Reading 1 Peter Together, Day 20 - 1 Peter 2:13-17

¹³ Be subject for the Lord’s sake to every human institution, whether it be to the emperor as supreme, ¹⁴ or to governors as sent by him to punish those who do evil and to praise those who do good. ¹⁵ For this is the will of God, that by doing good you should put to silence the ignorance of foolish people. ¹⁶ Live as people who are free, not using your freedom as a cover-up for evil, but living as servants of God. ¹⁷ Honor everyone. Love the brotherhood. Fear God. Honor the emperor. 

The preceding verses signaled a shift from Peter’s description of who believers are and what they have in Christ to how they are to live as Christ’s people.  Verses 13-17 will introduce one of the major sub-themes of Peter’s letter - submission to authority.

Peter instructs believers to be subject to every human institution.  In other words, in every situation where believers find themselves under the authority of someone else, whether as citizens, servants (employees), wives, or church members, believers honor Christ by submitting to authority - provided of course that submission to that authority does not conflict with the revealed will of God.

We do this so that ignorant and foolish people will be put to shame by our doing good.  From the earliest days of the church until today the unbelieving world has spoken evil of the church.  The early church was accused of incest, cannibalism, and holding orgies among other accusations. Our responsibility as Christians isn’t to defend ourselves against such accusations with words alone, but to live in such a way that the accusations make the accuser appear foolish.  We use our freedom in Christ to separate ourselves from evil, not live in evil and cover up evil.  

We are to honor all people, love those in the church, fear God, and honor the emperor (government leaders).

Here are today’s questions for consideration:

Would you say that your life is characterized by obedience to authority?  

Why is obedience to authority, even secular authorities, expected of Christians?  How did Jesus demonstrate obedience to authority during his earthly ministry?

What are some of the accusations the unbelieving world makes against Christians today?  Do you think those accusations are deserved or not?  How can we put to silence the ignorance of foolish people in this day?

Why does Peter say to use our freedom to live as servants of God?  Is that a contradiction?

Reading 1 Peter Together, Day 16 - 1 Peter 2:11-12

¹¹ Beloved, I urge you as sojourners and exiles to abstain from the passions of the flesh, which wage war against your soul. ¹² Keep your conduct among the Gentiles honorable, so that when they speak against you as evildoers, they may see your good deeds and glorify God on the day of visitation. 

From 1 Peter 1:3 up to 2:10 Peter has primarily informed believers of their privileged status as God’s chosen people.  They have salvation, the promise of future glory, redemption by the blood of Christ, the living word of God, and they have been made into a chosen race, a royal priesthood and a people for God’s own possession.  Verses 11 and 12 of chapter 2 function as a transition from the privileges of being chosen to the responsibilities and expectations of being chosen.  

Peter reminds them, and us, once again that they and we are sojourners and exiles.  The world is not our home.  And since the world is not our home, we should not live like the world lives.  Of course we eat, drink, work, have families, and do all sorts of other things that unbelievers do, but in other ways the lives f believers should be markedly different from the lives of unbelievers.  Our behavior is different, our values are different, our worldview is different.

In verse 11 Peter urges his readers to abstain from fleshly passions, which wage war against the soul.  When we think about fleshly passions we think of things like sexual immorality and greed, but the term being used really encompasses the spectrum of sin.  Christians should abstain from sin.  

So often our attitude towards sin is that God has made all the really fun stuff in life off-limits as some sort of test of our obedience.  Nothing could be further from the truth.  Sin kills. Sin enslaves.  God, in his loving goodness, has told us what kills us, what separates us from his perfect love.  The Biblical teaching is the unbeliever has no power to abstain from sin. But the believer is a new creation in Christ, walking in the power of the Holy Spirit, who now has the ability to choose to do what is right.  Peter’s instruction is simple: abstain from sin, do what is right.

And we do this so that the unbelievers around us will us living holy and upright lives and recognize that there is actually power in the gospel.  How can we preach of message of repentance and belief for salvation from sin and continue in sin?  But if we preach a message of salvation from the penalty and power of sin, and live lives characterized by good works, unbelievers will notice and perhaps be brought to repentant faith as well.

Here are your questions today.

How does viewing as sin as something that kills us vs. a test of obedience change the way we fight sin?  How does this change our view of God?

Is living a good, moral life alone enough to see unbelievers brought to faith?  In other words, can we live the gospel without preaching the gospel and see people brought to repentance and faith?

Reading 1 Peter Together, Day 14 - 1 Peter 2:9-10

Today is day 14 of Reading 1 Peter Together.  We're almost halfway through our month long daily reading of the entire book.  Today we'll focus our attention on two verses, 2:9-10.

⁹ But you are a chosen race, a royal priesthood, a holy nation, a people for his own possession, that you may proclaim the excellencies of him who called you out of darkness into his marvelous light. ¹⁰ Once you were not a people, but now you are God’s people; once you had not received mercy, but now you have received mercy. 

As Peter begins to wrap up the opening thoughts of his letter, he continues to distinguish between the believers to whom he is writing and the unbelieving world.  In the introduction he called his recipients elect exiles, and in verse 9 he calls them a chosen race, a royal priesthood, a holy nation, and a people for his own possession.  

Peter is drawing heavily from the Old Testament books of the Law (Genesis-Deuteronomy) and applying to the church words that were previously spoken of the nation of Israel.  (See Deuteronomy 7:6-9 and Exodus 19:6.)  The promises and the status that once exclusively belonged to the people of Israel now belong to all believe in Christ.  

Although the church is comprised of many different nationalities and ethnicities, we are one race in Christ - a chosen race to be God’s holy people.  Formerly we were not a people, now we are God’s people.  Formerly we were in darkness, now we have been brought into the light.  Formerly we had not received mercy, now we have received mercy.

These are among the many privileges of being God’s chosen people.  But with these privileges come responsibilities.  Most of the rest of Peter’s letter will instruct believers on how we are to live as God’s chosen people in a world that hates us.

Here are today’s questions for meditation.

Peter unashamedly contrasts the privileges and status of God’s chosen people and those on the outside.  Are you comfortable thinking and speaking this way?  Why or why not?

What are the implications for believers of various cultural and ethnic backgrounds of being made one race in Christ?  Is it Christ-honoring for believers to segregate themselves in local congregations where everyone has the same skin color and cultural background?

How do we proclaim the excellencies of him who called us out of darkness into his marvelous light?  

Reading 1 Peter Together, Day 10 - 1 Peter 2:4-8

Today is day 10, meaning we're 1/3 of the way through our month long reading of 1 Peter.  Today is the tenth day in a row you should have read 1 Peter in its entirety.  Hopefully by now it's becoming very familiar to you.

Today's focus is on 1 Peter 2:4-8.

⁴ As you come to him, a living stone rejected by men but in the sight of God chosen and precious, ⁵ you yourselves like living stones are being built up as a spiritual house, to be a holy priesthood, to offer spiritual sacrifices acceptable to God through Jesus Christ. ⁶ For it stands in Scripture: 

“Behold, I am laying in Zion a stone, 

a cornerstone chosen and precious, 

and whoever believes in him will not be put to shame.” 

⁷ So the honor is for you who believe, but for those who do not believe, 

“The stone that the builders rejected 

has become the cornerstone,” 

⁸ and 

“A stone of stumbling, 

and a rock of offense.” 

They stumble because they disobey the word, as they were destined to do. 

In the verses preceding 2:4-8 Peter has told his readers that they are to love each other and crave the pure spiritual milk of the word of God.  In these verses he begins to tell them more about who they are as a people in Christ, and how they will share in both Christ’s suffering and reward.

Jesus was “a living stone” rejected by men but in the sight of God chosen and precious.  He was rejected during his earthly ministry by the Jewish religious leaders who denied his claim to be the Messiah and put him to death, just as it was foretold in the Old Testament that they would.  He is rejected still today by all who do not believe the gospel.  Jesus told his disciples in John 15 that the world would hate them just as it hated him.  If Jesus was rejected, we can expect to be rejected as well.

But in the sight of God, the only one whose opinion ultimately matters, Jesus was chosen and precious.  So are we who are united as one in Christ.  We, the church, are being built up as a spiritual house, to be a holy priesthood, to offer spiritual sacrifices acceptable to God through Jesus Christ.  

Though the world may shame Christians, we will not be put to shame by God.  We have honor in the sight of God.  

For us, Jesus is the cornerstone.  For those who reject Christ, he is a stumbling block and a rock of offense.  This is cited from Isaiah 8:14, one of the prophecies that Isreal would reject her Messiah.  Peter then finishes the thought with an interesting statement, “They stumble because they disobey the word, as they were destined to do.”

Here are your questions to consider today.

Do you expect the world to reject and despise you because you are identified with Christ.  Why or why not?

Why did the people of Israel reject Jesus as their Messiah?

What hope do Peter’s words in these verses give believers, especially believers facing persecution and suffering for the faith?

What does Peter mean when he says that those who disobey the word were destined to do so?  How should this inform our thinking about those who reject Christ?

Reading 1 Peter Together, Day 8 - 1 Peter 2:1-3

It's day 8 of reading 1 Peter Together.  Remember, the challenge is to read the entire book every day and spend a few minutes extra meditating on the verses I highlight here on the blog.  Today we'll look at 2:1-3

2 So put away all malice and all deceit and hypocrisy and envy and all slander. ² Like newborn infants, long for the pure spiritual milk, that by it you may grow up into salvation— ³ if indeed you have tasted that the Lord is good. 

Peter continues with the theme of obedience by listing five things that believers should put away - all malice, all deceit, hypocrisy, envy and slander.  These five things are, of course, not the only behaviors that Christians should avoid, but Peter is continuing the thought he began in the previous few sentences.  Christians are to love one another earnestly from a pure heart.  Malice, deceit, hypocrisy, envy, and slander have no place among people who love each other.  

Instead, believers should be like newborn infants, craving pure spiritual milk, that they may grow into salvation.  In John 3, Jesus famously told Nicodemus that a person must be born again to see the kingdom of God.  In the preceding sentences Peter told the believers that they were born again through the word of God, and that is the pure spiritual milk he is instructing them to long for.  Just as a baby needs milk to grow into a mature and healthy human, a Christian who has been born again needs the word of God to grow into spiritual maturity. There is no Christian growth without a steady diet of God’s word, which, in his loving kindness, he has given to us in the Bible.  

John Bunyan once said, “Prayer will make a man cease from sin, or sin will entice a man to cease from prayer.” There is much truth in that statement, and it is at least equally true that reading/hearing, studying, and knowing the word of God will keep a man from sin, and that sin will keep a man from the word of God.  Peter’s instruction is put away sin, and crave the word instead.

Here are your questions for today.

Do you find your life characterized by any of the five sins Peter mentioned?  If so, what needs to change?

Do you crave the word of God like a newborn baby craves milk?

Why is the word of God so important in the life of a believer?  Why does Peter tell them to crave the living and abiding word, not prayer, fellowship, or other aspects of Christian living?

Reading 1 Peter Together, Day 7 - 1 Peter 1:22-25

In the previous verses Peter instructed the believers to live holy lives because they had been called by holy God and purchased with the blood of Christ.  Now he instructs them to live lives characterized by love for one another.  They were, and now we are, to love our brothers and sisters in the church sincerely, earnestly, and from a pure heart.  And again, this is not to earn God’s favor or earn our salvation, but because we have already been born again of imperishable seed.  

They, and we, were born again through the living and abiding word of God.  Peter echoes what Paul says in Romans 10:17, that faith comes by hearing and hearing by the word of Christ.  There is no belief, there is no saving faith, without hearing or reading the word of God.  Paul makes it clear in Romans 1 that creation gives us enough knowledge of God to be held accountable for our sins, but as he will say in Romans 10 and what Peter affirms in these verses is that it is only through the living and abiding word of God that sinners are brought to saving faith.  

Throughout the first chapter Peter has repeatedly distinguished between the temporal, gold and silver or things that are perishable, and the eternal - salvation, the blood of Christ, and the word of God.

Here are today’s questions:

What is the relationship between being born again and loving one another?  

Do you think it’s possible for someone who hasn’t been born again to genuinely love someone else?

Why is it so important for Christians to love one another, particularly in times of suffering as Peter’s original readers were experiencing?

Why do you think Peter keeps stressing the difference between the temporal and eternal to those suffering believers?  Even in times of peace, how should this influence the way we live?

Knowing that we were born again through the preaching of the living abiding word of God, what should we be doing with the word of God?

37 Surprising Demonstrations of Jesus' Love in Matthew

Love is all the rage among Christians today, as it should be in one sense.  What worries me is that when I hear many professing Christians talking about love, especially the love demonstrated by Jesus during his earthly ministry, it doesn’t sound like the love of Jesus I read about in Scripture.  It seems that may people imagine Jesus walking around Israel, always smiling, always helping people, partying and having a good time - but never saying a harsh or potentially hurtful word to anyone.  That’s not the Jesus found in Scripture.  

Jesus did love people.  He did perform many miracles for the benefit of those with needs.  He did dine with tax collectors and prostitutes.  Yet, at the end of his earthly ministry, even after his resurrection from the dead, he only had around 120 followers (Acts 1:15).  Why is that? 

I think many in the church today have a very simplistic view of Jesus.  Paul warned the Corinthians against believing in another Jesus (2 Corinthians 11:1-6).  I’ve compiled below a list of 37 surprising ways that Jesus demonstrated love as recorded in the gospel of Matthew.  Read this list and ask yourself, does this Jesus sound like the Jesus I believe in?

Also keep in mind as you read that Jesus is eternally God, and God is love, therefore everything Jesus said and did was a demonstration of God's perfect love.

1. He called people to repentance, using the word repent. (Matthew 4:17)
2. He warned that some people will not enter the kingdom of heaven (Matthew 5:20)
3. He told the angry that they are guilty of murder (Matthew 5:21-26)
4. He told the lustful that they are guilty of adultery (Matthew 5:27-30)
5. He told the angry and the lustful that they are in danger of begin thrown into Hell (Matthew 5:21-30)
6. He said that those who divorce and remarry for any reason other than adultery are guilty of adultery (Matthew 5:31-32)
7. He called unbelievers hostile to the gospel dogs and pigs (Matthew 7:6)
8. He warned that many are on the wide road to destruction and few will enter the narrow gate to eternal life (Matthew 7:13-14)
9. He warned that the road that leads to eternal life is hard (Matthew 7:14)
10. He warned against false prophets and said they would be thrown into the fire (Matthew 7:15-20)
11. He warned that on the last day many who called him Lord will be cast away from him because they never knew him (Matthew 7:21-23)
12. He told those who wanted to follow him that there were costs to following him (Matthew 8:18-22)
13. He warned the disciples that they would be hated and suffer persecution for being his followers (Matthew 10:16-24)
14. He said he came not to bring peace, but a sword; to set a man against his father, a daughter against her mother, make a person’s enemies those of his own household. (Matthew 10:34-36)
15. He said that anyone who loves their mother or father, son or daughter more than him is not worthy of him (Matthew 10:37)
16. He said that anyone who does not take up his cross and follow him is not worthy of him (Matthew 10:38)
17. He pronounced woes on unrepentant cities and told them harsh judgment was coming for them (Matthew 11:20-24)
18. He said that only an evil and adulterous generation seeks signs [miracles] (Matthew 12:39)
19. He said that the men of Nineveh will rise up to judge and condemn his generation because of their unbelief (Matthew 12:41)
20. He spoke in parables to conceal the truth from those to whom the secrets of the kingdom of heaven had not been given (Matthew 13:11-13)
21. He warned that on the last day the wheat (genuine believers) and weeds (false Christians) will be separated and the weeds will be thrown into the fire to be burned, where there is weeping and gnashing of teeth (Matthew 13:24-30; 36-43)
22. He called the falsely teaching Pharisees blind guides (Matthew 15:14)
23. He called a Canaanite woman a dog before healing her daughter (Matthew 15:26)
24. He called Peter Satan when Peter attempted to rebuke him (Matthew 16:23)
25. He said that those who do not have humble, childlike faith will not enter the kingdom of heaven (Matthew 18:4)
26. He said that it would be better for someone who cause a little child to sin to have a millstone cast around his neck and thrown into the sea (Matthew 18:5-6)
27. He warned that the punishment for sin is eternal fire (Matthew 18:7-9)
28. He said that anyone in the church who refuses to repent of sin he must be treated by the church as a Gentile and a tax collector (Matthew 18:15-7)
29. He warned that anyone who does not forgive his brother who has wronged him from the heart will be like a man thrown into prison and kept until the debt is paid (Matthew 18:23-35)
30. He taught that God created males and females and that marriage is a one-flesh union between a man and a woman (Matthew 19:4-6)
31. He turned away the rich young man who would not sell his possessions (Matthew 19:16-30)
32. He drove out all who sold in the temple and overturned the tables of the money changers (Matthew 21:12)
33. He refused to answer a question posed by the chief priests and elders (Matthew 21:23-27)
34. He called the Pharisees hypocrites to their faces (Matthew 22:18)
35. He pronounced seven woes on the scribes and Pharisees, using extremely harsh language (Matthew 23:1-36)
36. He said that on the last he will divide all the people of the earth into two groups, sheep and goats.  The sheep will inherit the kingdom, the cursed goats will be and cast into eternal fire. (Matthew 24:31-46)
37. He said it would have been better for Judas if he had not been born (Matthew 26:24)