Nothing divides the Christian church so much as the doctrine of baptism, yet I find no mystery to it in the scriptures. We are told to follow Christ’s example in I Peter 2, yet we so frequently do not. I cannot help but think this is due to adherence to tradition and expediency rather than to the Bible. Thus, I will retread the ground I have already walked with regards to baptism. Quotes are from Holman’s On-line Study Aids.

I make the following statements about baptism:

1. The word baptism (from the Greek “baptizo”) means to “immerse.” When combined with the example of Jesus Christ going “down into Jordan” (clearly indicating immersion), baptism is meant to be by immersion and not other means. This does not, however, prevent the usage of other means in unusual and rare circumstances.

2. Baptism in the Bible is always a believer’s baptism – meaning that baptism always follows salvation, which occurs at an age of self-awareness and accountability. Therefore, infant baptism is not Biblical.

3. Baptism is a symbolic gesture, an outward ceremony signifying an inward change. It does not confer salvation and is not necessary for salvation.

4. Baptism is the first act of obedience in the Christian life. It is a necessary step of sanctification – meaning growth in Christ. While it does not confer salvation, it is a first step in a Christian’s walk with God.

5. Ceremonies called baptism that are performed on non-believers are nullified by the non-believing status of the person being “baptized”. Therefore, a previously “baptized” person who has subsequently become a believer must submit to Biblical baptism as a first step in their new Christian life.

Immersion:
Jesus was baptized by immersion in Matthew 3 (also Mark 1, Luke 3, John 1), becoming our example of baptism. It’s important to know a bit about the history of baptism.

As with most Christian practices and beliefs, the background of baptism lies in practices of the Jewish community. The Greek word baptizo, “immerse, dip, submerge” is used metaphorically in Isaiah 21:4 to mean, “go down, perish” and in 2 Kings 5:14 for Naaman’s dipping in the Jordan River seven times for cleansing from his skin disease. It was used often by the Qumran sect, which placed great emphasis on purity and purifying rites, often involving immersion. Near the beginning of Jesus’ life, Judaism began a heavy emphasis on ritual washings to cleanse from impurity and contemporary with Jesus, Jews began baptizing Gentile converts as an occasional alternative to the preferred circumcision.

John’s baptism was not unusual for Jewish society at the time. What was unusual was John’s firm stance on a lifestyle standard that went with repentance. His insistence on that standard of living would eventually get him killed. He demanded that people truly turn from their sin. When Jesus came to him for baptism, John immediately recognized that his cousin had no need of his baptism, for He was sinless. Yet, Jesus said this was to fulfill all righteousness. In doing so, He upheld the standard of life John demanded, saying it was appropriate for Jesus and His followers. Baptism conferred nothing on Jesus that He did not already have for it washed no sin away, but it stood as a testimony to those who would follow. It was the coming of the Holy Spirit and the voice from heaven that conferred special favor on the event.

Believer’s Baptism:
In the New Testament baptism is for believers (see Acts 2:38, 8:12-13 and 36-38, Ephesians 4:5). Water apart from personal commitment to Jesus Christ makes no difference in the life of anyone. I immerse myself in a tub of water every day to cleanse way my physical dirt, but it does not confer salvation upon me. Baptism always occurred in the New Testament when a person trusted Christ as Lord and Savior and obeyed the command to be baptized – submerged in water and raised by another as a picture of the salvation experience that has already occurred in the heart. Baptism is an outward picture of our inward salvation experience as we were buried in Christ and raised anew in the Spirit, leaving our sins in the grave. Baptism always followed conviction of sin, repentance and confession of Jesus as Savior. Baptism serves as a personal testimony, saying “you are washed, you are sanctified, you are justified in the name of the Lord Jesus and by the Spirit of God (I Corinthians 6:11)

In attempting to build its practices upon those of the New Testament church, subsequent Christian sects have not been entirely successful. Some would justify infant baptism on the basis of baptism of households (Acts 11:14; 16-33, 18:8), or by connecting Christian baptism with Jewish baptism of Gentile converts which may have included young children. This justification is difficult at best. The Bible does not specifically say that very young children were baptized as part of the household baptisms. “Others seek continuity between covenant theology of the Old and New Testaments joined by the rites of circumcision and baptism, so that if introduction into the Jewish covenant community was through circumcision than introduction into the Christian community would be through baptism of the infant. Most New Testament scholars find these arguments as fitting practice of the church rather than resting on strong exegetical grounds, for the New Testament emphasized the connection of faith and baptism.”

There is a flavor of Judaizing about such arguments because in them one senses an overarching need to put a stamp of a human religious institution on a baby’s forehead. It smacks of the sort of argument some Jewish Christians were making in Galatia, namely that Gentiles must become Jews first in order to enter into the Christian community. Paul had strong words against this sort of legalism.

I’m sure that some of the desire for infant baptism to be scriptural is a fear that children inherit original sin and will not be permitted in heaven should they die without baptism. This is outside of my experience with Jesus. First, the Bible shows Jesus’ compassion and acceptance of small children (Matthew 19). Second, sin is the act of willful disobedience toward God. I’ve been a parent. I find it highly unlikely that an infant could be willfully disobedient to God, their parents or anyone else. Infants simply are and their thought processes are very limited – eating, sleeping and being held being primary. While the age at which a child might become aware enough of self and others to willfully disobey God and to desire repentance and forgiveness may be argued, most children are quite capable of acts of basic salvation by the time they start school. It is my contention that infant baptism, since it is often taught as conferring salvation, provides a means for parents to shirk their duty to witness to their children.

Scriptural baptism (baptism because of belief in Christ) occurs once. Sometimes people are baptized again because they feel they were not saved when they were first baptized. If that was the case, the first baptism simply wasn’t scriptural baptism. Infant baptism is not scriptural baptism. Others have already been baptized following their salvation experience, but because something changes in their beliefs they either want to be or are urged by someone else to be rebaptized. This is not scriptural baptism. The purpose of baptism was never to affirm each change in beliefs. For example, Apollos was mistaken in his understanding and corrected, but no mention is made of his rebaptism (Acts 18:24-28 ). Rebaptism in the New Testament seemingly occurred only when a group of people never had received the Holy Spirit, who is the seal of salvation (Eph. 4:30 ; Acts 1:4-5 ; 2:38 ,41 ; 8:12-13 ,36-39 ). Although the dozen people focused on in Acts 19:1-7 had John’s baptism, they were then properly scripturally baptized as they trusted in Jesus and received the promised Holy Spirit.

“Baptism is not a requirement of salvation, but it is a requirement of obedience. Baptism is a first step of discipleship. Although all meanings of baptism are significant, the one that most often comes to mind is water baptism as a picture of having come to know Christ as Lord and Savior. Baptism is never the event but, rather, the picture of the event. So the pattern of obedience is to come to Christ in trust and then to picture that through the symbol of baptism.”

When I say that baptism is a symbolic action, I am not saying it is unimportant. I am merely trying to put it into proper perspective. Baptism does not confer salvation. It is an important first step following salvation. It is a testimony to others of what has already occurred in our hearts. It is of primary importance in that it is the first step of obedience in the Christian life, but it is not the salvation experience itself, which is primary.

The journey of a thousand miles begins with one step. If we allow our parents to make the step for us, how do we know when our own journey has begun? If we take that first step down a wrong path, should we not retrace to find the right one?

In I Corinthians Chapter 2, Paul wrote that he was admonishing the Corinthians for their misbehavior not to make them sad, but to correct them and bring them back to happiness in Jesus. We have what they did not. The Bible acts as a map for our journey and an instruction manual for living if we will only read it and take it at its words. We can know what it teaches; if we will simply spend time reading it without flavor of personal prejudice or church tradition.

First, I apologize for the long break in posting. One of the down sides of living on the Last Frontier is sometimes Internet service is spotty and lately, I've just gotten caught up on the posts on Milk Bottle Landmarks and found myself suddenly unable to access the Internet.

The Bible is the foundation of Christian doctrine. For me, as well as many hundreds of thousands of Christians, the Bible supersedes anything an institution or individual tells us. The misuse to the Bible on Townhall was one of the reasons I started this blog and one of the reasons why I will continue laboring for Christ here. I will always try to bring the Bible and what it says to the forefront of any discussion.

Thus, I have endeavored to serve milk and soft bread rather than host heady theological discussions. An ongoing debate has shown me that even milk is sometime hard to digest.

Thus, I am returning to visit the foundations of faith.

I start by turning everyone's attention to I Corinthians Chapters 3 & 4, where Paul talks about divisions within the church.  What caused these divisions and why were did Paul have a problem with them?  I think this is what is at the nexus of our debate.  Why are there divisions within the church and if there are divisions, does that mean we are not ONE FAITH, but many? And, if that is the case, how do we determine which is the right faith?

I leave the study time to my readers and will return for discussion -- assuming sun spot activity allows me a window for posting.

"Brothers, I was not able to speak to you as spiritual people but as people of the flesh, as babies in Christ.  I fed you milk, not solid food, because you were not yet able to receive it. In fact, you are still not able, because you are still fleshly. For since there is envy and strife among you, are you not fleshly and living like ordinary people? For whenever someone says, “I’m with Paul,” and another, “I’m with Apollos,” are you not [typical] men?

"So, what is Apollos? And what is Paul? They are servants through whom you believed, and each has the role the Lord has given. I planted, Apollos watered, but God gave the growth. 
So then neither the one who plants nor the one who waters is anything, but only God who gives the growth. Now the one who plants and the one who waters are equal, and each will receive his own reward according to his own labor. For we are God’s co-workers. You are God’s field, God’s building. 

"According to God’s grace that was given to me, as a skilled master builder I have laid a foundation, and another builds on it. But each one must be careful how he builds on it, because no one can lay any other foundation than what has been laid—that is, Jesus Christ. If anyone builds on the foundation with gold, silver, costly stones, wood, hay, or straw, each one’s work will become obvious, for the day of Christ’s judgment of believers will disclose it, because it will be revealed by fire; the fire will test the quality of each one’s work. If anyone’s work that he has built survives, he will receive a reward. If anyone’s work is burned up, it will be lost, but he will be saved; yet it will be like an escape through fire.

"Don’t you know that you are God’s sanctuary and that the Spirit of God lives in you? If anyone ruins God’s sanctuary, God will ruin him; for God’s sanctuary is holy, and that is what you are.

"No one should deceive himself. If anyone among you thinks he is wise in this age, he must become foolish so that he can become wise. For the wisdom of this world is foolishness with God, since it is written: "He catches the wise in their craftiness and again, The Lord knows the reasonings of the wise, that they are futile."  (Job)

"So no one should boast in men, for all things are yours:  whether Paul or Apollos or • Cephas or the world or life or death or things present or things to come—all are yours, and you belong to Christ, and Christ to God.

A person should consider us in this way: as servants of Christ and managers of God’s mysteries.  In this regard, it is expected of managers that each one be found faithful. It is of little importance that I should be evaluated by you or by a human court. In fact, I don’t even evaluate myself. For I am not conscious of anything against myself, but I am not justified by this. The One who evaluates me is the Lord. 

"Therefore don’t judge anything prematurely, before the Lord comes, who will both bring to light what is hidden in darkness and reveal the intentions of the hearts. And then praise will come to each one from God. 

"Now, brothers, I have applied these things to myself and Apollos for your benefit, so that you may learn from us the saying: “Nothing beyond what is written.”[2] The words in quotation marks could refer to the OT, a Jewish maxim, or a popular proverb. The purpose is that none of you will be inflated with pride in favor of one person over another. For who makes you so superior? What do you have that you didn’t receive? If, in fact, you did receive it, why do you boast as if you hadn’t received it? Already you are full! Already you are rich! You have begun to reign as kings without us—and I wish you did reign, so that we also could reign with you! For I think God has displayed us, the apostles, in last place, like men condemned to die: we have become a spectacle to the world and to angels and to men. We are fools for Christ, but you are wise in Christ! We are weak, but you are strong! You are distinguished, but we are dishonored! Up to the present hour we are both hungry and thirsty; we are poorly clothed, roughly treated, homeless; we labor, working with our own hands. When we are reviled, we bless; when we are persecuted, we endure it; when we are slandered, we entreat. We are, even now, like the world’s garbage, like the filth of all things.

"I’m not writing this to shame you, but to warn you as my dear children. For you can have 10,000 instructors in Christ, but you can’t have many fathers. Now I have fathered you in Christ Jesus through the gospel. 

"Therefore I urge you, be imitators of me. This is why I have sent to you Timothy, who is my beloved and faithful child in the Lord. He will remind you about my ways in Christ Jesus, just as I teach everywhere in every church. Now some are inflated with pride, as though I were not coming to you. But I will come to you soon, if the Lord wills, and I will know not the talk but the power of those who are inflated with pride.  For the kingdom of God is not in talk but in power. 

"What do you want? Should I come to you with a rod, or in love and a spirit of gentleness?"

I Corinthians Chapters 3 & 4.

I have underlined those sentences that seem to me to be most pertinent, but I ask my readers to study the Scriptures for themselves because it is in the words of the Bible that we find Christ's message to His church. There is no other source in which we can put our trust. As always comments are welcome.  I will return soon (sunspots allowing) with further discussion.

"Look for the building that looks like a milk bottle,” my sister-in-law had said as she gave me directions to her workplace in South Boston. “Then take the bridge across to Southey and find this street. No problem!”

On trips to unfamiliar locations, my husband acts as the pilot and I act as the navigator. This partnership developed because he learned to drive in big cities, but I can read a map. I can negotiate a mountain road in white-out, but multiple-lane traffic is just too fast for me. Our skills are not interchangeable and we like it that way. Our friends know me as the human compass. It’s likely because my mother had NO sense of direction that I have an amazing one. Thus, I’m usually the one to get the directions, compare them to a map and get us to where we’re going. My husband’s job is merely to turn when I tell him and to avoid hitting other cars.

For the first time, this partnership failed! Boston is not like any other city. The Big Dig was still going on, so streets were not necessarily well marked (and they changed daily!) and the maps (I kid you NOT) showed through-streets that ended at an unmarked brick wall that had clearly been there since the Coolidge Administration. I love my sister-in-law, but her directions also stank. Directions usually rely on definable landmarks. If there is a building in Boston that looks like a milk bottle, somebody please tell me where it is, because we never found it. We finally found our way to Southey and wandered around until we found the right street. By that time, my SIL’s lunch hour was well-over and we were plenty frustrated.

Why? Well, when trying to find out where you want to go, landmarks and role models are invaluable. For the Christian, Jesus is the landmark and role model!

“For you were called to this, because Christ also suffered for you, leaving you an example, Jn 13:15 so that you should follow (Mt 10:38; 16:24; Mk 8:34; Lk 9:23; 14:27; 1 Pt 3:9) in His steps.
He did not commit sin, and no deceit was found in His mouth; when reviled, He did not revile in return; when suffering, He did not threaten, (Isaiah 53:7) but committed Himself to the One who judges justly.
He Himself bore our sins in His body on the tree, so that, having died to sins, we might live for righteousness; (Rm 6:2 ,11 ) by His wounding you have been healed. For you were like sheep going astray. (Isaiah 53:6) but you have now returned to the shepherd and guardian of your souls. (Jb 20:29 LXX; Isaiah 53:6; Ezk 34:5–6,16; Mt 9:36). I Peter 2:21-25

Remember that Peter had just been discussing holy living with his readers. He gave them some clear guidelines – abstain from fleshy desires, be honorable toward Gentiles, don’t give people a reason to slander you, love Christians, honor the Emperor, and slaves submit to your physical masters as a testimony to him of Jesus’ power transforming your heart.

These were difficult things for some of his readers to hear. They were suffering persecution. Cruelty was a part of their world. It is human nature to want to fight back, but Peter had a different view of what they were going through.

Christ called them to suffer for their faith, just as He suffered. Since Christ is our role model for living, we should follow in His steps. Jesus didn’t commit sin (but we do and will, not being in the nature of God) and He didn’t lie, yet He was reviled and slanders. He did not verbally return the cruelty aimed at him. He didn’t threaten those who were attacking him; He gave Himself willingly to God the Father, who judges justly. Jesus took our sins in His body while on the cross, so that we (now free from the sin because He took it from us) may live right lives before God. Because of His wounds we were healed of our own wounds.

I have a friend who owns sheep and goats. He allows them to spend the summer free-ranging on his property just north of town. There are bells on the goats, but not on the sheep. This is because sheep are not very bright and will do truly stupid things if left to their own devices and one leader sheep can take the whole group over a cliff if it gets a dumb idea. Goats, on the other hand, have a strong self-preservation instinct and are far smarter than sheep; therefore, RV has made his goals the leaders of the “flock” of sheep and goats.

I use this example as explanation for the final line “You were like sheep gone astray, but now you are returned to the shepherd.”

On their own, RV tells me, sheep will scatter and die. The goats, however, lead them back to the barn ever so often so they can eat. He also has a dog that will go and round them up.

We humans are like sheep in that we wander away from God and Jesus Christ on fairly regular bases. We’re born outside the paddock, as sinners, and we remain outside the paddock for most of our lives, even once we became Christians. Like ravens, we’re attracted to the shiny things of life and often ignore the more important things. Peter reminded his readers that Jesus is the head of the Church, the role model for living.

Again, for my Roman Catholic reader, I would note that Peter doesn’t put himself up as a role model, but Jesus. Jesus is the one we should follow. Peter was just a man who knew Jesus and was charged with spreading the gospel about Him. Jesus is the reason for the Church, not Peter.

The next section of Peter’s letter concerns marriage, which is an important aspect of living. It is always good to remember that the Bible was not written in chapters and verses. Some monk in the sixth century (I think) started breaking the books up in this way to make it easier to follow and refer. Thus, Peter’s discussion of holy living flows right from grace into marriage. There was no separation.  Marriage is a part of living.

We are in the midst of Peter’s brief discussion of holy living, written to the Christians who had scattered from Jerusalem after the persecution of Stephen. Peter wanted his readers to be aware that they were a special people, a holy priesthood – the very altar of sacrifice to God was in their hearts. Thus, they needed to reflect Jesus in all their ways and he discusses some of those ways in this letter. After admonishing his readers to prune their lives for their betterment, Peter did not flinch from telling them with what they should replace wickedness.

“Dear friends, I urge you as aliens and temporary residents Gn 23:4; Ps 39:12; Heb 11:9,13; 1 Pt 1:1 to abstain from fleshly desires Gl 5:24 that war against you. Conduct yourselves honorably among the Gentiles, so that in a case where they speak against you as those who do evil, they may, by observing your good works, glorify God in a day of visitation. Submit to every human institution because of the Lord, whether to the Emperor Lit king as the supreme authority, or to governors as those sent out by him to punish those who do evil and to praise those who do good.
For it is God’s will that you, by doing good, silence the ignorance 1 Pt 3:16 of foolish people.
As God’s slaves, [live] as free people, but don’t use your freedom Gl 5:13 as a way to conceal evil.
Honor everyone. Love the brotherhood. Fear God. Honor the Emperor. Rm 13:1

“Household slaves, submit yourselves to your masters with all respect, not only to the good and gentle but also to the cruel. For it [brings] favor if, because of conscience toward God, someone endures grief from suffering unjustly. For what credit is there if you endure when you sin and are beaten? But when you do good and suffer, if you endure, it brings favor with God.”  I Peter 2:1-20

He reminded his readers, as we should also be reminded, that we are aliens and temporary residents of this earth and thus we should resist taking part in fleshly desires that would weaken our faith. Having been steeped in the Law of Moses as were most of his readers (being part of the Diaspora of Christians from Jerusalem), Peter didn’t need to address specific concerns in the same way that Paul did. It may also have been that he knew that Paul had already been to Asia Minor and had also written to him. He assumed his readers knew what fleshly desires were. He wanted them to abstain, but he also wanted them to show positive Christianity. Act honorably among the Gentiles, so that if Gentiles spoke against them, those observing would know by their good works that what was being said was not true.

He then entered one of the most difficult doctrines for most Christians to deal with. “Submit to every human institution, whether it be the Roman Emperor or the governors sent by him to punish those who do evil and to praise those who do good.” This is not an easy choice to make and sometimes it leads to conflict. Submission is about having a servant attitude and behavior toward others, which connotes a voluntary acceptance of the authority of others. I don’t consider that Peter was discussing abuse of governmental authority and that they should go along without question when government abuses their fellow human beings. A little historical understanding is in order.

With the Diaspora, Christians began to face the first of many persecutions. There were rumors floating about concerning Christians and their practices that were patently untrue. As I write this, I think we in the United States know somewhat the same feeling. Nobody is trying to kill us, but there are certainly many who believe things about us as a people group that are wholly untrue. Christians were a small, powerless group in the 1^st Century, so fighting back was not truly an option, but Peter warned against the few who might be tempted to do so. He admonished them to submit because in doing good by the laws of men, they would silence those who believed what was being said about Christians. Honorable people are hard to hate. You might still hate them, but you do so without reason and you feel the lack of foundation to your very soul.

Peter reminded them that Christians have freedom from their Master (God). Still, they should live remembering God’s commands. Treat everyone around them with honor – not with rudeness or attitude. Yes, those who believe stupid things about Christians are annoying and, well, they make themselves look like fools, but we do no better if in our frustration we say or write things that are unkind or untrue. We should never be using our freedom in Christ as a means for hiding evil. Freedom in Christ means we’re not bound by Mosaic Law, or what our grandmother thought was an acceptable way for Christians to act, or what guy in the cubical next to us thinks is how Christians should live, but we are bound by the Law of Christ. We must learn what that is and how that translates into the culture in which we currently live, but we must also remember that the commandments of God are “love God with all your heart, mind, soul and strength” and “love other people like you love yourself.” Just because we’re forgiven of past sins does not mean we are free to continue sinning.

Peter wanted his readers to be aware of this.

His final example for living as a submitted Christian addresses the relationship of a slave to his master. This is a hot topic, not because we have much slavery in the United States today, but because some outside observers have difficulty with the Bible allowing slavery at all. Recognizing that slavery has been the norm for most societies for more of history doesn’t make 21^st Century Americans feel any better about it. Perhaps this is because we fail to understand history.

Biblical slavery was very different from the slavery of the Old South. It was largely a voluntary association. One of my ancestors came to the US as an indentured servant. For seven years after his arrival here, he was not free to travel as he might or take a job where he would. His time and energy was owed to his master – the man who had bought his labor contract. The master could not sell him down the road and he would not have owned a woman my ancestor married or any children born to him. My ancestor owed the master seven years of labor, not his lifetime. This was a similar situation to Biblical slavery. A person entered into a contract for a period of time, usually to pay off a debt. They weren’t free to pursue their own life during that time, but with permission they could marry and even have side businesses of their own. The masters owned only the slave, not his family. If a slave chose to be bonded to the master permanently, this was possible, but it still didn’t affect the slave’s family.

As the Christians moved out into societies that were not Jewish, they encountered other forms of slavery and these are not always as kind as that of the Jews. Peter and Paul both addressed the issue and stated that slaves (though owned by the master) should voluntarily serve their masters as if they were serving God. Peter furthered the argument saying that they should do so even if the master was cruel. His reasons were simple and they were similar to his reasons for submitting to the Emperor. A disobedient slave deserved punishment for their behavior, but a slave that has done nothing wrong but endures punishment just because his master is cruel is a testament to character. When his character is praised, it is because he has shown a light into darkness. 21^st Century Americans may have difficulty accepting behavior that rests solely on character rather than on justice, but Peter understood that Christians acting in Christ-like ways would have an impact that all his preaching could never give. At some point in the future, I will likely deal with this issue in greater detail, but the discussion today is Peter.

Christians are called to act honorably in all our affairs, even when we don’t always like what’s going on. When people notice that we behave more honorably than those around us or when we continue to do good to those who treat us badly, we show that we are good rather than bad. This is extremely important in the world in which we live in today. Christians are called to be holy, but we’re also called to be honorable – to act in ways that are so blameless as to draw the praise of those who would so like to blame us. This is not an easy assignment, as Peter well knew. He had not always acted honorably in his own life. Yet, he urged his readers to do the best they could to do so in their own lives.

Befitting a man who worked with his hands, Peter’s letter presented practical guidelines for the holy living he called his readers to seek. It is not enough to sit at the feet of a preacher or a hot worship band, waving our hands in ecstasy on Sunday morning or Friday evening. We are called to holy living 24/7. Christians of the 1^st Century knew this, but I think many American Christians of the 21^st Century need a reminder.

“So rid yourselves of Eph 4:22; Jms 1:21 all wickedness, all deceit, hypocrisy, envy, and all slander.
Like newborn infants, desire the unadulterated spiritual milk, 1 Co 3:2 ; Heb 5:12–13 so that you may grow by it in [your] The bracketed text has been added for clarity. salvation, since you have tasted that the Lord is good. Coming to Him, a living stone—rejected by men but chosen and valuable to God—
you yourselves, as living stones, are being built into a spiritual house for a holy priesthood to offer spiritual sacrifices acceptable to God through Jesus Christ.
For it stands in Scripture: Look! I lay a stone in Zion, a chosen and valuable cornerstone, and the one who believes in Him will never be put to shame! So the honor is for you who believe; but for the unbelieving, The stone that the builders rejected— this One has become the cornerstone, Ps 118:22 and
A stone that causes men to stumble, Or a stone causing stumbling and a rock that trips them up. Isaiah 8:14 They stumble by disobeying the message; they were destined for this.
But you are a chosen race, a royal priesthood, Ex 19:6 ; 23:22 LXX; Isaiah 61:6 a holy nation, ^] Ex 19:6 ; 23:22 LXX a people for His possession, Ex 19:5 ; 23:22 LXX; Dt 4:20 ; 7:6 ; Isaiah 43:21 LXX so that you may proclaim the praises Isaiah 42:12 ; 43:21 of the One who called you out of darkness into His marvelous light. Once you were not a people, but now you are God’s people; you had not received mercy, but now you have received mercy.” I Peter 2:1-10

Peter’s prescription for holy living was simple – the doctrine of a fisherman, not a scholar. Get rid of everything wicked in your life, Peter advised. Then he names some of those wicked things: deceit, hypocrisy, envy and slander. We think we know what these mean, but we often skip over them without giving them any real thought. Deceit is a way of tricking people. It could be through lies or it could be through dishonest business practices. The idea is to keep the truth from someone else. Of course, a Christian should not seek to be deceitful to those around him/her. Honesty should be a rule for our lives. When one lives an honest life one will have a charge of hypocrisy laid at one’s feet, because people get rattled by legitimate honesty. It makes them envious, which will often lead them to slander you. This is what they do, but what they do does not give Christians excuse to imitate them. We are to put off envy and cease from lying and using negativity to defame others. Later in the chapter, Peter explained the rewards of refraining from such negative activities.

Peter was a fisherman, not a mason, but I suspect that in his travels, he picked up knowledge from other trades. Masons had no doubt become Christians and as Peter was able to explain fishing to them in spiritual terms, they were able to explain building to him in spiritual terms. Peter reminded Christians that Jesus was the living stone, rejected by men, but chosen by God, but he also noted that Christians, by virtue of their relationship with Jesus, are living stones as well. We are used to build a temple for a holy priesthood officer acceptable sacrifices to God through Jesus Christ. How does it feel to be a building block and are we made of mud or concrete?

The Old Testament sacrificial system lost any efficacy when Jesus died on the cross. This was the message of the curtain before the Holy of Holies being rent from top to bottom (note the direction). God Himself removed the barrier between Himself and man that sin had placed there. The temple in Jerusalem had no function by the time of Peter writing this letter; for indeed it had no function the day Jesus was resurrected. The altar of God resides in the hearts of believers and it is there that we make sacrifices to Him. We sacrifice our human nature daily upon the altar, giving up “all wickedness.”

Jesus Christ is our model for living, yet the same foundation stone that is so important to Christians is the stone that causes non-believers to stumble. They heard and still hear the message and declare it ‘ridiculous”. Those who have accepted Christ have become a chosen race (very Jewish of us), a royal priesthood (bye-bye Caiaphas), and a holy nation. We are God’s people and we proclaim praises to Him Who brought us out of blinding darkness into wonderful light.

Peter understood that he was writing to people from diverse cultures that had only a few years before pursued utterly different national goals. Yet, they were now a member of a new nation, a nation not bound by walls or rivers, but held together by the Holy Spirit. The only thing that set them apart from their non-Christian neighbors was that they had received God’s unmerited favor while their neighbors had not. They needed to remember to follow the overriding commands of God rather than their own base human nature.

Of importance to my way of understanding Scripture, is that Peter wrote to general Christianity, not an elite group of priests, that they (mere Christians) were a chosen race and a royal priesthood. He used the analogy of them placing sacrifices on the altar of their hearts. This does not to me seem to be a man who believed that he alone held the keys to heaven. He seems to be addressing equals, whom he considered to be priests in their own right. So, where do we get from the Diaspora being priests and kings of the Most High God to priests standing in anointed succession holding the keys to the gate for them? I think the lack of teaching on it indicates that this became of more importance to the church at Rome as it sought supremacy within the universal Church, but that it was not something Peter himself taught.

Peter taught reliance on the foundation of Jesus, not on himself. This is clear in his letter and will continue to be clear as we further study what Peter wrote.

I’m told I should list some points of indiosycratic trivia about myself and then tag six other bloggers. Hmm, we’ll see if I can do that without repeating tags.

1. I live in Alaska’s Tanana Valley, hence the nickname aurorawatcher. I’ve spent a lot of time with freezing toes watching the lights dance across the sky and I’ve heard them “sing”, something scientists insist is not possible. Thus, I believe that scientists do not always know everything.

2. I have eclectic music tastes -- from Bach to Will Smith. My favorite bands currently are the NewBoys and SuperChick. I hold an absolute loathing for gangsta noise. I love pretty much every thing the Eagles ever recorded. I was in love with David Cassidy and Richard Carpenter in junior high school and now wonder what I was thinking. My favorite all-time Christian artists were and are Keith Green and Rich Mullins. I can imagine the jam sessions and theological discussions those two are probably having even now.

3. I have a lot of favorite authors, so I can’t list them all. Madeline L’Engle, CS Lewis, Francis Shaeffer, JRR Tolkein, Katharine Kerr (a fantasy writer, who is decidedly not Christian), Steven Lawhead (who is), Robert Jordan (who isn't), and myself. I love well-written fantasy and sci-fi, and I will stay up all night for a good mystery novel.

4. Yes, I am a writer. I come from a long line of writers on my mother’s side. I am a published journalist, but my real love is fiction. I am currently writing a Christian fantasy novel that is my first fiction effort that I think worthy of publication. Writing is something I cannot choose not to do and I believe it is one of the spiritual gifts that God has given me. Either that or it is genetic, given the many writers among my grandmother’s cousins, at least one of whom you probably studied in school.

5. American Sign Language is my second lanuage.

6. I hate to shop! I was born with the male shopping gene and would just as soon fling myself off a cliff as shop for clothes.  I am married to a man who loves to shop and our teenager daughter prefers to take him with her than me.

Who shall I tag?  When I checked back on those bloggers I'm in regular contact with, I found they had already been tagged and multiple taggings might be annoying, so I'm only providing the ones who haven't been tagged. 


ValiantForTruth
Tekel 
Just Arnie

Unlike Paul, who wrote copiously, Peter was more a man of action than a man of letters. As a preacher/evangelist rather than a theologian, he brought thousands of people to the Lord with a single sermon and his sermons had a great similarity to one another. Christ crucified for our sins remained his refrain. He was a simple man with a simple, but oh, so powerful message. Yet, as one of the original 12, people sought his spiritual opinion and his two epistles were directed to the whole of Christianity, not just specific churches.

An important point to note is that Peter wrote these two epistles after Paul wrote many of his, and thus, Peter quotes from Paul. Peter and Paul knew one another. Much is made in some sects of a supposed personality conflict between the two men, but at a later point in this letter, Peter commends Paul’s efforts, so I think the supposed feud is just a revisionist’s way of winning their own arguments. Paul admitted to rebuking Peter for distancing himself from Gentile Christians when Jewish Christians were around. For the man who received the initial vision concerning the Gentiles including the clearance of many of the foods traditionally forbidden in the Jewish law, Peter’s behavior showed an on-again-off-again enthusiasm toward a ministry to the Gentiles. This is why many scholars are skeptical that Peter founded the Church at Rome. There’s just no Biblical evidence that Peter ever went to Rome and the dates of his letters, which were written from Babylon, indicates he was pretty old by that time. If he had founded the Church at Rome, why did he return once more to Babylon and why is it Paul, not Peter, who writes an instructive letter to the Romans? It’s a logical conundrum that I don’t think needs to fall to accusations of heresy, but that is just one part of an overall difficulty I have with Roman Catholicism. To my way of thinking, it founds itself on a cult of a man who lived a physical life circumscribed by physical limitations, rather than on Jesus, Who goes in spirit form and is not dependent upon anyone believer to spread His gospel.

A more likely genesis for the Church at Roman comes to mind. There were Jews from Rome at Pentecost when the first sermon was preached by Peter. Some of those accepted Christ and returned to Rome to found a church. Thus, they came to Christ through the preaching of Peter, which spiritually if far more significant and logical than expected Peter to have traveled to Rome in the early years of Christianity, founded a church there and then returned to the Middle East to work in Babylon before returning once again to Rome to die. It just seems an odd turn of events that I find unconvincing. I understand the idea of apostolic succession, but I submit that this was questioned and knocked down when the church at Antioch was discovered. These were Christians who had not started their spiritual journey through the Church at Jerusalem. The apostles sent Barnabas to Antioch to check them out and he found Christians. There doesn’t appear to have been any special ceremony to assure that Peter blessed the church at Antioch. Instead Barnabas went to get Paul, at that time a marginalized non-entity living in Tarsus, to help with discipling the first missionary church. Although Peter later traveled to Antioch, it doesn’t appear he had a large leadership role there and Antioch is where Paul had to rebuke him for his lukewarm attitude toward Gentile Christian.

Moreover, Peter’s writings doesn’t show the sort of hubris that you would think would come to someone who knew they and they alone held the keys to the kingdom of Heaven. He seemed comfortable with sharing authority with others.

After reminding the churches of Turkey that grace is more precious than gold and that they should cling to it during times of tribulation, Peter turned right away to the subject that should consume a Christian’s life – that of righteous living.

“Therefore, get your minds ready for action, being self-disciplined, and set your hope completely on the grace to be brought to you at the revelation of Jesus Christ. As obedient children, do not be conformed to the desires of your former ignorance but, as the One who called you is holy, you also are to be holy in all your conduct; for it is written, Be holy, because I am holy. And if you address as Father the One who judges impartially based on each one’s work, you are to conduct yourselves in reverence during this time of temporary residence.
For you know that you were redeemed from your empty way of life inherited from the fathers, not with perishable things, like silver or gold, but with the precious blood of Christ, like that of a lamb without defect or blemish. He was destined before the foundation of the world, but was revealed at the end of the times for you who through Him are believers in God, who raised Him from the dead[ and gave Him glory, so that your faith and hope are in God.
By obedience to the truth, having purified yourselves for sincere love of the brothers, love one another Jn 13:34 ; Rm 12:10 earnestly from a pure heart, since you have been born again—not of perishable seed but of imperishable Jn 1:13 ; 1 Pt 1:3 —through the living and enduring word of God.  For All flesh is like grass, and all its glory like a flower of the grass. The grass withers, and the flower drops off, but the word of the Lord endures forever. Isaiah 40:6–8 And this is the word that was preached as the gospel to you.”   I Peter 1:13-25

I’ve made the statement several times that Peter was a man of action and he wanted his listeners to be Christian believers of action. Grace is all well and good, but grace must transform the believer if it is to have any value. If you follow Peter’s history as recorded in the Bible, you don’t find him sitting around contemplating the universe or his place in it. On the Mount of Transfiguration, it was he who wanted to build a shrine to commemorate the event, for example.

Thus, Peter commanded his readers to “get your minds ready for action.” As a former competitive swimmer, I think of stepping up into the diving blocks, testing my footing, loosening my muscles, preparing to fling myself headlong into the water and eat up half a length with the momentum of my dive. As a swimmer does not do such on a moment’s notice without training, neither can Christians be prepared for ministry action if they are not self-disciplined. Thus, Peter gave them instructions in building the sort of self-discipline they would need. “Set your hope completely on the grace Jesus Christ has revealed to you.” This is no halfway action. This is the swimmer setting her eyes upon the far wall of the pool and not paying any attention to distractions. There are many other things of this world that will demand a Christian’s attention, but grace should be the only thing we see.

Paul had already used the analogy of adoption to explain the relationship between Christians and the Father, so Peter expounded further on a theme he may have been aware his readers already knew. Adopted children conform to their new homes and new parents. “As obedient children” Christians are to conform their desires to what God (the Father) wants, not to what seemed right before we became Christians. “Be holy in all your conduct,” Peter instructed, following Christ’s example. We are on this earth only a short time, so we should conduct ourselves as if we were doing our activities for God Himself, because we are. Peter acknowledged that they had inherited a sinful lifestyle from their fathers, but that Jesus’ blood had redeemed them from that corruption. Peter talked briefly about how God had always planned to bring Jesus to this world, but that humans had only lately found out about it, mainly those humans that had accepted Christ’s salvation. Our faith and our hope are in God and conversely, by logic, not in human beings.

Peter spoke of Christian love in this passage, but make no mistake, it was not the generic “God is love” sort of nonsense favored by so many feel-good religionists. This sort of love flows from “obedience to the truth,” followed by purification, resulting in “sincere love” of fellow Christian. From this Christians are able to love one another “earnestly from a pure heart” because we are “born again … through the living and enduring word of God.” Now, this is a reference to Jesus, but in the next sentence, it is a reference to Scripture. “The word of the Lord endures forever” (referencing James 1:10-11, which quotes Isaiah 40-6-8).

Peter then reminded them that the word he’s discussing is the gospel that was previously preached to them.

My Roman Catholic reader is especially concerned about the idea of “Scripture only” theology. It is her concern that such theology allows anyone to interpret the Bible anyway they want. This is a valid concern given that many people like to cherry-pick the Scriptures to make their point. You can build many a theology if you take liberty with the word and intent of the Scripture. Cherry-picking holds a lot of dangers. However, I would submit that non-Catholic Bible scholars are no more prone to warping the scriptures than Roman Catholic priests are.

My husband and two of my best friends came out of the Roman Catholic church, so I am not ignorant of what RCs believe. My husband lived in the attic of the rectory during his senior year of high school because he wanted to finish at his high school and his parents were moving to another state. His experiences of living about 9 or 10 priests was that they were very human, something he had never known before. Human beings are corrupt from their birth. The Bible tells us that. Roman Catholic doctrine tells us that as well (why else do you insist upon baptizing even still born infants?). Yet, knowing that, I am told by my reader that I should accept the interpretation of the Chief Priest in Rome even if it disagrees with what I read in Scripture. I cannot do that. I stand with Martin Luther in saying that if the Vicar of Christ disagrees with the Bible, he is in error, not the Bible. This in no way should be taken as animus toward the Roman Catholic church. It is only putting their beliefs in proper perspective.

I think Peter would have agreed with me, for he wrote -- the “word of the Lord endures forever and this is the same word that was preached to you.”

In Paul’s writings, you hear the continual theme of “don’t listen to anyone who deviates from what we have already taught you and just so you know what we taught, I am writing it to you now.” In most cases, we can’t know what was said by Peter or Paul or James or …. We can know what they wrote because we have what they wrote.

Why is this not enough for some that they need a human being to tell them what it says and they’ll trust the human being if their interpretation disagrees with what can be read?

Inquiry by a Roman Catholic reader made me think long and hard about the need to address Peter as he is presented in the Bible, rather than as tradition has built him. This should not be taken as a swipe at Roman Catholic beliefs, but as a call to obey the Bible.  All that we know certainly of Peter is from the Bible. He was a Galilean fisherman who apparently had a heart for God because he was a follower of John the Baptist. Upon recognizing Jesus as the Messiah, John began to send his disciples to Jesus, but Peter was not the first to go. His brother Andrew found him and took him to meet Jesus.