1 Peter 2:11-12, Lives That Commend the Gospel

Introduction

Good morning, beloved! Open your Bible to 1 Peter 2. As we turn our attention to worship together through the reading and preaching of God’s Word, I hope that we will remember what an incredible privilege it is to do this week in and week out. God has given us His Word. He has made us alive together with Christ. He has given us His Spirit. In all of this He has enabled us to grow in Christlikeness by the power of His Spirit in accordance with His Word. That is my aim and hope for all of us, myself included, each week we do this together.

We’re continuing our verse by verse study of 1 Peter. We’ll be looking at 1 Peter 2:11-12. With your Bible open there, please follow along as I read the text for us. Then we will pray and ask the LORD to bless our time together in His Word.

READ 1 PETER 2:11-12

[Matthew 4:4 Responsive Reading - “‘Man shall not live by bread alone, but by every word that comes from the mouth of God.’”]

PRAY

Have you ever felt “out of place”? This can happen to anyone in any number of ways. Being someone who has lived in and been shaped by many different places over the course of my life, this has been a common feeling and experience for me personally. I remember years ago Jamie and I were visiting somewhere with her parents. They are from Georgia and we were somewhere in North Carolina, I believe. We had stopped to eat somewhere and decided we wanted to go bowling.

So, I decided to be the representative of the group who would ask a local where the bowling alley was. I walked over to a couple of guys in the restaurant and politely asked them if there was a bowling alley around and where it was. They both did the slow head turn in my direction and with the thickest southern accent you can imagine said, “You’re not from around here are ya?” To which my wife and her dad came up behind me and made clear I was not to be the group spokesman anymore. They’d be handling the discussion with their fellow southerners!

Perhaps some of you have had your own experience of feeling “out of place.” While that experience of mine is a funny lighthearted memory, perhaps some of you have had less funny experiences of feeling “out of place.” Feeling like you “don’t belong.” Our passage today begins to turn the page a bit more from who we are as Christians to help us see how that shapes the way we live in this world. A world in which, as Christians, we will often feel “out of place.” That is a reality that we must recognize and be comfortable with as the people of God in this world.

Last Sunday we considered that as those who are united to Christ by faith we are to live as the people of God for the glory of God. This idea becomes all the more clear as we begin to see specific commands and exhortations that give shape to what that looks like. Living as the people of God for the glory of God will look like something in the everyday life of the Christian. It shapes our daily fight against sin. It shapes how we conduct ourselves in every sphere of life before a watching world. That’s what becomes apparent throughout the rest of this letter.

But our standing out in the world is not an end in itself. There is a glorious purpose and hope to it all. We are to stand out in such a way that it commends the gospel to the unbelieving world around us. All this with the aim that they might glorify God with us on the day He returns. We are to live in such a way that we commend the gospel we proclaim with our mouths so that others too will love and follow Jesus all for the glory of God.

MAIN POINT––Beloved, wage war against the flesh and live winsomely in the world for the vindication and advance of the gospel.

Who is Peter Addressing?

What are they to do?

Why are they doing this?

Who? Beloved Sojourners

Peter begins a new section here that links what has come before it with what is coming in the rest of the letter. It grasps our Christian identity with what has been said in the previous verses and then carries it forward to how our identity shapes our day to day lives. No area of life is unaffected. It affects how you live in every sphere where God has planted us as lights to shine for His glory amidst the darkness of this present world. Our role as citizens in this world. Our marriages. Our workplaces. So, he begins this new section with a reminder of their identity.

First, he uses the deeply affectionate term, “Beloved” to address them. They are “beloved.” They are “loved ones.” They are those who are deeply loved by God. Deeply loved, also, by Peter himself. This must have been a comfort to these Christians who were living amidst a culture that was hostile toward them. The world around them scoffed at them and held them at arm's length. But no matter what the unbelieving world around them may have felt about them, Peter reminds them of their true status as those deeply loved by God. How encouraging!

Second, he describes them again with the label of “sojourners and exiles.” This reminds us of the letters opening verses where he addressed them as “elect exiles.” We don’t need to parse out the two terms separate from one another. I think Peter intends us to take the two terms––“sojourners and exiles”––together. He’s reminding them, and us, that as the people of God we are ultimately not “at home” in this world. This present world that we live in, in its current fallen status, is our temporary home. We live in the world, but are not of the world.

Remember who you are in Christ. Beloved, sojourners and exiles. This ought to shape how we see one another, right? This God given community is to be a safe place and haven for weary sojourners living in stark contrast to the values and customs of the world. A place where all God’s people are loved by their heavenly Father and loved by one another. Sharpened by one another, together, as God’s loved ones. Called out of darkness into light. Being equipped to live as salt and light each week for the advance of the gospel and the glory of God.

Do you see your church family in that way? I pray we grow into that all the more as we wait upon the LORD together. That it will shape our commitment to one another. Our life and ministry together. Our priorities together. The way we love one another in thought, word, and deed. That we would treat one another as fellow members of God’s household, dearly loved by Him. Because, if you are in Christ, that is who you are. That is who we are together.

From that identity, what becomes clear is that this reality will have a profound effect on how we live in this world as we await the world to come. That’s what Peter is teeing up for us in these verses that we’re looking at together this morning. He’ll get into specifics of what this looks like as we’ll see in the weeks to come. But here, he will more generally tell us what we are to do and why we ought to live that way.

What?

What are we to do as we live in this world as sojourners and exiles? He urges us to live a certain way. This word, “urge”, is commonly used in the New Testament when the writer is exhorting Christians to godly living. Not to belabor the point, but we want to be absolutely clear. That wording I just used is important. Peter is exhorting people who are already Christians to godly living.

He’s not telling them what they need to do in order to become Christians. He’s telling them that because they are Christians they are to live in this godly way. These exhortations to godly living are always grounded in the redemptive work of Christ that is already accomplished for the Christian. Peter essentially gives us two things. The first exhortation is stated negatively. The second exhortation is stated positively. Both go hand in hand.

Wage War

Look again with me at what Peter tells us in verse 11––“Beloved, I urge you as sojourners and exiles to abstain from the passions of the flesh, which wage war against your soul.”

The first exhortation is that we are to abstain from the passions of the flesh which wage war against our souls. Thus, I think we can and should think of this in the sense that we are to wage war against the flesh. That is our own fleshly desires. The war we are to fight is less about fighting what’s “out there” and more about fighting and putting to death what still remains “inside” each and every one of us. The remnants of the old man and sins that still cling so close.

We are to abstain. We are not to partake in the passions of the flesh. What does Peter mean by “the passions of the flesh”? What are those more specifically? Many of us may be tempted to read those words and we immediately begin to think of things such as sexual immorality. Or we might even go so far as to include unbridled consumption like that which leads to drunkenness. But the term is used more broadly than that in the New Testament.

The word used for flesh here is referring to that which is characteristic of fallen humanity. It is “sinful desires” broadly in every facet of our being. We can see this most clearly in Galatians 5:19-21 where Paul provides a list of the desires and works of the flesh:

“Now the works of the flesh are evident: sexual immorality, impurity, sensuality, idolatry, sorcery, enmity, strife, jealousy, fits of anger, rivalries, dissensions, divisions, envy, drunkenness, orgies, and things like these. I warn you, as I warned you before, that those who do such things will not inherit the kingdom of God.”

It is those things that once characterized and dominated you before you were born again. The old man that used to be you, but now only exists in residual form for those who have been born again. A residual form that we must abstain from and fight against by God’s grace and the power of His Spirit at work in us.

We are to abstain from these things. Our lives ought not be characterized by these things. We should not and cannot be dominated by these things. We are to abstain from them. We are to, in Paul’s words elsewhere, put them to death. John Owen once famously wrote that you are to be killing sin or it will be killing you. I think that’s exactly the point Peter wants to drive home in this exhortation.

Do you see how serious and dangerous our sinful desires are, beloved? We are to abstain from the passions of the flesh, “which wage war against your soul.” They are waging war against you. Don’t miss that. This is strong language. Our sinful desires are not mere skirmishes that we tolerate. It’s not just a battle that may or may not occasionally happen. No, Peter uses the language of warfare. The passions of your flesh are in a long term sustained campaign of violence against your soul seeking to destroy you.

Don’t get confused by the word “soul” here. I think we know this instinctively. Peter is thinking holistically about the whole person and the destructive effects that our sinful desires have on our whole person, both body and soul. Just a couple of examples demonstrate this. It is well documented that giving in to lust and pornography has negative effects on our brains that then negatively affect our relationships with one another among other things. Even the more “tame” sins of wanting to please others to such an extent that you overcommit yourself beyond your physical capacity is known to wreak havoc on your health and physical body.

Beloved, sin begins as a heart issue. But it always will have an effect on the whole person. It will affect our most important relationship––our walk with the LORD. It will affect our relationships with one another. It can even affect our health. I want to be careful and clear here. Not all of our spiritually dry seasons and physical ailments are directly tied to a particular sin issue. However, that reality should not cause complacency that would keep us from diligently seeking the LORD and searching our own hearts.

Are you in a season where you feel spiritually dry? Does the LORD seem far off? Do you feel a strain and distance between you and your church family? Are you experiencing physical problems that could be tied to the undue stress you are under from harboring sin in your life? In such times it is good and right to seek the LORD in prayer. Consider this prayer of King David from Psalm 139:23-24:

Search me, O God, and know my heart!

Try me and know my thoughts!

And see if there be any grievous way in me,

and lead me in the way everlasting!

Beloved, our former manner of life does not yield ground easily. Our sinful desires are at war with us to destroy us, to keep us from growing in the LORD, and to silence our gospel witness before the watching world. And so, we are to abstain from those things. Rather than be dominated by our sinful desires we are to live all of life in glad submission to the LORD Jesus Christ. By the power of His Spirit at work in us we fight back against the war that is being waged on our souls by the passions of our flesh.

Live Winsomely

Now, we must also see the positive exhortation. We not only abstain from the passions of the flesh. We not only wage war against our sinful human desires. We also, positively, are to live winsomely in the world. Look with me again at the beginning of verse 12––1 Peter 2:12, “Keep your conduct among the Gentiles honorable,

There are a couple of things we want to note here. First, I want to point out the close relationship between the two exhortations. It is not enough for Peter to call us to abstain from the warring fleshly desires. The word in the original language for “Keep” takes a form that may be best translated “by keeping your conduct good among the Gentiles.” In other words, your good conduct is an instrumental means by which you wage war against your sinful desires.

For those who might think that Christianity is nothing more than a list of “don’ts” this is instructive. We will not get very far in our fight against sin and temptation by simply telling ourselves what we are not to do. An integral part of our growth in the Christian life is the more positive “do’s”. We do not merely “put off” sin. We also “put on” the LORD Jesus Christ by following Him and living positively in accordance with His Word by God’s grace at work in us.

Rather than endless scrolling and TV binging where we might gratify sinful desires, we fill our minds with God’s Word and busy our hands with love and service to one another. Or maybe you’re the kind of person who is too busy with your hands. You might need to put off your excessive busyness and put on more rest in Christ so that your love for the LORD will be refreshed from communing more with Him. Then your service to others will be more effective.

Peter says to “keep your conduct among the Gentiles honorable.” That word “conduct” is what Peter likes to use for expressing the Christian’s new life in Christ. Back in 1 Peter 1:15 he says we are to be holy in all our conduct. In 1 Peter 1:18 he says we were ransomed from our futile ways (same word translated conduct here). As we’ll see in 1 Peter 3, the word characterizes the godly behavior of believing wives toward their unbelieving husbands as well as the godly life of those who suffer as believers. This “conduct” is our new way of life in Christ.

Notice also Peter’s reference to our honorable “conduct” among the “Gentiles”. Remember, Peter is likely writing to predominantly Gentile believers. Yet here he uses the word Gentiles in reference to the unbelieving world. Once again, as we’ve seen elsewhere in 1 Peter up to this point, Peter speaks of the church in terms as the new Israel because of their union with Christ. Fellow members of the household of God as the one unified people of God all united to Christ by faith.

What does it look like for us to live honorably as the people of God? I’m thinking generally for us in our particular context here. It’s easy for us to think of more obvious differences with the world overall. For instance, we live honorably by staying faithful to our spouses. We live honorably by stewarding our time and resources well rather than wasting it. We live honorably by being law abiding citizens. All of that is true. But I want us to think more specifically about our particular context.

Generally speaking, we seem to live in a community full of “good” people who do “good” things for the community, whether they are Christians or not. In many ways, here in our little corner of the world, it seems harder to differentiate our honorable living from that of some of our unbelieving neighbors. So, what does it look like for us to live honorably in a truly and distinctively Christian way that sets us apart from unbelieving neighbors who may do good things but are still dead in their sin and need our gospel witness?

I don’t think this is an exhaustive assessment by any means, but it's certainly a starting point. For one thing, there is a difference of motivation in why we do the things we do. An unbeliever, at the root, will do the good things they do in order to be well liked and well thought of in the world for their own sake. To satisfy their own desires, whatever they may be. But the Christian is constrained by faith, hope, and love in Christ to do good for the glory of Christ.

Another difference that may be apparent is a difference in values and priorities. In other words, what drives you? What is your whole life oriented to and built around? The unbeliever is concerned with worldly success. The believer is more concerned with faithfulness to God in all of life, even at great cost to worldly success.

These values and priorities will almost always be exposed in the way that you spend your time. Is the primary aim of your time spent on the things of Christ––growing in Him and helping others grow in Him? Or does that take a backseat to all the things the world tells you that you need to be focused on? If people took stock of how you spend your time and who you spend it with, would they be able to see that love for Christ and His people is the leading priority in your life? Or will they see no difference in your priorities from theirs?

Why?

Now, there is a purpose to all of this. We are to wage war against the flesh and we are to live winsomely in the world for a reason. There is a purpose––an end goal that all of this is leading to. Look at verse 12 again. We keep our conduct among the Gentiles honorable why? So that when they speak against you as evildoers, they may see your good deeds and glorify God on the day of visitation.”

There were some crazy things said about Christians in the day and age that Peter was living and writing. There was a slanderous charge that Christians were somehow cannibals. This was of course a slanderous twist on their practice of the Lord’s Supper. They were even sometimes branded as atheists because they would not worship the gods of Rome. They were branded as rebels against the Roman government because they would not bow down or pray to Caesar. These Christians had all kinds of evil things said about them.

Likewise, we should not be surprised when unbelievers speak evil against us. Notice that Peter says “when” not “if”. It will happen. Remember, evil men said that Jesus was crazy, had a demon, and ultimately they killed Him. We should not expect to be treated any differently if we are following Him. People will say that you are hateful and bigoted because you won’t affirm their sinful choices and are calling them to turn away from their sin. People may claim you don’t care about people because you don’t get involved in everything there is to get involved in.

Beloved, I want to say this––just because someone says you are evil or have done wrong does not make it true. Consider the source. Consider the Word of God. Examine your conduct in the light of God's Word, not the feelings of others. If you have done wrong and your conscience condemns you, repent. If you have not done wrong, rejoice in so much as you share in the sufferings of Christ.

Back to the point, you are to live this way so that when they speak evil against you, “they may see your good deeds and glorify God on the day of visitation.” Peter doesn’t tell us to go on a campaign proclaiming our innocence. It is good and right in certain instances to defend ourselves. Paul did it with his trial in Rome for the sake of the gospel. But, generally speaking, we don’t need to rise up and defend ourselves every time someone mistreats or slanders us. Instead, we should live such good honorable lives that whatever they say can be seen as false.

Really quickly, what is “the day of visitation”? Peter is referring here to the second coming of Christ. That wonderful day when Christ returns and reveals himself in all of His infinite glory. Now, the words here can sometimes be used to encompass both salvation and judgment. But more than likely, the point Peter is making and the purpose he is aiming for is that others will join all the host of the redeemed in joyfully giving glory to God as a result of their salvation.

Beloved, our gospel living is missional. It is intended to cause others to consider the truth of the gospel because of the fruit it bears in our lives. That they too would join us in glorifying God because of what He has done for us in and through the LORD Jesus Christ. Our concern, when evil is spoken of us, is less about the vindication of our own name and more about the vindication and advance of the gospel for the glory of God.

Peter was clearly a good student who had gleaned much from the teachings of Jesus. Jesus also exhorted his disciples to good conduct in Matthew 5:16 so that others would see them and as a result give glory to God in heaven. Our good conduct is not an end in and of itself. Nor is it so others will think well of us. We want people to see our good conduct and marvel at how great God is!

What is it that might motivate you to do good to those who revile you? To serve them and pray for them rather than revile them in return? What is it that would cause you to weep over the lost people who accuse you of evil and hatred? What is it that will cause you to press in all the more when everything in you wants to run and hide? What more could cause us to do all of that than knowing that it could serve the very purpose we all should long for? More and more people redeemed by the blood of the Lamb and singing His praises into eternity. Beloved, is that not worth every bit of mistreatment and slander we might face this side of eternity? I think it is.

Conclusion

As I was thinking about all of this I was reminded of the incredible testimony of a woman that many of you may be familiar with––Rosaria Butterfield. Prior to her conversion, she described herself in one article “As a leftist lesbian professor”, who “despised Christians.” She even went so far as to say “Those who professed the name [of Jesus] commanded my pity and wrath.” But God is gracious and merciful. He saved Saul of Tarsus and he saved Rosaria Butterfield.

After writing an article that critiqued the Promise Keepers movement, she received a lot of feedback. Some positive and some not so positive that she would sort accordingly. But there was one letter she didn’t know how to file. A letter from a Pastor who responded not with hatred, but with questions for her to consider and to have a dialogue with him.

She said in an interview, “I couldn’t dispose of this letter. I tried to, but at the end of the day I would fish it out of the recycling bin and put it back on my desk. It had some questions that no one had ever asked me in my life. At the end of the letter the pastor asked me, please, to give him a call…An anthropologist colleague of mine said a meeting would be “GOOD FOR YOUR RESEARCH! Call him back!” So I did.” She also added “He wrote in such a gracious way, and I was intrigued by it.”

So, she went to their home, this pastor and his wife, in Syracuse and had dinner with them. A humble home with no air conditioning and a simple vegetarian meal, knowing her sensitivities because of her ideology at that time. They didn’t jump right away into a full orbed gospel presentation. They began building a friendship with her. Over time she saw and understood their genuine love for her, even though they didn’t approve of her lifestyle. She began reading the Bible as part of a research project she was working on about the “religious right.”

Eventually, she even began attending the church this pastor and wife were a part of. She recounts in one interview “What strikes me, looking back, is what this church had been doing: praying for me faithfully. Ken [the pastor] was sharing with this church our friendship and our relationship, and the members were genuinely on their knees praying for me. It’s easier to simply be disgusted by a person like me, than pray for me.”

Over time, Rosaria not only heard the gospel, but saw the effect it had on the lives of those who were sharing the gospel with her. Their lives had been transformed, like hers needed to be, by the grace of God. The people she once hated and spoke evil of shared the gospel with her in word and deed. And as a result, the LORD saved her. And she has gone on to have her own impactful writing ministry.

The LORD used the ministry of that pastor and that church family living honorably among the Gentiles to save Rosaria Butterfield. The life of rebellion against God she once knew was totally upended, by God’s grace, through the faithful witness and gospel living of a faithful church. And that faithfulness is multiplying through her own ministry to others. Beloved, do not despise or discount the significance of your conduct and what it says about the gospel you proclaim.

May the LORD be pleased to do all of this and more from our weak and imperfect efforts to follow Him. Beloved, wage war against the flesh and live winsomely in the world for the vindication and advance of the gospel.