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+--- Thread: NT Doctrine -- 1 Peter 2 (/thread-1599.html)
NT Doctrine -- 1 Peter 2 - Ed Hurst - 12-21-2024
It's easy to miss what Peter is saying here if you keep reading your western evangelical biases back into the words. He calls for his Hebrew Christian readers to stop acting the way Pharisees taught them to act. It was a wicked way of life, expressed in deception, double standards, envious spite, slandering others as if peace with God was a ruthless competition. That's what the Devil's domain looks like, not the one Christ is building. Let those old ways die. His readers have been born into a new life, and like infants, they should crave spiritual nourishment. Thus, he portrays "salvation" not as a status but a privileged way of life that we grow into. We are drawn down this path by the sweetness of how the Lord uses us.
Peter draws up a parable of being included in Christ's Kingdom. If we think of Him as the prophets indicated, a heavy cornerstone rejected by the Jews who were building an earthly kingdom, then we should hasten to invest our lives into this new spiritual kingdom. Following Christ, they were no longer "Jews" as commonly defined, because Jews rejected their Messiah, clinging to the perverted Talmudic definition that defamed the name of Israel. They call themselves Chosen, but apparently have been chosen for damnation, because the Elect belong to Christ.
Hebrew Christians are foreigners to that old life; it's just another expression of fallen mortal humanity. To be alien in this world is to be alien to Judaism, too. Don't live like they do. Walk in purity and holiness; even if they slander us as sinners, they won't be able to argue with our glorious conduct. When the Lord returns for us, they will have no choice but to glorify Him for how we have lived in their sight.
Don't go out of your way to resist human governments. Don't be bitter about political fortunes either way. God ordained the concept of human government to keep some semblance of order. We have no vested interest in political outcomes. Yes, Christ is a higher authority, but we don't use that as an excuse to stir up political and social disturbances. By acting in ways that glorify the reputation of Christ, we denounce those who waste so much time and effort on a doomed search for human perfection. Any order is better than chaos, so promote the efforts of those who maintain order, however they do it.
Peter lays out a holy cynicism: Don't expect too much from people who don't follow Christ. As bad as slavery is, if you are a slave, exploit the opportunity to demonstrate the power of a reborn spirit over fleshly self-interest. Yes, we put up with an awful lot of injustice and sorrow, often for no good reason at all. We can conquer only our own perversity in how we respond to such testing. That's how our Savior handled Jewish and Roman injustice against Him. He refused to play by their rules, knowing that this world is a farce in the first place.
At one time, we were part of that stupidity. But we have left it all behind to follow Christ into a spiritual kingdom. We take His wounds for ourselves, as well as His healing; we embrace His death and His resurrection for ourselves. He suffered all things so that we could live like eternal people, and He walks beside us during the worst so that He can carry us through it.