Study of First Peter Lesson
12
Review:
If as a believer you are
going to have the expectant hope in a coming Savior you must also cultivate
personal holiness. Living out your
position, utilizing the DOA's provided.
The nature of our lives
as Christians carries the obligation to personal holiness .
He begins vs:14 with an analogy.
Which actually is a Hebraism
As obedient children,
His focus here is on those he's writing to, believers and
their conduct! Idea of
this Hebraism, "in as much as you are children of obedience."
The point that Peter is making with this analogy is this,
just as children reflect the nature/characteristics of their parents we
now as believers because of the new
birth, our identification with Christ and the spiritual provision that is now
ours in Him, we are obligated to reflect
His nature in our life.
For this obedience to characterize our life and
relationship with God, for this to become a reality we must respond to the
three commands of vs:13.
#1. prepare our minds for action, focus on the development of a
f/o/r of truth.
#2. must have clear thinking not being sidetracked by the
dominant human viewpoint of the day
#3. Have our
confidence fixed on Grace,
the objective of being face to face in resurrection body.
First a negative demand of holiness;
do not be
conformed to the former lusts which were yours in your ignorance,
- do
not be conformed is from
suschmati,zw
+ the negative mh,
The thrust of the verb
here is to NOT be conformed or squeezed into a mold or pattern of thinking and
conduct by one's sin nature.
-
What Peter is doing here in this context is giving us the mechanics for that
not happening in time. Folks, it takes a
prepared mind, clear thinking, it takes doctrine in your frame of reference,
there are no short cuts.
to the former
lusts which were yours in your ignorance,
Term lusts is epiqumia speaks of the sin
nature and its strong desires, or lust patterns
The modifier former proteroj previous, speaks of former time as
an unbeliever.
ignorance, is not referring
to lack of ability but a lack of understanding of total unbelief. Rem: the unbeliever, the natural man, cannot
understand spiritual truth 1 Cor. 2:14
Summary Observations
1. Peter reminds us that as believers we have a
new nature, a new motivation for living and we are no longer to live dominated by the sin nature.
2. The sin nature with its varied lusts, strong
desires is the enemy of the believers' relationship with Christ and when in
rulership shuts down not only our fellowship but the production of divine good
in the life.
3. Peter's command here is to not be conformed
to the former lusts at the time of our ignorance, that
is before salvation.
4. If we choose to function under our former
lusts (sin nature) then we would be as Peter characterizes here disobedient
children.
5. As advancing believers they were (as we are)
to be empowered by the Holy Spirit filled with Christ as we are consistently
exposed to the Word of God.
6. This gives us the discernment and frame of
reference of truth to be illuminated by the Holy Spirit for application which
will frustrate the sin nature's attempt to dominate your life.
7. The believer who is constantly negative to
the Word, fails to assemble to feed on the Word will not be prepared to deal
with the sin nature's strong lust patterns and often cannot be distinguished in
life from an unbeliever.
8. If we lack a full knowledge of the will of
God which provides us the spiritual wisdom and understanding we need as
believers we will quickly fall prey to the lusts of the sin nature.
9. If we are to wage successfully the inner
battle for control of the real you, our soul, we must have the spiritual moxy that only comes from the
Word and the Spirit in operation.
*** One of the things that Peter
recognizes in this context that we should note before we go any further in the
passage, make sure we understand some important doctrinal issues.
That is, that the quality of our life as believers is related to
who rules or dominates your life. Goes
to the issue of rulership of real you!
1. Observations on rulership: [some principles]
a. The principle of
rulership is found in the theology of basileuw basileu,w found in Romans 5:14,17,21;
b. We must recognize that there exists two potential rulers of life for the believer;
1. The indwelling Holy Spirit along
with the mind of Christ, the Word.
2. The indwelling SIN NATURE which is
programmed with a knowledge of good (human) and evil (Rom
- Gen. 2:17; Heb. 5:14 From the growth in word we are to have our
senses trained to discern good and evil, from God's viewpoint.
c. We must maintain in our thinking a
distinction between the:
1. Real you, your SOUL, with volition
which determines who rules.
2. Indwelling SIN NATURE (each cell
contaminated therefore mankind is totally depraved). Rom.
3. Indwelling Holy Spirit and mind of
Christ (DVPT - BD producing the character of Christ). Often referred to as the New
man in Christ!
2.
The Volition which resides in the Real You, your soul, determines
who is the ruler of life at any given point in time:
- Gal 5:16-17 (the pres. a. subjunctive of poiew).
- Ro 8:5. [Principle is stated.]
a. This is also seen in the
exhortations to walk by the Spirit and not the flesh. Gal 5:16-18 cp. Ro.
b. All response to external stimuli
(5 senses) coming into your body are translated into responsive action through
either:
1. the sin
nature into either sin or human good on the one hand or
2. through the indwelling Holy Spirit
into experiential righteousness (DGP).
c. Neither the indwelling sin nature or indwelling Holy Spirit can usurp authority over the Real You, the Soul, apart from the volition's cooperation.