1 Peter 2:11-14

In 1 Peter 2:11-14 he charges us to abstain from fleshly lusts as we live as sojourners and pilgrims, as people who recognize that this world is not their home, and that they have a home and a citizenship in heaven. “Beloved, I urge you as sojourners and exiles to abstain from the passions of the flesh, which wage war against your soul.” The battle ground is clear – it is our fleshly passions so we must fight against the lusts of the flesh, and realize the battle continues as long as we live in this flesh. This kind of godly living makes our conduct honorable among those who don’t know God yet.

We can expect people will speak against us as evildoers, but they can still be brought to glorify God by seeing our godly conduct. “Keep your conduct among the Gentiles honorable, so that when they speak against you as evildoers, they may see your good deeds and glorify God on the day of visitation.” Christians were falsely accused of great crimes in the early church. But over time, it was clear that Christians were not immoral people – and it was shown by their lives. Barclay wrote “The striking fact of history is that by their lives the Christians actually did defeat the slanders of the heathen.”

There is a day coming when all of us will stand before God. Peter refers to this ultimate meeting with God, either when they go to meet Him or when He comes to meet them. The idea is that the Gentiles might be persuaded to become Christians by seeing the lives of other Christians, and that they would glorify God when they meet Him instead of cowering before His holy judgment. Part of living a life that brings glory to God is how we act as citizens. As Christians we should be good citizens, submitting to government. This was very different from those zealous Jews in Peter’s day who recognized no king but God and paid taxes to no one except God.

“Be subject for the Lord’s sake to every human institution, whether it be to the emperor as supreme, or to governors as sent by him to punish those who do evil and to praise those who do good.” Peter wrote this in the days of the Roman Empire, which was not a democracy and no special friend to Christians. Yet he still recognized the legitimate authority of the Roman government. Clarke wrote “God, as their supreme governor, shows them that it is his will that they should act uprightly and obediently at all times, and thus confound the ignorance of foolish men, who were ready enough to assert that their religion made them bad subjects.” It is a question of whether we agree with the government. It is a matter of submission to their authority.

“Portions of this blog post have been taken from the Enduring Word commentary, (c) 2023 The Enduring Word Bible Commentary by David Guzik – ewm@enduringword.com“

“Scripture (bold and italicized) has been taken from the English Standard Version, © ESV.org – www.esv.org”

James 4:1-2a

In James 4:1-2a he asks a question that gives us a lot to think about. What is it that causes us to fight and quarrel with each other? “What causes quarrels and what causes fights among you? Is it not this, that your passions are at war within you?” And he quickly gives us the answer – it is our passions that we don’t control. James accurately described strife among Christians with the terms wars and fights. Often the battles that happen among Christians are bitter and severe. Barclay explains “He does not mean that they war within a man – although that is also true – but that they set men warring against each other.”

James goes on to describe the reason for these fights and quarrels and at an extreme – murder. It’s because of our desires and covetousness and the fact that we don’t get what we want. It’s the selfish drive within us that causes us to act out and cause harm. “You desire and do not have, so you murder. You covet and cannot obtain, so you fight and quarrel.” There is some root of being carnal, an internal war within us regarding the lusts of the flesh. No two believers who are both walking in the Spirit of God towards each other can live with wars and fights among themselves.

Almost all who have such a critical and contentious attitude claim they are prompted and supported by the Spirit of God. James makes it clear that this contentious manner comes from our desires. Morgan wrote “It is self-evident that the Spirit of God does not create desire which issues in envying.” The types of desires that lead to conflict are described. Covetousness leads to conflict (you covet and do not have). Anger and animosity lead to hatred and conflict (murder). Hiebert wrote “The word kill [murder] is startling and meant to startle; James sought to force his readers to realize the depth of the evil in their bitter hatred toward others.”

This is the tragic irony of the life lived after worldly and fleshly desires; it never reaches the goal it gives everything for. This fundamental dissatisfaction is not because of a lack of effort: Spurgeoun wrote “If the lusters fail, it is not because they did not set to work to gain their ends; for according to their nature they used the most practical means within their reach, and used them eagerly, too.” Living a life focused on satisfying ourself will never fulfill us. It’s why living as a Christ Follower day by day and hour by hour is so important. If we aren’t focused on that, we’ll tend to be pulled off the course into the ditch of self focus!

“Portions of this blog post have been taken from the Enduring Word commentary, (c) 2023 The Enduring Word Bible Commentary by David Guzik – ewm@enduringword.com“

“Scripture (bold and italicized) has been taken from the English Standard Version, © ESV.org – www.esv.org”

In James 4:1-2

In James 4:1-2 he calls out the reasons we have strife as believers in the Christian community. He calls it quarrels and fights, which is often pretty accurate as these can be bitter and severe. “What causes quarrels and what causes fights among you? Is it not this, that your passions are at war within you?” Barclay wrote “He does not mean that they war within a man – although that is also true – but that they set men warring against each other.” The source is always the same – an internal battle within the believer regarding their own selfish interests. Guzik writes “No two believers who are both walking in the Spirit of God towards each other can live with wars and fights among themselves.”

Morgan explains that almost all who have such a critical and contentious attitude claim they are prompted and supported by the Spirit of God. James makes it clear that this contentious manner comes from your desires. “It is self-evident that the Spirit of God does not create desire which issues in envying.” “You desire and do not have, so you murder. You covet and cannot obtain, so you fight and quarrel.” James calls out the types of desires that lead to conflict are described. Covetousness leads to conflict (you covet and do not have). Anger and animosity lead to hatred and conflict (murder).

Heibert further explains “The word kill [murder] is startling and meant to startle; James sought to force his readers to realize the depth of the evil in their bitter hatred toward others.” Then James makes it perfectly clear where the problem lies. “You do not have, because you do not ask.” When we live for pleasure we will be unsatisfied. Spurgeon explains that this is the tragic irony of the life lived after worldly and fleshly desires; it never reaches the goal it gives everything for. This fundamental dissatisfaction is not because of a lack of effort: “If the lusters fail, it is not because they did not set to work to gain their ends; for according to their nature they used the most practical means within their reach, and used them eagerly, too.”

The reason these destructive desires exist among Christ Followers is because they do not seek God for their needs (you do not ask). James reminds us here of the great power of prayer, and why we struggle, simply because we do not pray, or do not ask when we do pray. Spurgeon makes clear the power of prayer at our fingertips. “If you may have everything by asking, and nothing without asking, I beg you to see how absolutely vital prayer is, and I beseech you to abound in it…. Do you know, brothers, what great things are to be had for the asking? Have you ever thought of it? Does it not stimulate you to pray fervently? All heaven lies before the grasp of the asking man; all the promises of God are rich and inexhaustible, and their fulfillment is to be had by prayer.”