Deeds – Page 13 – Three Minute Bible

July 31, 2020July 31, 2020

1 Peter 2:17 (b) — Family Love

Picture: A dozen or more goslings are all the same but all different.

… love the family of believers …

Peter’s theme is submission. He wants us to “submit … for the Lord’s sake.” We are to put ourselves under others in importance. By doing this we lift others up. They become more important in our eyes.

This feels counter-intuitive to our egos. The part of us that stands apart from God does not want to submit. We glory in our independence and our power. We enjoy taking control of our lives and living large. At least as long as things go well.

July 30, 2020July 30, 2020

1 Peter 2:17 (a) — Respect

Picture of a man tipping his hat in respect.

Show proper respect to everyone…

As we turn to verse 17 in our letter from Peter, he begins with a deep well. On the surface, his words seem simple enough. As we gaze into them, we discover that we cannot see the bottom.

“Everyone” is a lot of people! Does he really mean every person?

July 29, 2020July 29, 2020

1 Peter 2:16 — Ultimate Freedom

Picture: Silhouette of man standing on beach at sunset.

Live as free people, but do not use your freedom as a cover-up for evil; live as God’s slaves.

If I put on my “ignorant” and “foolish people” glasses^⁠1, it is easy to see this verse as a contradiction. After all, Peter says, “Live as free people…” and then in the same sentence he says, “live as God’s slaves.” Which is it, Peter? Free or slave?

How are we to understand this apparent dichotomy?

July 28, 2020July 28, 2020

1 Peter 2:15 — Doing Good

Picture: two hands holding a candle against a black background.

For it is God’s will that by doing good you should silence the ignorant talk of foolish people.

There are some words in the ancient texts that give translators trouble. If you look in the NIV it might say something different than the King James Version. Sometimes out of thirty or more English translations you might find as many as ten different English equivalents. “Ignorance” is not one of those troublesome words.

Except for one or two exceptions, every English translation uses the word “ignorant” to express the Greek, “agnōsia.” In English, the word “ignorant” is often confused with “stupid.” These are two very different words. The word “ignorant” means a lack of knowledge. The cure to ignorance is knowledge.

July 27, 2020July 28, 2020

1 Peter 2:13-14 — Human Authority

Submit yourselves for the Lord’s sake to every human authority: whether to the emperor, as the supreme authority, or to governors, who are sent by him to punish those who do wrong and to commend those who do right.

We have spent two days talking about the first seven words of verse 13. In “The Meaning of Submit” and “For His Sake” we looked at what it means to submit, or “put under,” and why this is important to Christians. Now we look at the rest of this verse and the next.

We live in a time where everything is seemingly being turned upside down. The year of this writing is 2020. If you are reading this at some future date, you will know how 2020 turned out. For the rest of us, reading this in the middle of this unusual year, we are still wondering what will happen.

July 26, 2020July 27, 2020

1 Peter 2:13 (b) — For His Sake

Submit yourselves for the Lord’s sake…

Peter is asking us to do something none of us want to do. Now he tells us why we should want to: Because of Jesus.

How does that work?

July 25, 2020July 27, 2020

1 Peter 2:13 (a) — The Meaning of Submit

Picture of man's silhouette kneeling before the cross.

Submit…

The word “triggered” has taken on new meaning in the English lexicon. It has always been around, of course, and used in the practical sense of activating something with a trigger. During the war, if a booby trap was set off you would say it had been “triggered.” These days the word is often used to describe a strong adverse emotional reaction to something. For example, “The student in the front row was triggered when the instructor mentioned that they had voted for the president.”

Words that set off an emotional reaction are “trigger words.” One of the oldest trigger words in the English language is the word, “submit.”

July 24, 2020July 24, 2020

1 Peter 2:12 — Smeared

Picture of brown and white and cream colors all confused.

Live such good lives among the pagans that, though they accuse you of doing wrong, they may see your good deeds and glorify God on the day he visits us.

This is another challenging text. Peter is starting a section of his letter that describes how to live among unbelievers. As I think about what he is teaching us, it feels like we are sitting in on a master’s class for Christian living.

In today’s passage, we are talking about neighbors or coworkers who accuse us of doing wrong. (Peter assumes we are innocent!) Has this ever happened to you? It has for me. It can be a terrifying experience. In an instant, everything you thought was solid ground can be swept away.

July 19, 2020July 20, 2020

1 Peter 2:8 — Obedience

Picture of a small dog being trained to sit.

…and,

“A stone that causes people to stumble

and a rock that makes them fall.”

They stumble because they disobey the message—which is also what they were destined for.

What does it mean for a Christian to “obey” the message? The message is the offer of salvation through belief in Jesus Christ. But what does it mean to obey?

Each of us comes to the Lord from a different place. By that, I mean that you and I are very different. We have grown up in different ways, and have different opinions and experiences. Even in my own family my three brothers all experienced growing up from a different point of view.

July 18, 2020July 18, 2020

1 Peter 2:7 (b) — Choices

Picture of white arrows on a green background with the words "Possibility" placed next to the arrows.

But to those who do not believe, “The stone the builders rejected has become the cornerstone…”

Have you ever been one of those people who hate to make choices? I have. I would overthink every little decision. When I finally made a decision I would wonder if I should have chosen differently. Another version of this was the knocking of opportunity. Should I take this opportunity or wait for something better?

All this overthinking and worrying resulted in stress. It also meant I never felt certain about anything. Ironically, finding Jesus put an end to all that anxiety. Suddenly the question, “Is this God’s will?” trumped everything.