It's good to be back in the word of God with you today now that I finally have a new keyboard. I apologize for the two days I was without one.
The Apostle Peter begins today by assuring his Gentile readers that, in Christ, they are a chosen people. At one time they lived in useless idolatry witout any knowlede of the one true God, but now they are part of the royal family of the King. As a part of God's family, Peter will caution them to live as the children of God should live. That way even unbelievers will be impressed with the change Christ has made in their lives.
"But you are a chosen people, a royal priesthood, a holy nation, God's special possession, 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." (1 Peter 2:8-10) Formerly these things could only have been said about the nation of Israel, but now these same wonderful things can be said of the Gentile believers. The Apostle Paul says a similar thing to his Gentile readers that Peter says to his: "But now in Christ Jesus you who once were far away have been brought near by the blood of Christ." (Ephesians 2:13)
So what does this mean for the Gentiles? Well, for one thing, it means they must obey the same command given to Israel about not conforming to the ways of the world. Though living in the world, Israel was to be set apart and sanctified for the Lord. The same is expected of Christians. We live in the world and we associate with the world, but we don't belong to the world and we shouldn't look like the world. As children of the living God, we should look like our Father. If we do not look anything like our Father, it's questionable whether or not we are His. Peter reminds the Gentile Christians that they are to live such holy and moral lives that even unbelievers may be impressed by the change Christ has made in them. "Dear friends, I urge you, as foreigners and exiles, to abstain from sinful desires, which wage 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." (1 Peter 2:13-17)
The pagans likely accused the Christians of many untrue and bizarre things. The pagans wanted to find something wrong with the Christians, and if they couldn't find anything wrong they just made it up. Peter says, "Don't let any of these accusations be true! Unbelievers are always going to want to find something wrong with you so they can dismiss Christianity---and Christ---altogether. But there's a difference between making an unfounded accusation and having evidence that the accusation is true. Don't live in such a way that the unbelievers can say, 'Aha! I knew it! These Christians are putting on a front of holiness while trying to hide their immoral living. They are still committing fornication and adultery. They are still cheating people in business. Several of them have been caught in the very act of doing wrong things. I knew they couldn't really be as upright and moral as they pretended to be!'"
The world intently scrutinizes Christians to see if we are the real deal or not. I don't think most unbelievers expect us to be perfect because they know no one is perfect. But they do expect us to live by higher standards than those who don't know the Lord. When we mess up they expect us to quickly realize it and repent, not live in ongoing bondage to sin. I think unbelievers are most disillusioned by Christians when they find out that a Christian has been conducting a long term affair or has been embezzling funds from work for a long time or has had a secret drinking problem for many years, and so on. It's the idea that a Christian can be comfortable living this way that I think disturbs unbelievers the most. They can understand and even forgive a huge one-time mistake that a person made and sincerely repented of, but it's much harder for them to understand and forgive a sin that has become a way of life for a Christian.
Peter's advice to us today is to live in such a way that unbelievers can find no evidence to back up their accusations against Christians. This doesn't mean we have liberty to sin if we are able to hide it well enough. It means our lives are an open book. If someone were to come along and investigate our lives, they shouldn't find anything that they could point to and say, "I knew these Christians couldn't really be as good as they pretend to be! They claim Christ has transformed them, yet look how many of them are gossipers and backbiters. Look how many of them have been caught having affairs. Look how many conduct their businesses in dishonest ways. If Christ hasn't done any more for them than that, why should I have any interest in Him?"
But if we live in a way that honors our Lord, Peter says that many who are unbelievers now may stand before God someday and give glory to Him. This is because they repented and came to Christ when they observed how much Christ changed the lives of those around them. They knew Christians who were the real deal and so they were persuaded that Christ was the real deal. Unbelievers are drawn to the faith just as much (or even more) by how we live than by what we say. The best testimony any of us can offer to the world is a life lived by the Lord's standards.
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