1 Peter 2:1-3 ESV
“So put away all malice and all deceit and hypocrisy and envy and all slander. Like newborn infants, long for the pure spiritual milk, that by it you may grow up into salvation— if indeed you have tasted that the Lord is good.”
If we have been crucified with Christ in death to sin, and
if we have been raised with him to walk in newness of life in him, then as
followers of Jesus Christ, who are now born of the Spirit of God, we are to put
away from ourselves the deeds of the flesh and all sinful practices. We are not
to let sin reign in our mortal bodies, to make us obey its sinful desires, for
if sin is what we obey, and if obedience is not what we obey, then it will
result in death, not in life everlasting with God (see Romans 6:1-23).
Put Offs and Put
Ons: [Matt 5:27-30; Matt 7:21-23; Rom 1:18-32; Rom 6:1-23; Rom 8:1-14; 1 Co
6:9-10; Gal 5:16-24; Eph 4:17-32; Eph 5:3-6; Col 3:5-11; 1 Thes 4:1-8; 1 Tim
4:7; Titus 2:11-14; Heb 12:1-17; 1 Pet 1:14; 1 Pet 2:24; 1 Jn 1:5-10; 1 Jn
2:3-6; 1 Jn 3:4-10]
So, we are to put away (cast off; die to; put to death) all
malice (hatred, meanness, cruelty, evil, spite, vindictiveness) and all deceit
(lying, manipulating, trickery, dishonesty, cheating). And we are to get rid of
hypocrisy (pretense, fakery, double-mindedness, speaking or promising one thing
while doing the opposite) and envy (greed, bitterness, resentment, jealousy)
and slander (willful and deliberate false statements about another person with
the full intent to damage that person’s reputation).
These are to have no part in the life of a born again
believer in Jesus Christ, for we are to be honest, sincere, trustworthy, and morally
pure, and we are to love one another, and love does no harm to its neighbor,
for God is love, and love comes from God, and love prefers what God prefers
which is what is holy, righteous, godly, upright, kind and loving. So we are to
put all these sins far from us, and we are to put on Christ and his
righteousness in demonstrating the love of Christ to one another, and not
hatred and malice.
And we are to long for the truth of the gospel and the words
of God like a newborn baby longs for his mother’s milk (or for baby formula in
a bottle). For a newborn baby craves the milk and cries when he is hungry and he
strongly desires to be fed. And this is how we are to crave and long for and
desire God’s word and to be fed by it and by our Lord. The Scriptures should
not be something we cast aside and reject and find boring and a drudgery.
For we need the word of God to teach us and to train us in
righteousness and holiness, and to warn us against going the wrong direction,
and to point us in the way that we should walk in. And they convict us when we
have gone astray. And by the Holy Spirit speaking through them they lead us in
the right direction, and they counsel us in what is right. The Scriptures are
our rule book for life, but we need to discern which ones are applicable to us
and which ones are not, for we do not have to obey the Old Covenant liturgical,
ceremonial, sacrificial, purification, and dietary laws.
But we can learn biblical and godly lessons from all Scripture,
but then we should make certain that those lessons are repeated in the New
Testament under the New Covenant, in one way or another, so that we don’t end
up following something under the old law that we are not required to follow, or
so we don’t end up applying God’s promises to us where they do not apply. And
this is why we need to read Scriptures in their context so that we apply them
in the way they are intended to be applied.
For many people are teaching the Scriptures out of their
context and they are building theologies and doctrines around them which are
not biblical in the sense of them not being in agreement with what the
Scriptures teach as a whole. And this is leading many people astray, not only
to follow things they should not follow, but this is leading many people to
reject what they should be following. And so many people are professing faith
in Jesus Christ but they are not living for the Lord but still for themselves.
So we need to study the Scriptures in their full context
prayerfully and carefully, seeking God’s wisdom and guidance in showing us what
is truth and what is not truth. And in this way we can grow up into our
salvation, if indeed we are truly saved by God’s grace and we are not just
making empty professions of faith in Jesus Christ without obeying our Lord’s
commands (New Covenant), and without surrendering our lives to him, and without
the forsaking of our sins and walking in his righteousness. For empty
professions of faith do not promise us eternal life with God.
An
Original Work / September 11, 2012
Bombs are bursting. Night is falling.
Jesus Christ is gently calling
You to follow Him in all ways.
Trust Him with your life today.
Make Him your Lord and your Savior.
Turn from your sin. Follow Jesus.
He will forgive you of your sin;
Cleanse your heart, made new within.
Men betraying: Our trust fraying.
On our knees to God we’re praying,
Seeking God to give us answers
That are only found in Him.
God is sovereign over all things.
Nothing from His mind escaping.
He has all things under His command,
And will work all for good.
Jesus Christ is gently calling
You to follow Him in all ways.
Men deceiving: We’re believing
In our Lord, and interceding
For our nation and its people
To obey their God today.
He is our hope for our future.
For our wounds He offers suture.
He is all we need for this life.
Trust Him with your life today.
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