1 Peter 2:1-3,9-12 BSB (Berean Standard Bible)
“1Rid yourselves, therefore, of all malice, deceit, hypocrisy, envy, and slander. 2Like newborn babies, crave pure spiritual milk, so that by it you may grow up in your salvation, 3now that you have tasted that the Lord is good.”
“9But you are a chosen people, a royal priesthood, a holy nation, a people for God’s own possession, to proclaim the virtues of Him who called you out of darkness into His marvelous light. 10Once you were not a people, but now you are the people of God; once you had not received mercy, but now you have received mercy.
“11Beloved, I urge you, as foreigners and exiles, to abstain from the desires of the flesh, which war against your soul. 12Conduct yourselves with such honor among the Gentiles that, though they slander you as evildoers, they may see your good deeds and glorify God on the day He visits us.”
Repudiate the Desires of The Flesh
Peter was writing to the elect who were sanctified by the
Spirit for obedience to Jesus Christ. And, in chapter 1, he said, “14As
obedient children, do not conform to the passions of your former ignorance.
15But just as He who called you is holy, so be holy in all you do.” Then, in
chapter 2 he counseled them that they must rid themselves of all malice,
deceit, hypocrisy, envy, and slander, and that they were to abstain from the
desires of the flesh which wage war against their souls. And this counsel is
for us, too.
So, the impression that I get from this is that it is
possible for Christians to, at some point, fall back into sin, depending on the
circumstances of their lives, or to still be walking in some sins, if they are
new to the faith, or if they are children or the immature or those not trained
in the Scriptures. For we are still human, and we are still capable of sin. But
this is never ever to be taught as an invitation to continue in any sin just
because one is new to the faith or they are spiritually immature or due to
difficult circumstances.
All throughout the New Testament Scriptures we are being
taught that, as followers of Christ, that we must abstain from the desires of
the flesh, that we must not continue in sin, but that we must walk in obedience
to our Lord and to our Lord’s commands. And we are warned that if we continue
in habitual and deliberate sin, and if that is where we remain, and if we do
not repent and turn from our sins, and turn back to God, that we will not have
salvation from sin, and we will not inherit eternal life with God. Believe it!
[Matthew 7:13-14,21-23; Luke 9:23-26; John 10:27-30; Acts
26:18; Romans 1:18-32; Romans 2:5-10; Romans 3:23; Romans 6:1-23; Romans
8:1-14; Romans 12:1-2; 1 Corinthians 6:9-10,19-20; 1
Corinthians 10:1-22; 2 Corinthians 5:10,15,21; Galatians
5:16-24; Ephesians 2:8-10; Ephesians 4:17-32; Ephesians 5:3-6; Titus 2:11-14;
Hebrews 3:1-19; Hebrews 4:1-13; Hebrews 10:19-39; Hebrews 12:1-2; 1 Peter 2:24;
1 John 1:1-10; 1 John 2:1-6; 1 John 3:4-10; Revelation 2:1-29; Revelation
3:1-22]
For God’s Own Possession
Now, I have shared my testimony multiple times, so I am not
going to go into massive detail here. But I believed in Jesus at age 7, and I
lived for the Lord. I was not a rebellious child, and I was a rule follower,
for the most part, but I was not a perfect child. I was still a child. But as I
grew to adulthood I began to mature in my walk of faith in obedience to my Lord
and I served the Lord in teaching the Scriptures, first to children, and then
to women, and then to youth, and also in music ministry (I was a singer).
But difficult circumstances in my life with regard to how I
was being treated by other people, in ways which were not good, which were
unkind and unloving, eventually began to weigh heavily on me. And eventually I
caved to the weight of it all and I yielded to sin, not just once, but multiple
times before the Lord turned me back around. But he did turn me back around,
and I never went back. All glory to God! He got me back on track and that is
where I have remained, by the grace of God, and in the power of God.
For God had a plan for my life, even him knowing well in
advance how I would fail him, and the sins that I would commit. For he knew
that he would get me back on track, and that he would get me to where he could
use me in the way in which he intended, I believe, even before I was formed in
the womb of my mother. But I had to rid myself of all the ways in which I was
sinning against him so that I could serve him in the calling that he had for me
to proclaim him and his righteousness to the people of the world.
Jesus is Calling
So, here’s the thing. It is not enough for us to just
profess faith in Jesus Christ or to live for him only for a time, and then to
fall back into sin. He is counseling everyone who professes his name to rid
their lives of all sinful habits and practices so that they may mature (grow
up) in their salvation, so that they can serve the Lord in the areas of
ministry to which he is calling them. For we can’t serve the Lord if we are
walking in sin. We can’t be used of him to reach others for Jesus if we are not
obeying our Lord in practice.
So, if you are aware that you are living in any kind of sin,
and that you are not obeying the Lord and his commands, as a matter of life
practice, I counsel you with the counsel of the Lord to rid yourselves of it
all in the strength of the Lord. Choose to now abstain from the desires of the
flesh which wage war against your souls, and put on the full armor of God with
which to fight off Satan’s evil schemes against you. And now conduct yourselves
with honor and follow the Lord in what he has planned for you.
Lord, Move Me
An Original Work /
October 16, 2011
Christ’s Free Servant, Sue J Love
Be my desire, my
heart set on fire,
Lord, move me to
worship You only, I pray.
Fill with Your
Spirit, my heart overflow.
Lord, may I long for
You; Your word to know.
Teach me to walk
with You, Lord, in Your power,
And may I serve You,
Lord, right now in this hour.
Lord, how I want to
obey You forever.
Help me to hear You,
Lord, so I will not stray.
Teach me to love
You; adore You always.
Envelope me, Lord,
with Your grace today.
Meet me in my need,
and show me Your mercy.
Forgive me for all
things, as I humbly pray.
Counsel me, lead me,
direct me, and guide me,
So I follow You,
Lord, where’er You lead now.
I love to hear You
speak Your words to me.
I am so grateful
that You set me free.
Wash me, and cleanse
me, and make me like You, Lord,
And I will live with
You for eternity.
Conduct Yourselves with Honor
An Original Work / July 14, 2026
