I am using the daily Bible reading schedule from “The Bible.net” for my daily Bible reading.

Today, I am reading and commenting on 1 Peter 1-5.

    I never noticed before how often the various writers in the New Testament say something along the lines of, “You have been saved by your faith in God’s grace, now go and act upon that faith.” Here at the beginning of his letter Peter writes that we should prepare our minds our minds and exercise self control because God has given us His salvation. God does not play favorites. He judges each person according to that person’s actions, not by who their parents are, or the color of their skin, or any of the other criteria by which we so often judge people. Therefore we should love each other with the same kind of love which God displayed when He sent Jesus to die on the cross.

    Peter mixes metaphors here a bit. He writes that God is using us to build His Temple and that we are the royal priests in that very Temple. As priests before God we are called upon to live pure and holy lives. Only the High Priest, who the writer of Hebrews identified as Jesus, stands closer to God than we do. By writing that we are all priests Peter is telling us, just as Paul and the writer of Hebrews did, that the distinction between the clergy and the laity we have in our society has no place in the Body of Christ. We cannot look at certain people and say, “They need to be held to this standard, but I do not have to live up to it.”

    Peter writes something which I find addressing something I have been challenged by as I read through the New Testament this year. I have been challenged in how I deal with confrontations with whom I disagree (both believers and unbelievers). Here Peter lays ground rules for arguing with others, rules that should apply to all of our disagreements.

• Lover each other like siblings.
• be tenderhearted and humble.
• Do not repay evil for evil.
• Do not respond to insults with insults.

If we truly live the way Peter is advocating people will be surprised. I think it is worth noting that Peter writes that the sins we are to avoid (which is all sins) are destructive. As a result of our failure to join with them in their self-destructive behavior people will slander us. We realize that people are eager to find something wrong with those who live holy lives because they feel condemned by the contrast to their own lives. So, as God calls us to ever more greater challenges in serving Him we need to be sure to maintain ever greater self-control.