Peter the apostle told the
“scattered” Christians “the will of God” for
them was to “submit yourselves to every ordinance of man for the
Lord's sake” whether it be to “kings, as supreme” or
as unto “governors” because they are sent to “punish
evildoers” and “praise” those “who do well”.
In chapter two and verse sixteen of his letter, Peter told the
Christians they are “free”
and they are to use their “liberty” as “servants of
God” where we read:
The
verse begins, “As free, and not using your
liberty for a cloak of maliciousness,...”
Peter began with the words, “As free”
which means “liberated, exempt, unrestrained and not bound by an
obligation”, “and not using”
or “never having, owning or possessing” “your
liberty” which means “license
to do as one pleases” “for a cloak”
or “covering, pretext or veil” “of maliciousness”
which means “malignity, ill-will, desire to injure, wickedness,
depravity, evil and trouble”. Christians are never to use their
“freedom in Christ” as a covering for evil deeds.
The
verse continues, “but as the servants of God.” Peter
continued with the word, “but” which
means “moreover, nevertheless,” and is a disassociation
conjunction which means what is about to be written takes precedence
over what was just stated “as the servants”
which refers to “slaves, bondmen, men of servile condition and one
who gives himself up to another's will and devoted to another to the
disregard of one's own interests” “of God”
or “the Godhead bodily and trinity which is comprised of God the
Father, Christ the Son and the Holy Spirit. Peter desired
“Christians” to
live as “bondmen and slaves” “of God”
rather than as authorities and over-rulers who exploit their freedom
in Christ. Peter's idea was for Christians to be “servants
of God”, and by their manner
of living, others would know they are believers in Jesus Christ.
When
we think through these words of Peter, we are encouraged to know we
are “free” in our
relationship with Jesus Christ, and because we are we should live “as
servants of God”.
“Bond-slaves” were servants who voluntarily became so, and they
are examples for Christians. “The will of God”
is for us to submit to the “ordinances of man”
because our example serves to demonstrate Christ living within us.
May we live as “bond-servants” of Jesus Christ so others will
know our “freedom” is used to “serve”
Him.
Next
time Peter shares about “honor”,
“love”
and “fear”,
so read ahead, and we shall join together then.
Until tomorrow…there is more…
Look for the daily devotional book “Equipped for Battle – From Generation to Generation”, the marriage book “So, You Want to Be Married”, and the new devotional “One Year in the Sermon on the Mount” in all major bookstore sites, http://www.amazon.com ; http://www.barnesandnobles.com ; download to e-books, and find it locally at www.mrzlc.com/bookstore.
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