The First Letter of Peter- 9

Subtitle: Our Witness before the World- Part 1

1 Peter 2:11-15.  This sermon was preached by Pastor Marty Bonner on Sunday, January 18, 2026.

In some ways, we can continue to see this passage as Peter talking about all the ways that this new spiritual people are to live out their faith.  However, Peter begins to emphasize the way that our life of faith affects the unbelieving world around us.  This is why I have subtitled this part of the series, “Our Witness before the World.”  This major section of Peter’s letter goes from 1 Peter 2:11-4:11.

Let’s look at our passage.

Abstain from fleshly lusts (v. 11-12)

This small section connects back to an earlier command but also serves to transition into this issue of the world around us.  In chapter 1 verse 14, Peter had challenged them not to be conformed to the former lusts that they had in their ignorance, i.e., before they believed in Jesus.  They had been living for themselves like everyone else in their society.  Now, they are following Jesus and learning to be holy as he is holy.

God’s plan to fix humanity’s sin problem is for us to put our faith in Jesus, live a mortal life fighting sin by faith, and then He will finish the work by Resurrecting us with glorified, heavenly bodies.  Of course, the world is feverishly trying to come up with a different plan.  Ultimately, it is taking us down a path of trying to overcome every obstacle of creation in order to perfect ourselves.  At the root of the human problem is the idea that God cannot be trusted.  His creation cannot be trusted.  We must do it for ourselves!  Instead of accepting the grace of God’s help, we choose to try and make “god” ourselves.  This will not end well.  Imagine the hubris of thinking that fallen mortals can make a perfect immortal.

Chapter 1 ended with the metaphor of an imperishable seed.  Humans are like grass, here today and gone tomorrow.  However, the Word of the Lord endures forever.  We have entered into this mortal grass-existence.  However, by faith in Jesus, we can participate in the immortal and imperishable existence of Jesus, the Word of God.

This led to the beginning of chapter two where Peter tells us to lay aside things like malice, deceit, hypocrisy, envy, and slander.  These are specific lusts.

This brings us back to verse 11.  Lusts are strong, heated desires that have their source in our body.  We cannot let these strong desires rule over us.  Thus, Peter tells us to abstain from them.  In English, the idea of abstaining is often seen in voting.  A person can vote “yea,” or “nay,” or they can refuse to vote, abstain from voting.  This can be out of protest, or it can be out of protecting future opportunities. 

Regardless, the Greek word that it is used to translate literally means to have these lust away from yourself.  It ties in with the idea of taking off the deeds of the flesh and putting on the character of Christ.  In fact, Paul gives quite the list in Galatians 5:19-21.  He tells us that they are obvious.

Notice that Peter urges them to do this.  The New King James Version says “I beg you…”  Peter feels strongly about this.  The word pictures one who calls you to their side in order to exhort you strongly about something.

He also tells them to abstain from fleshly lusts like foreigners and exiles.  This image was used earlier as well.  He is not just using this image of the Jews among them.  He is also speaking to the Gentiles.  You may be in your homeland but to put your faith in Jesus is to choose to be a part of the exiles of Christ.  We become strangers in a land that is familiar to us.

This is one of the classic tests of character.  A person who is in a place where no one knows them can be tempted to do as the Romans (when in Rome…).  This is a common way for a spouse to take their first step of unfaithfulness.

We recognize that all of humanity is in exile from God.  But in Jesus, we become exiles with a promise of a promised land.  God is in the business of bringing people out of exile into His Promised Land.

We can be blind to all the ways that our culture is pulling us away from Christ, so Peter has focused on fleshly lusts.

Peter also describes these fleshly lusts as waging war against our soul.  This is a war of possession.  Your flesh wants control of you.  It will be all about the pursuit of satisfying its urges.  However, Jesus has called us to take a stand against it. He stated in Luke 21:19, “By your perseverance, take possession of your souls.”  If you let your flesh and its strong desires win, then you will find yourself in bondage to it.  The longer this goes on the harder it will be to break this bondage.  Yet, all things are possible with God!

The lusts of our flesh can wear us down.  We can grow weary of denying them and casting them aside.  On top of this, the world around us cajoles us, even badgers us, towards living a life of satisfying our lusts.

This internal battle will have an outward effect, which he turns to next.

“Keep your behavior excellent among the nations.”  The inner battle leads to external behavior, or conduct.  This is seen and even experienced by the world, the nations, in which we live.  This is really the same command with parallel language.

What is excellent behavior?  Peter clearly means excellent by God’s definition and not by the definition of the world around you.  This word excellent has the idea of good as well as a moral good.  It is connected to beauty.  Can we live in a way that is beautiful and morally good to God?  Jesus is the pattern and the help for us to do so.

They are to do this in the face of slander.  Early Christians were slandered a lot, whether ignorantly or maliciously.  Some of the slanders were as follows:

1. Communion was often described as a ritual of eating the flesh and drinking the flesh of babies.
2. Their times of communion involved a meal called the love feast.  It was common to claim that these were nothing more than orgies (gluttony on food and sexual immorality). 
3. Christians were accused of being antisocial because they didn’t participate in the entertainments of the culture.
4. They were also accused of being atheists because they didn’t worship all of the gods.

Such slanders are done because they tend to be effective upon weak people.  It can affect some by causing them to be angry and respond in an unchristian way.  It affects others by stirring fear in their heart.  The fleshly lust of being accepted, approved by others, can lead us away from Christ and into the world.

Christians should not be quick to believe statements about others that we have not personally observed.  Of course, we shouldn’t overly defend people that we do not know either.  Have you noticed that we are a society that is pushed to and fro by slanders and libels galore?  This is a part of the sinful culture in which we live.  Can I continue to abstain from fleshly lusts when others around me deploy them against me?

No matter how the world describes our actions, we are to live out the excellent behavior that Christ leads us to do.  Like the good Samaritan, we do the right thing whether others do or not. 

Again, they may malign us, but here is the main thing.  Peter says that they will observe our good deeds.  Have you ever thought that God gives us sacrificial things to do in order to get the attention of the world and to be a witness to it?  They need to see us doing Christ-like things!  They may be perplexed at why you don’t do what they do, and they may even be angry that you are not like them.  Yet, they will see us doing the righteousness of Christ nonetheless.

Peter then says that they will glorify God in the day of visitation.  This visible evidence of the work of God’s Spirit within us will have an effect one way or another.

The day of visitation mentioned here simply means a day when God shows up, whether for good or bad.  This can be contemplated in the ultimate sense when all the wicked are brought before Jesus for judgment.  How will they glorify God then?  They will recognize in the moment that they were wrong and that we were right.  As they declare that Jesus is Lord, they are also declaring that His work in us was true.

It is also possible to see the day of visitation in regard to the times that the Spirit of God touches a person’s heart and mind.  This visitation of grace begs the question.  What will you do with this Jesus?  When we demonstrate the goodness of Christ to a sinful world, some of them may glorify God by putting their faith in Jesus at a later date.  This is the best revenge upon enemies.  Show them Jesus and give them the opportunity to become a part of the new spiritual people of God, a brother!

Submit to every human institution (v. 13-15)

Peter now focuses particularly upon human authority structures in our lives.  These people were not under the authority of these United States of America.  They were under the Roman Empire and the Roman Emperor, Caesar.  This was a dictatorship with local governors and magistrates serving the purposes of Caesar.

We have talked about this word “submit” in the past.  It refers to taking your proper place under a particular authority.  It does not mean to obey every command.  This is exampled by Peter and the apostles in Acts 5.  They were told by the authorities to stop teaching about Jesus.  Peter stated, “We must obey God rather than men.”  How did they take their proper place under authority?  They did not obey the command that was contrary to God, but they did submit to the arrests and beatings.  They did not use the arrogance of these human authorities as a justification for fighting back with weapons.  In fact, we saw this during the arrest of Jesus.  Jesus had done exactly what God had commanded him to do.  However, he submitted to their arrest.

We are not going to fix the authorities of this world through revolution, swords, and guns.  Christians are not called to be purposefully rebelling against authorities.  However, we are not called to blind obedience to them either.  We are called to be like Christ, to share his Gospel.  We image the good Character of Christ.  What they do with us between them and Christ.

The Roman Empire no longer exists today.  That is the judgment of Jesus Christ!  And, if we are not careful, the judgment of Jesus Christ may cause the United States of America to no longer exist. 

The only thing that can fix the authorities is for enough of this Republic to repent, trust the Word of God in Jesus, and to live out that faith boldly.  In truth, to submit to the human authorities is to submit to the authority of Jesus.

In all of this, we must be led by the Holy Spirit.  Men like Jeremiah were accused of not submitting to the government because they didn’t like what he was saying.  Jeremiah did what he did for the Lord.  This is what Peter means when he says for us to submit “for the Lord’s sake.”  We can be led by God to be a rebuke to authorities all the while staying in proper submission to the authority they have.

We may not feel like doing this, but we do it for Jesus.  Jesus is King over Ceasar, over the POTUS, over any leader of a nation today.  We may ask why God let’s some of them do wicked things.  It is because He gives people time to see the error of their ways, to see His people living righteously in spite of their evil.  Yet, in the end, Jesus does judge these nations.  Do you not realize that most nations today are less than 200 years old?  As these United States of America approach 250 years since our formation, we should do so with great humility and repentance.

Regardless of the level of the authority, we respect the command of Christ.  These authorities are responsible for punishing evildoers and praising those who do right.  They may do a horrible job at this.  They may even have totally corrupted the processes that were set up to ensure this.  Yet, God will have the final word.

We are not under the Roman Empire.  The average American does not understand how authority works in this Republic.  We tend to believe that the citizens have the least authority, then the cities and counties, then the States, and finally, the Federal government is the top authority.  Those who crafted the wording of the Constitution would be perplexed at how ignorant we are in these matters.

If you think of authority as a sphere of operation, then we can recognize that a man and woman would have authority over their home and what happens in it.  This is a sphere in which the State and the federal government had no authority.  These other groups may have more power than you and can abuse that power, but in the end, they have no authority over your home.

They did not see the federal government as above or below the State governments.  Some of the powers invested in the States were delegated to the federal government.  It was a delegated authority.  The federal government is the highest authority only in those enumerated spheres that we stipulate in the Constitution.  Anything outside of that is an abuse of power without proper authority.

In those spheres that were not given to the federal government, the States would be the highest authority, but only if the people of those States had given them that sphere of authority in their State constitutions.

All authority is given by We the People through constitutions to our State and federal servants.  If a particular authority is not stipulated in a constitution, then it is retained by the people.

This brings up the question of sovereignty.  Jesus is the capital S Sovereign of these United States.  However, We the People are the little s sovereign of this land.  We need to always be asking who have We the People made to be the proper authority in this area?  We need to also ask, “What is God’s purpose?”

If we are willing to do anything in order to “fix” the government, then we will find it is easier said than done.  This is a spiritual problem not a political problem.  Many evildoers have pushed themselves into our authority structures.  In those structures, they have arrogated powers to themselves that were never properly given them.  Until We the People repent and call our elected servants to heel, corruption and wickedness will rule over the land.  This will only bring the judgment of Christ against this great Republic.

In the end, Peter states that God wants us to submit to the authorities in order to silence the ignorance of foolish men.  Many of these foolish men are not Christians, but some of them are.  Those who do not accept the truth of the authority of Jesus have a vested interest in maligning His Church.  On top of this, certain parts of the Church have not followed this admonition perfectly in the past.

God is teaching this world about righteousness and freedom.  We can work in harmony with that teaching, or we can be at odds with what God is doing through Jesus.

This is where controlling the fleshly lusts can help us.  Much of politics is about manipulating the fleshly lusts of the populace in order to gain power against an opponent.  We can be manipulated to work against our own best interests!  No politician and no political party can fix this land.  Only a repentant people surrendered to the authority of Jesus can be truly set free from the bondage into which they have fallen.  That will transform our society!

Our Witness 1 audio

Our Needs as Followers of Christ

Colossians 1:1-14.  This sermon was preached by Pastor Marty Bonner on April 29, 2018.

The book of the Bible that we call Colossians was a letter written by the Apostle Paul to believers in the city of Colosse (sometimes spelled Colossae).  Like all new believers, the Colossians were in danger of listening to false teachers who would take advantage of their new faith in order to manipulate it towards a mixture of Christian beliefs with those of the Greeks or Jews.  The word that we use for such a mixture is “syncretism.”

In many ways this word describes much of the world today, who treat religion like a buffet table.  When we “cherry-pick” from different religions all the things that make sense to us, several things happen.  First, we have set ourselves up as the judge of what is truth, and yet by searching we confess that we do not know what is true.  So how could we be the best judge?  What guarantee is there that I will somehow choose wisely?  There is none.  Second, we end up with a number of ideas and lifestyle choices that are not coherent, or do not logically tie together (in fact they are often downright contradictions).  We end up with a philosophy of life that is inconsistent and even hypocritical.

Take for instance the reality that modern philosophy promotes a humanistic materialism.  The evolutionary theory that comes from such a view has no true basis for ethic or morality.  There is no such thing as absolute truth.  Who am I to tell a serial killer that what they do is wrong?  We are all just accidents that do not have true thoughts, but only a neuro-electrical version of the old Plinko game.  Yet, we cannot escape the fact that people find it impossible to live out such philosophies with consistency.  The first time someone steals something of yours, a deep inner compulsion pushes you to declare it as wrong.  To remain true to our philosophy we would have to recognize it is just a trick of our bodies and that it has no true validity.  Thus modern man finds himself clinging to a humanistic, evolutionary view of the world, while inconsistently absconding with views from Christianity or any other religion, hoping that know one notices (usually not even noticing ourselves).  Some sense of morality is helpful to a society regardless of whether or not we can make a logical case for the necessity of it without God.

As we look into this letter, we will find that God has spoken into the world and Jesus is that Word that He has spoken to us.  Man's attempts to find meaning outside God are barren.

Paul writes to the believers in Colosse.

Before we get into chapter 1 verse 1, it would be helpful to know exactly where Colosse was.  This city was in what we call Turkey today.  Here is a link to a map that will give you an idea (Thank you BibleAtlas.org).  It was very close to another city mentioned in the book of Revelation, Laodicea.

From what little information that we have in the Bible, it appears that this was not a city that Paul had evangelized.  A convert named Epaphras, who was from Colosse, seems to have brought the gospel to them and a church developed.

We also know that Paul wrote the letter from one of his imprisonments.  He later tells them to remember his chains (4:18).  It is believed the letter was written around AD 63 +/- several years.  While in prison, word had come to Paul about this community in Colosse and some of the doctrinal issues that had cropped up among them.  Thus Paul writes a letter concerning those issues, so that the believers of Colosse could have confidence in what they should believe and how they should live.

We also see that Paul instructs the Colossians to share this letter with the believers of Laodicea, and to read the letter that was written to the believers of Laodicea (4:16).  This helps us to see how the word of God was spread throughout these early churches.  It wasn’t until later that large groups of the Gospels and letters were put together and circulated more widely.

Paul gives thanks for these new believers.

In verses 3-8 Paul mentions several things for which he is thankful.  First, he is thankful for their faith in Jesus.  The reports of how they had embraced the truth about Christ, and the larger body of believers that they were joining, had come to Paul.  Their faith had expressed itself in a love for the saints.  Now remember that “saints” here does not mean an elite group of believers.  It is a term used of all believers that emphasized that each one had been set apart by God for His own purposes, a holy purpose. 

He also reminds them that this faith in Jesus gives them a hope that was laid up in heaven.  Peter uses the phrase, “reserved in heaven for you (1 Peter 1:4).”  Our inheritance is for us to be transformed into glorified bodies and to inherit the world with Jesus at His Second Coming.  We can see a familiar theme of Paul’s here with the three great virtues of Faith, Hope, and Love.

He is also thankful that the word of truth was bringing forth fruit.  It is not enough to hear the word of the Lord, it must bear fruit to be of any value to us and to the world.  Part of that transforming fruit is their “Love in the Spirit” mentioned at the end of verse 8.

Love is an important principle among any people who are going to accomplish something together.  However, without the Holy Spirit, human love continually falls short.  It is here today and gone tomorrow.  For the believer, it is the presence of the Spirit of God that stirs us up to love one another.  When we refuse to listen to the Spirit, then dissension and divisions break out.  Such Spirit-led love has a strength that overcomes all adversity and human frailty that we may find within each other.  our love for one another is not based upon each other, but upon the Spirit of God that is teaching us how to love one another.  Thus the fruit of the Spirit are listed in Galatians 5:22-23.  This affects our relationship with other believers and with the world.  Paul is welcoming these new believers and rejoicing for their presence within the greater body of Christ.

As we look over this list, we may notice that Paul placed an emphasis on things that are not possessions and wealth.  It is good for believers to be thankful for the material blessings that they have in Christ.  But may we also learn to be even more thankful for the things that Paul listed.  Are you thankful for the people that God used to bring the gospel into your life?  Are you thankful for other believers?  Are you thankful for the grace to believe in Christ and become part of his family?  Are you thankful for the growth of the fruit of the Spirit in your life?  These are the things that we need most and for which we ought to give thanks to God most.

Paul prays for these new believers.

In verses 9-14, Paul lets them know the things he was praying for them.  It is good for us to hear this list because our prayers can become only a list of the material things that we are seeking from God.  Here Paul lists things that are far more important than new cars, houses, business deals, money, etc.

Paul prays that they would be filled with the knowledge of God’s will.  Of course the will of God is to embrace Jesus as our Lord, but it is clear that Paul is thinking more than just our initial acceptance of Jesus.  The phrases, “all wisdom” and “spiritual understanding” speak to living out our lives as believers in Jesus.  We run into all kinds of situations and temptations, in which we need the wisdom and understanding of the Spirit of God in order to do what God wants us to do.  In a nutshell the letters that Paul and the other apostles wrote were doing just that.  Paul was helping them to understand what God’s will was in every situation. Yes, God wants us to embrace Jesus and to be a person in which His Spirit can dwell.  But, then, through a dynamic relationship, He wants to transform our minds and our lives into the image of Jesus Christ.

Paul also prays that they would walk worthy of the Lord.  Paul is using the phrase to emphasize that we are capable of not listening to the Spirit from time to time.  The believer should never be comfortable with this.  The works of the flesh are obvious and believers need to recognize that the Lord Jesus is so glorious that we do not want to tarnish Him before the world.  Many might fear that this will tend towards legalism.  But, Paul’s point is not to create a legalism, but rather, to inspire us to proper actions.  Like a coach reminding students that they represent their school, Paul reminds us that we represent Jesus and our actions reflect upon Him.  

So is it possible to be fully pleasing to the Lord?  We are fully pleasing to the Lord when we listen to the Holy Spirit in regards to how we should live.  Of course this also involves those times when we fail.  Too often people forget that the Holy Spirit also leads us to repentance and forgiveness for those times when we fail.  It is not a phrase that seeks to disqualify and kick us out.  Rather, it is intended to motivate us.

Paul also prays that they would be fruitful in every good work.  This is another way of looking at the concept of walking worthy of the Lord.  A person who follows the Spirit of God will be fruitful in their life.  They will also be beneficial to others much like a fruit tree is beneficial to those who come upon it.  We will be a tree of life and a fresh water spring to the people around us because the Life of the Spirit will flow into us and through us.

Paul also prays that they will be strengthened with all might.  All of this talk about being like Christ and following the Holy Spirit requires much inner strength.  Intestinal fortitude, or “guts” for short, cannot come from our flesh.  It must have a spiritual source.  The closer we get to following Jesus the more our flesh gets queasy and weak.  We need the strength of Christ's glorious power working in us in order to put the desires of the flesh to death.  This daily dying to self and living in Christ is empowered by the Holy Spirit, if we yield to Him.  In 2 Corinthians 12:9 Paul was reminded by the Lord that “My strength is made perfect in weakness.”  In that passage the weakness is that which we have in our flesh.  When our flesh is weak, the powerful strength of the Lord will shine through and do its perfect work.  People will recognize that the power is of God and not of me.

Lastly, Paul prays that they will be thankful to God with Him.  We should be thankful that God has qualified us to be partakers in the inheritance of the saints.  This is what Daniel saw in chapter 7 verses 21-22.  “I was watching and the same horn was making war against the saints and prevailing against them, until the Ancient of Days came and a judgment was made in favor of the saints of the Most High, and the time came for the saints to possess the kingdom.”

We are also to be thankful that God has delivered us from the power of darkness (spiritual darkness and spiritual powers) and conveyed us into the kingdom of the Son of His love.  Wow! Talk about a new immigration status.  Without Christ we are stuck under the powers of darkness that rule over this world.  Their kingdom will never bring peace and joy to the earth.  Yet, mankind continues to operate in league with them.  Through Christ we are able to break out of that spiritual matrix that enslaves the whole world.  We are then enabled to participate in the kingdom of Jesus.  That kingdom exists in part already.  But the fullness of it will be known when He returns to earth to set up an earthly kingdom.

We should also give thanks to the Father that we have been redeemed and have had our sins forgiven.  Jesus paid the price with his blood that purchased us back from the auction block and slavery of sin.  His death made it possible that our sins might be removed from us as far as the east is from the west.

Now as I close, be honest.  Are these the things in which you are most thankful and most likely to be praying for?  May the word of God instruct us in the things that truly make for our joy and that we truly need.  Of course we are instructed to pray for our daily bread.  But let’s pray for the things that Paul is praying, both for yourself and for fellow believers.  We all need these things even more than we need the material.

Our Needs audio