Sermon Tone Analysis

INTRODUCTION

We have a glorious opportunity to look again at the Word of God

Please take your Bibles and turn with me to 1 Peter chapter 2

Today we are looking at verses 11-12

Peter has just finished talking about our spiritual blessings in Christ

Now he turns back to the responsibility those blessings brings

Listen to what he says in 1 Peter 2:11-12

There are 3 things that define who we are

The first is how God sees us in Scripture

The second is by what we keep ourselves from

And third is what we maintain on a daily basis before an unbelieving world

The 3 things that I’m referring to is how we are addressed, what we abstain from, and what behavior we maintain

Essentially this is a call to living a godly life

Godly living is the by product of our salvation

It’s not the means but it does serve also as the proof

We are saved as Ephesians 2:8-9

And our obedience to live a godly life is manifested by our obedience to God’s Word

It is also manifested by our love for the brethren

Peter begins verse 11 with...

I.

A Tender Address (v.11a)

As “beloved”

This is agapetoi which is an adjective

It comes from agapetos which means “beloved, dear”

This is a term of affectionate endearment common to both Testaments (Pratt)

He draws his readers closely to his heart with intelligent, purposeful love, a love that will call forth a corresponding love and a readiness to obey.

Peter uses the term “beloved” 6 times in both letters

1 Peter 2:11 (NASB95)

11 Beloved, I urge you as aliens and strangers to abstain from fleshly lusts which wage war against the soul.

This same word is used by God when referring to Jesus

Christians are called “beloved by God”

Peter’s address is similar to Paul’s as he appeals to them to a particular behavior

He says, “I urge you”

“Urge” is the word parakalo, which means “to come alongside” (Hiebert)

It is translated in various ways as “to implore, exhort,” “to encourage, to beseech” (Rienecker)

It should be used here as “urge” or “appeal”

Peter did not command his readers; he appealed to their own sense of what is right.

Before he makes his appeal, he also refers to them...

As Aliens

This is the adjective paroikos which literally means “alongside the house.”

The word came to denote any person who lives in a country not his own and is therefore a foreigner

The term fits Christians who do not belong to this world’s system but live alongside those who do (MacArthur)

Peter already referred to them as “aliens” in 1:1

We are “aliens” to this world but no longer to God

As Strangers

Peter also used the term strangers (parepidēmous), which is a synonym for aliens.

It refers to a visitor who travels through a country and perhaps makes a brief stay there (MacArthur)

Peter also used this term in 1:17

The writer of Hebrews reminded believers in Hebrews 13:14

As long as we are in this world, there should be in our lives as Christians a certain detachment (Sibbs)

Peter moves from his tender address to...

II.

The Content of the Appeal (v.11b)

He appeals to them to “abstain from fleshly lusts”

The word “abstain” (apechomai) is used in the middle voice and means “to keep oneself from” (WSNTDICT) or “to be holding yourselves off from,” and marks that as a constant need (Hiebert)l

This is an internal discipline that is only possible with the help of the Holy Spirit

The word “self-control” (enmkrateia) means “the holding in of passions and appetites” (Rienecker)

The enkráteia word-group originally meant “mastery or power over oneself or something”; eventually it came to mean “control over oneself,” especially one’s desires and actions.

The opposite was akrasía, “self-idulgence” or “licentiousness” (cf.

RSV “rapacity” in Mt. 23:25).

A person with no self-control is defenseless, always subject to attack and defeat

James, the Lord’s half brother, told the council at Jerusalem in Acts 15:20

The council agreed and wrote in Acts 15:29

Paul instructed the Thessalonians to “abstain from sexual immorality” in 1 Thessalonians 4:3

1 Thessalonians 4:3 (NASB95)

3 For this is the will of God, your sanctification; that is, that you abstain from sexual immorality;

He further called the Thessalonians to “abstain from every form of evil” in 1 Thessalonians 5:22

1 Thessalonians 5:22 (NASB95)

22 abstain from every form of evil.

The command to abstain signifies that saints have the ability by the new life and the indwelling Spirit to restrain the lustful flesh, even in a postmodern culture dominated by sensuality, immorality, and moral relativism.

Again the key is the Holy Spirit

It is only by His power that you can overcome the flesh

When we walk by the means of the Spirit we will not give in to the flesh

It is by the Spirit that we kill sin

The term that Peter uses for “lusts” is epithumia (noun) which is a neutral term, denoting strong cravings and desires whether good or bad (Hiebert)

It’s used in Luke 22:15 of Jesus’ desire to eat the Passover before His sufferings

It’s used in Philippians 1:23 of Paul’s desire to depart and be with Christ

It’s used in 1 Thessalonians 2:17 of Paul’s desire to see the Thessalonians

It’s used in 1 Timothy 3:1 of a man’s desire to be a pastor of a church

All those instances are “good” desires

But it’s more common use of for evil

It’s used in Mark 4:19 of having desires for other things causing the word to be choked out

It’s used in John 8:44 to speak of the desires of the devil

It’s used in James 1:14-15 to speak of why a person gives in to temptation

It’s translated “coveting” in Romans 7:7

Peter further characterizes these evil desires as those that “wage war against the soul”

Wage war is a strong term that generally means to carry out a long-term military campaign.

It implies not just antagonism but a relentless, malicious aggression.

Since it takes place in the soul, it is a kind of civil war.

Joined with the concept of fleshly lusts, the image is of an army of lustful terrorists waging an internal search and destroy mission to conquer the soul of the believer.

These sinful desires are the enemies of spiritual growth in the life of every believer.

As Ross remarks, “The pilgrim of God, as we see him, carries about a battlefield inside his own personality.”17

A.W. Pink writes “Unless the Christian devotes all his powers to a definite, uncompromising, earnest, constant warfare upon indwelling sin: unless he diligently seeks to weaken its roots, suppress its motions, restrain its outward eruptions and actions, and seeks to put to death the enemy within his soul, he is guilty of the basest ingratitude to Christ.

Unless he does so, he is a complete failure in the Christian life, for it is impossible that both sin and grace should be healthy and vigorous in the soul at the same time.

If a garden is overrun with weeds, they choke and starve the profitable plants, absorbing the moisture and nourishment they should feed upon.

So, if the lusts of the flesh absorb the soul, the graces of the Spirit cannot develop.

If the mind is filled with worldly or filthy things, then meditation on holy things is crowded out.

Occupation with sin deadens the mind for holy duties.”

Pink, Arthur W. The Holy Spirit (Arthur Pink Collection Book 34) .

Prisbrary Publishing.