Free to Serve

"Live as people who are free, 

not using your freedom as a cover up for evil,

but living as servants of God."

1 Peter 2:16

What we decide to do with our freedom shows where our hearts desires truly lie. The Christian is one who has been freed from bondage. We are no longer enslaved to anyone or anything. We are free. Yet, in our freedom, we willfully submit ourselves to our loving Lord and Savior. In a culture that prides itself on freedom and personal choice, this very idea of submitting yourself as a servant to someone else probably seems disgusting. It seems ludicrous to use your freedom to make yourself a slave. But, I think this is the true measure of love and trust. Once we have tasted of the immeasurable love that our Master has for us, it is easy to turn to him and trust him. It is a joy to run to our Redeemer, the one who has freed us, and willingly lay our lives down at his feet. Ultimately, we can look to Jesus as the prime example of this, who, though he is God, came to earth and confined himself to a human body, and willingly died the death we deserved, in order that we could be freed from our bondage. Now we are free to serve. 

Beloved vs. Dear Friends

This is really random, but I came across this as I was going through 1 Peter 2:11-17 and thought I'd share. 

The NIV (New International Version) reads, 

"Dear friends, I urge you, as aliens and strangers in the world..."

Compare that to that ESV (English Standard Version), which renders the text as,

"Beloved, I urge you as sojourners and exiles..."

What I wanted to point out was the difference between the two translations of the word 'Agaphtoi÷' ('Dear friends' with NIV and 'Beloved' with ESV). There are two reasons why I like the ESV translation (Beloved) much more. First, it is a much more literal translation. We could go much deeper into this first reason, but I figured that I would spare you all from a sub par lesson in Greek. The main reason why I am appreciative of the ESV translation is in its meaning. 

In using the phrase "Beloved", or in other words, "one who is loved", a question that comes to my mind is, loved by who? Peter addressing his readers as "Beloved" points them back to the fact they are loved by God. He is connecting them back to their deep rooted identity found in their uniquely intimate relationship to God. The NIV translation, while having some merit, doesn't really communicate this at all. Rather, when I read the NIV, I get the impression that Peter is writing to a group of long lost friends that he really cares about. This is all fine and dandy. But, given the use of the Greek word 'Agaphtoi÷' throughout the New Testament, it is definitely referring to the readers as "those who are loved of God", or in other words "Beloved". 

If I had to choose between having my identity being someones friend, or beloved of God, I would choose the latter. Add in the lexical use of 'Agaphtoi÷' and it seems to me that the ESV got it right. 

Trusting and Treasuring Jesus

This one from Scotty Smith was too good not to share with you all.....

 For in Scripture it says: “See, I lay a stone in Zion, a chosen and precious cornerstone, and the one who trusts in him [Jesus] will never be put to shame.” Now to you who believe, this stone is precious. 1 Pet. 2:6-7 

     But whatever was to my profit I now consider loss for the sake of Christ. What is more, I consider everything a loss compared to the surpassing greatness of knowing Christ Jesus my Lord, for whose sake I have lost all things. I consider them rubbish, that I may gain Christ and be found in him, not having a righteousness of my own that comes from the law, but that which is through faith in Christ—the righteousness that comes from God and is by faith. I want to know Christ and the power of his resurrection and the fellowship of sharing in his sufferings, becoming like him in his death, and so, somehow, to attain to the resurrection from the dead. Phil 3:7-11

     Dear Lord Jesus, our world hangs the word precious, on things it deems of great and lasting worth. Thus we have precious metals, like silver, gold, and platinum; or precious gemstones, such as diamonds, sapphires, rubies, and emeralds. But if anything or anyone deserves the appellation “precious,” it’s you, Lord Jesus—God’s chosen cornerstone and precious capstone of our redemption.

     For the combined worth of all precious metals and gemstones, that have ever existed, does not compare with the unsearchable riches that are found only in you. Compared to you, Lord Jesus, all other treasures are wanna-be imitations and fool’s gold, empty trifles and illusionary nothings; even as Paul says, they are to be counted as dung and rubbish, when compared to you and the inestimable privilege of knowing you.

     To trust and treasure you, Lord Jesus, is to be free from the burden of our guilt and the condemnation of our sin. To trust and treasure you, Jesus is to boast in the gift of your righteousness, to rest in the constancy of your love, to wake up each day to your endless mercies, to hear you sing to us in the gospel. To trust and treasure you is to feel the stranglehold of shame lose its grip over our hearts; it’s to have the idols of our hearts exposed and dethroned; it’s to be set free to love as we are loved, to forgive as we’ve been forgiven, to accept others as you accept us .

     Jesus, we praise you for taking the guilt of our sin and the shame of our brokenness on the cross. You became sin for us that in you we might become righteousness of God. Because of you, judgment day holds no terror. The cross was our judgment day, and that day has come and come. We no longer fear the gaze of God because of the grace of God we have in you.

     May you become more and more precious to us, Jesus. May the gospel continue to change the price tags on everything in our world. May yesterday’s values be considered today’s loss compared to the surpassing greatness of knowing you. So very Amen we pray in your glorious and grace-full name.

Relationship=Obedience

"As obedient children, do not be conformed to the passions of your former ignorance, but as he who called you in holy, you also be holy in all your conduct, since it is written, 'You shall be holy, for I am holy.' And if you call on him as Father who judges impartially according to each one's deeds, conduct yourselves with fear throughout the time of your exile, knowing that you were ransomed from the futile ways inherited from your forefathers, not with perishable things such as silver or gold, but with the precious blood of Christ, like that of a lamb without blemish or spot."

1 Peter 1: 14-19

In this passage, Peter is calling his readers to godly obedience and holy living. He sets the bar pretty high, calling his readers to a holiness that parallels that of God. This leaves me wondering, "how in the heck could I ever be that obedient and that holy?" If you know yourself, you will know that being obedient to God's perfect standard is more than difficult. 

I love this passage because it sets this radical call to be holy in context. What is the means by which we are able to be holy and obey God? How do we break away from our sinful patterns in which we once lived? Peter starts the passage off by saying, "As obedient children". We obey because we are children. Our identity shift from spiritual orphans to beloved children of God. 

My college football coach used to always say, "Rules without relationship equals rebellion. Rules with relationship equals results."I think there is a lot of truth to that. Without a proper relationship with God, our default will always be rebellion. In the gospel, we are able to obey because of our new relationship with God. We obey, because,as God's children, He loves us. In fact, he couldn't possibly love us, or be more delighted in us that he already is. The reason is because we were ransomed in Christ. Not only did this act of ransom (Jesus dying on the cross as the ransom penalty for our sins) demonstrate God's love towards us, it also connects us and brings us into a relationship with him. It secures our place as his children. We now have the right to adopted as God's children. Further, the same way the Father views the Son (Jesus), he now views us. 

So, this is why Peter starts by saying, "As obedient children." It's as if he is saying, "because you have been made God's children, because you are united to Him, because God is your perfect Father who loves you, because Christ has ransomed you, go and obey. Because you are in God's family, you are now able to resemble the holiness of your Father."

This is good news for someone like me who constantly falls on my face. This is good news for someone who tends to view my obedience before God as a try out to be on God's team. The truth is, I'm already God's child. I already made the team. And me making the team wasn't contingent upon my performance, but because Jesus picked me and ransomed me so that I could be participate. 

Not Mere Improvement

I am continually struck at the vivid language the Bible uses to describe the transformation that a Christian undergoes. The Gospel is not mere improvement, it is a complete overhaul. It is complete newness. It is an eternal change in identity. It is a sad reality that many life long church goers have not experienced this eternal identity change. For the most part, Christianity is merely viewed as an elevated moral code or a set of guidelines for an improved life. Both of these rob the Gospel of its radical call to new life.

One doesn't need to search hard to find the Bible's elicit use of transformational language. Notice the vivid contrasts, the complete newness, the eternal identity change. A Christian is one who, by the Gospel was

Dead in their trespasses but now made alive with Christ (Ephesians 2:5)

an enemy of God, but now reconciled (Romans 5:10)

alienated from God, far off, but now brought near (Colossians 1:21, Eph. 2:13)

walking in darkness, but now is in the light (Isaiah 9:2)

orphaned, but now adopted (Romans 8:15)

under condemnation, now free (Romans 8:1-2)

a slave to sin, but is now redeemed (John 8:34, 1 Peter 1:19)

guilty, but now justified (Romans 3:10, Galatians 2:16)

spiritually bankrupt, but now filled with the riches of God's grace (Eph. 1:7)

hungry, but now satisfied (John 6:35)

The list goes on.....