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1 PETER CHAPTER 2 KJV WEB See previous page 1Pet 2,1-3 (76m) Thy kingdom come >> Desires >> Word is food >> Hunger for the word – The Christian walk is a two-step process: there is putting aside the deeds of the flesh, and there is longing for the pure milk of the word. Milk is food for babes in Christ, new converts. They are not ready for solid food; they either can’t get it down or they will barf it up. Someone who first comes to the Lord needs the fundamentals of the gospel before he can proceed to the meatier dimensions of the truth, which is ironic in that Peter speaks more than any disciple about predestination, which is by far the meatiest subject in the Bible. (80e) Thy kingdom come >> Know the word to learn the ways of God >> Leading to Jesus (127d) Thy kingdom come >> Manifestations of faith >> Kindness >> God is kind (138a) Temple >> Building the temple (with hands) >> Maturity >> Maturing by the word of God – Paul also taught that we should put aside the former manner of life and pick up the new life we have in Christ. John the Baptist also taught a two-step repent-and-believe gospel. Putting down the flesh and picking up the gospel is a single process that we do simultaneously. If we put down the flesh but do not pick up the gospel, how is that not humanism? Believing in the gospel without repentance is no use either, and we don’t repent and then believe, because the gospel promises to help us repent through the power of the Holy Spirit. (219h) Sovereignty >> God overrides the will of man >> The elect >> God chooses us as we choose ourselves >> God chooses us through our faithfulness – Peter cites one condition of our salvation: “If you have tasted the kindness of the Lord.” Can a person choose to be saved? On the one hand, man sees salvation as seeking God. On the other hand, Jesus said, “You did not choose me, but I chose you” (Jn 15-16). He also said other things like this, making us wonder how salvation actually occurs. Is there a case where a person cannot be saved because God did not choose him, though the person wanted to be saved? No, God’s decision and man’s decision to be saved is summarized in this statement: God chooses us as we choose ourselves. It is unbelievable that someone would have a sincere desire to know God and his faith was met with divine rejection. Therefore, no one is rejected who wants to know the Lord, because it is God who places the desire in His heart in the first place, so there is always an overlapping of the will of God to the will of man, so that the scenario never happens who truly wants to know God but can’t find Him. 1Pet 2-1,2 (24h) Sin >> Poverty (Forms of fear) >> Being envious of your brother (33g) Gift of God >> God is our Father >> Children need a Father to care for them (84i) Thy kingdom come >> Words of your mouth >> Gossip >> Attacking a person’s name (229g) Kingdom of God >> God’s kingdom is a living organism >> Kingdom grows by itself >> Kingdom assumes the mind of Christ >> Kingdom grows through knowledge – We cannot long for the pure milk of the word until we first put away malice, deceit, hypocrisy, envy and slander. We cannot expect to grow into the likeness of Christ while we practice things that undo the work of God in our lives, one of the misbehaviors being hypocrisy, which is literally defined as the opposite of godliness. Hypocrisy does things we know are wrong while attempting to carry on a relationship with God. It is a common problem that we all have, but it is one of the worst problems we all have. The person who is able to keep hypocrisy to a minimum is in a place in his heart where he can be transformed by the power of God into a new creature, someone unlike his old self. God has rescued us from ourselves by creating us anew. We have the same face and body, but we have a different mind and heart. The key word here is “grow”, which is the greatest evidence of faith; for if we are not growing, then we’re dying. Stagnation describes a swamp, though a swamp is anything but stagnant. There are things growing in swamps, changing and moving, but the water is not moving or drinkable. There are all kinds of organisms that thrive in a swamp that are reproducing; so if we are not growing, then something else is growing that we don't want to grow. God wants us to have current and grow in His life, according to His wisdom and knowledge of the truth. We must pay attention to Him and move in the direction of the Spirit and nurture the inner self that He has made anew and grow with respect to salvation, which doesn’t just happen but started at some point, and we have continued to grow as we put aside our evil practices through repentance. (238b) Kingdom of God >> Pursuing the kingdom >> Transferring the kingdom >> The kingdom is transferred to the Church >> Born again >> Born of the Spirit by the will of man 1Pet 2-1 (190e) Die to self (Process of substitution) >> Separation from the old man >> Circumcision >> Undressing >> Take off your sins 1Pet 2-2,3 (105b) Thy kingdom come >> Pure in heart >> A pure heart is an unleavened heart (206h) Salvation >> God makes promises on His terms >> Conditions to promises >> Conditions to the gifts of God >> Conditions to salvation KJV WEB / Navigation Bar 1Pet 2,4-8 (46d) Judgment >> Spiritual warfare >> Subjecting your flesh >> Hindrances to the kingdom (137c) Temple >> Building the temple (with hands) >> Jesus is the foundation >> Jesus is the cornerstone – We come to Christ as to a living stone. Peter put the word “living” in there, because Jesus is the life of God (with respect to the Holy Spirit), and when he accompanied that with the inert qualities of a stone, it made for an interesting oxymoron; the Holy Spirit is ethereal, while stones are concrete. (173c) Works of the devil >> The religion of witchcraft >> Catholicism >> Scripture that contradicts the Catholic faith >> Catholic doctrine versus the Bible – It is not surprising that we have this analogy of a stone, since Jesus spoke about Peter as a stone saying to him, “and upon this rock I will build my church” (Mat 16-18). The Catholics seized upon this statement and distorted it as they do the rest of Scripture to their own destruction (2Pet 3-16). They got the idea that God would build his church on Peter. So, what did the Catholics do? They found what they believed to be Peter’s bones and built Saint Peter’s Basilica over them in the Vatican of Rome. Now the Catholic faith is literally founded on Peter, which is fitting since also they have a dead religion, despite calling themselves the one true Christian Church. See also: Catholicism; 1Pet 2-4,5; 6h (200d) Denying Christ >> Man chooses his own destiny apart from God >> Rejecting Christ >> Rejecting the faith of God >> Rejecting Christ through disobedience 1Pet 2-4,5 (6h) Responsibility >> Being spiritual >> Ministering to God by submitting to the Holy Spirit – When Jesus said, “You are Peter, and on this rock I will build My church, and the gates of Hades shall not prevail against it” (Mat 16,13-18), He was talking about Peter’s revelation that he received from the Holy Spirit regarding Jesus as the Son of God, suggesting that if we don’t have a revelation of Jesus Christ from the Holy Spirit, we do not belong to Him. Jesus was saying that the Church is the product of the Holy Spirit, which is a far cry from the Catholic version of this verse. See also: Catholicism; 1Pet 2,6-8; 141b (43d) Judgment >> Satan destroyed >> Conform to the ministry of Christ’s church (71l) Authority >> Ordained by God >> We are ordained through obedience (81d) Thy kingdom come >> Prayer >> The priesthood >> Church is the altar of Jesus’ ministry – We are a royal priesthood, who do two things: we minister to God and we minister to people in that order. A priest foremostly ministers to God, which entails becoming a student of His word and a disciple of prayer. A priest’s ministry toward people is a derivative of his ministry toward God. It is vain to seek God without knowing something about Him, and once we come to know Him, we develop a fruitful ministry toward people. We feel like priests as we visit the pagans of our neighborhood. We preach Jesus to them and suddenly realize we are priests among those who don’t know God, and if there is an inkling of interest in them, they will seek our ministry that we share with them free of charge through our faith in Jesus. (111k) Thy kingdom come >> Faith >> Spirit and the word >> Living and active word of God (115a) Thy kingdom come >> Faith >> Working the grace of God >> Working God’s grace through Christ >> Worship God through Christ (116b) Thy kingdom come >> Faith >> Working the grace of God >> Through worship >> In prayer (131jc) Thy kingdom come >> Manifestations of faith >> Unity >> Many members but one body >> Many bricks but one temple – When we become children of God, we assume the properties of Christ and become little stones, suggesting that the big stone, which is Christ, is a conglomeration of little stones. Conglomerate rock consists of smaller stones that are cemented together by fossilized sediment to make one big rock. We as a conglomeration of rocks resemble a temple, the house of God composed of little stones, bricks of the Church representing Jesus Christ. Once we become united to create this house of worship, we can then offer up spiritual sacrifices that are acceptable to God through Jesus Christ. Before unity, though, God can only accept worship from faithful individuals, since there is not a spiritual house of worship prepared to make sacrifices. That is, God only receives corporate worship among His people who are in a state of unity, but if we are disconnected little stones, how can we as a body of believers worship God? He is unwilling to receive our corporate worship outside of unity, for unity is built on obeying the Holy Spirit, which is the highest form of worship. (133e) Temple >> Your body is the temple of God >> Holiness >> The body of Christ is holy >> The temple of God is holy (140g) Temple >> Temple made without hands >> Christ builds the temple from the bricks of the Church (189c) Die to self (Process of substitution) >> Separation from the old man >> Holy sacrifice >> Acceptable sacrifice – We are to sacrifice ourselves as Jesus sacrificed Himself, each person a stone within a stone (conglomerate rock), all the people cemented together in unity as living stones to become God’s holy temple in the Lord, from which the sacrifices are made through unity. We must all work together, doing our part, being faithful, finding our place in the body of Christ, being part of His temple. We offer sacrifices, dedicating our lives, time, resources and energy. We belong to Him; He called us; we listen and are following in His purpose and are fulfilling His calling. He is transforming us into His image; this process requires us to die to self; we cannot hold to our old life and expect to please Him. (194b) Die to self (Process of substitution) >> Turn from sin to God >> Run to God >> Run to Jesus when He calls for you -- These verses go with verse 21 (209j) Salvation >> The salvation of God >> Jesus is our sacrifice >> Jesus paid the price for us >> Jesus is the lamb of God >> The Great High Priest offered up Himself – Jesus was the holy sacrifice, resembling the sacrificial lamb that the Jews later celebrated at Passover that evening. “He was despised and forsaken of men, a man of sorrows and acquainted with grief; and like one from whom men hide their face” (Isaiah 53-3). He didn’t particularly get respect from anybody, because He didn’t operate according to the rules of this world; instead, He lived by the principles of heaven, which opposed the world, and for this the world hated Him and crucifying Him without formally charging Him. The Romans (gentiles) who actually performed the sacrifice didn’t understand the accusation the Jews imposed on Him, which was, "You, being a man, make Yourself out to be God" (Jn 10-33), making both Jews and gentiles guilty before God. According to Old Testament law, anybody who tried to change Jewish laws or claimed to be the Messiah must be executed, unless of course He actually was their Messiah; then they should worship Him. Instead of honoring Him, they sacrificed Him as though murdering God. (254b) Trinity >> Holy Spirit’s relationship between Father and Son >> Jesus is the life of the Spirit >> We live because He is life >> We live because we are in Jesus 1Pet 2-4 (92b) Thy kingdom come >> The narrow way >> Trail of good works >> Ray of light leading to the face of Christ KJV WEB / Navigation Bar 1Pet 2,6-8 (86a) Thy kingdom come >> Belief >> Treating the knowledge of God as fact >> Believe the word by obeying it (141b) Witness >> Validity of Jesus Christ >> Old Testament bears witness to the new >> It bears witness to Jesus >> Prophecy about Jesus’ ministry >> Jesus as head of the Church – It is no coincidence that Peter wrote about stones, being that the Lord gave him the name Peter, “petra” in Greek, which means rock; his parents named him Simon. By nature he was a wayward person; like all of us he flip-flopped at a moment’s notice; one minute he was doing exploits for God, and the next minute he was doing a face-plant. Jesus gave Him the name Peter, not because he was like a rock, but that he might grow into his nickname to become like a rock. We too are little stones, cemented together to make a single rock, "and the rock was Christ" (1Cor 10-4). In geology it is called conglomerate rock, the smaller rocks cemented in place to make a single rock, representing the Church with Jesus being the cornerstone (not Peter). The passage reads, “He who believes in Him will not be disappointed” (Isaiah 28-16). The Old Testament prophet was not writing about Peter; he was writing about Christ. In Matthew chapter sixteen, when Jesus asked His disciples, “Who do you say that I am?” Peter said, “You are the Christ, the Son of the living God” (Vs 15-18). Jesus answered, “You are Peter, and upon this rock I will build My church; and the gates of Hades will not overpower it.” The Catholic interpretation of this verse has Jesus choosing Peter as the cornerstone of the Church, but Jesus was talking about Himself. Catholicism invented a religion to make the people beholden to them, and they taught the people that if they ever left the Catholic Church, they would be in a sense leaving their salvation and any hope of heaven, condemning them to the fires of hell. See also: Catholicism; 1Pet 2,4-8; 173c / Catholicism (Building the Church on Peter instead of Christ); 1Pet 5,1-3; 76a (255d) Trinity >> Holy Spirit’s relationship between Father and Son >> God’s word is Spirit >> Jesus is the word of the Spirit >> Jesus is the authority of God’s word 1Pet 2-6 (121h) Thy kingdom come >> Manifestations of faith >> Hope >> Expectation >> Expecting good things based on God’s character >> Expecting good things because He is God 1Pet 2-7,8 (20m) Sin >> Disobedience >> Demonstrating unbelief in the validity of God’s word (40b) Judgment >> Jesus is the judge >> Jesus judges the world’s disobedience (48l) Judgment >> Jesus’ enemies are destroyed >> Enemies of the truth (87b) Thy kingdom come >> Obedience >> Be doers of the word from the heart >> We have no choice but to be doers of the word (201c) Jesus Is An Offense (Key verse) (201h) Denying Christ >> Man chooses his own destiny apart from God >> Jesus is an offense >> Jesus offends the world >> Faith offends unbelief – Jesus is the cornerstone of the Church, but He is also the cornerstone of God’s judgment against sinners, who intends to judge unbelievers based on their rejection of Christ. Peter’s ministry was almost exclusively to the Jew, so when he spoke about a stone of stumbling and a rock of offense, he was referring to his own countrymen, who largely rejected their own messiah, which has plagued them ever since. Many of the gentiles have judged the Jews based on this fact, and have committed acts of genocide against the Jewish race. Murdering millions of people for rejecting Christ is just as evil as rejecting Christ themselves; in fact, they could not have become murderers while holding a deep faith in Jesus Christ. If the gentiles thought it was wrong for the Jews to reject their messiah, why didn’t they believe in Jesus themselves, instead of killing those who didn't believe? For this reason the gentiles who are militant against the Jews must make up a doctrine suggesting that the 1940's holocaust never happened in order to cover their tracks. The mind boggling part of this is that some white-supremacist groups actually consider Hitler one of the great leaders of this age, refusing to condemn genocide against the Jews, and at the same time teaching that the holocaust ever happened, calling it a Holo-hoax. This self-contradiction demonstrates their willingness to lie to their own hearts, believing themselves to be Christian, but if they admitted that the holocaust was a historical fact, they would also have to admit to their hypocrisy, being unable to justify their own actions with the tenets of Christianity. So, when Peter said, “They stumble because they are disobedient to the word, and to this doom they were also appointed,” he was referring both to the Jews who have rejected Christ and to the gentiles who murdered them. Rejecting Christ is more than just a preferred lifestyle, and more than mere opinion but the cause of their eternal damnation. See also: Israel (Holocaust); Rev 13-7; 189h 1Pet 2-8 (220b) Sovereignty >> God overrides the will of man >> Predestination >> Predestined according to the sovereignty of God KJV WEB / Navigation Bar 1Pet 2-9,10 (91c) Thy kingdom come >> The called >> God’s purpose is an inherent component of His calling >> His purpose is for us to be vessels of mercy (91i) Thy kingdom come >> The called >> God’s calling transcends the will of man >> We are called by God through His choice of us (213k) Sovereignty >> God is infinite >> Jesus owns you >> His will becomes our will >> We are bought with a price – We were born into Satan’s world, but Christ bought us and tricked Satan into selling us to Him. The life of Jesus for the life of His children, one life for many, Jesus shed his blood, resulting in millions coming to Christ and the Father forgiving and accepting them. The result: we have inherited better promises than was initially offered Adam. Adam and Eve inherited the earth that was cursed and was given a small plot of land, the Garden of Eden, and commanded to expand the garden throughout the earth, and in that way he would have reversed the curse and come into ownership of the world, but Adam had to fix it first. After all that work, he only would have achieved the earth, for nothing else was given to him, but through Christ we have inherited the entire creation, including heaven itself. God did not promise the universe to Adam; only the earth, but now the entire universe belongs to the children of God, meaning that God’s kingdom will expand throughout the universe. All this we received through the blood of Christ; the advantage that God has given mankind through the death of His Son cannot be over stated. See also: Adam will not be with us in heaven; 2Cor 11-3; 151g 1Pet 2-9 (81e) Thy kingdom come >> Prayer >> The priesthood >> Ministering the gospel (85g) Thy kingdom come >> Words that are spoken in faith >> Testify of God’s works (112f) Thy kingdom come >> Faith >> Light >> Obeying the truth in broad daylight >> Church’s deeds in the light (133h) Temple >> Your body is the temple of God >> Holiness >> The body of Christ is holy >> God’s people are holy to the Lord – Peter has gone from viewing us as stones used as building materials for God’s temple to viewing us as the Royal Priesthood. We can now enter the church and worship God like the Levitical priesthood, whom God had given charge to perform the many temple services. From the Church God receives our worship, but form the world He does not. God chose the tribe of Levi and gave them exclusive rights to perform the priestly duties of temple worship, which was the heart of Israel's religion. Any other tribe member who sought to be a priest was flatly rejected. In a similar way, the Church is a peculiar people, a holy nation among the nations of the world. (144c) Witness >> Validity of Jesus Christ >> Witnesses of Jesus >> The Church bears witness of Jesus >> Having fellowship with Him – At Jesus crucifixion the Pharisees, Scribes and chief priests denied Him as their king, and Pilate goaded them about it (Mk 15-9,10), though there was a time the people would have elected Him king had He run for office. They marched Him into the city on a donkey, but Jesus didn't want to be their king; rather, He was the king of another kingdom, “a chosen race, a royal priesthood, a holy nation, a people for God's own possession.” Jesus is king, not of the Jews but of those with the faith of Abraham, irrespective of ethnic background, who follow Him in Spirit and truth. There is a kingdom that no one can see, marbled among the nations of the world. Not everyone who goes to church is a member of His true Church, only those who can hear and obey the voice of the Holy Spirit; these are the true children of God. (149g) Witness >> Validity of Jesus Christ >> Works of the Church bear witness to Jesus >> Evangelism >> Preaching the word to the world >> Sowing the seed (184b) Works of the devil >> The origin of lawlessness >> Darkness >> Hiding behind your own imagination >> Hiding behind a false authority -- This verse goes with verse 16 (237k) Kingdom of God >> Pursuing the kingdom >> Transferring the kingdom >> The Church is transferred to the kingdom >> Transferred from darkness to light (238f) Kingdom of God >> Pursuing the kingdom >> Transferring the kingdom >> The kingdom is transferred to the Church >> New creation >> The new creation is our spiritual composition 1Pet 2-10 (31l) Gift of God >> Gift of His grace >> Forgiveness is a function of God’s grace (49a) Judgment >> Nations are destroyed >> Israel judged as an example for us – Peter’s ministry was primarily to the Jew saying, “You once were not a people, but now you are the people of God,” suggesting that the Jewish people were already scattered from persecution, after which they would lose their temple and their nation in A.D. 70 and were dispersed throughout the world. Jesus dying for the sins of the world was not something the Jewish scholars of their day saw in the Old Testament prophecies; hence they missed the significance of Christ’s visitation. They did not see coming the next couple millenniums that God used to test the faith of His people and spiritually established His kingdom in their hearts before He bodily returned and established His physical kingdom on the earth. In Christ the Jewish people have regained their identity, meaning that Christian Jews are the only true Jews. In fact, Paul said that Christian gentiles were more Jew-like than those of Hebrew descent who did not believe in Jesus (Rom 2,25-29). God expected the Jewish people to evangelize the world in Christianity, but they rejected their calling; however, God did not limit Himself to their disobedience but allowed the gentiles to manage the gospel as plan B, which they mostly fudged just as the Jews fudged the Old Testament. After Jesus came and went and the Jews as a nation rejected God’s purpose, they found themselves in a no-win situation. Crucifying their messiah did not destroy their dream of leading the world in things pertaining to God, but rejecting the gospel did. KJV WEB / Navigation Bar 1Pet 2-11,12 (22g) Sin >> Lust (craving pleasure) >> Fleshly mind – To abstain from fleshly lusts is to avoid giving attention to our temptations. If we ignore our temptations, lust cannot express itself. Evil desires wage war against the mind, who are born of God, who have the very soul of Christ dwelling in them, and we have the mind of Christ. God is in the process of redeeming us, but the fact that God is working in us does not makes us immune to sin. (62g) Paradox >> Anomalies >> Being clever >> Maintaining a blameless reputation -- These verses go with verse 15. We are to keep our behavior excellent among the gentiles. We must present to the unsaved and to the weak in faith, including those in the Church, a righteousness that is above what we actually possess. This sounds hypocritical, but it is what Peter is saying. Don’t be a slouch; we are to spiritually look our best in front of them, because they will slander us at every wrong move, and when they do, the one who hears will embellish the story before he spreads it further, until our reputation is destroyed. They want to silence us, because we speak the truth, and they want God to accept them apart from being faithful to Him. (168b) Works of the devil >> Manifestations of the devil >> Do not conform to the world >> Do not conform to the world’s version of love (217i) Sovereignty >> God overrides the will of man >> God’s will over man >> I never knew you >> Because you never knew Him – Peter called us aliens and strangers of this world, but his larger point was that the world does not know us, because it does not know God (1Jn 3-1). We are like aliens from another planet to unbelievers. We once partook of its lusts, and then we got saved; Jesus placed His Spirit in us and are born-again, and now we don’t understand the world that we once knew. Of course we still have a body of sin and are still plagued with temptations, but we could never lead a sinful lifestyle again; the conviction of the Holy Spirit would be on us so that we could not enjoy our carnality. 1Pet 2-11 (78o) Thy kingdom come >> Renewing your mind >> Putting your heart on display >> Consequence of not renewing your mind (105l) Thy kingdom come >> Led by the Spirit into the wilderness >> Wilderness of safety – Peter’s term “alien” indicates that we are pilgrims sojourning in a foreign land, we don’t have a prerogative to screw up our lives by following after our fleshly lusts that leads us astray, since we are already lost, except that we are following Christ in the Holy Spirit. (134g) Temple >> Your body is the temple of God >> Body of sin >> Our bodies are home to the sinful nature – He said that our fleshly lusts wage war against the soul. We know that the Spirit of God detests our fleshly lust, and now that we are born of God, His Spirit has mixed with our spirit to become one spirit with Him (1Cor 6-16,17). Now the things our flesh desires, our soul detests with God. We agree with Him that our fleshly desires are evil, so there is a conflict between us and “us,” that is, with our flesh, which is so close to us that we can’t believe it could be our enemy, yet we are indeed our own worst enemy. (187h) Die to self (Process of substitution) >> Separation from the old man >> Die to the flesh >> Spirit versus the flesh >> Deny the flesh to walk in the Spirit >> More the flesh dies, more the spirit lives KJV WEB / Navigation Bar 1Pet 2-12,13 (233i) Kingdom of God >> Pursuing the kingdom >> Seeking the glory of God >> Seek His glory without wavering >> Seek His glory through obedience – In the days of the apostles, the Church was slandered as evil, because they rejected pagan worship and refused to get involved in just about every aspect of the world, their perverted entertainment, their religious idolatry and their evil lifestyles. Christians were truly separate from the world back then, and because of it they were persecuted. Christians are often blamed for the evils of the world; for example, Nero blamed Christians for the burning of Rome in AD 64, so he could have a reason to slaughter them. It’s easy for the world to make up excuses to persecute Christians; therefore, we must all the more “keep [our] behavior excellent among the gentiles,” so we don’t give them reason to persecute us. Peter was saying that if we pull out the sword and defend ourselves, we will have become just like our enemies, instead of them becoming like us, which is the goal of Christianity. We cannot teach the world the ways of God when we are behaving like sinners. 1Pet 2-12 (12a) Servant >> Examples of God’s people >> Good examples – Peter promises that our enemies will observe our good behavior and glorify God on the day of visitation. The word “visitation” obviously refers to the second coming of Christ, but it also could mean any revival event in which large numbers of people are saved. This suggests that times of revival typically accompany good examples of Christianity that we have shown the world, instead of defending ourselves and doing evil in protest to the way we are often treated. (49h) Judgment >> God judges the world >> The last days >> The day of judgment (Armageddon) – Every time the Day of the Lord (in this case Day of Visitation) is mentioned, its significance increases, which increases our need to understand it. Jesus not only hesitated to tell His apostles when He would return but intentionally let them believe He would return in their own lifetime. He did this so they (and we) would stay on the alert. For the last 2000 years people have somewhat remained on the alert, but now, at the worst possible time, when the second coming of Christ is closer than ever, the Church has become wayward and has fallen asleep. (92l) Thy kingdom come >> The narrow way >> Our holy conduct along the narrow way (127m) Thy kingdom come >> Manifestations of faith >> Goodness >> Rewards for doing good >> Clear conscience is the reward for doing good (155k) Witness >> Validity of the believer >> Evidence of salvation >> You will know them by their fruits >> You will know them by their good deeds >> Good works that prove we belong to Christ (161i) Works of the devil >> Satan determines the world's direction >> Carried Away >> Condemnation based on evidence of sin (211a) Salvation >> Jews and gentiles are being saved >> Gentiles included >> Fellow heirs with Israel (Spiritual Jew) >> We are one in Christ – There is a large debate concerning Jews and gentiles, but it is not complicated as some make it. The best way to look at them and us is the way Paul saw us all in the early chapters of Romans, teaching that the true Jew is one who is born of God, regardless of ethnic background. The natural Jew is not considered a Jew at all, unless he is born-again by the Spirit, and he taught that the gentiles who have received Christ are more Jew-like than unbelieving Jews. Therefore, when Peter says, “Keep your behavior excellent among the gentiles,” we could interpret the word “gentile” to mean unbelievers, whether Jew or gentile. Of course this interpretation doesn't work in other contexts, for a Jew according to the flesh is a Jew whether he believes in Jesus or not. (242l) Kingdom of God >> Opposition toward the Kingdom of God >> Persecuting the kingdom >> Responding to persecution – The believing Jews were being persecuted both by their fellow unbelieving Jews and by the gentiles, and Peter was holding them to a higher standard than the world because of their faith in God, insisting that only those who believed in Jesus were going to heaven. Since we Christians have such a glorious future in eternity, and the rest of the world has a future embracing eternal judgment, then unbelievers should hold us to a higher standard, that we might learn to become better examples of faith and patience, that some may observe our excellent behavior and seek the promise of eternal life with us. KJV WEB / Navigation Bar 1Pet 2,13-18 (95j) Thy kingdom come >> Attitude >> Obedient attitude >> Positive attitude about authority 1Pet 2,13-17 (73d) Authority >> Respect Positions Of Authority >> In the Church 1Pet 2,13-15 (1a) Responsibility >> Avoid offending God and man by respecting authority – This is how to disarm the world when people think evil of us; we submit to their authority instead of forming a rebellion and resisting them. Rather than trying to solve social problems by the arm of the flesh, using violence or some other form that borrows from the very world we are trying to save, hence using Satan’s tools to resolve issues that he helped cause, Peter advises us to submit instead. Although we belong to the Kingdom of God and are not of this world, we are no less in the world, and because of that, we must submit to the world’s authority that rightly punishes evildoers and praises those who do right. Do we want governing authorities to rightly punish us for rebelling against them, or do we want them to praise us for doing what is right by submitting to both God and man? We are not defying the will of God by submitting to human institutions; His will is always the right thing to do, for it silences the ignorance of foolish men. Fools don’t do what is right; that’s why they’re fools, and the idea is to put them to shame, not to act like them. Fools that rightly accuse us of evil prove that we are greater fools than themselves in that we wandered into their trap. The way to avoid the bondage of fools is to act wisely, which is an attribute of the truth. (75c) Thy kingdom come >> Motives of the heart >> Motivated to do the will of God – Doing the will of God is a win-win situation. We win that we have nothing to hide, and we win that our good works are a greater avenue of evangelism. By avoiding offense we will more likely have a productive life in spreading the gospel and pleasing our Master who bought us with His own blood, but the minute we start sinning, thinking we can get away with it, we begin to freefall, unlikely ending in our favor. Our only choice is to do the will of God. All other choices are a lie, and no one who has failed to establish his life in reality knows the truth, and if we don’t do the truth, how do we know we believe? Sin always makes us question our salvation, and our faith becomes nebulous, scarcely rising above mental ascent. (247k) Priorities >> God’s priorities >> The will of God >> We play our part in the will of God >> Doing the will of God – God always thinks long-range; He always has the big picture in mind; He established the gospel in a way that if the Church worldwide obeyed it, would change the world in ways we couldn’t even imagine. The first thing that would happen is we would silence the ignorance of foolish men, and they would learn to respect the Church even if they didn’t want to be part of it. There was an earlier time in America’s history when the Church had more respect in the world than it does now, and that is because the people lived more by the Bible's precepts than it does now. The Church has mostly lost the world’s respect, and how do we expect to get it back? It would take many martyrs before people’s eyes would finally open to the fact that our faith is genuine after so many years of spiritual abuse. 1Pet 2-13,14 (69i) Authority >> Righteous judgment (Outcome of Discernment) >> Passing judgment by the authority of God 1Pet 2-15 (2o) Responsibility >> Avoid offending God >> Get out of His way >> Quit sinning – The age-old trick of lawyers is to learn dirt on a person and then publicly rub it in his face to incriminate and disqualify him as a valid witness. If they can’t defend their client, they can always smudge the person’s character who is testifying against him. By extension, it would behoove the Christian to “make it your ambition to lead a quiet life and attend to your own business” (1The 4-11). Don’t complicate things by committing sin and trying to hide it. Once we do evil and it leaks into public knowledge, we will lose respect in society and never be able to retrieve it. Dedicating ourselves to doing what is good and right is one of the best forms of evangelism. (62g) Paradox >> Anomalies >> Being clever >> Maintaining a blameless reputation -- This verse goes with verses 11&12 (127h) Thy kingdom come >> Manifestations of faith >> Goodness >> Rewards for doing good >> Doing good is the will of God – The evil done against the saints have no power over them; the way to attack a foolish and ignorant man is by being good to them. Peter wrote in these terms perhaps because He could relate to it better than anyone, who acted foolish on more than one occasion. Christians are not allowed to physically defend themselves, so their best defense is bearing the fruits of the Spirit. We are not like other people; if someone slaps us in the face, we cannot slap them back. God has not given us authority to judge in the flesh; instead, one way God has given us to judge our enemies is to do good to them and put them to shame, but if our enemies have no shame, there are others, their neighbors, who are watching the drama unfold, and if their neighbors have no shame, then the shame will fall on their city; and if their city has no shame, then the world itself; and if the world has no shame, then we have reached the end of days. Those who have no shame have exceedingly grown in numbers in these last days, warranting the soon return of our Lord Jesus Christ. (153k) Witness >> Validity of the Father >> God bears witness against the world >> Shame >> Living for Jesus exposes sin >> Your walk with God puts others to shame (175m) Works of the devil >> The religion of witchcraft >> Ignorance >> Ignorant of God (186e) Works of the devil >> The result of lawlessness >> The reprobate >> Man’s role in becoming a reprobate >> The fool >> The fool does nothing with Christ KJV WEB / Navigation Bar 1Pet 2-16 (12i) Servant >> Attitude of a bond servant (60h) Paradox >> Two implied meanings >> Opportunity—To sin / To abuse the anointing (78c) Thy kingdom come >> Sincerity of heart >> Being honest >> Free from inconsistency (108d) Thy kingdom come >> Faith is the balance between freedom and law (113m) Thy kingdom come >> Faith >> The anointing >> Guard the anointing (119f) Thy kingdom come >> Manifestations of faith >> Freedom >> Fences of freedom >> Being a slave to freedom – How do we act as free men, except by what the previous verse says? “… by doing right….” This is what free men do to remain free; otherwise they lose their freedom, which is happening to America today. We don’t seem to care about righteousness, and as a result our freedoms are slowly eroding. We have come to the false conclusion that freedom serves us, when it is just the opposite; we serve our freedom, and if we do, freedom will reciprocate in a symbiotic relationship. We are to act as free men by doing what is right, and if we do, we won’t abuse our freedom or use it as a covering for evil, but as bond-slaves of God. Many claim to be free, but actually they are hiding behind a cloak of self-righteousness, appearing to have an abiding relationship with Christ when in fact they are just good actors. They are not free at all if they are using their freedom for evil, for we can’t abuse freedom and be free. (159f) Works of the devil >> Essential characteristics >> Counterfeit >> Counterfeit godliness >> Counterfeit freedom (162d) Works of the devil >> Being a slave to the devil (Addictions) >> Bondage >> A slave to unbelief >> Bondage to an unwillingness to believe (deception) (183d) Works of the devil >> The origin of lawlessness >> Spirit of Error (Anti-Christ / Anti-Semitism) >> Witchcraft >> Anointing of error (184b) Works of the devil >> The origin of lawlessness >> Darkness >> Hiding behind your own imagination >> Hiding behind a false authority -- This verse goes with verse 9 (184h) Works of the devil >> The origin of lawlessness >> Abusing the grace of God >> Spending His grace on your pleasures >> Abusing the anointing 1Pet 2-17 (88k) Thy kingdom come >> Fear of God >> Revering God – Honor people, love the brethren and fear God, this is a summary of the first epistle of Peter. Jesus said, “By this all men will know that you are My disciples, if you have love for one another” (Jn 13-35). Love is the mark of the true Church, which is the only organization that officially represents God in the world. We honor those who are in the world and we love those who are in the Church through a healthy fear of God. If we do this, then all men will know that we are disciples of Jesus, and many will believe in the gospel and inherit eternal life and become members of the brotherhood, who will join the effort to fight for the cause of the Church, not with swords and clubs, but with the word of God and prayer and with the fruits of the Spirit. See also: Love; 129g / 1Pet 1-22; 87l (129g) Thy kingdom come >> Manifestations of faith >> Unity >> love perfects unity >> Love is the martyr between the blocks – Peter used the word “honor” twice, ‘honor all people, including the king,’ suggests that it is not always easy to honor the king, because he sometimes writes laws and makes decrees that resist the interests of the Church. When Peter says to honor all people, he was talking about our enemies too. If we want to honor the gospel, we must honor our enemies, because they promote the gospel better than anybody if we learn to honor them to spite what they do to us and our gospel. People we are trying to win to Christ often do not pay as close attention to the gospel as those who persecute the Church. Often our enemies are government officials, such as the king and his magistrates, who are in power writing legislation, determining what is legal and what isn’t. If we honor our enemies including the king, it would do more to further the gospel than to seek justice, for the more laws that are passed against the Church, the more people will come to Christ if we respond as Jesus would, but if we don't love our enemies as Christ commanded us, the people will see it and conclude that we have no love, and they would be apparently right. However, if we love even our enemies, people will it and say that we are different from others and want to know more about us. They may not understand us, but we will have gotten their attention, and our uniqueness will set us apart from the world. Once they investigate the true gospel, not the one they have heard on the street but the gospel in action, and learn about the hope we have in Christ of eternal life, many will see the incentive to believe. See also: Love; 88k KJV WEB / Navigation Bar 1Pet 2,18-25 (5j) Responsibility >> Discipleship tested >> God tests your strength through endurance – God allows dreadful things to happen to us, why? He doesn’t cause them, nor does He stop them, but considers it better to allow them to test us with the intention of rewarding us for faithfulness, than to prevent them and lose the opportunity to prove what we would do in a given situation. In view of the eternal rewards that are waiting for us in heaven, we shouldn't complain. If we don’t endure them, our reward will simply be freedom to respond to our circumstances as we see fit. This is a fleeting return we will receive in full that will erode our freedom to no benefit. See also: Suffering; 1Pet 2,18-23; 188g / God allows suffering and evil to test us; 1Pet 4,12-16; 103l (236g) Kingdom of God >> Pursuing the kingdom >> Invest in the kingdom >> Invest your treasures into the kingdom >> Invest your flesh 1Pet 2,18-23 (18b) Sin >> Unrighteous judgment >> Condemning God’s people (188g) Die to self (Process of substitution) >> Separation from the old man >> Suffering >> Enduring your circumstances – One aspect of each person's calling is to be like Jesus, who exemplified trusting Him who judges righteously. There is one guarantee about doing what is right: we will be persecuted for it, and there is one promise about persecution: we will be vindicated, either in this life or in the one to come. The one who does evil and is harshly treated is hardly persecuted; conversely, the one who does right for the sake of the truth finds favor with God and can expect a reward, but if he is not seeking a reward, how can he endure his circumstances? This person doesn’t understand the spirit realm or the principles of God's Kingdom or even human psychology. Christians live a life of faith and trust, a life of probable danger and harsh treatment, persecution and perhaps never being vindicated in this life, but still doing what is right in the sight of God for the sake of the gospel. We seek vindication from heaven, not from the world. If God vindicates us in this life, that’s fine, but if He vindicates us in heaven, that’s even better, for it carries a greater reward, for it requires greater faith to never quit believing in God despite misconceptions. Too often we take things into our hands and attempt to resolve them in our own way and make a mess of it all. When we do this, it doesn't glorify God or advance the gospel of Christ. People are watching. There are those who would take advantage of Christians, and there are others who see and want a part of what God is doing in His people. See also: Suffering; 1Pet 2,18-21; 13i 1Pet 2,18-21 (13i) Servant >> Support the body >> Servant in the work force – These verses cover the common situation of those who work for a difficult boss. Peter did not instruct the victimized Christian so much how to respond as much as what kind of attitude we should maintain through our adversity, saying that if we can’t realistically expect an earthly reward, than to expect a heavenly one for putting up with contrary people who have no concept of decency or righteousness. It would be unfortunate to endure a long ordeal of suffering to finally crack and tell off our boss, to find that our circumstances have then worsened and now we have also lost God’s blessing and have partially tied His hands, and have eliminated some of our options and the opportunity to witness our faith. What is left? We have our lives, and an opportunity to repent, further committing to handling our circumstances better next time. See also: Suffering; 1Pet 2,19-21; 96a (32g) Gift of God >> Father will honor you if you die to self >> Your faithfulness (124j) Thy kingdom come >> Manifestations of faith >> Love your enemies >> Love your enemies because God loves His 1Pet 2,18-20 (31c) Gift of God >> God is our Father >> He favors you in your circumstances (73g) Authority >> Respect Positions Of Authority >> Respect your boss at work (99c) Thy kingdom come >> Endurance (Thorn in the flesh) >> Enduring the will of God >> Enduring people (patience) (227d) Kingdom of God >> Illustrating the kingdom >> Rewards of heaven >> God rewards endurance >> Rewarded for overcoming sin 1Pet 2-18 (19f) Sin >> Having the mental disease of the world >> Incorrect thinking (128f) Thy kingdom come >> Manifestations of faith >> Gentleness >> Be gentle in all your ways >> Be gentle toward one another KJV WEB / Navigation Bar 1Pet 2,19-24 (81a) Thy kingdom come >> Prayer >> The priesthood >> We are a type of Jesus’ priesthood – The sins that others commit against us, we absorb, as Jesus absorbed our sin on the cross. In so doing we become their minister, the most likely person they will seek for answers how to receive God’s forgiveness and salvation, that they too might develop a relationship with their creator, as they see our relationship with Him in us. 1Pet 2,19-21 (96a) Thy kingdom come >> Positive attitude about suffering >> Suffering under the hand of men – Some people would attribute penance to this verse, as though they were picking their mode of suffering, but penance is unbiblical in that it seeks to glorify the sufferer instead of God. Christ’s purpose for us is to fulfill His calling, and His calling causes us to suffer shame of the sake of the gospel. God has given us a Spirit who seeks to glorify Him, which often entails suffering. For example, the great commission is for us to spread the gospel and bring about salvation to as many souls as possible, which usually involves suffering of one kind or another, for it is impossible to promote the Kingdom of God in a world controlled by Satan without suffering. We honor God by winning souls to Christ and by building up the body of Christ, and suffering is an integral part of that process. Dedicating our lives to the gospel of Christ is a type of suffering in itself by subjecting our flesh to do His will, which is never enjoyable. See also: Suffering; 1Pet 2,21-24; 91m 1Pet 2-19,20 (7b) Responsibility >> Protecting the Gospel >> Defend the word of God by obeying it (71l) Authority >> Ordained by God >> We are ordained through obedience (188i) Die to self (Process of substitution) >> Separation from the old man >> Sorrow >> Grieving over your own loss >> Grieving over your circumstances 1Pet 2-19 (155b) Witness >> Validity of the believer >> Witness of the believer >> Conscience >> Having a good conscience >> Conscience bears witness of our good behavior 1Pet 2-20 (126m) Thy kingdom come >> Manifestations of faith >> Patience >> Be patient in your circumstances (171b) Works of the devil >> Manifestations of the devil >> Outward appearance >> Vanity >> Vain effort >> Vain attempt to pursue God – Those who call themselves Christians, who act poorly and are ill-treated for it, think they are being persecuted, but actually they are only getting what they deserve. Instead of being persecuted and giving glory to God, they are pouring contempt on the reputation of the Church. KJV WEB / Navigation Bar 1Pet 2,21-25 (99b) Thy kingdom come >> Endurance (Thorn in the flesh) >> Enduring the will of God >> Enduring the death of your flesh – People don’t want to serve the Lord for the sake of eternal life; they want everything to pertain to this life right now; they don’t want to wait for heaven. Look at society with all its fast-food restaurants and I-phones; the whole world is bent on convenience. All these things are the opposite of God, who defers His reward for the life to come, which is largely the reason the world is not interested in God; people have no patience. Jesus said, “Store up for yourselves treasures in heaven, where neither moth nor rust destroys, and where thieves do not break in or steal” (Mat 6-20). We don’t want to do that; we want to spend our inheritance. We want to be like the Prodigal Son before he repented. The Prodigal Son repented only after he ran out of money, so we think that’s the plan: spend our inheritance, then repent, but we can’t fool God. Many people plan to live this life to its fullest and then have eternal life waiting for them too, but God has called us to sacrifice this life for the sake of His heavenly kingdom; that is the meaning of faith. This life is a train wreck compared to our future life in eternity, and though it seems we must sacrifice a lot for the sake of heaven, we are not really sacrificing anything. We are sacrificing a cursed creation for a perfect one, giving us the entire universe. 1Pet 2,21-24 (91m) Thy kingdom come >> The narrow way >> Trail of good works >> The trail that Jesus walked – We are following Jesus, who is the light of the world, but look where He is leading us. He was despised and forsaken of men, but He did not revile in return; He uttered no threats but entrusted Himself to the One who judges righteously, and we are to do the same. These are things that cause us to suffer as a result of faith in Jesus Christ: the world, the flesh and the devil. Normally these would be enough to crash anyone’s commitment to God, but He has given us His Spirit who enables us to do His will, so none of these forces have power to keep us from Him. We have been given a will to serve Him under any and all circumstances, and when we follow His enlightenment, there is no wickedness that can keep us from Him. We come to know the truth, and He leads us to bear much fruit, and we become a blessing to many, yet none of this comes without suffering. We have the Spirit of God, but the world has the spirit of Satan, who is the enemy of our souls, a liar and the father of lies, which incites mankind against us. On top of this, we must contend with our own flesh as perhaps our greatest enemy. Evil is hardwired into our bodies, so on every level we find resistance. Nevertheless, we have a will to please Him, for He has mixed His Spirit with our spirit, causing us to desire Him through the Spirit He has given us. Our flesh lies to us, and its voice sounds just like our own but its message is from the devil. See also: Suffering; 1Pet 2,18-25; 5j 1Pet 2,21-23 (12m) Servant >> Jesus is our example of a servant (85j) Thy kingdom come >> Words of your mouth >> Better not to say anything >> Shut up! 1Pet 2-21 (90l) Thy kingdom come >> The called >> God’s purpose for us is to fulfill His calling >> Our purpose is to do God’s will – Peter is most likely referring to persecution and perhaps mental anguish as a direct result of our faith in Jesus. People will always resist our efforts as we promote the Kingdom of God in a world that is controlled by Satan. It is a world of unbelief, and we are imposing the gospel of faith and love upon it for the purpose of establishing an opposing kingdom in its place. Most people don’t enjoy being reminded whenever they sin that they are doing evil. They don’t want to think of themselves in those terms; they want to follow the impulses of their flesh and ignore the question of sin. They are even willing to accept the negative consequences of their actions for the freedom of exercising their will and doing whatever they want, but they are unwilling to accept the light of God’s truth shining in their eyes about Jesus Christ suffering to bring them eternal salvation and freedom from their addictive vices. (91f) Thy kingdom come >> The called >> Walking along the narrow way >> Walking in God’s calling is to fulfill His purpose (93g) Thy kingdom come >> Following Jesus >> Disciples follow Him (194b) Die to self (Process of substitution) >> Turn from sin to God >> Run to God >> Run to Jesus when He calls for you -- This verse goes with verse 25 KJV WEB / Navigation Bar 1Pet 2-22,23 (102h) Thy kingdom come >> Faithfulness (Loyalty) >> Trustworthy >> Loyalty 1Pet 2-22 (41e) Judgment >> Satan destroyed >> Be like Jesus >> Jesus knew no sin 1Pet 2-23,24 (135d) Temple >> Your body is the temple of God >> Sins of the body >> Abortion >> Consequences of abortion >> People have abortions for the same reason they crucified Jesus Christ – Jesus chose not to defend Himself for the sake of those who cannot defend themselves. The woman thinks this pregnancy is in the way of her lifestyle, inconvenient and untimely, and she wants to get rid of it; that is, she cursed the fetus. “When he was cursed, he didn’t curse back.” During the abortion when they killed the fetus and sucked out its remains, it suffered, and “when he suffered, he didn’t threaten, but committed himself to him who judges righteously.” Jesus was inconvenient to the Scribes, Pharisees and chief priests of His time, being in the way of their business of religion, just like the fetus is in the way of the mother’s life; she has other plans; she’s not ready to drop everything and dedicate her life to this child; she wants to live her life. She knew the risks that this very scenario would play-out if she got pregnant, yet she took the chance for the opportunity to party. Essentially, the world aborted Jesus Christ for the same reason. They had their Messiah standing in front of them, the person they had been waiting to show and longing to see for centuries, but when He appeared, He was inconvenient. The little girl dreams about being a mother, and then she gets pregnant and aborts the fetus because it wasn’t planned. When Jesus became a man, the nation of His own people aborted Him, and the world has been aborting Jesus ever since, because He is inconvenient. He is in the way of living their lives. Instead of receiving Him as their Lord and Savior, they reject Him, and at the end of their lives they die, and God aborts them. 1Pet 2-23 (253l) Trinity >> Relationship between Father and Son >> Jesus is subject to the Father >> Jesus is subject to the will of God 1Pet 2-24 (45d) Judged believers’ sin (Key verse) (45f) Judgment >> Believer’s sin >> Through His Son >> Jesus absorbed sin of the Church (58g) Paradox >> Opposites >> Jesus became sin that we might obtain His righteousness (136e) Temple >> Your spirit is the temple of God >> The body of Christ >> Jesus’ fleshly body >> The flesh of Jesus’ sacrifice – Now that we are healed, we have the ability to obey Christ. A person might say, ‘I can’t die to my pet sins,’ but the Bible says that we have been healed of these things, that now it is a simple matter of materializing that healing. It is much like the Hollywood robot movie, Pacific Rim, where a person climbs into a gigantic robot and fits himself in the driver's seat, puts on a helmet and connects his hands and feet to sensors, so when he moves his body, the robot correspondingly moves with him, and they use the robot to conquer their alien enemies. In the field of robotics, they are making serious headway with this concept, so it is more than just science fiction. We are using the grace of God to overcome some of the sins we thought we could never subdue. We think there is no way we can stop sinning in certain areas, but then we get connected to the grace of God so our movements become His movements, and miraculously our defects are pushed to the background. We didn’t believe we could do this until we did it. It is called Working (with) the Grace of God. See also: Working the grace of God (God works through our mortal flesh); Act 1-8; 149h (141d) Witness >> Validity of Jesus Christ >> Old Testament bears witness to the new >> It bears witness to Jesus >> Prophesy about Jesus’ ministry >> Jesus is the savior – The Father sent His Son a little baby born on Christmas night to dwell in sinful flesh, and grew to become the Savior of the world. When the time was right, he allowed wicked men to sacrifice his body on the altar of God’s forgiveness, and it was all predestined. Rev 13-8 says, "The Lamb [of God was] slain from the foundation of the world." We have a spirit and we have a body, and we cannot distinguish between them, but this verse shows a distinction between Jesus the Spirit and Jesus the man, who existed before He was clothed in human flesh. That is not something we can say about ourselves. When we were conceived we came into existence, and for this reason our identity is tied to our flesh, but the Father sent His Son to deliver us from sin. We identify with our sinful flesh, but salvation through Christ is a matter of identifying with the Spirit whom we received at our second birth. One day our flesh will be dropped into a hole, buried and undergo decay, but our spirit will live-on. Therefore, if this identification with the flesh will cease, it would behoove us to stop identifying with it now. Our spirit that has been infused with the Holy Spirit is our new identity, so much that our resurrected body will take on its form. See also: Born-again (Critical period); 2Cor 11-32,33; 147i (187aa) Die to self (Process of substitution) >> Separation from the old man >> Die to the flesh >> The ministry of dying to self >> Die to self to minister to God >> Jesus died for us; now it's our turn to die for Him – Jesus told us to pick up our cross and follow Him (Mat 16-24). This concept of dying to sin (self) people have disputed its meaning for centuries since Paul wrote about it in his letter to the Romans chapters 6&7. Dying to self is a process of substitution, like a monkey that has stolen something from us and to coax it to give it back we offer it something shiny but of lesser value, and so the monkey must release what is in its hand before it can take the new gift. In the same way, we must let go of our sin before we can take hold of that which is life indeed. In the same way, when we die, we give up the ghost; the body returns to the earth, but God has promised eternal life to those who possess the indwelling Holy Spirit. The moment our spirit slips from our body, we are escorted to heaven where we will live with God forever. When our body dies, it gives up its fleshly passions and desires, and dying to self works the same way. Since our body will inevitably die, Paul says to consider it dead already, in order to establish a continuous cycle of dying to self to receive the anointing that simulates living in the presence of God. (208a) Salvation >> The salvation of God >> Salvation verses >> The kindness of God >> The cross (209i) Salvation >> The salvation of God >> Jesus is our sacrifice >> Jesus paid the price for us >> Jesus paid our ransom with His own blood (237l) Kingdom of God >> Pursuing the kingdom >> The Church is transferred to the kingdom >> Transformed from death to life – The word “life” is perhaps the most difficult word to define in the Bible. The things we receive from God that the Bible says pertains to life refers to a spiritual unction that gives us the ability to obey Him, but how does that pertain to life? Life to us means the fact that we are not dead, but God has a very different meaning of “life”. The best way to define it is in terms of its opposite: “death”, which means separation from God. Therefore, life, according to the Bible’s definition, means reunited with God. For now, the life that God offers pertains to His anointing, which simulates His presence. KJV WEB / Navigation Bar 1Pet 2-25 (28h) Gift of God >> God is our advocate >> God protects His people (161g) Works of the devil >> Wandering >> Wander from the fold of the sheep (193c) Die to self (Process of substitution) >> Turn from sin to God >> Repent >> Turn from your evil ways >> Turn to God (194b) Die to self (Process of substitution) >> Turn from sin to God >> Run to God >> Run to Jesus when He calls for you -- This verse goes with verses 4&5 (204b) Denying Christ >> Man chooses his own destiny apart from God >> Back-slider >> Practicing sin >> Going astray (240a) Pastor/Shepherd (Key verse) (240a) Kingdom of God >> Pursuing the kingdom >> Pursuing the knowledge of the kingdom >> Pastor (Shepherd) >> Jesus is the chief shepherd – Jesus protects us like a shepherd protects his sheep from wolves. Note that the shepherd and the sheep do not belong to the same species but are very different from each other: one is a man and the other is an animal. Although Jesus is considered our brother, He is also very different from us; He is God in human flesh. Just as the shepherd is a higher being than the sheep, so Christ our shepherd is infinitely higher than us. He keeps us together in a single fold, for they are safer together than they are apart. The wolf seeks opportunities to catch a sheep that has strayed into darkness. Wolves rarely hunt alone but in packs, so when they find a lone sheep without the protection of the shepherd, the sheep is doomed. It has no hope of escaping that situation; it cannot run faster than wolves, and it cannot hide where wolves cannot go. There is no shelter or haven after it has left the safety of the flock, so the shepherd’s objective is to keep the sheep from straying in the first place. It would do no good for the shepherd to continually retrieve the same wandering sheep, so the sheep must determine for themselves to remain in the fold. Jesus said in Jn 15,4-11, “Just as the Father has loved Me, I have also loved you; abide in My love” (v9). See next page