Signs of Life - Grace Renewal Stories (Jan 19, 2020)

Read: 1 Timothy 1:12-17

After reminding Timothy of the most important sign of spiritual life and health (love), Paul shares the story of how God’s grace has taken a hold of his story. As one of Paul’s closest friends, it’s a story Timothy knew very well. So, why did Paul tell it to him again? Paul re-told his story as an example of what a healthy spiritual life looks like in practice and what it looks like for sound gospel doctrine (v11) to take a hold of a person’s story. We could call a story like this a “grace renewal story” - a story of someone coming to experience the greatness of a need, a failure or a sin that leads them to experience the even greater grace of God overflowing into that need, failure or sin. Grace renewal stories are both the evidence of, and a means to, a vibrant and healthy Christian life. Paul shares how God’s grace shaped the way he saw his whole story - past, present and future.

1) Grace for Our Past

When Paul wrote 1 Timothy, he had been a Christian for 25-30 years. Of all Christians in history – Paul is recognized as one of the most passionate, accomplished and mature Christians to ever live. Of all the lessons he could share in looking back over his life as an example of spiritual health and as a countermeasure against the false teaching & spiritual unhealthiness in Ephesus, he shared his grace renewal story. He is saying to Timothy, “The more I live, the more two things become clearer and bigger to me – 1) the sin I need to be saved from and 2) the grace that has overflowed into my need (v14).”

If you compare what Paul shares here toward the end of his life/ministry to other places where he shares the story of his past, what you will find is that Paul is more honest than ever. He owns the sin of his past by using the most stark and jarring terms he has ever used - blasphemer, persecutor, arrogant man. He is also more thorough than ever in confessing these sins. He saw just how offensive his sin was to God (blasphemy being the worst sin a devout Jew could commit), he saw just how much he hurt others (persecuting those he now loved) and he saw the sin “beneath the sin” (the arrogance that drove him). It’s important to see that along with Paul’s honest and thorough confession of sin, he is also more compassionate than ever. Paul knew the Bible better than anyone yet missed the God of grace at the center of it all. Instead of getting stuck asking How could I? I should’ve known better! he doesn’t beat himself up for the failure of his past, and is able to see and receive God’s mercy for the ignorance and unbelief of his past (v13). 

2) Grace in Our Present

Paul moves from the past to the present in verse 15, “Christ Jesus came into the world to save sinners – and I am the worst of them.” This statement has puzzled and shocked scholars over the years. Paul can’t possible mean this, can he? He must be using hyperbole or thinking about his past life only? Surely, he knew there were worse sinners out there than him!? But Paul is so clear here that there is no way to explain this away. He says, “This saying is trustworthy and deserving of full acceptance.” In other words, “I mean it for myself 100%”. This is something every Christian - as they grow, mature and move toward spiritual health- will come to tell as their first person, present tense grace renewal story too.

Paul’s story illustrates a principle at the very heart of Christian maturity - the more we grow, the more we see how far we have to go. The more we grow closer to God and see his glory and holiness, the more we see how deep and pervasive our sin is; the more we realize just how much God’s grace is overflowing over and into our lives in the present! We can see this principle at work in how Paul told his first person, present tense grace renewal story as he matured in his own spiritual life.

• In 1 Corinthians (early in his ministry) he said, “I am least of all the apostles.”

• In Ephesians (middle of his ministry) – “I am the least of all the saints.”

• In 1 Timothy (near the end of his ministry) – “I am the worst of sinners.”

From this progression - we can expand on the principle at the very heart of Christian maturity: The more we grow, the less we compare ourselves to others; the more we compare ourselves to Jesus, the more we realize just how far we have to go; the more we realize how great and gracious a Savior He is, the more we want to say “thank you” to Him with our entire lives.

3) Grace for Our Future

In vv16-17 Paul looks to the future. He shares what he saw as the reason he received so much mercy from God. He concluded it must be that his story would be an example of a “grace renewal story” for others to see just how extraordinarily patient God is with broken and sinful people. The Greek word he uses for “example” is a word used for an artist’s sketch drawing. Paul is saying no matter how much he grows and matures as a Christian – his life will always be a working picture of God’s patience. It is very humbling, yet profoundly freeing, for us to accept that no matter how spiritually mature we become, we will never outgrow the extraordinary patience of God toward us in our sin and brokenness. This doesn’t mean we accept our sin and give up on growth – it does mean we accept that no matter how much we grow, we will always have a long way to go in becoming like Jesus. And God is always patient towards those who know this is true?

DIAGNOSE

In what part of your story is it hardest for you to see the grace of God at work? Your past, your present or your future? What would it look like for you to open your heart to receiving God’s overflowing grace to you in this part of your story?

• Past - Receiving God’s overflowing grace and mercy for the sins and failures of your past

• Present - Accepting you have (at the present) a greater need for God’s grace than you’ll ever see. Accepting God knows just how much sin still remains in you and yet overflows with grace and love for you on account of your faith in Christ

• Future - Accepting that no matter how much you grow and learn, you will never grow beyond being an example of the extraordinary patience of God

DISCUSS

1. What about the sermon impacted you most? What left you with questions?

2. In the sermon, it was said: “Love is not efficient. It almost never happens when we are in a hurry.  Love will almost always look like a waste of time.” Do you agree? How should this affect the way we live in a world of endless options, constant hurry?

3. God’s plan (v4) is often different than our plans. God’s idea of what is urgent is so different from ours. Is there something urgent to you that God doesn’t seem to be responding to with the urgency you would like? How might God be deepening your faith and growing you in love in this as you wait on Him?

4. Why should 1 Timothy 1:15 be the first person, present tense grace renewal story of every healthy and growing Christian?

5. How are these two things becoming bigger for you? 1) Your sin, need and brokenness 2) The grace of Jesus for your every sin and need? If they are not becoming bigger for you, why do you think this is?

6. What lessons can we learn from Paul’s progression in his first person, present tense grace renewal story?

7. How might the following statements of application cure so much of our perfectionism and spiritual discouragement? “Cheer up you are a much bigger sinner than you thought! Cheer up God is far more patient than you are with yourself”. Why are we often more impatient with ourselves and others than God is?

BONUS – Why We Should Tell Grace Renewal Stories

When a grace renewal story is shared, other people say…

• Maybe I can serve Jesus too – Paul says God considered him trustworthy (faithful) to serve him in gospel ministry (v11). What kind of person does God entrust with gospel service and ministry? The person who thinks they’ve arrived and have the answers? Not trustworthy. The person who thinks they have so much to offer others? Not trustworthy. The person who hides and minimizes their sin? Not trustworthy. But the person who increasingly knows how much of a sinner they are and how great a Savior Jesus is? Trustworthy. In this kind of person, others can see Jesus’ greatness and glory

• Maybe I can talk about Jesus authentically with others too – “I used to think that I couldn’t talk about Jesus with others or be used by Jesus until my life measured up or until I got my spiritual act together. But now I see that what I share with others and give to others is what I most need. Not just needed; need – in the present and will need – in the future. So it’s ok to share my story even if it’s in process. After all, it’s about Jesus and not about me anyway.”

• It that’s who Jesus is, I want to know Him more! The point of a grace renewal story is not to focus on or obsess about our sin but to get our focus and obsession off our sin and onto Jesus. Paul is NOT the point of Paul’s story. Look at what he says about Jesus: He gives strength to the undeserving. He is more merciful than we’d ever imagine. His grace overflows over any and all sin no matter how great. He gives faith and love to those who don’t have them. He came into the world to save people at their worst. His saving work is sufficient for all our sin – past, present and future. He is extraordinarily patient with people in process.

  When people hear this - no matter where they are in the spiritual journey - they say, “If that’s true, that’s someone I want to know more about.”

• I see the bigger story! A grace renewal story causes other people to say “I can see a little bit clearer now that it’s not all about me! There is something bigger at work than my life, my failures, my growth. It’s ALL   part of a greater story. A story that began in eternity past with the immortal, invisible, only God and one that will continue forever and ever. It’s a story where God is honored and glorified as the God of overflowing grace for eternity. This is the story my life is meant to tell.”

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Signs of Life - Love: The Ultimate Goal (Jan 12, 2020)

Read: 1 Timothy 1:1-7

1 Timothy was written by the apostle Paul to his friend, colleague and protégé in ministry, Timothy, who was the pastor of the young church in the city of Ephesus. Paul wrote this letter to help him identify spiritual warning signs in the church and to address these by sound (healthy) doctrine. 1 Timothy is like an older experienced physician guiding a younger doctor in the work of diagnosis and treatment. The things Paul tells Timothy to do and to teach provide us with the metrics of spiritual health for our personal and corporate lives as Christians. Paul begins his letter by reminding Timothy of the most important sign and metric of all.

1) The Urgency of Love

It may be something we miss on our first reading, but in order to understand the message of 1 Timothy, we first need to feel its tone. 1 Timothy is one of the most urgent letters in the New Testament. Most scholars would agree that it is second in urgency only to Paul’s letter to the Galatians. Note that it was customary at this time (as it was Paul’s custom) to begin his letters with warm introductions filled with thanksgiving and encouragement. In this letter, however, he gets right to the point. He urges Timothy to immediate action (v3). Something must have been extremely urgent for Paul to move past greeting and encouraging one of his dearest and closest friends.

What was so urgent? Verses 4-5 tell us. People in the church were leading others to miss the entire point of God’s plan and their faith in Jesus – love. They were spending a lot of time talking about the Bible, but the only result was speculation and fruitless discussion.  They were moving themselves and others further and further away from love. Paul’s response to this shows us what is always an urgent matter for God – love. 

2) The Ultimacy of Love

This passage goes beyond saying that love is an urgent matter; it is saying love is the MOST urgent and ultimate matter in life. Some things are unclear and hard to understand in the Bible, but this is crystal clear - love is the ultimate sign of life and the most important metric of spiritual health. This is what Paul says to Timothy in v5: “The goal of our instruction is love.”

Paul reminds Timothy of the ultimate goal so that he would stay committed to two very difficult things in his situation. These two things are what every person and every church needs in order to move further toward the goal of love. What are they?

1) Difficult People – In v3, Paul tells Timothy, “I urged you to remain in Ephesus”. When someone has to be urged to remain somewhere, it usually means they are thinking of leaving or giving up! Paul is saying, “Remember that the goal, Timothy, isn’t easy relationships or finding people who always agree with you and make life easy for you or who don’t demand anything hard of you… the goal is love. So remain. Stay.” When the people close to us are difficult for us or to us, we need to remember the goal. Love only grows in us as we remain committed over time, even (and especially!) when it’s difficult.

2) Doctrine – We might say, “How does doctrine lead to love? Doesn’t doctrine lead to division and disagreement?” Paul’s response is, “Yes, doctrine can lead to disputes, arguments, envy, quarrelling, slander, suspicion and constant disagreement (see 6:3-4) but the answer is not no doctrine or less doctrine. The answer is “sound doctrine”. Here’s how we know the difference – the goal. The goal of all God’s instruction is love. Whenever relationships take a back seat to being right or knowing more – it’s a sign the goal has been lost. Sound doctrine is truth from God for healthy relationships - with Him and other people. This is the goal of the law – if we miss this, we cannot understand God’s instruction in the law (see verse 7)

3) The Capacity for Love

The more we learn sound/healthy doctrine and the more we remain close & committed to people, what will happen? The more we will see how unloving we really are. God’s word shows us hard things about ourselves. His law exposes our selfishness and self-centeredness. Our close relationships reveal things we didn’t even know were in us. This is hard but it is healthy for us. It is a loving thing for God to do to show us these things - because it is how God grows in us our capacity to love. How so?

Our love grows when God’s love in the law leads us to God’s love in the gospel. Paul helps us see what this looks like when he shares how it works for him, “Jesus Christ came into the world to save sinners and I am the worst of them” (1:15). The most difficult and most sound doctrine of all is this: I am more unloving and unlovely than I will ever know (the worst of sinners),  yet because of Jesus Christ I am more fully and unconditionally loved by God than I could ever fully grasp (Jesus came for me). If Jesus selflessly and sacrificially loved the most difficult person to love that I know (me!), I can love others who are just as difficult. This is how doctrine applied to the heart can increase our capacity to love.

Paul says love comes “from a pure heart, good conscience, sincere faith.” How does an impure heart become pure? How does a guilty conscience become good? How does a faith become sincere - without hypocrisy, pretending and masks? There’s only one way this happens – it is when we know that no matter how impure our heart, how heavy our conscience and whatever it is we are hiding behind the mask, if we come to Jesus we will be forgiven and loved. When we see our failures to love for what they are and experience the love of Jesus for us at our worst, we grow in our capacity to love even the most difficult of people for us to love.

DIAGNOSE

According to the bible, love is the most important metric of spiritual health. Take a moment to prayerfully consider what it would look like for love to be in the IMPORTANT/URGENT category in your life. What people or situations come to mind? What things might become less urgent or important to you?  What things might become more urgent and important to you?

DISCUSS

1. What about the sermon impacted you most? What left you with questions?

2. In the sermon, it was said: “Love is not efficient. It almost never happens when we are in a hurry.  Love will almost always look like a waste of time.” Do you agree? How should this affect the way we live in a world of endless options, constant hurry?

3. God’s plan (v4) is often different than our plans. God’s idea of what is urgent is so different from  ours. Is there something urgent to you that God doesn’t seem to be responding to with the urgency you would like? How might God be deepening your faith and growing you in love in this as you wait on Him?

4. If love for other people is the ultimate sign of life and the most important metric of spiritual health. How does remembering this help us remain committed to difficult people? How does it help us remain committed to hearing hard doctrine from the Bible?

5. What has God used in your life to grow your capacity for love? What role has sound doctrine played? How has remaining close and committed to people when it’s been difficult grown your capacity for love?

6. Our capacity for love grows when the love of God in the law leads us to the love of God in the gospel. In 1 Tim. 1:15 Paul shows us what this looks like personally : I am more unloving than I will ever know (“I am the worst of sinners”) but by faith in Jesus I am more fully and unconditionally loved by God than I could ever fully grasp (Jesus came to die for me). In what ways is God personally teaching you this in His word or in your relationships?

7. Read the story from Jesus’ ministry found in Luke 7: 36-50. This is one of the clearest places in Scripture that shows us how we grow in our capacity for love. According to Jesus, who has the greatest capacity to love?

Where do you find yourself in the story – as the Pharisee looking down on others or as the woman weeping at the feet of Jesus? If you find yourself looking down on others, what is stopping you from getting on the floor and joining the woman?  If you find yourself as the woman weeping, what is stopping you from getting up and “going in peace” to love others as you have been loved?

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Living Hope - The Usefulness of the Cross

Read: 1 Peter 4:1-6

Following Jesus is hard. No exceptions. For one, you’ve got a Bible whose main message is clear, but it’s not without challenging passages. Like, “the one who suffers in the flesh is finished with sin?” What’s that all about? Following Jesus is also hard because we live in a post-Christian culture (very much similar to the 1st century), where our beliefs often do not fit into the plausibility structures of the wider culture. But here in 1 Peter 4, the apostle urges us that even though living for God is hard, there are good and reasonable reasons for doing so.  

1) Why it’s hard to live for God?

The main point of this short passage is in vv. 1-2. Peter encourages us to use the mindset of Jesus as He suffered in the flesh. What was that mindset? Jesus lived for God’s will, not His own. He was other-focused, not self-focused. That is incredibly hard for us for several reasons.

First, our past has often habituated us toward living for ourselves. In v. 3 Peter just casually assumes that his audience has at one time or another been caught up in drunkenness and orgies. But he exhorts them: you’ve already had enough time in that lifestyle. The reality remains: our actions do change us. Our hearts become conditioned to what we do. It’s hard to break with that.

Second, living for God’s will is hard because it often involves living under immense cultural pressure to do the opposite. Peter says unbelievers are “surprised” (v. 4) by Christians not joining them in a “flood of wild living.” But it isn’t just surprise. It’s shock that evolves into slander. History shows many examples of Jesus followers slandered, abused, ignored, reviled, and even condemned when they refused to join in, approve, affirm, and celebrate ways of living that run contrary to God’s will. That kind of pressure is real and it’s difficult to navigate.

Third, living for God’s will is hard because it runs contrary to the core of who we are. What do I mean? In v. 3, when Peter is listing out a range of ‘off-limits’ behaviors, he includes the word “evil desires.” It’s actually one word in the Greek (epithumia) and is more neutral than most of our translations indicate. Peter is saying that God doesn’t merely care about our behaviors, but about our thoughts, fantasies, beliefs. The apostle is drawing on a compelling and complex anthropological principle found in the Scriptures: our desires often become deep things that motivate, drive, control, and rule us. Our hearts create in us a longing, craving, need that we must have at all costs – and it drives our actions, wills, and attitudes. Essentially, Peter is saying that we need a new motivational system that operates at the core of who we are. Otherwise our sinful selves twist good desires so that we crave, long for, and build our lives on the attainment of things in order to justify ourselves.

2) What are reasons to live for God?

So there are both external and internal realities that make living for God extremely hard. But Peter is saying that there’s a truth for our minds that when we reason it out make it both reasonable and desirable to live for God. What are some of these truths?

To begin, unlike our internal desires and cultural standards, God’s will and standards don’t change. If you consider your desires for one moment you realize they often conflict and fluctuate for a variety of reasons. In short, they’re a poor navigator for life. The same goes for cultural standards. What passes for truth and goodness today will be laughable and scorned in a generation. We need something external to ourselves and the culture. God has provided His Word, the Scripture as a standard that does not change, is internally consistent, is eternally reliable.

Peter goes on to say that another reason to live for God is: you live twice. In Peter’s context, people may have been saying something like: eat, drink, and be merry, for tomorrow you die. It was a common notion in the ancient world. You live once, and then you die. It’s the only change you have. But Peter argues that there are not only consequences to our life, but there is a supernatural accountability after death. Everyone will give an account. They have to prove their life mattered. Now that’s a good reason to live for God – but the reality is our selves are continuously and perpetually wrong. We do not live according to God’s will or standard. We may not spend Saturday night at an orgy, but maybe we try to tap ultimate meaning through work, busyness, a romantic relationship, our kids’ success. So is there any good news?

Yes! Peter says the most important reason to live for God is: you are finished with sin. What does that mean? Peter indicates in v. 5 that there is “one who is coming to judge the living and the dead.” And he refers to that as “the gospel” or the good news. But as we’ve seen and experience, judgment sounds like anything but good news. How can judgment be good? The answer is in v. 1. The judgment of the living and dead is good news because the One doing the judging is the One who suffered in the flesh. The use of the Greek is interesting here. Peter’s verbs describe a definitive event, not an ongoing process. In fact, the same form is used in 1 Peter 3:18 to describe Jesus’ once-for-all suffering on the cross. Peter is indicating one act of suffering that brings about a situation in which sin is finished. This is the centrality of the cross for everyone. Jesus’ suffering has brought about an end to your sin. It is finished. Done. Canceled. That means that judgment for you has already taken place in Jesus’ flesh once for all. Why would Jesus do that? What was the mindset that motivated him? What was his longing? Hebrews 12 says that Jesus endured the cross for the joy set before him. What was the joy? It was you. You were the desire of his heart such that He followed God’s will personally, perfectly, and perpetually all the way to Calvary. When Jesus’ mind, when the truth that you are His joy, fills you, then you’ll know a truth, a motivation to live for God.

Discuss

1.        What about the sermon impacted you most? What left you with questions?

2.       The sermon mentioned several reasons it is hard to live for God? Which one connected with you most? Are there other reasons you experience that make following God’s will difficult?

3.        One thing the sermon didn’t really touch on was: the resources God has given to help us live for him. Things like: Scripture, prayer, corporate worship and the sacraments, godly relationships. Which of these have you found helpful to you recently? What resources might you be neglecting?

4.       A common misconception about Christianity is that it is buzzkill. Many look at the rules and think Christianity is about behavior modification or legislating morality. How might you respond to that idea?

5.       The truth that one is coming to judge the living and the dead is good news. Explain. Do you have doubts or anxiety about this judgment? How does the gospel speak to them?

A Revolutionary Marriage

Read: 1 Peter 3:1-7

*Because of the difficult nature of this text, this study guide will be lengthier than normal.

This is a difficult passage for modern ears. It is full of landmines for a culture that celebrates equality, freedom and rights. How do we even begin to decipher whether we can gain anything from what seems like such outdated teaching? Perhaps the best place to start is to recognize how Peter is applying the main theme of his whole letter to marriage. His main theme could be stated like this - the road to suffering is the path to glory. This is the message of the gospel and the pattern for the Christian life. In this text, Peter describes how all spouses who follow Jesus are called to a revolutionary role in their marriages. When spouses live in these roles, what feels like suffering and loss is what, in fact, brings resurrection life to our spouses and to the world (which is the main purpose of marriage according to the bible).

1) The Revolutionary Background

To understand what Peter is saying to wives and husbands here, first we need to understand why he felt he had to address/instruct spouses in these churches in the first place. This teaching on marriage is a part of a larger section that begins in 2:11 and extends to 3:22.  This is the heart of the letter, where Peter is teaching Christians how they should live within the social structure and order of their culture (as citizens, household slaves, husbands/wives). It was necessary for him to directly address these things because the gospel was so different, so revolutionary, to their social structure that there was great potential for Christians to misunderstand how to live it out and even greater potential for Non-Christians to misunderstand and malign it as evil and harmful.

If we miss how revolutionary the message of the gospel was (and is today), we will read this as Peter simply endorsing traditional marital roles, when in fact he’s revolutionizing marriage in his day (and ours). The gospel Peter has been reminding them of (in 1:1-2:9) declares that by faith in Christ a person has a new position and status that is more real and true than any position or status they have in this world. No matter a person’s gender, marital status, race, citizenship, social status (slave or free), every Christian is chosen royalty, holy, chosen for an inheritance equal to all in the kingdom of Christ. There is only one true Lord and Authority - Jesus. This means a Christian is bound to no one and is not bound to any human authority or social order. This was an unheard-of revolutionary idea in the 1st century.

When it came to marriage at this time, wives were expected to obey their husband, were required to follow the religion of their husband and were expected to only be in social situations with their husband or with husband’s approval. For wives who became Christians, this meant these expectations had to be disobeyed as they were called to obey Jesus and his word, leave behind all other idols and religions and be baptized into a new family (the church). Imagine the tension this caused in marriages.

This is where the teaching of this text comes in. Peter needed to show both spouses that there are two “sides” to the revolutionary message of the gospel. Side 1 is “You are free people!”; Side 2 is “Use your freedom as a slave of God”. Side 1 is “You are equal to all in Christ”; Side 2 is “You are servant to all in Christ”. Can you see how the gospel is a revolutionary message to all social structures and orders?

• To traditional cultures that emphasize order, roles – the gospel is a revolutionary message of freedom, equality. It challenges all inequalities & oppressive structures.

• To modern cultures that emphasize freedom, equality – the gospel is a revolutionary message of service, submission. It challenges our demand for our rights, our personal freedom/choice, individualism.

2) The Radical Instructions

Now we are in a better position to understand a text that sounds so strange to us. Peter is not endorsing any specific cultural model for roles in a marriage, he’s describing how to live out the roles of wife and husband in light of the gospel. In these roles: 1) There is equality and freedom. Wives are addressed here in a way that was unheard of at the time. They are told to freely choose to submit (not to accept being passively subjugated). Husbands are told to honor their wives as a coheirs. 2) There is difference and harmony – The roles are not identical but harmonious. Husbands and wives are given a different set of instructions here and in all other in the NT when marriage roles are addressed.  What are these different roles?

For Wives:

1) Choose to freely defer your needs and desires to uphold the needs and desires of your spouse. To submit is to choose to arrange oneself under another. This is a radical thing to ask someone to freely choose to do! Yet, Peter repeats this instruction for wives (3:1, 5). It’s important to remember that every Christian is called to submit in some way (see Eph. 5:20). In 1 Corinthians 15:28, we learn that Jesus, the Son of God, submits to the Father. This does not diminish his equality nor is it a sign of weakness. It is a part of his glory and strength.

2) Cultivate Inner Beauty. With so much pressure on women to find their value and worth in external appearance it is radical to call women to focus their best energy on cultivating inner beauty. The inner, hidden beauty of a spirit not ruled by fear or insecurity; not out to control or get one’s way is the kind of spirit (3:6) that can win someone over without even a word. This beauty compels and attracts people to find this kind of inner peace and strength in Jesus.

3) Cast off all fear. Peter tells wives not to be intimated, controlled or ruled by their husbands. This was radical for wives. They weren’t to be motivated by fear or by what anyone would think of them but were to follow these instructions by faith in Jesus.

What’s the goal of all this? The goal is to win their husbands to gospel obedience (3:2). This applies to husbands who are not Christians (Peter’s primary concern, see 3:1) and husbands who are Christians but who are not living in gospel obedience. This is the kind of influence a wife is called to have - to win their husbands to obedience to Christ.

For Husbands:

1) Live to know your wife. Peter’s instructions here could be translated, “live with your wife according to knowledge.” He is calling husbands to live in such as way that they know, understand and care for their wives’ needs and desires. He calls husbands to recognize the greater vulnerability of their wives (as physically and socially more vulnerable than their husbands).  

2) Lift up your wife. A husband is called to use his strength to lift up his wife as his eternal coheir in the kingdom of Christ. This prohibits all domineering and control. Peter is saying, “Treat her as she truly is – your equal in Christ and the most valuable person in your world”.

What’s the goal of all this? The goal is an unhindered prayer life. This is more than private prayer. The husband’s goal is to move his marriage toward intimate communion with his wife so that together they can enjoy unhindered communion with God in prayer.

3) The Resources To Do This

Following such radical instructions takes more than instructions alone. We need to know where we can find the resources to do this. The bible spends very little time on marriage instructions. Instead, the bible spends most of its time on the resources to love – which must be accessed in order for a spouse to follow the instructions that are given. The resources to love like this are found in knowing and experiencing the gospel reality that we are loved like this to a far greater degree. As Peter says at the heart of this teaching on living in our roles (2:21-25), Jesus became weak and vulnerable so that he could be wounded for our healing. Jesus set aside his power, strength and rightful glory to became like a lamb to die, so he could bring back sheep who go astray. However low Jesus calls you to go as husband or as a wife, he went lower for you. Whatever Jesus asks of you in your role to serve, he has taken on this role, to win you to Him so nothing would hinder your loving communion with God. When husbands and wives know Jesus did this for them, they can find the resources to live the “Jesus role” given to them in marriage.

*IMPORTANT NOTE:  This text - and others passages that speak of the submission of wives - have been used to condone domineering, controlling, demeaning treatment of women/wives. Even worse, these texts have been used to counsel women to remain in abusive relationships. To use these texts for any of these things is to twist and corrupt Scripture in the worst possible way. Nothing in this text should be seen or can be used to say that any woman is called to remain in an abusive marriage or relationship. In fact, everything in this text says the exact opposite - an abusive relationship is a violation of everything this passage says a marriage should be. IF that is where a woman finds herself,  the bible says a woman should remove herself from the relationship and seek the help and protection from a safe and trusted community.

Discuss

1.        What about the sermon impacted you most? What left you with questions? What concerns do you have when it comes to discussion of roles in marriage?

2.       Why is it important for us to remember the revolutionary character of the gospel in order to understand Peter’s teaching on marriage here? Why is important that we remember there are two “sides” to this revolutionary message? Which “side” most challenges your thinking? How does this help you understand why it was so important for Peter to address roles in marriage? How does it help us apply this teaching today?

3.        Is it hard for you to accept the bible’s teaching that relationship roles can have equality/freedom and difference/harmony at the same time? If so, why?

4.       For wives/women: What about Peter’s instructions do you resonate with? What is hardest for you to embrace? What would change if the goal of your marriage was to win your husband to gospel obedience in the way Peter describes here? For husbands/men: What about Peter’s instructions to wives here would most win you over to deeper gospel obedience?

5.       For husbands/men: What about Peter’s instructions do you resonate with? What is hardest for you to embrace? What would change if an “unhindered life of prayer” were the goal of your marriage? For wives/women: What about Peter’s instructions to husbands here would most lead you closer to God and to a life of prayer with your husband?

6.       Though the bible differentiates the roles husbands and wives play, it never practically spells out “who does what”. Why is this? It was said in the sermon that this is a part of God’s wisdom since every culture and couple handles this differently. The idea is that if both spouses embrace their roles/instructions (and not focus their energy on demanding the other fulfill their role!), the details will work themselves out. How does this sit with you? If married, how do you work the practical details out?

7.        How does knowing Jesus laid aside his right and strength to embrace roles of submissive servant and sacrificial lover give us the inner resources to take on our roles? How are these roles impossible without this?

Stranger Things

Read: 1 Peter 2:16-25

The Apostle Peter is writing to a community that’s been misunderstood, marginalized, unfairly criticized, and abused. They were going through something that was unbearably hard, impossible. In the midst of that reality, Peter encourages them that they are strangers and exiles, and they are called to strange things to the glory of our God and the good of their neighbors.  

1) the Strange Command

In 1520, a former German monk named Martin Luther wrote what’s become a classic work on the Christian life; calling it “On the Freedom of a Christian.” Luther arrives at one of the great paradoxes of following Jesus: “A Christian is a perfectly free lord of all, subject to none. A Christian is a perfectly dutiful servant of all, subject to all.” It’s hard to imagine a more freeing and humbling expression of what our calling (1 Pet 2:9, 21; 3:9) in Jesus is.

Reflect for a moment on the command of Peter to slaves (and by extension all Christians) in 1 Peter 2:18. He tells Christian slaves to endure unjust suffering.

First, it’s an unparalleled command. In this imperative, Peter is neither upholding the status quo of his culture, nor is he starting a social revolution. Peter isn’t intending to give us the fullest Scriptural teaching on slavery (for that go to the book of Exodus: long story short, it doesn’t end well for oppressors). But Peter does some remarkable things in this command. He addresses slaves as free, moral persons (something not recognized in his culture). Peter provides slaves with the moral category of justice and wrongdoing, which their culture would not have afforded them. Even more powerfully, Peter draws an comparison between the life of a slave and the incarnation of God into the lowest and harshest circumstances in order to rescue the world.

Second, it’s a commendable command. Peter says that obedience to this command “brings favor” or “it’s a gracious thing” (ESV). In short, it’s pleasing to God. Why? The context for this passage is 1 Peter 2:11-12. Here Christians are commanded to do good so that God would be glorified. So how does enduring unjust suffering glorify God? For one, it demonstrates an awareness, or a “mindfulness” of God. Normally, it’s hard to see anything else but our problems in the midst of suffering. But Peter tells us to fill our minds with the sovereign, omnipotent, wise, compassionate, and merciful God. This command is good for our culture because just like Peter’s context where Christians were being publicly pilloried and ruthlessly ostracized, we live in a self-assertive social media culture that produces vengeance not forgiveness. Peter provides a radical command that offers people real forgiveness, not cycles of retaliation and moral one-upmanship.

Third, it’s an impossible command. There’s an old hymn that says “When through fiery trials your pathway shall lie, My grace all sufficient shall be your supply.” If you think you can even come close to obeying this command, you’re wrong. As we’ll see, the example that’s set before us is one who “committed no sin,” but Peter says we are sinners (v. 24) who are like straying and wandering sheep (v. 25), either pitying ourselves and our wounds or lashing out at others because of them. God alone commands. God alone fulfills.

2) the Strange Example

Ironically, the disciple (Peter) who seemed to most opposed to suffering is now the one who, more than any other New Testament writer, makes suffering the heartbeat of his picture of Jesus Christ. What happened? Peter saw an extraordinary example of enduring unjust suffering in the Messiah.

First, Jesus did not commit any sin (v. 22). None. Nada. Not one. Here we see the doctrine of Jesus’ impeccability. It’s not that Jesus was a nice guy, or even a really great moral exemplar. Jesus was sinless. Perfect. A spotless and blameless person of whom it could be said he truly endured unjust suffering. Second, Jesus did not retaliate or take revenge (v. 23). Think about being robbed of happiness, reputation, or freedom. How might you respond? Jesus doesn’t start a new cycle of vengeance, but he breaks it by non-retaliatory, morally perfect goodness. But if Jesus is only an example, if he endured unjust suffering for no greater purpose, then he was naïve and his example is worthless. For Jesus’ example to mean anything to us, or be of any use, Jesus must be much more than an example.

Peter tells us that Jesus “entrusted himself to the one who judges justly” (v. 23). The language is not as specific as most translations. Literally, Peter says, “Jesus entrusted to the just judge.” What did Jesus entrust? Everything. His life. His circumstances. His rights. His vindication. All of it. But what sentence did he receive from the judge? Shockingly, he was condemned. He was killed and crucified like a non-person, a punishment reserved for slaves. Why? Because Jesus was absorbing the damage and debt of our sin (v. 24). His suffering was bringing about our healing (v. 24). At the cross, we see both the justice our hearts long for and the forgiveness we are dying for.

Discuss

1.        What about the sermon stuck with you? What left you with questions?

2.       Martin Luther said we are lords of all and servants of all. Peter calls Christians a royal priesthood, that is, kingly servants. How does the gospel make us both lords and servants?

3.         Why do you think it is important to know and believe that Jesus’ suffering is an example and that Jesus suffered for us?

4.       Peter says that Jesus left us an example that we might “follow in his steps.” If Jesus suffered, what path is he calling Christians to? How do you react to that truth?

5.       What are some ways in which Jesus’ wounds have healed your wounds?