Bold and arrogant, these men are not afraid to slander celestial beings; 11yet even angels, although they are stronger and more powerful, do not bring slanderous accusations against such beings in the presence of the Lord. 12But these men blaspheme in matters they do not understand. They are like brute beasts, creatures of instinct, born only to be caught and destroyed, and like beasts they too will perish.
13They will be paid back with harm for the harm they have done. Their idea of pleasure is to carouse in broad daylight. They are blots and blemishes, reveling in their pleasures while they feast with you. 14With eyes full of adultery, they never stop sinning; they seduce the unstable; they are experts in greed—an accursed brood! 15They have left the straight way and wandered off to follow the way of Balaam son of Beor, who loved the wages of wickedness. 16But he was rebuked for his wrongdoing by a donkey—a beast without speech—who spoke with a man's voice and restrained the prophet's madness.
Dig Deeper
Robert E. Lee was a rising star as a Colonel in the Army of the Unites States of America in the late 1850’s. He was well respected, had a great reputation, and everyone believed it was just a matter of time before he moved up to the highest levels and ranks of the US Army. Yet, Lee was a Virginian and when Virginia attempted to secede from the Union at the outset of the Civil War, the army felt that they had to move fast. The one thing they knew was that they did not want a talented man like Lee going with Virginia and leading an army, at any level or rank, against the Union army of the United States. So they offered Lee a unprecedented honor. They offered him a generalship, and to be the commander-in-chief of the entire Union army. Lee eventually turned down the honor and decided to side to with his native Virginia, standing in rebellion against the United States. In the eyes of the Northern supporters (granted this analogy would be quite a different one from the Southern point of view), Lee had been given a tremendous opportunity to serve his country but had instead squandered it so as to put his own personal interests first.
There is nothing worse than someone who has been given great opportunity to serve others in an honorable way only to waste it for their own personal choices or desires. In Lee’s case, the situation was not at all clear cut in his mind as to who was right and who was wrong, and to whom he should be loyal. In Peter’s eyes, however, when it comes to the false teachers that he is confronting, the issue was quite clear. They had, at one level or another, the opportunity to serve God and his people in the kingdom of God, but had thrown that all way. They decided, instead to revel in their own arrogance and serve themselves. Rather than serving the people in the kingdom of God, they set about to use them, deceive them, and do a great deal of damage by leading them astray.
Peter launches a direct attack against the character of the false teachers, using harsh and direct language that leaves no question as to where he stands in relation to these men. This stands in stark contrast to the mind set of our culture today which constantly tries to make irrelevant matters of an individual’s character, especially in the world of leadership and politics. Yet, Peter understands something that should be instructive to us. The character of a person matters. We can never know what an individual might do in any given situation in the future despite what they might say, but we do know that character directs actions. If you know a person’s character, you know what kind of actions he or she will take and whether you can trust them or not. Peter knows exactly what sorts of actions these men will take because they are bold and arrogant. They will act recklessly and will not be slowed by any appeal to truth, logic, decency, responsibility, or loyalty to God or His people.
As evidence of their brazen self-centeredness, these men show no respect for celestial beings. At first glance this might not seem like much of argument. Wouldn’t it be better to demonstrate that they don’t show respect for Christ or His people, someone that everyone would agree should not be slandered? Why would Peter pick this as an argument? Because you can often tell the most about someone by the respect they show towards the lowest beings, those that would be least worthy of respect in anyone’s eyes. No beings were more reviled in Peter’s day than the fallen angels who had rebelled against God. Yet, says Peter relying on Jewish traditional sources such as Enoch 1 and The Assumption of Moses, even angels, although they are stronger and more powerful (he doesn’t specify whether they are more powerful than humans or fallen angels or both), do not bring slanderous accusations against such beings in the presence of the Lord. We don’t know exactly how they slandered spiritual beings, but it likely had to do with denying that they existed or mocking that their sins might put them at the mercy or in the realm of such entities. So, in their slander of these beings, they were really slandering God as well.
Slandering is never a good thing for true people of God, even against the unrighteous, but these men pushed it one step further by speaking falsehoods in matters they did not understand. They are like beasts, a common biblical symbol for one in opposition or rebellion against God. They don’t understand because they are willfully ignorant of God’s truth and, as Paul says in Romans 1:21, "their thinking became futile and their foolish hearts were darkened. Although they claimed to be wise, they became fools and exchanged the glory of the immortal God for images made to look like mortal man and birds and animals and reptiles." Whereas in Paul’s example humans exchange the truth of God for beasts, these men have so rejected God and are so self-focused that they have become the beasts, creatures of instinct, born only to be caught and taken to slaughter. And like those beasts, their only fate is to perish.
Those who seek after their own interests to the harm of others will reap what they have sowed in the form of their own harm. They are so depraved that their idea of pleasure is to carouse in broad daylight. This has long been a charge against the evil, as in passages such as Isaiah 5:11 which says, "Woe to those who rise early in the morning to run after their drinks, who stay up late at night till they are inflamed with wine." They are blots and blemishes, the exact opposite of what Peter calls Christians to be in 3:14, "make every effort to be found spotless, blameless and at peace with him." They revel in their own pleasures while they went on feasting with the true believers. Christians have always been called to put the interests of others ahead of their own (Phil. 2:4, cf. 1 Pet. 2-3) and they were clearly not doing that. It’s not just that they have reveled in their own pleasures, but they do it while brazenly sitting at the love feast and Lord’s Suppers with other believers, making a mockery of them (cf. 1 Cor. 11:20).
Rather than having eyes that are fixed on Jesus (Heb. 12:2) they have eyes full of adultery, which literally reads, "having eyes full of adulterous women." They are creatures of lust in every area of their lives. Whether it be for women, money, or pleasure, they never stop sinning. They seduce (a word used for bait in hunting) the unstable. Peter has already declared that true believers are people who should be "firmly established in the truth" (2 Pet. 1:12), but they go after those who are unstable precisely because they have failed to ground themselves, or have not yet had sufficient time to ground themselves in the timeless truths of the Christian faith. Knowing biblical truth is not a luxury but a necessary preventative against false teaching. They are not just greedy, charges the venerable apostle, they are experts in greed. Peter’s phrase in the Greek would literally read that they have hearts that have been "trained in greed." His point is that they are devoted and consistent and worked at nurturing their greed for a long time. Peter says that they are an accursed brood, which literally means "sons of curse." It was common biblical language to refer to someone as a son of something that was the primary quality of their character (John 17:12; Eph. 2:3; 1 Thess. 5:5).
As a way of really driving his point home, Peter says that they have left the straight way of the true Christian faith and have wandered off to follow the way of Balaam son of Beor. Why the comparison with Balaam? Balaam was a much reviled character in the Old Testament who tried to entice the people of Israel away from God and into immorality (Num. 25:1-9; 31:16; Rev. 2:14). Balaam was a common example as one who put his own personal honor and material gain over the interests of God’s people. He, like the false teachers had an incredible opportunity to serve God and His people, but instead squandered it by putting his own sensual desires first. Balaam was not rooted in the truth to the degree that he had to be rebuked and have his madness in rebelling towards restrained God by a donkey, a beast. These men have demonstrated that they are even worse than Balaam because they, rather than being rebuked by a beast, they have become beasts.
Devotional Thought
Peter wasted no time and minces no words in facing the threat of false teachers to the Christian community. Are you as committed to the truth and to the community of God? Would you be prepared to stand up against false ideas in your community with the same strength and conviction that Peter did?
Friday, October 10, 2008
Thursday, October 09, 2008
2 Peter 2:1-10
False Teachers and Their Destruction
1But there were also false prophets among the people, just as there will be false teachers among you. They will secretly introduce destructive heresies, even denying the sovereign Lord who bought them—bringing swift destruction on themselves. 2Many will follow their shameful ways and will bring the way of truth into disrepute. 3In their greed these teachers will exploit you with stories they have made up. Their condemnation has long been hanging over them, and their destruction has not been sleeping.
4For if God did not spare angels when they sinned, but sent them to hell, putting them into gloomy dungeons to be held for judgment; 5if he did not spare the ancient world when he brought the flood on its ungodly people, but protected Noah, a preacher of righteousness, and seven others; 6if he condemned the cities of Sodom and Gomorrah by burning them to ashes, and made them an example of what is going to happen to the ungodly; 7and if he rescued Lot, a righteous man, who was distressed by the filthy lives of lawless men 8(for that righteous man, living among them day after day, was tormented in his righteous soul by the lawless deeds he saw and heard)— 9if this is so, then the Lord knows how to rescue godly men from trials and to hold the unrighteous for the day of judgment, while continuing their punishment. 10This is especially true of those who follow the corrupt desire of the sinful nature and despise authority.
Dig Deeper
No one thought he would actually go that extreme. We had arrogantly gone through the class, doing what we wanted, not thinking that our professor would actually judge and discipline anyone. We had a huge assignment in, of all classes, an undergraduate class called Introduction to the New Testament. I had actually completed the assignment but hardly anyone else in the class had. Without thinking much of it and certainly not fearing my professor at all, even though he had warned us many times against cheating, I allowed a couple of friends of mine to copy the long workbook assignment. What I didn’t know, however, is that they then went and allowed several other people to copy the work, who then went and allowed many more to do so. In the end, about twenty people in a class of twenty-five or thirty had copied what was originally my work. The first two friends of mine that I had actually allowed to copy the work were the only two that were smart enough to put the answers in their own words, though, everyone else had copied the work word-for-word, and the professor easily spotted it. Suddenly we found out that the teacher was more than willing to bring quick judgment down on those who had cheated. He gave everyone a zero on this major assignment and dropped everyone involved’s grade down a full letter for the class. This included me because he had no way of telling who did the original work. I didn’t fight it because I knew that, even though I had done the work, I had allowed the cheating.
What surprised me, though, was two years later, when I heard some freshmen talking about their Introduction to the New Testament class. One of them mentioned that he hadn’t finished a big assignment and said that they should find someone who had finished to copy the rest of the answers. The other student said there was no way he would do that because he had heard that some students had done that a few years before and had all been punished swiftly. I don’t think at the time I appreciated the fact that our failings and subsequent punishment had served as proof of the professor’s willingness to punish wrongdoers and serve as a deterrent, but I can appreciate it now. When you look and realize that someone is perfectly capable of judging and punishing wrongdoers it really does make you take pause and think twice about doing something like that again. It also provides you a sense of security in knowing that if you continue to do right and others do wrong, they will receive the justice that they deserve.
God has used prophets and teachers throughout the history of His people, but that has always called for discernment, because just as there have always been genuine prophets there have also always been false prophets. Peter paints a broad picture of the false teachers, without getting too specific here, but he is careful to call them false teachers rather than false prophets. There be no significance to that change in language but it might indicate that these false teachers were impugning prophecy altogether and claiming no prophetic ministry for themselves in their denunciation of the second coming of Christ and the reality of the age to come and their call to live a libertine lifestyle.
Peter lists several aspects of these false teachers that can be briefly examined. First, They are secretive and devious, trying infiltrate the Christian communities under the cover of darkness rather than carrying out their business in the light. This should serve as a first warning of the nature of their teaching. Second, they will actually deny the sovereign Lord who bought them at a steep price. Peter is certainly sensitive to this charge having experienced denying Christ himself for a brief time. The form of their denial likely involved both their false teachings and the practices of living however they wanted because they taught that Christ was not going to return in judgment. Third, the result of their teaching is the destruction of judgment that they bring on themselves (Peter will demonstrate in chs. 2 and 3 that he uses the word destruction to denote judgment rather than annihilation of some sort). Fourth, people should not be surprised that many will follow their shameful ways. False teachings are often popular because they appeal to human’s base nature. Fifth, their actions cannot be simply ignored because they will bring the way of truth a bad reputation. We can all probably think of the difficulties that have been caused by false teachings as we try to present the truth of the gospel. False versions of Christianity don’t just lead others away from the truth, they become identified with Christianity by non-Christians and give the truth a bad name. Sixth, their motivation is simply greed, although Peter doesn’t elaborate on whether it is material greed, greed for attention and status, both, or something altogether different. Whatever it is, they stand guilty of going after selfish gain at the expense of others, an act that is quite contrary to the Christian ethic of putting the interests of others ahead of their own. Finally, their method is to exploit Christians with stories the have made up, in contrast to the true apostles who do not teach "cleverly invented stories."
How can Peter be so sure that their condemnation has long been hanging over them, and their destruction has not been sleeping? Because God has a long history of properly brining justice and judgment to the unrighteous and delivering the unrighteous. Sometimes it happens on a timetable that we might not hope for, but it happens nonetheless. It would be easy to view this section as little more than a threat on the part of Peter, but it is much more than that. The false teachers have denied that God will bring ultimate judgment, and so, believers can rest assured that they can use their freedom and forgiveness in Christ to live however they might like. To this heresy, Peter offers up three example of God bringing justice to evildoers, justice that foreshadowed and points to the ultimate judgment that will come when Christ returns. The very thing they were denying is precisely what they should fear and are very much in danger of.
The first example comes from Genesis 6:1-4, with Peter also apparently taking information from the ancient Jewish book of Enoch 1 as a reliable source (it seems unlikely that Peter would view the information from Enoch as mythological and put it right beside his other two examples with no differentiation between them). The angels who left their God-given domain and had offspring with human women were punished by being held in Tartarus, a specific word that Peter borrows from Greek mythology to distinguish from other "areas" of hell. He did not spare the angels involved in that situation, nor did He withhold judgment on the ancient world of the same time. He brought the flood on its ungodly people, but protected Noah, a preacher of righteousness, and seven others. Peter denotes the small number of those saved through the flood as he does in 1 Peter 3, perhaps to stress that often times unrighteousness and false teaching become quite popular and the righteous may well find themselves in the minority. In the same way, He condemned the cities of Sodom and Gomorrah with fire, making them an example (Peter uses a word that actually means "pattern," showing that there is a pattern of unrepentant sin that will lead to judgment) of what is going to happen to the ungodly. Yet he rescued Lot, a righteous man (righteous here means basically that he never lost his basic loyalty to the Lord). Peter says that Lot was distressed and tormented by what he saw and heard, using grammar that implies in the Greek that Lot brought that torment on himself by his own choices. This might imply that if the community of believers reaches the level of being tormented by the false teaching at hand, it is because they have allowed it to get to that point.
If all of this is so, says Peter in verse 9, then it should be quite clear that the Lord knows how to rescue godly men from trials and to hold the unrighteous for the day of judgment. Peter invites his readers into the category of godly men and assures them that God will rescue them from whatever trials they may face, all the while holding the unrepentant for the day of judgment. Peter says, curiously at the same time they are continuing their punishment in the present. What he most likely means is that false teachers like these men are actually being punished in the present, whether they realize it or not, by missing out on the life of Christ, the true destiny and purpose of human beings. These men who follow the corrupt desire of the sinful nature and continue to rebel against and despise the authority of God will certainly face the same judgment that God has shown throughout history He is quite capable of enacting.
Devotional Thought
There are false teachings all around us just waiting for us to let down our guard. One thing that most of them share in common is that they sound good. Do you know the word of God well enough to spot a destructive heresy as soon as you hear it? Do you hold tightly to the truth and realize that part of doing so means knowing the truth well enough to spot false teaching?
1But there were also false prophets among the people, just as there will be false teachers among you. They will secretly introduce destructive heresies, even denying the sovereign Lord who bought them—bringing swift destruction on themselves. 2Many will follow their shameful ways and will bring the way of truth into disrepute. 3In their greed these teachers will exploit you with stories they have made up. Their condemnation has long been hanging over them, and their destruction has not been sleeping.
4For if God did not spare angels when they sinned, but sent them to hell, putting them into gloomy dungeons to be held for judgment; 5if he did not spare the ancient world when he brought the flood on its ungodly people, but protected Noah, a preacher of righteousness, and seven others; 6if he condemned the cities of Sodom and Gomorrah by burning them to ashes, and made them an example of what is going to happen to the ungodly; 7and if he rescued Lot, a righteous man, who was distressed by the filthy lives of lawless men 8(for that righteous man, living among them day after day, was tormented in his righteous soul by the lawless deeds he saw and heard)— 9if this is so, then the Lord knows how to rescue godly men from trials and to hold the unrighteous for the day of judgment, while continuing their punishment. 10This is especially true of those who follow the corrupt desire of the sinful nature and despise authority.
Dig Deeper
No one thought he would actually go that extreme. We had arrogantly gone through the class, doing what we wanted, not thinking that our professor would actually judge and discipline anyone. We had a huge assignment in, of all classes, an undergraduate class called Introduction to the New Testament. I had actually completed the assignment but hardly anyone else in the class had. Without thinking much of it and certainly not fearing my professor at all, even though he had warned us many times against cheating, I allowed a couple of friends of mine to copy the long workbook assignment. What I didn’t know, however, is that they then went and allowed several other people to copy the work, who then went and allowed many more to do so. In the end, about twenty people in a class of twenty-five or thirty had copied what was originally my work. The first two friends of mine that I had actually allowed to copy the work were the only two that were smart enough to put the answers in their own words, though, everyone else had copied the work word-for-word, and the professor easily spotted it. Suddenly we found out that the teacher was more than willing to bring quick judgment down on those who had cheated. He gave everyone a zero on this major assignment and dropped everyone involved’s grade down a full letter for the class. This included me because he had no way of telling who did the original work. I didn’t fight it because I knew that, even though I had done the work, I had allowed the cheating.
What surprised me, though, was two years later, when I heard some freshmen talking about their Introduction to the New Testament class. One of them mentioned that he hadn’t finished a big assignment and said that they should find someone who had finished to copy the rest of the answers. The other student said there was no way he would do that because he had heard that some students had done that a few years before and had all been punished swiftly. I don’t think at the time I appreciated the fact that our failings and subsequent punishment had served as proof of the professor’s willingness to punish wrongdoers and serve as a deterrent, but I can appreciate it now. When you look and realize that someone is perfectly capable of judging and punishing wrongdoers it really does make you take pause and think twice about doing something like that again. It also provides you a sense of security in knowing that if you continue to do right and others do wrong, they will receive the justice that they deserve.
God has used prophets and teachers throughout the history of His people, but that has always called for discernment, because just as there have always been genuine prophets there have also always been false prophets. Peter paints a broad picture of the false teachers, without getting too specific here, but he is careful to call them false teachers rather than false prophets. There be no significance to that change in language but it might indicate that these false teachers were impugning prophecy altogether and claiming no prophetic ministry for themselves in their denunciation of the second coming of Christ and the reality of the age to come and their call to live a libertine lifestyle.
Peter lists several aspects of these false teachers that can be briefly examined. First, They are secretive and devious, trying infiltrate the Christian communities under the cover of darkness rather than carrying out their business in the light. This should serve as a first warning of the nature of their teaching. Second, they will actually deny the sovereign Lord who bought them at a steep price. Peter is certainly sensitive to this charge having experienced denying Christ himself for a brief time. The form of their denial likely involved both their false teachings and the practices of living however they wanted because they taught that Christ was not going to return in judgment. Third, the result of their teaching is the destruction of judgment that they bring on themselves (Peter will demonstrate in chs. 2 and 3 that he uses the word destruction to denote judgment rather than annihilation of some sort). Fourth, people should not be surprised that many will follow their shameful ways. False teachings are often popular because they appeal to human’s base nature. Fifth, their actions cannot be simply ignored because they will bring the way of truth a bad reputation. We can all probably think of the difficulties that have been caused by false teachings as we try to present the truth of the gospel. False versions of Christianity don’t just lead others away from the truth, they become identified with Christianity by non-Christians and give the truth a bad name. Sixth, their motivation is simply greed, although Peter doesn’t elaborate on whether it is material greed, greed for attention and status, both, or something altogether different. Whatever it is, they stand guilty of going after selfish gain at the expense of others, an act that is quite contrary to the Christian ethic of putting the interests of others ahead of their own. Finally, their method is to exploit Christians with stories the have made up, in contrast to the true apostles who do not teach "cleverly invented stories."
How can Peter be so sure that their condemnation has long been hanging over them, and their destruction has not been sleeping? Because God has a long history of properly brining justice and judgment to the unrighteous and delivering the unrighteous. Sometimes it happens on a timetable that we might not hope for, but it happens nonetheless. It would be easy to view this section as little more than a threat on the part of Peter, but it is much more than that. The false teachers have denied that God will bring ultimate judgment, and so, believers can rest assured that they can use their freedom and forgiveness in Christ to live however they might like. To this heresy, Peter offers up three example of God bringing justice to evildoers, justice that foreshadowed and points to the ultimate judgment that will come when Christ returns. The very thing they were denying is precisely what they should fear and are very much in danger of.
The first example comes from Genesis 6:1-4, with Peter also apparently taking information from the ancient Jewish book of Enoch 1 as a reliable source (it seems unlikely that Peter would view the information from Enoch as mythological and put it right beside his other two examples with no differentiation between them). The angels who left their God-given domain and had offspring with human women were punished by being held in Tartarus, a specific word that Peter borrows from Greek mythology to distinguish from other "areas" of hell. He did not spare the angels involved in that situation, nor did He withhold judgment on the ancient world of the same time. He brought the flood on its ungodly people, but protected Noah, a preacher of righteousness, and seven others. Peter denotes the small number of those saved through the flood as he does in 1 Peter 3, perhaps to stress that often times unrighteousness and false teaching become quite popular and the righteous may well find themselves in the minority. In the same way, He condemned the cities of Sodom and Gomorrah with fire, making them an example (Peter uses a word that actually means "pattern," showing that there is a pattern of unrepentant sin that will lead to judgment) of what is going to happen to the ungodly. Yet he rescued Lot, a righteous man (righteous here means basically that he never lost his basic loyalty to the Lord). Peter says that Lot was distressed and tormented by what he saw and heard, using grammar that implies in the Greek that Lot brought that torment on himself by his own choices. This might imply that if the community of believers reaches the level of being tormented by the false teaching at hand, it is because they have allowed it to get to that point.
If all of this is so, says Peter in verse 9, then it should be quite clear that the Lord knows how to rescue godly men from trials and to hold the unrighteous for the day of judgment. Peter invites his readers into the category of godly men and assures them that God will rescue them from whatever trials they may face, all the while holding the unrepentant for the day of judgment. Peter says, curiously at the same time they are continuing their punishment in the present. What he most likely means is that false teachers like these men are actually being punished in the present, whether they realize it or not, by missing out on the life of Christ, the true destiny and purpose of human beings. These men who follow the corrupt desire of the sinful nature and continue to rebel against and despise the authority of God will certainly face the same judgment that God has shown throughout history He is quite capable of enacting.
Devotional Thought
There are false teachings all around us just waiting for us to let down our guard. One thing that most of them share in common is that they sound good. Do you know the word of God well enough to spot a destructive heresy as soon as you hear it? Do you hold tightly to the truth and realize that part of doing so means knowing the truth well enough to spot false teaching?
Wednesday, October 08, 2008
2 Peter 1:16-21
16We did not follow cleverly invented stories when we told you about the power and coming of our Lord Jesus Christ, but we were eyewitnesses of his majesty. 17For he received honor and glory from God the Father when the voice came to him from the Majestic Glory, saying, "This is my Son, whom I love; with him I am well pleased." 18We ourselves heard this voice that came from heaven when we were with him on the sacred mountain.
19And we have the word of the prophets made more certain, and you will do well to pay attention to it, as to a light shining in a dark place, until the day dawns and the morning star rises in your hearts. 20Above all, you must understand that no prophecy of Scripture came about by the prophet's own interpretation. 21For prophecy never had its origin in the will of man, but men spoke from God as they were carried along by the Holy Spirit.
Dig Deeper
"No, I'm serious. He really is a nice guy." Yet she still didn't seem convinced. A friend of mine was asking me about who she should vote for in the upcoming elections for senator and she mentioned that one of the candidates seemed a little aloof to her. I couldn't tell her how to vote but I could tell her that he wasn't that way at all. In fact, I thought he was a very nice and thoughtful individual. She wasn't convinced, though despite my words and wanted to know why I was so sure about this guy anyway. Then I told her what I probably should have started the conversation with. I knew him. I had coached against the man several times in various summer basketball tournaments years before, although he was quite a bit older than I was. I had witnessed this guy do an incredibly thoughtful and kind act that no one else knew about, so he wasn't doing it for attention. In fact this was several years before he ran for office. His team had just upset mine in a major tournament, mostly due to the fact that he had out-coached me. My young players walked dejectedly to the locker room and were quite distraught once they were in there. This man walked by our locker room and heard their angst. He came all on his own and offered my players some incredibly encouraging words that lifted their spirits a bit and got them ready for the remainder of the tournament. He didn't have to do that, but he did. It was a genuine act of kindness that demonstrated the true character of the man. Suddenly my friend took my opinion far more seriously. Why? For the simple reason that I was an eyewitness. I wasn't just speculating or passing along hearsay. I knew what I was talking about.
Peter is calling the Christian community to follow straight down the path of the example and life of Christ to which we have all been called. Peter, being quite a bit smarter than I was that day, however, lays out an important fact right here near the beginning. He isn't just passing along made-up stories or clever hearsay. No, what he is calling them to is something that he witnessed. If he is calling people to lay down their entire lives and live the life that Christ has called Christians to live, Peter knows that people aren't going to rely on myths or made-up stories. They want to hear from reliable eyewitnesses, people who were there and can verify that what they are relaying is true and accurate, people who know what they are talking about. Nobody fits that bill better than Peter does. He was there and eyewitness testimony always gives more credence to an account.
Peter now sets his sights on the false teachers to whom his attention will turn for the rest of this letter. He begins here by setting up clear distinctions between true apostles that can be trusted and the false teachers who would attempt to lead believers astray. First of all, says Peter, true teachers of the word do not follow cleverly invented stories when they told the saints about the power and coming of our Lord Jesus Christ. No, they weren't making up complex theories that attracted followers for the sake of building up their own little groups of followers. They were eyewitnesses of the majesty of Christ, and now served as heralds of His glory and His kingdom.
It appears, although we can't know all the details, that the heart of the false teaching that Peter is taking on in this letter centered around the second coming of Christ. They were apparently teaching that the final form of the Kingdom had already arrived (cf. 1 Cor. 4:8) and even that the hope of resurrection had already taken place (as in 2 Tim. 2:18). This is a situation that is mirrored today in the teachings of those who hold to the full preterist position (although the preterists also have many differences with the teachers Peter is confronting). Full preterists rightly understand that much of the prophecies of Jesus found in Matthew 24, Mark 13, and Luke 21, as well as much of Revelation, have more to do with the destruction of the Temple that took place in 70 AD than in the "end of the world." They go beyond that, sadly, and teach that Christ will not return to judge the earth, enact the resurrection, inaugurate the age to come, and fill the earth with the very presence of God, joining heaven and earth together as they were made to be. In short, they say that there is no second coming. This position in our day, as in Peter's, robs Christianity of the great Christian hope and Peter knew the danger of that. He will destroy the foundations of this false reaching with two primary reasons that believers can be sure that Christ will indeed return to restore all things (Matt. 19:28). The first is the eyewitness testimony of those who saw the transfiguration, and the second is the fact that the prophecies of Scripture are reliable and back up what Peter saw at the transfiguration.
Christ is not just some pretender to the Messianic throne. Peter was there when God honored Christ by calling him His Son, and wrapping him in the glory of the Majestic glory cloud (Mark 9:7) that played such a key role in revealing the presence of God to the people of Israel. Peter says that he was there and heard this voice that came from heaven while they were with him on the sacred mountain. In so doing, Peter uses the words from Psalm 2:6, which says, "I have installed my King on Zion, my holy hill." Peter is drawing attention to the fact that Jesus' kingship and right to rule and judge the world was confirmed at the transfiguration. This was not only a fulfillment of that prophecy, it was a foreshadowing of the second coming when Christ will return to judge, restore, and rule over His earth. Thus, the second coming and the transfiguration were closely connected in Peter's mind. The transfiguration was the time when the glorious nature of Christ was revealed showing him to be the majestic king of the earth, and Peter was there. He saw it all and simply cannot and will not forget it.
The false teachers were evidently attacking both the teachings of the apostles and the Old Testament prophets, but Peter is about to show how they compliment and strengthen one another and leave the false prophets with nothing to stand on to verify their claims. The context of Peter's words here would lead us to believe that he is referring specifically to the words of the prophets concerning the kingdom that was to be established by the Messiah. They add validity to what Peter and the other apostles saw. Rather than following the darkness of false teachings that would lead men and women away from God's kingdom and towards a self-reliance that puts the onus on humans, they would do well to pay attention to the light of true teaching. The prophets spoke often of a time when God would judge the world and bring His people into His kingdom to live with Him forever. The transfiguration, which served as a foreshadowing of Christ's ultimate glory, shows that the prophets words can be fully believed at a literal level.
Peter's point in verse 20 has to do with gaining the correct understanding of the words of the Old Testament prophets. Peter wants his readers to understand that when they read the Old Testament prophets they are not reading something that they have just made up on their own. True prophecies and the true word of God have never come from someone's own ideas, for prophecy never had its origin in the will of man. The prophets spoke from God as did the apostles, according to Peter. They never spoke their own opinions It's probable that the false teachers were claiming that the apostles and the prophets had merely spoken their own opinions. They then presented clever and complex teachings to draw people to their doctrines. It is, in fact, the false teachers who are putting forth their own opinions as they have never spoken from God or been carried along by the Spirit. This may leave us wondering why Peter's word would be anymore convincing than the false teachers. This is precisely the point that Peter has so deftly made. The false teachers are teaching a version of the Christ and His Kingdom, but they are not eyewitnesses and have impugned the testimony of the prophets. Peter and the apostles are eyewitnesses and stand vindicated by the words of the prophets which came from God Himself. As clever and deceptive as these tales might be, they really have no legs to stand on.
Devotional Thought
This early Christian community was firmly established in their faith, yet they were still susceptible to false and clever stories. Peter's call is for them to root themselves in the reliability of the Scriptures and the testimony of the apostles. Do you know the Bible well enough to immediately recognize clever, but unscriptural ideas? There are new ones popping up all the time, so be prepared.
19And we have the word of the prophets made more certain, and you will do well to pay attention to it, as to a light shining in a dark place, until the day dawns and the morning star rises in your hearts. 20Above all, you must understand that no prophecy of Scripture came about by the prophet's own interpretation. 21For prophecy never had its origin in the will of man, but men spoke from God as they were carried along by the Holy Spirit.
Dig Deeper
"No, I'm serious. He really is a nice guy." Yet she still didn't seem convinced. A friend of mine was asking me about who she should vote for in the upcoming elections for senator and she mentioned that one of the candidates seemed a little aloof to her. I couldn't tell her how to vote but I could tell her that he wasn't that way at all. In fact, I thought he was a very nice and thoughtful individual. She wasn't convinced, though despite my words and wanted to know why I was so sure about this guy anyway. Then I told her what I probably should have started the conversation with. I knew him. I had coached against the man several times in various summer basketball tournaments years before, although he was quite a bit older than I was. I had witnessed this guy do an incredibly thoughtful and kind act that no one else knew about, so he wasn't doing it for attention. In fact this was several years before he ran for office. His team had just upset mine in a major tournament, mostly due to the fact that he had out-coached me. My young players walked dejectedly to the locker room and were quite distraught once they were in there. This man walked by our locker room and heard their angst. He came all on his own and offered my players some incredibly encouraging words that lifted their spirits a bit and got them ready for the remainder of the tournament. He didn't have to do that, but he did. It was a genuine act of kindness that demonstrated the true character of the man. Suddenly my friend took my opinion far more seriously. Why? For the simple reason that I was an eyewitness. I wasn't just speculating or passing along hearsay. I knew what I was talking about.
Peter is calling the Christian community to follow straight down the path of the example and life of Christ to which we have all been called. Peter, being quite a bit smarter than I was that day, however, lays out an important fact right here near the beginning. He isn't just passing along made-up stories or clever hearsay. No, what he is calling them to is something that he witnessed. If he is calling people to lay down their entire lives and live the life that Christ has called Christians to live, Peter knows that people aren't going to rely on myths or made-up stories. They want to hear from reliable eyewitnesses, people who were there and can verify that what they are relaying is true and accurate, people who know what they are talking about. Nobody fits that bill better than Peter does. He was there and eyewitness testimony always gives more credence to an account.
Peter now sets his sights on the false teachers to whom his attention will turn for the rest of this letter. He begins here by setting up clear distinctions between true apostles that can be trusted and the false teachers who would attempt to lead believers astray. First of all, says Peter, true teachers of the word do not follow cleverly invented stories when they told the saints about the power and coming of our Lord Jesus Christ. No, they weren't making up complex theories that attracted followers for the sake of building up their own little groups of followers. They were eyewitnesses of the majesty of Christ, and now served as heralds of His glory and His kingdom.
It appears, although we can't know all the details, that the heart of the false teaching that Peter is taking on in this letter centered around the second coming of Christ. They were apparently teaching that the final form of the Kingdom had already arrived (cf. 1 Cor. 4:8) and even that the hope of resurrection had already taken place (as in 2 Tim. 2:18). This is a situation that is mirrored today in the teachings of those who hold to the full preterist position (although the preterists also have many differences with the teachers Peter is confronting). Full preterists rightly understand that much of the prophecies of Jesus found in Matthew 24, Mark 13, and Luke 21, as well as much of Revelation, have more to do with the destruction of the Temple that took place in 70 AD than in the "end of the world." They go beyond that, sadly, and teach that Christ will not return to judge the earth, enact the resurrection, inaugurate the age to come, and fill the earth with the very presence of God, joining heaven and earth together as they were made to be. In short, they say that there is no second coming. This position in our day, as in Peter's, robs Christianity of the great Christian hope and Peter knew the danger of that. He will destroy the foundations of this false reaching with two primary reasons that believers can be sure that Christ will indeed return to restore all things (Matt. 19:28). The first is the eyewitness testimony of those who saw the transfiguration, and the second is the fact that the prophecies of Scripture are reliable and back up what Peter saw at the transfiguration.
Christ is not just some pretender to the Messianic throne. Peter was there when God honored Christ by calling him His Son, and wrapping him in the glory of the Majestic glory cloud (Mark 9:7) that played such a key role in revealing the presence of God to the people of Israel. Peter says that he was there and heard this voice that came from heaven while they were with him on the sacred mountain. In so doing, Peter uses the words from Psalm 2:6, which says, "I have installed my King on Zion, my holy hill." Peter is drawing attention to the fact that Jesus' kingship and right to rule and judge the world was confirmed at the transfiguration. This was not only a fulfillment of that prophecy, it was a foreshadowing of the second coming when Christ will return to judge, restore, and rule over His earth. Thus, the second coming and the transfiguration were closely connected in Peter's mind. The transfiguration was the time when the glorious nature of Christ was revealed showing him to be the majestic king of the earth, and Peter was there. He saw it all and simply cannot and will not forget it.
The false teachers were evidently attacking both the teachings of the apostles and the Old Testament prophets, but Peter is about to show how they compliment and strengthen one another and leave the false prophets with nothing to stand on to verify their claims. The context of Peter's words here would lead us to believe that he is referring specifically to the words of the prophets concerning the kingdom that was to be established by the Messiah. They add validity to what Peter and the other apostles saw. Rather than following the darkness of false teachings that would lead men and women away from God's kingdom and towards a self-reliance that puts the onus on humans, they would do well to pay attention to the light of true teaching. The prophets spoke often of a time when God would judge the world and bring His people into His kingdom to live with Him forever. The transfiguration, which served as a foreshadowing of Christ's ultimate glory, shows that the prophets words can be fully believed at a literal level.
Peter's point in verse 20 has to do with gaining the correct understanding of the words of the Old Testament prophets. Peter wants his readers to understand that when they read the Old Testament prophets they are not reading something that they have just made up on their own. True prophecies and the true word of God have never come from someone's own ideas, for prophecy never had its origin in the will of man. The prophets spoke from God as did the apostles, according to Peter. They never spoke their own opinions It's probable that the false teachers were claiming that the apostles and the prophets had merely spoken their own opinions. They then presented clever and complex teachings to draw people to their doctrines. It is, in fact, the false teachers who are putting forth their own opinions as they have never spoken from God or been carried along by the Spirit. This may leave us wondering why Peter's word would be anymore convincing than the false teachers. This is precisely the point that Peter has so deftly made. The false teachers are teaching a version of the Christ and His Kingdom, but they are not eyewitnesses and have impugned the testimony of the prophets. Peter and the apostles are eyewitnesses and stand vindicated by the words of the prophets which came from God Himself. As clever and deceptive as these tales might be, they really have no legs to stand on.
Devotional Thought
This early Christian community was firmly established in their faith, yet they were still susceptible to false and clever stories. Peter's call is for them to root themselves in the reliability of the Scriptures and the testimony of the apostles. Do you know the Bible well enough to immediately recognize clever, but unscriptural ideas? There are new ones popping up all the time, so be prepared.
Tuesday, October 07, 2008
2 Peter 1:10-15
10Therefore, my brothers, be all the more eager to make your calling and election sure. For if you do these things, you will never fall, 11and you will receive a rich welcome into the eternal kingdom of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ.
Prophecy of Scripture
12So I will always remind you of these things, even though you know them and are firmly established in the truth you now have. 13I think it is right to refresh your memory as long as I live in the tent of this body, 14because I know that I will soon put it aside, as our Lord Jesus Christ has made clear to me. 15And I will make every effort to see that after my departure you will always be able to remember these things.
Dig Deeper
During my first year of teaching and coaching high school basketball I realized that the inner-city charter schools in Milwaukee got the short end of the stick. There really was no equitable outlet for the kids in those kinds of schools to compete on a level with the regular public high schools. To try to solve this inequity I had the opportunity to begin an athletic conference for charter and alternative high schools. It was difficult but very rewarding work. As the years went on, we developed more and more conferences and eventually became a state athletic association that organized sporting events all the way up to state championships for charter and alternative schools. Many people were pleased at the success that we had had in creating this organization and the statewide attention that we had begun to attract. I knew, however, that, although gratifying, the real measure of success would be if it would go on and continue to grow and be strong after I was no longer running the organization. After seven years, I finally stepped down and handed the reigns of the whole operation over to other people. I did everything in my power to make sure that things would go well after I left. Having things go on well after I was no longer around would be the true sign that we had built something worthwhile. Sadly, that particular entity has had increasing problems since then to the point that it barely even exists only five years later, proving that I didn't prepare things as well as I might have hoped.
Peter apparently knew that his time for active ministry in the present age was drawing to a close. He was well aware, however, that it was vitally important that the Christian communities to whom he was writing would continue to go on strong and faithful long after he left. He wanted to make every effort according to the abilities and opportunities that the Lord had given to him to set up the Christian community to stand strong in their life of Christ. Peter had been called by Jesus to feed His sheep and Peter is bound and determined to do that as best he can as his days come to a close, and even more importantly, long after that.
In the last section, Peter urged Christians to make ongoing and intense efforts to grow in their spiritual maturity and virtues. He exhorted them to take up the gifts that God had given them and to increase them through their own obedience and submission to God, reminding them that God has given believers everything they need to stay in Christ. He made clear that there is no room in Christ for spiritual immaturity or stagnation. They would either increase and grow in the image of Christ or they would become ineffective and unproductive. This hearkens us back to Jesus' words to "Consider carefully what you hear. . . With the measure you use, it will be measured to you—and even more. Whoever has will be given more; whoever does not have, even what he has will be taken from him." 'The word had been given to those following Jesus, but he urged them to take it, obey it, and grow it in their lives, to put it to use. If not, even what they had been given would be taken away from them, presumably by Satan (Mark 4:15).
This provides us an understanding for Peter's words to be all the more eager to make their calling and election sure. If, as some claim, election means that God chooses some to be saved regardless of their will and with no possibility of losing or leaving their salvation, while others are selected for damnation, then this verse causes some problems. Peter's point is the same as Jesus' in Mark 4. Christians have been given the word and now it is up to them to take advantage of it, to plant it in good soil, and allow it to grow into the true life of Christ. The Christian community are the elect (a term that was applied to Israel in Old Testament times denoting them as the corporate people of God). This means that God had always predestined a people in Christ (Eph. 1:3-14) but it does not mean that God has selected who would be in that body without any regard for their own free will. There are, in fact, two reasons Peter gives for making their election sure and continuing to increase in their growth. The first is negative. They should be eager so that they will never fall and open themselves up by becoming so ineffective that they simply leave themselves vulnerable to being taken away by Satan. The second is positive. They will receive a rich welcome into the eternal kingdom of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ. This verse is a demonstration of the common Christian theme of "already but not yet." Christians are part of the kingdom of God, the rule and reign of the almighty, but look forward to the time when Christ returns and establishes His kingdom fully in the renewed creation (Matt. 19:28; Rev. 21:1-5). This is the time that Peter was pointing to in verse 11.
Peter makes it clear that he will continue to remind them of the demanding call of the life of Christ even though they know it well and are firmly established in the truth. Peter is no doubt comforted that they are firmly established. The word he uses here is sterizein, the same word used by Jesus when he told Peter, "Simon, Simon, Satan has asked to sift you as wheat. But I have prayed for you, Simon, that your faith may not fail. And when you have turned back, strengthen [sterizein] your brothers." He could take encouragement in the fact that he had done precisely what Christ called him to, but that didn't remove the need to take on the false teachings that might continue to hound the Christian community after Peter has died. So, that is what he will do with much of the remainder of this letter.
Peter plans to continue to refresh their memory and call them to the authentic life of Christ as long as he lives in the tent of this body. It was not uncommon in the early church to refer to life in the present age as a tent, stressing the temporal aspect of life before death and resurrection. This is precisely what Paul calls it in 2 Corinthians 5:1-5 as he discusses the fact that while he is in the tent of his body in the present age, he is looking past the time when he will be in the presence of God after death and without a body (what he called being naked), and looks forward to the time when he will receive his resurrection body and be in the age to come with God forever. Peter alludes to this same truth but does not develop the topic any further because it is not his primary topic at the moment.
Peter knows that he will soon put his present life aside, as the Lord Jesus Christ had made clear to him. How did he know though? The simplest answer is that Peter put together the circumstances that were whirling about his life with the prediction that Jesus had made to him that he would die a martyr's death (John 21:18-19). Through the discernment of the Holy Spirit, Peter evidently knew that his time was drawing to a close. So, in these few verses, Peter has commended his readers for their spiritual maturity (v. 12) which would remove the danger of them becoming offended by his reminders, but he has also given his letter a "dying man's" earnestness, which gives credence and reinforcement to his letter.
Peter is committed to doing everything he can to see to their continued growth and establishment in the gospel as he says he will make every effort to see that after his departure (a common idiom in the first century for death) they will always be able to remember these things. Some think that Peter may be referring to ensuring that the gospel of Mark is written down, although it is far more likely that Mark was already written at this point. His point is probably that his purpose in writing the current letter is to provide the sort of ongoing instruction and strengthening after his death that he has in mind. Peter is not only their shepherd now, he wants to continue to feed the Good Shepherd's sheep long after he has gone to be with the Lord where he will await the resurrection and the age to come.
Devotional Thought
Peter knew that a wise Christian leader needed to shepherd people in the present but also to set things up for continued strength in the future. Do you take the time to do that or do you just live moment by moment? Planning for the continued spiritual strength of your family, ministry, and church takes time, effort, and planning. What are you waiting for?
Prophecy of Scripture
12So I will always remind you of these things, even though you know them and are firmly established in the truth you now have. 13I think it is right to refresh your memory as long as I live in the tent of this body, 14because I know that I will soon put it aside, as our Lord Jesus Christ has made clear to me. 15And I will make every effort to see that after my departure you will always be able to remember these things.
Dig Deeper
During my first year of teaching and coaching high school basketball I realized that the inner-city charter schools in Milwaukee got the short end of the stick. There really was no equitable outlet for the kids in those kinds of schools to compete on a level with the regular public high schools. To try to solve this inequity I had the opportunity to begin an athletic conference for charter and alternative high schools. It was difficult but very rewarding work. As the years went on, we developed more and more conferences and eventually became a state athletic association that organized sporting events all the way up to state championships for charter and alternative schools. Many people were pleased at the success that we had had in creating this organization and the statewide attention that we had begun to attract. I knew, however, that, although gratifying, the real measure of success would be if it would go on and continue to grow and be strong after I was no longer running the organization. After seven years, I finally stepped down and handed the reigns of the whole operation over to other people. I did everything in my power to make sure that things would go well after I left. Having things go on well after I was no longer around would be the true sign that we had built something worthwhile. Sadly, that particular entity has had increasing problems since then to the point that it barely even exists only five years later, proving that I didn't prepare things as well as I might have hoped.
Peter apparently knew that his time for active ministry in the present age was drawing to a close. He was well aware, however, that it was vitally important that the Christian communities to whom he was writing would continue to go on strong and faithful long after he left. He wanted to make every effort according to the abilities and opportunities that the Lord had given to him to set up the Christian community to stand strong in their life of Christ. Peter had been called by Jesus to feed His sheep and Peter is bound and determined to do that as best he can as his days come to a close, and even more importantly, long after that.
In the last section, Peter urged Christians to make ongoing and intense efforts to grow in their spiritual maturity and virtues. He exhorted them to take up the gifts that God had given them and to increase them through their own obedience and submission to God, reminding them that God has given believers everything they need to stay in Christ. He made clear that there is no room in Christ for spiritual immaturity or stagnation. They would either increase and grow in the image of Christ or they would become ineffective and unproductive. This hearkens us back to Jesus' words to "Consider carefully what you hear. . . With the measure you use, it will be measured to you—and even more. Whoever has will be given more; whoever does not have, even what he has will be taken from him." 'The word had been given to those following Jesus, but he urged them to take it, obey it, and grow it in their lives, to put it to use. If not, even what they had been given would be taken away from them, presumably by Satan (Mark 4:15).
This provides us an understanding for Peter's words to be all the more eager to make their calling and election sure. If, as some claim, election means that God chooses some to be saved regardless of their will and with no possibility of losing or leaving their salvation, while others are selected for damnation, then this verse causes some problems. Peter's point is the same as Jesus' in Mark 4. Christians have been given the word and now it is up to them to take advantage of it, to plant it in good soil, and allow it to grow into the true life of Christ. The Christian community are the elect (a term that was applied to Israel in Old Testament times denoting them as the corporate people of God). This means that God had always predestined a people in Christ (Eph. 1:3-14) but it does not mean that God has selected who would be in that body without any regard for their own free will. There are, in fact, two reasons Peter gives for making their election sure and continuing to increase in their growth. The first is negative. They should be eager so that they will never fall and open themselves up by becoming so ineffective that they simply leave themselves vulnerable to being taken away by Satan. The second is positive. They will receive a rich welcome into the eternal kingdom of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ. This verse is a demonstration of the common Christian theme of "already but not yet." Christians are part of the kingdom of God, the rule and reign of the almighty, but look forward to the time when Christ returns and establishes His kingdom fully in the renewed creation (Matt. 19:28; Rev. 21:1-5). This is the time that Peter was pointing to in verse 11.
Peter makes it clear that he will continue to remind them of the demanding call of the life of Christ even though they know it well and are firmly established in the truth. Peter is no doubt comforted that they are firmly established. The word he uses here is sterizein, the same word used by Jesus when he told Peter, "Simon, Simon, Satan has asked to sift you as wheat. But I have prayed for you, Simon, that your faith may not fail. And when you have turned back, strengthen [sterizein] your brothers." He could take encouragement in the fact that he had done precisely what Christ called him to, but that didn't remove the need to take on the false teachings that might continue to hound the Christian community after Peter has died. So, that is what he will do with much of the remainder of this letter.
Peter plans to continue to refresh their memory and call them to the authentic life of Christ as long as he lives in the tent of this body. It was not uncommon in the early church to refer to life in the present age as a tent, stressing the temporal aspect of life before death and resurrection. This is precisely what Paul calls it in 2 Corinthians 5:1-5 as he discusses the fact that while he is in the tent of his body in the present age, he is looking past the time when he will be in the presence of God after death and without a body (what he called being naked), and looks forward to the time when he will receive his resurrection body and be in the age to come with God forever. Peter alludes to this same truth but does not develop the topic any further because it is not his primary topic at the moment.
Peter knows that he will soon put his present life aside, as the Lord Jesus Christ had made clear to him. How did he know though? The simplest answer is that Peter put together the circumstances that were whirling about his life with the prediction that Jesus had made to him that he would die a martyr's death (John 21:18-19). Through the discernment of the Holy Spirit, Peter evidently knew that his time was drawing to a close. So, in these few verses, Peter has commended his readers for their spiritual maturity (v. 12) which would remove the danger of them becoming offended by his reminders, but he has also given his letter a "dying man's" earnestness, which gives credence and reinforcement to his letter.
Peter is committed to doing everything he can to see to their continued growth and establishment in the gospel as he says he will make every effort to see that after his departure (a common idiom in the first century for death) they will always be able to remember these things. Some think that Peter may be referring to ensuring that the gospel of Mark is written down, although it is far more likely that Mark was already written at this point. His point is probably that his purpose in writing the current letter is to provide the sort of ongoing instruction and strengthening after his death that he has in mind. Peter is not only their shepherd now, he wants to continue to feed the Good Shepherd's sheep long after he has gone to be with the Lord where he will await the resurrection and the age to come.
Devotional Thought
Peter knew that a wise Christian leader needed to shepherd people in the present but also to set things up for continued strength in the future. Do you take the time to do that or do you just live moment by moment? Planning for the continued spiritual strength of your family, ministry, and church takes time, effort, and planning. What are you waiting for?
Monday, October 06, 2008
2 Peter 1:1-9
1 Simon Peter, a servant and apostle of Jesus Christ,
To those who through the righteousness of our God and Savior Jesus Christ have received a faith as precious as ours:
2 Grace and peace be yours in abundance through the knowledge of God and of Jesus our Lord.
Confirming One's Calling and Election
3 His divine power has given us everything we need for a godly life through our knowledge of him who called us by his own glory and goodness. 4 Through these he has given us his very great and precious promises, so that through them you may participate in the divine nature, having escaped the corruption in the world caused by evil desires.
5 For this very reason, make every effort to add to your faith goodness; and to goodness, knowledge; 6 and to knowledge, self-control; and to self-control, perseverance; and to perseverance, godliness; 7 and to godliness, mutual affection; and to mutual affection, love. 8 For if you possess these qualities in increasing measure, they will keep you from being ineffective and unproductive in your knowledge of our Lord Jesus Christ. 9 But if any of you do not have them, you are nearsighted and blind, and you have forgotten that you have been cleansed from your past sins.
Dig Deeper
Growing up in my hometown, I went to a junior high that I rather enjoyed. As a student, though, there were certain places in that building that I could not go and many things that I could not do. There was always one room in particular that students weren't allowed to go into, and I always wondered what it looked like. I finished my last day at school, however, without ever having seen that room. About ten years later I graduated from college with a degree in education, returned to my hometown, and actually got a job at that same junior high, although it was now a middle school (meaning it was grades 6-8 rather than grades 7-9). Now that I worked at that building I could go into that room, the mysterious teacher's lounge. In fact, there was nowhere in the building that I couldn't go. I could actively go into every part of the building and participate fully.
Although this analogy falls far short of the things that believers have in Christ that Peter is referring to here, it still does help us to understand somewhat the case he is making. Believers are no longer on the outside looking in. Once we have entered into Christ, we have full access to God. There is nothing of His presence that is denied to those in Christ. As Peter begins what we know as his second letter, he reminds the saints of that fact. False teachers had arisen, telling Christians that they could basically live however they wanted and do whatever they wanted. Peter will masterfully remind his readers that they don't need to follow anything as empty and crass as that sort of teaching. What they need is to realize their status in Christ and the fact that because of this, they have full access to every spiritual blessing and full knowledge of the creator God.
There is some controversy among the biblical experts as to whether or not this book of 2 Peter is actually written by Peter. There are significant stylistic and language differences between the two letters ascribed to Peter but it was common in the first century to have someone else record and even add shape and style to the words of one dictating a letter. With that said, this letter which no one argues came out of the first century church somewhere, says that its author is Peter. That's good enough for me, and will be the assumption as we continue on through this letter.
Peter opens this letter in standard first century fashion, mentioning as he did in his first letter that he is an apostle, but also adding that he is a humble servant of Jesus Christ. He is writing to a community of believers who share in the gospel, the righteousness of our God and Savior Jesus Christ (some translations give the wrong impression by implying that "God" and "Savior Jesus Christ" are distinct terms, but the TNIV gets it right here when it makes clear that Peter has called Jesus Christ both God and Savior). Their faith and Christian community is every bit as valid as any other and Peter blesses them with a standard Christian blessing of grace and peace in abundance. Peter believes that the abundant aspects of the life of Christ come through the knowledge of God and of Jesus our Lord. This knowledge refers, in part to increasing intellectual knowledge, but far more importantly to the knowledge that comes through having an intimate and personal relationship with God. The motivating foundation of the Christian life is to encounter God on a personal basis which then enables us to have a deepening relationship with Him and worship Him in every aspect of our lives.
Peter's opening verses here have confounded some commentators and many Christians over the years and left many spiraling into theological debates over minute points. His overall point, however, is what should be kept in view. God has given believers everything we need for a godly life. We have the tools necessary to succeed in becoming like Christ. How has done this? Through His own glory and goodness, the very life of Christ. This is not something we earn or achieve but something to which we have been called and given by God. The life of Christ is a gracious gift from God and the only thing that can reconcile us to Him. Through the life of Christ, God has fulfilled all of His great promises (2 Cor. 1:20). Everything the Bible ever promised about God fixing the problem of evil and exalting those loyal to Him have been fulfilled and are available to those who would lay down their own lives and take up Christ's.
It is through the fulfillment of these promises that we may participate in the divine nature. This is one of those phrases that have sent theologians scrambling for explanations, but again, if we keep in view the larger point, Peter's words become quite clear. We needn't bog down over what he means by participating in the divine nature beyond knowing that he is thinking of the life of Christ that we all share. What the TNIV doesn't make very clear here, is quite clear in the original language. We participate in the life of Christ only after we have escaped the corruption in the world caused by evil desires. This doesn't mean that we take action that earns our status in Christ but Peter refers to the repentance or the willingness to die to self that must be done to receive the life of Christ. A simple analogy might help this make more sense. If I am in a car heading in one direction and am called to get in the only car that is going in the right direction, I must recognize that fact by getting out of the car I'm in and getting into the other one. That doesn't mean I earned my place in the other car, I was simply given the free will to recognize or reject it as the correct car. So it is with the life of Christ. We must first escape the world by repenting and dying to selves so that we can accept God's gracious and free gift.
Once we have entered into that life, however, there are responsibilities that come with that. For the very reason that we have escaped the world through God's gift of salvation, we should make every effort to excel in the life of Christ. The Christian life certainly begins with faith in the life of Christ and the faithfulness of God but it doesn't end there. The word that Peter used which is translated "make every effort," is the root word from which we get our word choreography and it was used when an extravagant effort was put forth to produce a Greek play. His inference is that Christians should be intentional and lavish in the time and effort they spend in developing their Christian virtues rather than just sliding by on the minimum effort.
To faith, Peter charges Christians with growing in seven other aspects of the spirit-directed life. It's not that we create these virtues by our own effort, for as he says in verse 8, that we should increase in these qualities because it is God who has given us everything we need. Our responsibility is to embrace and grow in what God has given us. The virtues that Peter described could rightly be discussed in the ascending order that he lists them, but in giving the list in the way he has, Peter used a device common in the first century world. We should not suppose that he means to imply that each virtue must be mastered before being able to move on to the next. The characteristics he describes are certainly related but in a much more organic and comprehensively connected manner.
After faith, Peter calls for growing goodness, a word which meant for something or someone to fulfill their true purpose; growing knowledge of the divine standard of the life of Christ; growing self-control by submitting to Christ as Lord and avoiding temptation; growing perseverance, a word that is the same word used of Jesus' patient endurance of the cross (Heb. 12:2); growing godliness, a word that carries the meaning of putting loyalty to God above all else; and finally growing in the two great aspects of the Christian life, love of one another (mutual affection) and the agape love of God.
Peter does not question or concern himself with whether or not Christians have these qualities, he assumes that they do. The issue is whether they are growing in these spiritual gifts or rendering themselves ineffective and unproductive due to a lack of growth. If they do not have them, like presumably the false teachers to whom Peter will turn shortly do not have, then they show that they are intentionally nearsighted until it causes them to be spiritually blind. Those who are not growing in the life of Christ also show that they have forgotten that at their baptism, they were cleansed from their past sins and their old life. The entry into the life of Christ at baptism (Rom. 6:1-4) gives one the opportunity to leave their old, sinful life behind and to start afresh and anew in the only life that will ever be in the presence of the Father and experience the resurrection (John 14:6).
Devotional Thought
When you look at Peter's list of eight Christian virtues here and compare it to your life, what do you see? Are you growing increasingly in those areas? In what areas do you need to make a more lavish effort? Have you been a bit stingy lately or are you genuinely making every effort to grow in these important Christian virtues?
To those who through the righteousness of our God and Savior Jesus Christ have received a faith as precious as ours:
2 Grace and peace be yours in abundance through the knowledge of God and of Jesus our Lord.
Confirming One's Calling and Election
3 His divine power has given us everything we need for a godly life through our knowledge of him who called us by his own glory and goodness. 4 Through these he has given us his very great and precious promises, so that through them you may participate in the divine nature, having escaped the corruption in the world caused by evil desires.
5 For this very reason, make every effort to add to your faith goodness; and to goodness, knowledge; 6 and to knowledge, self-control; and to self-control, perseverance; and to perseverance, godliness; 7 and to godliness, mutual affection; and to mutual affection, love. 8 For if you possess these qualities in increasing measure, they will keep you from being ineffective and unproductive in your knowledge of our Lord Jesus Christ. 9 But if any of you do not have them, you are nearsighted and blind, and you have forgotten that you have been cleansed from your past sins.
Dig Deeper
Growing up in my hometown, I went to a junior high that I rather enjoyed. As a student, though, there were certain places in that building that I could not go and many things that I could not do. There was always one room in particular that students weren't allowed to go into, and I always wondered what it looked like. I finished my last day at school, however, without ever having seen that room. About ten years later I graduated from college with a degree in education, returned to my hometown, and actually got a job at that same junior high, although it was now a middle school (meaning it was grades 6-8 rather than grades 7-9). Now that I worked at that building I could go into that room, the mysterious teacher's lounge. In fact, there was nowhere in the building that I couldn't go. I could actively go into every part of the building and participate fully.
Although this analogy falls far short of the things that believers have in Christ that Peter is referring to here, it still does help us to understand somewhat the case he is making. Believers are no longer on the outside looking in. Once we have entered into Christ, we have full access to God. There is nothing of His presence that is denied to those in Christ. As Peter begins what we know as his second letter, he reminds the saints of that fact. False teachers had arisen, telling Christians that they could basically live however they wanted and do whatever they wanted. Peter will masterfully remind his readers that they don't need to follow anything as empty and crass as that sort of teaching. What they need is to realize their status in Christ and the fact that because of this, they have full access to every spiritual blessing and full knowledge of the creator God.
There is some controversy among the biblical experts as to whether or not this book of 2 Peter is actually written by Peter. There are significant stylistic and language differences between the two letters ascribed to Peter but it was common in the first century to have someone else record and even add shape and style to the words of one dictating a letter. With that said, this letter which no one argues came out of the first century church somewhere, says that its author is Peter. That's good enough for me, and will be the assumption as we continue on through this letter.
Peter opens this letter in standard first century fashion, mentioning as he did in his first letter that he is an apostle, but also adding that he is a humble servant of Jesus Christ. He is writing to a community of believers who share in the gospel, the righteousness of our God and Savior Jesus Christ (some translations give the wrong impression by implying that "God" and "Savior Jesus Christ" are distinct terms, but the TNIV gets it right here when it makes clear that Peter has called Jesus Christ both God and Savior). Their faith and Christian community is every bit as valid as any other and Peter blesses them with a standard Christian blessing of grace and peace in abundance. Peter believes that the abundant aspects of the life of Christ come through the knowledge of God and of Jesus our Lord. This knowledge refers, in part to increasing intellectual knowledge, but far more importantly to the knowledge that comes through having an intimate and personal relationship with God. The motivating foundation of the Christian life is to encounter God on a personal basis which then enables us to have a deepening relationship with Him and worship Him in every aspect of our lives.
Peter's opening verses here have confounded some commentators and many Christians over the years and left many spiraling into theological debates over minute points. His overall point, however, is what should be kept in view. God has given believers everything we need for a godly life. We have the tools necessary to succeed in becoming like Christ. How has done this? Through His own glory and goodness, the very life of Christ. This is not something we earn or achieve but something to which we have been called and given by God. The life of Christ is a gracious gift from God and the only thing that can reconcile us to Him. Through the life of Christ, God has fulfilled all of His great promises (2 Cor. 1:20). Everything the Bible ever promised about God fixing the problem of evil and exalting those loyal to Him have been fulfilled and are available to those who would lay down their own lives and take up Christ's.
It is through the fulfillment of these promises that we may participate in the divine nature. This is one of those phrases that have sent theologians scrambling for explanations, but again, if we keep in view the larger point, Peter's words become quite clear. We needn't bog down over what he means by participating in the divine nature beyond knowing that he is thinking of the life of Christ that we all share. What the TNIV doesn't make very clear here, is quite clear in the original language. We participate in the life of Christ only after we have escaped the corruption in the world caused by evil desires. This doesn't mean that we take action that earns our status in Christ but Peter refers to the repentance or the willingness to die to self that must be done to receive the life of Christ. A simple analogy might help this make more sense. If I am in a car heading in one direction and am called to get in the only car that is going in the right direction, I must recognize that fact by getting out of the car I'm in and getting into the other one. That doesn't mean I earned my place in the other car, I was simply given the free will to recognize or reject it as the correct car. So it is with the life of Christ. We must first escape the world by repenting and dying to selves so that we can accept God's gracious and free gift.
Once we have entered into that life, however, there are responsibilities that come with that. For the very reason that we have escaped the world through God's gift of salvation, we should make every effort to excel in the life of Christ. The Christian life certainly begins with faith in the life of Christ and the faithfulness of God but it doesn't end there. The word that Peter used which is translated "make every effort," is the root word from which we get our word choreography and it was used when an extravagant effort was put forth to produce a Greek play. His inference is that Christians should be intentional and lavish in the time and effort they spend in developing their Christian virtues rather than just sliding by on the minimum effort.
To faith, Peter charges Christians with growing in seven other aspects of the spirit-directed life. It's not that we create these virtues by our own effort, for as he says in verse 8, that we should increase in these qualities because it is God who has given us everything we need. Our responsibility is to embrace and grow in what God has given us. The virtues that Peter described could rightly be discussed in the ascending order that he lists them, but in giving the list in the way he has, Peter used a device common in the first century world. We should not suppose that he means to imply that each virtue must be mastered before being able to move on to the next. The characteristics he describes are certainly related but in a much more organic and comprehensively connected manner.
After faith, Peter calls for growing goodness, a word which meant for something or someone to fulfill their true purpose; growing knowledge of the divine standard of the life of Christ; growing self-control by submitting to Christ as Lord and avoiding temptation; growing perseverance, a word that is the same word used of Jesus' patient endurance of the cross (Heb. 12:2); growing godliness, a word that carries the meaning of putting loyalty to God above all else; and finally growing in the two great aspects of the Christian life, love of one another (mutual affection) and the agape love of God.
Peter does not question or concern himself with whether or not Christians have these qualities, he assumes that they do. The issue is whether they are growing in these spiritual gifts or rendering themselves ineffective and unproductive due to a lack of growth. If they do not have them, like presumably the false teachers to whom Peter will turn shortly do not have, then they show that they are intentionally nearsighted until it causes them to be spiritually blind. Those who are not growing in the life of Christ also show that they have forgotten that at their baptism, they were cleansed from their past sins and their old life. The entry into the life of Christ at baptism (Rom. 6:1-4) gives one the opportunity to leave their old, sinful life behind and to start afresh and anew in the only life that will ever be in the presence of the Father and experience the resurrection (John 14:6).
Devotional Thought
When you look at Peter's list of eight Christian virtues here and compare it to your life, what do you see? Are you growing increasingly in those areas? In what areas do you need to make a more lavish effort? Have you been a bit stingy lately or are you genuinely making every effort to grow in these important Christian virtues?
Friday, October 03, 2008
1 Peter 5:8-14
8 Be alert and of sober mind. Your enemy the devil prowls around like a roaring lion looking for someone to devour. 9 Resist him, standing firm in the faith, because you know that your fellow believers throughout the world are undergoing the same kind of sufferings.
10 And the God of all grace, who called you to his eternal glory in Christ, after you have suffered a little while, will himself restore you and make you strong, firm and steadfast. 11 To him be the power for ever and ever. Amen.
Final Greetings
12 With the help of Silas, whom I regard as a faithful brother, I have written to you briefly, encouraging you and testifying that this is the true grace of God. Stand fast in it.
13 She who is in Babylon, chosen together with you, sends you her greetings, and so does my son Mark. 14 Greet one another with a kiss of love.
Peace to all of you who are in Christ.
Dig Devotional
I think that most guys, deep down somewhere in their psyche, think that if they really were put in a situation where they had to fight a lion with their bare hands in order to protect their family, they could take the lion out. Most guys really do think that way deep down. I know I did. Until a cool, rainy fall day about seven years ago. We were virtually the only people at the zoo on this afternoon and as we walked into the lion’s area, I noticed that the lion had his face pressed directly up against the glass. I was able to lean over the railing and get my face about a foot away from the lion’s and was amazed as I could literally stare into the eyes of this lion. I forgot, however, that in the animal kingdom, staring into an animal’s eyes is interpreted as a challenge to dominance. Well, the lion didn’t like it and suddenly, with a burst of power and speed that I had never seen in my entire life, leapt up on his hind legs, pounding the glass with his front paws and roaring a thunderous disapproval of my actions. My immediate reaction was to nearly go limp, then to quickly run away just in case that glass broke. I realized at that moment that I stood no chance at all of fighting against a lion. If that glass had broken, I was as dead as could be.
Peter gives us a wonderfully descriptive image, as he brings his letter to a close. He compares the ever-dangerous Satan as a lion on the prowl. I don’t know if there are any Christians who think that they could stand up to Satan if they really needed to, just as I thought I could stand up to a lion, but Peter’s point is that Satan is not to be taken lightly. He is every bit as dangerous as an angry lion and Christians must constantly be on guard.
Because of the subversive and counter-cultural life that true Christians have been called to, we must be constantly alert and of sober mind when it comes to evil and temptation. This is in direct opposition to the standard states of those who are opposed to God who are groggy and quite willing to get drunk on the temptations of the world. Constant preparation is absolutely necessary because we have an enemy who is constantly searching to ensnare victims. The devil prowls around like a roaring lion looking for someone to devour.
Peter, no doubt, chooses the imagery of Satan being like a lion for its descriptive quality as a predator that searches for the weak, the isolated, and the unaware. Describing the ultimate enemy of God’s people as a beast, however, is a common biblical theme. Adam and Eve disobeyed God and allowed sin into the world by listening to the beast (the Serpent). They became less than human by being separated from God, as they became beasts themselves, complete with the mark of rebellion that would be visible on their foreheads (Gen. 3:19). A later picture of the Fall is seen in the life of Nebuchadnezzar who was, like Adam, given the power, strength, and glory of the kingdom. Yet, due to his pride, he was judged and became a beast (Dan. 4:33). Man’s rebellion against God is also depicted in the Bible as the rebellion of beast against man. The persecutors of Christ at the crucifixion are called "dogs," "bulls of Bashan," and likened to "roaring lions" (Ps. 22:12-16). In the Old Testament, all unclean animals represented rebellion against God. Under the symbolism of the Covenant, beasts represent the Satanic nations, and were strictly forbidden to be eaten. To eat unclean animals was to eat the Satanic lifestyle. The prophets often described pagan nations as terrifying beasts making war against the people of the Covenant (Ps. 87:4; 89:10; Isa. 51:9; Dan. 7:3-8, 16-25). The enemy of God’s people, then, has always been the beast; this was nothing new to first-century Jews. This is continued in the book of Revelation in John’s depiction of the two beasts, who are ultimately connected to the age-long enemy of the Church, the Dragon that is Satan.
What is the best way to avoid this prowling lion? It is simply to resist him and his temptations. Peter is no doubt specifically referring to the temptation to walk away from the faith during persecutions and difficult times, but the strategy of resistance rings true for any temptations that the devil might bring our way. That’s the way Satan works. He attacks us through the temptations of our mental lives, looking for permission, in effect, for his further attacks. He entices, but we give way to that temptation and invite him further into our thought life. This is why resistance is the way to stand firm in the faith. We must, says Paul in 2 Corinthians 10:5, "take every thought captive to make it obedient to Christ."
The believers in Asia Minor need not be worried that they have done something wrong to bring on the persecution that has come their way. What they were experiencing was part of the Christian life. There were fellow believers throughout the world that were undergoing the same kind of sufferings that they were. So, not only was what they were going through normal for the Christian life at the time, it was also worth it. They would suffer a little while (by which Peter is not referring to the duration of time of their present suffering but rather the suffering that they must endure during the temporal present age as opposed to the eternity of the age to come), but the God of all grace, has called them to something far greater than the sufferings of a fallen world. It is the vocation of Christians to be willing to endure hardships and trials for the sake and benefit of others but that suffering is not pointless. God has called Christians (called is the New Testament terminology for God’s offer of salvation to humans) to share in His eternal glory, available in the life of Christ. It is God who will restore human beings in Christ to their originally intended status (Ps. 8) and make them strong, firm and steadfast.
As Peter brings this letter to a close, he informs his readers that he has procured the help of Silas, a faithful brother. He uses language that could lead us to interpreting that help in one of three ways. It could simply be that Silas helped Peter by delivering the letter to its recipients, but it could also mean that he dictated the letter to Peter or even ghostwrote the letter using Peter’s thoughts and teaching. Given the stylistic variations between the first and second letters ascribed to Peter, is quite possible that he had assistance in writing one or both of his letters.
Peter sends his final greeting from the church, chosen by God together with them, from where he is writing. Peter cryptically calls this place Babylon, which had become a common early church symbol for a city standing in rebellion and opposition to God. It has been standard biblical interpretation to assume that Peter (and John in the book of Revelation) was referring to Rome. I believe a better explanation, however, is that Babylon does not refer to Rome here or in Revelation but to Jerusalem itself. Despite the fact that most have supposed this to be Rome, but it seems far more likely that it was Jerusalem from where he was writing. Jerusalem is where Peter lived and exercised his ministry (Acts 8:1; 12:3; Gal. 1:18; 2:1-9; cf. 1 Pet. 4:17). As Peter sends greetings from Mark and Silas (1 Pet. 5:12-13), it is important to remember that both of them lived in Jerusalem (Acts 12:12; 15:22-40). It is also true that the Revelation focuses on Jerusalem and only mentions Rome to the degree that she is related to Jerusalem. As you read through chapters 17 and 18 of Revelation, the evidence that Babylon is Jerusalem will become overwhelming. Israel continued to stand in opposition to God’s new movement and His people and so Jerusalem could rightly be identified as Babylon. They, conversely, are the true people of God and should greet one another with an affectionate kiss of love and go in peace, for no better reason than because they are in Christ.
Devotional Thought
Do you view Satan appropriately as Peter presents him here? Do you see him as a potentially dangerous predator but also as an evil force that can be resisted through the power of Christ and the Holy Spirit. We make equal but opposite errors when we give Satan too much credit or not enough.
10 And the God of all grace, who called you to his eternal glory in Christ, after you have suffered a little while, will himself restore you and make you strong, firm and steadfast. 11 To him be the power for ever and ever. Amen.
Final Greetings
12 With the help of Silas, whom I regard as a faithful brother, I have written to you briefly, encouraging you and testifying that this is the true grace of God. Stand fast in it.
13 She who is in Babylon, chosen together with you, sends you her greetings, and so does my son Mark. 14 Greet one another with a kiss of love.
Peace to all of you who are in Christ.
Dig Devotional
I think that most guys, deep down somewhere in their psyche, think that if they really were put in a situation where they had to fight a lion with their bare hands in order to protect their family, they could take the lion out. Most guys really do think that way deep down. I know I did. Until a cool, rainy fall day about seven years ago. We were virtually the only people at the zoo on this afternoon and as we walked into the lion’s area, I noticed that the lion had his face pressed directly up against the glass. I was able to lean over the railing and get my face about a foot away from the lion’s and was amazed as I could literally stare into the eyes of this lion. I forgot, however, that in the animal kingdom, staring into an animal’s eyes is interpreted as a challenge to dominance. Well, the lion didn’t like it and suddenly, with a burst of power and speed that I had never seen in my entire life, leapt up on his hind legs, pounding the glass with his front paws and roaring a thunderous disapproval of my actions. My immediate reaction was to nearly go limp, then to quickly run away just in case that glass broke. I realized at that moment that I stood no chance at all of fighting against a lion. If that glass had broken, I was as dead as could be.
Peter gives us a wonderfully descriptive image, as he brings his letter to a close. He compares the ever-dangerous Satan as a lion on the prowl. I don’t know if there are any Christians who think that they could stand up to Satan if they really needed to, just as I thought I could stand up to a lion, but Peter’s point is that Satan is not to be taken lightly. He is every bit as dangerous as an angry lion and Christians must constantly be on guard.
Because of the subversive and counter-cultural life that true Christians have been called to, we must be constantly alert and of sober mind when it comes to evil and temptation. This is in direct opposition to the standard states of those who are opposed to God who are groggy and quite willing to get drunk on the temptations of the world. Constant preparation is absolutely necessary because we have an enemy who is constantly searching to ensnare victims. The devil prowls around like a roaring lion looking for someone to devour.
Peter, no doubt, chooses the imagery of Satan being like a lion for its descriptive quality as a predator that searches for the weak, the isolated, and the unaware. Describing the ultimate enemy of God’s people as a beast, however, is a common biblical theme. Adam and Eve disobeyed God and allowed sin into the world by listening to the beast (the Serpent). They became less than human by being separated from God, as they became beasts themselves, complete with the mark of rebellion that would be visible on their foreheads (Gen. 3:19). A later picture of the Fall is seen in the life of Nebuchadnezzar who was, like Adam, given the power, strength, and glory of the kingdom. Yet, due to his pride, he was judged and became a beast (Dan. 4:33). Man’s rebellion against God is also depicted in the Bible as the rebellion of beast against man. The persecutors of Christ at the crucifixion are called "dogs," "bulls of Bashan," and likened to "roaring lions" (Ps. 22:12-16). In the Old Testament, all unclean animals represented rebellion against God. Under the symbolism of the Covenant, beasts represent the Satanic nations, and were strictly forbidden to be eaten. To eat unclean animals was to eat the Satanic lifestyle. The prophets often described pagan nations as terrifying beasts making war against the people of the Covenant (Ps. 87:4; 89:10; Isa. 51:9; Dan. 7:3-8, 16-25). The enemy of God’s people, then, has always been the beast; this was nothing new to first-century Jews. This is continued in the book of Revelation in John’s depiction of the two beasts, who are ultimately connected to the age-long enemy of the Church, the Dragon that is Satan.
What is the best way to avoid this prowling lion? It is simply to resist him and his temptations. Peter is no doubt specifically referring to the temptation to walk away from the faith during persecutions and difficult times, but the strategy of resistance rings true for any temptations that the devil might bring our way. That’s the way Satan works. He attacks us through the temptations of our mental lives, looking for permission, in effect, for his further attacks. He entices, but we give way to that temptation and invite him further into our thought life. This is why resistance is the way to stand firm in the faith. We must, says Paul in 2 Corinthians 10:5, "take every thought captive to make it obedient to Christ."
The believers in Asia Minor need not be worried that they have done something wrong to bring on the persecution that has come their way. What they were experiencing was part of the Christian life. There were fellow believers throughout the world that were undergoing the same kind of sufferings that they were. So, not only was what they were going through normal for the Christian life at the time, it was also worth it. They would suffer a little while (by which Peter is not referring to the duration of time of their present suffering but rather the suffering that they must endure during the temporal present age as opposed to the eternity of the age to come), but the God of all grace, has called them to something far greater than the sufferings of a fallen world. It is the vocation of Christians to be willing to endure hardships and trials for the sake and benefit of others but that suffering is not pointless. God has called Christians (called is the New Testament terminology for God’s offer of salvation to humans) to share in His eternal glory, available in the life of Christ. It is God who will restore human beings in Christ to their originally intended status (Ps. 8) and make them strong, firm and steadfast.
As Peter brings this letter to a close, he informs his readers that he has procured the help of Silas, a faithful brother. He uses language that could lead us to interpreting that help in one of three ways. It could simply be that Silas helped Peter by delivering the letter to its recipients, but it could also mean that he dictated the letter to Peter or even ghostwrote the letter using Peter’s thoughts and teaching. Given the stylistic variations between the first and second letters ascribed to Peter, is quite possible that he had assistance in writing one or both of his letters.
Peter sends his final greeting from the church, chosen by God together with them, from where he is writing. Peter cryptically calls this place Babylon, which had become a common early church symbol for a city standing in rebellion and opposition to God. It has been standard biblical interpretation to assume that Peter (and John in the book of Revelation) was referring to Rome. I believe a better explanation, however, is that Babylon does not refer to Rome here or in Revelation but to Jerusalem itself. Despite the fact that most have supposed this to be Rome, but it seems far more likely that it was Jerusalem from where he was writing. Jerusalem is where Peter lived and exercised his ministry (Acts 8:1; 12:3; Gal. 1:18; 2:1-9; cf. 1 Pet. 4:17). As Peter sends greetings from Mark and Silas (1 Pet. 5:12-13), it is important to remember that both of them lived in Jerusalem (Acts 12:12; 15:22-40). It is also true that the Revelation focuses on Jerusalem and only mentions Rome to the degree that she is related to Jerusalem. As you read through chapters 17 and 18 of Revelation, the evidence that Babylon is Jerusalem will become overwhelming. Israel continued to stand in opposition to God’s new movement and His people and so Jerusalem could rightly be identified as Babylon. They, conversely, are the true people of God and should greet one another with an affectionate kiss of love and go in peace, for no better reason than because they are in Christ.
Devotional Thought
Do you view Satan appropriately as Peter presents him here? Do you see him as a potentially dangerous predator but also as an evil force that can be resisted through the power of Christ and the Holy Spirit. We make equal but opposite errors when we give Satan too much credit or not enough.
Thursday, October 02, 2008
1 Peter 5:1-7
To the Elders and the Flock
1 To the elders among you, I appeal as a fellow elder and a witness of Christ's sufferings who also will share in the glory to be revealed: 2 Be shepherds of God's flock that is under your care, watching over them—not because you must, but because you are willing, as God wants you to be; not pursuing dishonest gain, but eager to serve; 3 not lording it over those entrusted to you, but being examples to the flock. 4 And when the Chief Shepherd appears, you will receive the crown of glory that will never fade away.
5 In the same way, you who are younger, submit yourselves to your elders. All of you, clothe yourselves with humility toward one another, because,
"God opposes the proud
but shows favor to the humble and oppressed."
6 Humble yourselves, therefore, under God's mighty hand, that he may lift you up in due time. 7 Cast all your anxiety on him because he cares for you.
Dig Deeper
Many years ago, while I was still a high school basketball coach, I had the opportunity to attend a coaching clinic that was being run by a coach who was, at the time, a major Division 1 college basketball coach that had achieved a fair amount of success and national recognition. On opening night he walked into a room full of high school basketball coaches, some from big programs, some from small schools. There was probably great truth to the fact that many in the room were a bit overwhelmed with the résumé of this man but it was also true that because he was such a big-time coach of a big-time college, that many were tempted to wonder what actual practical advice he might be able to offer. After all, how could he relate to the problems in coaching that come along with high schools that don’t have enough money, enough talent, or enough kids who are dedicated? As he came out, however, he began his talk by pointing out that although he was now a college coach, he was really nothing more than a long-time high school coach. He had been where we were, done what we were doing. In short, he knew what it was like. This immediately put him on common ground with all of the coaches and allowed everyone in the room to be able to hear what he had to say and know that he wasn’t just "talking down" to a bunch of little high school coaches. He was really just one of us.
Peter turns his attention, as the fifth chapter of this letter opens, to the elders of the church. In doing so, he begins with the same sort of common sense that that college coach had. He doesn’t mention his status as an apostle. Rather, he identifies himself with them. He is an elder and pastor just like they are. Peter knows what it’s like to do the day-to-day business of shepherding people and he knows what it’s like to be tempted with the uglier side of leadership. Not because he’s studied leadership academically or has talked to a lot of elders and learned about it, but because he is one. He was someone who could understand and relate to them, and someone to whom they could truly listen. He was, after all, really just one of them.
Peter does find common ground as he begins to address the elders. He appeals to them as a fellow elder just like them, but he is also a faithful witness of Christ’s sufferings. He is like them and can identify with them as someone who also knows what it’s like to be an elder, but he also has credibility as one who has and will continue to call them to sacrifice their own lives and live the life that Christ had called them to. Why does he have credibility? Because he was there. He’s not just calling them to live a lifestyle of which he knows nothing. He saw Christ’s sufferings firsthand and was called by the Master to live what he saw. He also, no doubt, had a sharp memory of denying Christ at His hour of need and being restored to the service of the King. Jesus exhorted him, in no uncertain terms, that if he truly understood what it meant to follow Christ and live a life for others, then Peter should demonstrate that by leading and feeding God’s sheep.
As one who will share with the elders and their sheep in the glory of the age to come, Peter calls them to be shepherds of God’s flock. Just as Peter has addressed various parts of the Christian community, as well as the whole congregation, and called them to live radically different from the world around them, he will now do the same to the leaders of the Church, the elders. The normative standard of leadership in Peter’s day was that rulers lorded their authority over those they led (Matt. 20:25; Mark 10:42; Luke 22:25). But Christians operate in a different reality than the world does. Christians are willing to suffer and put the interests of others first so as to benefit them because that is what Christ did for us. Thus, rather than leading because they were forced into it or using the position to pursue dishonest gain, they should lead because they are willing and eager to serve. Considering the persecution they were facing, it was quite possible that some would be extremely hesitant to lead not wanting to bring extra attention or hardship, yet that would be the response of someone thinking from a worldly point of view. Similarly, for those who had been persecuted and excluded from much of the economic activity of the community since becoming a Christian, it might have been a special temptation to take advantage of the giving spirit of the Christian community by serving their own interests.
As shepherd of Christ’s flock, the overseeing shepherds need to not engage in worldly attitudes of leadership like leading begrudgingly, or lording over others for our own benefit. That is the type of leadership in which the world engages. Leadership in the kingdom of God is just like everything else that Peter has been describing. It should be done for the benefit of others, and to be examples to the flock. Elders need not look for reward or recompense during the present age for they will, like all Christians, receive their vindication in the age to come, a crown of glory that will never fade away. Peter does not explain what precisely the crown of glory is but that it is not really the point of Peter’s writing. It may, however, have something to due with the increased responsibility in the age to come of judging and presiding over God’s restored creation (cf. Matt. 19:28; 25:21; 1 Pet. 2:9; 1 Cor. 6:2). Whatever the crown of glory is, God’s people can be sure that it is eternal and worth whatever temporal challenges we face in the present age.
Submission and service to others does not just apply to elders but to all members of God’s congregation. In the same way as elders have given up their lives for the benefit of the sheep, all those who are younger should also submit themselves to the elders. Some commentators believe that Peter here refers to younger elders who were recently appointed to the position, but it is probably much better understood as an exhortation to the entire congregation. The elders have put the interests of the people above their own, but the believers should clothe themselves with humility. God’s people have put off the old clothes of their old life and have clothed themselves with Christ (Gal. 3:27). The clothes of the Master are robes of humility towards one another. The life of the Christian is a life of continual and purposeful service one toward another.
Peter, doing what he does so often, backs up his point with a reference from the Old Testament. He quotes from Proverbs 3:34, "God opposes the proud but shows favor tot he humble and oppressed." In chapter James 4, James make a similar point to Christians who are fighting with one another. The similarity between Peter’s words here and James’ words likely reflect an early Christian tradition centered around encouraging Christians to humility based on the example of Christ and the reality of the assaults of Satan (1 Pet. 5:8; James 4:7). The Christian who tries to exalt himself or herself at the expense of others or just for their own benefit will find themselves pushing away God’s hand from their life. Just as Christ humbled himself for the sake of others and was raised up by the power of God, so will those who belong to Christ. Christians should humble themselves under God’s mighty hand that He might lift them up in due time according to His will. In the Old Testament, God’s mighty hand was seen in the plagues that befell Egypt (Ex. 3:19; 6:1; 13:3, 9, 14, 16). In the same way, God’s mighty hand should be seen in the persecutions that they in Asia Minor were suffering through. God had vindicated His people then, and He will do the same in their situation. Because this is the same mighty God of the Exodus, they can cast their anxiety on Him. The Israelites of Moses’ day submitted to God’s power and waited on His deliverance. Believers under the New Covenant can do the same. He cares for His children and will allow what is best for us, even if that means going through trials and persecutions that will make us more like Christ than we could ever be by just being comfortable or thinking of ourselves first.
Devotional Thought
Does this passage in 1 Peter 5 sound like you? Do you really clothe yourself in humility? Why does God call His people to live constantly in humility? What would it take for you to really realize the kind of humility in your life that is appropriate to the life of Christ in you? Who or what in your life poses the biggest challenge for you to be truly humble?
1 To the elders among you, I appeal as a fellow elder and a witness of Christ's sufferings who also will share in the glory to be revealed: 2 Be shepherds of God's flock that is under your care, watching over them—not because you must, but because you are willing, as God wants you to be; not pursuing dishonest gain, but eager to serve; 3 not lording it over those entrusted to you, but being examples to the flock. 4 And when the Chief Shepherd appears, you will receive the crown of glory that will never fade away.
5 In the same way, you who are younger, submit yourselves to your elders. All of you, clothe yourselves with humility toward one another, because,
"God opposes the proud
but shows favor to the humble and oppressed."
6 Humble yourselves, therefore, under God's mighty hand, that he may lift you up in due time. 7 Cast all your anxiety on him because he cares for you.
Dig Deeper
Many years ago, while I was still a high school basketball coach, I had the opportunity to attend a coaching clinic that was being run by a coach who was, at the time, a major Division 1 college basketball coach that had achieved a fair amount of success and national recognition. On opening night he walked into a room full of high school basketball coaches, some from big programs, some from small schools. There was probably great truth to the fact that many in the room were a bit overwhelmed with the résumé of this man but it was also true that because he was such a big-time coach of a big-time college, that many were tempted to wonder what actual practical advice he might be able to offer. After all, how could he relate to the problems in coaching that come along with high schools that don’t have enough money, enough talent, or enough kids who are dedicated? As he came out, however, he began his talk by pointing out that although he was now a college coach, he was really nothing more than a long-time high school coach. He had been where we were, done what we were doing. In short, he knew what it was like. This immediately put him on common ground with all of the coaches and allowed everyone in the room to be able to hear what he had to say and know that he wasn’t just "talking down" to a bunch of little high school coaches. He was really just one of us.
Peter turns his attention, as the fifth chapter of this letter opens, to the elders of the church. In doing so, he begins with the same sort of common sense that that college coach had. He doesn’t mention his status as an apostle. Rather, he identifies himself with them. He is an elder and pastor just like they are. Peter knows what it’s like to do the day-to-day business of shepherding people and he knows what it’s like to be tempted with the uglier side of leadership. Not because he’s studied leadership academically or has talked to a lot of elders and learned about it, but because he is one. He was someone who could understand and relate to them, and someone to whom they could truly listen. He was, after all, really just one of them.
Peter does find common ground as he begins to address the elders. He appeals to them as a fellow elder just like them, but he is also a faithful witness of Christ’s sufferings. He is like them and can identify with them as someone who also knows what it’s like to be an elder, but he also has credibility as one who has and will continue to call them to sacrifice their own lives and live the life that Christ had called them to. Why does he have credibility? Because he was there. He’s not just calling them to live a lifestyle of which he knows nothing. He saw Christ’s sufferings firsthand and was called by the Master to live what he saw. He also, no doubt, had a sharp memory of denying Christ at His hour of need and being restored to the service of the King. Jesus exhorted him, in no uncertain terms, that if he truly understood what it meant to follow Christ and live a life for others, then Peter should demonstrate that by leading and feeding God’s sheep.
As one who will share with the elders and their sheep in the glory of the age to come, Peter calls them to be shepherds of God’s flock. Just as Peter has addressed various parts of the Christian community, as well as the whole congregation, and called them to live radically different from the world around them, he will now do the same to the leaders of the Church, the elders. The normative standard of leadership in Peter’s day was that rulers lorded their authority over those they led (Matt. 20:25; Mark 10:42; Luke 22:25). But Christians operate in a different reality than the world does. Christians are willing to suffer and put the interests of others first so as to benefit them because that is what Christ did for us. Thus, rather than leading because they were forced into it or using the position to pursue dishonest gain, they should lead because they are willing and eager to serve. Considering the persecution they were facing, it was quite possible that some would be extremely hesitant to lead not wanting to bring extra attention or hardship, yet that would be the response of someone thinking from a worldly point of view. Similarly, for those who had been persecuted and excluded from much of the economic activity of the community since becoming a Christian, it might have been a special temptation to take advantage of the giving spirit of the Christian community by serving their own interests.
As shepherd of Christ’s flock, the overseeing shepherds need to not engage in worldly attitudes of leadership like leading begrudgingly, or lording over others for our own benefit. That is the type of leadership in which the world engages. Leadership in the kingdom of God is just like everything else that Peter has been describing. It should be done for the benefit of others, and to be examples to the flock. Elders need not look for reward or recompense during the present age for they will, like all Christians, receive their vindication in the age to come, a crown of glory that will never fade away. Peter does not explain what precisely the crown of glory is but that it is not really the point of Peter’s writing. It may, however, have something to due with the increased responsibility in the age to come of judging and presiding over God’s restored creation (cf. Matt. 19:28; 25:21; 1 Pet. 2:9; 1 Cor. 6:2). Whatever the crown of glory is, God’s people can be sure that it is eternal and worth whatever temporal challenges we face in the present age.
Submission and service to others does not just apply to elders but to all members of God’s congregation. In the same way as elders have given up their lives for the benefit of the sheep, all those who are younger should also submit themselves to the elders. Some commentators believe that Peter here refers to younger elders who were recently appointed to the position, but it is probably much better understood as an exhortation to the entire congregation. The elders have put the interests of the people above their own, but the believers should clothe themselves with humility. God’s people have put off the old clothes of their old life and have clothed themselves with Christ (Gal. 3:27). The clothes of the Master are robes of humility towards one another. The life of the Christian is a life of continual and purposeful service one toward another.
Peter, doing what he does so often, backs up his point with a reference from the Old Testament. He quotes from Proverbs 3:34, "God opposes the proud but shows favor tot he humble and oppressed." In chapter James 4, James make a similar point to Christians who are fighting with one another. The similarity between Peter’s words here and James’ words likely reflect an early Christian tradition centered around encouraging Christians to humility based on the example of Christ and the reality of the assaults of Satan (1 Pet. 5:8; James 4:7). The Christian who tries to exalt himself or herself at the expense of others or just for their own benefit will find themselves pushing away God’s hand from their life. Just as Christ humbled himself for the sake of others and was raised up by the power of God, so will those who belong to Christ. Christians should humble themselves under God’s mighty hand that He might lift them up in due time according to His will. In the Old Testament, God’s mighty hand was seen in the plagues that befell Egypt (Ex. 3:19; 6:1; 13:3, 9, 14, 16). In the same way, God’s mighty hand should be seen in the persecutions that they in Asia Minor were suffering through. God had vindicated His people then, and He will do the same in their situation. Because this is the same mighty God of the Exodus, they can cast their anxiety on Him. The Israelites of Moses’ day submitted to God’s power and waited on His deliverance. Believers under the New Covenant can do the same. He cares for His children and will allow what is best for us, even if that means going through trials and persecutions that will make us more like Christ than we could ever be by just being comfortable or thinking of ourselves first.
Devotional Thought
Does this passage in 1 Peter 5 sound like you? Do you really clothe yourself in humility? Why does God call His people to live constantly in humility? What would it take for you to really realize the kind of humility in your life that is appropriate to the life of Christ in you? Who or what in your life poses the biggest challenge for you to be truly humble?
Wednesday, October 01, 2008
1 Peter 4:12-19
Suffering for Being a Christian
12 Dear friends, do not be surprised at the fiery ordeal that has come on you to test you, as though something strange were happening to you. 13 But rejoice inasmuch as you participate in the sufferings of Christ, so that you may be overjoyed when his glory is revealed. 14 If you are insulted because of the name of Christ, you are blessed, for the Spirit of glory and of God rests on you. 15 If you suffer, it should not be as a murderer or thief or any other kind of criminal, or even as a meddler. 16 However, if you suffer as a Christian, do not be ashamed, but praise God that you bear that name. 17 For it is time for judgment to begin with God's household; and if it begins with us, what will the outcome be for those who do not obey the gospel of God? 18 And,
"If it is hard for the righteous to be saved,
what will become of the ungodly and the sinner?"
19 So then, those who suffer according to God's will should commit themselves to their faithful Creator and continue to do good.
Dig Deeper
I was expecting it, of course, but she had no idea that it was coming. The high school at which I taught had hired a new teacher and it was her first day. Most of the classes at this school were team taught and I was asked to team up with this teacher for most of her classes during her first semester so that I could mentor her. I knew her first couple of weeks would likely be rough but she was full of idealism and thought all of the kids would treat her with love, respect, and kindness. Only, that’s just not how things worked around there. Kids were suspicious of new teachers and rather than treating them with respect and hospitality that would welcome them into the family, they seemed to like to test and harass new teachers to see what they were made of. On her very first day, several of the students were rude and disrespectful to her in a fairly confrontational way. She didn’t handle it very well and I was forced to step in and reprimand them, which is not the best thing but she had clearly lost control. At the end of the day, when all of the kids had gone home, she broke down into tears and couldn’t seem to understand why that had happened. One of the things I reminded her of was that she should have known this was coming. It simply came with the territory. If you’re going to take a job teaching at an inner-city high school with one of the worst education systems in the entire country, you absolutely have to be ready for rough students and hard times. Being shocked when difficult times come is just plain naiveté that one cannot afford in that situation.
The believers of Peter’s day had died to their old lives and entered into Christ and would have been told from the very beginning that part of that decision would likely entail sharing in the suffering of Christ. What was true of the king, after all, was true of his people and Christ had certainly suffered and been persecuted. It’s possible that the communities to which Peter was originally writing did not face much persecution at first but now it had come on full force. This may haven taken them by surprise or shocked them that it had happened at all. Peter reminds them, though, that they should have known better. Part of the deal, part of the very nature of being a Christian means taking on persecution, suffering and trials. Those who present Christianity as all health, wealth, and prosperity present a false gospel. They were facing suffering, and says Peter, they should have expected it all along.
The trials that had come their way must have been fairly severe because Peter calls it a fiery ordeal that had come to test them. They shouldn’t consider this some sort of strange aberration or begin to question their faith, however. This was part of the life of Christ. It was as natural and normal as could be. Rather, they should rejoice as they participate in the sufferings of Christ, or as James puts it, "consider it pure joy" (James 1:2). This seems strange to one whose thinking is still controlled by the flesh but should make perfect sense to the Christian. Just as a thin person looks at a bodybuilder and knows that he must put himself through some severe tests and strenuous exercise in order to transform his body to become like the muscleman, the Christian knows that our great hope is to be transformed into Christ-likeness. The only way to achieve that completeness is through suffering, tests, and trials. They should not think of suffering as something to be shunned or spoken against the way Peter had so many years before when Christ was introducing the subjects to His disciples (Matt. 16:21-22; Mark 8:31-32). They should, in fact, rejoice in their present sufferings, because they know that as they are crafted, molded, and refined into the image of Christ, they will be overjoyed when His glory is fully revealed in them (cf. 2 Cor. 3:18) at the great renewal of all things and resurrection of the righteous (Matt. 19:28).
In our modern, Western culture we might tend to miss the full force of being insulted because of the name of Christ in the first century. "Name" in the first century could be used almost synonymously with the life or character of someone, so Peter is referring to the life of Christ in which they all participate. But they lived in an honor-shame culture in which being insulted was far more than a bit of verbal criticism. Being shamed in that culture meant having permanent damage done to one’s reputation, status, and social standing.
They needed to learn to cope with the loss of social status and economic opportunities and embrace that they might very well be treated as social outcasts. That should not shame them in their own eyes, however, or serve as some kind of sign that they had made a mistake when they chose the life of Christ. In fact, they should praise God that they bear that name, because the very persecution that they are facing was not a negative thing but a sign that they were indeed living part of the life of Christ. It was an important caveat, subsequently, that they should not suffer for ungodly behavior. They likely would have understood that Christians were not to be murderers or criminals, but Peter says that this prohibition includes even being meddlers, a word that could also be translated "busybodies." His point is that suffering for the life of Christ is appropriate, but suffering for ungodly behavior simply won’t do. They shouldn’t jeopardize a witness that really hinges on upright behavior in the face of persecution. Those types of behaviors should not be tolerated or even excused because of their difficult situation.
After hashing out the reality of facing trials, Peter returns to the topic of judgment, which served as a powerful motivator and regulator for the early church. The judgment of God was important to them as it would be the time when God vindicated His people as being just that. Peter reminds them, though, God’s judgment begins with God’s people, a concept familiar to those fluent in the Old Testament. In fact, the early church viewed persecution as the first, and necessary, stage of the future judgment (cf. Phil. 2:28-30; 1 Thess. 3:3-4:2; 2 Thess. 1:4; Revelation 1-22). The realization of a future judgment served as powerful basis for calling the Christian community to live faithfully to the life of Christ to which they had been called. What they needed to realize was the big picture. The types of persecutions and trials which they were now facing were part of the judgment and discipline of God as He refined His people, molding them into the image of Christ, so that they would be able to withstand the presence of the consuming fire that is our God (Deut. 4:4; Heb. 12:29; cf. Mal. 3:1-4). This is precisely what Paul refers to in 1 Corinthians 11:32 when he says, "Nevertheless, when we are judged in this way by the Lord, we are being disciplined so that we will not be finally condemned with the world." Suffering and trials are the "exercise" we need to become like Christ (cf. James 1:2-4). These trials are not easy and they never will be, but they do have a purpose that makes it worth it. Not everyone will stand up to these trials, unfortunately, and those who do will find it rough going from time to time.
Peter once again quotes from the Old Testament (Prov. 11:31) to bolster his point: "If it is hard for the righteous to be saved, what will become of the ungodly and the sinner?" If, in other words, God’s judgment is so stringent that it provides a stiff challenge for even the people of God, what possible chance do those not in Christ stand? The obvious answer is none. Only those who have entered into Christ will be formed into His image and only those in image of Christ will be able to withstand the full penetrating and judging presence of the almighty God. Those in Christ who suffer then, should realize that, although God is not responsible for their suffering, He does allow it as part of His will. They should, simply put, commit themselves to their faithful creator, despite whatever suffering and persecution they may suffer, and continue to do good, regardless of the difficult circumstances they might find themselves.
Devotional Thought
We often sing a song that says, "When trouble comes my way. . . Jesus is gonna fix it, after a while." Have you ever thought about that song in light of what Peter says here. If we are going to align that song with the word of God, then it really hinges on having a proper understanding of "after a while." Spend some times considering what that song, correctly understood, might mean for your own trials, troubles, or ordeals.
12 Dear friends, do not be surprised at the fiery ordeal that has come on you to test you, as though something strange were happening to you. 13 But rejoice inasmuch as you participate in the sufferings of Christ, so that you may be overjoyed when his glory is revealed. 14 If you are insulted because of the name of Christ, you are blessed, for the Spirit of glory and of God rests on you. 15 If you suffer, it should not be as a murderer or thief or any other kind of criminal, or even as a meddler. 16 However, if you suffer as a Christian, do not be ashamed, but praise God that you bear that name. 17 For it is time for judgment to begin with God's household; and if it begins with us, what will the outcome be for those who do not obey the gospel of God? 18 And,
"If it is hard for the righteous to be saved,
what will become of the ungodly and the sinner?"
19 So then, those who suffer according to God's will should commit themselves to their faithful Creator and continue to do good.
Dig Deeper
I was expecting it, of course, but she had no idea that it was coming. The high school at which I taught had hired a new teacher and it was her first day. Most of the classes at this school were team taught and I was asked to team up with this teacher for most of her classes during her first semester so that I could mentor her. I knew her first couple of weeks would likely be rough but she was full of idealism and thought all of the kids would treat her with love, respect, and kindness. Only, that’s just not how things worked around there. Kids were suspicious of new teachers and rather than treating them with respect and hospitality that would welcome them into the family, they seemed to like to test and harass new teachers to see what they were made of. On her very first day, several of the students were rude and disrespectful to her in a fairly confrontational way. She didn’t handle it very well and I was forced to step in and reprimand them, which is not the best thing but she had clearly lost control. At the end of the day, when all of the kids had gone home, she broke down into tears and couldn’t seem to understand why that had happened. One of the things I reminded her of was that she should have known this was coming. It simply came with the territory. If you’re going to take a job teaching at an inner-city high school with one of the worst education systems in the entire country, you absolutely have to be ready for rough students and hard times. Being shocked when difficult times come is just plain naiveté that one cannot afford in that situation.
The believers of Peter’s day had died to their old lives and entered into Christ and would have been told from the very beginning that part of that decision would likely entail sharing in the suffering of Christ. What was true of the king, after all, was true of his people and Christ had certainly suffered and been persecuted. It’s possible that the communities to which Peter was originally writing did not face much persecution at first but now it had come on full force. This may haven taken them by surprise or shocked them that it had happened at all. Peter reminds them, though, that they should have known better. Part of the deal, part of the very nature of being a Christian means taking on persecution, suffering and trials. Those who present Christianity as all health, wealth, and prosperity present a false gospel. They were facing suffering, and says Peter, they should have expected it all along.
The trials that had come their way must have been fairly severe because Peter calls it a fiery ordeal that had come to test them. They shouldn’t consider this some sort of strange aberration or begin to question their faith, however. This was part of the life of Christ. It was as natural and normal as could be. Rather, they should rejoice as they participate in the sufferings of Christ, or as James puts it, "consider it pure joy" (James 1:2). This seems strange to one whose thinking is still controlled by the flesh but should make perfect sense to the Christian. Just as a thin person looks at a bodybuilder and knows that he must put himself through some severe tests and strenuous exercise in order to transform his body to become like the muscleman, the Christian knows that our great hope is to be transformed into Christ-likeness. The only way to achieve that completeness is through suffering, tests, and trials. They should not think of suffering as something to be shunned or spoken against the way Peter had so many years before when Christ was introducing the subjects to His disciples (Matt. 16:21-22; Mark 8:31-32). They should, in fact, rejoice in their present sufferings, because they know that as they are crafted, molded, and refined into the image of Christ, they will be overjoyed when His glory is fully revealed in them (cf. 2 Cor. 3:18) at the great renewal of all things and resurrection of the righteous (Matt. 19:28).
In our modern, Western culture we might tend to miss the full force of being insulted because of the name of Christ in the first century. "Name" in the first century could be used almost synonymously with the life or character of someone, so Peter is referring to the life of Christ in which they all participate. But they lived in an honor-shame culture in which being insulted was far more than a bit of verbal criticism. Being shamed in that culture meant having permanent damage done to one’s reputation, status, and social standing.
They needed to learn to cope with the loss of social status and economic opportunities and embrace that they might very well be treated as social outcasts. That should not shame them in their own eyes, however, or serve as some kind of sign that they had made a mistake when they chose the life of Christ. In fact, they should praise God that they bear that name, because the very persecution that they are facing was not a negative thing but a sign that they were indeed living part of the life of Christ. It was an important caveat, subsequently, that they should not suffer for ungodly behavior. They likely would have understood that Christians were not to be murderers or criminals, but Peter says that this prohibition includes even being meddlers, a word that could also be translated "busybodies." His point is that suffering for the life of Christ is appropriate, but suffering for ungodly behavior simply won’t do. They shouldn’t jeopardize a witness that really hinges on upright behavior in the face of persecution. Those types of behaviors should not be tolerated or even excused because of their difficult situation.
After hashing out the reality of facing trials, Peter returns to the topic of judgment, which served as a powerful motivator and regulator for the early church. The judgment of God was important to them as it would be the time when God vindicated His people as being just that. Peter reminds them, though, God’s judgment begins with God’s people, a concept familiar to those fluent in the Old Testament. In fact, the early church viewed persecution as the first, and necessary, stage of the future judgment (cf. Phil. 2:28-30; 1 Thess. 3:3-4:2; 2 Thess. 1:4; Revelation 1-22). The realization of a future judgment served as powerful basis for calling the Christian community to live faithfully to the life of Christ to which they had been called. What they needed to realize was the big picture. The types of persecutions and trials which they were now facing were part of the judgment and discipline of God as He refined His people, molding them into the image of Christ, so that they would be able to withstand the presence of the consuming fire that is our God (Deut. 4:4; Heb. 12:29; cf. Mal. 3:1-4). This is precisely what Paul refers to in 1 Corinthians 11:32 when he says, "Nevertheless, when we are judged in this way by the Lord, we are being disciplined so that we will not be finally condemned with the world." Suffering and trials are the "exercise" we need to become like Christ (cf. James 1:2-4). These trials are not easy and they never will be, but they do have a purpose that makes it worth it. Not everyone will stand up to these trials, unfortunately, and those who do will find it rough going from time to time.
Peter once again quotes from the Old Testament (Prov. 11:31) to bolster his point: "If it is hard for the righteous to be saved, what will become of the ungodly and the sinner?" If, in other words, God’s judgment is so stringent that it provides a stiff challenge for even the people of God, what possible chance do those not in Christ stand? The obvious answer is none. Only those who have entered into Christ will be formed into His image and only those in image of Christ will be able to withstand the full penetrating and judging presence of the almighty God. Those in Christ who suffer then, should realize that, although God is not responsible for their suffering, He does allow it as part of His will. They should, simply put, commit themselves to their faithful creator, despite whatever suffering and persecution they may suffer, and continue to do good, regardless of the difficult circumstances they might find themselves.
Devotional Thought
We often sing a song that says, "When trouble comes my way. . . Jesus is gonna fix it, after a while." Have you ever thought about that song in light of what Peter says here. If we are going to align that song with the word of God, then it really hinges on having a proper understanding of "after a while." Spend some times considering what that song, correctly understood, might mean for your own trials, troubles, or ordeals.
Tuesday, September 30, 2008
1 Peter 4:7-11
7 The end of all things is near. Therefore be alert and of sober mind so that you may pray. 8 Above all, love each other deeply, because love covers over a multitude of sins. 9 Offer hospitality to one another without grumbling. 10 Each of you should use whatever gift you have received to serve others, as faithful stewards of God's grace in its various forms. 11 If you speak, you should do so as one who speaks the very words of God. If you serve, you should do so with the strength God provides, so that in all things God may be praised through Jesus Christ. To him be the glory and the power for ever and ever. Amen.
Dig Deeper
When Jesus was brought before Pontius Pilate to have his fate decided upon, Pilate did something that is really quite common in the world in which we live. He called for a basin. How is that a common act you might wonder? It's not common in that he called for a basin, but what is common is why he called for the basin. He wanted to wash his hands. Far more important than the literal act of washing his hands, though, was the fact that he was symbolically cleansing himself, absolving himself from a difficult situation. He wasn't really concerned with the impact on others or the outcome, he only cared what it meant for him. He was looking out for himself and the easiest thing to do, then, was to entirely remove himself from the tumult and not get involved. He would serve only his own interests, refusing to put himself on the line, refusing to lay his life down in any way; he would, in short, do what most of us do if left to our own devices.
In contrast, however, just the night before that scene, Jesus was also confronted by a basin. Rather than shrinking back from the situation at hand and saving himself from the trouble ahead, Jesus took the opportunity to grab the basin and wash the feet of the disciples. He was not only serving them but was also teaching them about the importance of what He was about to do for them at the Cross. Jesus realized that every opportunity in life is an opportunity to serve God's will by putting the needs of others ahead of our own. He embraced that philosophy all the way to the cross. Look at the difference in impact between Pilate's and Jesus' choice though. Pilate had power that he could have used to serve others but instead served his own interest and had the only innocent man in the history of the world put to death. Jesus served the interests of others and made the way of salvation for the entire world. This is precisely the underlying attitude that Peter wants for the Christian community that he is writing. As they come to learn what it truly means to be part of the new family of the people of God they must learn that everything they have and every gift they have been given by God is an opportunity to serve others, not something to selfishly keep for themselves.
There is some debate as to just what Peter meant when he wrote that the end of all things is near. Did he he expect that Christ would be returning soon and so the Christian communities should order themselves with this imminent coming in mind or was he referring to the destruction of the Temple and the clear sign from God that Christ had been vindicated and the Old Covenant had been completely surpassed by the new phase of the New Covenant? The fact is that he likely had both things in mind as they were closely related in early Christian thought. The destruction of the Temple served as a clear sign of the judgment of God on Israel and vindication of Christ, serving as a guarantee of His Second Coming. Whether Peter expected the Second Coming to come very soon or understood that it would be some time is of little importance and does not change the meaning of his point which is for his readers to live in the context of the New Covenant community and the reality of the imminence of the Second Coming of Christ.
In light of God's reality they should be alert and of sober mind so that they might pray. They should not hold tightly to earthly commitments and concerns but be prepared to see God's reality in everything. People who have their mind cluttered with false priorities and deceptive living will, no doubt, have the clear lines of communication with God cluttered as well. Prayer is one of the primary ways, combined with the word of God, that God's people can keep in touch with His will. Focusing on the priorities and affairs of the world can take one's eye off of the importance of prayer which will eventually sweep away the relationship that one has with God and His people.
As far as Peter was concerned, the most important characteristic of the people of the Messiah was to love each other deeply, for Christ had declared that it would be the distinguishing marker of His people (John 13:34-35). This would be an especially difficult task for a community that was outcast and persecuted, but would be all the more vital under difficult circumstances. They should embrace this ethic of love because love covers over a multitude of sins, says Peter, quoting from Proverbs 10:12 His point is that being a community of love is a sure sign that they have put away other sinful behaviors that characterize the human will. It is also true that the community of love will be able to forgive one another quickly and move on to spiritual maturity through situations that might paralyze a people that have yet to embrace the true agape love of God as the standard of their community.
As a practical expression of that love, Peter urges them to offer hospitality to one another. Peter is always the realist and knows that this can be done begrudgingly without truly conforming their hearts and minds so he exhorts them to do it without grumbling. The type of hospitality that Peter refers to here goes far beyond throwing a nice mixer for your Christian friends or putting on a great dinner party for your small group leader and his wife, although it certainly includes that. He is urging them to adopt of lifestyle of open hospitality where their homes and resources are offered up to fellow Christians as a necessary service. Rather than keeping what little they might have for themselves, Christians are to follow the example of Christ in practical ways and be willing to serve their fellow believers in whatever they have. Sharing in tight circumstances, however, can cause irritations, so Peter reminds them that the way of Christ is to serve fellow believers in joy. True hospitality, after all, comes in generously opening your home when you wish your guest were at theirs.
Another expression of the love and self-giving ethos of the Christian family is to realize that each person should exercise the gifts that God has given to serve others. Gifts are not to serve one's self or to seek advancement or self-satisfaction but to edify and encourage the body of Christ. Using your gifts to serve the body as faithful stewards means both being willing to use whatever gifts one might have but also seeking humbly to use them rather than just sitting back and waiting to be asked. Being a faithful steward means being aware that God's grace is poured out to the body of Christ through the gifts that he has given us. If we fail to use those gifts, we deny the body the grace that God has apportioned to us to pour out on the believers.
Some have gifts of serving or encouragement, and some have gifts of speaking. Those who do should not be exalted above others or think of themselves as more important but should realize that they have a tremendous responsibility as one who speaks the very words of God. Whatever gift one has they should be exercised in such a way as to reflect the divine glory of God from which they came, for gifts come through the strength that God provides. This means also that God will use us, but we must always remember that it will often not be in the way that we might have chosen. God gives gifts and calls us to service whether we like it or not, or see it as a strength of ours or not. No one serves as a better example of that than the apostle Paul who called himself the "Hebrew of Hebrews" and was quite comfortable listing of the accomplishments that he could claim as an ethnic Jew (Phil. 3:4-6; 2 Cor. 11:22). He studied under Gamaliel, one of the pre-eminent Jewish teachers of his day (Acts 22:3). Yet, Paul was not called by God to preach to and serve Jews, in fact when he did shortly after his conversion, he was nearly killed (Acts 9:23). Instead, Paul was called by God to be His chosen instrument to the Gentiles (Acts 9:15); he would be the apostle to the Gentiles (Rom. 11:13; Gal. 2:8; 1 Tim. 2:7). This should serve as a challenging reminder that God will use us and the gifts He has given, but it may often not be in the way that we would expect or naturally want. We must remember that the gifts are God and He has called us to use them for the benefit of others not for our own satisfaction.
Devotional Thought
Do you truly use the gifts that God has given you for the benefit of other believers? Are you active in finding ways to serve and be used even if it's not something you would have first thought of or is not something you immediately enjoy, or do you tend to sit back and wait to be asked to serve? What portion of God's grace has He given to you that you have yet to unleash?
Dig Deeper
When Jesus was brought before Pontius Pilate to have his fate decided upon, Pilate did something that is really quite common in the world in which we live. He called for a basin. How is that a common act you might wonder? It's not common in that he called for a basin, but what is common is why he called for the basin. He wanted to wash his hands. Far more important than the literal act of washing his hands, though, was the fact that he was symbolically cleansing himself, absolving himself from a difficult situation. He wasn't really concerned with the impact on others or the outcome, he only cared what it meant for him. He was looking out for himself and the easiest thing to do, then, was to entirely remove himself from the tumult and not get involved. He would serve only his own interests, refusing to put himself on the line, refusing to lay his life down in any way; he would, in short, do what most of us do if left to our own devices.
In contrast, however, just the night before that scene, Jesus was also confronted by a basin. Rather than shrinking back from the situation at hand and saving himself from the trouble ahead, Jesus took the opportunity to grab the basin and wash the feet of the disciples. He was not only serving them but was also teaching them about the importance of what He was about to do for them at the Cross. Jesus realized that every opportunity in life is an opportunity to serve God's will by putting the needs of others ahead of our own. He embraced that philosophy all the way to the cross. Look at the difference in impact between Pilate's and Jesus' choice though. Pilate had power that he could have used to serve others but instead served his own interest and had the only innocent man in the history of the world put to death. Jesus served the interests of others and made the way of salvation for the entire world. This is precisely the underlying attitude that Peter wants for the Christian community that he is writing. As they come to learn what it truly means to be part of the new family of the people of God they must learn that everything they have and every gift they have been given by God is an opportunity to serve others, not something to selfishly keep for themselves.
There is some debate as to just what Peter meant when he wrote that the end of all things is near. Did he he expect that Christ would be returning soon and so the Christian communities should order themselves with this imminent coming in mind or was he referring to the destruction of the Temple and the clear sign from God that Christ had been vindicated and the Old Covenant had been completely surpassed by the new phase of the New Covenant? The fact is that he likely had both things in mind as they were closely related in early Christian thought. The destruction of the Temple served as a clear sign of the judgment of God on Israel and vindication of Christ, serving as a guarantee of His Second Coming. Whether Peter expected the Second Coming to come very soon or understood that it would be some time is of little importance and does not change the meaning of his point which is for his readers to live in the context of the New Covenant community and the reality of the imminence of the Second Coming of Christ.
In light of God's reality they should be alert and of sober mind so that they might pray. They should not hold tightly to earthly commitments and concerns but be prepared to see God's reality in everything. People who have their mind cluttered with false priorities and deceptive living will, no doubt, have the clear lines of communication with God cluttered as well. Prayer is one of the primary ways, combined with the word of God, that God's people can keep in touch with His will. Focusing on the priorities and affairs of the world can take one's eye off of the importance of prayer which will eventually sweep away the relationship that one has with God and His people.
As far as Peter was concerned, the most important characteristic of the people of the Messiah was to love each other deeply, for Christ had declared that it would be the distinguishing marker of His people (John 13:34-35). This would be an especially difficult task for a community that was outcast and persecuted, but would be all the more vital under difficult circumstances. They should embrace this ethic of love because love covers over a multitude of sins, says Peter, quoting from Proverbs 10:12 His point is that being a community of love is a sure sign that they have put away other sinful behaviors that characterize the human will. It is also true that the community of love will be able to forgive one another quickly and move on to spiritual maturity through situations that might paralyze a people that have yet to embrace the true agape love of God as the standard of their community.
As a practical expression of that love, Peter urges them to offer hospitality to one another. Peter is always the realist and knows that this can be done begrudgingly without truly conforming their hearts and minds so he exhorts them to do it without grumbling. The type of hospitality that Peter refers to here goes far beyond throwing a nice mixer for your Christian friends or putting on a great dinner party for your small group leader and his wife, although it certainly includes that. He is urging them to adopt of lifestyle of open hospitality where their homes and resources are offered up to fellow Christians as a necessary service. Rather than keeping what little they might have for themselves, Christians are to follow the example of Christ in practical ways and be willing to serve their fellow believers in whatever they have. Sharing in tight circumstances, however, can cause irritations, so Peter reminds them that the way of Christ is to serve fellow believers in joy. True hospitality, after all, comes in generously opening your home when you wish your guest were at theirs.
Another expression of the love and self-giving ethos of the Christian family is to realize that each person should exercise the gifts that God has given to serve others. Gifts are not to serve one's self or to seek advancement or self-satisfaction but to edify and encourage the body of Christ. Using your gifts to serve the body as faithful stewards means both being willing to use whatever gifts one might have but also seeking humbly to use them rather than just sitting back and waiting to be asked. Being a faithful steward means being aware that God's grace is poured out to the body of Christ through the gifts that he has given us. If we fail to use those gifts, we deny the body the grace that God has apportioned to us to pour out on the believers.
Some have gifts of serving or encouragement, and some have gifts of speaking. Those who do should not be exalted above others or think of themselves as more important but should realize that they have a tremendous responsibility as one who speaks the very words of God. Whatever gift one has they should be exercised in such a way as to reflect the divine glory of God from which they came, for gifts come through the strength that God provides. This means also that God will use us, but we must always remember that it will often not be in the way that we might have chosen. God gives gifts and calls us to service whether we like it or not, or see it as a strength of ours or not. No one serves as a better example of that than the apostle Paul who called himself the "Hebrew of Hebrews" and was quite comfortable listing of the accomplishments that he could claim as an ethnic Jew (Phil. 3:4-6; 2 Cor. 11:22). He studied under Gamaliel, one of the pre-eminent Jewish teachers of his day (Acts 22:3). Yet, Paul was not called by God to preach to and serve Jews, in fact when he did shortly after his conversion, he was nearly killed (Acts 9:23). Instead, Paul was called by God to be His chosen instrument to the Gentiles (Acts 9:15); he would be the apostle to the Gentiles (Rom. 11:13; Gal. 2:8; 1 Tim. 2:7). This should serve as a challenging reminder that God will use us and the gifts He has given, but it may often not be in the way that we would expect or naturally want. We must remember that the gifts are God and He has called us to use them for the benefit of others not for our own satisfaction.
Devotional Thought
Do you truly use the gifts that God has given you for the benefit of other believers? Are you active in finding ways to serve and be used even if it's not something you would have first thought of or is not something you immediately enjoy, or do you tend to sit back and wait to be asked to serve? What portion of God's grace has He given to you that you have yet to unleash?
Monday, September 29, 2008
1 Peter 4:1-6
Living for God
1 Therefore, since Christ suffered in his body, arm yourselves also with the same attitude, because those who have suffered in their bodies are done with sin. 2 As a result, they do not live the rest of their earthly lives for evil human desires, but rather for the will of God. 3 For you have spent enough time in the past doing what pagans choose to do—living in debauchery, lust, drunkenness, orgies, carousing and detestable idolatry. 4 They are surprised that you do not join them in their reckless, wild living, and they heap abuse on you. 5 But they will have to give account to him who is ready to judge the living and the dead. 6 For this is the reason the gospel was preached even to those who are now dead, so that they might be judged according to human standards in regard to the body, but live according to God in regard to the spirit.
Dig Deeper
When I first went off to college, it would be somewhat of an understatement to say that I didn’t really take it seriously. I was there for several reasons but none of the top reasons had anything to do with academics. I was much more concerned with playing basketball, making friends, having fun, and of course the girls. Because of this, I actually paid little attention to my grades or my classes in general, showing little respect for myself or my parents who were making possible my ability to attend college. After a couple of wasted years in which I dug myself quite an academic hole, I moved to a new university in Oklahoma. It was there that I finally woke up to the sacrifice that others had made for me to be able to go to college and I also came to the realization of the importance of my grades and actually taking the academic side of college seriously. I quickly understood, however, that not only did my attitude toward the future change, I also needed to view it in terms of the time I had wasted in the past. My graduation was coming up quickly and I only had a couple of years to make up, in a sense, for the time I had wasted.
In many respects, this is the frame of mind that Peter presents in the opening verses of chapter 4. The believers were now in Christ. They had demonstrated that they understood what life was about and that they had simply wasted their lives before becoming Christians by engaging in all sorts of selfish and pagan behavior. Not only did they need to be about living lives worthy of those in Christ, they should also be reminded that they did waste all sorts of time before they were Christians not doing God’s will. Why would they want to continue living like that? Their time was now limited and the last thing they needed to do now was to waste more time not doing His will or only half doing. They need to be about the business of living in the new creation.
Peter reverts to the death of Christ (1 Pet. 3:18) and the example that he set as the gold standard for Christian believers. The saints should, says Peter using military language, arm themselves with the same attitude that Jesus displayed consistently throughout His life. Christ is the prototypical human being who fully carried the image of God (2 Cor. 4:4; Col. 3:10) and lived up to the high standard and design meant for human beings who retained that image and did the will of God (cf. Ps. 8). Because Jesus was the only true human being, He is the only one that should ever serve as our ultimate model of imitation (even when we imitate other Christians it should only be in so much as they imitate Christ). As Christ demonstrated, the only way to truly be fully human in this age of sin and evil is to take that evil upon oneself for the benefit of others. As James points out in James 1:2-4, trials and suffering work like hard exercise in the life of the Christian. They are the only way that we can truly get the resistance we need in order to change and grow and become complete in the life of Christ. Thus, those who embrace a life of suffering for the benefit of others as a way to follow the Master, demonstrate that they are truly done with sin, and will increasingly realize that proclamation of action as we are molded by the Spirit in the life of Christ.
Those who have clothed themselves with Christ, rejecting the way of sin, should increasingly reject and not be drawn by to their evil human desires, but rather they live for the will of God. This can only be done because Christ has repaired the bridge between us and God. Those separated from God by sin cannot do the will of God. Jesus promised that only His brothers and sisters could do God’s will (Mark 3:35) but this is an option that was made available by His willingness to perfectly do God’s will. Adam and Eve had failed, in the garden of Eden, to do God’s will, instead choosing to do their own will. This was a situation would no human being could reverse; no one could open the scroll of the New Covenant and do God’s will (Rev. 5:1-10). Jesus, in a very deliberate and significant act, went into another garden, the garden of Gethsemene and struggled with doing God’s will, but of course did it in the most severe of circumstances. He chose horrible suffering, according to the will of God, in order to benefit others. The call for those who belong to Him is to do no less.
In verse 3, Peter goes into a bit of a practical line of thinking. Not only should a life of sin be avoided for the reasons Peter has already detailed, but for the simple and pragmatic reason that Christians have already spent enough time in the past doing what the pagans choose to do—a list that could be summed up by saying "choosing to do our own will rather than God’s." Peter assumes that those in Christ will choose to do the will of God which will make them stand out among their fellow neighbors like a black panther in a snow storm. The change in lifestyle should be so obvious that those with whom these believers used to engage in sinful behavior will now revile them. Peter says they they will be so surprised that believers will no longer join in on their reckless, wild living, and that they will heap abuse on them.
These former friends now find themselves in the category of blasphemers (cf. 1 Pet. 2:12; 3:16), because what is true of God’s people is true of Him. This means that those who falsely accuse and malign God’s people will stand before God one day, guilty of blasphemy against His own children. They will, says Peter, have to give account to Him who is ready to judge the living and the dead. Peter goes on, in verse 6, to say that this is the reason the gospel was preached even to those who are now died, so that they might be judged according to human standards in regard to what they did while in the body in the present age. A majority of commentators hold that by this Peter is referring to early Christians who had the gospel preached to them and have now since died. This doesn’t seem, however, to really sum up or cover the magnitude of Peter’s point. I believe the more thorough explanation is that Peter has returned to cover the other side of the thought he presented in verses 19-20. There Peter made the point that Christ had entered Hades upon His death to declare His exaltation and vindication as the holy one of God. Now Peter bookends that thought by informing us that Christ also went to Paradise to announce the salvation that had finally become available to those who had lived righteously before Christ (see Dig Deeper on 1 Peter 3:18-22). This view is, I believe, bolstered by the fact that in 3:19 Peter says Christ preached to the spirits in prison, but uses the Greek word keryssein, which means to proclaim (usually in victory or triumph). In 4:6, however, he says "the gospel was preached even to those who are now dead," but uses the Greek word, euangelizesthai, which means to preach good news. In other words, Christ declared His victory to the disobedient spirits awaiting resurrection and judgment, and preached the good news of the gospel to the righteous dead who were awaiting the resurrection of the righteous (Luke 14:14; Acts 24:15). His point, then, is that all will have to give account before God, this is the reason that the gospel was preached and made available even to the righteous who died before Christ died and was raised from the dead.
Those who died before Christ but were regarded as righteous by God had been judged according to human standards while in the body, but now they live according to God in regard to the Spirit, awaiting resurrection and the great reconciliation and renewal of all things (Matt. 19:28). This would have served as an incredible encouragement to Christians who were persecuted outcasts in their society. They too, were being judged by human standards and treated as refuse, but they must remember that Christ, the standard for their behavior had also been treated that way, as had the righteous throughout history, and now all of those people live with God, exalted and vindicated with their king. We may be mistreated in the present age, but we do so for three primary reasons: It is the example that Christ set, it will benefit others, and just like Christ and His people, we will be vindicated one day. This is something that we must never forget either in our beliefs or in our actions.
Devotional Thought
Peter says that the change in life that a Christian makes should be so dramatic and shocking that at least some people who knew us might be led to heap abuse on us. Whether you have experienced that extreme or not, the question still remains. Has the change in your behavior and attitude been so shocking that those around you who knew you are surprised and take notice. Do the people that didn’t know you before you were a Christian still take note of how radically different you are?
1 Therefore, since Christ suffered in his body, arm yourselves also with the same attitude, because those who have suffered in their bodies are done with sin. 2 As a result, they do not live the rest of their earthly lives for evil human desires, but rather for the will of God. 3 For you have spent enough time in the past doing what pagans choose to do—living in debauchery, lust, drunkenness, orgies, carousing and detestable idolatry. 4 They are surprised that you do not join them in their reckless, wild living, and they heap abuse on you. 5 But they will have to give account to him who is ready to judge the living and the dead. 6 For this is the reason the gospel was preached even to those who are now dead, so that they might be judged according to human standards in regard to the body, but live according to God in regard to the spirit.
Dig Deeper
When I first went off to college, it would be somewhat of an understatement to say that I didn’t really take it seriously. I was there for several reasons but none of the top reasons had anything to do with academics. I was much more concerned with playing basketball, making friends, having fun, and of course the girls. Because of this, I actually paid little attention to my grades or my classes in general, showing little respect for myself or my parents who were making possible my ability to attend college. After a couple of wasted years in which I dug myself quite an academic hole, I moved to a new university in Oklahoma. It was there that I finally woke up to the sacrifice that others had made for me to be able to go to college and I also came to the realization of the importance of my grades and actually taking the academic side of college seriously. I quickly understood, however, that not only did my attitude toward the future change, I also needed to view it in terms of the time I had wasted in the past. My graduation was coming up quickly and I only had a couple of years to make up, in a sense, for the time I had wasted.
In many respects, this is the frame of mind that Peter presents in the opening verses of chapter 4. The believers were now in Christ. They had demonstrated that they understood what life was about and that they had simply wasted their lives before becoming Christians by engaging in all sorts of selfish and pagan behavior. Not only did they need to be about living lives worthy of those in Christ, they should also be reminded that they did waste all sorts of time before they were Christians not doing God’s will. Why would they want to continue living like that? Their time was now limited and the last thing they needed to do now was to waste more time not doing His will or only half doing. They need to be about the business of living in the new creation.
Peter reverts to the death of Christ (1 Pet. 3:18) and the example that he set as the gold standard for Christian believers. The saints should, says Peter using military language, arm themselves with the same attitude that Jesus displayed consistently throughout His life. Christ is the prototypical human being who fully carried the image of God (2 Cor. 4:4; Col. 3:10) and lived up to the high standard and design meant for human beings who retained that image and did the will of God (cf. Ps. 8). Because Jesus was the only true human being, He is the only one that should ever serve as our ultimate model of imitation (even when we imitate other Christians it should only be in so much as they imitate Christ). As Christ demonstrated, the only way to truly be fully human in this age of sin and evil is to take that evil upon oneself for the benefit of others. As James points out in James 1:2-4, trials and suffering work like hard exercise in the life of the Christian. They are the only way that we can truly get the resistance we need in order to change and grow and become complete in the life of Christ. Thus, those who embrace a life of suffering for the benefit of others as a way to follow the Master, demonstrate that they are truly done with sin, and will increasingly realize that proclamation of action as we are molded by the Spirit in the life of Christ.
Those who have clothed themselves with Christ, rejecting the way of sin, should increasingly reject and not be drawn by to their evil human desires, but rather they live for the will of God. This can only be done because Christ has repaired the bridge between us and God. Those separated from God by sin cannot do the will of God. Jesus promised that only His brothers and sisters could do God’s will (Mark 3:35) but this is an option that was made available by His willingness to perfectly do God’s will. Adam and Eve had failed, in the garden of Eden, to do God’s will, instead choosing to do their own will. This was a situation would no human being could reverse; no one could open the scroll of the New Covenant and do God’s will (Rev. 5:1-10). Jesus, in a very deliberate and significant act, went into another garden, the garden of Gethsemene and struggled with doing God’s will, but of course did it in the most severe of circumstances. He chose horrible suffering, according to the will of God, in order to benefit others. The call for those who belong to Him is to do no less.
In verse 3, Peter goes into a bit of a practical line of thinking. Not only should a life of sin be avoided for the reasons Peter has already detailed, but for the simple and pragmatic reason that Christians have already spent enough time in the past doing what the pagans choose to do—a list that could be summed up by saying "choosing to do our own will rather than God’s." Peter assumes that those in Christ will choose to do the will of God which will make them stand out among their fellow neighbors like a black panther in a snow storm. The change in lifestyle should be so obvious that those with whom these believers used to engage in sinful behavior will now revile them. Peter says they they will be so surprised that believers will no longer join in on their reckless, wild living, and that they will heap abuse on them.
These former friends now find themselves in the category of blasphemers (cf. 1 Pet. 2:12; 3:16), because what is true of God’s people is true of Him. This means that those who falsely accuse and malign God’s people will stand before God one day, guilty of blasphemy against His own children. They will, says Peter, have to give account to Him who is ready to judge the living and the dead. Peter goes on, in verse 6, to say that this is the reason the gospel was preached even to those who are now died, so that they might be judged according to human standards in regard to what they did while in the body in the present age. A majority of commentators hold that by this Peter is referring to early Christians who had the gospel preached to them and have now since died. This doesn’t seem, however, to really sum up or cover the magnitude of Peter’s point. I believe the more thorough explanation is that Peter has returned to cover the other side of the thought he presented in verses 19-20. There Peter made the point that Christ had entered Hades upon His death to declare His exaltation and vindication as the holy one of God. Now Peter bookends that thought by informing us that Christ also went to Paradise to announce the salvation that had finally become available to those who had lived righteously before Christ (see Dig Deeper on 1 Peter 3:18-22). This view is, I believe, bolstered by the fact that in 3:19 Peter says Christ preached to the spirits in prison, but uses the Greek word keryssein, which means to proclaim (usually in victory or triumph). In 4:6, however, he says "the gospel was preached even to those who are now dead," but uses the Greek word, euangelizesthai, which means to preach good news. In other words, Christ declared His victory to the disobedient spirits awaiting resurrection and judgment, and preached the good news of the gospel to the righteous dead who were awaiting the resurrection of the righteous (Luke 14:14; Acts 24:15). His point, then, is that all will have to give account before God, this is the reason that the gospel was preached and made available even to the righteous who died before Christ died and was raised from the dead.
Those who died before Christ but were regarded as righteous by God had been judged according to human standards while in the body, but now they live according to God in regard to the Spirit, awaiting resurrection and the great reconciliation and renewal of all things (Matt. 19:28). This would have served as an incredible encouragement to Christians who were persecuted outcasts in their society. They too, were being judged by human standards and treated as refuse, but they must remember that Christ, the standard for their behavior had also been treated that way, as had the righteous throughout history, and now all of those people live with God, exalted and vindicated with their king. We may be mistreated in the present age, but we do so for three primary reasons: It is the example that Christ set, it will benefit others, and just like Christ and His people, we will be vindicated one day. This is something that we must never forget either in our beliefs or in our actions.
Devotional Thought
Peter says that the change in life that a Christian makes should be so dramatic and shocking that at least some people who knew us might be led to heap abuse on us. Whether you have experienced that extreme or not, the question still remains. Has the change in your behavior and attitude been so shocking that those around you who knew you are surprised and take notice. Do the people that didn’t know you before you were a Christian still take note of how radically different you are?
Friday, September 26, 2008
1 Peter 3:18-22
18 For Christ also suffered once for sins, the righteous for the unrighteous, to bring you to God. He was put to death in the body but made alive in the Spirit. 19 In that state he went and made proclamation to the imprisoned spirits— 20 to those who were disobedient long ago when God waited patiently in the days of Noah while the ark was being built. In it only a few people, eight in all, were saved through water, 21 and this water symbolizes baptism that now saves you also—not the removal of dirt from the body but the pledge of a clear conscience toward God. It saves you by the resurrection of Jesus Christ, 22 who has gone into heaven and is at God's right hand—with angels, authorities and powers in submission to him.
Dig Deeper
Water is an amazing substance. It can be a soft landing spot for someone jumping from a high dive, allowing them to enter into a pool from heights that would kill someone if they hit normal ground. Yet, it can be used at such pressures that it will easily cut through the hardest surfaces in the world. A drink of water can bring life to someone on the verge of death and it is possible for someone to drown in just a teaspoon of water. Rain can bring life to an entire region or it can rain too hard and bring floods and destruction.
The truth is when most people think of water baptism, they think of the life that it brings. And, in a sense it does bring Christians to a new life, but that is not really Peter’s point in this passage. As Peter continues the thought of Christ suffering an unjust punishment that he did not deserve for the benefit of humans who did deserve that punishment, he turns to the life-saving aspect of Christ’s suffering. In doing so, he will refer, in one sense to the life-giving qualities of the water of Noah’s flood, water that symbolized the baptism into the life of Christ. More importantly, however, he will stress the death that it brings. In fact this may shock Peter’s modern readers who think they understand what baptism is all about. In the fullest sense, Peter is not saying that the water brings life, in fact quite the opposite. It brings death. And it is only in understanding this that we can truly understand what Christ did for all of humanity.
This section has proven over the history of Christianity to be one of the most difficult passages to interpret. There are numerous difficulties and problems in determining the meaning of this obscure passage, most of which the space of this format precludes us from delving into. It will help though, if we keep in mind Peter’s underlying point in this passage. He basic point is that Jesus was a righteous man that suffered despite the fact that he didn’t deserve it, but was ultimately vindicated and exalted, and if the believers continue to act righteously as Peter has already described, then they too will be vindicated and exalted, despite the fact that they will also likely suffer, all the while acting righteously.
The fact is that Jesus was sinless (1 Pet. 1:19; 2:22) and so no one was less deserving of suffering than Jesus Christ, and yet we know that He suffered deeply. This would completely fly in the face of the erroneous belief that suffering is a result of sin (John 9:2) or that good people shouldn’t suffer. Christ certainly suffered, but He did so willingly for the sake of others and, in fact, God allowed Him to suffer death for the benefit of the entire world (John 3:16). Peter says that Christ suffered once for sins, meaning that he was the perfect sin offering that all of the animal sacrifices of the Old Testament had pointed to. He died once for all (Rom. 6:10) so that no additional sacrifice will ever have to be made (Heb. 9:26). This suffering was the ultimate and only true instance in the history of the world where the completely righteous suffered for the unrighteous. This was all done, says Peter, to bring the unsaved to God. This bolsters Peter’s continuing theme of sacrificing self and acting in out-of-this-world ways in order to reconcile people to God. The motivation for Christ suffering and dying then, was the same motivation for husbands and wives, slaves and masters, and believers in general to act in the best interests of others, using weapons that are completely foreign in the world’s economy.
Peter begins, in the second half of verse 18, his explanation (albeit one that is, at times, difficult to understand) of the vindication and exaltation of Christ despite the suffering he went through. Christ was indeed put to death in the body by the evil powers but things didn’t end there. He was glorified and vindicated by being made alive by the Spirit (Rom. 8:11). His resurrection, through the power of the Spirit, overcame the worst that evil could possibly do. While in that state of being liberated from the restriction of his earthly body so that he could act in the spiritual realm and presumably completely in the form of spirit through the power of the Spirit and before His resurrection, Christ went and made proclamation to the imprisoned spirits.
There are a few passages in the Bible that indicate that Jesus indeed went to Hades during His three days of death. In 1 Peter 3:19-20, Peter says that "he went and made proclamation to the imprisoned spirits—to those who were disobedient long ago when God waited patiently in the days of Noah while the ark was being built." Later, in 1 Peter 4:6 he says, "For this is the reason the gospel was preached even to those who are now dead, so that they might be judged according to men in regard to the body, but live according to the spirit." From these verses we can understand that Jesus went to Hades during those three days to preach. In Acts 2:27 Peter assigns these words of David to Christ, "you will not abandon me to [Hades], nor will you let your Holy One see decay." This verse could be interpreted to indicate that Jesus would go to Hades but would not be left there. It is important to distinguish that Hades is different from Hell or the Lake of Fire (Gehenna) which is the final death (cf. Matt. 25:41)
If Jesus was in Hades, what was He preaching and to whom was He preaching? There are certainly different interpretations of Peter’s words here and no one view can be proven conclusively. It seems very probable, however, that Jesus preached both to the unrighteous (represented by the spirits from the days of Noah) and the righteous (represented by "those who are now dead") in Hades. Hades was apparently split between the righteous and the unrighteous (Luke 16:26) at that time. It is very possible then, that Jesus went to Hades to preach the Gospel to those who lived before He did and take those who responded to heaven. Ephesians 4:8 could be referring to this when it says, "When he ascended on high, he led captives in his train and gave gifts to men." Whether the unrighteous were given the opportunity to exit at that time in response to Christ or not cannot be known definitively from the Scriptures.
Peter’s point in all of this is that Christ, despite his earthly sufferings, empowered by the Spirit, announced his victory and vindication. In a complex connection of thought, Peter describes Christ announcing this victory to those who were connected the flood, the very event that symbolized the moment of victory for believers to which they are now trying to announce to the world. The connection between the flood and the moment of Christ’s victory in the life of believers is water. But Peter’s point is not that the water saves people, quite the opposite. The eight people in Noah’s ark were saved through the water not by the water. In the same way, those who enter the water of baptism are now saved. Yet, it is important to note that the water does not save. The water killed in Noah’s day and it does for believers as well. In Noah’s day the water killed all except those that were saved in the Ark. Peter’s argument is that the water is not a ritual cleansing that only washes the body. It is the moment when one dies to self and is saved by entering into the ark of the life of Jesus Christ. The TNIV translation likely misses the boat here and shows some historical bias by translating eperotema as pledge. This is a word that clearly means "appeal" or "inquiry." Peter’s point, as he clearly stated in Acts 2:38, is that the baptism of entering into Christ is the time when one’s sins are forgiven and one appeals to God for a clear conscience, which is the forgiveness of sins and the promised heart of flesh (Ezek. 11:19; 36:26) for those in Christ.
Peter completes his thought in this passage when he says that this baptism that allows people to reconcile to God in Christ is made available through the resurrection of Christ, the very moment and act of His vindication. The vindicated Christ has now gone into heaven and is at God’s right hand—with angels, authorities and powers in submission to him. His exaltation is complete as Christ sits in the highest possible position having suffered and died for the benefit of others and now waits in heaven (1 Peter 1:3-5). Because this is the clear example that Christ has set, Christians should do no less than be willing to suffer and put the interests of others ahead of their own, knowing that in the end, our God will exalt us in and with Christ.
Devotional Thought
If I’m honest, I can get pretty indignant about suffering or being mistreated if I haven’t done anything wrong. It is easy for me to think that I should be treated wonderfully especially if I haven’t done any wrong. How about you? What we must remember is that the opportunity to attract others to the gospel by acting in a godly and patient fashion despite mistreatment is far more important than being treated in a pleasing and pleasant fashion.
Dig Deeper
Water is an amazing substance. It can be a soft landing spot for someone jumping from a high dive, allowing them to enter into a pool from heights that would kill someone if they hit normal ground. Yet, it can be used at such pressures that it will easily cut through the hardest surfaces in the world. A drink of water can bring life to someone on the verge of death and it is possible for someone to drown in just a teaspoon of water. Rain can bring life to an entire region or it can rain too hard and bring floods and destruction.
The truth is when most people think of water baptism, they think of the life that it brings. And, in a sense it does bring Christians to a new life, but that is not really Peter’s point in this passage. As Peter continues the thought of Christ suffering an unjust punishment that he did not deserve for the benefit of humans who did deserve that punishment, he turns to the life-saving aspect of Christ’s suffering. In doing so, he will refer, in one sense to the life-giving qualities of the water of Noah’s flood, water that symbolized the baptism into the life of Christ. More importantly, however, he will stress the death that it brings. In fact this may shock Peter’s modern readers who think they understand what baptism is all about. In the fullest sense, Peter is not saying that the water brings life, in fact quite the opposite. It brings death. And it is only in understanding this that we can truly understand what Christ did for all of humanity.
This section has proven over the history of Christianity to be one of the most difficult passages to interpret. There are numerous difficulties and problems in determining the meaning of this obscure passage, most of which the space of this format precludes us from delving into. It will help though, if we keep in mind Peter’s underlying point in this passage. He basic point is that Jesus was a righteous man that suffered despite the fact that he didn’t deserve it, but was ultimately vindicated and exalted, and if the believers continue to act righteously as Peter has already described, then they too will be vindicated and exalted, despite the fact that they will also likely suffer, all the while acting righteously.
The fact is that Jesus was sinless (1 Pet. 1:19; 2:22) and so no one was less deserving of suffering than Jesus Christ, and yet we know that He suffered deeply. This would completely fly in the face of the erroneous belief that suffering is a result of sin (John 9:2) or that good people shouldn’t suffer. Christ certainly suffered, but He did so willingly for the sake of others and, in fact, God allowed Him to suffer death for the benefit of the entire world (John 3:16). Peter says that Christ suffered once for sins, meaning that he was the perfect sin offering that all of the animal sacrifices of the Old Testament had pointed to. He died once for all (Rom. 6:10) so that no additional sacrifice will ever have to be made (Heb. 9:26). This suffering was the ultimate and only true instance in the history of the world where the completely righteous suffered for the unrighteous. This was all done, says Peter, to bring the unsaved to God. This bolsters Peter’s continuing theme of sacrificing self and acting in out-of-this-world ways in order to reconcile people to God. The motivation for Christ suffering and dying then, was the same motivation for husbands and wives, slaves and masters, and believers in general to act in the best interests of others, using weapons that are completely foreign in the world’s economy.
Peter begins, in the second half of verse 18, his explanation (albeit one that is, at times, difficult to understand) of the vindication and exaltation of Christ despite the suffering he went through. Christ was indeed put to death in the body by the evil powers but things didn’t end there. He was glorified and vindicated by being made alive by the Spirit (Rom. 8:11). His resurrection, through the power of the Spirit, overcame the worst that evil could possibly do. While in that state of being liberated from the restriction of his earthly body so that he could act in the spiritual realm and presumably completely in the form of spirit through the power of the Spirit and before His resurrection, Christ went and made proclamation to the imprisoned spirits.
There are a few passages in the Bible that indicate that Jesus indeed went to Hades during His three days of death. In 1 Peter 3:19-20, Peter says that "he went and made proclamation to the imprisoned spirits—to those who were disobedient long ago when God waited patiently in the days of Noah while the ark was being built." Later, in 1 Peter 4:6 he says, "For this is the reason the gospel was preached even to those who are now dead, so that they might be judged according to men in regard to the body, but live according to the spirit." From these verses we can understand that Jesus went to Hades during those three days to preach. In Acts 2:27 Peter assigns these words of David to Christ, "you will not abandon me to [Hades], nor will you let your Holy One see decay." This verse could be interpreted to indicate that Jesus would go to Hades but would not be left there. It is important to distinguish that Hades is different from Hell or the Lake of Fire (Gehenna) which is the final death (cf. Matt. 25:41)
If Jesus was in Hades, what was He preaching and to whom was He preaching? There are certainly different interpretations of Peter’s words here and no one view can be proven conclusively. It seems very probable, however, that Jesus preached both to the unrighteous (represented by the spirits from the days of Noah) and the righteous (represented by "those who are now dead") in Hades. Hades was apparently split between the righteous and the unrighteous (Luke 16:26) at that time. It is very possible then, that Jesus went to Hades to preach the Gospel to those who lived before He did and take those who responded to heaven. Ephesians 4:8 could be referring to this when it says, "When he ascended on high, he led captives in his train and gave gifts to men." Whether the unrighteous were given the opportunity to exit at that time in response to Christ or not cannot be known definitively from the Scriptures.
Peter’s point in all of this is that Christ, despite his earthly sufferings, empowered by the Spirit, announced his victory and vindication. In a complex connection of thought, Peter describes Christ announcing this victory to those who were connected the flood, the very event that symbolized the moment of victory for believers to which they are now trying to announce to the world. The connection between the flood and the moment of Christ’s victory in the life of believers is water. But Peter’s point is not that the water saves people, quite the opposite. The eight people in Noah’s ark were saved through the water not by the water. In the same way, those who enter the water of baptism are now saved. Yet, it is important to note that the water does not save. The water killed in Noah’s day and it does for believers as well. In Noah’s day the water killed all except those that were saved in the Ark. Peter’s argument is that the water is not a ritual cleansing that only washes the body. It is the moment when one dies to self and is saved by entering into the ark of the life of Jesus Christ. The TNIV translation likely misses the boat here and shows some historical bias by translating eperotema as pledge. This is a word that clearly means "appeal" or "inquiry." Peter’s point, as he clearly stated in Acts 2:38, is that the baptism of entering into Christ is the time when one’s sins are forgiven and one appeals to God for a clear conscience, which is the forgiveness of sins and the promised heart of flesh (Ezek. 11:19; 36:26) for those in Christ.
Peter completes his thought in this passage when he says that this baptism that allows people to reconcile to God in Christ is made available through the resurrection of Christ, the very moment and act of His vindication. The vindicated Christ has now gone into heaven and is at God’s right hand—with angels, authorities and powers in submission to him. His exaltation is complete as Christ sits in the highest possible position having suffered and died for the benefit of others and now waits in heaven (1 Peter 1:3-5). Because this is the clear example that Christ has set, Christians should do no less than be willing to suffer and put the interests of others ahead of their own, knowing that in the end, our God will exalt us in and with Christ.
Devotional Thought
If I’m honest, I can get pretty indignant about suffering or being mistreated if I haven’t done anything wrong. It is easy for me to think that I should be treated wonderfully especially if I haven’t done any wrong. How about you? What we must remember is that the opportunity to attract others to the gospel by acting in a godly and patient fashion despite mistreatment is far more important than being treated in a pleasing and pleasant fashion.
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