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The Gospel Observer
"Go therefore and make disciples of all the nations...teaching them to
observe all that I commanded you, and lo, I am with you always, even to
the end of the age" (Matt. 28:19,20).
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December 19, 2010
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Contents:
1) 1 Peter 2:1-3 (Tom Edwards)
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-1-
1 Peter 2:1-3
by Tom Edwards
In 1 Peter 2:1-3, Peter writes: "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."
God's word makes us aware of those things we are to put off, and of
those things we are to put on, as a Christian. It's interesting
to note that this phrase "putting aside" in 1 Peter 2:1, or "laying
aside," as the King James Version words it, is from a Greek word that
William Barclay states "...is the word for stripping off one's
clothes." One example of this can be seen in Acts 7:58, "When
they had driven him out of the city, they began stoning him; and the
witnesses LAID ASIDE their robes at the feet of a young man named
Saul." So, just as someone who has fallen into the mud would want
to remove those dirty clothes to replace with clean ones, even so the
Christian must be concerned about putting off the garments of
wickedness in order to clothe himself with God's goodness. This,
of course, begins in baptism, as Paul shows in Galatians 3:26,27: "For
you are all sons of God through faith in Christ Jesus. For
all of you who were baptized into Christ have clothed yourselves with
Christ." John also speaks of the need to have the right type of
spiritual garments in Revelation 19:7,8: "Let us rejoice and be glad
and give the glory to Him, for the marriage of the Lamb has come and
His bride has made herself ready. It was given to her to clothe
herself in fine linen, bright and clean; for the fine linen is the
righteous acts of the saints." This same Greek word for
"putting aside" is used a total of 9 times in the New Testament.
For instance, "The night is almost gone, and the day is near.
Therefore let us LAY ASIDE the deeds of darkness and put on the armor
of light" (Rom 13:12). In Ephesians 4:22-25, Paul exhorts the
Christian to "LAY ASIDE the old self, which is being corrupted in
accordance with the lusts of deceit...and put on the new self, which in
the likeness of God has been created in righteousness and holiness of
the truth. Therefore, LAYING ASIDE falsehood, speak truth each
one of you with his neighbor...." To the Colossians, Paul wrote,
"But now you also, put them all aside: anger, wrath, malice, slander,
and abusive speech from your mouth" (Col. 3:18). The Hebrew
writer exhorts the brethren to "...LAY ASIDE every encumbrance and the
sin which so easily entangles us, and let us run with endurance the
race that is set before us, fixing our eyes on Jesus, the author and
perfecter of faith, who for the joy set before Him endured the cross,
despising the shame, and has sat down at the right hand of the throne
of God." James also uses this expression, by saying, "Therefore,
PUTTING ASIDE all filthiness and all that remains of wickedness, in
humility receive the word implanted, which is able to save your souls"
(Jms. 1:21).
Peter specifies several things that the Christian is to put aside
(malice, deceit, hypocrisy, envy, and slander):
Malice, of course, is defined as "a desire to inflict harm or suffering
on another" (Random House Webster's Electronic Dictionary). We
can certainly think of Saul, in his jealous rage toward David, as an
example of this. But although "malice" has this specific
definition, the Greek word "kakia," is actually used in a much broader
sense. It "includes evil of all kinds" (Albert Barnes).
According to Robertson's Word Pictures, "This old word...in the
ancients meant vice of any kind." Bullinger, in his Critical
Lexicon and Concordance to the English and Greek New Testament, shows
it to mean "badness...generically including every form of evil,
physical and moral...vice generally, in all its forms." It is the
same Greek word that is used when Peter rebuked Simon in Acts 8:22,
telling him to "Therefore repent of this WICKEDNESS of yours, and pray
the Lord that, if possible, the intention of your heart may be forgiven
you." Simon's sin does not appear to have been malice.
Rather, he coveted the miraculous gift that the apostles had of laying
hands on people to give them the Holy Spirit and even offered them
money for that gift. It is also seen as "wickedness" in James
1:21, when he instructs the Christians, by saying, "Therefore, putting
aside all filthiness and all that remains of WICKEDNESS...." In
Matthew 6:34, this same Greek word is used by Jesus in speaking of each
day that has enough TROUBLE of its own; and in Romans 1:29 it is
rendered as "evil" and seen among a list of sins -- and one of them
being "malice" from a different Greek word. So we should not
think of this Greek word in 1 Peter 2:1 being limited to only "malice."
Peter also shows that along with malice, "deceit" or "guile" is also to
be put away (1 Pet. 2:1). This is from the Greek word
"dolos." This word originally meant "a bait for fish, hence any
cunning contrivance for deceiving or catching" (Bullinger). So
like many words, its literal meaning carried over to also a
metaphorical rendering. Strong defines "dolos" as "a bait,
figuratively craft, deceit. In the abstract, wile, craft,
cunning." Peter gives another exhortation on this in 1 Peter
3:10, where he states, "For he that will love life, and see good days,
let him refrain his tongue from evil, and his lips that they speak no
guile." Being without guile was a characteristic Jesus declared
of Nathanael (Jn. 1:47); and Peter said of the Lord Himself that He
"...committed no sin, nor was any deceit found in His mouth" (1 Pet.
2:22).
Another sinful thing that Peter shows one is to put off in 1 Peter 2:1
is "hypocrisy." Do you know what the word "hypocrite" originally
meant? The Random House Webster's Electronic Dictionary shows
that "hypocrite" comes from the Greek word "hypokrites" and means "a
stage actor, hence one who plays a part, hypocrite." Whom do we
find Jesus referring to as hypocrites, more so than any other? In
Matthew 23, Jesus used the word "hypocrites" 7 times to address some
scribes and Pharisees. For many of them were a people who were
just playing the part that they were highly religious -- and appeared
that way on the outside -- but, inwardly, they were corrupt; and their
hearts were far from God, as Jesus graphically describes in Matthew
23:25-28.
Along with malice, deceit or guile, and hypocrisy, Peter also exhorts
the brethren to put off "envy" (1 Pet. 2:1). Envy can lead to
many wicked and sinful actions. In Matthew 27:15-18, Pilate knew
it was because of envy that Jesus had been delivered up.
Bullinger shows that the Greek word for "envy" (phthonos) "is always
used in a bad sense; jealousy of another's success, depreciation of his
worth, envy of his excellence (associated by sound and sense, with
phonos [which is the Greek word for murder], as envy led to the first
murder)." Envy has been described as "pain felt and malignity
conceived at the sight of excellence or happiness in another" (Adam
Clarke). The same Greek word for "envy" is also used in Galatians
5:21, where it is listed among various specific sins referred to as
"deeds of the flesh" that will keep one from inheriting the kingdom of
God. So that certainly shows how serious and spiritually harmful
this type of envy is. It is also said to be "one of the most
common manifestations of wickedness" (Albert Barnes). We
mentioned under the topic of "malice," the rage that Saul had
manifested toward David with the attempts on his life. But what
engendered this "malice"? Would it not have been envy? For
the women had been singing that "Saul has slain his thousands, and
David his ten thousands." As a result, Saul became "angry" and
"displeased" and was also troubled over the thought of losing the
kingdom to David (1 Sam. 18:5-9). Envy can undoubtedly lead to some
terrible actions. In James 4:1,2, James shows that envy can lead
to fighting and quarreling; and he also shows what led to the envy:
"What is the source of quarrels and conflicts among you? Is not the
source your pleasures that wage war in your members? You lust and
do not have; so you commit murder. You are envious and cannot obtain;
so you fight and quarrel...." When we think of fleshly pleasures
waging war in our members, we are reminded of the battle between the
flesh and the spirit that Paul speaks of in Romans 8:5-9: “For those
who are according to the flesh set their minds on the things of the
flesh, but those who are according to the Spirit, the things of the
Spirit. For the mind set on the flesh is death, but the mind set
on the Spirit is life and peace, because the mind set on the flesh is
hostile toward God; for it does not subject itself to the law of God,
for it is not even able to do so, and those who are in the flesh cannot
please God. However, you are not in the flesh but in the Spirit,
if indeed the Spirit of God dwells in you. But if anyone does not
have the Spirit of Christ, he does not belong to Him.” So the
answer to overcoming envy is found in letting God's Spirit dwell within
us through the word, rather than yielding to sinful fleshly
desire. Paul also shows this in Galatians 5:13-17: "...walk by
the Spirit, and you will not carry out the desire of the flesh."
We "walk by the Spirit" not by merely personal feelings, but by
submitting to the instruction in God's word, which is "the sword of the
Spirit" and the way He reveals, convicts, and guides (Rom.
10:17).
Then after showing the brethren of the need to put off envy, Peter then
brings to their attention another specific sin that they are to put
aside; and that is "all slander." The King James Version renders
this as "all evil speakings." It comes from the Greek word
"katalalia," which Bullinger defines as "speaking against (implying
hostility)." Thayer defines the Greek word as "defamation, evil
speaking." Strong also mentions these and includes
"backbiting." This particular Greek word is used just twice in
the Scriptures: Here in 1 Peter 2:1 and also 2 Corinthians 12:20; but
there are, in addition, a couple other Greek words that the New
Testament uses to express slander. Slander is a sin that must be
put off, for it -- just as any other sin -- can keep one out of
heaven.
So after instructing the brethren to put all these sinful works of the
flesh aside (in 1 Peter 2:1), Peter then exhorts them to be like a
newborn babe and long for the pure milk of the word that they may grow
thereby, in regard to their salvation. Since we would not think
of all these Christians as having recently begun their new life in
Christ, it would seem that Peter is using this phrase ("like newborn
babies") to not only express the innocence they should have with regard
to these sins they were told to put aside; but, also, to express their
zeal toward being fed with God's word, just as an infant would be
toward milk. For the Christian is to "hunger and thirst for
righteousness" in order to be blessed and satisfied (Matt. 5:6) -- and,
according to Psalm 119:172, all God's commandments are
righteousness. The King James Version renders this as the
"sincere milk" of the word. This word "sincere" or "pure" comes from
the Greek word "adolos." We had just considered in 1 Peter 1:1
that the Christian is to put aside all "guile" or "deceit," and that
that was from the Greek word "dolos"; so "adolos" -- with the prefix
"a" -- is just the opposite of that. It is that which is without
guile or without deceit. It is pure and sincere. So to
benefit from the pure milk of God's word, it cannot be contaminated by
the false doctrines of man, as some have done. Peter closes
his second epistle with the exhortation for Christians to "grow in the
grace and knowledge of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ..." (2 Pet.
3:18).
Peter then says in 1 Peter 2:3, "if you have tasted the kindness of the
Lord." Both Strong and Bullinger show that though the Greek word
for "tasted" (geuomai) means literally to taste, it also figuratively
means to "experience." It can pertain to experiencing either good
or ill. The same Greek word is also used in Hebrews 2:9: "But we
do see Him who was made for a little while lower than the angels,
namely, Jesus, because of the suffering of death crowned with glory and
honor, so that by the grace of God He might taste death for
everyone." Christ was made "a little lower than the angels" not
in rank, but by taking on a human body so that He could experience
death for every sinner. In Hebrews 6:4-6, the writer speaks of
those who had "once been enlightened and have TASTED of the heavenly
gift and have been made partakers of the Holy Spirit, and have TASTED
the good word of God and the powers of the age to come...." For
they had truly experienced those things. So Peter shows in 1
Peter 2:3 that those who have truly experienced the blessings of the
Lord are the ones who can be motivated by that foretaste toward
developing even more in the knowledge of Christ.
God's kindness is for all, but receiving it and remaining in it is
conditional. Paul pointed out to the Romans that it is "...the
kindness of God [that] leads you to repentance" (Rom. 2:4); and to
Timothy, that one's salvation is seen in connection with "...when the
kindness of God our Savior and His love for mankind appeared" (Titus
3:4). But the apostle also taught that the same God who has shown
kindness can also show wrath, depending on the individual's choice, in
Romans 11:21,22: "for if God did not spare the natural branches [the
non-believing/unfaithful Jews], He will not spare you, either [the
Gentiles who would become non-believing/unfaithful]. Behold then
the kindness and severity of God; to those who fell, severity, but to
you, God's kindness, if you continue in His kindness; otherwise you
also will be cut off." So part of continuing in God's kindness
also involves our taking heed to 1 Peter 2:1-3 to put aside "all malice
and all deceit and hypocrisy and envy and all slander" and to truly
love God's word and submit to it that we may grow in the faith as a
result. May this be ever so for each of us.
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The Steps That Lead to Eternal Salvation
1) Hear the gospel,
for that is how faith comes (Rom. 10:17; John 20:30,31).
2) Believe in the
deity of Christ (John 8:24; John 3:18).
3) Repent of sins
(Luke 13:5; Acts 17:30).
4) Confess faith in Christ
(Rom. 10:9,10; Acts 8:36-38).
5) Be baptized in water
for the remission of sins (Mark 16:16; Acts 2:38; 22:16; Rom. 6:3,4;
Gal. 3:26,27; 1 Pet. 3:21).
6) Continue in the faith;
for,
if
not,
salvation
can
be
lost
(Heb.
10:36-39;
Rev.
2:10;
2
Pet.
2:20-22).
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CHURCH OF CHRIST
201 Rushing Road (at the Hampton Inn), Denham Springs, Louisiana
70726
Sunday services: 9:15 AM (Bible class); 10 AM & 4 PM (worship)
evangelist/editor: Tom Edwards (225) 667-4520
tedwards@onemain.com
tedwards1109@gmail.com
http://home.onemain.com/~tedwards/go (Gospel Observer website)
http://home.onemain.com/~tedwards/audioser.html (audio sermons)
Directions:
Take the Denham Springs exit (exit 10) off of I-12. At the end of
the exit ramp, turn north. Go about a stone's throw to Rushing
Road. (You'll see a Starbucks, Circle K, and two other gas
stations; with each on each corner.) Turn left on Rushing Road,
and go a little less than 0.3 of a mile. Hampton Inn will be on
the
right. We assemble in its "Meeting Room," which is very close to
the reception counter. Just walk pass the check-in counter; turn
right at the hall. The first and second doors on the left lead to
where we meet.