This is a fact of life. God is not trying to trick anyone. He tells us plainly that there is a cost to knowing Him. Jesus Christ was hated by His own people. He faced their accusations for 3 1/2 years. Then they cried out: “crucify Him, crucify Him.” They wanted a known criminal released, and they wanted Jesus Christ to be nailed to a cross and killed there.
Those who are saved are not greater than the Saviour. We must understand that if the world hated Jesus, they will hate His followers. The apostles learned this lesson. Many others have learned this as well. The New Evangelical philosophy has lied to its followers. They claim that you can be a real Christian and be loved by the world. That is a lie but many choose to believe it.
We are different so that we should shew forth the praises of Him who called us out of darkness into His marvellous light. You cannot show forth the praises of God if you want to indulge in sin. If you need that cigarette or that booze or that other drug, etc. just to get by for the next few minutes, you do not show forth the praise of God.
Jesus cast the devils out of the possessed man, and the result was that he was able to sit calmly and he was also fully dressed. Prior to his salvation, that man could not sit still. He was naked and he was a wild man. God’s gift of salvation changed him. He never went back to that old way again. He was gloriously changed by the Lord Jesus Christ. He is one of hundreds of examples that God gives us in His Word.
In verse 10 we are reminded that prior to salvation we were not a people. We were just one of the crowd. Some may have been louder than others, but we were nothing as far as God was concerned. His salvation makes all the difference. After salvation, we are the people of God. We did not obtain God’s mercy prior to salvation. We did not want it then, but now we have obtained mercy. Now we understand we do not deserve any good thing and yet God graciously supplied the mercy and grace needed to bring us to repentance and true salvation.
In verse 11 Peter was directed to encourage the saints with God’s view of them. They are dearly beloved because they are saved. God loves all people. He provided a Saviour for mankind. Most people reject this testimony of the love of God. Those who are saved come into a special relationship with God the Father and with the Lord Jesus Christ. They are adopted into the family of God. The words and the actions of God toward those who are saved are a testimony to His love for His own. He wants His children to live in the light of the special gift He has given them.
We read here that these “strangers” need to abstain from fleshly lusts. Every saved person still needs to deal with the flesh. The flesh operates on lusts. It is not good. It is a distorted view of things. It is a view and a motivation that is distorted due to the sin nature that man is born with. The lusts of the flesh war against the soul. The soul has the knowledge of God implanted within it. Not every soul is saved. However, every soul knows the basic facts of God. The lost work hard to avoid the truth because it speaks to their soul. It reminds them that they are out of touch with the God Who created them and Who provides salvation for man and Who is also the judge before whom all people will stand.
The saved person’s soul has been made alive. There is a war going on between the soul of the saved person and the flesh of the saved person. It is a war that has been won in salvation and the saved person can be victorious when he walks in the spirit.
The saved person needs to have an honest conversation among Gentiles. The lost will always twist the truth. That is quite obvious. The lost are always looking for what they think is a hole in the belief of the Godly person. No saved person is going to have a perfect understanding of God’s Word. However, God’s Word is truth and it is important for the saved person be spending quality time in God’s Word to be able to become more proficient in God’s Word.
The ungodly love to lie. They love to speak evil of those who love the Lord. The saved person should not be intimidated by the false accusers. It is important that we can show that they are false accusers. The saints need to produce good works. We have spoken of this often. No one can do good works unless they are saved. The saved person is created in Christ Jesus to produce good works. The saved do not try to hide their good works. The lost will see the good works being done. The lost will end up glorifying God in the day of visitation.
The day of visitation is when the Lord returns. The saints will appear at the judgment seat of Christ. There it will be announced what the rewards or lack of rewards they will receive. No lost person will appear at this judgment. The lost will appear at the great white throne judgment. There the books will be opened and their works will condemn them. They will give glory to God at that time, but it will be too late for them. They will all be cast into the lake of fire. No saved person will be at that judgment. All who stand there will be lost. They will have defied the truth and thus will not enter into the “rest” that God has in store for the righteous.
Peter was directed by God to remind the saints of what they have received in salvation and of how important it is to live within the bounds of that salvation. Saved people have been bought with the precious blood of the Lord Jesus Christ. Personal feelings cannot supersede the will of God. Personal feelings need to be adjusted and corrected to align with the new nature that God provides for His child at salvation.
Pastor Bartel