First Peter

Verses eight through twelve: The Apostle Peter, writing under the power of the Holy Spirit, is telling the members of the church, specifically the Israelites (see 1:1), to be good to one another–the “brethren.” He specifically mentions the tongue, which can, and often does cause great problems within the church. He writes that God’s people should speak no evil of one another. Verse 11 is a summary of how His saints are to conduct their lives–they are to do good and reject evil. Elsewhere we are commanded to be doers of the Word and the work while being warned that hearing and not doing is to deceive oneself (Jam. 1:22,25). Note that these virtues are choices that one must make individually. God neither forces church people to obey Him nor winks when they fail to do so as verse 12 confirms. Here Peter tells us that God’s eyes look on the righteous and His ears are open to their prayers. He goes on to say that the Lord turns His face away from church people who sin. (See 4:17,18). Note the strict separation between good and evil. Note that there is no overlap, no gray, no mixing of the holy with the profane (Eze. 22:26) among God’s people. Note also that when God’s people mix good and bad they “… profane Me” (the Lord). Ezekiel was writing to God’s Old Testament people about themselves. Peter was writing to their spiritual descendants about themselves. The entire Bible is written to, for and about God’s people.

Verses thirteen through eighteen: This passage warns true, obedient saints that persecution is an integral part of the Christian walk. See Persecution. Christ, we are told, is our example of how to respond to the hatred of others. In the same vein we are warned that being ill treated for sin in our lives is well-deserved and that we have no reason to revel in it. To prevent sin from coming into our lives we are to “sanctify the Lord God in your (our) hearts.” To “sanctify” means to separate oneself from the profane, to give the Lord His rightful place in one’s life. He is to be the saint’s LORD–one’s master and owner. He is to be the Lord over our “conversation” (anastrophe)–manner of life. In verses 17 & 18 Peter tells us that Jesus did not suffer and die to enable us to sin with impunity, but that we are to follow His example of suffering in silence for the holiness we manifest in our words, thoughts and deeds. Notice that Jesus did what He did so that He might “bring us to God.” In verses 14 through 16 he tells us that we must endure persecution for well-doing as did Christ so that we might be saved. Note that there are 3 messages put forth in these verses: We must walk in righteousness and holiness–do the Word and work of God. We will be persecuted for doing so. We must endure such persecution for righteousness’ sake until the end in order to be saved at the return of Jesus Christ (Mat. 10:22). L.J.