Author: Don Guthrie

Re: Verse reading–1 Peter 4:12-19; 5:1-11 (day one)
“Beloved, do not be surprised at the fiery ordeal among you. . .  as though some strange thing were happening to you.”  (4:12)  Peter is a different man from the person we encountered in the gospels.  A profound change has happened in his attitude and character.  No change is greater than his expectation of suffering.  He is more patient now.  More reconciled to the fact that unfair and painful things often happen to followers of Christ.  It no longer surprises him.  He does not struggle against it.  Hard words to hear in an age of “health and wealth” preaching.  Some even claim that followers of Jesus are “guaranteed” a life of success (read absence of pain and struggle).  Eventually yes, but not in the short-term.  Not always.  Part of following the Son of God is willingness to face painful trial with faith and hope.  When it comes into our lives, we should not be surprised.

Re: Verse reading–1 Peter 2:11-25; 3:1-9 (day seven)
“Submit yourselves for the Lord’s sake to every human institution, whether to a king as the one in authority or to governors as sent by him for the punishment of evildoers and the praise of those who do right.”  (2:13-14)  We live in an anti-authoritarian age.  Self is sovereign.  We act with independence toward teachers, parents, pastors, government.  Soul and societal suicide!  God’s word teaches a different path.  “Every person is to be in subjection to the governing authorities.  For there is no authority except from God, and those who exist are established by God.” (Romans 13:1)  This is NOT an endorsement of every particular government or ruler.  It is, however, strong instruction to all believers that the concept of authority (and the need for it) is part of God’s will for the world.  Christians must be careful, even when we disagree with authorities, to do so with submission and respect.  For the Lord’s sake.

Re: Verse reading–1 Peter 2:11-25; 3:1-9 (day six)
“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.” (v 2:12)  “Wives, be submissive to your husbands. . .so that. . .they may be won over by. . .the purity and reverence of your lives.” (v 3:1-2)  Like us, the  readers of Peter’s letter lived in a day of secular hostility.  Like Jesus, they were often falsely accused of doing wrong.  See 2:22-23. Most Romans distrusted Christians.  Many hated them.  Peter’s solution?  Loud arguments re. truth and morality?  NO!  Good deeds.  Submission.  Humility.  Pure and reverent lives.  These, argued Peter (who himself had been tempted to “fight”), are our most persuasive argument for Christ.  “The gospel came to you with power, just as you know what kind of men we proved to be among you.”  (1 Thessalonians 1:5)  How we live has everything to do with how we are heard.

Re: Verse reading–1 Peter 2:11-25; 3:1-9 (day one)
“While He was being reviled, He did not revile in return; while suffering, he uttered no threats, but kept entrusting Himself to Him who judges justly.”  (2:23)  The subject this week is submission.  Hard topic!  Peter is teaching submission to others that comes from a heart that is first submitted to God.  He remembered Jesus on the night of His crucifixion.  Enemies accused Him.  He remained silent, because He had already surrendered His life to the Father in the Garden of Gethsemane.  From that surrender came complete composure, the absence of any need to struggle against the circumstances or the outcomes.  He believed God to be the one who “judges justly”.   Anything, therefore, that was faced on the path that the Father directed was to be born with courage because it was ultimately wise and good.  It is not suffering that is Jesus’ main example to us.  See 2:21.  It is submission to God.

Re: Verse reading–1 Peter 1:13-25; 2:1-10 (day seven)
“The stone that the builders rejected, this became the chief cornerstone.”  (2:7)  There is animosity at work in the world.  Unavoidable tension between God and the human race.  The people of every age reject what God is building.  People want “something else” and choose it with their lives and attention.  Believers have a hard time remembering this ever-present truth.  Peter struggled at this point.  At times he fought the world.  (Sword and rage in the garden).  At times he lost his courage in the face of the world’s animosity.  (Denial of Christ).  Now, year later, Peter is wiser,  more resolved to the inevitability.  The world is on a collision course with God and all of us must decide our loyalty to one or the other.  What God is building, the world has no interest in.  And vice versa.  “But God has chosen the foolish things of the world to shame the wise.” (1 Corinthians 1:27)

Re: Verse reading–1 Peter 1:13-25; 2:1-10 (day six)
“Fix your hope completely on the grace to be brought to you at the revelation of Jesus Christ.”  (v 13)  It is a tough sentence to interpret.  What, exactly, did Peter mean?  Literally, the words in Greek read “hope to the end.”  The end of what?  Some scholars think that Peter means the end of time and we are to hope until Jesus returns.  Others believe that he means the fullest measure of what hope can be.  Mature hope.  Complete hope.  Either way (whether hope is long or large) the idea is the same.  Hope in the heart is a powerful influence for good.  An absolutely necessary  part of the Christian life!  What do you hope, friend?  Are the eyes of your expectation set on eternity?  Can you say, as Paul did, “In the future there is laid up for me a crown.” (2 Timothy 4:8)  Hope to the end, friend.  Hope to the end!

Re: Verse reading–1 Peter 1:13-25; 2:1-10 (day one)
“The grass withers, the flower falls off, but the word of the Lord abides forever. . .Therefore. . .coming to Him as to a living stone. . .you also as living stones, are being built up as a spiritual house.”  (1:24-15; 2:4-5)  Unfamiliar talk for most moderns.  Easy place to “get lost”.  Peter is talking about things that perish.  Our responsibility in this world of constant change?  To build our lives on Christ as the new foundation!  Come to him is a “living stone”  Powerful/confusing paradox. “Stone” symbolizes something solid and unchanging.  “Living” suggests change and growth, flexibility.  Jesus is both!  Alive but never dying.  Soft and strong– at the same time.  Makes me wonder how much of this thinking came to Cephas when Jesus named him Peter (=rock).  See Matthew 18.  Only Christ can be both alive and eternal.  Only Christ can build our lives into something eternally, permanently good.  In Him we become “living stones”, too.

Re: Verse reading–1 Peter 1:1-12 (day seven)
Thanks everyone for being a part of RE Verse.  One of my favorite parts of FBC!  “Us. . .who are protected by the power of God through faith for a salvation ready to be revealed in the last time.”  (v 5)  It is a confidence that came to Peter after years of knowing Christ.  He was protected.  We all are.  He didn’t have to rely on his own strength.  No swords drawn in futile attempt to keep himself or his loved ones safe.  God protects His own people.  From what?  Not from suffering.  Not from temptation or sorrow or difficult assignments or even failure.  Peter’s discovery comes close to the words of Paul.  “Nothing can separate us from the love of God in Christ Jesus.”  (Romans 8)  Through faith, God employs His power to guard, forgive, restore, encourage and discipline us toward the future.  Great comfort!  We do not rely on ourselves.  God is protecting us.

Re: Verse reading–1 Peter 1:1-12 (day six)
“obtaining as the outcome of your faith the salvation of your souls.”  (v 9)  What is the outcome of faith?  The result?  It a question that needs to be clear for every believer.  Peter says the promised outcome of faith is salvation.  Not success. . .for some will experience criticism and public shame for the sake of Christ.  Not comfort. . .for all will be called to bear a cross of pain or grief.  The only promise (and the only one that ultimately matters) is salvation.  “I give eternal life to them and they shall never perish”  (John 10:28)  In a materialistic age, we must carefully consider.  Am I willing to follow Christ with eternal life as the promised outcome?   If life is hard and the road narrow, am I still glad to follow the Lord under these gracious terms?  “What shall it profit a man, if he gains the world and forfeits his soul?”   (Matthew 16:26)

Re: Verse reading–1 Peter 1:1-12 (day one)
“Concerning this salvation, the prophets. . .searched intently. . .trying to find out the time and circumstances to which the Spirit of Christ in them was pointing. . .Even angels long to look into these things.”  (v 10-12)  It is hard to appreciate the privileges we have as Christ-followers.  Hard to realize the honor it is to serve Him in this day, to be included in His mind. (1 Corinthians 2:16)  Scripture describes the prophets searching intently for the truths that we now take for granted.  Even angels, says Peter, long to look into these things with the free access that we have as children of God.  This being true, how do we justify the excuses we give for not learning God’s word, walking with His Spirit?  How ungrateful of us! . . not to dig into His word, not to learn obedience by the things suffered. (Hebrews 5:8).  Salvation is not a path to avoid.  It is a privilege to embrace.