God's grace extended
…and if he rescued righteous Lot, distressed by the depraved behavior of the immoral (for as that righteous man lived among them day by day, his righteous soul was tormented by the lawless deeds he saw and heard)—. 2 Peter 2:7-8 CSB
From yesterday, we read on how God’s judgment was enacted in the past with the angels that had fallen, Noah and his family and the flood, and Sodom and Gomorrah being destroyed with fire from heaven. In the next two verses, Peter shows that even though God’s judgment had been dispensed and will be doled out in the future, God’s grace continues to be available and extended in the present. Peter cited Lot as the prime example before the account of the destruction of Sodom and Gomorrah in the Book of Genesis when Abraham and Lot traveled together. There came a point when their land that they resided in could no longer sustain both of them, so Abraham (Abram at the time, Genesis 13), gave his nephew a choice that whatever land he chose, Abraham would go to the opposite. Lot decided the area of Sodom and Gomorrah because it seemed better for raising his livestock than the other area (see Genesis 13:10-11). Lot is described by Peter as “righteous” three times from our text, despite Lot’s life is not commendable. When we get to Genesis 19, we see Lot willing to offer up his daughters to be handled in any way by the Sodomites (Genesis 19:8). God saw Lot’s heart, being “distressed by the depraved of the immoral,” every day “tormented by the lawless deed he saw and heard.” We cannot excuse Lot’s reasoning and conclude that he was morally weak. Furthermore, Lot’s drunken stupor which brought the sin of incest into his own family put a permanent stain on his personal morality (see Genesis 19:30–38). Throughout this, though, God revealed to Peter, when he wrote this, that he deemed Lot as a righteous man when Abraham pleaded to God to spare the land from the impending judgment. “‘Then he said, ‘Let my lord not be angry, and I will speak one more time. Suppose ten are found there?’” (Genesis 18:32). Jesus mentions Lot in His discourse about the events that will happen in the end time. “It will be the same as it was in the days of Lot: People went on eating, drinking, buying, selling, planting, building. But on the day Lot left Sodom, fire and sulfur rained from heaven and destroyed them all. It will be like that on the day the Son of Man is revealed” (Luke 17:28-30). We should understand Lot’s righteousness based on God’s mercy and grace upon him and his family when God provided a rescue sparing them from the wrath and destruction. “Your servant has indeed found favor with you, and you have shown me great kindness by saving my life” (Genesis 19:19). And as Peter says from the text, Lot objected to the sins of the people whom he lived day after day, “his righteous soul was tormented by the lawless deeds he saw and heard.” This is why God rescued him. God’s grace is available for all but detests sin. Lot’s soul was not numbed by the sinful deeds he saw daily. God invites sinners to come to Him and receive His grace for forgiveness and life but to reject His gift would lead to death and destruction.
Blessings,
Isaac De Guzman
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