LIVING AS STRANGERS

9/23/2013

The Word of God is the proper and necessary food for the soul, which, if rightly used, does not leave a man as it finds him, but improves him, causing him to realize his spiritual position in the world, the duty of patient and Christlike submission, and the necessity of purging out those things from the life which are contrary to Christ.

THE SUMMARIZED BIBLE

1.     REMEMBER WHAT YOU ARE: ABSTAIN (1 PETER 2:11)

11 Beloved, I urge you as aliens and strangers to abstain from fleshly lusts, which wage war against the soul.     NASB

John Gill: “’aliens and strangers’… to the world, the men of it, and the things in it; and therefore it became them to separate from it, and not conform to it; to abstain from all appearance of evil, to have no fellowship with the unfruitful works of darkness, but to deny ungodliness and worldly lusts:…”

·        This verse teaches that God not only has adopted His people, whom He regards as His elect.

·        He also loves them and calls them the people of God.

·        Having received so great a mercy, one that is eternal and spiritual, Peter implores Christian’s to live holy lives while we are here on earth, so that God may be glorified through our obedience to Him.

·        Desire in itself is not wrong; except when it leads to evil.

James 1:13-16

13 Let no one say when he is tempted, "I am being tempted by God"; for God cannot be tempted by evil, and He Himself does not tempt anyone. 14 But each one is tempted when he is carried away and enticed by his own lust. 15 Then when lust has conceived, it gives birth to sin; and when sin is accomplished, it brings forth death. 16 Do not be deceived, my beloved brethren.     NASB

·        By his conduct, he shows unbelievers the way to God.

·        The key word is “growth”.

2.     REMEMBER WHO YOU ARE: EXCEL (1 PETER 2:12)

12 Keep your behavior excellent among the Gentiles, so that in the thing in which they slander you as evildoers, they may on account of your good deeds, as they observe them, glorify God in the day of visitation.      NASB

·        Our conduct ought never to be stumbling blocks for our unbelieving neighbors. 

·        Christians live in glass houses; they are constantly on display to the world.

·        Non-Christians want to see if Christians indeed live up to what they profess.

·        A Christian's everyday behavior should be above reproach, so that even if non-Christians choose to accuse Christians of evil deeds, they will have to admit they have no evidence for which to make their case.

·        Christian conduct should reveal good works and an absence of faults

·        Fully aware of the dangers of spiritual warfare, the believer abstains from sinful desires.

John Gill: “God visits them in a way of wrath, as at the day of judgment, or at the time of some temporal calamity before, or when he visits them in a way of mercy, calls them by his grace, and effectually works upon them by his Spirit…”

3.     REMEMBER WHERE YOU ARE: SUBMIT (1 PETER 2:13-14)

13 Submit yourselves for the Lord's sake to every human institution, whether to a king as the one in authority,

·        When you submit to temporal authority what you are really doing is recognizing that it is an authority that God has instituted.

·        This implies that God is sovereign in every area of life and in full control of every situation.

·        We are to submit to fulfill God's purposes in the world.

·        Peter wrote this epistle in the last few years of Nero's wicked rule.

·        During Nero's reign, Peter was martyred outside Rome.

·        Yet Peter tells the readers to submit themselves to the king (or emperor).

14 or to governors as sent by him for the punishment of evildoers and the praise of those who do right.     NASB

·        That means that they were to obey Roman law, even though Rome crucified Christ and persecuted the early Christians.

·        They were appointed by the Roman emperor and were directly responsible to him.

·        They governed on behalf of Rome.

·        In Peter's day, the governor received this power from the emperor and the emperor received it from God.

·        The role of the magistrate, then, according to God's plan, is to restrain evil, maintain law and order, and promote the welfare of the people.

4.     REMEMBER WHOSE YOU ARE: HONOR (1 PETER 2:15-17)

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

·        We are to be obedient to the law because we are to give a good testimony.

16 Act as free men, and do not use your freedom as a covering for evil, but use it as bondslaves of God.

·        A Christian uses his freedom to serve his God and to love the brethren.

·        The more he demonstrates his willingness to serve, the more he experiences true freedom.

·        The Christian conducts himself in public life as God's elect.

·        He is free, without any fear, as long as he serves God in absolute obedience.

·        The apostles demonstrated their complete freedom by wholeheartedly serving God.

17 Honor all men; love the brotherhood, fear God, honor the king.    NASB

·        The "king" must be honored in such a way that the love of the brethren, and the fear of God, not be violate."

B.H. Carroll: “…the purpose of every Christian organization, of every Christian life, that the Christian should show forth the excellency of God, his Saviour.”