1 and 2 Peter are two of my favorite books in the Bible. You get to see the full maturation of the Apostle Peter. We are all Peter aren’t we? Emotional. Rash. Shoot off at the mouth. Caught up in the moment. But, look who Peter grew into with the help of Christ. And, that gives me hope. The books are his last addresses – his last pieces of advice to Christians on how to live a life for God in a hostile, ungodly world. The books are full of strategies for Godly living, important truths, and encouragement to see the pilgrimage our through to the end. For the next several weeks, we’ll spend on Friday’s reflecting on the lessons from 1 and 2 Peter.
Peter begins with a very detailed discussion of our salvation and how it is rooted in Jesus Christ (1 Peter 1: 3 – 12). Peter reminds us that through Jesus’ mercy and because of His resurrection we have a living hope. Jesus created for us an inheritance that is incorruptible and one that will never fade away. Peter acknowledges that our belief and genuine faith in Jesus Christ will bring us various trials in this life. Those trials though should not be seen as bad experiences but as blessings. They test our faith by putting it through the fire so that God can remove any impurities from it. The idea that God tests our faith like putting metal through the fire is repeated throughout Scripture.
- The refining pot is for silver and the furnace is for Gold, But the LORD tests the hearts (Proverbs 17:3)
- For you, O God, have tested us; you have tried us as silver is tried. (Psalm 66:10)
- Behold, I have refined you, but not as silver; I have tried you in the furnace of affliction. (Isaiah 48: 10)
These testings bring about a faith that leads to the salvation of our souls. Peter links a strong faith with salvation not because faith only saves but because a tested faith produces righteous obedient works according to God’s will. Since the salvation of our souls through resurrection of Jesus is the linchpin of the faith, Peter presents the main point of the chapter:
Therefore, gird up the loins of your mind, be sober and rest your hope fully upon the grace that is to be brought to you at the revelation of Jesus Christ, as obedient children, not conforming yourselves to the former lusts, as in your ignorance; but as He could called you is holy, you also be holy in your conduct.
The words gird and loins really aren’t used much in our modern vernacular. So, let’s look at those briefly. Gird in this context means to prepare oneself for something that is difficult or challenging. While loins here is meant to call to reference the inner, deep muscles but instead of muscles along the back and hip – Peter wants us to prepare the inner muscles of our mind. Not just the superficial muscles – but the deep muscles of our mind. Peter is telling us that we must fortify the innermost sections of our mind. We must strength the mind for the battle to come once we’ve decided to take on name of Christ. And, don’t kid yourselves. It is a battle which is why he uses the word gird. Prepare for the upcoming challenge. Peter gives more explanation of our adversary in chapter 5 where he tells us Be sober, be vigilant; because your adversary the devil walks about like a roaring lion, seeking whom he may devour.
In both chapter 1 and chapter 5, Peter tells us how to fortify our minds. He says to be sober. While in our world, sober calls to mind a state free of the influence of alcohol but this is really just an example of the true meaning of the word. Sober means to be free of influence or not affected by your surroundings. Synonyms are a great way to better understand Peter’s advice here:
- Be Serious
- Be Sensible
- Be Earnest
- Be Steady
- Be Realistic
- Be Objective
- Be Restrained
If we do not prepare or control our mind and bring it into subjection to God’s will, the Devil will devour us. In fact, in II Peter, Peter provides a list of virtues to add to our faith (similar to Paul’s list of the Fruits of the Spirit in Galatians). In the passage in II Peter 1, the list begins: add to your faith virtue, to virtue knowledge, to knowledge self-control. To Peter, after you’ve established a faith based on righteous faith based on knowledge, you should next add self – control. Faith -> Virtue -> Knowledge -> Self – Control. This sticks out to be because Peter wasn’t well known in his Biblical stories for self – control and soberness. He often let his emotions and the moment get the better of him and the Devil always took advantage of that. So, here is Peter, a much older man reflecting back on his life. He knows first hand the Devil is out there waiting to pounce at our every weakness. He knows the devastating mistakes one could make if he/she doesn’t prepare their minds. If we do not defend our minds, Peter knows we are doomed to fail in our godly endeavor. Once our mind is fortified, Peter goes on to say that this will help us be obedient children who are no longer conformed to the desires of their former life but we will instead try to live a life that is holy because Jesus who called us is Holy. We will try to live a life worthy of the Lord.
Paul gives similar advice about strengthening or focusing your mind to prepare for the attacks of the Devil. “Put on the whole armor of God, that you may be able to stand against the wiles of the devil. For we do not wrestle against flesh and blood, but against principalities, against powers, against the rulers of the darkness of this age, against spiritual hosts of wickedness in the heavenly places. Therefore take up the whole armor of God, that you may be able to withstand in the evil day, and having done all, to stand…(Eph. 6: 10 -13). One of the last pieces of armor Paul describes is “the helmet of salvation.” Protect the mind.
While we live in physical word, our fight and the fight for our eternal soul takes place in the spiritual realm. We must train our minds to move beyond what we can just see physically and see the world for how it really is – a battleground where the Devil prowls looking for those who have left their guard down. Satan as already won the battle with so many. Those who do not see the world for how it truly is or those who didn’t take Peter’s description of the Devil seriously. He isn’t prowling for those he has already conquered. He is looking for his next victim to devour.
Peter tells us how to stand against him. Prepare, strengthen, or fortify your minds. “A man without self-control is like a city broken into and left without walls (Proverbs 25:28). ” Without a controlled mind, we are like a city with broken walls waiting to be plundered. But, fortifications are not just something you put up once and forget out. No. You must update keep them and constantly check for weaknesses because one small hole could lead to the destruction of the entire wall. So be prepared, sober and watchful.
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