Rachel Workman: 9
But you are not like that, for you are a chosen people. You are royal priests,
a holy nation, God’s very own possession. As a result, you can show others the
goodness of God, for he called you out of the darkness into his wonderful
light. I love these verses. I can't imagine my life without God. Without the
hope that Christ brings life would be very dark indeed. Chosen by God, I love
that, his very own possession. We are no longer just ours, we are His chosen
people. If that doesn't move your heart, I don't know what will.
10 “Once you had no identity as a people; now you are God’s people. Once you received no mercy; now you have received God’s mercy.” I love how this states that once you were a people without an identity. You had no mercy and now you have God's mercy. We go from meaningless and nothingness to meaningful and everything. It's hard to imagine that we being so undeserving are loved by a God that much.
11 Dear friends, I warn you as “temporary residents and foreigners” to keep away from worldly desires that wage war against your very souls. 12 Be careful to live properly among your unbelieving neighbors. Then even if they accuse you of doing wrong, they will see your honorable behavior, and they will give honor to God when he judges the world. That's exactly what we are faced with is war. The more I live in the world the more I see it. My children are growing up in a time where everything is permissible. It's a battle every day. As a parent you better be praying and you better be strong. Or this world will consume your children and your grandchildren.
13 For the Lord’s sake, respect all human authority—whether the king as head of state, 14 or the officials he has appointed. For the king has sent them to punish those who do wrong and to honor those who do right. Respect is lost in today's world. It's something we need to teach and practice more. The world no longer respects values, or lives.
15 It is God’s will that your honorable lives should silence those ignorant people who make foolish accusations against you. 16 For you are free, yet you are God’s slaves, so don’t use your freedom as an excuse to do evil. 17 Respect everyone, and love your Christian brothers and sisters. Fear God, and respect the king. Our honorable lives will silence ignorant people not our harsh words. I need to remember that.
10 “Once you had no identity as a people; now you are God’s people. Once you received no mercy; now you have received God’s mercy.” I love how this states that once you were a people without an identity. You had no mercy and now you have God's mercy. We go from meaningless and nothingness to meaningful and everything. It's hard to imagine that we being so undeserving are loved by a God that much.
11 Dear friends, I warn you as “temporary residents and foreigners” to keep away from worldly desires that wage war against your very souls. 12 Be careful to live properly among your unbelieving neighbors. Then even if they accuse you of doing wrong, they will see your honorable behavior, and they will give honor to God when he judges the world. That's exactly what we are faced with is war. The more I live in the world the more I see it. My children are growing up in a time where everything is permissible. It's a battle every day. As a parent you better be praying and you better be strong. Or this world will consume your children and your grandchildren.
13 For the Lord’s sake, respect all human authority—whether the king as head of state, 14 or the officials he has appointed. For the king has sent them to punish those who do wrong and to honor those who do right. Respect is lost in today's world. It's something we need to teach and practice more. The world no longer respects values, or lives.
15 It is God’s will that your honorable lives should silence those ignorant people who make foolish accusations against you. 16 For you are free, yet you are God’s slaves, so don’t use your freedom as an excuse to do evil. 17 Respect everyone, and love your Christian brothers and sisters. Fear God, and respect the king. Our honorable lives will silence ignorant people not our harsh words. I need to remember that.
______________________________
John Burnett: 9 But
you are a chosen race, a royal priesthood, a holy nation, a people
for God’s own possession,
so that you may proclaim the excellencies of Him who has called you out of
darkness into His marvelous light; We are chosen and do not choose.
When you ask Jesus into your heart, you make the choice. If you commit
your life to Christ, you make the choice. If you accept Jesus as your
Savior, you make the choice. If you repent, and put your faith in Jesus,
he will choose you. 10 for you once were not a people, but now you are the people of God; you had not received mercy, but now you have received mercy.
11 Beloved,
I urge you as aliens and strangers to abstain from fleshly lusts which wage war
against the soul. We are in a spiritual war that uses fleshly lusts as
weapons. Just watch the commercials on TV. 12 Keep
your behavior excellent among the Gentiles, so that in the thing in which they
slander you as evildoers, they may [a]because of your good deeds,
as they observe them, glorify God in the day of [b]visitation.
13 Submit
yourselves for the Lord’s sake to every human institution, whether to a king as
the one in authority, 14 or to governors as sent [c]by him for the punishment of
evildoers and the praise of those who do right. Many Christians find
this very hard to do. Especially when the leader is advocating sexual sin
and murdering babies. 15 For [d]such is the will of God that
by doing right you may silence the ignorance of foolish men. 16 Act
as free men, and [e]do not use your freedom as a
covering for evil, but use it as bondslaves of God. 17 Honor
all people, love the brotherhood, fear God, honor the [f]king. Be humble and
Love others as yourself, including the President or Congressman that does not
represent your values. They are sinners just like we are and need God’s
grace as much as we do.
______________________________
- are we living up to this?
10 “Once you had no identity as a
people;now you are God’s people.
Once you received no mercy;
now you have received God’s mercy.”[g]
- so thankful to be His child and for His unending mercy!
11 Dear friends, I warn you as
“temporary residents and foreigners” to keep away from worldly desires that
wage war against your very souls. 12 Be careful to live
properly among your unbelieving neighbors. Then even if they accuse you of
doing wrong, they will see your honorable behavior, and they will give honor to
God when he judges the world.[h]
- live your life in such a way that others will have a hard time
finding things to accuse you of except for loving and living for the Lord
13 For the Lord’s sake, respect all
human authority—whether the king as head of state, 14 or the
officials he has appointed. For the king has sent them to punish those who do
wrong and to honor those who do right.15 It is God’s will that your honorable lives should silence those ignorant people who make foolish accusations against you. 16 For you are free, yet you are God’s slaves, so don’t use your freedom as an excuse to do evil. 17 Respect everyone, and love your Christian brothers and sisters.[i] Fear God, and respect the king.
______________________________
Mike Grimm: 9 But you are not like
that, for you are a chosen people. You are royal priests, a holy nation, God’s
very own possession. As a result, you can show others the goodness of God, for
he called you out of the darkness into his wonderful light. In the Old
Testament, God chose the Jews to be his special people. In Exodus 19:5-6, God
says that all the Jews who obeyed his laws would be his ‘royal priests’. And
they would form a ‘holy nation’. Most of them did not obey God. Now God has
chosen everyone who trusts Jesus to form that special nation (1 Peter 1:2).
Jesus is their king. They belong to God, because Jesus has bought them at the
price of his death (1:18-19). God wants Christians to tell other people about
him. Then those other people may become Christians too.
‘Darkness’ describes the time when people do not know
about God. It also refers to Satan and his works. People who come into God’s
‘wonderful light’ understand about God, because they know Jesus. Jesus said, ‘I
am the light of the world’ (John 8:12).
10 “Once you had no identity as a people;
now you are God’s people.
Once you received no mercy;
now you have received God’s mercy.”
now you are God’s people.
Once you received no mercy;
now you have received God’s mercy.”
Peter compares what people were like before and after
they accepted Jesus. The words of this verse come from Hosea 2:23 (Paul gives a
fuller explanation in Romans 9:22-26). The prophet Hosea had two children. God
called Hosea’s daughter ‘Lo-Ruhamah’, which means ‘no mercy’. God called
Hosea’s son ‘Lo-Ammi’, which means ‘not my people’ (Hosea 1:6-9). When people
accept Jesus, they receive God’s mercy. Then they become ‘his people’, the
people who belong to him. In the Old Testament, God promised many good things
to the Jews. In verses 4-10, Peter says that God has now given these good
things to the church.
In 1 Peter 1:1-2:10 Peter has been teaching about
salvation; what Jesus has done for people. Now he writes in a more practical
way about how to live as a Christian.
11 Dear
friends, I warn you as “temporary residents and foreigners” to keep away from
worldly desires that wage war against your very souls. 12 Be
careful to live properly among your unbelieving neighbors. Then even if they
accuse you of doing wrong, they will see your honorable behavior, and they will
give honor to God when he judges the world. Peter calls his readers ‘dear
friends’. He wants them to know that he loves them deeply. He reminds them
again that their real home is not in this world (1 Peter 1:1). ‘I urge you’ is
a very strong phrase. Peter wants them to stop doing the evil things that they
used to do (1 Peter 1:14). They have to fight against evil desires inside them.
Galatians 5:13-25 explains about this fight. Christians become strong in their
spirit as they fight against such desires. The Holy Spirit will help them to
become holy (chapter 1:2).
13 For
the Lord’s sake, respect all human authority—whether the king as head of state,
14 or the officials he has appointed. For the king has sent
them to punish those who do wrong and to honor those who do right. 15 It
is God’s will that your honorable lives should silence those ignorant people
who make foolish accusations against you. Romans 13:1-2 says that all
authority comes from God. So, if Christians do not obey their leaders, they are
not obeying God. When Peter and Paul were writing their letters, there was a
bad emperor (ruler). His name was Nero. He ruled over many countries. He was an
evil and severe man. Later he killed many Christians. Usually Christians should
respect and obey even bad leaders, because that is what God wants. However,
people should not obey a ruler who tells them to do something evil (Acts 4:19;
5:27-29). You must also obey your leaders. A ruler appoints leaders to punish
criminals and to praise good citizens. God wants you to do what is right.
Foolish people do not understand what God wants. Your good behaviour will make
foolish people become silent. In 1 Timothy 2:1-4 Paul says that Christians
should pray for kings and all leaders.
16 For
you are free, yet you are God’s slaves, so don’t use your freedom as an excuse
to do evil. Jesus has set Christians free from the power of sin. But this does not
mean that that they can now do anything they like. They must obey God and do
what is right. But it does mean that sin is no longer their boss. Sin can still
tempt them to do what is wrong. But they can refuse to sin and choose to do
what is right. Christians are servants who belong to God. Paul explains this in
more detail in Romans 6.
17 Respect
everyone, and love your Christian brothers and sisters. Fear God, and respect
the king. When God
created the world, he made people to be like him (Genesis 1:26). In John 3:16
Jesus says that God loves everyone in the world. This is why Christians must
respect all people. The emperor Nero wanted all people to worship him. Many
people were afraid of him. Peter told his readers to respect rulers, but not to
worship them like God. Worship is for God alone.
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