Manslick Road church of Christ » All In a Verse
“Keep your behavior excellent among the Gentiles, so that in the thing in which they slander you as evildoers, they may because of your good deeds, as they observe them, glorify God in the day of visitation” (1 Pet. 2:12 ).
Peter’s admonition reminds us of several sobering realities.
First, someone is watching us. Have you ever watched or listened to someone when he or she didn’t know you were paying any attention? Of course you have. If you have done that to others, rest assured that others are likewise observing you. Who is? Your children, grandchildren, or other young people you are around; your schoolmates, fellow workers, and neighbors; people with whom you do business; maybe even people you hardly know. Not always, but from time to time they pay close attention and make a judgment based on what they observe.
Second, the world is watching critically. Peter uses the term Gentiles, not in its technical sense, but of the world, of those who are not God’s people. He notes that they may look through faultfinding eyes, slandering you as an evildoer. That is no surprise. Remember how the world looked at Jesus. He “went about doing good,” yet He was variously regarded as a drunkard, a blasphemer, even demon possessed. “If they have called the head of the house Beelzebul, how much more will they malign the members of his household!” (Mt. 10:25 ). That brings us to Peter’s point. . .
We must go “above and beyond” to provide a good example. The previous verse commands us to “abstain from fleshly lusts which wage war against the soul.” Any involvement in such things is all a faultfinding observer needs to dismiss us as evildoers, hypocrites. But this verse takes us a step further. Our behavior must be better than not bad; it must be excellent. This is the same word Paul used when he wrote, “For we have regard for what is honorable [excellent], not only in the sight of the Lord, but also in the sight of men” (2 Cor. 8:21 ). Marginally bad speech, conduct, entertainment, and transactions must be shunned. Of course, a critical watcher may twist even the best behavior into a charge of wrongdoing. The point is, don’t give him any extra ammunition.
Why is all this so important? Because for those who are watching us, we may be the means of God’s visitation. The expression day of visitation can refer to God’s punishment, as in Isaiah 10:3 . But it can also refer to an opportunity for God’s mercy (Lk. 19:44 ); that meaning fits here. The hope is, our behavior will be such that those who at first reject God and His people will come to accept Him because they see nothing but good in us. Let each of us ask, would someone do that based on watching me?
“But may it never be that I would boast, except in the cross of our Lord Jesus Christ, through which the world has been crucified to me, and I to the world” (Gal. 6:14 ).
A right relationship with God may be viewed as the product of three crucifixions. They are . . .
Jesus Christ crucified. Paul said he would glory in that. And why not? It reflects, as nothing else could, the love, mercy, and grace of God. It also expresses His righteousness. God cannot just ignore or dismiss sin. When He sent Jesus to the cross, displaying Him publicly as a propitiation in His blood, it demonstrated His righteousness in passing over sins (Rom. 3:25-26 ). Jesus’ crucifixion is the means of our salvation.
Having so viewed the cross for twenty centuries, we may forget how shameful these events were they occurred. The Romans reserved crucifixion for the worst offenders. The cross carried the same stigma then as the electric chair does now. That is why preaching a crucified Messiah was such a stumbling block (1 Cor. 1:23 ). Nevertheless, given its unique significance, Paul would boast in Jesus’ crucifixion.
The world crucified to me. While Jesus’ crucifixion is critical to our salvation, there is another that is just as important. The change we undergo in conversion amounts to the ending of one life and beginning of another. Thus, the New Testament often talks about putting off the old man and putting on the new.
In Christ, the world is crucified to us. Its priorities—such as getting ahead, making money, and enjoying every imaginable pleasure—are no longer ours. Its measures of conduct are replaced by God’s standard. We don’t look, talk, think, or act like the world. That way of life is dead to us. “Now those who belong to Christ have crucified the flesh with its passions and desires” (Gal. 5:24 ).
I crucified to the world. When you crucify the world by rejecting it, the world will in turn crucify you. Oh, they may not nail you to a cross, but they will surely regard you as an outcast. Jesus warned that they will treat you the same way they treated Him (Jn. 15:18-21 ).
Do not be surprised when people call you a bigot or self-righteous for standing for the truth on a moral issue; when your rightly motivated actions are purposefully put in a bad light; when you are mocked or ridiculed; when you are left out; when you are not treated honestly in things related to your faith. These things merely reflect you being crucified to the world.
Earlier in Galatians, Paul described his life this way: “I have been crucified with Christ; and it is no longer I who live, but Christ who lives in me; and the lie which I now live in the flesh I live by faith in the Son of God, who loved me and gave Himself up for me” (2:20).
“For God so loved the world, that He gave His only begotten Son, that whoever believes in Him shall not perish, but have eternal life” (Jn. 3:16 ).
This verse is likely the most famous of the 31,173 in the Bible. What does it tell us about God?
God’s wrath. The beauty of this text is enhanced by its ugly backdrop. All have sinned (Rom. 3:23 ), and the wages of sin is death (Rom. 6:23 ). “For the wrath of God is revealed from heaven against all ungodliness and unrighteousness of men” (Rom. 1:18 ). That is why every man is in danger of perishing—eternally. “It is a terrifying thing to fall into the hands of the living God” (Heb. 10:31 ).
God’s love. God does not want man to perish. He said, “I take no pleasure in the death of the wicked” (Ezek. 33:11 ). “God our Savior . . . desires all men to be saved . . .” (1 Tim. 2:4 ). God loves us despite our sins, despite our rebellion against Him. He loves us enough to make provision for our salvation. That brings us to. . .
God’s Son. All of us are God’s children in a broad sense (Acts 17:29 ). But because we are all sinners, none is in a position to remedy the problem of sin. God has another “son,” a unique one (that is what only begotten literally means) who shares His divine nature. God loves us so much that He was willing to give that Son for us. Jesus came into the world, lived sinlessly, then died on our behalf, shedding His blood as the ransom for our sins (Mt. 20:28; 26:28 ). He rose from the dead and ascended back to the Father. There, He continues to work toward our salvation, serving as our king and priest (Heb. 7).
God’s promise. Whereas we deserve eternal punishment because of our sins, God’s promise is eternal life instead. Oh, the mighty grace of God! It matters not what we have done, it can all be forgiven in Christ. That is God’s promise. And remember, God cannot lie (Tit. 1:2 ).
God’s requirement. Notice in our text that God’s promise is conditional. What does He require? Faith in His Son. “By grace you have been saved through faith” (Eph. 2:8 ). “If you confess with your mouth Jesus as Lord, and believe in your heart that God raised Him from the dead, you will be saved” (Rom. 10:9 ).
Do not think, however, that believing in Jesus is a one-time act or merely assent to who He is and what He has done for you. Saving faith is obedient faith. Jesus is the source of eternal salvation to all those who obey Him (Heb. 5:9 ). “He who believes in the Son has eternal life; but he who does not obey the Son will not see life, but the wrath of God abides on him” (Jn. 3:36 ). Among other things, that obedience requires us to turn from our sins and be baptized into Jesus for forgiveness of sins (Acts 2:38 ). Have you so expressed your faith?
“For Ezra had set his heart to study the law of the Lord and to practice it, and to teach His statutes and ordinances in Israel” (Ezra 7:10 ).
Jeshua and Zerubbabel led the initial group of Babylonian captives back to Jerusalem. With the help of the prophets Haggai and Zechariah, they rebuilt the temple. About eighty years later, King Artaxerxes authorized a second group to return under Ezra. His mission was to teach God’s law. Artaxerxes ordered the provincial rulers in Palestine to provide Ezra whatever he needed. The King himself donated funds to pay for operating expenses at the temple (Ezra 7).
The Bible emphasizes that Artaxerxes granted Ezra’s requests because “the hand of the Lord was upon him” (Ezra 7:6, 9, 28 ). And why was God’s hand so favorable toward this priest? Because, as our text explains, he had set his heart on God. That involved three things.
First, Ezra set his heart to study God’s law. He was not presumptuous about God’s will. It is not uncommon for people to just assume that God views things the way they do. Some think they have an intuitive knowledge of right and wrong implanted by God. But Jeremiah said, “I know, O Lord, that a man’s way is not in himself, nor is it in man who walks to direct his steps” (Jer. 10:23 ).
God’s thoughts are not the same as ours (Is. 55:8-9 ). If we want to know His will, we must listen to His word. The blessed man is the one whose “delight is in the law of the Lord, and in His law he meditates day and night” (Ps. 1:2 ).
Second, Ezra set his heart to practice God’s law. It does little good to know God’s will if we do not live it. James likened that to looking in a mirror, then ignoring the needed changes (Jas. 1:23-24 ). “But one who looks intently at the perfect law, the law of liberty, and abides by it, not having become a forgetful hearer but an effectual doer, this man will be blessed in what he does” (Jas. 1:25 ). Later he added, “To one who knows the right thing to do and does not do it, to him it is sin” (Jas. 4:17 ).
Third, Ezra set his heart to teach God’s law. That was part of his priestly function (Dt. 33:8-11 ). But it was more: it was another expression of his love for God. Just as Ezra desired for himself the blessings that come from a godly life, he wanted that for others as well.
People with Ezra’s heart care about little children, whose hearts must be molded. They are concerned about their peers, who may have had little opportunity to hear God’s law. And they are aware that folks who know tend to forget when they are not reminded.
Ezra’s heart was set on the Lord. On what is your heart set?