1 Peter 3:19,20 - I wish these verses weren’t there!

3:19,20

There are one or two occasions when you wish a verse or two wasn’t in the Bible. Not because it convicts you of sin, in that case it is good that they are there, and sooner we repent the better, but because it seems to add nothing to understanding except confusion. At the same time they allow people to make idle speculations about nothing at all. Verses 19 and 20 fall into that category. However, these verses must be there for a good reason, so let’s see if we can go someway to discovering what that reason is.

Let’s look first the spirits in prison. The Greek term can refer to human spirits or angels. One interpretation is that the “spirits” are the human spirits of those who  were not saved in Noah’s day, and Jesus preached to them through Noah. Now in its favour this has the advantage that it draws an analogy between today and the time of Noah. The gospel is preached, but some reject it, or pay no attention. God is waiting patiently, but judgement will eventually come. So for Peter’s hearers there is explanation of why God is allowing them to go through difficult times. Now this interpretation is consistent with the rest of Scripture, indeed with other things that Peter himself says, but it doesn’t really explain the “imprisoned spirits” bit, unless we take people who reject the gospel as having imprisoned spirits.

Another alternative is that the spirits are spirits of fallen angels, and Christ’s preaching to them is a proclamation of His victory to them. This is all very good, but seems to have limited practical relevance, apart from the victory over the demons.

A third interpretation is that Christ is offering a second chance to those who have died without coming to faith. This has very little to commend it, and goes against general Biblical teaching.

So the first is the best interpretation, in my view, but one still feels that one is missing something.

1 Peter 3:18 - Made alive

3:18

Suffering when we don’t deserve it seems a ridiculous thing to do. So what is Peter’s answer to this? It is to look at Jesus and what He achieved. This is how God’s plans work. There is an enormous difference between any suffering we go through and what Christ endured, but there are also enormous similarities. We need to understand the differences and the similarities. The fundamental difference is that Christ died for our sins, He took our sins upon Himself and paid the price, suffered the punishments, that we should have paid. He did this for our justification, to open the way for us to come to God. This was done once, it only needed to be done once, it never needs to be done again. Yet the kingdom still advances when God’s people are prepared to pay a price. Jesus and the New Testament talks about us sharing in His sufferings.

Although Christ died in the body, He was raised from the dead. Made alive in the Spirit. Peter most definitely does not mean that the resurrection was a spiritual resurrection in the sense that it wasn’t physical. What he does mean is that while Christ suffered death the Spirit gave Him life. In the same way, if we suffer for Christ we will find that the Spirit gives new life to us, a far deeper and richer life than we ever knew before.

1 Peter 3:15-17 - Ready with an answer

3:15

We do not repay evil with evil, nor do we retreat into a cave. First, we set Christ apart as Lord in our hearts. We need to know who is Lord. Lord is not a religious term. In the Roman empire the mantra was “Caesar is Lord”, so saying Jesus is Lord is going right against the common understanding of how the world operates, and is saying that He has more power than the Roman empire or any other human authority. In today’s world where society is abandoning Christian values as fast as it can and maligning those who still hold to them, we need to set Christ apart as Lord in our hearts.

This inward change leads to outward action. In the midst of difficulties, even persecution, we will still have hope and this will show. The world should be surprised at the way we act, and we should be ready to give them an answer, We are to do this with respect and gentleness, not in a proud manner.

3:16,17

“Keeping a clear conscience”. Our conscience is very important. If we do something wrong and try to cover it up our conscience torments us, but if someone wrongly accuses us yet we have a clear conscience we find it much easier to live under the accusation. So we may be falsely accused, as Jesus was, but we must make sure that the accusations are false so that in the end it is they who will be ashamed of their slander.

God’s judgement is what matters, we are answerable to Him. This needs to be the guiding principle in our life. It is far better to suffer for doing good than to suffer for doing evil.

1 Peter 3:13,14 - Do not fear

3:13,14

Verse 13 seems hopelessly naive, but then verse 14 shows that Peter is not as naive as might seem, for he recognises that some will suffer even if they do do what is right. So what are we to make of this? There are two extreme views of the world that are wrong. One is that everything is basically good, or at least on an improving trend. The opposite view is that the world is utterly evil. The truth is that we live in a world that was created by God, inhabited by people created in the image of God. This is world is also a fallen world, all mankind is sinful, and creation is under a curse (God’s judgement on man’s sin) because of this. Both these facts are at play. Throughout Scripture we find claims that God is at work in the world, looking after it. We find people who do do good. We also find times of floods, earthquakes, famines and disease, and we find lots of people who do evil. So the norm is that doing good is the best thing to do. If it was not then society simply could not function.  But when the times do come, as they will, when people suffer for doing good, or despite doing good, what are we to do? We are not to fight evil with evil, but with good. We know that we are blessed, Jesus said we are blessed if we are persecuted for righteousness (Matt 5:10). Peter then quotes from Isaiah 8:12, God’s command is that we do not fear what the world fears.

1 Peter 3:10-12 - If you love life

3:10-12

Peter now quotes from Psalm 34:12-16. We all want to have good days. The Christian life is not about being miserable! Even though it might, indeed will, involve suffering and hard times, joy is part of the fruit. It is about true life. So one of the first things we must do is watch what we say. Deceit and lying is such a fundamental part of the way of the world. In some countries bribery and corruption are endemic. In politics and much business and other aspects of life it is ingrained. We need to speak the simple truth. So we turn from evil and do good, seek peace and pursue it.

Why are we to do all this? Why is it going to work? Because the Lord is watching. Lying and deceit will not work in the end because the Lord knows all things and judgement will ultimately come. More positively, He watches over us and pays attention to our prayers. Whether or not one believes that there is a Creator who judges is fundamental to the way an individual or people will act. And this is why our western societies are so quickly heading into decline.

1 Peter 3:8,9 - Do not repay evil with evil

3:8

Peter now addresses everyone at once. He has used specific situations to make his instructions real, to show what they mean in practice. Now he talks about general attitudes. We are to be like minded, not seeking division. We are to be sympathetic. It is easy to look down on others when they fall, or don’t seem to be making as much progress as we think we ourselves are. We are to love one another, to be compassionate and humbler. In short we are not to be self-seeking and self-centred. Now remember Peter’s own experiences, he knew full well his own failings. He knows that he owes everything to the grace of God.

3:9

Having listed the positive attitudes, Peter lists some negative attitudes that we are to avoid. When we seek to do good we will find that sometimes there will be a temptation to do wrong. We are not to repay evil with evil. This is perhaps the most fundamental. Our human nature, and the way of the world, is to repay like with like. Instead we are to repay evil with blessing. This, of course, is reminiscent of Jesus’ words about loving our enemies and turning the other cheek. This is what we were called to. When Jesus called us we were called to a new way of life, and the fruit of this new life is to inherit a blessing. Remember in the beatitudes that each one is prefaced with “Blessed is ...”.

1 Peter 3:6,7 - Considerate husbands

3:6

Sarah is cited as an example of a women who submitted to her husband. Now remember that Abraham was not a perfect husband. Twice he lied about Sarah being his wife in order to protect himself. Then there is the Hagar incident. “She did not give way to fear”. We can often react out of fear. We think that if we do submit (and remember the general principle here applies to all, not just women) we will suffer. Well we may suffer in the short term, but who is the one who ultimately rewards us? It is God, so we are far wiser to seek to please Him instead of acting out of fear.

3:7

We do not appreciate how radical it was for husbands to treat their wives with respect, rather than as chattels or sex-objects. Right back in Genesis it says that God created us in His image, male and female He created us. This is fundamental to a Christian understanding of the world. We were all created in the image of God, and as Christians one of the distinguishing marks should be the way we treat women.

“As the weaker partner”. Now this upsets some people, but it probably refers to women being physically weaker in some respects. Men and women are not the same, we are equal but different. We are co-heirs of the gift of life. As husbands we need to regard our wives’ spiritual development as just as important as our own, indeed the two are inextricably linked.

If we don’t do these things our prayers will indeed be hindered, for it will hinder our relationship with God, and prayer is about  a relationship.

1 Peter 3:3-5 - True beauty

3:3

The pressure on women is to emphasise their physical beauty. This was true in Peter’s day,and it is true now. Indeed, despite much of the progress in women’s rights the tendency for them to be treated as sex objects seems at least as great as it ever was, perhaps even more so now. Just as men need to resist the pressure to react against authority, women need to resist the pressure from society.

3:4

Instead of focusing on outer beauty, women should focus on inner beauty, that of a “gentle and quiet” spirit. Men too need to focus on our character, rather than any macho display. “which is of great worth to God”. God cares about what we are like, about who we really are. The world focuses on outward appearance, God looks at the heart. So if we want to win God’s approval, to build our relationship with Him, we too should focus in what is in our hearts.

3:5

Note the use of the Old Testament. Paul says that everything in the Old Testament was given for our instruction and to equip us. Peter is saying the same here, particularly in the context of how women in the Old Testament behaved. The women he points us to put their hope in God. See the parallels with Jesus. He endured suffering and put His trust in God. The holy women did the same. Peter is not talking about a passivity, but an active trust in the Lord, which leads us to react differently than other people react.

1 Peter 3:1,2 - Wives, submit to your husbands

Time again for my favourite mantra, “forget the chapter divisions”. What we read now follows on from what we have just read. “Wives, in the same way ...” . This would seem to imply that what Peter has just been saying was aimed primarily at men. Clearly it has general application to all, and in today’s society has practical application to all, but in Peter’s day possibly had more direct application to men. Men tend to rebel against authority more than women (all this is a generalisation), the servant-master relationship was perhaps more applicable to men. Now Peter applies the same principles to women and the situations they commonly encountered in that day. First he speaks to women who have unbelieving husbands. So perhaps situations weren’t that different to today where there are a higher proportion of women than men in most churches! In such a situation the women were to submit to their husbands. Now, if anyone is tempted to get on their high horse about this being grossly unfair, remember that Peter has just instructed men to submit to harsh masters. So the same principles are being applied to all. We do not advance the kingdom by adopting worldly methods and principles (2 Cor 10:4). Why is Jesus so “popular”? Why has He had such an impact? Because He obeyed the Father and endured much suffering. Because He did this the power of the Holy Spirit worked in His life. We need to follow the same path. So women were to seek to win unbelieving husbands by their behaviour. This does not mean they should never speak to their husbands about Jesus or the gospel, but constant nagging and preaching won’t do it. Words and actions are the way to go. Then they will see something different about the lives of their wives, they will see the difference Christ makes, they will see Christ in them. Then they cannot argue against that.

1 Peter 2:25 - The Shepherd of our souls

Peter continues quoting from Isaiah 53, this time the part on us being like sheep going astray. This is further confirmation that it is healing from sin, not physical healing that is at the forefront of his thoughts. The primary change that takes place when we get saved is a change in direction in our lives. Once we were going astray, heading in the wrong direction, running away from God. Now we have returned to the shepherd of our souls, to the one who truly looks after us. We should dwell on this phrase, “shepherd and overseer of our souls”, God looks after who we really are, He looks after our inmost being, He takes care of our lives.

1 Peter 2:24 - By His stripes we are healed

The suffering that Peter is talking about is not suffering for its own sake. Jesus did not suffer just so He could suffer, instead it was central to God’s plan and served a glorious purpose. On the cross bore our sins. Our sins were placed upon Him, and He took upon Himself the punishment for our sins. Now the cross was not the end in itself, rather it is the means to the end. The ultimate goal is that we become like Christ (Rom 8:29). As it says here, that we might die to sin and live for righteousness. Any notion that the forgiveness offered through the cross is a matter of getting away with sin is badly mistaken. Equally, while the cross contains a multitude of things, any notion of the cross that rejects the sin bearing aspect is utterly unbiblical.

“By His wounds you have been healed”. This verse is oft quoted, especially in charismatic circles. This is often done in the context of physical healing. This is not the context within which we find the verse here, nor in its original context in Isaiah 53:5. The Biblical context is about being set free from sin, healed of our sin, its judgement and its control over our lives. To use this verse primarily in the context of physical healing is to misuse the verse.

Now does this mean the cross has nothing to do with physical healing? Absolutely not. Let’s see what Jesus said, for He should know. In Matt 8:16,17 it says Jesus healed many people and set many free from demons, and that this was to fulfil Isaiah 53:4, where it says He bore our infirmities and diseases. So there is healing in the cross. Moreover, there is a link between healing and the sin-bearing. Why does sickness have a hold on our lives? Ultimately it is because of sin. By this I do not mean that sickness is always a direct result of sin (though sometimes it can be), or that someone who is sick is a worse sinner than someone who is healthy. Such ideas are unbiblical. But all sickness can be traced back to the fall. If we had never sinned then there would be no sickness in the world. Once we were given over to sickness as part of the judgement of the fall, but now we have been completely forgiven, completely justified, sickness has no right to be in our bodies. Now this does not mean we will or should never be ill again. Just as the outworking of our freedom from sin takes time, so our freedom from sickness takes time as well, but we have a weapon, sickness no longer has any right to be in our bodies. We should understand and apply this verse in its proper context.

1 Peter 2:22,23 - He did not retaliate

2:22

Peter now starts quoting from Isaiah 53, this is the chapter in the Old Testament that most clearly prophesies the cross and the resurrection, and was given some seven hundred years before it all happened. The first feature of Christ is that He committed no sin. This is demonstrated most clearly by there being no deceit in His mouth. Our words often “give us away”, not so with Jesus. Every word was true and completely reliable. As well as the obvious implication that we should do the same, ie our words should be trustworthy, there is also the implication that we can rely on His words entirely. We know that what God says is true, He does not  and cannot lie.

2:23

Now while Jesus acted perfectly this does not mean everyone liked Him and treated Him well, quite the opposite occurred. They hurled insults at Him. This happened at the cross, it was also His experience throughout His ministry. Moreover, He suffered horrendously. Before the cross itself He was beaten and mocked. Then the cross itself is an excruciating way to die (indeed, the word excruciating is derived from crucifixion). In the midst of all this Jesus did not retaliate and He issued no threats. How different from what our natural reaction would be. But that was not all. Instead of issuing threats He committed Himself to His Father, He entrusted Himself to God, the God who judges justly. So there is a crucial (another word derived from cross) point here. Not retaliating is not just a passive action, it is not giving in. Rather it is choosing to trust in God, to rely on Him for justice. We are not to take the law into our own hands. And God will judge justly. Sometimes this will happen in our lifetime, at others it will happen when Christ returns. Either way, God will judge.

1 Peter 2:20,21 - Receiving a beating

2:20

We all suffer, sometimes we suffer because of our own fault. In the current context, sometimes a servant or slave would be beaten because they had done wrong. Now some will immediately have their hackles raised by any mention of corporal punishment, but let’s leave that aside for now. The principle is that there is no particular virtue in suffering because of our own stupid fault. Conversely if we suffer unjustly, and endure it, then that is commendable in God’s sight. Again, we may be inclined to react against this, focusing on the injustice of it all. Peter’s emphasis is on God’s reaction, and pleasing Him.

2:21

Jesus is the Messiah, He earned our salvation, but He is also an example. In the succeeding verses Peter will go on to focus on the propitiatory or atoning nature of Christ’s work, but here he focuses on the example of Jesus, and it is interesting that that comes first. Jesus is an example, He showed us what a truly human being should live like, and how a truly human being should live in this fallen world. The Son of God, God Himself, showed us how to live. This is both amazing and also completely consistent with Scripture, for we were created in the image of God. Jesus suffered for us, and He is an example that we should follow. Now at times we will not understand what we are going through, or why God is letting/making us go through it, but our starting point should be the clear example of Christ. We should seek to walk in His footsteps, then we will find that we are walking in step with the Spirit, and we will receive help and power in our need.

Isaiah 40 - Do you not know? - A sermon

A sermon on Isaiah 40, Do you not know?

1 Peter 2:18,19 - Submit to masters

2:18

The Bible and slavery is a contentious issue, and one which is often used to “beat” Christians with (quite inappropriate really). It should also be noted that the ESV uses “servants” rather than “slaves” (NIV), and this probably more accurately translates the Greek word.The argument made against Christianity is often “why does the Bible condone (or support) slavery?”. Several things need to be said. The first is that there are all sorts of slavery. We tend to think of the trafficking of people from Africa to Europe or America such as took place in the 17 and 1800’s. That is not the slavery that is spoken about in the Bible. Slavery was an integral part of the economic system, and many people would be a slave for a period of time. However, as this verse recognises, slavery was definitely not a bed of roses. Indeed the New Testament encourages people to gain their freedom if that was possible. But slaves are also urged to be good workers, even if they have a bad boss. This is something that we can all apply to our own lives.

2:19

Why should a slave serve even a bad master well? I is because it is commendable to bear up under suffering because of our knowing the Lord. Again, this is something we can all apply to our lives. All of us go through tough times at some point in our lives. Some go through this at many points, or for prolonged periods of time. We are in a relationship with the Lord, and if that relationship affects how we act, or react, in various circumstances then it helps to build that relationship.

1 Peter 2:16,17 - Freedom to serve God

2:16

In Christ we are free, but that  does not mean we are free to sin. It cannot be stressed too strongly, sin is not good for us, nor for anybody else. Sin is always destructive. On the positive side, living God’s way is always good for us, and also for everybody else. Through the cross and resurrection we are set free, free to live for God. So we do not use the forgiveness of the gospel as an excuse to get away  with sin. Instead we live as “God’s slaves”.

2:17

So we show respect for everyone. We are to love the “family of believers”, we are to fear God, and we are to honour our rulers. In Peter’s day that meant honouring the Roman emperor, in our day it means honouring the government and praying for them. That certainly does not mean agreeing with all that they do, but we are to honour them. It is interesting that respecting people and loving believers is put ahead of fearing God. When Jesus said love your neighbour as yourself He said it was like the greatest commandment. In 1 John we are told that we cannot truly say we love God if we hate our brother. Fearing God and loving people go together.

1 Peter 2:13-15 - Submit yourselves

2:13,14

We should submit to human authorities. Now this needs to be looked at carefully. First it tells us that human authorities are put there by God. If we go right back to Genesis we see that God gave man dominion over the earth. So the authorities are there to punish wrongdoers and to reward those who do right. Now of course we live in a fallen world, and no human authority acts perfectly, and some are downright corrupt and self-seeking, sometimes even perpetrating horrendous evil. What is important is our starting point. If we start from a position of rebellion then no matter how self-righteous we may feel, our actions will be coming from a source of rebellion and will produce the associated (bad) fruit. The book of Daniel gives us excellent examples of how to respond. Daniel and his friends were in Babylon, an utterly pagan nation. They showed respect for the rulers, yet did not compromise their faith at all. At times this led to them facing great danger, and seeing God’s miraculous intervention, but they were never acting out of a spirit of rebellion.

2:15

Now God’s will is that we will indeed silence foolish people, but we do so by doing good. As Rom 12:21 says, we are to overcome evil with good, not to be overcome by evil.  We need to guard our hearts with utmost care, for it is so easy to become full of ourselves, deceiving ourselves that we are doing good. We need to fight with God’s weapons, not the weapons of the world.

1 Peter 2:11,12 - Strangers and aliens

2:11

This and the following verse encourage us to live godly lives, in this verse we have the negative aspect of that, ie what we should not do. First of all we need to recognise that we are strangers and aliens in this world. This world is not our home, in the sense that the world system is not our home. This world is living in rebellion against God, so we should not expect to feel at home here, and at times may feel very uneasy, or a lot worse. Whenever individual Christians or churches seek accommodation with the world, choose to follow the world’s wisdom they make a grievous mistake. So we are to abstain from sinful desires. The world may encourage us to follow them, whether it be sexual immorality, drunkenness, greed, using underhand or dishonest means etc. Sinful desires wage war against our souls, they are not good for us. There is a battle to be fought and we need to fight it.

2:12

How do we react to living in a hostile environment? We seek to live godly lives. The world may still falsely accuse us, but the accusations will be false. The Christians in the early church were often accused of all sorts of terrible things. The end result will then be that the pagans will give glory to God. This echoes the words of Jesus in Matthew 5:16. The world is to see our good deeds, not so that they glorify us, but so that they give glory to God. “The day He visits us” could be the day of judgement, but could also refer to interventions by God before then. The world is not on a uniform course to destruction, there are times when God acts in history to bring revival to a nation.

1 Peter 2:9,10- A chosen people, a royal priesthood

2:9

The Christians were a people rejected by the world, as is increasingly true in our society, but though we may be rejected by the world we are chosen by God. We are a chosen people. We are a royal priesthood. In Israel kings and priests were separate. However, Exodus 19:6 speaks of God’s people being a kingdom of priests and a holy nation. THe nation of Israel failed to fulfil this role, but we now do fulfil that role, through Christ. We have been chosen by God to have a special role on the earth. We are God’s “special possession”. We need to realise who we are, not so that we become proud, but so that we realise the security we have, and the responsibility we have. We are to declare the praises of our God. While the world rejects God we are to proclaim Him. Why should we live in opposition to the world? Why not just go with the flow? Because the way of the world is darkness, and we have been called into God’s wonderful light. So we should proclaim the praises of God because of what He has done for us, and so that others may also take hold of this great salvation.

2:10

Once we were not a people. We were on our own, living for ourselves, fending for ourselves. But now we are a people, we have become the people of God. And this happened as a result of God’s mercy. Without Christ we are on our own, we have to justify ourselves, we have to seek to do the impossible. But now we have received mercy. If we believe in Christ we are in a blessed position.

1 Peter 2:6-8 - A precious stone

2:6,7

Peter quotes from Isaiah 28:16. The preceding part of Isaiah speaks of those who scoff. We need to understand the world we live in. It is a world that is in rebellion against God and considers God’s ways to be foolish, it rejects His Messiah. But the Messiah the world has rejected is the One laid by God, the One chosen by God. He is precious and although the world rejects Him, and although the world may mock us, if we trust in Him we will never be put to shame.

Verse 7 quotes from Psalm 118:22. In that Psalm it goes on to say that “it is marvellous in our eyes”, and “ “let us rejoice today and be glad”. The world may reject Christ, but He is the cornerstone of all God’s plans, and He is the source of our salvation. So we should rejoice and be glad.

2:8

Then Peter goes back to Isaiah, this time Is 8:14. Again it is worth looking at what comes before the verse quoted. God has just told Isaiah that he is not to fear what they fear, instead the Lord is the One he is to fear. We need to understand the distinction between those who believe and those who do not. Not in the sense of considering ourselves superior, because we are not, but in understanding what is going on, and so that we are not dismayed when the world mocks and goes against what we believe. Some will believe in Christ and will be saved, some will not. In fact Christ will cause some to stumble. Many Jews “stumbled”, they reacted against Christ, just as many do today. The reaction against Christ is not a result of any wisdom or insight on their part, but is a result of disobedience to God. This is what they were destined for. This can be understood in various ways, but whatever the exact meaning it is all part of God’s plan. Nothing unusual is happening when people react against the gospel or against Christ.

1 Peter 2:4,5 - Living stones

2:4

We need to remember that the Jews, on the whole, had rejected Jesus. The Gentile society on the whole considered Jesus and the gospel to be an odd group of people, sometimes deserving of persecution. In our day we are increasingly regarded as outsiders if we believe in the Bible. The normal state of affairs is that the world rejects Jesus. But we have come to Jesus and He is the living stone. And while men may reject Him, He was chosen by God and is considered precious by God. So whose opinion are we going to live by? The world’s opinion, or God’s opinion?

2:5

Jesus is a living stone. God’s plans are based not on an idea nor an ideology, but on the living person of the Son of God. And we as living stones are being built into a spiritual house for the Lord. When we look at our lives we need to view them as part of God’s plans, we are a living part of God’s plan. He is working in us to make us a holy priesthood. The Jews offered animals as sacrifices, the pagan religions offered their own sacrifices to idols. We offer spiritual sacrifices, which are lives that are pleasing to God (Rom 12:1).

1 Peter 2:1-3 - Get rid of sin, drink pure milk

2:1

Our old way of life was founded on perishable seed, it was doomed for destruction. Our new self is based on imperishable seed, so we should do all we can to divest ourselves of the old self and to put on the new self (Eph 4:22-24). Things like malice, deceit, hypocrisy, envy and slander all belong to the old self and we should rid ourselves of these things. See how much of life is based on these characteristics, in politics, business and everyday life. We need to live differently.

2:2,3

We have been born again, so we should seek after things that pertain to this new life. Like newborn babies we should crave pure spiritual milk. Now it seems likely that Peter is writing to relatively new Christians. As we go on we should indeed mature in Christ. We should still seek after the word of God, but we should not stay as babes in the faith. When we first come to faith we taste that the Lord is good. We must not leave things there, but instead should seek to grow in Christ.

1 Peter 1:22-25 - Like grass

1:22

We have been purified by obeying the truth? What does this mean? Well let’s first look at the lie we previously believed. We thought we could manage on our own. We thought we could manage materially on our own, we thought we could manage morally on our own. Both of these are a lie. When we choose our own way, become lord of our own life, things quickly start to head towards disaster. This applies to us as individuals, and on a corporate level as well. Some think they are righteous, this is another lie. The gospel tells us that we have sinned against God and are helpless to do anything about it in our own strength. Instead we need to trust in Christ, to rely on His sacrifice to justify us, and to rely on the Holy Spirit to transform us. Believing the gospel is a matter of obeying God. So often it is presented as a choice, but it is a choice of whether or not to obey the Lord.

We can now have a sincere love for one another. We are not trying to prove anything, we are free to give and free to forgive. So we should live out of this freedom and love one another deeply.

1:23

We have been born again. Life is different, we are different. We are a new creation, and we need to live out of this new creation, not the old self. And we were born not of perishable seed, but imperishable seed. Why does he say this? Well, how were we first born? We were born naturally, but this was of perishable seed. Everyone who is born is destined to die. This is not very encouraging, but it is a fact. Death and taxes, as the old saying goes, are the only certainties in life! To be perfectly honest life is a struggle. However, we were born again of imperishable seed. This new life is not a life of decay, but one of renewal, of transformation from one degree of glory to the next. In our lives we see both the old and the new at work, and we can become depressed if we focus on the old, Instead we need to learn to live increasingly out of the new life.

How did this new life come about? It was through the living and enduring word of God. We will focus on this aspect when we look at the next couple of verses.

1:24,25

Peter then quotes from Isaiah 40:6-8. We need to appreciate the life giving power of the word of God. Jesus told the devil, quoting from Deuteronomy, that man cannot live by bread alone, but by every word that proceeds from the mouth of God. The world was created by the word of God, and we were recreated by the word of God. We can look around us and sometimes be intimidated or overawed by others or by some aspect of the world, but all the glory we see around is fleeting, it will not last forever. To put it bluntly it will decay in the grave. But the word of the Lord endures for ever, and the gospel is the enduring word of God. We need to learn to rely on this word, to live out of it, and to rejoice in it.

1 Peter 1:20,21 - Chosen before creation

1:20

Jesus was chosen to be the Lamb before the creation of the world, but was revealed two thousand years ago. God’s plans were not made up on the spur of the moment, He is not reacting to events. Everything is under control. But the plan was only revealed in recent days. Now we tend to have problems with this, with predestination and all that is associated with it. However, nowhere does the Bible teach that God’s sovereignty equals fatalism. The Bible consistently teaches that what we do matters, our lives count and make a difference. So we may not understand how it all fits together, but that is not our first concern. Our first concern should be to lives lives of faith and obedience.

1:21

Through Him we have faith in God. What does this mean? Jesus is the reason we have faith in God. It is only through Jesus, by what He said, what He did, and the Father raising Him from the dead, that we have faith in God. Otherwise judgement is all we could rationally expect from God. Jesus shows us that God loves us and offers forgiveness and new life. The Father showed that Jesus and Him were working together in complete harmony throughout His ministry, eg at His baptism and at the transfiguration where God explicitly said Jesus was His Son and He was pleased with Him. Supremely at the resurrection. Jesus was raised to the right hand of God and has all power and authority. So we have faith in God. We know that the creator of the universe is for us and not against us. Every action of God is consistent with Him loving us.

1 Peter 1:18,19

1:18,19

Now we see why we are to live holy lives, and it is not for the reasons that people normally think. It is not because we will get “beaten up” otherwise, and definitely not to stop us enjoying ourselves! Rather it is because God considers us so precious. We were redeemed from an empty way of life. Life without God is ultimately empty. The empirical “proof” of this is there for all to see, no matter what you do in life you will die, under atheism that is it (of course it isn’t actually it, all will face judgement). And we were redeemed with the precious blood of Jesus, something infinitely more valuable than silver or gold.

We need to realise how precious we are to God, and we need to tell the world how precious they are. Sexual immorality always comes up as an obvious sin, and rightly so for it is important and it so well illustrates the difference between God’s ways and man’s ways. The world’s ways lead to degradation of humans, treating them as mere sex objects. We are far more valuable than that. God’s commandments are what they are because we are so important, and because He cares for us so much.

The world’s ways are empty, but we have been redeemed from this empty way of life. Note that we needed to be redeemed. It was not just a matter of learning a new way of living, rather we were held captive by sin. We were also under judgement. We needed to be forgiven and we needed to be set free. The blood of Jesus shed on the cross achieves that forgiveness and freedom.

1 Peter 1:17 - An impartial Father

1:17

Part of the problem the Jews had was that they thought their being the nation of Israel, being God’s nation, meant they were treated favourably. In one sense they were, but not in the sense that they could do what they liked and not suffer the consequences. The Old Testament record should be a stark demonstration of this fact. As Christians we need to ensure that we do not make the same mistake. The cross does not mean we can live our lives with impunity. Instead we are to live our lives in reverent fear, and as foreigners. So we do not follow the world’s ways. Just because the world does something is most definitely not a reason for us going the same way. At present sexual morality is the most pertinent example of this. We should not and must not follow the world. We are strangers in this world. Instead we are to have reverent fear for the Lord. Our attitude should always be “what does the Lord think?”, not “what does the world think?”.

1 Peter 1:14-16 - Obedient children

1:14

We are to live as obedient children, and part of this involves not doing certain things. We are not to give in to evil desires. “When you lived in ignorance”. Some see this as indicative of the audience being largely Gentile. However, the Jews also lived in ignorance and were subject to evil desires, so it applies to all peoples. Following Christ involves a change of lifestyle and in the New Testament it is clear that a key part of the church life was teaching people how to live.

1:15,16

Lev 11:44 says “be holy, because I am holy”, it then goes on to remind them that He is the God who brought them up out of slavery in Egypt (Lev 11:45). Jesus has set us free from an even greater slavery, slavery to sin. So the injunction to be holy is greater as well. We have been forgiven and saved so that we can become like Jesus, not so that we can get away with sinning. We were created in the image of God, we were saved to become Christlike. Any notion of forgiveness being about being “let off” for our sins, or getting away with it are completely alien to the Bible.

1 Peter 1:12,13 - With minds that are fully alert

1:12

The prophets had a sense that they were serving something greater than themselves. Again, we can apply this to ourselves. It is not all about us, we are part of something greater. The apostles preached the gospel that the prophets had looked forward to. There is absolute continuity between the Old and New Testaments. The prophets were inspired by the Holy Spirit, and the apostles were likewise inspired. Even the  angels did not fully understand. We need to appreciate the wonder of the gospel.

1:13

I prefer the older NIV translation here, or the current ESV, which speaks of preparing our minds for action, or as the Greek (and KJV) say, “gird up the loins of your minds”. Our minds need to be ready, alert. Sometimes Christians have tended to denigrate the mind, the Bible never does that, Instead it advocates the right use of the mind, and sees it as an essential tool in our walk with the Spirit. We are to be sober-minded. That does not just mean not being drunk (though that is sound advice), but thinking clearly. The world and circumstances will seek to befuddle our thinking, giving us a distorted view. We need the word of God to give us a clear view. We are to set our hope on the grace to be given to us when Christ returns. Peter lays a great emphasis on the future blessing, we should do likewise.

1 Peter 1:10,11 - Concerning this salvation

1:10, 11

We have here an explanation of Old Testament prophecy. Most of it had both an immediate fulfilment and was pointing forward towards Christ. The prophets spoke of the grace of God that was coming. Much of what the prophets said was a condemnation of Israel for her repeated failure to keep the Law and her failure to trust in God. Yet they all also contain promises of salvation. How can this be? How can a disobedient nation receive the blessings of God? The answer is that it is by grace, not by works. The prophets searched with great intent and care. We too should search the Scriptures with care and intent. The Word of God contains the words of eternal life, so we should be eager to understand what it says.

They knew the prophecies were pointing forwards, but did not know exactly when the fulfilment would come. In a sense we are all in the same boat, for there is a “now, but not yet” aspect to the gospel. All of us are looking for more. The prophets predicted the sufferings and the glory, not one or the other, but both. Rev 19:10 says that the Spirit of prophecy bears witness to Jesus. On the road to Emmaus Jesus explained how Moses and the Prophets were talking about Him (Luke 24:27).

1 Peter 1:7-9 - You love Him

1:7

So why does life involve so many trials? It is our faith may be proved genuine. What does proved mean here? It is not that God is seeing if we really believe, He already knows all things. Rather He is refining our faith, and demonstrating to us and the world that it is real. And our faith is precious, it is precious to us and precious also to God Himself. It is worth far more than gold, and gold is refined in the fire. Even so, gold will perish, it is ultimately worthless. Faith is eternal. The trials remove the dross from our lives, and leave what is truly valuable. And we need to appreciate just how important faith is, how valuable it is. Moreover, it will result in praise, honour and glory when Christ is revealed. We need to appreciate that we will share in Christ’s glory.

1:8,9

In John 20:29 Jesus, after Thomas had finally believed on seeing the evidence, said that blessed are those who believe in Him yet have not seen Him. We have not seen Jesus, yet we love Him and believe in Him. Now given the misrepresentation often given by sceptics, this does not mean that we believe without evidence, or even against the evidence. The evidence for the resurrection is very strong, the New Testament has a wealth of documentary evidence supporting it, far more than any other historical document of similar antiquity. So what role does evidence play? If we believed but then there was either no evidence at all, or the evidence all pointed in the opposite direction then people would be right to question, even mock, our faith. Suppose it was discovered that the gospels had been written by a Russian monk in the eleventh century, then our faith would be proved to be nonsense. But precisely the opposite is the case.

But faith is not just an academic thing. It involves love for Jesus and belief in Him, it involves a relationship. Moreover, it brings joy to our hearts and minds. And we are receiving the fruits of faith now. Completeness will not occur until He returns, but we start receiving the fruit now. We are receiving the salvation of our souls, and that is the goal of our faith. Note that it is not healing or financial blessing. Now these things may and do occur, but the goal is the salvation of our souls. It is the transformation of our lives, making us people totally devoted to God, totally Christlike. In the process there will be times of trials.