1 Peter 3:10-12
10 For [gar] he that will [thelo] love [agapao] life [zoe], and [kai] see [eido] good [agathos] days [hemera], let him refrain [pauo] his
[autos] tongue [glossa] from [apo] evil [kakos], and [kai] his [autos] lips [cheilos] that they
speak [laleo] no [me] guile [dolos]:
11 Let him eschew [ekklino] [apo] evil [kakos], and [kai] do [poieo] good [agathos]; let him
seek [zeteo] peace [eirene], and [kai] ensue [dioko] it [autos].
12 For [hoti] the eyes [ophthalmos] of the Lord [kurios] are
over [epi] the righteous [dikaios], and [kai] his [autos] ears [ous] are open unto [eis] their [autos] prayers [deesis]: but [de] the face [prosopon] of the Lord [kurios] is
against [epi] them that do [poieo] evil [kakos]. KJV-Interlinear
10 For, Let him who means to
love life and see good daysRefrain his
tongue from evil and his lips from speaking guile. 11 And let him turn away from evil and do
good; Let him seek peace and pursue it. 12
For the eyes of the Lord are upon the righteous, And His ears attend to their
prayer, But the face of the Lord is against those who do evil. NASB
This is a quote from
Psalm 34.
Psa 34:12-16
12 Who is the man who
desires life, And loves length of days that he may see good?
13 Keep your tongue
from evil, And your lips from speaking deceit.
14 Depart from evil,
and do good; Seek peace, and pursue it.
15 The eyes of the Lord
are toward the righteous, And His ears are open to their cry.
16 The face of the Lord
is against evildoers, To cut off the memory of them from the earth. NASB
There are only two
types of people in this world.The first
group consists of those who desire and pursue the opinions of God, and the
second group consists of those who desire and pursue the opinions of the world.
The second group
consists of perhaps 99% of the entire world.
And though most of that second group are unbelievers, there is a huge
percentage of believers, also in this second group, who are lax in their
spiritual life and therefore have their eyes on their beliefs and comforts from
the world.
Peter cites four
pursuits in these verses.There are
those who love life, refrain the tongue, turn from evil, seek peace, and then
there is the response from God with respect to the mature believer who
establishes these attributes in his life.
The first is really a
question. Who is it that loves life? Who is it that desires life in such a way
that he can enjoy life, regardless of his circumstances? It is only the person who pursues their spiritual
life, as God would have them to pursue it. It is the person who does not make
up their own rules, who does not mix in their own standards, the person who does
not compromise Gods principles with their earthly conveniences or excuses.
And as for the
refraining of the tongue?This is the selfish
desires of the individual for whatever it is that they currently have or
want.The word for refrain, pauo,
means to cease sins against charity, and therefore comes to mean selfishness in
thought, expressed by ones refusal to give.
This type of person takes but never gives.
We all have financial
burdens in our lives, but most folks disregard the fact that it is God who
gives us all of our finances, whatever they may be. God gives us life from the very moment of our
birth and then gives us various means to live that life. This includes the presentation of
circumstances where we are faced with giving up what we have , so someone else
can have something. Whether it is charity giving, or support for doctrine, both
are in view here.
Often times God will
place people in situations in which they cannot make a living, or have
obligations such that receipt of a gift from someone else is necessary for them
to have a life.
And selfishness, greed,
and an indifferent attitude will always come up with an excuse as to why giving
is not required from you. They have
enough, they don t need anymore. They
got themselves in that mess, they can get themselves out of it. They are rich already, why give to them Someone else can give, I don t have the
money right now. My situation, my
needs are more grim than theirs. It s
free.Why should I pay for it?
And so the first requirement
of spiritual maturity, is cancelled out by ones excuses which are used to veil
his selfishness.
God set out an economic
system, by which financial support, though everything comes from Him, is funneled
through people.And whether the need is
for a bit of food, or for some massive enterprise, God allows people to either
become a part of it, or refuse to be a part of it.
The third expectation
of the spiritual life is to turn ones back on the ways of the sin nature. The old self must die, in order for the new
self to live.Life in the carnal sphere
and life in the spiritual sphere are mutually exclusive. Each cannot cross over into the sphere of the
other.
He who lives his life
in both, in an inconsistent manner, takes a step or several steps backwards for
every step forwards.They get nowhere. An inconsistent spiritual life gains you
nothing.You must establish a long term
(for the rest of your life), pattern of living, and that lifestyle must be
inside the fellowship sphere, or living within your spiritual life day in and
day out.
Again, most folks
simply do not pay attention, moment to moment, day after day, to their spiritual
status.All believers are soldiers and a
part of their duty is to mind their post, or to stand their watch for the
enemy. Your life is always on duty, and you either have a watchful eye out for
the enemy in your life (sin), or you go to sleep at your post and fall into the
enemies grasp (the sin nature).
And finally, you must
seek peace.This is the ultimate goal of
the spiritual life spiritual maturity.
From spiritual infancy
(the moment of faith in Christ), to spiritual maturity, when Bible doctrine so
saturates your thinking process and lifestyle, you grow up through daily study,
learning, application, advancement in your spiritual life, slippages backwards
in your spiritual life, recovery of your forward motion, and so forth, until
you arrive at a point when the problems of life no longer bother you. Your faith in Christ is so great, that the storms
of life seem as nothing, because you trust in His good judgment and help for
your life.
Peter has long been
addressing our eternal future, in these chapters. Peter has been addressing people who live
under horrible conditions, and yet if they focus on their daily Bible study,
their living conditions will become less and less of a burden in their lives. Life will actually become a fun adventure.
But in order to achieve
this level of spiritual life, you must set aside selfishness, recognize that
everything comes from God.You must make
a commitment to live inside the spiritual sphere of life, monitoring your own
life moment to moment, day after day, for the rest of your life in this world. You must decide to pursue Gods word everyday,
listen, read, learn, and use what you learn, and develop a professional
attitude toward wanting to learn and grow in your spiritual life, and actually
want it more than anything else in the entire universe. Your leap of faith, as it were.
That is the love of
life at its best.Anything else is
merely a convenience for sin.
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And it is this person,
as set out in these verses, that God focuses His attentions on. It is from this person that God actually
listens to their prayers, and answers.
Anything else, any other typeof
lifestyle, is an illusion and amounts to nothing as well as a huge waste of
ones time.
The mature believer, is
the person who pursues doctrine because he loves it, can t get enough of it,
can t even visualize a day going by without it.
It is this person that God uses in His divine plan, and for whom He even
established a plan in the first place.
Anyone else, is nothing
more than historical filler.
Which are you?