HelpFinder Bible - Flipbook - Page 1499
1 PETER 2
page 1129
A Call to Holy Living
13 So prepare your minds for action and exercise
self-control. Put all your hope in the gracious
salvation that will come to you when Jesus
Christ is revealed to the world. 14 So you must live
as God’s obedient children. Don’t slip back into
your old ways of living to satisfy your own desires. You didn’t know any better then. 15 But now
you must be holy in everything you do, just as
God who chose you is holy. 16 For the Scriptures
say, “You must be holy because I am holy.”*
— promises—
from God
“The grass withers
and the flower fades.
But the word of
the Lord remains forever.”
1 P E T E R 1:24-2 5
2
So get rid of all evil behavior. Be done with
all deceit, hypocrisy, jealousy, and all unkind speech. 2 Like newborn babies, you must
crave pure spiritual milk so that you will grow
into a full experience of salvation. Cry out for
this nourishment, 3 now that you have had a
taste of the Lord’s kindness.
Living Stones for God’s House
4 You are coming to Christ, who is the living
cornerstone of God’s temple. He was rejected by
people, but he was chosen by God for great honor.
5 And you are living stones that God is building
into his spiritual temple. What’s more, you are
his holy priests.* Through the mediation of Jesus
Christ, you offer spiritual sacrifices that please
God. 6 As the Scriptures say,
“I am placing a cornerstone in Jerusalem,*
chosen for great honor,
and anyone who trusts in him
will never be disgraced.”*
7 Yes, you who trust him recognize the honor God
has given him.* But for those who reject him,
17 And
remember that the heavenly Father to
whom you pray has no favorites. He will judge
or reward you according to what you do. So you
must live in reverent fear of him during your
time here as “temporary residents.” 18 For you
know that God paid a ransom to save you from
the empty life you inherited from your ancestors. And it was not paid with mere gold or
silver, which lose their value. 19 It was the precious blood of Christ, the sinless, spotless Lamb
of God. 20 God chose him as your ransom long
before the world began, but now in these last
days he has been revealed for your sake.
21 Through Christ you have come to trust in
God. And you have placed your faith and hope
in God because he raised Christ from the dead
and gave him great glory.
22 You were cleansed from your sins when you
obeyed the truth, so now you must show sincere
love to each other as brothers and sisters.* Love
each other deeply with all your heart.*
23 For you have been born again, but not to a
life that will quickly end. Your new life will last
forever because it comes from the eternal, living
word of God. 24 As the Scriptures say,
25
“People are like grass;
their beauty is like a flower in the field.
The grass withers and the flower fades.
But the word of the Lord remains forever.”*
And that word is the Good News that was
preached to you.
1:16 Lev 11:44-45; 19:2; 20:7. 1:22a Greek must have brotherly
love. 1:22b Some manuscripts read with a pure heart.
1:24-25 Isa 40:6-8. 2:5 Greek holy priesthood. 2:6a Greek
in Zion. 2:6b Isa 28:16 (Greek version). 2:7a Or Yes, for you
who believe, there is honor. 2:7b Ps 118:22. 2:8 Isa 8:14.
2:9 Greek a royal priesthood.
“The stone that the builders rejected
has now become the cornerstone.”*
8 And,
“He is the stone that makes people stumble,
the rock that makes them fall.”*
They stumble because they do not obey God’s
word, and so they meet the fate that was planned
for them.
9 But you are not like that, for you are a
chosen people. You are royal priests,* a holy
nation, God’s very own possession. As a result,
• Suffering
1 PE TE R 1:7
Suffering can lead to one of three
responses. First, we can seek to avoid
discomfort at all cost, fleeing or acquiescing to our tormentors. Second, we
can cry out in despair, “Why, God, is this
happening to me?” Both of these are
natural and understandable responses,
but neither leads us into an experience of
God. A third choice, Peter says, is allowing God to redeem our suffering by using
it to purify and deepen our faith. God
may or may not send suffering into our
lives, but he certainly wants to redeem
our pain. And as we accept suffering and
give it to Jesus to do with as he will, we
are in the process of becoming holier and
stronger as time goes on.