You see, the world doesn’t think like God would have His children think. They have an entirely different set of values. Their values in regard to money and pleasure and morality are based on their own pride and lust. How they behave and even how they worship is not governed by faith in Jesus Christ, their Redeemer, but by faith in themselves. Their church is a worldly church, which has very little to do with true Christianity or Christ.
This is nothing new. It has been this way ever since man fell into sin. One of the basic causes of the universal flood was that the sons of God were intimate with instead of strangers to the ungodly women of the world. “For as in the days that were before the flood they were eating and drinking, marrying and giving in marriage, until the day that Noah entered into the ark,” Matthew 24:38 Now what is wrong with eating and drinking and getting married? Nothing, unless that is all we live for! After the flood, the LORD gave believing Abraham and his descendents a country all their own. However this country was occupied by the Canaanites, a tribe known for their idolatry and sexual excesses. In this wicked country Abraham grazed his flocks and raised his family and worshipped his God. In this wicked country Abraham became materially rich, having over 300 servants. And yet what do we read about Abraham? “He dwelt in the land of promise as a stranger for he looked for a city whose builder and maker is God.” Hebrews 11:10. His heart was not focused on things you can see. His faith was not based on the material things that the Canaanites had to offer but on the spiritual things that God had to give. His faith was based on a promise, the only promise that gave meaning to his life, namely the promise of a Savior. Now you know why Abraham in the New Testament is called “the father of us all” Romans 4:16.
Throughout history there has always been a struggle between believers and the world in which they live. Some have tried to avoid it by going into the wilderness as hermits and monks but that did not work because they could not rid themselves of their own sinful flesh. Serious as they were about it, they did not heed the prayer of our Savior, “I pray not that thou shouldest take them out of the world, but that thou shouldest keep them from the evil.” John 17:15. The LORD wants us to live in the midst of this sinful world as Abraham did and not to love it or what it has to offer. “Love not the world, neither the things that are in the world. If any man love the world, the love of the Father is not in him,” 1 John 2:15, says the Scripture. Is this possible? Humanly speaking, no! The allurements of the world and the weaknesses of our sinful inner nature are such a strong force that only by the grace of God can we be the strangers and foreigners of this text.
It is for this reason that the sainted Apostle warns, “Abstain from fleshly lusts which war against the soul.” What kind of sins is capable of destroying our souls? Any kind, actually! We are all different. We have certain weaknesses for different things. But they always start with a DESIRE. That’s the tricky part, because not all desires are bad. Just one example! The desire for sexual intimacy is a good desire and a great blessing within the context of marriage, but once the sinful nature gets hold of this desire, it can twist it so that it is no longer a constructive blessing but a destructive curse. How many lives in this generation have been ruined by perverted desires?
“Abstain from fleshly lusts which war against the soul.” There is a war going on, a war for our souls. Christian life is not fun and games, but a deadly struggle against our inner nature, and our inner nature is sinful. Nothing good can come from our flesh, no matter what our proud world might tell us. Doing what feels good, living only for this life and what it has to offer destroys our souls, and it happens so often without our noticing it. Once the satisfaction of our desires and lusts becomes more important than the love of our Savior who shed His blood to free us from those sins, we are living in real danger. When we get to the point that fleshly lusts take over and lead us to deny the word of our Lord, the war is over. The anti-soul forces have won the battle and our souls are crushed if not permanently destroyed.
St. Peter’s words are strong words and they strike home! By nature we are no different than the world about us. We have the same flesh and blood and the same temptations. It is the height of pride to think that we can win this war by ourselves. “We wrestle not against flesh and blood, but against principalities, against powers, against the rulers of the darkness of this world, against spiritual wickedness in high [places].” Ephesians 6:12. Dr. Luther sings, “with might of ours can naught be done,” and St. Paul writes, “For I know that in me (that is, in my flesh,) dwelleth no good thing: for to will is present with me; but [how] to perform that which is good I find not.” Romans 7:18.
How can we win? Our sure hope lies with the word of our Lord. The Holy Spirit gives us the power to fight back, not with carnal weapons like guns and knives but “with the sword of the spirit which is the word of God.” Ephesians 6:17. It takes His word to fill our hearts with shame over our weaknesses and sins. It takes His word to leads us to cry in repentance, “Have mercy on me, O LORD.” Matthew 15:22. It takes His word to assure our hearts of forgiveness and to give us a thankful faith to wage war against our lusts, and to live a life of faith that is a positive witness to those about us.
If there is anything the world dislikes it is people who are different, who don’t go along with the way they speak or think. Just ask anyone who tries to stand up for God’s word. People who do not match the pattern of popular opinion are often viewed as un-democratic or at least strange. This is nothing new. The Christians to whom St. Peter wrote this epistle were under suspicion because they held themselves aloof from the obscene games that were held in the Coliseum. They were accused of disloyalty because they did not participate in Emperor-worship. When Christians were compelled to go underground in order to worship and celebrate the Lord’s Supper, they were accused of drinking the blood of animals. It was not easy to be different in the first century and it is not easy today.
People don’t want to be disturbed in their way of life and the pursuit of their vices and are resentful of anyone who lives differently. They find their greatest pleasure in luring Christians to get drunk with them or to take part in their obscenities. While they will pass off their own sins with a jest, they are quick to point an accusing finger at a Christian, who, even in part, joins them in the same sinful behavior. It is really important that we strive to live in such a way that our behavior is above reproach. The world frequently speaks about Christians as evil doers, sometimes to our face, but more frequently behind our backs. We are warned to expect that, as St. Peter tells us in this text: “that whereas they speak against you as evildoers, they may by your good works, which they shall behold, glorify God in the day of visitation.” Notice carefully the words of the Apostle. He does not ask us to stand on a street corner and denounce the sins of the world. He does not ask us to organize a walk for Christ to counter the world’s walk for gay rights. In this text he does not even ask us to speak. But he does ask that we behave in such a way that the world can’t help but notice our behavior, as the Savior urges in Matthew 5, “Let your light so shine before men, that they may see your good works, and glorify your Father which is in heaven.” Matthew 5:16.
We may be strangers to the world; we are not strangers to one another. We belong to the same spiritual family. We share the same faith and the same hope. Indeed, we “are no more strangers and foreigners, but fellow citizens with the saints, and of the household of God.” Ephesians 2:19. Man is not an island. We need each other to talk to, to share our concerns and to be a source of encouragement to remain faithful to His holy Word, which is our only source of strength against the enemies of our souls. “Nay, in all these things we are more than conquerors through him that loved us.” Romans 8:37
May our Christian behavior, faulty and feeble though it may be, so influence those who speak against us today, that they shall glorify God when He comes again on the day of His final visitation.