Monthly Archive for June, 1997

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1 Peter 2:11b

Published on June 20, 1997 in 1 Peter. 0 Comments
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“Beloved, I beg you as sojourners and pilgrims, abstain from fleshly lusts which war against the soul.”
 
 
I beg you
 
“Beg” means to exhort or urge. This is a plea to pilgrims to live out the Christian life based on prerogatives of vv. 9-10. Peter is in the process of pleading (present tense) to the Asian Minor Christians and also to us. 
 
Christians are citizens of heaven, therefore, they are sojourners and pilgrims (Phil 3:20; Heb 11:13). Their standards are different from this world. 
 
“Urge” is the language of grace. “You shall…” is the language of law. 
 
Romans 12: 1 “I beseech you therefore, brethren, by the mercies of God, that you present your bodies a living sacrifice, holy, acceptable to God, which is your reasonable service.”
 
Romans 15: 30 “Now I beg you, brethren, through the Lord Jesus Christ, and through the love of the Spirit, that you strive together with me in prayers to God for me.”
 
I Corinthians 1: 10 “Now I plead with you, brethren, by the name of our Lord Jesus Christ, that you all speak the same thing, and that there be no divisions among you, but that you be perfectly joined together in the same mind and in the same judgment.”
 
II Corinthians 6: 1 “We then, as workers together with Him also plead with you not to receive the grace of God in vain.”
 
II Corinthians 10: 1 “Now I, Paul, myself am pleading with you by the meekness and gentleness of Christ—who in presence am lowly among you, but being absent am bold toward you.”
 
Ephesians 4: 1 “I, therefore, the prisoner of the Lord, beseech you to walk worthy of the calling with which you were called.”
 
The language of grace is “I beseech, urge, plead.” You do not have to do this. You can go to heaven without this. The pity is that Christians do go to heaven without doing this. 
 
PRINCIPLE: God’s appeal is for us to live out the Christian life on the basis of his provision.
 
APPLICATION: If we try to live the Christian life by operation bootstraps, we will fail. All of God’s appeals are made on his provisions. How well do you know God’s provisions for you? 
 
If we never live out the Christian life, it may be that we have never drawn the provisions of grace into our lives.

 

 

 

 

 

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1 Peter 2:11

Published on June 19, 1997 in 1 Peter. 0 Comments
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“Beloved, I beg you as sojourners and pilgrims, abstain from fleshly lusts which war against the soul.”
 
 
In our studies of I Peter we come to an entirely new section of the book. Up to this point in the book Peter sets forth the believer’s privileges in view of his sufferings. The believer has status; he has position. 
 
He now asks his readers to respond to their prerogatives. Because Christians have a new identity in Christ, they should live out that identity.
 
2:11-12 is an introduction to this new section.
 
Beloved
 
Christians are “beloved.” They have respect from God and Peter. Exhortation to live the Christian life is based on love. Peter exhorts those loved by God to live as aliens and strangers. Their true home is heaven. 
 
“Beloved” is a pet term for Christians. Christians are well loved. This term identifies a Christian. The Bible does what people hate – make a clear-cut distinction between Christians and non-Christians, between sheep and goats, the saved and the lost. 
 
People are not Christians because they have admirable feelings toward things that are respectable. That is nice but it is irrelevant. That has nothing to do with becoming a Christian. Until a person comes face to face with the cross of Christ, he is an alien from heaven. If you reject the cross there is no place in heaven for you.
 
“Beloved” is also distinctive of God’s love. This term occurs 62 times in the New Testament. God draws us close to his heart with a love that calls for a corresponding love. This is a term of endearment. The Asia Minor Christians will not take the challenge unless they are sure that the one who does the challenging loves them. 
 
“Beloved” is a special term for the Christian, “to the praise of the glory of His grace, by which He has made us accepted in the Beloved” (Ephesians 1:6).
 
PRINCIPLE: God loves us with the same infinite love he has for his Son.
 
APPLICATION: There is nothing we can do to change God’s love for us. God accepts us in the beloved one. God loves the Son with an infinite amount of love. We entered into union with Christ at our salvation. Therefore, God loves us with the same infinite love with which he loves Jesus Christ. 
 
No matter how unlovely we may be, God loves us with unconditional love. We are objects of God’s love. We can do nothing to change that love. His love toward us does not depend on who we are or what we do. God’s love depends entirely upon God’s character. It depends entirely on who and what he is. We cannot get out from under God’s love. We can never say that “no one loves me.” 
 
Because of God’s love you do not care whether you lose profit in stock. Because of God’s love you do not worry if you have a business failure. It makes no difference whether your boyfriend leaves you or not. You stand independent in God’s love. We cannot change the love of God because of our failures or because some catastrophe comes our way. God provides from billions of years ago anything that we might need. We need to relax in that love. 
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1 Peter 2:10b

Published on June 18, 1997 in 1 Peter. 2 Comments
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“Who once were not a people but are now the people of God, who had not obtained mercy but now have obtained mercy.”
 
 
The dividing line for this verse is the cross. This verse describes the Christian before he entered the plan of God and after he entered the plan of God. 
 
who had not obtained mercy but now have obtained mercy
 
There was a point when we had not received mercy from God. The tense of “had not obtained mercy” indicates that we existed in the sad state of no mercy for a long time.
 
Mercy is not grace. Grace emphasizes God’s provision for us in salvation. Mercy emphasizes the consequences of what God does with our sin. He spares punishment. He forbears punishment in the light of his grace.  God met his justice in Christ so he is free to exercise his mercy toward us. “Mercy” means to receive grace. Before we became a Christian grace did not come in our direction. 
 
What is God’s attitude toward the non-Christian? Since he is spiritually dead, God must deal with him on the basis of justice. The unbeliever has not received the provision for God’s justice in the cross, therefore, he must take the punishment for sin himself. God is not free to exercise his mercy on one who does not accept the provision for mercy. 
 
God cannot tolerate any sin whatsoever. God’s character must remain the same whether a person is a Christian or not. If he violates God’s solution of the cross for sin, he must pay for sin himself. God must be consistent with himself or else he would not be God. Since the Christian has accepted God’s punishment of the sin question upon Christ, God is free to extend his mercy to us. God must always act consistently with himself. 
 
Ephesians 2: 4 “But God, who is rich in mercy, because of His great love with which He loved us, 5even when we were dead in trespasses, made us alive together with Christ (by grace you have been saved).”
 
Titus 3: 5  “Not by works of righteousness which we have done, but according to His mercy He saved us, through the washing of regeneration and renewing of the Holy Spirit.”
 
I Timothy 1: 15 “This is a faithful saying and worthy of all acceptance, that Christ Jesus came into the world to save sinners, of whom I am chief. 16However, for this reason I obtained mercy, that in me first Jesus Christ might show all longsuffering, as a pattern to those who are going to believe on Him for everlasting life.” 
 
PRINCIPLE: God is free to exercise mercy to us because of the cross.
 
APPLICATION: Do you know that God wants to extend mercy to you? He is free to do it because Christ has suffered all of the suffering that needs to be suffered for our sin. He paid for it all personally on the cross. God is now free to exercise his mercy to you if you will receive it.
 
You may not feel that you deserve mercy. That is not the issue with God. We can understand the mercy of God but we cannot give mercy to self. If this is the case, then we violate God by injecting our own thinking about forgiveness into God’s plan for salvation. God’s plan for salvation is that he will extend his mercy to any and all who accept God’s judgment of sin upon Christ as he died on the cross. 
 
This is also the case with the Christian. Many Christians cannot forgive themselves for what they have done. God has forgiven them and does not hold it against them anymore. God is faithful to give mercy:
 
Lamentations 3: 22          “Through the Lord’s mercies we are not consumed,
Because His compassions fail not.
23 They are new every morning;
Great is Your faithfulness.”
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1 Peter 2:10

Published on June 17, 1997 in 1 Peter. 2 Comments
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“Who once were not a people but are now the people of God, who had not obtained mercy but now have obtained mercy.”
 
 
Who once were not a people but are now the people of God
 
There was a point when the Christian was not a part of the family of God. It is important occasionally to look back at what we were. There was a time when we were not naturalized or shall we say “super-naturalized” into the people of God.  
 
Ephesians 2: 13 “But now in Christ Jesus you who once were far off have been brought near by the blood of Christ.”
 
Gal 3: 26 “For you are all sons of God through faith in Christ Jesus.”
 
The previous verse says that we are God’s special people, the people of his own possession. Once becoming a Christian, we are now people who belong to God. The onus is upon him to protect, care and provide for us. We will never have a need or problem that he does not meet. 
 
PRINCIPLE: God wants us to compare our lost estate with our saved estate to appreciate what we have in Christ.
 
APPLICATION: At one point God did not claim us as his own.  We were devoid of the presence of God in our lives. 
 
Before we received Christ we were not a people in God’s eyes  – we did not belong to God. We were simply creatures created by God. All our thoughts were horizontal. We said prayers but we did not talk to God. We were religious but we had no relationship with God. We went through form and ceremony. We tried to be good but we could not live up to our own expectations. Then one day we met the Lord Jesus. We had a confrontation with the Son of God. Someone told us about the Savior. There is a difference between religion and Jesus. 
 
Now that we are Christians the onus is upon God to make provision for our daily needs. 
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1 Peter 2:9f

Published on June 16, 1997 in 1 Peter. 0 Comments
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“But you are a chosen generation, a royal priesthood, a holy nation, His own special people, that you may proclaim the praises of Him who called you out of darkness into His marvelous light.”
 
 
who called you out of darkness
 
God calls us out of the darkness of a life without Christ. Darkness is the sphere of those who reject Christ as their Savior. God calls us out of the condition of being an unbeliever. 
 
Col. 1: 13 “He has delivered us from the power of darkness and conveyed us into the kingdom of the Son of His love.”
 
into His marvelous light
 
“Into his marvelous light” is the event of becoming a Christian. 
 
John 3: 19 “And this is the condemnation, that the light has come into the world, and men loved darkness rather than light, because their deeds were evil. 20“For everyone practicing evil hates the light and does not come to the light, lest his deeds should be exposed. 21“But he who does the truth comes to the light, that his deeds may be clearly seen, that they have been done in God.”
 
8: 12  “Then Jesus spoke to them again, saying, “I am the light of the world. He who follows Me shall not walk in darkness, but have the light of life.”
 
Acts 26: 18  “To open their eyes, in order to turn them from darkness to light, and from the power of Satan to God, that they may receive forgiveness of sins and an inheritance among those who are sanctified by faith in Me.”
 
Ephesians 5: 8 “For you were once darkness, but now you are light in the Lord. Walk as children of light.”
 
PRINCIPLE: Becoming a Christian is a transition from darkness to light.
 
APPLICATION: Have you passed from a state of darkness to a state of light? Have you come to trust Christ as your Savior?
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1 Peter 2:9e

Published on June 15, 1997 in 1 Peter. 0 Comments
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“But you are a chosen generation, a royal priesthood, a holy nation, His own special people, that you may proclaim the praises of Him who called you out of darkness into His marvelous light.”
 
 
The purpose of our position before God is to praise God. If God does the doing then God gets the glory. 
 
that you may proclaim
 
“That” indicates a purpose clause. 
 
“Proclaim” means to announce with focus upon the extent to which the announcement or proclamation extends. It comes from two words: out and proclaim. It is an intense verb meaning to proclaim throughout, to announce, to speak out about, to tell out, proclaim abroad, to publish completely, advertise. God expects complete a proclamation from us. God wants a full telling out of His praises. This is a reference to a spoken message. 
 
God wants us to send a message to the world. 
 
the praises of Him
 
God wants believer-priests to live out their family characteristics so that it is evident to all that their lives are different. 
 
God’s praises are a manifestation of power characterized by excellence. Praises are God’s eminent qualities, his excellencies. God wants us to proclaim God’s glorious attributes and noble acts. The word “praises” only occurs four times in the New Testament: Phil. 4:8; II Peter 1:3,5 and here. “Praises” are the noble acts of God – virtues.
 
PRINCIPLE: The purpose of the believer on earth is to tell forth the praises of God.
 
APPLICATION: The more we know the Lord Jesus the more we can proclaim him. 
 
People read the Christian far more than they read the Bible. They see us but they only hear about the Lord Jesus. We are either Bibles or liables. 
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1 Peter 2:9d

Published on June 14, 1997 in 1 Peter. 0 Comments
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 “But you are a chosen generation, a royal priesthood, a holy nation, His own special people, that you may proclaim the praises of Him who called you out of darkness into His marvelous light.”
 
 
His own special people
 
 The fourth title for our position before God is that we are his “special people.” The words “own special” mean to preserve. God’s people are special because God preserves them for Himself.   “Special” is literally protected. We are a protected people. We are a people of God’s own possession. God’s act of possessing his own guarantees our security.
 
“Own special” comes from two words = around and to make. It means to surround something with a circle indicating ownership. Christians are the unique, private, personal ownership of God. We are his unique possession. We are his special possession. 
 
Titus 2: 14 “Who gave Himself for us, that He might redeem us from every lawless deed and purify for Himself His own special people, zealous for good works.”
 
I Cor 6: 19 “Or do you not know that your body is the temple of the Holy Spirit who is in you, whom you have from God, and you are not your own? 20For you were bought at a price; therefore glorify God in your body and in your spirit, which are God’s.”
 
PRINCIPLE: Christians are people for God’s own possession. 
 
APPLICATION: A boy who collects things such as stones and knives views these things as special treasures laid away.   The value of those “special treasures” lies in the fact that he owes them. These very everyday things attain new value. 
 
The Christian may be ordinary but he attains special value because of the one who bought him. We belong to God. Our magnanimity lies in the fact that we belong to God. We are people prized by God. 
 
God has put a circle around us and he did all of the work. The circle is God’s grace. 
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1 Peter 2:9c

Published on June 13, 1997 in 1 Peter. 0 Comments
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“But you are a chosen generation, a royal priesthood, a holy nation, His own special people, that you may proclaim the praises of Him who called you out of darkness into His marvelous light.”
 
 
a holy nation
 
Peter lifts the third title for our position in Christ from Exodus 19:6. Christians are one nation with one King. God governs us by the laws of his Kingdom. This is a prerogative not natural to us. This prerogative comes to us by spiritual birth. 
 
The church is a nation in the midst of nations. This nationhood is based on our union with Christ, not on geography. A nation is a multiple of people of the same nature. Believers come together as a national entity to function as a kingdom of people. 
 
The word “holy” means set apart. The church is a people set apart unto God. We are a people for God’s possession. We are God’s special property. We are at his complete disposal and for his personal use. The Christian has different standards, different ideals, different motives. He is different from other men. That difference lies in the fact that he dedicates to God’s will and service. 
 
PRINCIPLE: The church is not only made up of individuals but of a collection of people.
 
APPLICATION: The church is a collection of people. We are a new spiritual race. We come together as a collection of people for special purposes. Our national, kingdom privilege is an issue of status. We become in our experience what we are in our status if we appropriate our privileges.
 
We obtain holiness by imputation of Christ’s righteousness to us. God puts holiness in us by the blood of Christ. 
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1 Peter 2:9b

Published on June 12, 1997 in 1 Peter. 0 Comments
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“But you are a chosen generation, a royal priesthood, a holy nation, His own special people, that you may proclaim the praises of Him who called you out of darkness into His marvelous light.”
 
 
a royal priesthood
 
This is the second title for the believer’s position in Christ. Peter calls Christians “a royal priesthood” (cf. Rev. 1:6). Christians are royal priests. In Romans 12:1 Paul challenges Christians to offer themselves as a “living sacrifice.” We are the sacrifice in the function of our priesthood. 
 
“Royal” is the Greek word for king. The priests of the Old Testament were merely priests. They were not “royal.” The believer of this dispensation is a king-priest. Royal means no man stands over us as priests. We have direct access to God. Our priesthood could not be royal until our High Priest had done his work (Heb. 4:14). 
 
Christians are royal in our relation to God. We are separate from sin via Christ. We offer to God our consecration and service made acceptable in Jesus Christ. We are a royal priesthood because of our relationship to Jesus Christ who is both king and priest. The church is a kingdom of priests. Priests lead men into the presence of God.
 
Revelation 1: 6 “And has made us kings and priests to His God and Father, to Him be glory and dominion forever and ever. Amen.”
 
Revelation 5: 10 “And have made us kings and priests to our God;
And we shall reign on the earth.”
 
The Greek says “for a holy priesthood.” The reason we are a spiritual building is that we might exercise our right of priesthood privilege. Every believer is a priest. 
 
There are two great characteristics of a priest. 1) The priest is an individual who himself has access to God and whose task is to bring other to him. In the ancient world access to God was the privilege of the few. However, through Jesus Christ that access of God is the privilege of every Christian. It makes no difference how educated or humble he may be. The priest is also a person who builds a bridge for others to come to God. The Christian has the privilege and duty to bring others to the Savior.
 
Also, 2) the priest is one who brings an offering to God. In the Old Testament believers brought animal sacrifices but the sacrifices in the New Testament are spiritual sacrifices. Everything he does is done for God. The smallest task displays God’s glory. The Christian himself is an offering (Romans 12:1). He is a living sacrifice. 
 
Hebrews 13:15, “Therefore by Him let us continually offer the sacrifice of praise to God, that is, the fruit of our lips, giving thanks to His name.”   The words “to offer up” was used for that act where the priest offered the animal sacrifice on the 4 ½ foot altar. The believer is then in the place where he should offer his heart to God. The New Testament priest is not limited as to what he should offer God. His whole life is a consecration to God. He has an unlimited priesthood. 
 
We have the right to go immediately into the presence of God. How do we get this privilege? By spiritual birth. 
 
Romans 5: 1 “Therefore, having been justified by faith, we have peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ, 2through whom also we have access by faith into this grace in which we stand, and rejoice in hope of the glory of God.” Romans 5:2 says “through whom.” Through Jesus Christ we have access into the presence of God. This is the only reason God permits us into his presence. Because of the person of Christ we not only have access into God’s presence but our fruit is acceptable to him because of Christ. God admits us into his presence because of him.
 
PRINCIPLE: Christians are king-priests. 
 
APPLICATION: We need to think of ourselves as king-priests. Our character and conduct should fit our calling. We have the right to approach God directly through Christ. We have the privilege of constant, direct, immediate access into the presence of God. 
 
Christians possess the right of aristocratic priesthood. We have a special relationship to King Jesus by spiritual birth. We are not aristocratic priests because of who we are; we are aristocratic priests because of Christ. Christ is going to rule over the world forever. He is sovereign. We are in union with him, therefore, we will rule with him. 
 
The Christian has the right of confession of his sin directly to God. Every sin in the history of the world has been judged by Christ’s death. Therefore, we have the right to confess our sin and know that we are forgiven. 
 
Our right of prayer is not based on who and what we are but on who and what Jesus is. Christians have the right to approach God in prayer directly through Christ. The Christian has the right to approach God directly. He needs no in-between person to intercede for him. We can come to God with confidence (Hebrews 4:16). Jesus was a royal priest (Hebrews 4:12); his children are royal priests. 
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1 Peter 2:9a

Published on June 11, 1997 in 1 Peter. 0 Comments
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“But you are a chosen generation, a royal priesthood, a holy nation, His own special people, that you may proclaim the praises of Him who called you out of darkness into His marvelous light.”
 
 
are a chosen generation
 
Now Peter talks about the first of four privileges for the believer. These four privileges orient the believer to God’s prerogatives for him. Each description describes positional truth. 
 
All four privileges relate to our status with Christ. Therefore, we are left without any illusions about ourselves. These four phrases have nothing to do with how we feel; they have to do with what God did for us. Therefore, Christianity is grace oriented. Christianity is grace. Grace always depends on who and what God is. It never depends upon us. 
 
“Chosen generation” is the first of a four-fold description of a believer. In contrast to those destined for destruction, Christians are a chosen race or generation. God uses the phrase “chosen people” for both Israel and the church. God told Moses at Sinai to tell Israel “You will be for Me a kingdom of priests and a holy nation” (Ex. 19:6). Here are some of the New Testament references to election.
 
Matthew 22: 14 “For many are called, but few are chosen.”
 
John 15: 16“You did not choose Me, but I chose you and appointed you that you should go and bear fruit, and that your fruit should remain, that whatever you ask the Father in My name He may give you.”
 
John 15: 19 “If you were of the world, the world would love its own. Yet because you are not of the world, but I chose you out of the world, therefore the world hates you.
 
II Thes. 2: 13 “But we are bound to give thanks to God always for you, brethren beloved by the Lord, because God from the beginning chose you for salvation through sanctification by the Spirit and belief in the truth, 14to which He called you by our gospel, for the obtaining of the glory of our Lord Jesus Christ.”
 
Rev 17: 14 “These will make war with the Lamb, and the Lamb will overcome them, for He is Lord of lords and King of kings; and those who are with Him are called, chosen, and faithful.”
 
Eph 1:4 “Just as He chose us in Him before the foundation of the world, that we should be holy and without blame before Him in love.”
 
“Generation” is a class of people who have a common decent and life. Christians are a spiritual race. It is not simply those living in the first century. The church is a race based on spiritual birth (regeneration). We enter this generation by spiritual birth. We enter into union with Jesus Christ forever. 
 
Christians carry corporate title. All true Christians are chosen group diverse from those without Christ. 
 
“Are” is in italic making it emphatic by absence of a verb. “You … a chosen generation.”
 
PRINCIPLE: At salvation we enter into the same position that Jesus has before God forever. 
 
APPLICATION: Christianity is a relationship not a religion. Religion is an attempt to gain the approbation of God. Christianity means that God is satisfied with us no matter what because of Christ. Our prerogatives are completely accomplished by God through Christ apart from human work. It is fully the work of God. It is the grace of God. 
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