1 Peter 4:1-11 - Suffer Righteously!

1 Peter 4:1-11

1 Therefore, since Christ suffered for us in the flesh, arm yourselves also with the same mind, for he who has suffered in the flesh has ceased from sin, 2 that he no longer should live the rest of his time in the flesh for the lusts of men, but for the will of God. 3 For we have spent enough of our past lifetime in doing the will of the Gentiles—when we walked in lewdness, lusts, drunkenness, revelries, drinking parties, and abominable idolatries. 4 In regard to these, they think it strange that you do not run with them in the same flood of dissipation, speaking evil of you. 5 They will give an account to Him who is ready to judge the living and the dead. 6 For this reason the gospel was preached also to those who are dead, that they might be judged according to men in the flesh, but live according to God in the spirit.

Serving for God’s Glory

7 But the end of all things is at hand; therefore be serious and watchful in your prayers. 8 And above all things have fervent love for one another, for “love will cover a multitude of sins.” 9 Be hospitable to one another without grumbling. 10 As each one has received a gift, minister it to one another, as good stewards of the manifold grace of God. 11 If anyone speaks, let him speak as the oracles of God. If anyone ministers, let him do it as with the ability which God supplies, that in all things God may be glorified through Jesus Christ, to whom belong the glory and the dominion forever and ever. Amen.

Do we truly believe that suffering for God’s glory and not participating in the sinful acts of the world are truly and absolutely essential?  We know how Jesus Christ suffered for us as a man to take on those things that we deserve in consequence for our sin.  Do we adopt that same mind of Christ to suffer for doing what is right as we stop sinning as others living for the passing pleasures offered to us and endorsed daily by this fallen world and its myriad of cultures opposed to righteousness?  Jesus told us through Peter to arm our minds against these temptations to fit into the culture (as if that could ever help the gospel or evangelism) and to wage war against the sin in our bodies (Romans 7:23-25) and minds.  We arm ourselves with the word of God and wield this sword of holiness by the strength and wisdom of His Spirit living in we who have been brought into Christ through repentance and faith that we might now live for God’s will and not our own broken ones.  Many of us have spent some or much time in the past involved in the world’s pursuits of partying, sexual immorality, wild times, and abominations of idolatry in the occult such as horoscopes or worse.  When we come to be in Christ and associated with Him in righteous living, the world often turns on us viciously and relentlessly by speaking evil of and ridiculing us for no longer going along with them on their highway to hell.  What they forget and we must constantly remember is that they will be held accountable to God in the judgment as we will also, but that their sins have not been covered and forgiven as ours have been.  They hear the gospel as we have, yet they reject Him and know they are judged by refusing salvation from God’s wrath on the sin of disobedience to His word as in the beginning in Eden’s Garden.  Yes, the gospel is preached to those who remain in their sin that they have no excuse (Romans 1:20-21) when we all will certainly stand before the judgment seat (Romans 14:10: 2 Corinthians 5:10-11) of the Lord Christ.  Because the end approaches each passing day, we are to buy back the time we have (Ephesians 5:16, Colossians 4:5) in this evil age (Galatians 1:4) and be seeking personal holiness in humility and thankfulness for the grace given us as we demonstrate this by love for one another and all that as many as call on His name will be saved from this tragic eternal end.  This means practical holiness and love demonstrated in our treatment of others without complaining or giving into sin in a misguided attempt at friendship evangelism that compromises the way we are to live before God and man.  May we speak and act accordingly in all we do and say as ministers of the good news by God-given abilities to glorify Him forever, our Sovereign ruler over all creation and everyone in it.  This is how to suffer righteously. 

1 Peter 3:13-22 - Suffering to Glory, Looking Above

1 Peter 3:13-22

Suffering for Right and Wrong

13 And who is he who will harm you if you become followers of what is good? 14 But even if you should suffer for righteousness’ sake, you are blessed. “And do not be afraid of their threats, nor be troubled.” 15 But sanctify the Lord God in your hearts, and always be ready to give a defense to everyone who asks you a reason for the hope that is in you, with meekness and fear; 16 having a good conscience, that when they defame you as evildoers, those who revile your good conduct in Christ may be ashamed. 17 For it is better, if it is the will of God, to suffer for doing good than for doing evil.

Christ’s Suffering and Ours

18 For Christ also suffered once for sins, the just for the unjust, that He might bring us to God, being put to death in the flesh but made alive by the Spirit, 19 by whom also He went and preached to the spirits in prison, 20 who formerly were disobedient, when once the Divine longsuffering waited in the days of Noah, while the ark was being prepared, in which a few, that is, eight souls, were saved through water. 21 There is also an antitype which now saves us—baptism (not the removal of the filth of the flesh, but the answer of a good conscience toward God), through the resurrection of Jesus Christ, 22 who has gone into heaven and is at the right hand of God, angels and authorities and powers having been made subject to Him.

Just as Jesus the Christ suffered to glory as we read in Psalm 22 and the gospel accounts, so we also suffer for His name and the sake of the gospel (2 Timothy 3:12, 1 Peter 4:19) as we follow our Lord and proclaim Him in word and deed (Romans 15:18, Colossians 3:17, 1 John 3:18).  If we follow what is good in God’s eyes instead of those of the world and suffer persecution for doing what is right, we can find blessings in that righteous response to the evil in the world set against Christ and we who are in Him.  Why then be afraid (Psalm 118:6, Hebrews 13:5-6) or troubled (disturbed or perplexed) when threatened?  If we set aside the Lord in our hearts as we look to things above then we will take advantage of every situation, even the unpleasant ones, to proclaim Christ in a defense that is the answer of the good news of the divine person and atoning work of Jesus to our persecutors to their sin and its penalty coming on the day of judgment.  He is our only and complete hope of eternal life in God’s presence forevermore (Psalm 16:11) and so in godly meekness humility at our undeserved salvation we should be clear in our conscience by giving the reason of that hope in Christ to all who ask.  If we are then defamed for presenting the truth to them, we can rest with a clear conscience that we have born witness of the truth to them to take to God or to reject and suffer the consequences.  Then those who treat us badly will have the opportunity to be ashamed at treating the messengers of good news in such a way, either here or in eternity.  Above all, this truth is worth emphasizing, “it is better, if it is the will of God, to suffer for doing good than for doing evil.”  We consider the suffering of Christ on our behalf to reckon Himself as the receiver of our punishment to death for our sin as one who is completely just and righteous because He is God in the flesh (John 1:1, 14, 10:30) and how He unjustly suffered that we do not suffer eternal punishment (Matthew 25:46, 1 John 4:18).  Then we consider how He raised Himself to life from the grave as proof of our own bodily resurrection to come as promised and count our own suffering here as little compared to the glory (Romans 8:18) to come!  His gospel was known, though veiled, in the Old Testament days and yet some believed and were saved from destruction by this same gospel of the Messiah-Christ that we are.  We then are baptized into Christ with the same hope of this resurrection to life to stand before the throne of God in the New Jerusalem to come down to earth that we may worship and enjoy Him forever!  We suffer now to the glory to come as we set our eyes looking above where our Lord rules in heaven over everything and everyone.  Amen. 

1 Peter 3:1-12 - Our Submission’s Blessings

1 Peter 3:1-12

Submission to Husbands

1 Wives, likewise, be submissive to your own husbands, that even if some do not obey the word, they, without a word, may be won by the conduct of their wives, 2 when they observe your chaste conduct accompanied by fear. 3 Do not let your adornment be merely outward—arranging the hair, wearing gold, or putting on fine apparel— 4 rather let it be the hidden person of the heart, with the incorruptible beauty of a gentle and quiet spirit, which is very precious in the sight of God. 5 For in this manner, in former times, the holy women who trusted in God also adorned themselves, being submissive to their own husbands, 6 as Sarah obeyed Abraham, calling him lord, whose daughters you are if you do good and are not afraid with any terror.

A Word to Husbands

7 Husbands, likewise, dwell with them with understanding, giving honor to the wife, as to the weaker vessel, and as being heirs together of the grace of life, that your prayers may not be hindered.

Called to Blessing

8 Finally, all of you be of one mind, having compassion for one another; love as brothers, be tenderhearted, be courteous; 9 not returning evil for evil or reviling for reviling, but on the contrary blessing, knowing that you were called to this, that you may inherit a blessing. 10 For

“He who would love life
And see good days,
Let him refrain his tongue from evil,
And his lips from speaking deceit.

11 Let him turn away from evil and do good;
Let him seek peace and pursue it.

12 For the eyes of the LORD are on the righteous,
And His ears are open to their prayers;
But the face of the LORD is against those who do evil.”

When we submit to one another according to God’s created order, we find His blessings in our lives.  Just as the previous verses in this passage told us to submit to government leaders employers given authority over us, now we see the more intimate submission in marriage, both in the individual roles and between one another as husband and wife, between man and woman, as God ordained for and in marriage.  First of all, wives are addressed to submit willingly as we all do to the Lord.  The wife is to submit to his authority given by the Lord even if the husband disobeys God in order to show the right way God intends through the good conduct of the wife and her submission to that role’s authority, and not to argue or use other improper words to make the husband do what is right; this response holds for us all as believers, by the way.  The wife then becomes an an example of good conduct for her husband to follow and not one to usurp the authority or role that the husband needs to take on.  She is to not concentrate on her outward appearance nearly as much as the inner person of the heart and godly spirit.  This is not a prohibition against nice clothing or jewelry, but rather an emphasis on what is most important over these things.  What is precious to the Lord in the wife is, “the hidden person of the heart, with the incorruptible beauty of a gentle and quiet spirit.”  This adornment of inner godliness has examples from the Old Testament in Sarah with our father Abraham as mentioned here for us to learn (Romans 15:4) from.  As for husbands, we are to give understanding and honor to the wife as an equal (Galatians 3:28) heir of eternal life, considering the weaker aspect brought out in the deception of the fall into sin in the beginning (1 Corinthians 8-10, 12:23, 2 Corinthians 11:3) which helped reinforce the roles of man and wife established in creation with Adam first and then Eve from his side as a co-heir yet under his authority of order.  Going against this order in any way by reversal or denial only hinders our prayers and is dishonoring our Lord.  We are called to submit in the roles of marriage so that we see the blessings of the Lord in our lives together.  This means we come to one mind of agreement to this and all of scripture we are taught while demonstrating compassion and not overbearing or rebellious behavior.  Loving one another extends outside the marriage to all with tender compassion, courteousness, forgiveness over revenge, blessing others that we might be blessed by the Lord for doing what is good, proper, and right.  Our words and actions are called to turn from evil to do good while running after being peacemakers (Matthew 5:9) as we realize that God is watching and listening to our prayers and lives.  He opposes the proud and rebellious but blesses those who submit and bless one another.  These are our submission’s blessings. 

1 Peter 2:11-25 - Pilgrims’ Progress

1 Peter 2:11-25

Living Before the World

11 Beloved, I beg you as sojourners and pilgrims, abstain from fleshly lusts which war against the soul, 12 having your conduct honorable among the Gentiles, that when they speak against you as evildoers, they may, by your good works which they observe, glorify God in the day of visitation.

Submission to Government (cf. Rom. 13:1–5)

13 Therefore submit yourselves to every ordinance of man for the Lord’s sake, whether to the king as supreme, 14 or to governors, as to those who are sent by him for the punishment of evildoers and for the praise of those who do good. 15 For this is the will of God, that by doing good you may put to silence the ignorance of foolish men— 16 as free, yet not using liberty as a cloak for vice, but as bondservants of God. 17 Honor all people. Love the brotherhood. Fear God. Honor the king.

Submission to Masters (Is. 53:7–9)

18 Servants, be submissive to your masters with all fear, not only to the good and gentle, but also to the harsh. 19 For this is commendable, if because of conscience toward God one endures grief, suffering wrongfully. 20 For what credit is it if, when you are beaten for your faults, you take it patiently? But when you do good and suffer, if you take it patiently, this is commendable before God. 21 For to this you were called, because Christ also suffered for us, leaving us an example, that you should follow His steps:

22 “Who committed no sin,
Nor was deceit found in His mouth”;

23 who, when He was reviled, did not revile in return; when He suffered, He did not threaten, but committed Himself to Him who judges righteously; 24 who Himself bore our sins in His own body on the tree, that we, having died to sins, might live for righteousness—by whose stripes you were healed. 25 For you were like sheep going astray, but have now returned to the Shepherd and Overseer of your souls.

We are pilgrims traveling through this world of woe corrupted by sin and constantly tempted to join back in after being rescued out of it.  Peter speaks for the Lord to implore we who are in Christ to stay away from our unspiritual desires that wage constant battle against our very lives to tempt us into sin as James 1:14-15 also warns us of the thread pulling us by our inordinate desires (1 John 2:15-16) away from holiness.  We are reminding to live honorable and righteous lives before this world to demonstrate the difference and better way to live as we were created to do in God’s image and not according our fallen nature spawned out of rebellion against God’s word spoken in Eden and meant for our good.  When we demonstrate the changed nature of our rebirth as we choose not to delve back into our corrupt disobedience in which we all have been born (Romans 3:23), then others see and glorify God upon His return in our reflection of His glory in the image of Himself in us.  Because of these things, we pilgrims show our progress in our sanctification as we become more like the Lord in holiness and less like fellow sinners before our conversion and they then glorify God for His transformative work of the gospel in us.  We demonstrate this change by submitting to the government put over us by God (Romans 13:1) to obey and not to fight against them as if we can make everyone righteous and Christians by our efforts of further rebellion.  By submitting to them and the laws put over us at God’s hand through them, we do good instead to silence the arrogance of the rebellious set with violence and anger against these put in place by God and use our true spiritual freedom from sin to serve God and not the flesh.  The command then is to “Honor all people. Love the brotherhood. Fear God. Honor the king.”  Do we do these things to honor and obey, or join in the battle for “democratic rights” apart from God, uprising against those who have been installed by the Lord for His purposes as if our fighting can work the righteousness of God (James 1:20)?  As God’s servants and those of our leaders and employers, we are to be submissive and righteous in our actions as well.  If we do,what is right according to godly conscience, then our patience in the wrongful and unfair treatment demonstrates the suffering which Jesus Himself allowed for the glory of God to the point of death (Philippians 2:8, 14-15).  Do we do better than Him by fighting back instead of submitting while suffering wrongfully?  He was completely sinless, unlike us, and did not lie to escape the consequences of our sin.  He demonstrated how to love and bear with our persecutors that we may live for righteousness after dying to our sins.  His stripes of undeserved beatings for doing right have healed our souls (Isaiah 53:5-6) by accepting the unfair treatment as we are to do as we imitate Christ in life.  Remember that we were once lost sheep wandering about in sin without a Shepherd to lead us to holiness and righteousness as intended in our original creation in His image, and therefore are now under the care of the eternal and omnipotent sovereign, the Overseer of our very lives forevermore.  May our responses and direction of our lives then not be politically or socially driven, but driven by the nail-scarred hands of Jesus Christ our Shepherd who gives heavenly direction.  We once were strays from God but now are being led by Him to submission in the places He puts us to demonstrate His righteousness to the world of injustice by His undeserved goodness of grace.  This is the pilgrims’ progress of sanctification.

1 Peter 2:4-10 - The Foundational Truth

1 Peter 2:4-10

The Chosen Stone and His Chosen People (Ps. 118:22; Is. 28:16)

4 Coming to Him as to a living stone, rejected indeed by men, but chosen by God and precious, 5 you also, as living stones, are being built up a spiritual house, a holy priesthood, to offer up spiritual sacrifices acceptable to God through Jesus Christ. 6 Therefore it is also contained in the Scripture,

“Behold, I lay in Zion
A chief cornerstone, elect, precious,
And he who believes on Him will by no means be put to shame.”

7 Therefore, to you who believe, He is precious; but to those who are disobedient,

“The stone which the builders rejected
Has become the chief cornerstone,”

8 and

“A stone of stumbling
And a rock of offense.”

They stumble, being disobedient to the word, to which they also were appointed.

9 But you are a chosen generation, a royal priesthood, a holy nation, His own special people, that you may proclaim the praises of Him who called you out of darkness into His marvelous light; 10 who once were not a people but are now the people of God, who had not obtained mercy but now have obtained mercy.

We who are called into Christ and His righteousness by the eternal and enduring word of grace of the gospel of Jesus Christ must understand how we fit together as individual bricks of the whole body (which is the church) built upon our Lord.  He is Himself the living stone, the cornerstone (Isaiah 28:16, Psalm 118:22-23) of this building chosen by God the Father to be rejected by many but received according to His word and work that we may be living stones as well.  We together are being assembled and molded into a house of God and household of priests in it to offer true and acceptable lives of sacrificial worship (Romans 12:1-2) to serve our Lord through doing the works prepared for us (Ephesians 2:10) as built upon our faith (Ephesians 2:8-9) in the Son of God as we have been chosen and called to do.  Jesus is the cornerstone that scriptures like Isaiah 28:16 and Psalm 118:22-23 describe to us that we might build on Him (1 Corinthians 3:9, 11-12) as our only foundation into His true spiritual temple  (1 Corinthians 3:16) to worship from collectively which is the universal unseen body of all believers known as the church.  All who build on this foundation of salvation whose stone sets the rest straight and true as cornerstones do, all these are precious to Him and He to us as well obey the gospel by faith to take good at His word and settle firmly upon that confess of faith in Christ.  We will never be put to eternal shame as those who reject Him () and disobey the gospel of repentance and faith.  Those who stumble over Him will be ground to powder as we read in Luke 20:17-18 because they stumble in disobedience over the truth of the gospel and refuse to stand on Him alone for deliverance from sin’s power and penalty.  We who hear and turn from sin to Him, however, see that we are His chosen people, each one a priest (unlike some who imagine men alone can make on a priest) to our God to minister this good news to others by proclaiming and teaching them all things (Matthew 28:19-20) as we have been commissioned to do.  We who are in Christ are the true nation of God, the spiritual Israel (), made to speak these truths to the world.  We have known the darkness of the lost sheep in this present evil age but have been brought into His marvelous light of saving grace to know Him personally and corporately.  We now are the people of God (Hosea 1:10, Romans 9:6, 24-25) in Christ!  We have received mercy through grace in Christ alone by faith alone for God’s glory apart from any work we could ever hope or imagine to do on our own to earn such riches of eternal life!  We are His chosen people, the church of the called-out ones consisting of we all who are each and every one saints and priests to our God in Him.  This is the foundational truth of the gospel and indeed of all scripture from beginning to end.

1 Peter 1:13 - 2:3 - Faith and Hope Founded on the Word

1 Peter 1:13 - 2:3

Living Before God Our Father

13 Therefore gird up the loins of your mind, be sober, and rest your hope fully upon the grace that is to be brought to you at the revelation of Jesus Christ; 14 as obedient children, not conforming yourselves to the former lusts, as in your ignorance; 15 but as He who called you is holy, you also be holy in all your conduct, 16 because it is written, “Be holy, for I am holy.”

17 And if you call on the Father, who without partiality judges according to each one’s work, conduct yourselves throughout the time of your stay here in fear; 18 knowing that you were not redeemed with corruptible things, like silver or gold, from your aimless conduct received by tradition from your fathers, 19 but with the precious blood of Christ, as of a lamb without blemish and without spot. 20 He indeed was foreordained before the foundation of the world, but was manifest in these last times for you 21 who through Him believe in God, who raised Him from the dead and gave Him glory, so that your faith and hope are in God.

The Enduring Word

22 Since you have purified your souls in obeying the truth through the Spirit in sincere love of the brethren, love one another fervently with a pure heart, 23 having been born again, not of corruptible seed but incorruptible, through the word of God which lives and abides forever, 24 because

“All flesh is as grass,
And all the glory of man as the flower of the grass.
The grass withers,
And its flower falls away,
25 But the word of the LORD endures forever.”

Now this is the word which by the gospel was preached to you.

1 Therefore, laying aside all malice, all deceit, hypocrisy, envy, and all evil speaking, 2 as newborn babes, desire the pure milk of the word, that you may grow thereby, 3 if indeed you have tasted that the Lord is gracious.

Our faith and hope are founded firmly and certainly on the word of God revealed in the gospel of God’s grace in Jesus Christ to us.  We are called to rest fully on this grace without wavering in doubt or fear of holding onto our deliverance from sin’s penalty which has been lifted forever from us by the Lord and His work.  Therefore, we are called in response to live in the holiness of Christ seeing how we now rest in His righteousness in this certain hope and not to continue to live as before Christ was revealed to us through the gospel whose words of His person and work have transformed us as newborn children.  Obedient children listen to their Father and follow His words to be holy as He is to please Him and because that is our purpose as recreated image-bearers of the Lord.  Since we have been redeemed, bought back from the slavery and condemnation of sin, we should have a fearful awe of our Lord and Savior as we aim to live and run this race of the pursuit of holiness to see our Lord day by day in ever-increasing joy in His face reflected in us (2 Corinthians 3:18).  We have redeemed by the eternally precious blood of Christ’s sacrifice for our sin’s covering at His expense of suffering and death on that cruel tree of the cross’s curse which we earned and deserve.  This truth should move us towards holy living in awe and wonder each day until we see Him face to face apart from judgment.  Our perfect spotless Passover Lamb has spread the blood of His sacrifice on the doorposts of our hearts to keep us from the penalty of sin which is eternal condemnation and suffering, and this is all by the unearned and unmerited goodness in Christ by God our Father as testified by His word through the understanding given by His Spirit in us now.  We read the scriptures of Moses and the prophets and see how the Messiah-Christ was foreordained to suffer and die (Luke 24:26-27) for our salvation from sin’s penalty of eternal judgment and has now been revealed to us to grant eternal life apart from that judgment so that our faith and hope are in God and His glorious work alone apart from any work we could ever hope to do to earn or deserve our salvation.  Since we have been purified by His word of grace, ought we not to continue to devotedly pursue the truth of scripture and the love for one another second only to the Lord?  Our fervent love from a pure heart has no other motive than to please God, not earn favor or position by what we should do as His servants (Luke 17:10) anyway.  We have been born again by this incorruptible and eternal word of unearned grace and goodness of our Savior God, knowing all we are and possess fades away in time but only His word lasts forever.  This word is the gospel we heard and which saves us from sin’s penalty, and therefore is the reason we must pursue holiness with a genuine desire to drink deeply (Isaiah 55:1, 3, 7) of it to grow in Christ and His gracious grace.  This means we love others in truth and stop hating, deceiving, misleading, envying, and defaming one another.  That is what the unregenerate do and what we have been called out of to act as He does instead.  Our faith and hope are founded on the word of this gospel to change us and the way we live and deal with one another from a changed heart. 

1 Peter 1:1-12 - Our Heavenly Inheritance

1 Peter 1:1-12

Greeting to the Elect Pilgrims

1 Peter, an apostle of Jesus Christ,

To the pilgrims of the Dispersion in Pontus, Galatia, Cappadocia, Asia, and Bithynia, 2 elect according to the foreknowledge of God the Father, in sanctification of the Spirit, for obedience and sprinkling of the blood of Jesus Christ:

Grace to you and peace be multiplied.

A Heavenly Inheritance

3 Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, who according to His abundant mercy has begotten us again to a living hope through the resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead, 4 to an inheritance incorruptible and undefiled and that does not fade away, reserved in heaven for you, 5 who are kept by the power of God through faith for salvation ready to be revealed in the last time.

6 In this you greatly rejoice, though now for a little while, if need be, you have been grieved by various trials, 7 that the genuineness of your faith, being much more precious than gold that perishes, though it is tested by fire, may be found to praise, honor, and glory at the revelation of Jesus Christ, 8 whom having not seen you love. Though now you do not see Him, yet believing, you rejoice with joy inexpressible and full of glory, 9 receiving the end of your faith—the salvation of your souls.

10 Of this salvation the prophets have inquired and searched carefully, who prophesied of the grace that would come to you, 11 searching what, or what manner of time, the Spirit of Christ who was in them was indicating when He testified beforehand the sufferings of Christ and the glories that would follow. 12 To them it was revealed that, not to themselves, but to us they were ministering the things which now have been reported to you through those who have preached the gospel to you by the Holy Spirit sent from heaven—things which angels desire to look into.

This letter to the dispersed Jews around the area of Asia Minor, now Turkey, was written by the apostle Peter who spoke authoritatively for Jesus Christ as did Paul who also penned these New Testament letters as God’s Word.  He was one of the twelve and one of these few true apostles along with Paul who all saw Jesus face to face and had been given the words to write for us as from God’s own mouth, not as imposters claim today such as in Rome and among other divergent religious groups claiming the name of Christ.  The final word is of the Lord and these twelve plus one are the only ones whose writings were divinely inspired by God’s creative breath (2 Timothy 3:16) that put life into us.  This messenger and spokesman for the Lord wrote to these Jewish believers across the area around Jerusalem in their respective local churches to assure them of their calling in Christ as chosen from before creation by God’s plan and hand to be further sanctified in Him as they increased in personal holiness by the power of God’s Spirit working in them.  This was because they had been cleansed and made holy in the sacrifice of Christ whose blood offered for theirs and ours leads to willing obedience to the gospel for salvation and subsequent following of the Master.  This was an assurance and reminder of the grace of God given them and the peace with Him as a result (Romans 5:1).  Peter went on to praise the Lord for saving them all by such abundant mercy that gives us a living hope of certainty and not a wishful hope without substance that we have as proof (Hebrews 11:1) of conviction according to the gospel word of promise.  This proof of our hope was demonstrated in His resurrection from death to life in the flesh (1 Corinthians 15:3-4) as assurance of our own resurrection first of our souls in their life as a new birth of our regeneration and then in the end of time as our bodily resurrection with an incorruptible new body (1 Corinthians 15:49-50, 53-54) to match that lasts for eternity.  That is our hope proven by Jesus Christ rising from the dead to which we cling in absolute hope (1 Corinthians 15:13-14, 21-22) and no mere wish.  This is our promised inheritance of eternal life in God’s presence that has been reserved for all whom He has already called and chosen as we are kept by His grace and power until that day with salvation that cannot be taken or given away (John 10:28-29, Ephesians 1:13-14) by our sin or forfeited and taken back by displeasing Him!  We have eternal life, not temporary or conditional, in Christ.  That is our foundation of hope.  Yes, His power keeps us until the day of judgment on all those who reject the gospel work (Hebrews 9:27-28, 2 Thessalonians 1:8, 1 Peter 4:17) of Jesus Christ who alone can deliver us from that certain judgment (Romans 3:23, 6:23) for which we all are guilty of, our inherited and inherent sin out of our corrupted nature that we commit every day.  When we therefore suffer trials we find our faith tested to reveal these core beliefs in God’s work upholding us through them all and end up passing through them that we may “praise, honor, and glory” Jesus Christ at His revelation on that final day.  We are tested in trials by fire to refine out our faith (Zechariah 13:9) as we call upon Him who is our God and no other as His people in Christ, both Jew and Gentile.  We love Him even though we cannot see Him as the apostles did when He walked among us as Immanuel, yet we believe with unbounded joy in the hope of the salvation of our souls in the end!  This salvation had been hidden as a mystery throughout the Old Testament in the writings of the prophets (Luke 24:26-27) which had the gospel message there in veiled descriptions how Jesus Christ the Messiah would come and suffer on a tree of our curse of sin (Galatians 3:13) to die and rise again to be our Passover Lamb (Isaiah 53:7, 11, 1 Corinthians 5:7-8) who take away our sin forever and show us divine heavenly things that even the angels in God’s presence yearned to see and experience.  This is the gospel which we have heard and received the Word of God Himself (John 1:1, 12, 14) that we might know Him and make Him known through the proclamation of this good news of deliverance from the wrath of God which we all deserve to obtain the grace and saving mercy which we do not deserve.  This is our heavenly inheritance which has been prepared for all whom He calls our of sin’s darkness into His marvelous light (Acts 26:18, 1 Peter 2:9-10) of glory!

James 5:13-20 - Establish Your Ministry!

James 5:13-20

Meeting Specific Needs (cf. 1 Kin. 18:41–46)

13 Is anyone among you suffering? Let him pray. Is anyone cheerful? Let him sing psalms. 14 Is anyone among you sick? Let him call for the elders of the church, and let them pray over him, anointing him with oil in the name of the Lord. 15 And the prayer of faith will save the sick, and the Lord will raise him up. And if he has committed sins, he will be forgiven. 16 Confess your trespasses to one another, and pray for one another, that you may be healed. The effective, fervent prayer of a righteous man avails much. 17 Elijah was a man with a nature like ours, and he prayed earnestly that it would not rain; and it did not rain on the land for three years and six months. 18 And he prayed again, and the heaven gave rain, and the earth produced its fruit.

Bring Back the Erring One

19 Brethren, if anyone among you wanders from the truth, and someone turns him back, 20 let him know that he who turns a sinner from the error of his way will save a soul from death and cover a multitude of sins.

Establish your ministry is the call of James here to his readers and to us even now.  As we persevere until the coming of the Lord Jesus Christ, we have been reminded to pray for the sick, praise the Lord when we are full of joy, and trust God to hear our prayers.  God will raise the sick either now or in eternity, but we know that if we pray under the authority of Christ delegated to the elders of the local churches that He can heal the body and soul according to His will by His omnipotent power and authority.  He forgives sins and heals within as we confess the sins we commit against one another and pray for one another as He does for us.  The example of Elijah’s perseverance in prayer reminds us all to pray without ceasing and not to expect immediate results.  This prophet prayed and suffered for three and a half years before the rain came, even though he prayed earnestly every day.  He did not doubt or give up, but kept on faithfully petitioning the LORD God until the answer came down from heaven in the form of drops which brought forth fruit at last on earth.  Not only are we called to minister in prayer, but also in teaching the truth (Matthew 28:20, 2 Timothy 4:1-2) in love and perseverance to see the growth in other followers in conformity to Christ (Colossians 1:28-29) according to the scriptures and the gospel of deliverance from sin and eternal life with Him.  The call to all but especially to those in church authority is, Establish Your Ministry with perseverance and faith in Christ! 

James 5:7-12 - Establish your Hearts!

James 5:7-12

Be Patient and Persevering

7 Therefore be patient, brethren, until the coming of the Lord. See how the farmer waits for the precious fruit of the earth, waiting patiently for it until it receives the early and latter rain. 8 You also be patient. Establish your hearts, for the coming of the Lord is at hand.

9 Do not grumble against one another, brethren, lest you be condemned. Behold, the Judge is standing at the door! 10 My brethren, take the prophets, who spoke in the name of the Lord, as an example of suffering and patience. 11 Indeed we count them blessed who endure. You have heard of the perseverance of Job and seen the end intended by the Lord—that the Lord is very compassionate and merciful.

12 But above all, my brethren, do not swear, either by heaven or by earth or with any other oath. But let your “Yes” be “Yes,” and your “No,” “No,” lest you fall into judgment.

James reminds us the absolute necessity of patience in waiting for the Lord’s return by establishing our hearts on the solid foundation of assurance to all we heard as definitive truth and not a wishful hope.  We are called to establish and firmly set our hope on Christ as 1 Peter 5:10 spells out for our encouragement and assurance to persevere to the end in our sanctification because we are held by His omnipotent hand of infinite strength and are promised He will never let go (John 10:28-29, Hebrews 13:5) of us for any reason.  We wait not in idleness until He comes, but investing the talents (Matthew 25:15, 23, 29) given each on of us in our own measure with purposeful labor of love to please God and serve one another.  We use our spiritual gifts and abilities of skill and wisdom to be about our Father’s business until He returns as we eagerly (Romans 8:23, 25, 1 Corinthians 1:7-9, Philippians 3:20) await Him.  Unsettled hearts that allow doubts to move the assurance need reminding of His keeping us to the end and His absolute acceptance of us as we strive to live acceptable lives in thankful response and not to keep the free gift of salvation that cannot be returned or lost because of he Giver lives forever and promises us the same eternal life with Him.  As we then persevere, we need to do all the things we disciples are taught (Matthew 28:20) as an equally important part of the gospel as salvation from God’s wrath on our sin.  This means we are not to grumble against each other, moaning and groaning with deep sighs instead of bearing with one another in love (Ephesians 4:2, Colossians 3:13).  We should instead be groaning with anticipation of the Lord’s return together with our brothers and sisters in one accord as we support and lift up each other in patient suffering.  We are also counted as blessed when we endure hard times together as the old prophets did for our example.  The poignant example of Job should humble us into submission to trials and joy in the eternal outcome as we see God’s compassion and mercy in all He allows in our lives.  The final exhortation here is to look at all these things and do only what we promise by a simple yes or no and not with exaggerated promises of pride in a talent and ability that comes from God alone which we are stewards of.  This is how we strengthen and settle our hearts on the solid and sure foundation of Christ as our Rock. 

James 5:1-6 - Seek the Things Above

James 5:1-6

Rich Oppressors Will Be Judged

1 Come now, you rich, weep and howl for your miseries that are coming upon you! 2 Your riches are corrupted, and your garments are moth-eaten. 3 Your gold and silver are corroded, and their corrosion will be a witness against you and will eat your flesh like fire. You have heaped up treasure in the last days. 

4 Indeed the wages of the laborers who mowed your fields, which you kept back by fraud, cry out; and the cries of the reapers have reached the ears of the Lord of Sabaoth. 5 You have lived on the earth in pleasure and luxury; you have fattened your hearts as in a day of slaughter. 6 You have condemned, you have murdered the just; he does not resist you.

The proud and self-seeking will eventually discover that the riches they accumulated in their lifetime are no lasting match with the things above (Matthew 6:33, Colossians 3:1) they left untouched.  Those who seek material riches only find misery in the end and oftentimes along the way also as they scrape and claw away at others to gain what they can only lose instead of that which cannot be lost in Christ.  What wealth these gather are often corrupted and full of so many holes that they look like moth-eaten clothes stored away in a closet unused and fading away.  Their silver and gold are even corroded to the point of being useless and no longer shining and glittering as they imagine gold should be.  Such earthly treasure can never be kept long but that from the things of God can be held onto forever.  That heavenly treasure is what we should be storing up for our Lord and our reward (Matthew 16:27, 1 Corinthians 3:8, 9:24-25) and not for selfish temporal gain that is here today and gone tomorrow and forever.  We are told therefore to not defraud others but pay fair wages as we treat others fairly and with compassion in grace as we receive from our Lord such daily bread and watchcare.  If we choose to ignore others in real need and pursue only our own pleasure and luxury of possessions and power, we will find disappointment and certain accountability in the consequences of lost honor which we could have been crowned with if we had loved and lived for our Lord and our neighbors.  May we not condemn or deprive others of all God gives us to meet their needs (Titus 3:14) and honor Christ who gave up all to suffer and die in our place.  Then we will find the crowns of our reward of faithfulness in true riches that do not fade away (1 Peter 1:4) forever as we seek the things above where Christ is (Colossians 3:1) and count the cost.  Amen. 

James 4:11-17 - Humility Speaks Well of Others

James 4:11-17

Do Not Judge a Brother

11 Do not speak evil of one another, brethren. He who speaks evil of a brother and judges his brother, speaks evil of the law and judges the law. But if you judge the law, you are not a doer of the law but a judge. 12 There is one Lawgiver, who is able to save and to destroy. Who are you to judge another?

Do Not Boast About Tomorrow

13 Come now, you who say, “Today or tomorrow we will go to such and such a city, spend a year there, buy and sell, and make a profit”; 14 whereas you do not know what will happen tomorrow. For what is your life? It is even a vapor that appears for a little time and then vanishes away. 15 Instead you ought to say, “If the Lord wills, we shall live and do this or that.” 16 But now you boast in your arrogance. All such boasting is evil.

17 Therefore, to him who knows to do good and does not do it, to him it is sin.

Godly humility causes us to speak well of others and not with evil slander or harsh judgment that condemns.  We are not the judge who condemns a brother; that task is God’s alone.  Though we are to judge within the church of what (1 Corinthians 5:12, 6:5) is good or evil, we have no right to pass condemning judgment on others.  By condemning others we end up judging the word of God as we try to take on the authority of God and stand in His place while we understand that only He is our Lawgiver and Judge who passes eternal sentences on us all, either for eternal condemnation or salvation.  Such humility also does not boast about what we are going to accomplish in our own supposed ability and efforts.  We are rather to admit all we have comes from the Lord, whether wisdom, knowledge, skills, finances, or any other tools we leverage to forge our way through life.  If the Lord wills, that should be our driving saying in all our pursuits in life.  It is by His grace that we are able to do anything at anytime to gain or lose profit of any kind.  Humility confesses these truths and carries us accordingly in all we do as we consider the tenuous nature of our lives which are so transitory and fragile.  Our time on this earth is precious and short so that we can reflect on the eternity in our heart (Ecclesiastes 3:11) and see that we make the most of all we are entrusted with in light of that eternity.  This should change our attitude to say, “If the Lord wills, we shall live and do this or that” as it is written here to remind and encourage us to reliance on our Lord in all we do instead of trying to take the credit for ourselves.  Such lack of humility in assuming all we do is by our own strength and wisdom is mere arrogant pride and boasting of it is truly evil as we deny the one who enables all we do.  The underlying principle of truth here is that we do good according to what we are given and without condemning others because if we fail to do so then we are sinning.  We are called to trust God, give Him all the glory, and see one another as fellow debtors who answer to Him that we exhort and correct in love and confess all we are and can do comes from our Lord by grace. 

James 4:1-10 - Worldly Pride or Godly Humility?

James 4:1-10

Pride Promotes Strife

1 Where do wars and fights come from among you? Do they not come from your desires for pleasure that war in your members? 2 You lust and do not have. You murder and covet and cannot obtain. You fight and war. Yet you do not have because you do not ask. 3 You ask and do not receive, because you ask amiss, that you may spend it on your pleasures. 4 Adulterers and adulteresses! Do you not know that friendship with the world is enmity with God? Whoever therefore wants to be a friend of the world makes himself an enemy of God. 5 Or do you think that the Scripture says in vain, “The Spirit who dwells in us yearns jealously”?

6 But He gives more grace. Therefore He says:
“God resists the proud,
But gives grace to the humble.”

Humility Cures Worldliness

7 Therefore submit to God. Resist the devil and he will flee from you. 8 Draw near to God and He will draw near to you. Cleanse your hands, you sinners; and purify your hearts, you double-minded. 9 Lament and mourn and weep! Let your laughter be turned to mourning and your joy to gloom. 10 Humble yourselves in the sight of the Lord, and He will lift you up.

Humility is to be chosen over worldly pride if we are to follow and please God in the calling to which we have been called (Ephesians 4:1) in Christ.  Pride seeks only to satisfy self and its desires to covet and gain more and more of what lasts less and less towards eternity.  Such pursuits only engender fights against our own souls and those of our neighbors as we seek pleasure in letting loose our fights to gain what others have and often leads the ungodly to kill to take from others or at least hate them and speak evil against them to get what they have and we seem to lack.  These useless fights and skirmishes can lead to all-out wars and only bring further lack of what we really need, peace with God and man, contentment in godliness (1 Timothy 6:6-8), and the obtaining of all we need for life (Luke 12:29-31) and living that matters.  Why then ask for or even demand things we do not need just to spend what we gain on the passing pleasures of sin?  Such friendship with the world and its pursuits only leads to spiritual adultery as we love things instead of our Lord who gives us all things we need richly to enjoy (1 Timothy 6:17) and makes us appear as His enemies.  The Lord is jealous for our complete and undivided devotion and loyalty because we are made in His image for His glory and not for ourselves in opposition to Him which is often just more idolatry and immortality as we see throughout the reading of the Old Testament.  We have been called to better things (Hebrews 6:9) in Jesus Christ our sovereign Lord.  We also read that the truth is found in the grace of God as He resists proud men and women but gives this grace to the humble who are satisfied in Him above all else that tempts us to worship and please ourselves at His expense.  What can we do?  Start by submitting to God’s authority according to His word.  Resist the devil’s adversarial attempts to pull us away from Him back into sin, knowing that evil one will have to flee when faced with Christ in us as we trust in Him and lean on grace.  As we draw nearer to God we know He draws nearer to us while we cleanse ourselves from seeking sin and purify our hearts within according to the implanted word (James 1:21) that saves the soul.  If we truly humble ourselves in the sight of the Lord for Him to see into our hearts being transformed by grace and obedience, then we can be assured He will lift us up and carry us on until we meet Him face to face (1 Corinthians 13:12, 1 John 3:2-3) at last!  Knowing these things, do we then continue to seek worldly pride in self-seeking to gain what we can only lose or godly humility in obedience for the things which we cannot ever lose?