Dear friends, I urge you, as aliens and strangers in the world, to abstain from sinful desires, which war against your soul. 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. I Peter 2:11-2 (I and II Peter)
These two letters are the only reference to Peter’s later life and were written not long before his death during Nero’s terror. He writes to the dispersed Jews of Asia Minor. It was a time of great hostility toward Christians everywhere. As Nero poured tar on believers and lit them on fire to light his evening portico, it did seem and sound as though Satan was roaring like a lion who would completely devour The Church.
This Rock, whom Jesus would build His church upon, instructed perseverance by arming oneself for suffering. Many fell away during this time and there were those who exploited and mocked Jesus’ works and prophecies and turned them into a license for perversion and lasciviousness. (At the same time Jude addressed these very issues.) He addressed the question of God’s actions toward those who reject His ordinances. The God that cast rebellious angels from His presence, saved only Noah and his family while all other men perished in the flood and later, rid the earth of Sodom and Gomorrah, and all their residents, for their perverse behavior, will NOT excuse sin!
Peter urges his readers to live as though this world was not their home, for their hope was in Heaven where Christ is the center of all that is Holy. Peter’s favorite adjective was precious, precious blood, precious faith and precious promises, with Christian Love as the supreme virtue. To know God is to share His nature. As the Redeemed, we have the responsibility to Glorify God. For those that seek to find you guilty sin, leave them no evidence to convict you.
Happy Friday,
Gretchen