1 Peter 1:14
14 As [hos] obedient [hupakoe] children [teknon], not [me] fashioning yourselves according to [suschematizo] the former [proteron] lusts
[epithumia] in [en] your [humon] ignorance [agnoia]: KJV-Interlinear
14 As obedient children, do not
be conformed to the former lusts which were yours in your ignorance, NASB
Children are to obey
their parents in all things.All things,
means in truth, not in criminal activities or in things that are obviously not
compatible with truth.However, the
child is not the one who is making up the rules either.
The child, is a
student without portfolio.That simply
means that the child is here to learn and not argue, talk back, make scenes, be
opinionated, disobedient and so forth.
The child's first obligation is to respect and to obey, and to be
quiet.A little emphasis on that last
item.
Likewise the parent
is to teach with authority, not with arrogance, with wisdom, not with stupid
opinions, with fairness, not by taking advantage.
And so we have an
outline of our obligation to God.He is
the authority.Doctrine is His message. And we are to listen and learn in accordance
with His schooling policies, while at the same time, being quiet with respect
to our own opinions, and especially with our former beliefs.
The former you, is a
reference to the sin nature.We are all
born with the sin nature within our physical body. And if allowed, it will take us over, and
rule us from its position of sin or human good.
We are living
souls.The soul resides within the body,
but is not a part of the body.When we
die, we leave the body, Absent from the body, and face to face with the Lord. At death the physical body is discarded, and
left along with the sin nature, to rot in the ground. That is the value of the
physical body and the sin nature.Good
only for decay.
Out of fellowship,
you are ruled by your sin nature.And here
again, you are not to revert, once you have been saved, and in fellowship, back
to the former self.Life within
fellowship is far better, although you will not feel any different, nor have
any sense of your different self, it is simply Gods command for residence, and
accomplished by means of confession to God the Father.
Ignorance is lack of
knowledge, or unawareness.It is a
reference to the time either prior to your salvation, or to the time prior to
your learning doctrine, or to the times when you are out of fellowship.
A baby is ignorant. An adult, presumably, has less ignorance. Although you probably know folks that you
wonder about.
Ignorance is a
reference to your knowledge, or lack of it, of the spiritual life, to doctrine,
to God, to Christ and so forth.
You can conduct your
life as a mature adult, with knowledge, understanding, and wisdom, or you can
function in life without knowledge, understanding and wisdom, imitating a baby.
And your entire
conduct in life is evaluated with respect to the Bible doctrine which you have
in your soul, not with respect to the worldly knowledge, academic knowledge, or
street smarts you may possess.
These latter items
may get you around in a jungle environment, which is just another description
of the world, but they do no good whatsoever in your spiritual life.
The former item, Bible
doctrine, will get you around in your spiritual life, as well as help you to
get by in the world, but although it will aid you in surviving in this life,
its primary function is to prepare you for the next life (eternity), which is
the lions share of your entire existence.
This life in this world is but a blink on the eternal timeline.
So, obedience is the
key to your success, and obedience means simply doing what God wants you to do,
namely, study your Bible everyday, learn doctrine, apply it to your daily life,
gain understanding from your learning and application, and allow this to build
up wisdom within you, thus strengthening your faith.
Faith is the
spiritual muscle which allows you to accomplish anything. And in this life, anything simply means
waiting on the lord, and not allowing the world to break your faith.
The world has many
weapons and subtleties for distracting you, causing doubt to enter into your
thoughts, crusades or controversies for getting you involved in the world and
away from your spiritual life, and so forth.
Keep your mind on
doctrine and stick to the path of truth.
Don t wonder off.
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