Peter and Gospel Truth - Gospel Story, 4

I have spent most of my adult life as a pastor in the church.  During these years I have seen some outstanding acts of service within the body of Christ.  I have also seen God's people invest their lives in the public world of education, government, politics, care of the poor, and neighborhood enrichment. This has always seemed to me to be two marks of the work of the Spirit of God. 

Peter would agree -- that Christians are called to private godliness and to public service to their communities.  He sees the life of the Christian in this world as one of holiness and service. 

1 Peter 2:11-12 gives two basic commands

ABSTAIN and LIVE A GOOD LIFE.

The "abstain" command is the one many would identify with Christianity -- and indeed it is part of our calling.  We say NO, as born of the Spirit, to the desires of the flesh. 

The "live a good life" command may be the one where I have heard less emphasis.  For Peter a beautiful life commends the Gospel and silences the critics.

A call to ABSTAIN from the passions of the flesh assumes that we are in a war all our lives and that there is a conflict we engage in every day.  If I am sensing the passions of the flesh in me it is not a mark of immaturity -- nor is it a mark of sickness -- it is a mark of health and a work of the Spirit to lead me to godliness.  The passions of the flesh are the sin corrupted desires in my heart. Indwelling sin is still active in me and the Spirit of God is as well -- opposing sin and leading me more and more to godliness.  I must abstain, but abstaining is not all that I am to do.

But Peter tells them also to LIVE SUCH A GOOD LIFE or live an HONORABLE LIFE among the Gentiles.  In other words, Christians are to be present in the world but living differently from the world.  And the differences are more than what we don't do -- the difference includes what we do.  We are to do good works. 

Good works are about how I live -- and good works serve other people. They are works of caring for needs, generous giving, and pursuing justice in the world.

I have been thinking about this some -- this means that my life is to make the community in which I live a better place -- that is what good works do.  My neighborhood should be safer and more caring because of our presence.  My work should be different because I am there.  There are people with needs that should be met by me because I am doing good.

How does this tie into the Gospel story?  Peter has already established that they are part of God's redeeming plan and story.  And God's story includes this truth for our day -- we live in a day in which God is showing kindness to the world. He is making the sun to shine on the evil and the good. He is delaying judgment because he is not willing that any should perish (2 Peter 3). So Christians display the kindness of God by living lives abounding in good works.  And Christians are generous in doing good because God has been extravagantly generous with us in his grace.

Jonathan Edwards said that true love meant a large heart -- the inclusion of the good of others as though it were my good.  Peter is saying the Gospel enlarges our hearts.  And our good works commend the Gospel to people who can see but may not want to listen.

Comments

[Paul Larson]

I was struck by your last line:
"And our good works commend the Gospel to people who can see but may not want to listen."

Which I would elaborate on by noting that, if they are willing to listen, it is not much different than the willingness of our children to listen. Their willingness to listen begins to fade as they recognize that what they "see" is inconsistent with what they "hear." We must "walk the walk" to authenticate "the talk," and if we focus on the latter without understanding that the credibility of what we say is dependent on the former, we are like clanging cymbals. . .