Peter doesn’t stop here. His final urge to the scattered Christians is that they “live in harmony” with each other, that they “love each other deeply” (reference 1.22), to be “compassionate” and “humble.” Peter implores us to shrug off the opposite of these virtues: revenge. Rather than revenge, our every intention must be to bless everyone we meet. This requires honesty (“…must keep his tongue from evil, his lips from deceitful speech…”); being a do-gooder; one who seeks – even pursues – peace. Does this description yet sound familiar? Read on, true to form Peter will provide us with the Excellent Example!
In 1 Peter 1.22-2.12 we discover profound truths about our identity in Jesus Christ. Rather than the practices we once kept as unbelievers, looking out for number one, we are now characterized by purity of love for one another (according to 1.22). This love is not superficial, as in “I love ice cream,” rather, it is a “deep” love. The Greek word used here means literally “in an all-out manner, with intense strain.” This is possible because in Christ our entire being has been morphed into something completely unlike our previous selves. This radical change has affected our minds and souls, enabling us to become children of God. How did this transformation begin and when will it be completed? The next 16 verses explain the details.
This salvation that Peter has spent the first 13 verses discussing provides us four things we desperately need to please God: enlightenment (.14), holiness (.15), a new identity (.16-.20), and hope (.21).
A good friend of mine is in the midst of tough times and the experience has caused questions he has set aside in the pest to come to the center of his attention. Questions like, “why is there so much suffering in the world?” and “why doesn’t God do something about all the suffering in the world?”. There are of course quick answers to these questions: (1) we brought suffering into the world when we sinned and (2) God is not responsible for making our lives easy. While these answers are true, they do not satisfy the deep feelings evoked when going through intense suffering. I do not believe he is alone in his questioning, and for this reason Think-Biblically.com will launch a new Bible study series on the book of 1 Peter.
Men and women, though created equal, were also created different and contrary to popular belief women do not receive the short end of the stick in the Bible. There are some who believe that chauvinism was championed on one end of Christian history by the apostle Paul, and on the other by Bill Gothard. In all truth, however, the Bible doesn’t demonstrate such thinking.
As this site’s purpose is to teach people to think Biblically, a couple news stories out of Florida caught our attention. The first is a fifth-grade teacher at a public school attempting to keep a student in her class from reading his Bible during free time, and the second is a high school stopping the distribution of Bibles – and any other religious books – from being distributed on their campus. If you are a student or a parent of a student, this special report is a must-read.
I am pleased to live in Colorado, for it is a state where the beauty of its natural resources and its people is completely incongruous to the events that unfolded in France last week. To the families of the innocent victims we at Think-Biblically.com offer our condolences and our prayers. To the families of the now dead perpetrators of these evil acts, and to all Muslims around the world whether practicing or not, we would like to say:
After seeing the latest Hollywood exploit of a major Biblical story, I intended to write a review of Exodus: Gods and Kings. I considered talking about the stellar performances from the all-star cast, and the production value. All of which are exceptional. Then I thought of creating a list of all the ways the writers and directors altered the original story, which would have been remarkably long. In thinking it through I realized this isn’t the Biblical story, this is a new Moses, one where acts of nature replace acts of God, and acts of terrorism are accepted as acts of justice. A story where God is a figment of one man’s imagination after hitting his head on a rock. How can a movie be so good in so many ways and yet miss the mark so widely? Pondering this led me to a more important question, what creative liberties can one take with God’s Word?
Submission, while a dirty word in today's world, is to be no stranger to the Christian. In this longer section (1 Peter 2.13-3.22) Peter provides us with four scenarios for submission, at least one of which every believer could relate to: a citizen, a slave, a spouse and a sibling. Consider this “Submission Week” as we’ll spend the next few days uncovering Peter’s teaching on the subject.
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Peter, due to his own impatience, understands as well as anyone how difficult it is to wait upon the Lord. In opening his letter he begins with acknowledging that, while we wait upon God for many things, we wait upon him for these four items in particular: Our future inheritance (verses three through 5), our deliverance from trials (verses six and seven), a glimpse of our savior (verses eight and nine) and for complete understanding (verses 10 through 13). The goal of our faith, which is constantly tested, is our salvation. That salvation is a great mystery and of great worth, is both secure and eternal, and will be made complete at the revelation of Jesus Christ.
It can be stressful to see another year end, another one begin and perhaps this is the best time to remember that we worship a living God.
