Category: 1 Peter

Re:Verse passage – 1 Peter 2:11-17 (day three)

“Abstain from fleshly lusts which wage war against the soul. Keep your behavior excellent among the Gentiles.”

Peter does not say this in order to unleash the behavior police. He tells us these things because fleshly lusts will degrade your ability to draw near to people with compassion and empathy. When your body’s appetites become your workaround for your own fear and pain, another person will become a means to an end for you. Like everyone else, your life harbors places of deep agony. The shortest of shortcuts to alleviate that distress is your body and the bodies of others. When you instead begin learning from Christ to address anguish through the pursuit of holy living, your life starts to heal, and you gain the energy to love people. The behavior police live by rules. The church lives by love.

Re:Verse passage – 1 Peter 2:11-17 (day two)

For such is the will of God that by doing right you may silence the ignorance of foolish men. vs. 15

It’s never the wrong time to do the right thing. Have you ever heard that? Peter is giving incredible common sense advice for us to live by, and when wedded to a faith-filled life it becomes invaluable. When sin enters our life we constantly battle hiding it, running from it, and making excuses for it. It is exhausting. Living a life of holiness will perplex the world, but it will be your armor against their foolishness. When you have nothing to hide from because of your good choices and righteous living, you gain a measure of protection. It doesn’t mean that you won’t face opposition, but you will have the assurance that you have been faithful. You are free to love, serve, and help those who don’t yet understand how you got there.

Re:Verse passage – 1 Peter 2:1-10 (day seven)

But you are a chosen race, a royal priesthood, a holy nation, a people for God’s own possession. vs 9a

If this language sounds familiar, then you are probably connecting it to Old Testament passages such as Deuteronomy 7:6. Peter is using this common language to explain to his listeners that the Church is the new Israel. Jesus’ work on the cross created a new nation, not by race, but by His blood. All those who believe in Him now have access to things that were previously exclusive to Israel. He even takes it a step further by saying that every single person in this new Kingdom is royalty and a priest. These two things were exclusive to only a few people in Israel and they were never the same person… until Jesus. Our Great High Priest is King.

What does that mean for the church today? Personally, you have direct access to God. You can speak with Him and approach Him with confidence. He wants and desires to spend time with you. As a result, when we come together, the things God has been empowering in each us individually can be corporately shared and encouraged. We each have a part to play in the growth of our church and The Church.

Re:Verse passage – 1 Peter 2:1-10 (day six)

And you are living stones that God is building into his spiritual temple…1 Peter 2:5

This is Peter’s better together moment. Bringing together the verses from the end of chapter one, he makes two hugely significant claims. First claim, if you are born again by his eternal living Word you can only grow up in your salvation through his eternal living Word. Or saying it another way, to be born of the Word is to also live and thrive by the Word.

Second claim, you cannot fulfill your born again purpose, nor experience salvation’s fullness, without being deeply bound and connected to one another. That’s his better together moment. Peter wants these churches to know that a part of their core DNA is only ever expressed when individual believers, like living bricks are welded together by the mortar of their faith in and love for Jesus.

Simply, to be a Christian is to grow up through God’s Word and His church.

Re:Verse passage – 1 Peter 2:1-10 (day five)  “like newborn babies, long for the pure milk of the word, so that by it you may grow in respect to salvation,”  Peter uses a familiar metaphor found in the scriptures in a different way. There are passages where believers who remain weak and immature in their faith are rebuked (“babes” in the faith).  In this particular instance, Peter is not rebuking, but rather suggesting that the examples of babies should be followed. It’s a good thing to have this particular characteristic of babies. We ought to have the same passion and focus for learning and loving the scriptures as newborn babies do for milk. Frequency, volume, and content are all vitally important to feeding a baby. Same ought to be true for believers. Are we as determined and focused to engage and receive the Word of God? – Reading, preaching, teaching. Can you tell when there is a lack of frequency, volume, or content?  Does learning, loving, and ultimately obeying the scriptures fill and satisfy your “hungry” soul?

Re:Verse passage – 1 Peter 2:1-10 (day four)

John MacArthur made this statement about verse 2 in his New Testament commentary:

“It is notable what Peter did not command.  He did not charge believers to read the Word, study the Word, meditate on the Word, teach the Word, preach the Word, search the Word, or memorize the Word.  All of those things are essential, and other passages do command believers to perform them.  However, Peter focused on the more foundational element—which believers need before they will pursue any of the other things—a deep, continuous longing for the Word of truth.”

Do you have a longing for the Word of God?  Peter says we should long for it as a newborn baby longs for milk…nourishment for the soul.  Jesus responded to Satan in the wilderness, “Man shall not live on bread alone, but on every word that proceeds out of the mouth of God.”  Pay close attention to the desires of your heart!

Re:Verse passage – 1 Peter 2:1-10 (day three)

“You may grow in respect to salvation, if you have tasted the kindness of the Lord.”

It’s not uncommon to think of God as irritable, impatient, and perfectionist, yet willing to present a pleasant demeanor to you unless you trip the hair trigger of his anger. How can you know that’s not true? Consider this: If you’re to become like Christ, then the character of irritability, impatience, and perfectionism is the kind of character you would need to cultivate in yourself as well. The Bible reveals that the Lord is kind, patient, forgiving. He seeks not to be rid of you, but to live with you. Paul says the kindness of the Lord leads us to repentance. And here, Peter reveals that your openness to God’s kindness gives increasing assurance that you are safe with him.

Re:Verse passage – 1 Peter 2:1-10 (day two)…like newborn babies, long for the pure milk of the word, so that by it you may grow in respect to salvation…vs. 2.                                                                             …you also, as living stones, are being built up as a spiritual house for a holy priesthood…vs.5a

As I re-read our text today, I was struck by this image of the church as a living structure that grows as we mature in our faith. Living implies the ability to grow, and stones gives the image of permanence, structure, and stability. Imagine the church as a dynamic organism. Peter’s imagery is predicated on two important concepts. As living stones we must be built upon something. That is Jesus. As our cornerstone he has shaped the design and foundation of the church. We must also hunger for the word in a way that feeds us unlike any other nourishment will. If our dynamic faith is to grow, how much are you willing to devote to these foundational principles?