 Peter is the twenty-second book of the New Testament, the sixty-first book of the Bible, and contains three chapters. The author of this letter is Peter and it was written to the Christian exiles. The purpose of the letter was to warn them of the dangers of the apostasy and false teaching from within the church. What we are to learn from the book is that judgment is coming to all these false teachers, [2 Peter 2:1,9 But there were false prophets also among the people, even as there shall be false teachers among you, who privily shall bring in damnable heresies, even denying the Lord that bought them, and bring upon themselves swift destruction. 9 The Lord knoweth how to deliver the godly out of temptations, and to reserve the unjust unto the day of judgment to be punished:]
The Word of God, the Holy Bible, the Scriptures, the Law, whatever you call it, it is the only history book written that when you read it you feel like it is happening right now. Peter, begins his letter with the reminder that all believers are untied through likeminded faith. It is through that likeminded faith that we develop a likeminded character in Jesus.
[2 Peter 1:1-4 Simon Peter, a servant and an apostle of Jesus Christ, to them that have obtained like precious faith with us through the righteousness of God and our Saviour Jesus Christ: 2 Grace and peace be multiplied unto you through the knowledge of God, and of Jesus our Lord, 3 According as his divine power hath given unto us all things that pertain unto life and godliness, through the knowledge of him that hath called us to glory and virtue: 4 Whereby are given unto us exceeding great and precious promises: that by these ye might be partakers of the divine nature, having escaped the corruption that is in the world through lust.]
[Virtue; Moral goodness; the practice of moral duties and the abstaining from vice, or a conformity of life and conversation to the moral law.] Virtue, is not something that we are seeing a lot of these days, even in the Church. Perversions of the Bible are being replaced with truth in order to justify ones sin. I do not care what it is that people long for, love, fame, fortune, food, acceptance, there is fine line between longing for something and lusting over it. And once one crosses it they are walking on dangerous territory, [James 1:14-15 But every man is tempted, when he is drawn away of his own lust, and enticed. 15 Then when lust hath conceived, it bringeth forth sin: and sin, when it is finished, bringeth forth death.]
The world discredits the Bible as true, yet at the same time the still want God’s favor. People have attempted to change God’s Word in order to make God into an image they want their followers to believe He is. What they fail to comprehend is that His Word is preserved, as we just read, the prophecies fulfilled prove to be true when Jesus came here in the flesh, through man. The world can deny His deity all they want, but cannot deny that He was born in the flesh through a woman, and that He walked the earth. Those who claim they believe in Christ and are saved, but have not changed their ways in the slightest way need to check their salvation as having faith in Him is only the beginning. Peter explains the walk of a Christian beginning with our faith in Christ.
[2 Peter 1:5-10 And beside this, giving all diligence, add to your faith virtue; and to virtue knowledge; 6 And to knowledge temperance; and to temperance patience; and to patience godliness; 7 And to godliness brotherly kindness; and to brotherly kindness charity. 8 For if these things be in you, and abound, they make you that ye shall neither be barren nor unfruitful in the knowledge of our Lord Jesus Christ. 9 But he that lacketh these things is blind, and cannot see afar off, and hath forgotten that he was purged from his old sins. 10 Wherefore the rather, brethren, give diligence to make your calling and election sure: for if ye do these things, ye shall never fall:]
Life gets the best of us sometimes, which is why we need these reminders that we belong to Jesus pretty much every day. God’s grace, it is an amazing thing, to be forgiven, and to receive eternal life through no efforts of our own is something that no true Christian will fully understand, but is grateful for it as they seek to know God’s will and follow it the best they can, [1 Corinthians 15:10 But by the grace of God I am what I am: and his grace which was bestowed upon me was not in vain; but I laboured more abundantly than they all: yet not I, but the grace of God which was with me.]
As Peter continues his letter, he recalls when Jesus was on the mountain of transfiguration and he saw Him talking with Moses and Elijah [Matthew 17:1-13]. That was all the proof he needed to believe that everything written in the Bible was done under the inspiration of God and will come to pass.
[2 Peter 1:17-21 For he received from God the Father honour and glory, when there came such a voice to him from the excellent glory, This is my beloved Son, in whom I am well pleased. 18 And this voice which came from heaven we heard, when we were with him in the holy mount. 19 We have also a more sure word of prophecy; whereunto ye do well that ye take heed, as unto a light that shineth in a dark place, until the day dawn, and the day star arise in your hearts: 20 Knowing this first, that no prophecy of the scripture is of any private interpretation. 21 For the prophecy came not in old time by the will of man: but holy men of God spake as they were moved by the Holy Ghost.]
Not all who say they are Christian think the same way, false Christians deceive people into believing that what they are doing is in God’s will when what they are actually doing is seeking their own. Let me tell you, we are definitely in the end times, and yes, that is said of every generation, but this world is truly becoming more corrupt by the second. Peter, warned of this even back then and what happened to all who tried it in the past.
[2 Peter 2:1-3 But there were false prophets also among the people, even as there shall be false teachers among you, who privily shall bring in damnable heresies, even denying the Lord that bought them, and bring upon themselves swift destruction. 2 And many shall follow their pernicious ways; by reason of whom the way of truth shall be evil spoken of. 3 And through covetousness shall they with feigned words make merchandise of you: whose judgment now of a long time lingereth not, and their damnation slumbereth not.]
[Pernicious; Destructive; having the quality of killing, destroying or injuring; very injurious or mischievous.] Mark God’s words, every false prophet, preacher, teacher, servant and liar will be judge with the same judgment as the ones who trusted them. Peter, reminds us that while judgment comes to all, only those saved will survive Judgment Day, and this goes all the way back to the angels who turned on God and are awaiting that day as well.
[2 Peter 2:4-6,9,12 For if God spared not the angels that sinned, but cast them down to hell, and delivered them into chains of darkness, to be reserved unto judgment; 5 And spared not the old world, but saved Noah the eighth person, a preacher of righteousness, bringing in the flood upon the world of the ungodly; 6 And turning the cities of Sodom and Gomorrha into ashes condemned them with an overthrow, making them an ensample unto those that after should live ungodly; 9 The Lord knoweth how to deliver the godly out of temptations, and to reserve the unjust unto the day of judgment to be punished: 12 But these, as natural brute beasts, made to be taken and destroyed, speak evil of the things that they understand not; and shall utterly perish in their own corruption;]
[Brute; Senseless; Irrational. Bestial. Rough. Uncivilized. Insensible. A beast. Any person destitute of reason. A brutal person. A savage in heart or manners.] Does any of this sound familiar? It is exactly what many nations are seeing right now, uncivilized people speaking evil of things they do not understand, riots in the daytime, cursed children, and corrupt politicians, and this is within the churches also. However, God, does not need to lift one finger to destroy them, they are destroying themselves by their own corruption. Peter, goes on to describe these natural brute beasts as wells without water.
[2 Peter 2:18-21 For when they speak great swelling words of vanity, they allure through the lusts of the flesh, through much wantonness, those that were clean escaped from them who live in error. 19 While they promise them liberty, they themselves are the servants of corruption: for of whom a man is overcome, of the same is he brought in bondage. 20 For if after they have escaped the pollutions of the world through the knowledge of the Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ, they are again entangled therein, and overcome, the latter end is worse with them than the beginning. 21 For it had been better for them not to have known the way of righteousness, than, after they have known it, to turn from the holy commandment delivered unto them.]
These brute beasts know of Jesus, and maybe even say they got saved, and lived as though He was their Saviour for a little while, and then the truth came out. While we are not the judge, we must understand that the world, and quite frankly, half of the Christian world, is entangled in some kind of sin, and they know it is against God. This is why salvation is only made possible if we have truly received Christ and keep our faith until our last breath. Jesus Himself said.
[Matthew 12:43-45 When the unclean spirit is gone out of a man, he walketh through dry places, seeking rest, and findeth none. 44 Then he saith, I will return into my house from whence I came out; and when he is come, he findeth it empty, swept, and garnished. 45 Then goeth he, and taketh with himself seven other spirits more wicked than himself, and they enter in and dwell there: and the last state of that man is worse than the first. Even so shall it be also unto this wicked generation.]
While we are not the judge, we must understand that the world, and quite frankly, half the saved world, is entangled in some kind of sin, they know it is against God’s Word, but continue in their sin, justifying their actions by their salvation. They think that going back into the world and living a sinful life has no consequences? Think again. If God will not spare the angles that have turned on Him and reserved them for judgment, He will not spare anyone who falsely believes in His Son.
[2 Peter 3:5-7,11-12 For this they willingly are ignorant of, that by the word of God the heavens were of old, and the earth standing out of the water and in the water: 6 Whereby the world that then was, being overflowed with water, perished: 7 But the heavens and the earth, which are now, by the same word are kept in store, reserved unto fire against the day of judgment and perdition of ungodly men. 11 Seeing then that all these things shall be dissolved, what manner of persons ought ye to be in all holy conversation and godliness, 12 Looking for and hasting unto the coming of the day of God, wherein the heavens being on fire shall be dissolved, and the elements shall melt with fervent heat?]
We are saved by grace through our faith and acceptance of the Lord, Jesus Christ as our Saviour, but we are not saved from the consequences that result from living an immoral or wicked life if we do not repent of them. We do not know the hour in which Christ will return, but we do know that we better be prepared.
[2 Peter 3:14-17 Wherefore, beloved, seeing that ye look for such things, be diligent that ye may be found of him in peace, without spot, and blameless. 15 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; 16 As also in all his epistles, speaking in them of these things; in which are some things hard to be understood, which they that are unlearned and unstable wrest, as they do also the other scriptures, unto their own destruction. 17 Ye therefore, beloved, seeing ye know these things before, beware lest ye also, being led away with the error of the wicked, fall from your own stedfastness.]
We might be saved by grace through our faith and acceptance of Christ as our Saviour, but we are not saved from the consequences that result from living an immoral or wicked life if we do not repent of them. The Book of Jude was written by Jude in 66AD also, to those of the common salvation. The purpose of the letter was to remind them also of the judgment coming and false teachers. What we are to learn from it is that we must always be on alert on those who divert believers from the truth of God’s Word, [Jude 1:17-18 But, beloved, remember ye the words which were spoken before of the apostles of our Lord Jesus Christ; 18 How that they told you there should be mockers in the last time, who should walk after their own ungodly lusts.]
Jude, is the brother of James and an earthly brother of Jesus as pertaining to the flesh by Mary and Joseph. Jude, warns us of the apostasy within the church and how it creeps into the Church.
[Jude 1:1-4 Jude, the servant of Jesus Christ, and brother of James, to them that are sanctified by God the Father, and preserved in Jesus Christ, and called: 2 Mercy unto you, and peace, and love, be multiplied. 3 Beloved, when I gave all diligence to write unto you of the common salvation, it was needful for me to write unto you, and exhort you that ye should earnestly contend for the faith which was once delivered unto the saints. 4 For there are certain men crept in unawares, who were before of old ordained to this condemnation, ungodly men, turning the grace of our God into lasciviousness, and denying the only Lord God, and our Lord Jesus Christ.]
As merciful and gracious as God is He is well aware of those who take advantage of His good graces, when people start changing His Word to suit their flesh, that is when He draws the line. The apostle here exhibits a charge against deceivers who were now seducing the disciples of Christ from the profession and practice of his holy religion.
[Jude 1:10-13 But these speak evil of those things which they know not: but what they know naturally, as brute beasts, in those things they corrupt themselves. 11 Woe unto them! for they have gone in the way of Cain, and ran greedily after the error of Balaam for reward, and perished in the gainsaying of Core. 12 These are spots in your feasts of charity, when they feast with you, feeding themselves without fear: clouds they are without water, carried about of winds; trees whose fruit withereth, without fruit, twice dead, plucked up by the roots; 13 Raging waves of the sea, foaming out their own shame; wandering stars, to whom is reserved the blackness of darkness for ever.]
False teachers, preachers, and servants greatly defile and grievously wound the soul. These false Christians are of a disturbed mind and pernicious spirit, forgetting that the powers that be, are ordained of God and subject to their faithfulness to God. Jude, describes events similar to Peter here.
[Jude 1:16-19 These are murmurers, complainers, walking after their own lusts; and their mouth speaketh great swelling words, having men’s persons in admiration because of advantage. 17 But, beloved, remember ye the words which were spoken before of the apostles of our Lord Jesus Christ; 18 How that they told you there should be mockers in the last time, who should walk after their own ungodly lusts. 19 These be they who separate themselves, sensual, having not the Spirit.]
God, is a patient God, so patient that He is willing to wait until the very last believer receives His Son before sending Him back to earth, [Jude 1:21-25 Keep yourselves in the love of God, looking for the mercy of our Lord Jesus Christ unto eternal life. 22 And of some have compassion, making a difference: 23 And others save with fear, pulling them out of the fire; hating even the garment spotted by the flesh. 24 Now unto him that is able to keep you from falling, and to present you faultless before the presence of his glory with exceeding joy, 25 To the only wise God our Saviour, be glory and majesty, dominion and power, both now and ever. Amen.]
God, is not easily provoked by anyone, except by those who deliberately twist His Word and convince others that it is truth. While some people can be won to Christ through compassion, most people will not get saved until they are faced with fear, [2 Corinthians 7:10-11 For godly sorrow worketh repentance to salvation not to be repented of: but the sorrow of the world worketh death. 11 For behold this selfsame thing, that ye sorrowed after a godly sort, what carefulness it wrought in you, yea, what clearing of yourselves, yea, what indignation, yea, what fear, yea, what vehement desire, yea, what zeal, yea, what revenge! In all things ye have approved yourselves to be clear in this matter.]
Today’s Prayer: Jesus, Happy Birthday to You! You did not have to do it, but you became one of us, You took on human form, and all the pain, suffering, and death that comes with it. Thank You for the great sacrifice You made in becoming like one of us so that You could give Your life to save us. You could have jumped off that cross, You could have changed Your mind and made us fend for ourselves, but you gave Your life to save us, all because You love us too much to see us end up in hell with the devil, fallen angels, false prophets, and all unbelievers. Lord, I know I am saved through my faith in You alone, but I do not want to just get by here with my salvation, I want all the fruit that comes from my faithfulness to You. Lord, walk with me, give me faith, virtue, knowledge, temperance, patience, godliness, brotherly kindness, and charity. Through Your power, I know I can do all things. And I ask these things in Your name Jesus, Amen.
God Bless You, I am praying for you,
Christina
Are You 100% Sure You Are Going To Heaven?: https://imfollowingjesus.com/Biblestudy/ready-to-follow-jesus/
Read Previous Devotions: https://imfollowingjesus.com/Biblestudy/
Read The Bible: http://kingjamesbible.imfollowingjesus.com/
Visit I’m Following Jesus: https://imfollowingjesus.com/Biblestudy/welcome/
Like I’m Following Jesus On Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/byhisstrength
Copyright © 2025 I’m Following Jesus, All rights reserved.