1st Peter Chapter 2 Study
1st Peter Chapter 2:1: We are to put these things away from us at all times. Here, we’re specifically commanded not to bring these things into our Bible reading and study. If we don’t, then even our Bible time is sin! Note that this command is given to born-again Christians. It is a great delusion to think that a born-again Christian would never have their Bible time corrupted by sin in them.
2:2-3: You can’t grow in Christ unless you have been born-again in Him and have known Him in truth. It’s never right to discourage anyone from reading the Bible, but no one should use Bible reading as a substitute for having the dealings with the living God that they need to have through Jesus Christ. It is possible to come to the Bible while not properly dealing with the God of the Bible, including if we come to the Bible merely to study it and/or come to it with the things we’re commanded to lay aside as we come to it.
2:4: Coming to the Bible as we ought to come to it is an essential aspect of having the dealings with the living God which we ought to have. It says in Psalm 138 that God has magnified His Word above all His name, so those who say things like “I seek to know God and not the Bible” are deluded and they are seeking a false god. We also see here that properly receiving and understanding God’s Word means receiving values contrary to the values of men, as Jesus Christ Himself was despised and rejected by men- though He is chosen of God and precious.
2:5: That is, according as they seek the Lord in submission and respond to what they are shown from the Word as it comes to them. This is walking in a living faith in Jesus Christ.
Hebrews 6:7-8: “For the earth which drinketh in the rain that cometh oft upon it, and bringeth forth herbs meet for them by whom it is dressed, receiveth blessing from God: But that which beareth thorns and briers is rejected, and is nigh unto cursing; whose end is to be burned.”
2:6: In understanding Biblical election properly, understand that Jesus Christ is the chosen One. Those who obediently believe in Him are chosen due to their proper relation to Him. No one is chosen or looked over on an unconditional basis. True Biblical is not Calvinistic then. We must proclaim and uphold true Biblical election lest we give people the false impression that God accepts everyone or that people can come to God in different ways or that God would accept a way which one devises to try to relate to Him.
2:7-8: He is not precious to somebody if they are disobedient to Him and don’t bear fruit according to His Word, even if they profess to love and believe in Him. He is rather a stumbling block to these. This is not saying that they were appointed to disobedience; it is saying that the disobedient are appointed to His wrath.
Matthew 21:42-44: “Jesus saith unto them, Did ye never read in the scriptures, The stone which the builders rejected, the same is become the head of the corner: this is the Lord’s doing, and it is marvelous in our eyes? Therefore say I unto you, The kingdom of God shall be taken from you, and given to a nation bringing forth the fruits thereof. And whosoever shall fall on this stone shall be broken: but on whomsoever it shall fall, it will grind him to powder.”
In writing these verses in 1 Peter 2, Peter was also implicitly speaking of the coming end of the Jewish nation here (coming in terms of when he wrote this). The leadership of the nation and the direction of the nation at the time made such a connection obvious. And the leadership and the direction of modern Israel now make it evident that it is not of God and is yet under His wrath.
2:9: This is the Christian calling. There is no alternative or lower form of Christianity whereby a person can just “accept Jesus” and obtain heaven.
2:10: The Calvinists teach that the elect were God’s people before the foundation of the world and that they were eternal objects of His mercy. This is a lie which is totally foreign to the Apostolic mindset, as we see Peter teaching the exact opposite of the Calvinists here. See also our study “Calvinist Strongholds are Built on Sinking Sand” (which is a verse by verse study of Romans chapter 9).
2:11: And this warning is given because a Christian’s perseverance in the faith is not guaranteed, and fleshly lusts will destroy a soul that they conquer and pull them back into the realm of darkness so that they are separated from Jesus Christ the chief cornerstone of God’s house and so that they don’t live in accordance with the (one and only) Christian calling.
2:12: Faithful Christianity gives no just occasion for any to speak against it. It rather exerts a pull to bring those who witness it out of darkness and into its marvelous light. Many claim to be in the light but they live in darkness. They are deceivers who will be damned.
1 John 1:5-7: “This then is the message which we have heard of him, and declare unto you, that God is light, and in him is no darkness at all. If we say that we have fellowship with him, and walk in darkness, we lie, and do not the truth: But if we walk in the light, as he is in the light, we have fellowship one with another, and the blood of Jesus Christ his Son cleanseth us from all sin.”
2 Corinthians 11:13-15: “For such are false apostles, deceitful workers, transforming themselves into the apostles of Christ. And no marvel; for Satan himself is transformed into an angel of light. Therefore it is no great thing if his ministers also be transformed as the ministers of righteousness; whose end shall be according to their works.”
These do not actually minister righteousness, so the light which they bear is counterfeit. Peter is exhorting us to walk in the light of God’s Word, living consistently consistent with the true light in order to actually bear that light.
2:13-16: There is no freedom in Christ to sin. Peter is speaking in verse 16 about being free from slavery to the opinions of men in a way where one is a servant of God still bound by His Law. Peter is rebuking the concept that one can be a servant of God while acting maliciously towards others and denying others the things which the duty of “thou shalt love neighbor as thyself” requires in the particular circumstances.
2:17: In fearing God the other three things mentioned here can be properly done. God’s Word gives principles and insight regarding complicated situations which might arise. God’s Word also rebukes those who might use these useful generalities to justify unrighteousness. Example: It is not violating the general principle of “honor all” when a convicted murderer is killed by God-ordained authorities. However, an ignorant, possibly willfully ignorant person, might claim otherwise. According to the whole counsel of God’s Word though, it is actually dishonoring the victim, the victim’s family, and the rest of society to not kill the convicted murderer.
2:18: Understand the principle and understand that Peter is not saying that one should not exercise any recourse at their disposal in cases of criminality by the one over them. Assuming that the master is simply unpleasant and mean and ungrateful without being physically abusive, following this commandment is nevertheless contrary to the values of the carnal.
2:19-20: These things apply to other areas of life even though they are said here in this particular aspect of human interaction.
2:21: We are to follow in His steps. He died for us so that we can be dead to sin and live unto God in righteousness. Peter is not teaching that we must die on a cross to make an atonement for sin like Christ did, but Peter says what he says expecting us not to jump to such a conclusion. Yet some people are so much on their guard against any thought that we are bound to live dead to sin and faithfully to God that they would accuse anyone of being a heretic for simply speaking as Peter speaks here. They’re self-proclaimed experts on justification and salvation who actually know nothing besides how to rip a few verses here and there out of context to promote their antinomianism (lawless false gospel), their easy-believe-ism, and their OSAS (one saved, always saved) doctrines.
2:22-23: Christ did not retaliate on a personal level. Yet since He stayed within His boundaries to the end and finished the work which the Father gave Him to do, He was raised to the Father’s right hand as the Judge of the living and the dead. When He comes back in that capacity, He will judge and make war against His enemies in righteousness. It is a reminder for us to stay within our boundaries and not exercise private retaliation. We should be persuaded that God’s vengeance will be sufficient.
2:24: Those who use this verse to try to preach that Christians are promised bodily healing through Christ’s atonement actually negate its significance and give evidence that they savor the things of men over the things of God. Look at what Peter has been talking about and the instructions which he is giving. Christ gave Himself for our sins to redeem us to God and deliver us from sin’s power so we can live worthy of the price which Christ paid to redeem us. He is after “a chosen generation, a royal priesthood, an holy nation, a peculiar people” that should forth His praises. The prosperity and healing preachers (who are either one and the same or two sides of the same coin) draw many by their good words and fair speeches which deceive the hearts of the simple (see Romans 16:18), especially since they scratch the ears of those who have too much sympathy for their own humanistic desires. Yet considering man’s guilt and condemnation before God, and considering God’s goals for man with His vast, eternal perspective in the equation, bodily healing in this life is not promised in Christianity, it is not likely to happen when a physically unhealthy individual is born-again in Christ, and to make it greater or equal to the great spiritual healing which each person truly needs is heretical and hateful.
2:25: The Christians in the apostolic churches had answered the Christian calling to die to sin through Christ’s death on the cross that they might live unto righteousness with Him. Peter is reminding the Christians that the exhortations which he is giving are what they signed up for when they repented and turned to Jesus Christ, embracing His rule and discipline in order to partake of His grace and exceedingly precious promises. Peter is therefore making them aware that what he is saying is evident and logical in light of proper Biblical doctrine and the call of Christ’s everlasting Gospel.
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