I am glad to be back and I am glad to be back in 1 Peter. This morning we are going to begin a series in this Scripture that is going to take us to at least 1 Peter 3:12. The series is titled “A Life Submitted”. Peter will explain how we are to conduct ourselves in the world, our civic obligations, and then he will move into our domestic’s duties, as slaves, wives and husbands. This morning message is titled “A Life Submitted: In the World” 1 Peter 2:11-12. So before we get into the message we need to lay the some ground work. Also I know this morning is Mother’s Day and I want to wish every mother happy Mother’s Day!
Before we move into this passage we need to first do an overview of what we have covered and define the word “submitted”. My goal for this message this morning is firstly for you to understand ‘who you are in Christ and what that means and how we are to live a submitted life in the world around us. So let us do an overview, a reminder of what we talked about so far.
Overview
Peter is writing to a group of believers in a region that is now modern day Turkey. They are facing persecution and are confused and discouraged by what they are going through. Peter is writing to them to encourage them to stand strong and he reminds them of who they are and the example they have in Christ.
He tells them they were chosen, set apart for obedience. Through Christ they have a new birth into a living hope, that they have an inheritance, which can never be taken from them. This inheritance is being protected by God Himself. The trails they face will build their faith that will result in praise, glory and honor to Christ. In the end they will receive salvation of their souls.
This salvation was foretold by prophets who carefully tried to understand this incredible act of grace. They couldn’t fully understand the messianic sufferings and glories that would follow. In view of this, they were to set their hope in this grace and live obedient lives. To be holy as God is holy. Peter tells them they have been redeemed, bought with a price with the blood of Christ.
He continues to encourage them by telling them they are living stones, a holy priesthood, being built into a spiritual house, the church. Christ is the cornerstone, the foundational stone for which this new temple is being built.
They are a chosen race, a royal priesthood, a holy nation, a people for His possession, so that they may testify and proclaim the praises of the one who call them out of darkness into the marvelous light. Once they were not a people but now they are God’s people. I don’t know about you but that to me sounds encouraging!
-Who we are and our purpose
Remember I began this overview by saying Peter is talking to a group of people who are facing persecution and are confused and discouraged by what they are going through. Many people come into Christianity and think it is an easier way of doing things or at least think along those lines. Many of you may have heard a pastor or a friends say something like that. But soon after giving your life to Christ you noticed things seem to be harder than you thought. You sense peace, but in fact you find yourself confused and discouraged at times. Family members and friends are critical of your new found faith.
You find yourself overwhelmed by the Bible and everything there is to learn. I want this message to be an encouragement to you this morning. I want you to see this letter is also written to you. You are chosen in Christ and set apart. You were given a new birth and a living hope in Christ. You a have wonderful future secured for you by God, who is personally holding it for you by His power. That though you will face trials and difficulties in this life they are going to be used by God to built your faith in Him. You will learn to trust Him more and more as you grow in Him and as He cares for and provides for you.
He has given you a hope in a purpose for your life. You were chosen for a purpose and are part of a royal priesthood, a holy nation, valuable to God Himself. Once you had not received mercy, but now you have received mercy by God glorious grace! You are to proclaim this message to all people. You are God’s representative, His ambassador, interceding for people to God Himself. You do this by praying for them, sharing the love of Christ with them.
You are precious and valuable to God. This should be incredibly humbling for us, breath taking, inspiring and spur us to do our very best for the Lord.
A Life Submitted
Before we go any further we need to define the word submitted. Because in the verse 2:13 you see the first word is submit and you will see it four more times through the next set of verses. In fact it is the theme or the framework Peter is working from. Verse 11 and 12 will make sense if you are living a life submitted to the ‘living hope’ the ‘new birth’ presented in Chapter 1:3.
So what does this word ‘submit’ mean in the text here? The Greek word used here is “hypotasso” which means to “subordinate”. It is used 38 times New Testament, it is normally translated either “subjected”, “submitted”, or “submission”. So in English it is seen as yielding to someone or something superior or stronger, a process, treatment or condition. An example would be Galatians 5:1 “Christ has liberated us to be free. Stand firm then and don’t submit again to a yoke of slavery.” The same Greek word is used here in a negative sense.
What does this look like as a Christian to live a life submitted or in servitude to God, I think Paul in Philippians 1:20-21 sums it up well; see if you can see it. “My eager expectation and hope is that I will not be ashamed about anything, but that now as always, with all boldness, Christ will be highly honored in my body, whether by life or by death. For me, living is Christ and dying is gain. (Philippians 1:20-21 HCSB) Paul is totally submitted to Christ, he lives for Christ. Let’s look at this morning’s passage with this in mind.
“Dear friends, I urge you as strangers and temporary residents to abstain from fleshly desires that war against you. Conduct yourselves honorably among the Gentiles, so that in a case where they speak against you as those who do what is evil, they will, by observing your good works, glorify God on the day of visitation.” 1 Peter 2:11-12 HCSB
-Beloved
The first word is beloved or dear friends depending on your translation. Peter is reminding them we are part of God family. We are in this together, all those in Christ. He is also sharing his love for them and how he considers them family, he is telling them he cares for them and wants the very best for them.
-Strangers
He urges them to live as strangers and as temporary residents. We are not of this world but temporary residents, sojourners. Peter is echoing the same statement he used in the beginning of the letter to remind the reader we are not a part of this world. We are in the world but we belong to another kingdom, the kingdom of God. Knowing this we are to resist or abstain from the fleshly desires. We should be unaccustomed to what is all around us. There should be something different about us, about the way we live and talk. We are Christ ambassadors and must not do anything Chirst would be ashamed about. We are to glorify Christ with our lives. John says this:
“For everything that belongs to the world--the lust of the flesh, the lust of the eyes, and the pride in one's lifestyle--is not from the Father, but is from the world. And the world with its lust is passing away, but the one who does God's will remains forever.” (1 John 2:16-17 HCSB)
What we fail to realize as Christians is we are at war with this, we don’t succumb to it, but we oppose it.
-War
The flesh we live in is at war with our spiritual selves. Turn your Bibles to
Galatians 5:16-23 to give you Paul’s take on this very idea.
“I say then, walk by the Spirit and you will not carry out the desire of the flesh. 17 For the flesh desires what is against the Spirit, and the Spirit desires what is against the flesh; these are opposed to each other, so that you don't do what you want. 18 But if you are led by the Spirit, you are not under the law. 19 Now the works of the flesh are obvious: sexual immorality, moral impurity, promiscuity, 20 idolatry, sorcery, hatreds, strife, jealousy, outbursts of anger, selfish ambitions, dissensions, factions, 21 envy, drunkenness, carousing, and anything similar. I tell you about these things in advance--as I told you before--that those who practice such things will not inherit the kingdom of God. 22 But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faith, 23 gentleness, self-control. Against such things there is no law.”
It’s very important that we live according to the Spirit that we allow the Spirit to live in us and through us. We do this by submitting our lives to God who lives in us through the Holy Spirit. But if we indulge the flesh, if we live in the flesh we will die spiritually. God cannot co-exist with willful sin in our lives. But if you focus on Christ and live in the spirit we put to death the deeds of the flesh.
Why is this so important? The problem in the church today is many of us are living in the flesh, our lives do not reflect the fruits of the Spirit, but the fruit of the flesh. By doing so we are serving up poison to the world around us.
When we live in the flesh, the people in the world around us see there is no difference between them and us. Why should they follow Christ? We have served them poison and they are going to die because of it! What we should be serving them is big healthy portions of “love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faith, gentleness, and self-control. That will feed their souls, which will lead to a life in Christ. That is something they will come to crave because in this world they are feeding on an ocean of garbage, we serve them nourishing fruit that leads to life! This can only be done if Christ is living in us and through us.
-Witness
The world is watching us. Your family members are watching the way you live. Your co-workers are watching you, everyone is watching you. You are a witness of Christ. Live your life in such a way that the world around you will praise God for who you are in Christ. Last night I had a young lady say to me, “I’m not religious, but you speak with such passion and I love that you believe what you are saying. I like listening to you.” I pray I would just not say it but live it also every day in front of everyone, the world around us are hungry for the truth we have in Christ.
Glorify God
Peter closes this verse with these words “glorify God on the day of visitation”. He starts verse twelve by saying that even if people say something bad against you, they will see your good deeds and glorify God. I see this verse in this way, people who were not believers became believers through your witness, by the way you lived your life, and God used you to reach them for His glory. And when Christ returns, they glorify God. Let me give you an illustration for this.
It’s Mother’s day and I can’t think of a better example of this than my parents. Growing up my mother modeled for me a life submitted to her husband and dedication to her children. Also later she has lived a life dedicated to the Lord. She took care of my step father. She cooked and cleaned for him, made sure everything was taken care of, so he could work hard to provide for us as a family, which he did, even though growing up he wasn’t a believer or there wasn’t any evidence of it. What was the result of this?
My mother is now going through chemo therapy, she has had cancer twice in the last three years, Wayne her husband of 33 years and been there serving her, taking care of her, he nurses her with the most tender loving care. He meets all her needs and never complains out of love for her, which I believe is a result of all the years my mother took care of Him. He loves her unconditionally to the glory of God!
That is how we are to live our lives in the world around us. We can only do that with a life submitted to Christ.
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