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| Chapter 2 |
| Bible Text | Notes and Thoughts |
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1 ¶ Therefore laying aside all malice and all guile, and hypocrisy and envy and all evil speaking, 2 as newborn babes, desire the sincere milk of the Word, that ye may grow thereby, 3 if so it be that ye have tasted that the Lord is gracious. 4 ¶ Coming to Him as unto a living stone, disallowed indeed by men, but chosen by God and precious, 5 ye also as living stones are built up a spiritual house, a holy priesthood, to offer up spiritual sacrifices acceptable to God by Jesus Christ. 6 Therefore it is also contained in the Scripture: "Behold, I lay in Zion a chief cornerstone, elect, precious; and he that believeth in Him shall not be confounded." 7 Unto you therefore who believe, He is precious; but unto those who are disobedient, "The stone which the builders disallowed, the same is made the head of the corner," 8 and, "A stone of stumbling and a rock of offense," even to those who stumble at the Word, being disobedient, unto which also they were appointed. 9 But ye are a chosen generation, a royal priesthood, a holy nation, a peculiar people, that ye should show forth the praises of Him who hath called you out of darkness into His marvelous light. 10 In times past ye were not a people, but are now the people of God; who had not obtained mercy, but now have obtained mercy. 11 Dearly beloved, I beseech you as strangers and pilgrims, abstain from fleshly lusts which war against the soul, 12 having your way of life 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. 13 ¶ Submit yourselves to every ordinance of man for the Lord’s sake, whether it be to the king as supreme, 14 or unto governors as unto those who are sent by him for the punishment of evildoers and for the praise of those who do well. 15 For so is the will of God, that with well doing ye may put to silence the ignorance of foolish men" 16 as free, and not using your liberty as a cloak for maliciousness, but as the servants of God. 17 Honor all men. Love the brotherhood. Fear God. Honor the king. 18 Servants, be subject to your masters with all fear, not only to the good and gentle, but also to the froward. 19 For this is thank worthy: if a man, because of his conscience toward God, endure grief, suffering wrongfully. 20 For 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. 21 For even unto this were ye called, because Christ also suffered for us, leaving us an example, that ye should follow His steps, 22 "who did no sin, neither was guile found in His mouth"; 23 who when He was reviled, reviled not in return; when He suffered, He threatened not, but committed Himself to Him that judgeth righteously; 24 who His own self bore 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. 25 For ye were as sheep going astray, but are now returned unto the Shepherd and Bishop of your souls. |
Continuing the thought of ‘One in Christ’ from chapter 1. v1-3 We receive the same spiritual food. We can receive life from God’s Word, it also gives spiritual food for us each time we read it. We should desire the pure Word so that we can grow from a newborn baby to a mature Christian. As we grow we will also find that this spiritual food is strong meat for the grown child of God. Heb 5:11-14; 1 Cor 3:1-4. An holy priesthood. v5 Our privilege to offer up spiritual sacrifices. See Rom 12:1; Heb 13:15-16. v4-8 We all are part of the one and only church of Christ, Jesus being the cornerstone Eph 2:20. We are the stones which are part of God’s building. The ‘cornerstone’ is a living stone, Jesus risen in victory, chosen by God and very precious to Him. But this ‘stone’ was rejected by man as they were not looking for the kind of Messiah He was. Matt 21:42ff, they stumbled at the Word v8. It is still happening 1 Cor 1:18ff. A royal priesthood. v9-10 A chosen generation: The church description given here is similar to the description God used for the Tribe of Israel Ex 19:5-6, but the Israelites disobeyed. Today God’s people are by the grace of God a chosen and holy generation John 15:16. Holy, set apart, special for God’s use only, a people of God, priests, able to enter the presence of God at anytime. At one time we were against God, belonging to Satan,and the world Eph 2:1-3 now through the mercy of God we are His people to give Him praise and glory in all we do and say. We must remember that being of one family does not mean that there are no differences, God has given each our own abilities and attitudes, like in a building each stone is designed for the right place but they are all required to produce the building. The life of a believer 1 Peter 2:11-25. Peter reminds the readers that they are only ‘visiting’ this world, awaiting the call home to Jesus, but every action is being watched as they live their Christian life. As ‘beloved children’ of God we should have nothing to do with wrong things offered in this world. As Christians we should submit (obey) to the laws of the world, God setup and controls the home, the governments, kings and the church. John 14:15-23. The way we live our life, our ‘good works’ may help others find salvation and bring glory to God. 3 John 3-8; 1 Peter 3:16; Matt 5:16 Or our bad works hurt God’s work 1 Cor 5:1. We all represent Jesus Christ on this earth, what people see in our lives reflects what we believe and who Jesus is. As Christian citizens we must submit to human authority, the word "ordinance" v13 does not refer to each individual law but the overall government, it is possible to obey the government but disobey the laws. Consider Daniel and his friends in Dan 1:4ff, they refused to obey the king’s food laws but still honoured the king, they did not dishonour the officials in charge of them or get them in trouble by their actions, but they did honour God. Equally Peter and the disciples in Acts 4 to 5, they were told to stop preaching, but Peter and the others refused to obey, they had been given orders by God to preach so could not stop, but they still respected the Jewish leaders. We must never allow the law to disobey God. Two passages are important v15 "The will of God," and v16 "The servants of God. It is for "the Lord’s sake," v13. v17 Love each other, "fear God and honour powers" Rom 13:1. v18 Slaves were very common in New Testament times, many who became Christians felt that their Christian freedom meant that they did not need to obey their masters, Peter corrects this idea, saying that submission was still important. Paul also dealt with the problem in 1 Cor 7:20-24. There are no ‘slaves’ as in Romans times today but what Peter and Paul says also applies to employee / employer relationships. Luke 6:32-36. v21-23 Christ is an example, look at His life on earth to see the perfect example to follow. Jesus had the power to overrule the behaviour of the Jewish leaders and Pilate John 18:33-38, but Jesus had submitted to the Will of His Father. v24 Jesus took our place, Gal 3:13 He died that we might live. v25 Our Shepherd is now in heaven watching over us. This shepherd had come looking for His sheep Luke 15:1-7, He died for them and right now is watching over His sheep, Heb 13:20-21 just as the local church leaders should be looking after the church members 1 Peter 5 1-4. The world is watching us but so is our Shepherd in heaven. |
Easy English Translation
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