Grow!

Posted on October 31, 2023 by Pete

Peter wrote to remind them of ” these things” — things they already knew, things upon which they already stood firm (2Pet. 1:12). Things which Peter very much wanted them to be able to recall at any time (1:15). Things essential for grace and peace to be multiplied (1:2). Things needful for usefulness and fruitfulness (1:8). Things, though spoken by men were not of men — things from God by the Holy Spirit (1:20-21).

But things which could be twisted by false teachers (2:1). Things which could be derided by scoffers (3:3). Things which could be distorted, sowing doubt as to whether or not the power of God was sufficient to fulfill the promises of God (3:4). Things which, unless error were guarded against, could be undermined, thus undermining their foundation (3:17).

And so, Peter concludes his second letter with one final exhortation. A final command to obey to ensure they would always stand fast in “these things.”

But grow in the grace and knowledge of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ. To him be the glory both now and to the day of eternity.

(2Peter 3:18 CSB)

But grow. How’s that for a command to obey? Chew on that for a bit.

Short and sweet and simple.

But a gimme? Nope. It’s gonna take “every effort” (1:5, 1:10, 3:14). But worth the effort? I’m thinkin’ . . .

Continually moving forward is effective preventative maintenance for falling back. Persistent progress in seeking what is true, a great countermeasure against being fooled by what is false. Increasing, a sure way to avoid eroding. Adding, helpful when you want to stay away from atrophying. So, says Peter, “Grow!”

Grow in “these things.” Grow in the knowledge of God and Jesus our Lord (1:2). Grow in supplementing your faith (1:5-7). Grow in making your “calling and election” sure (1:10). Grow in your familiarity of the prophetic word (1:19). Grow in your understanding of the apostolic word (3:2). Grow in the hard-to-understand stuff of Paul’s word (3:15-16).

Grow in the grace and knowledge of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ.

Whatever you do, grow!

Like I said, simple. But the laziness of the flesh and the lies of the enemy would redirect our “every effort” into a million other things instead of advancing in “these things.”

So be on your guard (3:17) . . . and grow!

Grow in the grace of Jesus. Grow in the knowledge of Jesus. Grow for the glory of Jesus.

Amen?

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Really My Disciple. Really Free.

Posted on October 30, 2023 by Pete

Authenticity. It’s always been a big deal. Perhaps today, in an age of Photoshopped images and a plethora of fake news sources, it’s an even bigger deal. Sometimes it’s really hard to know what’s really real and what’s really not, what’s really true and what really isn’t. Big deal for Jesus too. Especially when it came to really being a believer.

Then Jesus said to the Jews who had believed Him, “If you continue in My word, you really are My disciples. You will know the truth, and the truth will set you free.”

“We are descendants of Abraham,” they answered Him, “and we have never been enslaved to anyone. How can You say, ‘You will become free’? “

Jesus responded, “Truly I tell you, everyone who commits sin is a slave of sin. A slave does not remain in the household forever, but a son does remain forever. So if the Son sets you free, you really will be free.”

(John 8:31-36 CSB)

Many believed in Him, but not all really believed. Many were ready to sign up if it meant they wouldn’t die in their sin (Jn. 8:24), but Jesus knew that not everyone who was willing to signup was willing to enlist. Not all who really wanted to dodge judgment had really decided to follow Jesus. And so, He provides a simple authenticating test.

Continue in My word? You really are My disciple.
Really my disciple? Then you are no longer a slave to sin, you really will be free.

Really my disciple. Really free. That’s what I’m chewing on this morning.

If the word that we said we believed in, is the word we continue to abide in, then we’re really His disciples. If the truth that turned us to Jesus, is the truth that tethers us to Jesus, then we’re for sure His followers. Not to oversimplify, but that’s a pretty good initial test of whether our confession of faith is really real.

But wait, there’s more.

Continuing in His word, abiding in the truth, is authenticated by a life marked by being free from sin. Not talking free of sin but free from sin. Not without sin — for “If we say, ‘We have no sin,’ we are deceiving ourselves, and the truth is not in us” (1Jn. 1:8) — but a life where sin doesn’t perpetually rule over us or master us. Where, when sin entraps us or trips us up, by confessing our sin and repenting of sin, sin is nailed again to the cross. And at the cross we are forgiven our sin and cleansed from all unrighteousness (1Jn. 1:9).

Thus, free from sin. Free indeed — really free — because, while we may not yet be delivered from the presence of sin, nor from the old nature’s propensity to sin, through abiding in His word and His word abiding in us we have been released from the power of sin.

Really His disciples, really free, if we really remain . . . abide . . . not depart . . . continue in His word.

Only by His grace. Always for His glory.

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Atonement for All You Have Done

Posted on October 27, 2023 by Pete

Hovering over an Old Testament story. In my CSB the translators have entitled the chapter “Parable of God’s Adulterous Wife.” And what a story it is.

A story told by the LORD God in His own words. A story of love told in graphic detail, speaking of the best of love and the worst. A rags to riches story, which tragically ends up again in rags. A story of beauty given and, gut-wrenchingly, beauty exploited. A story of rescue and then of wrath.

But the story concludes with a “but”. You know, one of those “but God” sort of buts. One of those plot-reversing “buts” that we’ve come to recognize in the New Testament where despite our lost rebellion God makes a way for found restoration (e.g. Eph. 2:1-5).

” ‘For this is what the Lord God says: I will deal with you according to what you have done, since you have despised the oath by breaking the covenant. But I will remember the covenant I made with you in the days of your youth, and I will establish a permanent covenant with you.’ ”

(Ezekiel 16:59-60 CSB)

Though her heart would be inflamed with lust, He would still love her. Though she would trust in her beauty and give herself away in her fame, He would remain faithful to the promise He made to her on the day He took her for His own. Though, unlike most prostitutes, she would descend to the depths of debauchery where she would pay her lovers, He would ultimately determine to pay her debt.

I will establish My covenant with you, and you will know that I am the LORD so that when I make atonement for all you have done, you will remember and be ashamed.

(Ezekiel 16:62-63a CSB)

Not if, but when — WHEN I make atonement for all you have done.

To be sure, she would know His righteous wrath. She would feel the severe discipline of His hand of justice. She would be ashamed. She would bear her disgrace. But His covenant with her would not cease. She would again know that He is the LORD. He would still be in her midst, and she would again abide in His presence. She would know that He is the LORD, and she would always be His bride.

When I make atonement for all you have done. Not for some of what you’ve done. Not only to a point and then no more. But God shows His faithfulness to His promises in paying in full the debt she would never be able to pay.

Ezekiel 16 is an Old Testament parable. The cross of Christ is a New Testament reality. Atonement for all I have done.

By His grace. For His glory.

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They Feast With You

Posted on October 26, 2023 by Pete

Arrogant people, so full of themselves they have no fear of slandering anyone else or anything else. Creatures driven by base instinct, following the polluted desires of their flesh, and with no regard for authority. Jazzed by doing what shouldn’t be done and doing it in broad daylight, always on the prowl for the next piece of forbidden fruit. With their hearts trained in greed, on the look out for unstable people to seduce. Welcome to church (2Peter 2:10-14).

What!?!?

This morning I was arrested by a phrase of just a few words but with profound implications. Ended up chewing on something quite bitter.

They are spots and blemishes, delighting in their deceptions while they feast with you.

(2Peter 2:13 CSB)

They feast with you. That’s what caught my attention this morning. These creepy cads, these despicable degenerates, these sin-driven scoundrels, they feast with you. You, as in the people of God to whom Peter is writing. They, as in false teachers among the people of God who “bring in destructive heresies, even denying the Master who bought them” (2Pet. 2:1).

Say it isn’t so!

If it wasn’t, Peter wouldn’t have written. If it couldn’t happen, the Spirit wouldn’t have said it could happen. If it could only happen somewhere else, then why was this written for our instruction?

And so, I noodle on this disturbing description of those who feast with you and wonder how we could end up at the same table . . . and with me picking up the check to boot?

Well, I think there’s a clue given in this passage as to how spots and blemishes end up feasting and fellowshiping among the people of God.

They have gone astray by abandoning the straight path and have followed the path of Balaam, the son of Bosor, who loved the wages of wickedness.

(2Peter 2:15 CSB)

I’m guessing that not many heretics begin with a decision and determination to be a heretic. That few sit down at a white board to brainstorm their life’s mission statement and come up with “Go to Church and Deny Jesus!” That few meet with a committee charged with filling the pulpit on a Sunday morning and handout business cards with the tag line, “Bringing Something Better than Good News, Bringing Feel-Good News.” Probably not how it happens.

Instead, at least in part, it begins by going astray and abandoning the straight path. Not talking about a seismic shift initially, just a slight “course correction.” Finding the straight path a somewhat restrictive path, wandering just a little bit off the path. Finding the way of the kingdom impractical at times when it comes to navigating the way of the world, willing to improvise and ad lib in order to make things more palatable and enjoyable.

And what fuels which is, at first, but a slight variation of the truth so that it becomes full-blown heresy? Those willing to listen. Those willing to follow. Those willing to buy in (literally) and pay out to these false teachers the wages of wickedness. Remember, they feast with you.

False teachers thrive where there are followers open to false teaching. Those themselves who, either deliberately or ignorantly, are willing to abandon the straight path. Those ungrounded in the Scriptures, or too grounded in themselves, who are willing to follow their own instincts rather than commit to knowing and obeying God-breathed instruction. The fact that these false teachers feast with you is not just a warning about deceptive sellers of truth but also a warning about being an unawares, or unconcerned consumer of what’s being sold as truth. They feast with you.

O that we would be so grounded in what’s true we would discern immediately what’s false. So committed to the straight path that we have no interest in those who talk of some new and improved path. So abiding in the shadow of the Master’s cross that we would repel anything which hints of wavering from the Master’s call.

Only by His grace. Only for His glory.

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Two Words of Wisdom

Posted on October 25, 2023 by Pete

It’s wisdom literature — sometimes I forget that. That Proverbs is wisdom literature is a gimme. So too with Ecclesiastes and the Psalms. All of these clearly providing divine insight for the meaning and maneuvering of life. That Song of Songs is wisdom literature might be less intuitive because it’s more focused on celebrating one specific facet of life, a facet which foreshadows the greatest love story ever written. But Job? That Job is wisdom literature is sometimes lost when I read it. Maybe because the facet of life it focuses on can hit so close to home and can be so overwhelming. Hard to learn from suffering when you are in the midst of suffering. Hard to understand what God’s purposes are when you’re wondering where God’s presence is.

But wisdom literature it is. And so, amidst the destruction, the depression, and the dialogue that carries Job’s storyline, you shouldn’t be surprised if along the way there’s a gem or two worth taking note of. Something to observe about God. A diamond amidst of all that’s so rough, worthy of being added to wisdom’s treasure chest, kept for future reference, reflection, and rejoicing. Came upon one of those this morning.

After this, Job began to speak and cursed the day he was born.
He said:
May the day I was born perish,
and the night that said, “A boy is conceived.”
If only that day had turned to darkness!
May God above not care about it, or light shine on it.
May darkness and gloom reclaim it, and a cloud settle over it.
May what darkens the day terrify it.
If only darkness had taken that night away!
May it not appear among the days of the year
or be listed in the calendar.

(Job 3:1-6 CSB)

Job’s at the end of his rope. Though he would still bless God after losing fortune and family (ch. 1), and though he would not sin and curse God under the adversity of severe bodily harm (ch 2.), in chapter three, he’s done! Curse the day of my birth. Strike it from the annals of history. Oh, that the day had never been marked on any calendar. If this is what I was born for, then I wish I’d never been born.

Yet in the midst of Job’s lament, a gem. A truth about God to be observed. A divine reality to be pondered. Something worth chewing on. A word of wisdom. Actually, two words of wisdom. God cares.

May God above not care about it . . .

Job’s discourse is calling for things that are true to not be true. That the night he was born, didn’t happen. That the light that was seen by a small baby on that day had never occurred, but had been enveloped with the darkness of a miscarriage or a still birth (3:11, 16). But the night did happen. The light did shine. And so when Job despairingly wishes that God above did not care about the day he was born, it’s because God did care. God cared about the day Job was born.

He who fearfully and wonderfully formed Job in the womb cared when Job emerged from the womb. God who is Sovereign and had determined Jobs days before even one came to pass was deeply, personally invested in that day when Job breathed his first breath. And God would continue to care until Job breathed his last. Did God care amidst Job’s suffering. O yes, He cares.

There’s a hymn that comes to mind as I meditate this morning on these two words of wisdom. A hymn that has come to mind at least 8 times during my morning meals over the past 6+ years, first appearing in one of these musings shortly after my wife went home to be with the Lord. A sacred song able to comfort the storm-tossed soul.

Does Jesus care when my heart is pained
Too deeply for mirth or song;
As the burdens press, and the cares distress,
And the way grows weary and long?

Does Jesus care when my way is dark
With a nameless dread and fear?
As the daylight fades into deep night shades,
Does He care enough to be near?

Does Jesus care when I’ve tried and failed
To resist some temptation strong;
When for my deep grief I find no relief,
Though my tears flow all the night long?

Does Jesus care when I’ve said goodbye
To the dearest on earth to me,
And my sad heart aches till it nearly breaks
Is it aught to Him? does He see?

O yes, He cares, I know He cares!
His heart is touched with my grief;
When the days are weary, the long nights dreary,
I know my Savior cares.

(Frank Ellsworth Graeff, 1901)

Job, in His sorrow, wished that the day of his birth had never happened, that God hadn’t cared about that day. But God did.

Does God care? O yes, He cares!

Pouring out His abundant, all-sustaining grace, even as we seek to walk in wisdom for His all-deserving, everlasting glory.

Amen?

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Awaken with a Reminder

Posted on October 24, 2023 by Pete

I wake up in the morning with music. No beeping electronic alarm sound for me, jolting me into consciousness. Instead, I want to be gently awakened by one or more songs from a favorite playlist. Melody is what I want to make me aware of the day’s beginning, to let me know it’s time to rise from rest.

But what about being awakened from a slumber of neglect, or a slumber of distraction, or a slumber of misplaced priorities, or a slumber of discouragement? What’s gonna work when you’re snoozing at the wheel while you’re supposed to be following Jesus? Chewing this morning on Peter’s approach, on being awaken with a reminder.

Therefore I will always remind you about these things, even though you know them and are established in the truth you now have. I think it is right, as long as I am in this bodily tent, to wake you up with a reminder, since I know that I will soon lay aside my tent, as our Lord Jesus Christ has indeed made clear to me. And I will also make every effort so that you are able to recall these things at any time after my departure.

(2Peter 1:12-15 CSB)

The Lord Jesus had let Peter know his days were coming to a close, he would soon lay aside his earthly tent. But before he left, this fellow elder of God’s flock (2Pet. 5:1-2) would continue to shepherd his sheep so they wouldn’t be left to aimlessly wander after his departure. And so, he’d write one more letter. One more recap of who they were in Christ, what they possessed through the Spirit, and how they should live for God. As he had always done, he would continue to always do — I will always remind you about these things.

Peter knew how easy it was to take your eye off the prize and start drowning when you should be walking on water (Mt. 14:28-33). He knew the reality of finding himself suddenly denying Jesus when his intention had been all along to defend Jesus (Mt. 26:33-34). He knew the weariness that could lull you into passing out on Jesus instead of praying with Jesus (Mt. 26:37-40). He knew the need, from time to time, to wake up with a reminder.

And so, he again presents to these precious sheep a reminder of some precious promises. Tells them repeatedly the truths they already knew.

I will always remind you about these things, Peter says, to wake you up with a reminder.

His desire was to arouse them afresh to faithful living. His goal was to stir up within them the divine power granted them in order to live fully into the divine nature gifted them (2Pet. 1:3-4). He would combat every tendency within them to float with the facts that they were born again to bear fruit (2Pet. 1:8). He’d wake them up with a reminder.

Like I said, I wake up with music in the morning. But then, on most mornings, with the help of the Spirit’s prompting and a cup of coffee, I make my way to my desk, open my bible, and get ready to be awaken with a reminder.

By His grace. For His glory.

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Grace Multiplied

Posted on October 23, 2023 by Pete

Okay, so this morning’s devo was interrupted by an unplanned hunt — a hunt for a beeping smoke detector. Ugh! Found it. Kinda of. There were two in the room. Swapped out the battery in the most accessible one first. Nope. Not it. Go get the ladder. Ugh, again! All to say that while my reading time this morning stayed mostly in tact, writing time was severely compromised. So, here’s a quick attempt to bullet point what I’m chewing on in 2Peter 1:1-11.

  • While we have been translated into the kingdom of light, our lives now are about entering that eternal kingdom (1:11).
  • The way we enter the kingdom — which is also the way that mitigates stumbling as we follow Christ — is to make every effort to confirm our calling (1:10). Make every effort! We can’t work our way into heaven, but we can work our way into the kingdom. Hmm . . .
  • By making this effort, it keeps us from being “useless or unfruitful” in our experiential knowledge of Jesus. Head knowledge is intended to translate into life practice which is intended to bear fruit for Jesus (1:8).
  • The “every effort” we put in to confirm our calling is the same “every effort” we are to put in to “supplement” our faith. While we are saved by faith alone, we are not saved for faith alone. We are to add to our faith. Faith + goodness + knowledge + self-control + endurance + godliness + brotherly affection + love (1:5) = confirming your salvation.
  • Our effort? Yup. Our ability? Not so much. It’s His divine power that’s given us all we need to participate in the divine nature that we share in through the “precious promises” He has given us (1:4-5) which sources the effort, that adds to our faith, that bears the fruit, that confirms our calling, that allows us to enter into the eternal kingdom now.
  • But, while it might be we who are adding, it is He who is multiplying!

To those who have received a faith equal to ours through the righteousness of our God and Savior Jesus Christ: May grace and peace be multiplied to you through the knowledge of God and of Jesus our Lord.

(2Peter 1:1b-2 CSB)

Grace multiplied. Struck me as kind of unfamiliar. Abundant grace? Abounding grace? Amazing grace? Pretty familiar. Multiplied grace? Not so much. Only found here and in 1Peter and in Jude.

So, while I am to make every effort to ADD, He enables me to add by MULTIPLYING. While I work to enter into what I have been translated into, He supplies, and supplies more and more and more and more, what I need as I participate in the divine nature by His divine power.

How’s that for some divine math?

Grace multiplied. All for God’s glory.

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The Great Sender

Posted on October 20, 2023 by Pete

Repetition. It’s the great megaphone in Scripture. It emphasizes what heaven wants emphasized when it’s found within a few verses concerning a specific point. But it shouts out the eternal truths heaven wants to shout out when it is found within an entire book. The reverberating rhythm of an often-mentioned reality is laying down something the Spirit wants us to pick up on. This morning I’m chewing on the wonder of the Father being the Great Sender.

As He was teaching in the temple, Jesus cried out,”You know Me and you know where I am from. Yet I have not come on My own, but the One who sent Me is true. You don’t know Him; I know Him because I am from Him, and He sent me.” . . . “I am only with you for a short time. Then I’m going to the One who sent Me.”

(John 7:28-29, 33 CSB)

Sent Me . . . Sent Me . . . Sent Me. Three times in my reading this morning it, He sent Me echoes the truth that God the Father is the Great Sender.

Not just found in these few verses, but encountered 14 times so far in John’s gospel. To be encountered another 20 times before John is done writing his telling of the good news so that “you may believe that Jesus is the Messiah, the Son of God, and that by believing you may have life in His name” (Jn. 20:31).

By way of comparison, “sent me” is found once in Matthew, once in Mark, and only three times in the detailed, historic account of Jesus’ life provided by Luke. Each of those gospel writers were inspired to emphasize other things. John, however, would make sure we understood something of Messiah’s deity, that He is God in heaven. But beyond that, because a God in heaven is not what the earth needed, John would be led of God the Spirit to make sure we knew that, because of our sin, God the Father sent God the Son. That’s just part of what the Father does best — “He sent Me.”

For God loved the world in this way: He gave His one and only Son, so that everyone who believes in Him will not perish but have eternal life. For God did not send His Son into the world to condemn the world, but to save the world through Him.

(John 3:16-17 CSB)

God gave His Son. God sent His Son. That’s one distinguishing act that makes the Father the Father. That’s one of the unique roles He plays within the dynamics of a Triune God — the Father is the eternal Sender. While the Son is eternally begotten, the Father is forever the Giver. He is the Great Sender.

Thank you, oh my Father
For giving us Your Son
And leaving Your Spirit
‘Til the work on Earth is done

(Melody Green, There is A Redeemer)

The Great Sender. Oh, what an act of amazing grace!

The Great Sender. To God be all the glory!

Amen?

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Good, Good, Good!

Posted on October 19, 2023 by Pete

Hovering over some shadow verses this morning. You know, those lesser-known passages immediately following those other passages we tend to remember, quote, and claim. Lesser known, lesser remembered, often lesser chewed on Scripture because the inspired word just before it so . . . well, inspiring!

Hovering over Lamentations 3. Immediately many of us think, “Oh, oh, oh! I know! His mercies are new every morning! Great is His faithfulness!” That’s the mighty oak in Lamentations 3, verses 22 and 23. It’s the great reversal bringing much needed revival after two-and-a-half chapters of lamenting the carnage and collateral damage of God’s judgment on an unfaithful people. It’s the “aha!” the prophet calls to mind which helps refuel within him hope (3:21).

But just after this great hymn is a lesser known chorus. In the shade of new mercies and great faithfulness is a passage that tells us what’s good, good, and good about being in the midst of what’s bad, terrible, and awful.

The LORD is good to those who wait for Him,
to the person who seeks Him.
It is good to wait quietly
for salvation from the LORD.
It is good for a man to bear the yoke
while he is still young.

(Lamentations 3:25-27 CSB)

James says we should “consider it great joy” whenever we experience various kinds of trials (James 1:2). Maybe because James spent some time in the shade.

Consider it great joy because GOOD is Jehovah. Consider it great joy because GOOD is waiting quietly. Consider it great joy because GOOD is bearing the yoke of discipline.

There’s something about struggling in the desert which tends to revive the thirst for Living Water prioritizing it above all other thirsts. Something about waiting and seeking while you’re wandering and wondering that provides afresh an opportunity to taste and see that the LORD is good. Yes, and amen — the LORD is indeed good! Not just to those who wait, He is good period. But there is a unique depth of goodness revealed to those who wait on Him in the wilderness, to those who seek Him in their suffering.

It’s also good just to wait. When in a season or situation that you know you’re not going to be able to resolve or redeem on your own, there’s something enlivening to the soul that comes from being dependent wholly upon the Savior. Something pleasant which comes from experiencing your impotence, as experientially you know that His power is made perfect in our weakness (2Cor. 12:9).

And it’s even good to bear the yoke attached to the hard work of enduring patiently. To be trained in the time of trial. To be disciplined in the midst of what seems like only destruction. For in our suffering “God is dealing with you as sons”, leveraging hardship for our “benefit, so that we can share His holiness.” While the yoke seems painful at the time, later “it yields the peaceful fruit of righteousness to those who have been trained by it” (Heb. 12:7, 10-11).

Good is the LORD. Good is waiting. Good is enduring.

Good because His mercies never end. They are new every morning. Great is His faithfulness. Oh, what blessed shade!

By His grace. For His glory.

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Finished with Sin

Posted on October 18, 2023 by Pete

This morning Peter lays out a bottom-line for his audience. For those who are chosen but living as exiles (1Pet. 1:1), it’s sin or suffering.

Therefore, since Christ suffered in the flesh, arm yourselves also with the same understanding ​— ​because the one who suffers in the flesh is finished with sin ​— ​in order to live the remaining time in the flesh no longer for human desires, but for God’s will.

(1Peter 4:1-2 CSB)

What that “therefore” is there for encompasses a pretty big ask. While the immediate reference is to Christ’s suffering in the flesh, I think that’s but the illustration to contextualize the exhortation that Peter makes of his “dear friends.” “As strangers and exiles,” he urges, “abstain from sinful desires. Conduct yourselves honorably among the Gentiles” (1Pet. 2:11-12).

And since chapter 2, Peter’s been laying out what honorable living looks like. It will mean everyone submitting to human authority, even bad human authority. It will mean slaves submitting to masters, even cruel masters. It will mean wives submitting to husbands, even unbelieving husbands. It will mean husbands living with, and loving their wives according to understanding, even when they’re struggling to understand. And it will mean living together as a community of believers, even when the family tends to be dysfunctional at times. You’d like to think that living honorably comes with reward. And it will “on the day He visits.” But until then? Don’t count on it. Because the world doesn’t get honorable living.

Honorable living — living according to God’s will, living for Christ — also means a high likelihood that the culture about them would respond to their “good conduct” with slander and accusation, disparaging their good as evil (2:12b,3:16b). So much so that their sanctified living would bear the fruit of unjust suffering. Just like Jesus.

Therefore, says Peter, since Jesus suffered in the flesh, arm yourselves with the same understanding . . . live the remaining time in the flesh no longer for human desires, but for God’s will.

And that choice to suffer as followers of Christ reveals another choice, “I’m done with the ways of this world — I’m done with sin.”

Not that I’m perfect, not that I don’t sin or won’t sin, but that I’m finished with living for sin. Finished with “carrying on in unrestrained behavior, evil desires, drunkenness, orgies, carousing, and lawless idolatry” (1Pet. 4:3). Finished with being like the world around me pursuing “the same flood of wild living” (1Pet. 4:4). Finished with the ways of this world being my ways.

Instead, I choose to follow Jesus. And so, even if it means suffering like Jesus, I’m finished with sin.

That’s the holy determination of a holy people who view themselves as wholly in exile. That’s the desire of disciples wanting to walk in the way of their Master. That’s the aspiration of those who count themselves dead to this world and alive to a better kingdom.

Finished with sin.

Only by His grace. Only for His glory.

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