1 Peter 2:11-2511Dearly beloved, I beseech you as strangers and pilgrims, abstain from fleshly lusts, which war against the soul; 12Having your conversation honest among the Gentiles: that, whereas they speak against you as evildoers, they may by your good works, which they shall behold, glorify God in the day of visitation. 13Submit yourselves to every ordinance of man for the Lord's sake: whether it be to the king, as supreme; 14Or unto governors, as unto them that are sent by him for the punishment of evildoers, and for the praise of them that do well. 15For so is the will of God, that with well doing ye may put to silence the ignorance of foolish men: 16As free, and not using your liberty for a cloke of maliciousness, but as the servants of God. 17Honor all men. Love the brotherhood. Fear God. Honor the king. 18Servants, be subject to your masters with all fear; not only to the good and gentle, but also to the froward. 19For this is thankworthy, if a man for conscience toward God endure grief, suffering wrongfully. 20For what glory is it, if, when ye be buffeted for your faults, ye shall take it patiently? but if, when ye do well, and suffer for it, ye take it patiently, this is acceptable with God. 21For even hereunto were ye called: because Christ also suffered for us, leaving us an example, that ye should follow his steps: 22Who did no sin, neither was guile found in his mouth: 23Who, when he was reviled, reviled not again; when he suffered, he threatened not; but committed himself to him that judgeth righteously: 24Who his own self bare our sins in his own body on the tree, that we, being dead to sins, should live unto righteousness: by whose stripes ye were healed. 25For ye were as sheep going astray; but are now returned unto the Shepherd and Bishop of your souls. (1 Peter 2:11‑25)
It is very noticeable in every part of the Word of God, that exhortations are always based upon the unfolding of the doctrine of the soul’s relationship with God most distinctly and clearly, and this chapter is no exception to the general rule.
You will see at a glance how simply and naturally the exhortations come in here. Peter has been calling these people to heaven. He has been unfolding the heavenly calling, in the first chapter; has shown them that they are chosen by the Father, separated by the work of the Spirit, and sheltered by the blood of the Son of God; that an inheritance in heaven is kept for them, and they are kept for it; that in the meantime they go through trouble down here, but rejoice in Him, whom having not seen they love. Then he has shown them, that they are children of the Father, but redeemed by the blood of the Son, and renewed by the Spirit and the Word of God.
In the second chapter he has been setting forth their new position, as being a spiritual house in which God dwells, and, moreover that they are both holy and royal priests—holy priests in offering up spiritual sacrifices to God, and royal priests in showing forth the “virtues of him who hath called us out of darkness into his marvelous light:” then that they are His people, and have obtained mercy, and mercy is a very sweet thing. Mercy we need all through our walk on earth.
This then is the place in which the believer stands; this is Peter’s view of Christianity, left down here to yield, to God what He ought to get from man, and to show to man what God is, in the grace and love of His heart towards man. After this are we not prepared for any exhortation?
“Dearly beloved, I beseech you as strangers and pilgrims, abstain from fleshly lusts which war against the soul.” He addresses the Christian as a stranger and a pilgrim. Why are you a stranger? Because you are away from home. Why are you a pilgrim? Because you are journeying to a spot which you want to reach. You are a stranger because your hopes, your joys, and the One you love best, are all in heaven. The One you love best is in heaven, and that is what makes heaven the home of your heart.
Born from heaven, you belong to heaven. Your Father is in heaven, your Saviour is in heaven, your springs of supply are in heaven; your hopes, your joys, are all in heaven; in short, you are like an exotic plant down here, a stranger to this clime. You are a pilgrim, too, and a pilgrim never thinks his pilgrimage over till he reaches the spot towards which his course is bent.
“Abstain from fleshly lusts,” &c. Peter is talking of the inner life of the soul, of those thousand and one little things that come in to spoil communion with God, and to hinder growth, and the knowledge of Christ.
You know what is a snare to you, what will trip you up, and, he says, you must be prepared to deny yourselves the things that are a hindrance, or, in other words, “which war against the soul.” You must use, in fact, the knife of circumcision. After Israel crossed the Jordan to take possession of the promised land, there had to be sharp knives used before they could use sharp swords: and why? Because the sharp knives were for themselves, and they must be right themselves, before they can war against the enemy. If you are going to have outward power, you must have inward purity. If you are going to have happiness, you must have holiness. Happiness always walks a little behind holiness, and the man that is not holy cannot be happy. By holiness I mean practical judging of oneself and one’s ways; practically setting oneself to work to keep the flesh in the place of death where God has put it by the cross of Christ. There must be holiness within, and there will be happiness without. He that would be happy must be holy.
Verse 12. “Having your conversation honest among the Gentiles,” &c. Now the apostle turns outside. If you have your heart practically purified by the Lord, you will find yourself all right outside. But mark, you must make up your mind at once for the Gentiles to speak against you. Who are the Gentiles? Unbelievers. If you are going to follow the Lord closely, you will find that, not only unbelievers, but worldly Christians—will have a good deal to say against you. What will be the result? They will have, by-and-bye, to confess before God that your works were worthy of the Lord; and though they spoke evil of you, they knew that God was working in you and by you.
It is a great thing for a Christian to stand for the Lord. What must you expect? That your old friends will have a great deal to say about you, and it will all be evil, of course. We must expect it, and if we are expecting it, we are not surprised when it comes.
“Our conversation honest;” that is, our walk so up to the mark that no one can put a finger on anything and say, This is not right, or, That is not fair, or, The other thing is not lovely. There ought not to be even a suspicion of evil, much less a proof.
The 11th verse is the subjugating of the inward life, the 12th verse is the right ordering of the outward life, and in verse 13, I have to submit to the powers that be for the Lord’s sake. If the governing powers of the land were to institute an impost ever so unrighteous, the Christian’s duty is to submit. Could there have been a more wicked king than Nero? Yet in Nero’s time, Paul writes to the Roman Christians to be subject to the higher powers, because they are ordained of God.
The Lord Jesus Himself came into the world to have no rights, to be scorned and buffeted, and finally to be turned out of the world His hands had made, and a Christian is to follow Christ, to have no rights either. Whatever the thing is, unless it infringe on the revealed will of God, you are to submit for the Lord’s sake; that is, you are to act as royal priests, showing forth the virtues that are in Him. If Christians are moved to strife, or are siding with the world, there is no testimony as to patience, and forbearance, and the like.
Verse 16. Here the Christian gets the place of being thoroughly free, not belonging to the world, but belonging to heaven, and not using his liberty as a cloak of maliciousness but as the servant of God, seeking only to be a servant; and a servant’s business is simply to follow the will of God, and His will is that I should submit. If I take things into my own hands, the Lord says, as it were, “You have taken up the cudgels, and I leave you to fight it out,” and the consequence is, when this is the case, we are always beaten.
Verse 17, &c. Now Peter begins to take up the relationships of life. I am to give honor to whom honor is due. Be it a title, or whatever it is, I am to give it. It is often a little pride in the heart that does not like to yield this honor—but, believe me, there is nothing more contrary to God, nothing more deadening, nothing more thoroughly of the devil than radicalism, or what is called “leveling,” and the end of the whole thing is Antichrist, upsetting all authority and power, only that it may shift hands.
Among Christians there is but one standing-place before God; all are saints, and are one in Christ Jesus. God raised up His Son Jesus Christ, and with Him He has put in His own presence every believer. What wonderful exaltation! In Christ there is neither Jew nor Gentile, neither bond nor free. This is the doctrine of Christ—the doctrine of the church. How then ought I to act? Like Christ! I ought to speak like Christ, to act like Him. But then there is “the doctrine of God;” and what is that? If I am a servant I am to act as one if I do not I set everything out of order.
The doctrine of Christ is, that there is not a shade of difference between saint and saint, but the doctrine of God is, that God says, there are those to whom I am to give honor, and I am not walking with God if I am not ready to do this, not grudgingly but with all heartiness There is something very beautiful in these four things going together in the 17th verse. Peter talks of the world, of the brotherhood, of God, and of the king. It is vain for us to say we are fearing God, if we are not giving to all men that which God would have us give. There is no real fear of God, unless I am seeking to maintain, in His presence, every relationship in which I am placed down here, exactly as He would have me maintain it, according to His own mind and heart.
Verse 18. Peter is speaking here not to slaves, but domestic servants, and what is the word? “Be subject with all fear.” They may be very hard masters, be very ill-tempered persons, that is not to excuse the Christian servant from subjection. Let us acknowledge our weakness but never seek to extenuate it, and acknowledge our feebleness but never let us justify it!
What is the fear spoken of here? fear lest, in my position as a servant, I should misrepresent God, that is the fear. My master or mistress might be unconverted, and I have to represent God to them.
Verse 19. If you do right, and get hard words for it, and take it patiently, you put God in debt, as it were. He says, “thank” to you. How beautiful! If you do good, suffer for it, take it patiently, and get no thanks from your master, never mind, you are going to get a surprise by-and-bye; there is a “thank” to come from God to you for this beautiful exhibition of patience under most trying circumstances. The motive for you to act like this is most blessed, it is because Christ did the same, because He suffered for us.
Peter speaks of suffering for conscience sake, for righteousness sake, for Christ’s sake, and for evil doing. I may possibly suffer for my own sin, but ought never to, and why? Because Christ has suffered for sins. I may suffer for conscience sake,—because there may come a question of doing something which a master orders, but which is contrary to God, and then of course God must be obeyed rather than man. Obedience to God is the first thing—the great ruling principle of the Christian’s life. If in obeying a master I must disobey God, I am shut up to what Peter says in the 4th of Acts, “Whether it be right in the sight of God to hearken unto you more than unto God, judge ye.” It never can be right to disobey God in order to obey man, and the saint is never supposed to do such a thing.
In such a case I may suffer for conscience sake, but the soul gets the recompense made to it of the Lord’s favor and blessing, and of His enjoyed presence as its blessed reward.
Peter gives Christ as a beautiful example of this, “Who when he was reviled, reviled not again, when he suffered he threatened not, but committed himself to him that judgeth righteously.”
Christ put His case wholly into God’s hands, and you must do the same, Peter says. Christ said, I take it entirely from God’s hands, accept it as coming from Him, and when we do the same the sting is gone, and it is only fraught with blessing for the soul, Then this leads him to the very extent of Christ’s sufferings, “Who his own self bare our sins in his own body on the tree.” Your sins, my sins, led Him to the tree, and now we are dead to sins but alive to God.
Jesus always did right; we went wrong, went astray, but we are brought back to have to do with this blessed One, who is the Overseer, the One that takes care of the soul, the Shepherd who goes after the sheep.
The Lord give us to delight our hearts more and more in Him, to follow Him, to learn of Him, to have His word more as the daily joy of our souls, and to bring forth fruit in our lives.