Saturday 03 May 2014
- Bible Book:
- 1 Peter
“Conduct yourselves honourably amongst the Gentiles, so that, though they maintain you as evil doers, they may see your honourable deeds and glorify God when he comes to judge.” (v. 12)
Background
We are provided with some very clear guidelines for thebehaviour of these early Christians from how to treat others, towork with the state, and how to live as slaves or masters. One ofthe issues of the day was that if "Jesus is Lord" then what doesthat say about the role of the emperor. How could people worshipJesus and yet also follow the rituals of worship surrounding theemperor? Peter is very clear in his instructions. They were to showhonour to everyone.
Slavery was a part of life and it would seem that many newbelievers were slaves. They were called to accept their position,but also to look for justice from their masters. Good behaviourshould be rewarded. As slaves they were not exempt from authoritybut were reminded that they were now responsible to the higherauthority of God.
The ultimate purpose was to follow the example of Christ thatwould glorify God. In verses 22-25 Peter writes about the sacrificeof Christ on the cross, freely trusting himself to God who wouldjustly judge him, presenting this as the way the believers havebeen set free from sin. This understanding of Jesus' sacrifice onthe cross for the sake of others would have made sense to theexiles Peter was writing to, as in Asia, they were surrounded bydifferent religious groups who would also be offering sacrifices toplacate their gods. Today it is only one view of the atonement (iebeing at one with God) that is part of accepted understanding ofJesus' death on the cross.
To Ponder
- How would you explain the work of the cross to someonetoday?
- Is the exhortation to accept the authority of "every humaninstitution" (v. 13) valid for us today?
- Are there people and organisations that seem to deny thepurposes of God? To what extent should you accept their authority(or not)?