Friday, June 02, 2023

1 Peter 3:9-10


9 Don’t repay evil for evil. Don’t retaliate with insults when people insult you. Instead, pay them back with a blessing. That is what God has called you to do, and he will grant you his blessing. 10 For the Scriptures say, "If you want to enjoy life and see many happy days, keep your tongue from speaking evil and your lips from telling lies." ~ 1 Peter 3:9-10

Today, we return to our study of 1 Peter 3. This first letter of Peter is an epistle with teaching about getting the culture of God into our souls right now. This teaching is about our sanctification, it shows us how we acquire the wisdom of God. Our sanctification is a process whereby God is changing our souls which is made up of our mind, will, and emotions. In this process, God is actively delivering His wisdom into our daily lives. But, we must choose what He has to offer and turn away from what is natural to our fallen natures.

In today's text, Peter continues to identify the tools which will aid us in winning the battle in our souls amid our sufferings. Peter instructs us what we should do when our community is threatened. One of the greatest truths discovered in the Scriptures is: "selflessness leads to joy in life." Of course, the opposite truth is: "selfishness leads to misery in life." We are told in Galatians 6:8 when we feed our flesh which houses the evil desires within us, we entertain destruction. On the other hand, when we feed the Spirit of God who has made our spirits alive to Him, we experience His life or eternal life.

In v.9 of today's passage we read, "Don’t repay evil for evil. Don’t retaliate with insults when people insult you. Instead, pay them back with a blessing. That is what God has called you to do, and he will grant you his blessing." 
 

Two wrongs do not make a right. When someone says something terrible about or to us, we do well to not retaliate. The word evil here means vile treatment. When we are treated this way by someone, we can rationalize responding to them in like manner. This is a mistake. This is why God implores us to be defined by Him rather than our sinful default mode because our sinful default mode always renders to us some form of death.

The next sentence in this verse reads, "Don’t retaliate with insults when people insult you."

Here, the Apostle takes it a step further. We are not only to reject the expression of the flesh upon those who treat us badly, we are not to insult them. The word "insult" here means verbal abuse.  When we do not retaliate either in attitude or in the words we speak, our hearts will be at peace and no root of bitterness will grow up in us.  

The next phrase in this verse is: "Instead, pay them back with a blessing." The word "blessing" here is the word from which we get our English word "eulogy." We are to respond to such ill treatment with a eulogy. We are to bless them by speaking well of them. As believers in the Lord Jesus, we want as many people as possible to come to know the Lord Jesus before it is too late. One obvious sign that a person needs the Lord Jesus is when they are hostile toward those who follow Him. So, when we are marginalized by someone because of our faith in the Lord Jesus, it should be their desperate need for the gospel that stands out to us. When this happens, we should quietly ask God to bless them, primarily by opening their hearts to Him.

In v.10 of today's passage we read, "For the Scriptures say, 'If you want to enjoy life and see many happy days, keep your tongue from speaking evil and your lips from telling lies.'"

Here the Apostle Peter directs us back to God's definitions of things as he begins this verse with: "For the Scriptures say." The blessings of God are not all automatic, some are only accessed through our choice of being defined by God. We will be defined by God when we obey God. Even though we can not obey our way into heaven, we do access certain aspects of eternal life right now through our obedience. This happens in the arena of our sanctification which is the changing of our souls by God.

That is why the Apostle writes: "to enjoy eternal life and to see happy days." When we shirk the allurements of the flesh and we allow God to define us, we will access the very life of the Lord Jesus. When He died on the cross, He made it possible for us to access His life in us. And that is what the Scriptures call "eternal life." This is seen through the fact that we choose to speak no evil and speak no lies

In Proverbs 4:23-24 we read these words, "Keep your heart with all vigilance, for from it flow the springs of life. Put away from you crooked speech, and put devious talk far from you." 

When we speaking evil and tell lies, we throw open the door for the enemy to create a wedge between us and those who need the Lord in their lives. We push away the deepening of our intimacy with the Lord when we do this. We push away the opportunity to have the culture of God inculcated in us further. In order to guard our tongue, we must first guard our heart. It is of utmost importance that we speak the truth out of a heart that is engaged with the Lord. We must speak wisdom from a heart that is directed by His wisdom. We can only do this as a result of walking with Him daily. This means we must be regular in prayer and the reading of His word.