Mission and Maturity mini-series planning
Romans 14:1-23
Use your freedom to live as servants of God [draft sermon notes]
#biblicaltheology
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Published December 2nd, 2020
1 Peter 2
Two (1 Peter 2)
1 Peter 2
NT
1 Peter 2:1-25
esv
A Living Stone and a Holy People 2 1 j So put away all malice and all deceit and hypocrisy and envy and all slander. 2 k Like newborn infants, long for the pure spiritual l milk, that by it you may grow up into salvation— 3 if indeed you have m tasted that the Lord is good. 4 As you come to him, a living stone n rejected by men but in the sight of God chosen and precious, 5 o you yourselves like living stones are being built up as p a spiritual house, to be q a holy priesthood, r to offer spiritual sacrifices s acceptable to God through Jesus Christ. 6 For it stands in Scripture: t “Behold, I am laying in Zion a stone, a cornerstone chosen and precious, u and whoever believes in him will not be put to shame.” 7 So the honor is for you who v believe, but for those who v do not believe, w “The stone that the builders rejected has become the cornerstone,” 1 8 and x “A stone of stumbling, and a rock of offense.” They stumble because they disobey the word, y as they were destined to do. 9 But you are z a chosen race, a a royal b priesthood, c a holy nation, d a people for his own possession, that you may proclaim the excellencies of him who called you e out of darkness into f his marvelous light. 10 g Once you were not a people, but now you are God’s people; once you had not received mercy, but now you have received mercy. 11 Beloved, I urge you h as sojourners and exiles i to abstain from the passions of the flesh, j which wage war against your soul. 12 k Keep your conduct among the Gentiles honorable, so that when they speak against you as evildoers, l they may see your good deeds and glorify God on m the day of visitation. Submission to Authority 13 n Be subject for the Lord’s sake to every human institution, 1 whether it be to the emperor 2 as supreme, 14 or to governors as sent by him o to punish those who do evil and p to praise those who do good. 15 For this is the will of God, q that by doing good you should put to silence the ignorance of foolish people. 16 r Live as people who are free, not using your freedom as a cover-up for evil, but s living as servants 1 of God. 17 t Honor everyone. u Love the brotherhood. v Fear God. Honor the emperor. 18 w Servants, be subject to your masters with all respect, not only to the good and gentle but also to the unjust. 19 For this is a gracious thing, when, x mindful of God, one endures sorrows while suffering unjustly. 20 For what credit is it if, when you sin and are beaten for it, you endure? But y if when you do good and suffer for it you endure, this is a gracious thing in the sight of God. 21 For z to this you have been called, y because Christ also suffered for you, a leaving you an example, so that you might follow in his steps. 22 b He committed no sin, neither was deceit found in his mouth. 23 c When he was reviled, he did not revile in return; when he suffered, he did not threaten, d but continued entrusting himself to him who judges justly. 24 e He himself bore our sins in his body on the tree, that we f might die to sin and g live to righteousness. h By his wounds you have been healed. 25 For i you were straying like sheep, but have now returned to j the Shepherd and Overseer of your souls.
1 Peter 2:1-25
na28
2 1 Ἀποθέμενοι οὖν πᾶσαν κακίαν καὶ πάντα δόλον καὶ ὑποκρίσεις καὶ φθόνους καὶ πάσας καταλαλιάς, 2 ὡς ἀρτιγέννητα βρέφη τὸ λογικὸν ἄδολον γάλα ἐπιποθήσατε, ἵνα ἐν αὐτῷ αὐξηθῆτε εἰς σωτηρίαν, 3 εἰ ἐγεύσασθε ὅτι χρηστὸς ὁ κύριος . 4 πρὸς ὃν προσερχόμενοι λίθον ζῶντα ὑπὸ ἀνθρώπων μὲν ἀποδεδοκιμασμένον παρὰ δὲ θεῷ ἐκλεκτὸν ἔντιμον, 5 καὶ αὐτοὶ ὡς λίθοι ζῶντες οἰκοδομεῖσθε οἶκος πνευματικὸς εἰς ἱεράτευμα ἅγιον ἀνενέγκαι πνευματικὰς θυσίας εὐπροσδέκτους θεῷ διὰ Ἰησοῦ Χριστοῦ. 6 διότι περιέχει ἐν γραφῇ• ἰδοὺ τίθημι ἐν Σιὼν λίθον ἀκρογωνιαῖον ἐκλεκτὸν ἔντιμον καὶ ὁ πιστεύων ἐπʼ αὐτῷ οὐ μὴ καταισχυνθῇ . 7 ὑμῖν οὖν ἡ τιμὴ τοῖς πιστεύουσιν, ἀπιστοῦσιν δὲ λίθος ὃν ἀπεδοκίμασαν οἱ οἰκοδομοῦντες, οὗτος ἐγενήθη εἰς κεφαλὴν γωνίας 8 καὶ λίθος προσκόμματος καὶ πέτρα σκανδάλου • οἳ προσκόπτουσιν τῷ λόγῳ ἀπειθοῦντες εἰς ὃ καὶ ἐτέθησαν. 9 ὑμεῖς δὲ γένος ἐκλεκτόν, βασίλειον ἱεράτευμα, ἔθνος ἅγιον, λαὸς εἰς περιποίησιν , ὅπως τὰς ἀρετὰς ἐξαγγείλητε τοῦ ἐκ σκότους ὑμᾶς καλέσαντος εἰς τὸ θαυμαστὸν αὐτοῦ φῶς• 10 οἵ ποτε οὐ λαὸς νῦν δὲ λαὸς θεοῦ, οἱ οὐκ ἠλεημένοι νῦν δὲ ἐλεηθέντες. 11 Ἀγαπητοί, παρακαλῶ ὡς παροίκους καὶ παρεπιδήμους ἀπέχεσθαι τῶν σαρκικῶν ἐπιθυμιῶν αἵτινες στρατεύονται κατὰ τῆς ψυχῆς• 12 τὴν ἀναστροφὴν ὑμῶν ἐν τοῖς ἔθνεσιν ἔχοντες καλήν, ἵνα ἐν ᾧ καταλαλοῦσιν ὑμῶν ὡς κακοποιῶν ἐκ τῶν καλῶν ἔργων ἐποπτεύοντες δοξάσωσιν τὸν θεὸν ἐν ἡμέρᾳ ἐπισκοπῆς . 13 Ὑποτάγητε πάσῃ ἀνθρωπίνῃ κτίσει διὰ τὸν κύριον, εἴτε βασιλεῖ ὡς ὑπερέχοντι, 14 εἴτε ἡγεμόσιν ὡς διʼ αὐτοῦ πεμπομένοις εἰς ἐκδίκησιν κακοποιῶν ἔπαινον δὲ ἀγαθοποιῶν• 15 ὅτι οὕτως ἐστὶν τὸ θέλημα τοῦ θεοῦ ἀγαθοποιοῦντας φιμοῦν τὴν τῶν ἀφρόνων ἀνθρώπων ἀγνωσίαν, 16 ὡς ἐλεύθεροι καὶ μὴ ὡς ἐπικάλυμμα ἔχοντες τῆς κακίας τὴν ἐλευθερίαν ἀλλʼ ὡς θεοῦ δοῦλοι. 17 πάντας τιμήσατε, τὴν ἀδελφότητα ἀγαπᾶτε, τὸν θεὸν φοβεῖσθε, τὸν βασιλέα τιμᾶτε. 18 Οἱ οἰκέται ὑποτασσόμενοι ἐν παντὶ φόβῳ τοῖς δεσπόταις, οὐ μόνον τοῖς ἀγαθοῖς καὶ ἐπιεικέσιν ἀλλὰ καὶ τοῖς σκολιοῖς. 19 τοῦτο γὰρ χάρις εἰ διὰ συνείδησιν θεοῦ ὑποφέρει τις λύπας πάσχων ἀδίκως. 20 ποῖον γὰρ κλέος εἰ ἁμαρτάνοντες καὶ κολαφιζόμενοι ὑπομενεῖτε; ἀλλʼ εἰ ἀγαθοποιοῦντες καὶ πάσχοντες ὑπομενεῖτε, τοῦτο χάρις παρὰ θεῷ. 21 εἰς τοῦτο γὰρ ἐκλήθητε, ὅτι καὶ Χριστὸς ἔπαθεν ὑπὲρ ὑμῶν ὑμῖν ὑπολιμπάνων ὑπογραμμὸν ἵνα ἐπακολουθήσητε τοῖς ἴχνεσιν αὐτοῦ, 22 ὃς ἁμαρτίαν οὐκ ἐποίησεν οὐδὲ εὑρέθη δόλος ἐν τῷ στόματι αὐτοῦ, 23 ὃς λοιδορούμενος οὐκ ἀντελοιδόρει, πάσχων οὐκ ἠπείλει, παρεδίδου δὲ τῷ κρίνοντι δικαίως• 24 ὃς τὰς ἁμαρτίας ἡμῶν αὐτὸς ἀνήνεγκεν ἐν τῷ σώματι αὐτοῦ ἐπὶ τὸ ξύλον, ἵνα ταῖς ἁμαρτίαις ἀπογενόμενοι τῇ δικαιοσύνῃ ζήσωμεν, οὗ τῷ μώλωπι ἰάθητε . 25 ἦτε γὰρ ὡς πρόβατα πλανώμενοι, ἀλλʼ ἐπεστράφητε νῦν ἐπὶ τὸν ποιμένα καὶ ἐπίσκοπον τῶν ψυχῶν ὑμῶν.
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Two (1 Peter 2)
Use your freedom to live as servants of God Intro : Context in 1 Peter Recap: the nature of Christian freedom: freedom to limit, serve, suffer. You're not my master, Jesus is. Because Jesus is my master, I am your servant. Cross shaped fractal. 1. Be subject to human institutions (v12-17) What do we mean by 'legitimate' institutions. Church, family, government. And the extensions of that government. The state authority exists at Jesus' permission, not the other way round (Ephesians 1). Emperor, governors (and nb what the empire was like at this time). v15 live exemplary lives, so that there is nothing to critique (cf Daniel). ' Our default position as Christians is to bend over backward to be model citizens' v16 live as free...using your freedom to be servants Honour everyone Love the brotherhood Fear God Honour the emperor. 2. Follow Jesus' example and be subject to the good and also the bad (v18-25) Not only the good but also the unjust. But think of the appalling injustices done to slaves by evil masters...how can this possibly be? Since God sees and knows. And since there is true life yet to come. There really is new creation hope coming. The greater danger is not the suffering now, but abandoning the hope of eternal life. What about civil disobedience? Hebrew midwives. Shadrach, Meshach, Abednego. Peter and Sanhedrin. Bunyan. Luther. When the government claims rights for itself which only belong to God. When the government commands or compels what is clearly evil in the eyes of God. W hen the only way we can obey them is to be unfaithful to God. This is distinct from something which is unfair or perceived as unjust (eg methods of taxation). And distinct from what is inept, lazy, or careless. We must work within legitimate processes to bring about reform and what is good within government. Bridges that cannot be uncrossed must be crossed only when the picture is fully clear. We must expect punishment from the state if we disobey. Christian civil disobedience actually stems from a high view of government and a desire for peaceful, reasonable reform, not from revolutionary tendencies in any way. Contrast other approaches: blind patriotic obedience (cf Nazi doctors); angry pragmatic revolutionaries (Lenin); individualistic anarchism (actually pretty endemic now). NB the lazy way in which narratives have been thrown around recently: the government has 'banned Christian worship' or 'outlawed community'. Conscience (cf last week). Ultimately, 'f or the Christian the only motivation for civil disobedience is a deep biblical conviction that obedience to man would be disobedience to God .' None of the characters from the Bible or church history thought what they were doing was glamorous; they simply sincerely loved God above all else. Our greater danger: we want to find loopholes for ourselves, to justify doing what we want, and to justify venting our anger. The example of Jesus. Blameless to the end. No deceit in his mouth. No mockery or lies or pride. "The reason the NT writes repeatedly about honouring the government is precisely because are not easy things to do. Wives are told to submit to husbands as to the Lord, and that includes inept husbands who should know better; slaves are told to obey unjust masters along with good ones. Christian character is shown and forged in situations where we find ourselves extremely restrained in some way. We don’t like this fact, but God is more concerned in making his people fit for his Kingdom than he is in having his people secure freedoms for themselves in this life. Remember that we are exiles, on our journey to the promised land. We are being prepared for the life to come through the suffering and struggle of today." Glory of God . He adopts a rebellious, revolutionary people. FCF . We reject authority. 'Brotherhood' - accountability to each other. Masters and employers. Husbands. Civic rulers. H1 - outright rebellion H2 - rebellion in practice. Slander, mockery, power-sharing tensions. Person of Jesus . Gives himself, in the face of terrible injustice. Suffers injustice willingly, entrusting himself to God. Gives himself as a servant for our sake. Work of Jesus . Dies our death for our rebellion against Almighty God. By his wounds we are healed. The straying Sheep brought back by his death. Union with Jesus . I am learning to honour all legitimate authority because I honour Jesus. I am ok with suffering and being mistreated, since I am here to serve, not to be served. Invitation . A life of true freedom; freedom to be limited willingly. Confrontation . Turn from rebellion and know that Jesus holds your life for you, so you no longer need to fight. Consolation . Jesus sees and knows the pain and loss, he has gone before, he will repay all our losses. Wrap up: You're not my master, Jesus is. Because Jesus is my master, I am your servant. Cross shaped fractal. Use your freedom to live as servants of God
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