Monday, February 20, 2017, 11:11 p.m. – The Lord Jesus put in mind the song “Seek the Lord.” Speak, Lord, your words
to my heart. I read I Peter 2:1-8
(NASB).
Put off Put on
(vv. 1-3)
Therefore, putting aside all malice and all deceit and
hypocrisy and envy and all slander, like newborn babies, long for the pure milk
of the word, so that by it you may grow in respect to salvation, if you have
tasted the kindness of the Lord.
In the first chapter of 1
Peter we are instructed, on the basis of what Jesus Christ did for us in saving
us from our sins, to be holy in all that we do. We are to be self-controlled,
obedient, and we should no longer conform to the evil desires we had before we
believed in Jesus to be our Savior. As well, we are to live our lives as
strangers here on earth in reverent fear. In other words, we are not supposed
to be like the world. Being holy means to be separate (unlike, different) from
the world because we are becoming like Christ. To live in the fear of the Lord
is to honor him as holy, and to revere, obey, adore, value, and esteem him
highly, and to take him seriously.
Thus, we are to rid our lives
of malice, deceit, hypocrisy and the like. Malice is hatred, spite, meanness,
nastiness and cruelty. Some people have learned (been conditioned) to hate certain
groups of people from early on in their lives, and to treat them with disdain,
and to devalue them, just because they are different from them. So, this needs
to be unlearned. The Bible says that “If someone says, ‘I love God,’ and hates his brother, he is a liar; for
the one who does not love his brother whom he has seen, cannot love God whom he
has not seen” (1 Jn. 4:20). It also says that “Everyone who hates his brother is a murderer; and
you know that no murderer has eternal life abiding in him” (1 Jn. 3:15). So, we
need to get rid of all hatred.
As followers of Christ, we
should also not be hypocritical or deceitful. Now, it is not hypocritical to
say you are a Christian and then to not be absolutely perfect, for we will not
be perfect until we get to heaven, or until Jesus returns and gives us
glorified bodies. But, it is hypocritical to claim to be a follower of Christ
while knowingly holding on to certain sins and then pretending as though we are
walking in holiness when we know we are not. And, it is deceitful (devious,
cunning, and dishonest) to willfully give people a false impression of who we
are in order to convince them that we are better than we are, or that we are
someone we are not, especially if the purpose is to manipulate them and/or to
slander someone else.
Not only do we, by the
Spirit, need to be putting to death the deeds of the flesh, but we need to crave
(long for) the pure milk of the Word. Jesus died, not only that we might die to
sin, but that we might live to righteousness. We don’t just put off lying, but
we tell the truth. We don’t just put off stealing, but we work, doing something
useful with our hands, and then we give to others to help them in their need. Jesus
died, not just to free us from slavery to sin, but to make us bondservants of
his righteousness.
Paul’s commission, in sharing
the gospel, was to open blinded eyes, and to turn them from darkness to the
light, and from the power of Satan to God, so they could receive forgiveness of
sins, and a place among those who are sanctified (purified) by faith in Jesus
Christ. This is what it means to be saved. This is what it means to be born
again. We no longer walk according to our sinful flesh, but now we walk
according to the Spirit, to please God.
As Living Stones (vv. 4-8)
And coming to Him as to a living stone which has been
rejected by men, but is choice and precious in the sight of God, you also, as
living stones, are being built up as a spiritual house for a holy priesthood,
to offer up spiritual sacrifices acceptable to God through Jesus Christ. For
this is contained in Scripture:
“Behold, I lay in Zion a choice stone, a precious
corner stone,
And he who believes in Him will not be disappointed.”
This precious value, then, is for you who believe; but
for those who disbelieve,
“The stone which the builders rejected,
This became the very corner stone,”
and,
“A stone of stumbling and a rock of offense”;
for they stumble because they are disobedient to the
word, and to this doom they were also appointed.
When we believe in Jesus
Christ with God-given faith, and our hearts are transformed of the Spirit of
God, the Holy Spirit comes to live within us. We, thus, become the temple of
God, the body of Christ, his church. This church is not a building or an organization
or a corporation of men, nor is it of a particular denomination like Baptist,
Methodist or Presbyterian, etc. This church is spiritual, not physical,
although it is comprised of followers of Christ. It is a living organism with
Jesus Christ as its (her) head (the chief cornerstone). So, the building being
referred to here is not physical but spiritual, and that is why we, the parts
of the body (the building), are referred to as “living stones.”
Jesus is the cornerstone of
this spiritual building, i.e. he is the foundation for this building. He is the
one who gave his life up for us on a cross so that we could be delivered out of
slavery to sin and so we could live to his righteousness. Without his death and
resurrection there would be no church; no spiritual building of which we are
also living stones. It was because Jesus was hated, and treated with malice,
and because of the lies and deceptions of those who hated him, that he was
brought to trial and hung on a cross to die. And, because he died, we are being
built into a spiritual house to be a holy priesthood.
In other words, we no longer
need men as priests to offer up sacrifices for our sins, because Jesus died
once for all sin. We no longer need physical priests to mediate between us and
God, because Jesus made the way possible for us to be restored to fellowship
with God and to be able to come into his presence. So, we are now priests, and
the sacrifices we offer are not blood sacrifices for sin, but they are our
lives committed to Christ to walk in his love, in his grace, in his truth and
in obedience to his Word.
Yet, not everyone has faith.
Many people are still rejecting Jesus Christ as their Lord and Savior, and they
are still persecuting him by persecuting his followers; his servants. Many
still hate Jesus Christ and thus they hate his followers, and they will do
everything they know to do to stop them from spreading the gospel and to
destroy them and their reputations, or to put them to death. They will even use
deceit and trickery to try to trap them, and/or they will spread lies about
them, which could be half-truths, which are still lies, but twisted to their
advantage. Yet, we are not to fear their threats, but we are to trust our lives
into God’s hands, and not fear being persecuted and even falsely accused for
our stand on the Word of Truth.
So, if anyone reading this,
who claims to be a Christian, is still living like Jesus didn’t die to deliver you
out of slavery to sin; if anyone is still giving in to the flesh on a
consistent basis, and is not walking in victory, then I would encourage you to
submit to Christ today. Put off those sins which so easily entangle you so that
you can run the race God has marked out for you. And, if you are reading this
and you have never trusted in Jesus Christ to be Lord and Savior of your life,
I pray you will surrender your life to him today, allow him to cleanse your
heart of sin, and to give you a new life in Christ Jesus, “created to be like
God in true righteousness and holiness” (Eph. 4:24). One day Jesus will return
as judge, so let him change your heart today.
Seek the Lord
/ An Original Work / July 20, 2012
Based off Isaiah 55
“Come to Me all you who
thirst; come to waters.
Listen to Me, and eat what’s
good today,
And your soul will delight in
richest of fare.
Give ear to Me, and you will
live.
I have made an eternal
covenant with you.
Wash in the blood of the
Lamb.”
Seek the Lord while He may be
found; call on Him.
Let the wicked forsake his
way, in truth.
Let him turn to the Lord, and
he will receive mercy.
Freely, God pardons him.
“For My thoughts are not your
thoughts,
Nor are your ways My ways,”
declares the Lord, our God.
“My word that goes out of My
mouth is truthful.
It will not return to Me
unfulfilled.
My word will accomplish all
that I desire,
And achieve the goal I
intend.
You will go in joy, and be
led forth in peace.
The mountains will burst into
song… before you,
And all of the trees clap
their hands.”
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