Monthly Archives: January 2021

WORDLESS WITNESS

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WORDLESS WITNESS

Wives, in the same way, submit yourselves to your husbands so that, if any of them do not believe the word, they may be won over without words by the behaviour of their wives when they see the purity and reverence of your lives. Your beauty should not come from outward adornment, such as elaborate hairstyles and the wearing of gold jewellery or fine clothes.

Rather, it should be that of your inner self, the unfading beauty of a gentle and quiet spirit, which is of great worth in God’s sight. For this is the way the holy women of the past who put their hope in God used to adorn themselves. They submitted themselves to their own husbands, like Sarah, who obeyed Abraham and called him her lord. You are her daughters if you do what is right and do not give way to fear. (1 Peter 3: 1-6)

Peter, what are you asking? Once again he turned the standard of the world on its head!

It is well known that more women than men are inclined to respond to the gospel. How many spiritual ‘widows’ are there in churches all over the world? That means that homes are divided right down the middle over the fundamental issue of ‘who do you worship?’ People either worship the Creator God or they are self-made and worship their creator. This is the Great Divide between heaven and hell – not the hell of fire and brimstone but the hell of disunity which comes from divided loyalties.

How are wives meant to handle the situation, especially in the first century when women became unequally yoked with their husbands through faith in Jesus? This was not an unequal yoke by choice but by circumstances.

Paul warned believers about deliberately becoming involved in an unequal yoke with unbelievers:

Do not be yoked together with unbelievers. For what do righteousness and wickedness have in common? Or what fellowship can light have with darkness? (2 Cor. 6: 14)

It’s one thing to make a foolish choice before marriage and then live to regret the consequences. It’s another to find the household split through one member’s decision to follow Jesus. What is a wife to do in such circumstances?

Peter’s counsel is both wise and productive. Many a wife in such a situation thinks that preaching to her husband is the way to go. Unfortunately, it seldom works that way. It usually has the opposite effect on an unbelieving husband. Remember that the one who does not believe in Jesus is God’s enemy (Romans 5: 10). The more the wife bangs him with the Bible, the more resistant he becomes and the worse the conflict in the home.

Preaching won’t do it and dressing like a princess won’t do it either. Peter certainly did not advise Christian wives to dress like frumps! Perhaps she might even want to do that to get even with him or to turn him off physically when he doesn’t treat her with love.  Dressing up may arouse the husband’s sensual desires but it will not touch his heart. The wife may adorn herself outwardly to please her husband but it will bring him no nearer to believing in Jesus.

What kind of behaviour will break through his defences and touch his heart? The same kind of behaviour Peter counselled slaves to exhibit towards harsh and cruel slave-owners. Submit to him, whatever his demands until he recognises in you a supernatural grace that only God through His Spirit can produce. Preaching, dressing up or even resisting him will not do what a humble and gentle attitude will.

Jesus’s attitude and behaviour in the face of injustice brought life out of death. Imagine what a wife’s willing submission to her husband would do. If he were cruel or unreasonable, it would expose his wickedness against her purity of heart.

Peter’s counsel to believing wives is simple. Be like Sarah who willingly and quietly submitted to Abraham as head of the household. Be quiet and live it! Is that easy? No! Is it right? Yes! Why? Because God says it’s the way that works. It’s wisdom – doing what works.

The ways of the world and the ways of God’s kingdom are completely opposite to each other. The worldly way is to force other people to do what you want whether they like it or not. Use whatever it takes to make them do things your way. It may work by controlling your husband’s behaviour, but it only makes his heart harder and more resistant to the truth especially if you use the Bible as a weapon against him!

The kingdom’s way is to submit without a word, even if the demands are unjust. Absorb the wrong until the conscience of the wrongdoer is so activated that he is awakened to the truth through the example of his wife. You never know. He might just be won over by your being like Jesus. An example is better than a thousand words.

Scripture taken from THE HOLY BIBLE, NEW INTERNATIONAL VERSION®, NIV® Copyright © 1973, 1978, 1984, 2011 by Biblica, Inc.® Used by permission. All rights reserved worldwide.

 

SCAPEGOAT AND SACRIFICE

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SCAPEGOAT AND SACRIFICE

‘He Himself bore our sins’ in His body on the cross, so that we might die to sins and live for righteousness; ‘by His wounds you have been healed.’ For ‘you were like sheep going astray’ but now you have returned to the Shepherd and Overseer of your souls. (1 Peter 2: 24, 25).

Despite his own dismal failure during the time of Jesus’s trial, Peter must have been enthralled by the way Jesus conducted Himself when every false accusation and insult was hurled at Him. Peter was at the foot of the cross during those terrible hours when his Master hung there, writhing in agony and yet more mindful of those around Him than He was of Himself.

It was inevitable that his mind would stray to the familiar words of the prophet Isaiah:

“Surely, He took up our pain and bore our suffering, yet we considered Him punished by God and afflicted. But He was pierced for our transgressions, He was crushed for our iniquities; the punishment that brought us peace was upon Him and by His wounds we were healed. We all, like sheep, have gone astray, each of us has turned to our own way; and the Lord has laid on Him the iniquity of us all. (Isaiah 53: 4-6)

How often had Peter not been a part of the solemn Day of Atonement ceremony at the temple in Jerusalem. The high priest would press the sins of the nation onto the scapegoat which was driven out into the desert. Then he would repeat the procedure on the second goat, pressing the nations’ sins onto the sacrificial goat which was slaughtered and its blood sprinkled on the Mercy Seat in the Most Holy Place.

How many times had he repeated that Scripture and puzzled over its meaning? Not even the learned rabbis of the past and present could understand to whom the prophecy referred until the Holy Spirit interpreted His own word to the sincere followers of Jesus.

Gradually the light came on! Of course! The man with whom they had lived so closely for three and a half years, listening to His teaching and watching His marvellous works, was the very person of whom Isaiah spoke. Who else fitted the scene more perfectly, which Isaiah described, than Jesus? The realisation must have sent waves of joy through Peter’s soul.

What better message could he share with these believers who were part of God’s own people and now a part of Christ’s body? He was the very one to whom all the ceremonies of Israel’s most holy day pointed. The implications were huge. Just as the scapegoat bore the sins of the nation away into the desert for another year and the blood of the sacrifice covered their sins and received the forgiveness of God, so the sacrifice of Jesus took away their sins, not for just another years but forever.

Animal sacrifices had no power to remove sin or cleanse their guilty consciences but they were pictures of the reality Jesus came to accomplish. He was God’s lamb, slain from the foundation of the world. He died at a point in history, but the effects of His death were so enormous that, from God’s perspective, He paid the debt of all sin for all people for all time.

God’s people in the old dispensation only had pictures in the form of ceremonies and sacrifices to point to that 0ne final sacrifice. Peter and his fellow disciples had the fulfilment as the Holy Spirit revealed it to them. It was up to them to make the bold declaration to everyone who would listen and everyone who would believe, that Jesus is the Lamb of God who takes away the sin of the world.

When the sinner is forgiven, sin removed and the conscience cleansed of all guilt and shame, the wayward son is free to return home. There is nothing left to separate him from his offended Father. He has an elder Brother who took his place. All he has to do is to admit his guilt and receive the forgiveness which has been freely offered to him.

This, dear readers, is the heart and power of the gospel. It must have filled Peter’s heart with joy to be able to write:

For ‘you were like sheep going astray’ but now you have returned to the Shepherd and Overseer of your souls.

Scripture taken from THE HOLY BIBLE, NEW INTERNATIONAL VERSION®, NIV® Copyright © 1973, 1978, 1984, 2011 by Biblica, Inc.® Used by permission. All rights reserved worldwide.

 

CHRIST SUFFERED FOR YOU

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CHRIST SUFFERED FOR YOU

To this you were called, because Christ suffered for you, leaving you an example that you should follow in His steps. ‘He committed no sin and no deceit was found in His mouth.’ When they hurled their insults at Him, He did not retaliate; when He suffered, He made no threats. Instead, He entrusted Himself to Him who judges justly. (1 Peter 2:21-23)

Slavery was an accepted part of life in those times. People were enslaved for many different reasons. Some had to sell themselves and their families when they fell on hard times. Others were enslaved through conquest. Many were the offspring of slaves who were sold off by slave owners, often as young children. There is no doubt that slavery brought terrible misery and suffering to a large part of the population. At least 40% of the Roman Empire at that time were slaves.

All slaves and their families were the property of their owners who could sell or rent them out at any time. Their lives were harsh. Slaves were often whipped, branded or cruelly mistreated. Their owners could also kill them for any reason, and would face no punishment. http://www.crystalinks.com/romeslavery.html

Although Peter was particularly addressing the slave community in the church at this point, what he taught has relevance for all God’s people. What he wrote was revolutionary. Not only was he encouraging his readers to submit to cruel treatment without resisting, but he also explained that their suffering was not just circumstantial but a calling from God! How on earth could the kind of suffering they had to endure be a calling? Had Peter somehow lost the plot? No, he was quite serious about what he wrote.

The majority of people in the world are in the grip of their ungodly nature – living for self and making their own rules. In the background is the ‘god of this world’, using his subtle influence to cause as much misery and destruction as he can. Some people even acknowledge him and willingly participate in his plan while others inadvertently carry out his evil design through the worship of false gods and the wicked ways their beliefs spawn.

There is only one way to overcome evil in the world – not by retaliating because this only contributes to more evil. Jesus revealed the answer by the way He conducted Himself throughout the ordeal of His unjust arrest, trials and crucifixion. Before He faced the cross, He came to terms with what lay ahead of Him, in the Garden of Gethsemane.

We know that a part of His mission was to be the sacrificial lamb for the sin of the world.  To be the perfect and unblemished lamb, He had to be sinless which meant far more than not committing the gross deeds we reckon as sin. To be without blemish meant that He had to be in perfect harmony with the Father in every aspect of His life – thoughts, attitudes, and motives, as well as words and actions. Everything He was and did was to reflect the Father’s nature – love and light.

Since it was the Father’s will that He die, He submitted not only to death but to the manner in which He would die, by the agony of the cross and all its implications. Day by day He submitted and obeyed the Father and in Gethsemane, where He fought His greatest inward battle, He overcame all the evil that His enemies could throw at Him by submitting to the Father’s will.

No matter what they did to Him, they could not break His will to obey the Father. He not only became our Saviour but also our example. By submitting to the worst His enemies could do to Him without resistance or retaliation, He absorbed all the evil in Himself and left them guilty and without excuse for what they had done.

‘Now,’ said Peter, ‘you do that as well.’ When we leave the judgment to the Father in the face of cruelty or injustice instead of trying to take it on our own shoulders, we know we will not have to suffer the consequences of our own sin. We also know that God will be perfectly just in the end.

Although we do not suffer the indignities of slavery, there are many occasions when we are at the receiving end of unscrupulous people, employers, lawyers, and people in places of authority. When, like Jesus, we entrust ourselves to Him who judges justly, we put them to silence and bring them to shame and force them to be accountable for what they have done.

This is how the kingdom of God functions.

Scripture taken from THE HOLY BIBLE, NEW INTERNATIONAL VERSION®, NIV® Copyright © 1973, 1978, 1984, 2011 by Biblica, Inc.® Used by permission. All rights reserved worldwide.

SLAVES, YET FREE

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SLAVES, YET FREE

Slaves, in reverent fear of God, submit yourselves to your masters, not only to those who are good and considerate, but also to those who are harsh. For it is commendable if someone bears up under the pain of unjust suffering because they are conscious of God. But how is it to your credit if you receive a beating for doing wrong and endure it? But if you suffer for doing good and you endure it, this is commendable before God. (1 Peter 2: 18-20)

Why did Peter expect such a huge thing of Christian slaves? Surely, they had the right, as human beings, to resist harsh treatment even if they were only slaves? In God’s sight, they had every right to be treated with dignity in the same way as any free person. Yet Peter was telling them to submit to their masters even if they were ill-treated. What good would that do? Would it not reinforce their masters’ attitude that it was okay to abuse them?

It all depends on from whose perspective you look at it. From the world’s point of view, it is perfectly in order to resist abuse and harsh treatment. Whether one goes on strike, joins a protest march or resorts to some form of retaliation, this is the way to go. One has to express one’s dissatisfaction in a way that hurts the employer so that he knows that his behaviour is not appreciated. Accepting to status quo without some sort of protest is considered weakness.

However, if look at it from God’s perspective, we must ask the question, ”In the end, who was the slave serving?” Since everything is about God, through God and for God, doing one’s job is about serving Him.

Whatever you do, work at it with all your heart, as working for the Lord, not for human masters, since you know that you will receive an inheritance from the Lord as a reward. It is the Lord Christ you are serving. (Col. 3:23-24)

Everything we do in life, the way we do it and the attitude we show towards those in authority over us reveals our attitude towards God. It’s all about Him. After all, He treats us according to His own nature and never in response to our good or bad attitudes. Yes, He disciplines us when we step out of line, but not to get even with us, but to purify us so that we can share His holiness.

However, there is a flipside to this kind of situation. The right thing for any slave or employee is to submit to the master/employer, good or bad. Masters are in charge and they choose the way that they will handle their staff but, and here’s the crunch, they are also accountable to God for the way they treat their underlings.

Anyone who does wrong will be repaid for their wrongs, and there is no favouritism. (Col. 3:25)

Slaves and employees are called to act like their Master, who never reacted to people the way they treated Him. He always responded out of who He was, the Son of God, not who they were – enemies. He was accountable to the Father for the right responses to people.

What a difference we could make in the world if we, as followers of Jesus, really got a hold of this principle! When we retaliate, we contribute to the chaos in the world by adding our sin to the sins of those who mistreat us. When we absorb the evil in ourselves by responding with humble submission, we put the cruel master to shame and stop the evil right there.

Paul dealt with this issue in the context of lawsuits. Corinthian believers were taking each other to heathen courts instead of settling disputes among themselves.

The very fact that you have lawsuits among you means you have been completely defeated already. Why not rather be wronged? Why not rather be cheated? Instead, you yourselves cheat and do wrong, and you do this to your brothers and sisters. Or do you not know that wrongdoers will not inherit the kingdom of God? (1 Cor, 6:7-9a)

One thing we must remember – the way an employer treats his employee is a revelation of what’s in his own heart; the way we respond is a revelation of ours! When you squeeze a lemon, lemon juice comes out! If we are truly the sons and daughters of God, we will behave like His children, free from the attitudes that drive the world.

Now that is true freedom!

Scripture taken from THE HOLY BIBLE, NEW INTERNATIONAL VERSION®, NIV® Copyright © 1973, 1978, 1984, 2011 by Biblica, Inc.® Used by permission. All rights reserved worldwide.

FREE, YET SLAVES

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FREE, YET SLAVES

Live as free people, but do not use your freedom as a cover-up for evil; live as God’s slaves. Show proper respect for everyone, love the family of believers, fear God, honour the emperor. (1 Peter 2: 16-17)

How could Peter’s readers be both slaves and free?

Slavery in his day was universal and, for the most part, harsh and cruel. Slave-owners were the wealthy elite, and slaves their possessions to do with as they pleased according to their whims and moods. Many slaves bore the scars of severe whippings, often for no legitimate reason. Every slave longed to be free, especially those who were badly treated. Even the thought of slavery was abhorrent to them.

Yet Peter urged his readers to live as slaves of God. Even slaves who believed in Jesus experienced a new freedom in their hearts which they treasured in spite of their circumstances. Why would they want to surrender that freedom to anyone, even to God?  They knew what it felt like to be free from guilt, shame and fear. Their hearts had been freed from these inner slave-drivers through the forgiveness bought by Jesus. Slaves though they were, they would have shuddered at the thought of going back into any kind of inward bondage.

Slave-owners, on the other hand, revelled in their right to treat other human beings just as they chose with no fear of reprisals. They could be kind or cruel as they liked.  Slaves were worth nothing more than any of their other possessions. They had paid good money for them and could squeeze as much work out of them as they could before the strength of their slaves finally gave out.

However, this was not to be the attitude of the believer, both master and slave. This way of doing things belonged to the old life. In fact, living like that was worse slavery than the slavery of the slaves who served them. It was all a matter of the heart. To be a slave to sin was to be dead already even though they still lived. To be free meant to be released from the power of the selfish and self-destructive lives they once lived.

Real freedom does not mean living without boundaries. To the Hebrew, that would be hell. True freedom means living within God’s boundaries. Boundaries are intended to protect, not to restrict. You would not leave your garden gate open and allow your toddler to wander into a busy street. Within minutes, that child’s life would be destroyed.

We humans have the inborn capacity to destroy ourselves because we came into the world with a natural bent towards sin. Self rules from the day of our birth. Selfishness destroys because it enslaves us and drives us to take care of ourselves at the expense of others. Sin always leads to death. Selfishness is at the heart of all sin. Every time we choose ourselves above others, we sin and we drive another nail into our coffins.

What is the solution? ‘Simple,’ said Peter, ‘be God’s slave.’ You have been given the freedom to make different choices now that you have been released from the power of your old nature and given the nature of God. Your old boundaries shut God out and restricted you to self-destructive living. You could not choose to live under God’s truth because you were His enemy. You hated Him and everything He stands for. His very commandments were like a red rag to a bull.

For I would not have known what coveting really was if the law had not said, ‘You shall not covet.’ But sin, seizing the opportunity afforded by the commandment, produced in me every kind of coveting. (Romans 7: 7b-8)

Through God’s mercy and the working of His Holy Spirit, you have been set free from your old nature. You have a new Master, Jesus Christ. His life in you has set you free from sin and death. Now you must put it into practice to make this new life effective. What does this mean? It means that you must choose to become who you are, a slave of Jesus.

Slavery to Jesus is voluntary. You are free to choose to live your old way, but if you do, you will be enslaved by sin again.

Don’t you know that when you offer yourselves to someone as obedient slaves, you are slaves of the one you obey – whether you are slaves to sin, which leads to death, or to obedience, which leads to righteousness? (Romans 6: 16)

Slavery to God is our escape route from slavery to sin and death. The amazing thing is that slavery to God is the only true freedom!

Scripture taken from THE HOLY BIBLE, NEW INTERNATIONAL VERSION®, NIV® Copyright © 1973, 1978, 1984, 2011 by Biblica, Inc.® Used by permission. All rights reserved worldwide.