Therefore, rid yourselves of all malice and all deceit, hypocrisy, envy, and slander of every kind.
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We had a pretty good idea of what the word meant but as we were reading together my wife asked me to define “malice”. I found it hard to give a specific definition and decided to look it up. I was reading 1 Peter 2 and was glad she asked and glad I took time to look it up.
Category Archives: 1 Peter
Should Christians serve in the military?
Some Christians refuse to serve in the military on religious grounds. So what of those who do serve? Are they disobeying God? In honor of Veteran’s Day let’s look into God’s Word and see what HE has to say.
Why Vote If God Picks ’em?
Romans 13:1
Everyone must submit himself to the governing authorities, for there is no authority except that which God has established. The authorities that exist have been established by God.
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Christians talk about how important it is to vote but then they also say whoever gets elected – good, bad or really bad – was put there by God. So, what is the point in voting if God determines who gets elected anyway? That used to confuse me.
Where was God when I needed Him?
Anyone who wants to live all out for Christ is in for a lot of trouble; there’s no getting around it.
2 Timothy 3:12 (MSG)
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I run into Christians who are astounded when they encounter struggles, loss and pain in life. It always grieves (and frustrates) me when folks turn away from the Lord at the first “bump in the road”. Where do we get the idea that when we put our faith in Jesus all obstacles and opposition run and hide?
When a Roman accused a second century Christian of serving an impotent God because of all the hardships Christians suffered, Octavius, the believer, gave this response:
Are you crazy?
This is the confidence we have…if we ask …he hears us. – 1 John 5:14
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To Christians it is not surprising that God hears and answers our prayers but I was recently thinking about this passage from the perspective of an unbeliever, the average Joe who thinks there may be a “big guy upstairs” or the intellectual who “knows” religion is just for the ignorant masses. Imagine how our belief in prayer appears to them.
“So you actually believe that when you, this little speck of carbon and water on a small planet in an immense universe, when you speak, all heaven stops and listens?!”
Sounds preposterous doesn’t it? We don’t just hope He will hear us. We are confident of it – no doubt about it. Why? Because we are His children.
“So, now you not only think this far off immeasurable Force takes an interest in your puny life but that somehow you are related to Him – His child no less?”
Sounds crazy, insane, delusions of grandeur and it would be if it were something we made up. But it was His idea to listen to us. It was His idea to encourage us to approach Him with our concerns. It was His idea to adopt us. It was His idea to reach out to us. We could never have known about Him or communicated with Him if He had not made it possible. It was all His idea.
So we must be pretty special, right? No, and this is what makes it all sane and sensible. This is true not because we are so wonderful but because He is so marvelous. His wondrous love reached out to His creation when there was nothing worthy in us. It is all because of Who He is. What a marvelous God! What a glorious grace! What an incomparable Savior!
We can know Him! We can speak with Him! He is concerned about our lives, our successes, our hurts and losses. He cares. We are confident of it.
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Ephesians 3:12
In him and through faith in him we may approach God with freedom and confidence.
Hebrews 4:16
Let us then approach the throne of grace with confidence, so that we may receive mercy and find grace to help us in our time of need.
1 Peter 5:7 (NLT)
Give all your worries and cares to God, for he cares about you.
Don’t Confuse Life With God
“Don’t confuse God with Life.”
This quote, by Philip Yancey in “Disappointment with God”, explains in five words why many Christians stumble and falter when difficulties come. I lose my job. My child gets sick. I get sick. A loved one dies. Random tragedy shatters my life and dreams. Why God? Why! Why! Why!
Logic says, “If God is all powerful, all good, all loving and I serve Him then His power, goodness and love will ensure I have an easy life with no problems.” That makes sense to me. How about to you? While it is certainly logical, it is not Biblical.
Hard times are part of life – especially the Christian life. Life can stink and Christians are not exempt. I’ll give you a dollar if you can find one Bible character used by God who did not have hard times. They don’t write stories or build statues to men who led easy lives.
Living in this world ensures we are going to have problems, pain, loss and grief. Following Jesus ensures you will have a friend who goes through them with you.
To be honest, I wish following Him ensured He would save us from all the evils that befall normal, mortal men. It sure would make it a lot easier to convince people to follow Jesus. “Come be a Christian and nothing bad will happen to you. You will have no problems and nothing but sunny days.” Who could resist that invitation?
Instead, from the start, Jesus said, take up a cross. Come, follow me and die. Not very good PR. Not the best way to get volunteers to sign up for your program.
But we cannot confuse Life with God. Bad stuff happens because we live in a fallen world. Bad stuff happens because we are not in heaven yet. It rains on good people and bad people. The only choice then is, do we want to face the crises alone or have a Friend who understands loss, grief, rejection, the deepest pain known to man – and will go through it with us.
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1 Peter 4:16
So then, those who suffer according to God’s will should commit themselves to their faithful Creator and continue to do good.
How to beat the devil
Luke 4:13 – When the devil had finished every temptation, he left (Jesus) until an opportune time.
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You know Satan wanted to stay on top of Jesus 24/7 tempting and attacking Him. But after a period of intense temptation Satan left Him alone. Clearly Satan didn’t want to leave Jesus alone but the Bible promises that if we will do two things the devil has to get out of our face – 1. Submit to God and 2. Resist the devil (James 4:7) . Certainly he doesn’t do that by choice but he must flee. If the devil is constantly knocking at your door and never goes away, something is wrong – either on the submission side or on the resisting side.
Yes, there will be seasons in our life when we will be under greater demonic assault. Note that though only three short temptations are recorded in the story in Luke it says Jesus was tempted the entire 40 days. But as Jesus submitted Himself to God and resisted the devil he eventually had to flee.
If you are in an intense time of temptation don’t forget it will not last forever and there is a bright hope at the end of it all. Matthew 4:11 tells us that after this time of temptation, when Jesus was victorious over the devil, angels came and ministered to him. That is cool because it tells us that God was watching the whole time. Jesus did not go through this alone and neither will you. He is watching, cheering you on. Submit to Him. Resist the devil. Reach out and find friends to help you fight the old serpent.
When the devil flees you will find a new power in your life, too. Luke 4:1 tells us Jesus went into this time of testing filled with the Spirit but He came out in the power of the spirit (v. 14). This testing will result in new power to glorify God with your life. Like lifting weights, resistance builds muscle so resist the devil!
Stand strong soldier! This temptation will pass.
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James 4:6-7
“God opposes the proud but gives grace to the humble.” [7] Submit yourselves, then, to God. Resist the devil, and he will flee from you.
1 Peter 1:6-7
In this you greatly rejoice, though now for a little while you may have had to suffer grief in all kinds of trials. [7] These have come so that your faith—of greater worth than gold, which perishes even though refined by fire—may be proved genuine and may result in praise, glory and honor when Jesus Christ is revealed.
He’s A Terrible God
Matthew 10:28
Do not be afraid of those who kill the body but cannot kill the soul. Rather, be afraid of the One who can destroy both soul and body in hell.
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We hear many explanations for the various problems in the church today but I believe most can be traced back to ignoring this command by Jesus – “Fear God”. We love to “consider the kindness” of God but dismiss the “sternness of God”, a sternness that resulted in Him “cutting off” His own people. (Romans 11:22)
The Bible speaks of the fear of the Lord as a very positive thing. We are told the fear of God causes a man to shun evil and choose to do right. It will deliver a man from the snares of death. It adds length to life and without it you haven’t even taken the first step toward wisdom or knowledge. Take a moment to look up “fear of the Lord” in a concordance and you will likely be amazed at all the benefits promised to those who fear God.
We have redefined “fear” as merely reverence but Scripture is clearly talking about fear, as in terror. Ask Pharaoh, ask a Philistine, ask Ananias of Acts 5, if there is reason to be afraid of God. I understand the logic behind painting God as only a one dimensional God of love but it is not Biblical logic. Jesus clearly says, “fear God”. But is it possible to fear someone and love them intensely at the same time? Certainly! in fact, the Bible (OT and NT) commands us to love God AND to fear Him. (1 Pt 2:17)
This is beautifully illustrated in the first book in The Chronicles of Narnia where the beavers are talking about Aslan being a lion and the children, afraid of meeting a lion, ask if he is safe. “Safe?” said Mr. Beaver. “Who said anything about safe? ‘Course he isn’t safe. But he’s good.” Later Lewis writes, some people “think that a thing cannot be good and terrible at the same time.” God IS good. God IS kind. God IS merciful. God IS love. But He is also a terrible God and not one to be trifled with.
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Deuteronomy 10:17
For the Lord your God is God of gods and Lord of lords, the great, the mighty, the terrible God, Who is not partial and takes no bribe.
Romans 11:20-22
… Do not be arrogant, but be afraid. For if God did not spare the natural branches, he will not spare you either. Consider therefore the kindness and sternness of God: sternness to those who fell, but kindness to you, provided that you continue in his kindness. Otherwise, you also will be cut off.
Does the Bible promote slavery?
QUESTION:
How can you follow the Bible when it endorses slavery? See 1 Peter 2:18.
ANSWER:
Some have wrongly assumed the Bible endorses slavery because of verses like 1 Peter 2:18. Even pro-slavery forces in early America used the Bible to justify this wicked practice but that is because they didn’t read far enough. Continue reading