This is WAR
1 Peter 2:11
11 Beloved, I urge you as foreigners and strangers to abstain from fleshly lusts, which wage war against the soul.
Sadly, I didn’t have time to cover verses 11–12 in detail on Sunday morning, but these verses are critically important to the identity and mission Peter gave us in verses 1–10.
As we’ll see today with verse 11 and tomorrow with verse 12, these are two of the fastest ways to completely mess up this mission—to the point that it can take months or years to recover from the damage done.
First, we must remember that we are foreigners and strangers in these lands.
Our home is not a country, a state, or a city, but the Kingdom of God in Heaven and, eventually, in the New Earth.
How do you act when you are visiting or even living in a foreign place?
There is a level of humility and carefulness with which you conduct yourself that you don’t have in your homeland. How much more careful are you not to break a law if you’re visiting a place where you aren’t a permanent resident?
I’m not saying we live our earthly lives full of fear and worry.
What I am saying is that we need to remember this is not our home.
This world does not have the same worldview as we do, and this world’s worldview is not equally valuable to that of Scripture. This world does not have our best interests at heart, and more importantly, it does not have our Lord’s interests at heart.
With all of that in mind, the first specific thing we must be wary of is the lusts of our flesh.
This may be literal lust in terms of sexual immorality, or it could be overconsumption of alcohol or food, an addiction to gambling, or immense pride.
All of these things are the “lusts” of the flesh in the sense that we are drawn toward improper pursuits—either in terms of type, such as sex outside of marriage or pornography, or in quantity, such as the overuse of alcohol or food.
And again, look at why Peter says these things are dangerous. We touched on this briefly on Monday.
These sins often have real, painful, agonizing consequences in our earthly lives—the alcoholic doing permanent damage to their liver and health, or the person given to lust losing family and friends.
But that is not what Peter points to first.
They wage WAR against the soul.
Friends, we must treat these sins with the severity they are due.
This is not merely a struggle or a “bad” thing.
We are in a war against our sinful flesh.
Either we win by the grace of Jesus Christ and the power of the Holy Spirit, or we will, at the VERY least, suffer greatly spiritually and often physically—and we will cause pain to those we love.
The challenge, however, is not immediate perfection after reading this devotional.
The challenge is to FIGHT with everything you have, with the strength that the Holy Spirit works within you.
If you need help starting or continuing that fight, whatever lust of the flesh you are battling, please reach out.
Reply to this email, and I (Cooper) would be overjoyed to meet with you and at least have a conversation. I know I can speak for Jordan and Micaiah when I say they would happily do the same.
You can reach them at the contact information below.
Jordan — jordan@fcbfb.org
Micaiah — micaiah@fbcfb.org
Your New Job Description
1 Peter 2:9–10
9 But you are a chosen people, a royal priesthood, a holy nation, a people for God’s own possession, so that you may proclaim the excellencies of Him who has called you out of darkness into His marvelous light; 10 for you once were not a people, but now you are the people of God; you had not received mercy, but now you have received mercy.
Verses 9 and 10 are basically the culmination of the first 12 verses of 1 Peter 2.
Your identity has been radically changed by Jesus, and part of that new identity is a new purpose for your life!
No longer are you alone and lost. No longer are you condemned for your sin.
Now you are redeemed!!
You have received mercy!
You are part of God’s people forever and ever—unchangeably, irrevocably, forever!
Who did this?
Jesus Christ, in all His excellence, who brought us out of darkness into His marvelous light by His death on the cross, His resurrection from the dead, His ascension to reign at the right hand of God the Father, and His promise to come again to judge the living and the dead.
This is amazing news!
If that is the power and sacrifice that have given us this new identity, what can shake us? Who can tell us we are not God’s chosen people, His own possession?
But part of that new identity is also your new job, your new role, your new purpose.
No longer are you just going through the motions of life as a friend, coworker, spouse, parent, neighbor, or child.
Now, in every one of those relationships, you are a priest of Jesus Christ.
I know the word priest is vague and not common in our vocabulary. An easy way to understand a priest is someone who belongs fully to God and represents Him to others.
A priest lives close to God and helps others see Him.
So, as much as you are a parent, a spouse, a neighbor, or a coworker, you first belong to God before anything or anyone else.
And you show who God is to all those around you with your words and actions.
Always both.
Never only words and never only actions.
So go out today thinking of yourself as a priest of Jesus Christ, with those guiding principles in mind.
That is how Peter calls us to live in these verses.
What will you do with Jesus?
1 Peter 2:4–8
4 And coming to Him as to a living stone which has been rejected by people, but is choice and precious in the sight of God, 5 you also, as living stones, are being built up as a spiritual house for a holy priesthood, to offer spiritual sacrifices that are acceptable to God through Jesus Christ. 6 For this is contained in Scripture:
“Behold, I am laying in Zion a choice stone, a precious cornerstone,
And the one who believes in Him will not be put to shame.”
7 This precious value, then, is for you who believe; but for unbelievers,
“A stone which the builders rejected,
This became the chief cornerstone,”
8 and,
“A stone of stumbling and a rock of offense”;
for they stumble because they are disobedient to the word, and to this they were also appointed.
This is the only part of this passage that isn’t immediately clear or easy to understand. Truthfully, that’s because Peter is communicating ideas and concepts that can be hard for us to grasp, shackled to earthly living and bodies as we are.
The crux of what Peter is getting at is simple, though:
Look at and remember who Jesus is.
Because everything is built around who Jesus is.
Who you think Jesus is determines whether you will be saved or lost. Who you think Jesus is determines the course of your whole life.
So who is Jesus?
Jesus is the cornerstone.
What is a cornerstone? I know less than nothing about construction, but here is what I was taught about the meaning of a cornerstone, especially in ancient architecture when Peter was writing.
The cornerstone was the first part of the building placed, absolutely essential to the entire structure’s stability, determining the position and direction of the entire structure.
Sounds a lot like Jesus being the One we build our lives around and whose guidance we follow.
What’s even more fascinating is that the placing of a cornerstone was often accompanied by rituals invoking divine protection for the building, almost like how we worship Jesus for His role as the cornerstone of our lives, our faith, and God’s Church.
So that is who Jesus is.
But there is a question that is actually more important for us little humans:
What are you going to do about it?
Peter quotes two Old Testament passages—Psalm 118:22 and Isaiah 8:14—which are prophecies about the Messiah and how people will respond to Him.
There are only two options. No gray area and no secret third option here.
You can believe, recognizing the precious value of Jesus as the cornerstone of the Christian faith, our lives, and the entire world.
Or you can refuse to believe, and what should have been the precious center and ruler of your life becomes a rock you stumble over—in this case, literally to your death.
Who is Jesus?
What will you do with who Jesus is?
Have answers to those questions today!!
Empty Out. Fill Up.
1 Peter 2:1–3
2 Therefore, rid yourselves of all malice and all deceit and hypocrisy and envy and all slander, 2 and like newborn babies, long for the pure milk of the word, so that by it you may grow in respect to salvation, 3 if you have tasted the kindness of the Lord.
Yesterday at church, I asked you to consider the question: What does God want you to do with your life?
Maybe you’ve spent a ton of time thinking about that before. Maybe you only started thinking about your life plan in that way recently. Or maybe yesterday at church—or as you’re reading this—is the first time!
Don’t panic!! You don’t need to have a 10-year plan by the end of today.
In fact, the specifics of what God has us do with our lives—the opportunities, blessings, and challenges He gives us—will all be at least a little different, and often very different! But we all need to start in the same place:
Emptying ourselves of as much sin as we can and filling ourselves up with the Word of God.
It’s a simple sentence and easy to remember: empty out sin, fill up with God’s Word.
But it is so much harder in practice.
Why is it so hard for us, though? I think there are a few reasons we need to be aware of.
First, we need to have tasted the kindness of the Lord. Peter isn’t casting doubt on the salvation of his readers; he’s calling them to actively remember the grace and kindness God has shown them.
I’ve asked many people who have been genuinely happily married for an extended period what the biggest predictors of success are, and I have studied some of the data in my counseling classes in seminary. Practicing intentional gratitude is one of the highest predictors of the long-term success of any relationship. Taking the time and energy to notice and appreciate what the other person is doing is key.
It’s the same for our relationship with God.
If you want to long for God’s Word and for time in His presence, practice gratitude in prayer. Write down lists. Actively notice what God has given you and what He is doing in your life.
Second, be aware that sin’s most dangerous consequence is drawing you away from God.
Not any earthly consequence. Not even the damage it can do to human relationships.
While those consequences are painful, the most dangerous damage sin does is pulling us away from God—either by convincing us we’re not doing something “that” bad or by convincing us that God won’t or can’t forgive us for what we’ve done.
However it looks for you, you must be wary of how sin is trying to pull you away from God’s presence instead of running toward Him.
If we practice intentional gratitude for everything God has done and is doing in our lives, and we run toward God when we sin instead of away from Him, we will grow in our longing for His Word and His presence.
And those are the things that bring life and spiritual growth faster than anything else.
Hit Him Back
One of the hardest lessons I have tried to teach my son is to turn the other cheek.
It is hard because it does not feel fair. When someone does something against us, every fiber of our being wants to retaliate. Many of us even grew up with a father figure who told us, “If someone hits you, hit him back.”
Revenge is not only natural. It is often taught.
But is it right?
Proverbs 24:29 says:
Do not say, “I will do to him as he has done to me;
I will pay the man back for what he has done.”
Let’s be honest: this is one of those verses in the Bible we are tempted to ignore.
Like Jesus’ call to forgive again and again, the command not to seek revenge does not sit easily with us. We want the guilty to be punished.
God does not disagree that evil deserves justice. What He challenges is our desire to take that justice into our own hands.
Paul quotes the Old Testament in Romans 12:
“Vengeance is mine, I will repay, says the Lord.”
God will repay. Justice belongs to Him. I am not the punisher.
Proverbs tells us not to avenge ourselves or rejoice when our enemies fall (Proverbs 24:17, 29).
Jesus tells us to turn the other cheek and love our enemies (Matthew 5:39, 44).
Paul tells us to feed our hungry enemy and overcome evil with good (Romans 12:20–21).
This is not always what we were taught growing up. It is certainly not what comes naturally.
And it is hard to teach to a child who immediately asks, “But what if they started it?”
Yet this is the hard wisdom of God.
The question is whether we trust that His way is better, even when it feels unfair.
Will we trust God with justice, or will we insist on taking His place?