1 Peter 2
Good morning. We get to continue in our study of I Peter this morning. Chapter two is falls into two parts covering two topics. The first half of the chapter will conclude the portion dealing with our position in Christ. The second half of the chapter delves deeper into our response to what Christ has done for us and how He went about it.
Last week, we covered chapter 1. The themes that came out last week were:
--We are God's elect, His chosen ones.
--We can have confidence that we are chosen.
--Foreknowledge (God the Father), sanctifying (Holy Spirit), and obedience (Jesus Christ)
--We are God's elect strangers, we are no longer of this world, but passing through .
--Through faith, we are shielded by God's power.
--Our faith is proved genuine by trials.
--Our salvation is a precious gift not to be taken for granted.
--Therefore, we must prepare our minds, be self-controlled and set our hope fully on grace.
--Do not conform to evil desires, be holy.
--We are redeemed not by gold (perishable) but by the blood of Christ (imperishable).
--As a result of this purification, love one another.
--We are born again of imperishable seed, not perishable.
--All men are like grass, but the word of the Lord stands forever.
We will continue now in chapter 2. Which begins, “Therefore.” Carl shared a few weeks back various techniques to interpret Scripture. One of the simpler ones was when you see the word “therefore” you should ask the question, “What is the therefore there for?”
So what is the therefore there for?
Looking back at the points shown in italics. Particularly the last portion about the fact that we are born again of imperishable seed and the word of the Lord stands forever. Peter does an outstanding job of casting the vision for our lives.
I don't know if you have ever experienced a let down from any activity that you have been involved in. It does not matter what secular institution you are affiliated with, there will almost surely be points in time where you cannot grasp or see the vision. We hunger for that. We want to know what direction are we going in. We want to know is it worth the work or sacrifice.
We are in the process of migrating from one business management software architecture to another. I mean we are changing the production management and accounting software. It's a really big change and it will have an impact on nearly every person in the organization. Facing a transition of this kind, it would seem imperative that clear vision would be critical.
The most visible means of conveying the vision behind this change is a series of posters. One has a picture of a falcon, one has the picture of a lioness with her cub, and one has the picture of a fox. These are accompanied by the phrases xxxx, secure, and clever. The thing I can't help but notice is that all three animals are all predators, and they eat animals that are weaker and less able to defend themselves.
This imagery and the accompanying text is not casting a vision I am eager to put my trust in. I want to know that the changes required of me will lead the organization to a better place. If I have to give up something, then I want to see what value there will be in doing so. Show me and lead me. But the world is not going to answer those questions for us. Instead, it will take and take and take from us without giving us vision or a hope.
The Lord does not treat us that way at all. Peter is putting plainly before us what the Lord has done for us. We have been raised to incredible heights. We have been redeemed from a state of depravity that we could never have rescued ourselves from. Winning the Powerball or the Megamillions would not save us. Following a number of religious rules will not save us. It is only the sacrifice of Jesus Christ, his death on the cross that saves us. Not only that, the continued work of the Holy Spirit in our hearts and lives. We are born again to be different.
Therefore, rid yourselves of all malice and all deceit, hypocrisy, envy, and slander of every kind. I Peter 2:1
Be holy as He is holy. In view of what Christ has done, don't be like the world.
Like newborn babies, crave pure spiritual milk, I Peter 2:2
Have you ever heard a hungry newborn cry? Man can they cry. Taryn is our firstborn. Melissa planned to work right up until two weeks before the due date. Well, Taryn decided to come two weeks early. Literally, we were washing baby clothes to pack and go to the hospital the same day Taryn was born.
Since I was in school at the time, and Melissa's insurance was through her work, she went back after six weeks and worked her two week notice. So, I got to stay home alone and play Mr. Mom with Taryn during those two weeks. I thought, this is going to be great. Here I am with this perfect beautiful baby, a precious gift from God. I can do this.
There was only one problem. She would not take a bottle. I would hold the bottle and she would just cry. I mean, she would eat enough to survive, but mostly when she got hungry, she would just cry and cry and cry. She never would drink from the bottle with any semblance of contentment or happiness. I am not kidding, it almost undid me. I went through just about every emotion known to man in those two weeks and sometimes within the same day. But that sweet baby was craving pure milk and I was not the mamma.
The instruction to us is to crave pure spiritual milk. Pure. Don’t accept a substitute. Be careful not to stuff spiritual cotton in your ears. Don’t change the channel on God. I don’t know what your equivalent of spiritual cotton is, but Susanna Wesley said this.
"Take this rule: whatever weakens your reason, impairs the tenderness of your conscience, obscures your sense of God, or takes off your relish of spiritual things; in short, whatever increases the strength and authority of your body over your mind, that thing is sin to you, however innocent it may be in itself."
-- Susanna Wesley (Letter, June 8, 1725)
Why do we need to crave pure spiritual milk?
so that by it you may grow up in your salvation, now that you have tasted that the Lord is good. I Peter 2:2-3
Let’s take the last phrase first, because it fits in with the idea of craving pure spiritual milk. “Now that you have tasted that the Lord is good.”
I find it very interesting that the Bible associates the sense of taste with knowing the Lord. Psalm 34:8 says, “Taste and see that the LORD is good.” Psalm 119:103 says, “How sweet are your words to my taste.”
I have a confession. Many of you already know this. I’m a foodie. I love food. I love to cook. I love to read cookbooks. I enjoy watching cooking shows, especially if I can learn something. I like to watch Alston Brown because he’s always telling me something I didn’t know. Ratatouille is probably my favorite Pixar movie. Most of all, I love to eat. I love fruits, vegetables, meats, fish, poultry, breads, desserts, cheese. And I will eat just about anything.
Now you would think that someone who is all about food might make the connection between the idea of tasting and knowing the Lord. Well, it just recently that I began to understand this connection between taste and knowing the Lord.
The senses of taste and smell are the two strongest “memory” senses. Scientists have made studies to show that smell memory exceeds sight memory by 100 or 1000 times. You can forget a picture in a matter of days or even hours. However, your memory of a taste or smell can last months or years. Here’s one excerpt from a paper published in the Journal of Experimental Psychology.
Immediate [odor] recognition tests produced numerous errors, but there was little further retention loss for periods up to 3 mo. Neither verbal labeling nor odor familiarity aided memory, while long-term retention held up even when there were no instructions to memorize. Use of similar odors as test distractors impaired recognition significantly, but it remained well above chance after 3 mo. It is suggested that odors are coded as unitary perceptual events with little attribute redundancy; this leads to poor immediate retention but great subsequent resistance to distortion of immediately retained odors.
Engen, T & Ross, B. M. Journal of Experimental Psychology, 100, 221 - 227, (1973).
Taste is a stronger connection for us. It is stronger than hearing or seeing. “Taste and see that the Lord is good.” “Crave pure spiritual milk.” Just as the scientists discovered, this experience results in “great subsequent resistance to distortion.” We don’t get fooled by the things of this world. We are rooted and founded.
You have all experienced this before. Mom’s cooking is probably the most memorable for us. If you smell something that you haven’t smelled in a long time, you immediately get transported back to when you’ve smelled it before. We are more strongly connected through that sense memory.
In the same way, we need to pick up our Bibles and taste and see how sweet the words of the Lord are. If we put our Bible on a shelf, we won’t know, really know, how good God is. We need to taste.
Why do we crave pure spiritual milk now that we have tasted that the Lord is good?
so that by it you may grow up in your salvation
So that you become mature. So that you won’t be tossed here and there by every wave. So that you won’t be blown about by the wind. (Ephesians 4:14, James 1:6) So that you won’t forget who you are. (James 1:23)
As you come to him, the living Stone—rejected by men but chosen by God and precious to him—you also, like living stones, are being built into a spiritual house to be a holy priesthood, offering spiritual sacrifices acceptable to God through Jesus Christ. I Peter 2:4-5
Don’t forget who you are because you are an integral part of a spiritual house. You are a member of a holy priesthood. You offer spiritual sacrifices. More on that in a minute.
Who is the living Stone, capital “S”? Jesus, right.
People have gotten some interesting ideas about Peter and his role in the church based on Jesus’ conversation with him in Matthew 16.
When Jesus came to the region of Caesarea Philippi, he asked his disciples, "Who do people say the Son of Man is?"
They replied, "Some say John the Baptist; others say Elijah; and still others, Jeremiah or one of the prophets."
"But what about you?" he asked. "Who do you say I am?"
Simon Peter answered, "You are the Christ, the Son of the living God."
Jesus replied, "Blessed are you, Simon son of Jonah, for this was not revealed to you by man, but by my Father in heaven. And I tell you that you are Peter, and on this rock I will build my church, and the gates of Hades will not overcome it. I will give you the keys of the kingdom of heaven; whatever you bind on earth will be bound in heaven, and whatever you loose on earth will be loosed in heaven." Matthew 16:13-19
Some have used this passage to infer that Peter is the rock on whom Jesus will build his church. But let’s take a look at the context. Jesus asks who people say he is, and there is a range of answers. Then, he gets more pointed. “Who do you say I am?” Peter answers with the profession that Jesus is the Christ. Christ is not Jesus last name. Christ is one of his titles. Christ or Messiah means the anointed or chosen one.
Last week, we read John 6:40 where Jesus says, “everyone who looks to the Son and believes in him shall have eternal life.” Peter has just professed his faith that Jesus is not just a prophet. He is the Son of God.
I’ve heard messages that get into the Greek and explain how “this rock” on which Jesus will build his church is not referring to Peter. I’m not questioning the validity of that approach, but I think viewing this passage from Matthew in light of I Peter 2:4-5 is more accessible to those of us who are not Greek scholars.
When trying to understand a difficult passage, Carl explained during the Hard Questions series in January that we should allow Scripture to interpret Scripture because the Bible will not contradict itself. And we can have maximum confidence here because Peter was there in the Matthew passage and he’s writing to us in I Peter.
Jesus is the living Stone, capital S. Going on in I Peter 2:6, we see
For in Scripture it says: "See, I lay a stone in Zion, a chosen and precious cornerstone, and the one who trusts in him will never be put to shame." I Peter 2:6
Jesus is the cornerstone. Peter is not the rock or cornerstone of the church. Instead, the truth of Peter’s profession is the rock on which Jesus will build his church. Jesus is the Christ, the Son of the living God. In addition, the name Peter means rock. But I Peter 2:5 says we are all living stones. Through that comparison, I think we catch another glimpse of Peter’s humility. Peter does not put himself first, rather we are all together living stones including Peter. And, the last verse of the passage in Matthew also is not a once and all for Peter only. Likewise, Peter explains that all believers are part of a royal and holy priesthood. Jesus said to all the disciples in Matthew 18:18 the exact words of Matthew 16:19, “whatever you bind on earth will be bound in heaven, and whatever you loose on earth will be loosed in heaven.”
Now to you who believe, this stone is precious. But to those who do not believe, "The stone the builders rejected has become the capstone," and, "A stone that causes men to stumble and a rock that makes them fall." They stumble because they disobey the message—which is also what they were destined for. I Peter 2:7-8
I think we can say that they were destined to stumble because both of these phrases are prophetic, the first from Psalms, the second from Isaiah. The fact that the Stone causes men to stumble was known before the Living Stone had come into the world. But also note the reason why they stumbled. They stumbled because they disobeyed.
But you are a chosen people, a royal priesthood, a holy nation, a people belonging to God, that you may declare the praises of him who called you out of darkness into his wonderful light. Once you were not a people, but now you are the people of God; once you had not received mercy, but now you have received mercy. I Peter 2:9-10
We should not go about stumbling. We should walk with confidence that we are a chosen people. We have a royal identity. We should declare the praises of him. We have received mercy.
Dear friends, I urge you, as aliens and strangers in the world, to abstain from sinful desires, which war against your soul. Live such good lives among the pagans that, though they accuse you of doing wrong, they may see your good deeds and glorify God on the day he visits us. I Peter 2:11-12
Again, Peter returns from the truth of our identity, who we are in v. 9-10, to how now shall we live. How should we respond to what God has done for us? We should abstain from sinful desires. Have you ever been told, “Because I said so?” You ask your parents, “Can I … ?” and because they want to say no but can’t think of a reason quickly or don’t want to go into a long discussion, they say, “Because I said so.” In view of who God is and what He has done for us, he could say, “Abstain from sin because I said so.” But, we see the why. Why should we abstain from sinful desires? Because they war against your soul. Crave pure spiritual milk. Grow up into your salvation. Don’t be confused and tossed around. Abstain from sinful desires. And this is God’s best for us.
Submit yourselves for the Lord's sake to every authority instituted among men: whether to the king, as the supreme authority, or to governors, who are sent by him to punish those who do wrong and to commend those who do right. I Peter 2:13-14
Okay, now we get to the fun part. Submission. Here’s the topic no one wants to talk about. Who wants to submit. Here’s a Calvin and Hobbes comic strip that has been on my parents’ refrigerator for at least 25 years.
Good morning. We get to continue in our study of I Peter this morning. Chapter two is falls into two parts covering two topics. The first half of the chapter will conclude the portion dealing with our position in Christ. The second half of the chapter delves deeper into our response to what Christ has done for us and how He went about it.
Last week, we covered chapter 1. The themes that came out last week were:
--We are God's elect, His chosen ones.
--We can have confidence that we are chosen.
--Foreknowledge (God the Father), sanctifying (Holy Spirit), and obedience (Jesus Christ)
--We are God's elect strangers, we are no longer of this world, but passing through .
--Through faith, we are shielded by God's power.
--Our faith is proved genuine by trials.
--Our salvation is a precious gift not to be taken for granted.
--Therefore, we must prepare our minds, be self-controlled and set our hope fully on grace.
--Do not conform to evil desires, be holy.
--We are redeemed not by gold (perishable) but by the blood of Christ (imperishable).
--As a result of this purification, love one another.
--We are born again of imperishable seed, not perishable.
--All men are like grass, but the word of the Lord stands forever.
We will continue now in chapter 2. Which begins, “Therefore.” Carl shared a few weeks back various techniques to interpret Scripture. One of the simpler ones was when you see the word “therefore” you should ask the question, “What is the therefore there for?”
So what is the therefore there for?
Looking back at the points shown in italics. Particularly the last portion about the fact that we are born again of imperishable seed and the word of the Lord stands forever. Peter does an outstanding job of casting the vision for our lives.
I don't know if you have ever experienced a let down from any activity that you have been involved in. It does not matter what secular institution you are affiliated with, there will almost surely be points in time where you cannot grasp or see the vision. We hunger for that. We want to know what direction are we going in. We want to know is it worth the work or sacrifice.
We are in the process of migrating from one business management software architecture to another. I mean we are changing the production management and accounting software. It's a really big change and it will have an impact on nearly every person in the organization. Facing a transition of this kind, it would seem imperative that clear vision would be critical.
The most visible means of conveying the vision behind this change is a series of posters. One has a picture of a falcon, one has the picture of a lioness with her cub, and one has the picture of a fox. These are accompanied by the phrases xxxx, secure, and clever. The thing I can't help but notice is that all three animals are all predators, and they eat animals that are weaker and less able to defend themselves.
This imagery and the accompanying text is not casting a vision I am eager to put my trust in. I want to know that the changes required of me will lead the organization to a better place. If I have to give up something, then I want to see what value there will be in doing so. Show me and lead me. But the world is not going to answer those questions for us. Instead, it will take and take and take from us without giving us vision or a hope.
The Lord does not treat us that way at all. Peter is putting plainly before us what the Lord has done for us. We have been raised to incredible heights. We have been redeemed from a state of depravity that we could never have rescued ourselves from. Winning the Powerball or the Megamillions would not save us. Following a number of religious rules will not save us. It is only the sacrifice of Jesus Christ, his death on the cross that saves us. Not only that, the continued work of the Holy Spirit in our hearts and lives. We are born again to be different.
Therefore, rid yourselves of all malice and all deceit, hypocrisy, envy, and slander of every kind. I Peter 2:1
Be holy as He is holy. In view of what Christ has done, don't be like the world.
Like newborn babies, crave pure spiritual milk, I Peter 2:2
Have you ever heard a hungry newborn cry? Man can they cry. Taryn is our firstborn. Melissa planned to work right up until two weeks before the due date. Well, Taryn decided to come two weeks early. Literally, we were washing baby clothes to pack and go to the hospital the same day Taryn was born.
Since I was in school at the time, and Melissa's insurance was through her work, she went back after six weeks and worked her two week notice. So, I got to stay home alone and play Mr. Mom with Taryn during those two weeks. I thought, this is going to be great. Here I am with this perfect beautiful baby, a precious gift from God. I can do this.
There was only one problem. She would not take a bottle. I would hold the bottle and she would just cry. I mean, she would eat enough to survive, but mostly when she got hungry, she would just cry and cry and cry. She never would drink from the bottle with any semblance of contentment or happiness. I am not kidding, it almost undid me. I went through just about every emotion known to man in those two weeks and sometimes within the same day. But that sweet baby was craving pure milk and I was not the mamma.
The instruction to us is to crave pure spiritual milk. Pure. Don’t accept a substitute. Be careful not to stuff spiritual cotton in your ears. Don’t change the channel on God. I don’t know what your equivalent of spiritual cotton is, but Susanna Wesley said this.
"Take this rule: whatever weakens your reason, impairs the tenderness of your conscience, obscures your sense of God, or takes off your relish of spiritual things; in short, whatever increases the strength and authority of your body over your mind, that thing is sin to you, however innocent it may be in itself."
-- Susanna Wesley (Letter, June 8, 1725)
Why do we need to crave pure spiritual milk?
so that by it you may grow up in your salvation, now that you have tasted that the Lord is good. I Peter 2:2-3
Let’s take the last phrase first, because it fits in with the idea of craving pure spiritual milk. “Now that you have tasted that the Lord is good.”
I find it very interesting that the Bible associates the sense of taste with knowing the Lord. Psalm 34:8 says, “Taste and see that the LORD is good.” Psalm 119:103 says, “How sweet are your words to my taste.”
I have a confession. Many of you already know this. I’m a foodie. I love food. I love to cook. I love to read cookbooks. I enjoy watching cooking shows, especially if I can learn something. I like to watch Alston Brown because he’s always telling me something I didn’t know. Ratatouille is probably my favorite Pixar movie. Most of all, I love to eat. I love fruits, vegetables, meats, fish, poultry, breads, desserts, cheese. And I will eat just about anything.
Now you would think that someone who is all about food might make the connection between the idea of tasting and knowing the Lord. Well, it just recently that I began to understand this connection between taste and knowing the Lord.
The senses of taste and smell are the two strongest “memory” senses. Scientists have made studies to show that smell memory exceeds sight memory by 100 or 1000 times. You can forget a picture in a matter of days or even hours. However, your memory of a taste or smell can last months or years. Here’s one excerpt from a paper published in the Journal of Experimental Psychology.
Immediate [odor] recognition tests produced numerous errors, but there was little further retention loss for periods up to 3 mo. Neither verbal labeling nor odor familiarity aided memory, while long-term retention held up even when there were no instructions to memorize. Use of similar odors as test distractors impaired recognition significantly, but it remained well above chance after 3 mo. It is suggested that odors are coded as unitary perceptual events with little attribute redundancy; this leads to poor immediate retention but great subsequent resistance to distortion of immediately retained odors.
Engen, T & Ross, B. M. Journal of Experimental Psychology, 100, 221 - 227, (1973).
Taste is a stronger connection for us. It is stronger than hearing or seeing. “Taste and see that the Lord is good.” “Crave pure spiritual milk.” Just as the scientists discovered, this experience results in “great subsequent resistance to distortion.” We don’t get fooled by the things of this world. We are rooted and founded.
You have all experienced this before. Mom’s cooking is probably the most memorable for us. If you smell something that you haven’t smelled in a long time, you immediately get transported back to when you’ve smelled it before. We are more strongly connected through that sense memory.
In the same way, we need to pick up our Bibles and taste and see how sweet the words of the Lord are. If we put our Bible on a shelf, we won’t know, really know, how good God is. We need to taste.
Why do we crave pure spiritual milk now that we have tasted that the Lord is good?
so that by it you may grow up in your salvation
So that you become mature. So that you won’t be tossed here and there by every wave. So that you won’t be blown about by the wind. (Ephesians 4:14, James 1:6) So that you won’t forget who you are. (James 1:23)
As you come to him, the living Stone—rejected by men but chosen by God and precious to him—you also, like living stones, are being built into a spiritual house to be a holy priesthood, offering spiritual sacrifices acceptable to God through Jesus Christ. I Peter 2:4-5
Don’t forget who you are because you are an integral part of a spiritual house. You are a member of a holy priesthood. You offer spiritual sacrifices. More on that in a minute.
Who is the living Stone, capital “S”? Jesus, right.
People have gotten some interesting ideas about Peter and his role in the church based on Jesus’ conversation with him in Matthew 16.
When Jesus came to the region of Caesarea Philippi, he asked his disciples, "Who do people say the Son of Man is?"
They replied, "Some say John the Baptist; others say Elijah; and still others, Jeremiah or one of the prophets."
"But what about you?" he asked. "Who do you say I am?"
Simon Peter answered, "You are the Christ, the Son of the living God."
Jesus replied, "Blessed are you, Simon son of Jonah, for this was not revealed to you by man, but by my Father in heaven. And I tell you that you are Peter, and on this rock I will build my church, and the gates of Hades will not overcome it. I will give you the keys of the kingdom of heaven; whatever you bind on earth will be bound in heaven, and whatever you loose on earth will be loosed in heaven." Matthew 16:13-19
Some have used this passage to infer that Peter is the rock on whom Jesus will build his church. But let’s take a look at the context. Jesus asks who people say he is, and there is a range of answers. Then, he gets more pointed. “Who do you say I am?” Peter answers with the profession that Jesus is the Christ. Christ is not Jesus last name. Christ is one of his titles. Christ or Messiah means the anointed or chosen one.
Last week, we read John 6:40 where Jesus says, “everyone who looks to the Son and believes in him shall have eternal life.” Peter has just professed his faith that Jesus is not just a prophet. He is the Son of God.
I’ve heard messages that get into the Greek and explain how “this rock” on which Jesus will build his church is not referring to Peter. I’m not questioning the validity of that approach, but I think viewing this passage from Matthew in light of I Peter 2:4-5 is more accessible to those of us who are not Greek scholars.
When trying to understand a difficult passage, Carl explained during the Hard Questions series in January that we should allow Scripture to interpret Scripture because the Bible will not contradict itself. And we can have maximum confidence here because Peter was there in the Matthew passage and he’s writing to us in I Peter.
Jesus is the living Stone, capital S. Going on in I Peter 2:6, we see
For in Scripture it says: "See, I lay a stone in Zion, a chosen and precious cornerstone, and the one who trusts in him will never be put to shame." I Peter 2:6
Jesus is the cornerstone. Peter is not the rock or cornerstone of the church. Instead, the truth of Peter’s profession is the rock on which Jesus will build his church. Jesus is the Christ, the Son of the living God. In addition, the name Peter means rock. But I Peter 2:5 says we are all living stones. Through that comparison, I think we catch another glimpse of Peter’s humility. Peter does not put himself first, rather we are all together living stones including Peter. And, the last verse of the passage in Matthew also is not a once and all for Peter only. Likewise, Peter explains that all believers are part of a royal and holy priesthood. Jesus said to all the disciples in Matthew 18:18 the exact words of Matthew 16:19, “whatever you bind on earth will be bound in heaven, and whatever you loose on earth will be loosed in heaven.”
Now to you who believe, this stone is precious. But to those who do not believe, "The stone the builders rejected has become the capstone," and, "A stone that causes men to stumble and a rock that makes them fall." They stumble because they disobey the message—which is also what they were destined for. I Peter 2:7-8
I think we can say that they were destined to stumble because both of these phrases are prophetic, the first from Psalms, the second from Isaiah. The fact that the Stone causes men to stumble was known before the Living Stone had come into the world. But also note the reason why they stumbled. They stumbled because they disobeyed.
But you are a chosen people, a royal priesthood, a holy nation, a people belonging to God, that you may declare the praises of him who called you out of darkness into his wonderful light. Once you were not a people, but now you are the people of God; once you had not received mercy, but now you have received mercy. I Peter 2:9-10
We should not go about stumbling. We should walk with confidence that we are a chosen people. We have a royal identity. We should declare the praises of him. We have received mercy.
Dear friends, I urge you, as aliens and strangers in the world, to abstain from sinful desires, which war against your soul. Live such good lives among the pagans that, though they accuse you of doing wrong, they may see your good deeds and glorify God on the day he visits us. I Peter 2:11-12
Again, Peter returns from the truth of our identity, who we are in v. 9-10, to how now shall we live. How should we respond to what God has done for us? We should abstain from sinful desires. Have you ever been told, “Because I said so?” You ask your parents, “Can I … ?” and because they want to say no but can’t think of a reason quickly or don’t want to go into a long discussion, they say, “Because I said so.” In view of who God is and what He has done for us, he could say, “Abstain from sin because I said so.” But, we see the why. Why should we abstain from sinful desires? Because they war against your soul. Crave pure spiritual milk. Grow up into your salvation. Don’t be confused and tossed around. Abstain from sinful desires. And this is God’s best for us.
Submit yourselves for the Lord's sake to every authority instituted among men: whether to the king, as the supreme authority, or to governors, who are sent by him to punish those who do wrong and to commend those who do right. I Peter 2:13-14
Okay, now we get to the fun part. Submission. Here’s the topic no one wants to talk about. Who wants to submit. Here’s a Calvin and Hobbes comic strip that has been on my parents’ refrigerator for at least 25 years.
That kind of sums it up. Our sin nature sets us up to be God. And that’s what sin is, right? We know better than God. Apart from Christ, we want everything our own way. So, when we think about submission, then we get all aggravated because submission means letting someone else have their way first.
Before I go through these remaining verses, it should be clear from what we’ve discussed earlier that God is calling us to a holy life that turns away from sin, so if the ruling authorities are commanding us to sin, should we submit and engage in sin? No! Read Acts 4, especially verse 19, if you want to see obedience to God in contrast to submission to the governing authority.
So, we are to submit ourselves to every authority instituted among men. Why? For the Lord’s sake. Why for the Lord’s sake? Let’s look at verse 15.
For it is God's will that by doing good you should silence the ignorant talk of foolish men. Live as free men, but do not use your freedom as a cover up for evil; live as servants of God. I Peter 2:15-16
God is speaking to unbelievers through our submission. Regardless of the claims that people make about God and about Jesus, regardless of whether they rage against him, if we as followers of Jesus do good and submit to one another out of reverence for Christ, we silence that talk, that rage. Do not argue with them, demonstrate God’s love.
I don’t know if it seems out of place to you, but in the midst of this thought about submission, there is the phrase, “live as free men.” What does that have to do with submission? I thought submission had more to do with the last part of the verse, “live as servants.”
I’ve worked in the same group for 11 years. Over that time, people have come and gone, and I’ve become “the old guy.” As a result, people look to me somewhat for leadership. In addition, I have some supervisory responsibility so there is a component of my job that requires me to lead others. At the end of each year, we have these peer reviews. We ask three of our colleagues to tell us about our strengths and weaknesses. A couple of years ago, I got the feedback. John is a good leader because he is a good follower. That feedback probably tells you more about my colleague than it does about me, and I was surprised to get the feedback in the marketplace.
But, the reason I share that is we are supposed to be ones who lead others to Christ. We become good leaders by being good followers. When we willingly choose to submit, then others see our submission and realize, wow this person is different. If we submit unwillingly, with grumbling and complaining, then what kind of testimony is that?
Show proper respect to everyone: Love the brotherhood of believers, fear God, honor the king. I Peter 2:17
Respect is not only for the governing authorities. We should respect everyone, believers and unbelievers. Also, we should love one another and fear God.
Peter also writes to honor the king which was a general term used to recognize the leader of the land. At the time of Peter’s writing, this would be understood to mean the Roman emperor. The Roman emperor at the time I Peter was written was Nero. The Christian persecution was particularly brutal during the reign of Nero, so much so that he was often identified with the antichrist. Nero developed ways to torture and kill Christians that were extremely horrific. And yet, Peter says, honor the king here and submit to the king in verse 13. Does that make you tense or anxious?
Slaves, submit yourselves to your masters with all respect, not only to those who are good and considerate, but also to those who are harsh. For it is commendable if a man bears up under the pain of unjust suffering because he is conscious of God. I Peter 2:18-19
Just as Nero was a harsh king by any standard, but just to make it clear, submit to master’s who are harsh. Why? “For it is commendable if a man bears up under the pain of unjust suffering because he is conscious of God.”
But how is it to your credit if you receive a beating for doing wrong and endure it? But if you suffer for doing good and you endure it, this is commendable before God. I Peter 2:20
There is no credit in enduring punishment for doing wrong. It is a payment for the wrong. It is suffering for doing good that is commendable.
To this you were called, because Christ suffered for you, leaving you an example, that you should follow in his steps. "He committed no sin, and no deceit was found in his mouth." When they hurled their insults at him, he did not retaliate; when he suffered, he made no threats. Instead, he entrusted himself to him who judges justly. I Peter 2:21-23
Christ’s response under suffering is an example to us. Christ’s trust was in God. This is the reality for us when we decide to submit to authorities.
Not only was Christ an example only, we are called to live in the same way! Why? Because He suffered for us. Now, I don’t know how much you get into thinking about why God is the way he is or why God does things the way he does. In general, I try to trust that God knows better than me and I try not wade into subjects that are clearly beyond what I can understand.
But this idea of submitting to the point of great suffering and even death is often raises questions for us. Don’t we want things to go well and work out smoothly. Our bedtime prayers with the kids often focus around these things. Being thankful when God causes our circumstances to go well is one thing, but being continually preoccupied with our circumstances being tranquil is not what we were called to. We are called to live a holy and pure life, to submit.
What then is God doing in the midst of all this submission and suffering? In part, God is building a case for Himself. He is setting up testimony that demonstrates who he is. God is all the “omni” attributes. He is omniscient, omnipotent, omnipresent. By looking in the dictionary, I found two more “omni” attributes that I wasn’t aware of: omnificent meaning unlimited in creative power and omnicompetent meaning able to handle any situation. But, his most significant attribute is that He is omni-“agape.” God is love. He is all unconditional love.
God created man in his image. But, sin “broke” mankind, twisted and distorted the good God had made. We all have a mortal heart wound that directs us to reject God. At any time, God had the option to destroy man and start over, but that is not his character. He does not want to destroy his creation made in his image for his good pleasure. God is omni-“agape.” He loves us. Jesus came and paid the price for our sins demonstrating that he is omni-“agape.”
Now that we have been saved, we have the opportunity to choose how to respond to the authorities in our lives and the sufferings we face. Any time we choose to endure suffering while doing good, then we are testifying that we likewise are made in God’s image not just from creation, but we are remade in God’s image from being born again. All this testifies that God is right (and consequently, Satan is wrong.) Even though he didn’t have to prove it, God has demonstrated in the face of sin, evil and wrongdoing that love is truly His greatest attribute. God is love.
Just this week, I read the most touching and challenging story about suffering for doing good.
Missionary Vows Return to Mexico after Wife Killed
Associated Press, Posted February 10, 2011 at 9:51 a.m.
DALLAS — Sam Davis and his wife Nancy worked tirelessly as missionaries, building churches and medical clinics in Mexico before she was killed by suspected drug smugglers. Though returning would be dangerous — maybe fatal, he admits — Davis wants to continue the work to which his beloved "Nanz" dedicated her life.
Speaking by phone to The Associated Press two weeks after he and his wife were ambushed in their pickup truck, Davis said Wednesday that he doubts his wife's attackers will be brought to justice. But he prays for them.
"I miss her terribly, but those people who killed her need to be saved," Davis said from his home in South Texas. "I pray for them, that God will have mercy on them and help them to know him."
"Only God knows why I made it through," he said later. "It's been the most horrible experience of my life."
…
The couple was returning from a visit to one of their churches when they encountered an illegal roadblock Jan. 26, on a highway just south of the border city of Reynosa. The couple had been pursued 15 times before during their years in Mexico, and Sam Davis decided not to stop.
He then heard gunfire from semiautomatic weapons.
The back window of the truck shattered — and the woman he married more than 38 years ago, whom he described as perfect, fell motionless.
…
He drove 137 mph, "but it still seemed like forever" before they made it to Texas. Nancy was pronounced dead at a hospital. She was 59.
Earlier that day, the couple had talked about what they would do if they were ever kidnapped. After hearing about recent violence — tortures, rapes, beheadings — they agreed "we were not going to stop and surrender without fighting. That's why I did what I did," Davis said.
Because of escalating violence, Davis was able to convince his wife to stay behind for the last few weeks when he went into some remote villages to check on their pastors and congregations. After his last trip, his wife told him she couldn't stand being without him. They'd been working in Mexico together for nearly four decades.
"We've been together through thick and thin. She said, 'please let me go, take me with you,'" Davis recalled. Granting that request, he said, is something he'll always regret.
He acknowledged that the shooting "was simply one more in a long chain" of drug-related violence in Mexico. If he could go back in time, Davis said, he maybe would have packed up his family and fled Mexico with other missionaries, then waited for the violence to quell before returning to their work. Through donations, their Gospel Proclaimers Missionary Association supports some 15 churches along a 2,000-mile-long circuit through Mexico.
"We had counted the cost and were very aware that it was going to take our lives, but I didn't know what that would mean," he said.
…
Yet he wants to continue the mission for which his wife died. The couple has two adult sons and seven grandchildren, and Davis said both his sons have decided to help.
Davis has established a memorial fund to build a new church honoring his wife. He has seen lives transformed as people come to embrace faith, and he wants to keep experiencing that beauty.
"I am not angry with God that my wife is gone," Davis said. "I don't understand why he took her. But I know that he has a plan that is working out and it's part of that plan. And so, I remain committed and surrender to his will even though my heart is hurting and I'm grieving."
I don’t think any of us has had to face the kind of challenges that Sam Davis is facing. In many ways, I hope you never do. But if you face that kind of suffering while doing good, I know that you will be commended for it by God Himself.
This story sort of shocks my system. I get frustrated because of minor inconveniences in my life. I get annoyed because I have to give up my time and spend it in ways that I did not plan. It is a powerful thing when we flip the wisdom of the world on its head and respond to our daily trials and inconveniences as divine appointments, as spiritual depositions, which proclaim that God is who He said He is. That is what will lead others to Christ. That is what will transform lives.
Let’s always remember …
He himself bore our sins in his body on the tree, so that we might die to sins and live for righteousness; by his wounds you have been healed. For you were like sheep going astray, but now you have returned to the Shepherd and Overseer of your souls. I Peter 2:24-25
Let’s pray.
Lord Jesus, thank you for making us new. Stir up your Holy Spirit in us that we might respond as Jesus did in the midst of our trials and sufferings. Our trials are both momentary and light, but they produce an eternal glory. The glory that our endurance produces far outweighs the trials. Help us to see that each day. We see what you have done and testify that you are love. In Jesus’ name. Amen.
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