Live as Freemen
The apostle Peter writes,
"Live as free men, but do not use your freedom as a cover-up for evil; live as servants of God.
Show proper respect to everyone: Love the brotherhood of believers, fear God, honor the king.1 Peter 2:13-17
When it comes to telling believers in Christ Jesus how they should act the apostle Peter here makes is simple.
1/ Live as free men
2/ Do not use your freedom to cover up evil
3/ Show proper respect to everyone
4/ Love the brotherhood of believers,
5/ Fear God
6/ Honour the king
Believers in Christ are called to be model citizens. It is that simple. In doing so we can better show the love of God to those around us.
We are to live as free men. Which means we can do as we wish. However that being said Peter warns us “do not use your freedom to cover up evil”.
Believers in Christ should not have anything to do with evil in any form.
We must show respect for everyone. That means we must respect those with whom we disagree be it their way of life, their lifestyle, their politics, or their religious beliefs.
Showing you respect someone can open dialogue and the opportunity to express your beliefs to them.
We are to love the brotherhood of believers. While we may have minor differences in with other believers in Christ we must still love them.
We must fear God. That doesn’t necessarily mean be afraid of God but rather have a healthy respect for Him as the almighty creator of the heavens and the earth. Who ultimately will determine our fate.
We must honour the king which means we must honour those who rule. We may not agree with all they do but we must honour the position they are in.
That being said many Christian teachers would put a caveat on this. When the government starts acting immorally by preventing people from worshipping. When the government starts putting people in prison without a fair trial or murdering them simply because they disagree with them, Christians are called to stand up.
The prime example of this is Nazi Germany when Hitler and his henchmen put their political opponents along with Jews and others in concentration camps.
They were doing evil plain and simple. Believers in Christ cannot have anything to do with evil.
Still if our political leadership is acting in a responsible manner and not deliberately hurting anyone, even if we disagree with some of the laws they may pass we must honour them.
So what I would ask is take a second look at the list above,
1/ Live as free men
2/ Do not use your freedom to cover up evil
3/ Show proper respect to everyone
4/ Love the brotherhood of believers,
5/ Fear God
6/ Honour the king
Ask yourself are you doing these things?
Please think about it.
The apostle Peter writes,
"Live as free men, but do not use your freedom as a cover-up for evil; live as servants of God.
Show proper respect to everyone: Love the brotherhood of believers, fear God, honor the king.1 Peter 2:13-17
When it comes to telling believers in Christ Jesus how they should act the apostle Peter here makes is simple.
1/ Live as free men
2/ Do not use your freedom to cover up evil
3/ Show proper respect to everyone
4/ Love the brotherhood of believers,
5/ Fear God
6/ Honour the king
Believers in Christ are called to be model citizens. It is that simple. In doing so we can better show the love of God to those around us.
We are to live as free men. Which means we can do as we wish. However that being said Peter warns us “do not use your freedom to cover up evil”.
Believers in Christ should not have anything to do with evil in any form.
We must show respect for everyone. That means we must respect those with whom we disagree be it their way of life, their lifestyle, their politics, or their religious beliefs.
Showing you respect someone can open dialogue and the opportunity to express your beliefs to them.
We are to love the brotherhood of believers. While we may have minor differences in with other believers in Christ we must still love them.
We must fear God. That doesn’t necessarily mean be afraid of God but rather have a healthy respect for Him as the almighty creator of the heavens and the earth. Who ultimately will determine our fate.
We must honour the king which means we must honour those who rule. We may not agree with all they do but we must honour the position they are in.
That being said many Christian teachers would put a caveat on this. When the government starts acting immorally by preventing people from worshipping. When the government starts putting people in prison without a fair trial or murdering them simply because they disagree with them, Christians are called to stand up.
The prime example of this is Nazi Germany when Hitler and his henchmen put their political opponents along with Jews and others in concentration camps.
They were doing evil plain and simple. Believers in Christ cannot have anything to do with evil.
Still if our political leadership is acting in a responsible manner and not deliberately hurting anyone, even if we disagree with some of the laws they may pass we must honour them.
So what I would ask is take a second look at the list above,
1/ Live as free men
2/ Do not use your freedom to cover up evil
3/ Show proper respect to everyone
4/ Love the brotherhood of believers,
5/ Fear God
6/ Honour the king
Ask yourself are you doing these things?
Please think about it.
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