1 Peter 3:13-17 begins the third main section of 1 Peter with the theme being: God’s grace in suffering. In a world that is hostile to Christianity and to Christ Peter is admonishing his readers that the fear of the Lord conquers every other fear. In the course of life these readers faced crises, and could be tempted to give into fears and make wrong decisions but Peter is instructing to “sanctify Christ as Lord” in their hearts and they never need to fear men or circumstances. “The enemies of believers can hurt us, but never harm us. Only we can harm ourselves if we fail to trust God” (Wiersbe. 413). Peter is stating that, in a general sense, people are less likely to be persecuted when they are doing good, however, even if a believer is persecuted …show more content…
MacArthur writes, “When believers sanctify Christ as Lord in their hearts, they affirm their submission to His control, instruction, and guidance. In so doing they also declare and submit to God’s sovereign majesty” (200) Further in verse 15 it says “be ready to give an answer to anyone who asks about the hope you possess.” The word “answer” is also interpreted “defense” which comes from the word apologia which is where the term apologetics is from. Later on Peter will define that “hope” as the Gospel. Peter admonishes to keep a clean conscience in verse 16. The word “conscience” comes from two Latin words: con, meaning, “with,” and scio, meaning “two know”. The conscience of the believer is the internal device that witnesses to us, and enables us to “know”, and approves our actions or …show more content…
Within the passage verses 14 and 17 are directly correlated, in that, 14 addresses the fact that we are blessed in our persecution and verse 17 is stating why it is a blessing to suffer. In verse 17 when it is written “if God wills it” that is a reference to verse 14 and the Greek construction implies that suffering for doing good was not what God normally willed, even though it could happen and possibly had already happened to some readers (4:4,12-19) The connection between 14-16 and Isaiah 8:12-13 is almost a direct quotation. It is related in the sense of syntax, obviously, but also in the historical context and setting. The hope that Peter refers to in verse 15 relates back to the “living hope” that he introduces in 1:3. Additionally, this section of Peter is related closely to what Christ said in Mathew 5:11 when He said, “Blessed are ye, when men shall revile you, and persecute you, and shall say all manner of evil against you falsely, for my sake.” Each verse of this section relates to some statement made by Jesus in Matthew
African-Americans’/ Affrilachians’ Suffering Mirrored: How do Nikky Finney’s “Red Velvet” and “Left” Capture events from the Past in order to Reshape the Present?
“Sonny’s Blues” is a short story in which James Baldwin, the author, presents an existential world where suffering characterizes a man’s basic state. The theme of tragedy and suffering can be transformed into a communal art form such as blues music. Blues music serves as a catalyst for change because the narrator starts to understand that not only the music but also himself and his relationship with Sonny. The narrator’s view of his brother begins to change; he understands that Sonny uses music as an exit of his suffering and pain. This story illustrates a wide critical examination. Richard N. Albert is one critic that explores and analyzes the world of “Sonny’s Blues”. His analysis, “The Jazz-Blues Motif in James Baldwin’s “Sonny’s Blues”” is an example of how one can discover plot, characterization and jazz motif that builds this theme of suffering.
The question of suffering comes up much when talking about, or practicing any religion. Many ask why people suffer, and what causes suffering? The various religions try to answer these questions in their own way. Pico Iyer’s editorial, “The Value of Suffering” addresses the questions of suffering and how it is handled. This article could be compared to the Bhagavad-Gita which also addresses and explains suffering through different stories of the interactions of humans and different Gods. One can specifically look at “The Second Teaching” in the Bhagavad-Gita, which explains the interaction between a man named Arjuna and the god Krishna. In it Arjuna is suffering because he does not want to fight in a war and with people whom he should be worshiping. Krishna says to fight because the souls of the people will forever live on, and because he needs to fulfill his Dharma. With what is known about the Bhagavad-Gita and how Iyer thinks about the subject, Iyer would agree with how the Bhagavad-Gita address suffering.
First Peter has been called by some the "epistle of hope." The book of First Peter is a very encouraging and also doctrinal text for Christians today. It tells us to have courage in our daily lives as Christians and gives us reasons why we should have perseverance. First Peter also tells us how we should treat each other in our relationships as brothers and sisters in Christ. As we strive to live with God by our side, this book also tells us that suffering will occur in our lives and how we should deal with those struggles. This book of only 105 verses is filled with words that give a remarkable sense of hope.
There is so much evil in the world such as: murder, child mortality, torture, rape, assault and more. So how can there be an all loving God if these things are constantly happening? In this paper, I will be arguing that there is in fact no such thing as an all loving and all powerful God due to Evil. When I think of an all-loving God, I think of God as someone who would never allow a child to be kidnapped, raped, tortured and killed. I think of God as someone who would not allow anything bad or evil to happen in this world. I am not saying people would not get their fair share of misfortune now and again, but they would never experience evil, pain or suffering. That being said, there would be no evil or vindictive people in this world
In transition, the last two lines of the verse “Be of sin the double cure; Save from wrath and make me pure.” (850), are very significant. They capture the fulfillment of Old Testament prophesies and refer to what is often called the double imputation. In this, our sins were laid upon the pure, unblemished Christ, which he then in turn absorbed the punishment of God’s wrath for the sake of mankind. The relationship between Toplady’s concepts and biblical verse are once again evident in this encounter. Referring back to the Bible for an explanation, the first book of Peter reads: Who his own self bare our sins in his own body on the tree, that we, having dead to sins, should live unto righteousness: by whose stripes ye were healed. (The Holy Bible, 1 Pet. 2:24) This passage correspondingly defines double imputation as being a justification by grace through faith alone. Therefore, loosely translated,
The cornerstone of any relationship with someone is the ideal of grace and mercy. When grace is absent, dealing with people becomes difficult we develop issues with trust. Grace involves hoping that God is listening and will answer all prayers in ways according to His will. Digging into the cross of hope and prayer, this paper discusses the theological definition, biblical foundation, and practical application in order to identify how the two connect. These principles have helped me learn what it means to be a Christian.
When I recognize the state of gratitude in which my heart is enveloped, I immediately embrace the Grace of God! I would never know true gratitude if it were not for God’s grace.
The word gospel occurs 101 times in 95 verses, in the King James Version of the Bible and even though the word gospel originally existed before Jesus and His followers used it; howbeit, they supposedly empowered it with unequaled authority. Perpetually, from Jesus preaching the gospel of the Kingdom of God, (Matt 4:23), to the Apostle Paul’s establishing the mystery of the gospel; which was kept secret since the world began,” (Rom 16:25), the text overflows with enigmas. This analogy emerges as being prophesied by God’s prophets in the Old Testament (Rom 1:2). Calculatingly, scripture states that “the truth of this gospel occurs hid to them that are lost,” (2 Cor 4:3). Noticeably, there are implication that among this secret mystery, exists various talks concerning “not being ashamed” of something involving this gospel, (Mark 8:38; Rom 1:16, 10:11; 2 Tim 1:8) and although there may be shame, it tells us to boldly talk regarding “this mystery” (Eph
In the New Testament only two books are accredited to the author Peter by name. Therefore, 1 Peter teaches on various doctrines also the Christian life and responsibilities. Still, the author seems to be attentive to the suffering of persecution for one’s faith, as well as being ambassadors of Christ. It seems that 2 Peter’s message to the people warned of the danger of false teachers that the Lord Himself spoke of. 2 Peter attentiveness was also on these dangers of false teaching facing the church (Jensen
The book of Hebrews is a unique portion of the Bible because it is written as though it were a letter, directed at people the writer may have known. However, the book targets a seemingly broad audience of those without faith and also those that could be described as believers that have experienced persecution. A salient message within Hebrews is that people must persevere when they feel persecuted because Jesus Christ is their salvation, regardless of anything else that is happening in the people’s lives. An emphasis on the greatness of Jesus and his role as a mediator between God and those on Earth is dominant throughout the chapters and verses.
I will look at the lives of Moses, Haggai and Ester who with God’s grace overcame huge obstacles in their families, situations, and beliefs to further God’s Kingdom in amazing ways. In Philip Yancey’s Book What’s so Amazing About Grace? Yancey says that grace, “Contains the essence of the gospel as a drop of water can contain the image of the sun.” (Yancey, 12) This and God’s promise that his grace will never leave us makes grace an incredible theme throughout the Bible. Grace is an incredible thing that is defined in a variety of ways. In the book Learning About Grace from the Woman of the Bible by Debbie Morris; Morris defines grace as the “Influence or Spirit of God operating in humans to regenerate or strengthen them.” (Morris, 6) This definition of grace is what I will be using to trace grace through the Bible. In Carol M. Bechtel’s book Life After Grace, Bechtel describes the moment after grace as “Life after grace is really life within grace” (Bechtel, X) This belief that grace never truly ends is an important factor in tracing grace through the lives of Moses, Ester and Haggai.
Suffering can be defined as an experience of discomfort suffered by a person during his life. The New York Times published an article entitled what suffering does, by David Brooks (2014). In this article, Brooks explains how suffering plays an important role in our pursuit of happiness. He explains firstly that happiness is found through experiences and then, suffering can also be a motivation in our pursuit of happiness. In other words, suffering is a fearful but necessary gift to acquire happiness. This paper is related to motivation and emotion, two keys words to the pursuit of happiness (King, 2010).
Injustice and justice balance out. One might even go so far as to say that the two are one and the same, that they are two sides of the same coin. But why are they so important? Why have wars been waged over instances of injustice? Why are the two usually thought of as being separate? Both Euripides' Electra and the King James Version of Matthew suggest that justice and injustice are important and distinct because one brings about salvation, while the other is itself a sort of salvation. Injustice leads to the instance of justice—of salvation. Consequently, injustice and justice may be thought of as two separate and distinct ideas. Salvation is a concern that is dependent upon instances of injustice and justice. In Electra and Matthew, these instances of injustice and justice are acts of murder.
The Revolution Has Begun - Stop giving your authority to Christ & the Void & the Imagination- you are it, now, the God...you are needed - stop hiding yr. Light in a bushel. - Allen Ginsberg to Neal Cassady