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1 Peter 3:8-12. Finally, all of you, live in harmony with one another; be sympathetic, love as brothers, be compassionate and humble. Do not repay evil with evil or insult with insult, but with blessing, because to this you were called so that you may inherit a blessing. For, “Whoever would love life and see good days must keep his tongue from evil and his lips from deceitful speech. He must turn from evil and do good; he must seek peace and pursue it. For the eyes of the Lord are on the righteous and his ears are attentive to their prayer, but the face of the Lord is against those who do evil.”

Living in harmony is easy to say but extremely difficult to do. People usually make an effort to do so with their friends and neighbors and family members, even if they are not always successful. However, if there are people who you don’t like, people who have different values than you do, people whose culture is very different than yours, you may not try very hard to “live in harmony.”

The same was true at the time of Christ. That is why God led Peter to address this issue in his epistle. These words are directed to the Church, believers, encouraging them to “be sympathetic, love as brothers, be compassionate and humble. Do not repay evil with evil or insult with insult, but with blessing, because to this you were called…”

Being the followers of Jesus, those who know who He is and what He did for us with His life of perfection, substitutionary death and subsequent victory over death, we have a calling. We are to live a new way. Our behavior should be modified, attempting to follow the example of our Lord Himself. “Turn from evil and do good.”

As you consider this calling, take note of the characteristics you should have: “be sympathetic, love as brothers, be compassionate and humble.” Again, things easier said than done.

The good news is these are not things you have to do in your own strength. You have the strength you need available to you.

Philippians 4:13 I can do everything through him who gives me strength.

Dear Father, transform me from being a person who does not want to put in the effort to live in harmony with others into one who follows the example of Jesus, drawing on the power He provides to live as you would have us live. Amen.

1 Peter 3:1-7 Wives, in the same way be submissive to your husbands so that, if any of them do not believe the word, they may be won over without words by the behavior of their wives, when they see the purity and reverence of your lives. Your beauty should not come from outward adornment, such as braided hair and the wearing of gold jewelry and fine clothes. Instead, 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 make themselves beautiful. They were submissive to their own husbands, like Sarah, who obeyed Abraham and called him her master. You are her daughters if you do what is right and do not give way to fear. Husbands, in the same way be considerate as you live with your wives, and treat them with respect as the weaker partner and as heirs with you of the gracious gift of life, so that nothing will hinder your prayers.

If yesterday’s devotion about Peter’s use of the word “submission” didn’t cause a stir, today’s should! It is like Paul’s counsel in Ephesians 5. However, unlike Paul, Peter was married. Shouldn’t he have known better than to tell wives to be submissive?

Let’s go back to the meaning of the word SUBMIT: it is an act of faith, putting your needs under the needs of others. This does not have to be demeaning, especially if it is done “for the Lord’s sake.” And don’t take this passage out of context. Peter was just writing about Jesus as our example of submission. Not only that, but Peter also admonishes husbands to be considerate of their wives, treat them with respect, and love them as sisters in Christ. Paul did the same thing, telling husbands to love their wives as Christ loved the church. He loved the church enough to die for “her” and rescue “her” from sin and death. If husbands love their wives this way, wives won’t have any trouble submitting to them. It will be a partnership that follows God’s design and plan.

Years ago I came across a blog by a young lady who was a college student. I did not save her information or I would credit this to her, but this is what she wrote:

“Wait for the man who pursues you; the one who will make an ordinary moment seem magical, the kind of man who brings out the best in you and makes you want to be a better woman.  Wait for the man who will be your best friend; the person who will drop everything when you need him.  Wait for the man who makes you smile like no other boy makes you smile.  Wait for the man who wants to show you off to the world.  Wait for the man who praises God with you and encourages you daily in your walk.  Most importantly, wait for the man who is more in love with God than with you.”

Men would do well to follow the same advice: “find a woman more in love with God than with you.”

Shortly after we became “empty nesters” and we were both still working, Cheryl and I both had a particularly long day. On my way home, I stopped and bought her a bouquet of flowers and a pizza for us to share. She was home when I got there, and as I walked into the house with my gifts I asked, “Who’s your hero?” and without missing a beat she replied very matter-of-factly “Jesus!” While that deflated me for a moment, I realized that it was the perfect answer. What a joy to know she loves her Savior that much, because I know she loves me the way He wants her to love me! And I strive to love her the way Jesus wants me to love her.

Submission is a word that makes people raise their eyebrows. “You want me to do what?” Yet it is a term used repeatedly in the New Testament to describe the way that followers of Jesus should live their lives.

We are told to submit, which is something we do willingly as an act of faith,

putting your needs under the needs of others. This does not have to be demeaning. It is something Christians do “for the Lord’s sake.”

1 Peter 2:13-25 Submit yourselves for the Lord’s sake to every authority instituted among men: whether to the king, as the supreme authority, or to governors, who are sent by him to punish those who do wrong and to commend those who do right. For it is God’s will that by doing good you should silence the ignorant talk of foolish men. Live as free men, but do not use your freedom as a cover-up for evil; live as servants of God. Show proper respect to everyone: Love the brotherhood of believers, fear God, honor the king. Slaves, submit yourselves to your masters with all respect, not only to those who are good and considerate, but also to those who are harsh. For it is commendable if a man bears up under the pain of unjust suffering because he is 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. 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. He himself bore our sins in his body on the tree, 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.

Peter reminds us that the life of Jesus was a life of submission. He willingly put the needs of others – US! – ahead of His own wants and desires. Here’s a few passages that speak about that.

Luke 2:51 Then he went down to Nazareth with them and was obedient to them. But his mother treasured all these things in her heart.

1 Corinthians 15:28 When he has done this, then the Son himself will be made subject to him who put everything under him, so that God may be all in all.

Philippians 2:7  but made himself nothing, taking the very nature of a servant, being made in human likeness.

Jesus was the example of how those who have been declared righteous by God should live their lives: in submission to God and to those in authority here on earth. Paul addressed this as well.

Romans 13:1 Everyone must submit himself to the governing authorities, for there is no authority except that which God has established. The authorities that exist have been established by God.

God’s will for you is that by being submissive to Him and authorities you might DO GOOD (see v. 15 above). And how do you live as a good citizen?  “Show proper respect to everyone: Love the brotherhood of believers, fear God, honor the king” (v. 17).

The seemingly small and insignificant things add up, allowing you to be a light for Jesus, a witness for him, a messenger that brings the Good News of salvation through Jesus. Your actions can tell others, “by His wounds you have been healed.”

Big Brother is watching you! That concept and terminology was made famous by George Orwell in his novel “1984.” Written in 1949, it was a description of a totalitarian society in which the government kept tabs on all its citizens with cameras and listening devices. Some would argue that much of the population of the United States has become willing participants with devices that allow us to speak our requests and cameras in cell phones and online security cameras everywhere. It is as though someone always has the capacity to see or listen in on us.

That may be a sobering realization. But it has always been a reality to some extent. And I am not just reminding you that God always sees you. The reality of which I speak is that you are being watched by the world. As followers of Jesus, we are told to be aware that others are always watching, always listening, always observing the way we live.

1 Peter 2:9-12 But you are a chosen people, a royal priesthood, a holy nation, a people belonging to God, that you may declare the praises of him who called you out of darkness into his wonderful light. Once you were not a people, but now you are the people of God; once you had not received mercy, but now you have received mercy. Dear friends, I urge you, as aliens and strangers in the world, to abstain from sinful desires, which war against your soul. Live such good lives among the pagans that, though they accuse you of doing wrong, they may see your good deeds and glorify God on the day he visits us.

That last verse encourages us to live good lives among unbelievers because they are watching. The word translated as “see” is not referring to a casual glance, but a careful watching over a period of time. You are being observed by those who do not believe in Jesus. What are they seeing?

It is for this reason that Peter is careful to point out that God chose you to be His own. As part of His royal priesthood, you should represent God to the world by reflecting His holiness. After all, you belong to Him. He bought you back from sin and death with the blood of Jesus, which cleansed you and made you righteous in His sight.

Are you living a life that shows the world how good God has been to you? We all fall short of that. But that should not keep us from trying. Every time we fall short of the glory of God, we can run back to Him and confess our failings and be assured that the blood of Jesus covered those, too. We hear the goodness and mercy of God declared to us and are empowered to strive again to be those who declare the praises of Him who called us out of darkness and into His marvelous light.

Our desire is to live according to God’s will because we know He has already given us forgiveness and life and salvation.

The world is watching. Let them see God’s goodness by the way you live and act.

1 Peter 2: 4-8 As you come to him, the living Stone—rejected by men but chosen by God and precious to him—you also, like living stones, are being built into a spiritual house to be a holy priesthood, offering spiritual sacrifices acceptable to God through Jesus Christ. For in Scripture it says: “See, I lay a stone in Zion, a chosen and precious cornerstone, and the one who trusts in him will never be put to shame.” Now to you who believe, this stone is precious. But to those who do not believe, “The stone the builders rejected has become the capstone,” and, “A stone that causes men to stumble and a rock that makes them fall.” They stumble because they disobey the message—which is also what they were destined for.

One time a number of years ago I agreed to serve as an election judge. On election day, I went to the courthouse and met the crew I would work with. This was not a major election date, but one for local offices, so there was a lot of down time during the day. One lady that I worked with was quite the talker. I listened a lot more than I spoke that day. And I remember that she had a word that she loved to use to describe just about everything she spoke of: precious. She used it so often that it seemed to diminish the meaning of the word. Precious is a word that denotes something of great value and worth to you, things that stand out in a special way. Evidently everything was precious to her.

What is precious to you? Your spouse, children and grandchildren? Family heirlooms? Probably multiple things are deemed worthy of that description in your life. Most people reserve that term for the things that are most prized in their lives.

What God considers precious is described in this passage as a living Stone, cornerstone, capstone, and a stumbling block. We know without a doubt He is referring to Jesus, because it says “the one who trusts in HIM will never be put to shame.”

The Stone is living because the sacrificed Jesus did not stay dead. After offering Himself as the payment for sin through death on the cross, He rose again to live forever. He is living. He is also a life-giving Stone. Those who trust in Him get the benefit of everything He did for us.

The tragedy is that those who reject this living stone do not get the benefit of what Jesus earned for them. It is available at no cost to anyone who will recognize just how precious He, the living Stone, is. Those who have been led to faith in Jesus by the Holy Spirit regard Him as precious indeed!

1 Peter 1:22-25 Now that you have purified yourselves by obeying the truth so that you have sincere love for your brothers, love one another deeply, from the heart. For you have been born again, not of perishable seed, but of imperishable, through the living and enduring word of God. For, “All men are like grass, and all their glory is like the flowers of the field; the grass withers and the flowers fall, but the word of the Lord stands forever.” And this is the word that was preached to you.

Can you purify yourself? I know I can’t! And even though Peter mentions that here, he is not referring to our own efforts. Our obedience to God does not make us acceptable to Him. We’d like to think that is the case. It is the way things normally work in this world. But we can’t do that. I think the context tells us that Peter is rereferring to Baptism as the means of our purification, because he says that we have been “born again.” That happens by the power of God’s Word through the waters of Baptism.

Loving others deeply is mentioned more than once in Scripture. It is talking about our actions, implying that this will take effort on our part. But rather than this being the reason we are purified, it is the response to knowing that we have been purified by the blood of Jesus.

Who are the ones you are to love? Does this love extend to people outside the household of faith? Maybe you should consider the example of Jesus. Who did He love? That most familiar of verses tells us that “God so loved THE WORLD. Who do you love?

When Peter tells us about the “living and enduring Word of God” and “the word of the Lord stands forever” I am reminded of this passage:

Hebrews 4:12 “For the word of God is living and active. Sharper than any double-edged sword, it penetrates even to dividing soul and spirit, joints and marrow; it judges the thoughts and attitudes of the heart.”

God’s Word, both Law and Gospel, needs to penetrate our lives. We need the message of our own inadequacies and of God’s all-encompassing grace and mercy shown to us in Jesus. This is the word that was preached to you.

1 Peter 1:13-21 Therefore, prepare your minds for action; be self-controlled; set your hope fully on the grace to be given you when Jesus Christ is revealed. As obedient children, do not conform to the evil desires you had when you lived in ignorance. But just as he who called you is holy, so be holy in all you do; for it is written: “Be holy, because I am holy.” Since you call on a Father who judges each man’s work impartially, live your lives as strangers here in reverent fear. For you know that it was not with perishable things such as silver or gold that you were redeemed from the empty way of life handed down to you from your forefathers, but with the precious blood of Christ, a lamb without blemish or defect. He was chosen before the creation of the world, but was revealed in these last times for your sake. Through him you believe in God, who raised him from the dead and glorified him, and so your faith and hope are in God.

As I continue to study through 1 Peter, I find the admonishment to be clear headed and obedient. It reminds me of all the times I have done the opposite. I have let evil and frivolous things consume my time and thinking instead of focusing on living a holy life. How often do we let evil desires control us instead of the love of God?

Another part of this passage that accuses me is the call to be holy in all that I do. Again, I have fallen so far short of that. But more than just a confrontation or condemnation, I also hear this as an encouragement.

I cannot read this passage without thinking of Luther’s explanation of Second Article of the Apostle’s Creed.

What does this mean? I believe that Jesus Christ, true God, begotten of the Father from eternity, and also true man, born of the Virgin Mary, is my Lord, who has redeemed me, a lost and condemned person, purchased and won me from all sins, from death, and from the power of the devil; not with gold or silver, but with His holy, precious blood and with His innocent suffering and death, that I may be His own and live under Him in His kingdom and serve Him in everlasting righteousness, innocence, and blessedness, just as He is risen from the dead, lives and reigns to all eternity. This is most certainly true.

Jesus was the Lamb of God who takes away the sin of the world. That title John the Baptizer used to identify Him connected Him to the Passover and that great deliverance of God’s people. The deliverance He would accomplish through His sacrifice was the payment necessary and acceptable for the sins of the whole world.

Knowing what Jesus has done for me, having faith that receives what He earned for me, I strive to live the holy life to which I have been called. It is my effort to offer thanks to God for all He has done for me.

1 Peter 1:10-12  Concerning this salvation, the prophets, who spoke of the grace that was to come to you, searched intently and with the greatest care, trying to find out the time and circumstances to which the Spirit of Christ in them was pointing when he predicted the sufferings of Christ and the glories that would follow. It was revealed to them that they were not serving themselves but you, when they spoke of the things that have now been told you by those who have preached the gospel to you by the Holy Spirit sent from heaven. Even angels long to look into these things.

Whenever there is a “new” teaching, people are skeptical, and rightly so. Consider all the con artists that are trying to sucker people into things. We need to be wary. It pays to check things out.

In the passage above, Peter is trying to convince his readers that the message of Christ is not something new – it goes back to the prophets! They foretold the grace that God would give to the world by sending Jesus. Of course, those wanted to know WHEN it would all happen (v. 11), but their job was simply to tell people that it WOULD happen. They had God’s Word on it, and they proclaimed that Word of God to others.

Peter said that the “Spirit of Christ” predicted both the sufferings and the glories of the Messiah. The cross would come before the resurrection. Without the cross and the payment for sin that would be made at Calvary, there would be no resurrection and victory over death. It had to take place. It was part of God’s plan to redeem you from sin and death.

The prophets did not live to see what they spoke and wrote about. They lived by faith, even as we do today. Their faith was looking forward to God’s promises being fulfilled. Our faith looks back to the promises fulfilled in Jesus. (2 Corinthians 5:7   We live by faith, not by sight.)

Peter mentions that “angels long to look into these things.” You might wonder why angels, who are in the presence of the Almighty, would they be curious about us. The answer is really simple. Yes, they are with God, but His redemptive love is beyond anything they have experienced. Jesus did not die for them. He died for us. So those heavenly messengers who announced the birth and resurrection of Jesus marvel at what God has done and what He continues to do for man.

So what are the trials you have had to suffer? What brings you grief? Everyone has their own. It has been that way ever since the Fall. And God knows about all this, including your trials and struggles.

1 Peter 1:6-9  “In this you greatly rejoice, though now for a little while you may have had to suffer grief in all kinds of trials. These have come so that your faith—of greater worth than gold, which perishes even though refined by fire—may be proved genuine and may result in praise, glory and honor when Jesus Christ is revealed. Though you have not seen him, you love him; and even though you do not see him now, you believe in him and are filled with an inexpressible and glorious joy, for you are receiving the goal of your faith, the salvation of your souls.

The “in this” at the beginning of this passage is referring to the certainty of our salvation because of what Jesus did for us. Peter just mentioned that in the previous verses. So we rejoice in our salvation even while we have grief and trials!  Is that the way it works in your life?

Again, what grief and trials do you experience? Only you can answer that. And you know the effect they have on your day to day life. It is easy to be consumed and overwhelmed by those things. That is precisely when you need to run back to Jesus and His promises. Latch onto Him in faith. Remember the sacrifice He made to rescue you from sin, death, the devil and all the evil this world throws at you. God tells you those trials and difficulties actually refine and strengthen your faith.

Did you notice that both “rejoice” and “joy” occur in this passage, even though Peter is talking about trials and grief? We would not normally associate those things with each other. That all changes when you put Jesus in the mix. Our faith in Him gives us joy in all situations and circumstances, because we have a steadfast certainty that we are the precious, redeemed and forgiven children of a loving Father. Peter is once again aligned with the Apostle Paul who wrote to the Philippians, “Rejoice in the Lord always.”

Faith is “of greater worth than gold” because it is able to give you what nothing in this world can: the salvation of your souls. Peter tells you that is the goal of your faith, but it is also the guaranteed outcome of faith in Jesus. How different that is from the message of so many “preachers” who mislead people to focus on the things this world has to offer!

Your confidence is not based on wealth in this world, on what you can accumulate, or even on your own abilities. Your faith is in the one who gave His all so that you could be forgiven. Your faith in is the one who laid aside His power as God so that He could live under the law for your sake. Your faith is in the one who suffered and bled and died in payment for your sins, giving you the certainty of life eternal. That is why you have joy in spite of the grief and trials you endure here for a little while.