sherrylynn

I think submission may be so difficult for us because of pride. It always gets in the way of doing what's right. And Western society tells us to be assertive, stand up for your rights, put yourself first because no one else will. No, submission does not require us to be silent, however when we speak we need to speak the truth in love. Love and respect for our spouse (or anyone else) is the key. Submission is wrong for Christians when it would make us go against God.

Q4. (2:24b) If Jesus died to set us free from sin's power, why does sin have such power over us still? According to 2:24b, how must we deal with sin? In practical terms, how can we "die to sin"? In everyday language, what does "live for righteousness" mean? Sin has power over us because we live in a fallen world and Satan prowls around like a lion looking for someone to devour. We must die to sin. We die to sin by taking up our cross daily, denying our selves and living for righteousness by looking to Jesus at all times and in all things, by praying without ceasing, by studying scripture daily, by becoming salt and light.

Jesus bearning my sins in His body means, to me, that He chose to have a personal relationship with me. He was my substitute and took on my punishment. He did this willingly and in return His righteousness was transferred to me. He did this out of love for me. There is no greater sacrifice than this - that He gave His life for me. It humbles me and causes me to bow my head, close my eyes and offer my thanks to Him.

The sacrifice for our salvation had to be spotless. A flawed sacrifice would not do. If Jesus were not sinless our salvation would not be granted. Jesus suffered when my sins were poured into his soul because they are filthy as rags. God cannot abide sin, and Jesus, being God would have suffered greatly with just my sins alone which number in the millions but one sin - only one sin would cause Him to suffer greatly. So all those sins heaped on Him would cause great suffering. Sometimes my own sins cause me great suffering and I know I could never endure them without the love of the Father. I think Jesus endured all that sin because He knew the Father and the Father knew Him. He was being obedient to the Father. He came into this world to accomplish what He was doing.

1 Peter 2:21 tells me that Jesus suffered for me to be my example. In his great love for me He endured pain, suffering, humiliation, insults, separation from the Father and finally death - all for me. In turn, when I am faced with suffering for Him I must follow in His steps and not retaliate, not insult or threaten. I am to behave as He did.

Q4. (2:21-23) How does Christ's example speak to your situation? How is your behavior going to be different because of what you see in Jesus' character in this passage? Jesus example tells me that when I suffer I should do so without sinning. I am to emulate His behavior by remaining honest and true to God and depending on Him to see me through and knowing He will give me His peace. And when I rely on Him completely I can endure whatever lies before me. I must have faith in Him that no matter what comes He will stand by me and get me through it. I should not seek to wiggle my way out of it, or retaliate or place the blame on someone else. I must be true to Him. When I think of Jesus character I am humbled knowing I have a long way to go before my behavior will be Christlike, however I will continue to look on Him and His actions as my guide. I will learn and study His life and as I come to know Him more and more my behavior will reflect Him. I think if anything, my behavior will become more peaceful and less aggressive. I will think less of myself.

Q3. (2:18-20) How does being an employee "conscious of God" affect the way we act and react to injustice in the workplace? Can a conscientious Christian be a complainer? Why or why not? How do you usually react to prolonged, unfair treatment at your work? I think being an employee conscious of God allows us to see injustice and pray over it. We are to be aware of it but not participate in it as Matthew 10:16 tells us to be shrewd as snakes and innocent as doves. I don't think a Christian should be a complainer, however I do think a Chirstian can complain, at times, if after prayer the person feels moved by the Spirit to make a complaint. If an injustice is taking place and a complaint to the party being unjust or to a superior will result in that action being brought to light or discontinued, then I think the complaint is warranted. I have not seen prolonged, unfair treatment where I work for which I am greatly thankful.

Q2. (2:18) If we are to submit to our employers and respect them, what is that saying about God's expectation that we do a good job? In what sense do we dishonor God when we don't give our full effort to our jobs? God expect us to work as if we're working for Him. "Whatever you do, work at it with all your heart, as if working for the Lord, not for men," Colossians 2:23 NIV We submit to our employers and respect them as God commands yet we work as if for the Lord and that has to be our full effort. If we don't give our full effort we are being disobedient to God and not showing our love for Him.

Q1. (2:15-16) In what way is God's glory dependent upon us living submissive, obedient lives? How is God hurt when we get rebellious? God's glory is dependent on how we live our lives insomuch as we, as His children show our love to Him by being obedient to Him. He is glorified when we give no one reason to talk foolishly about us. Since he set up the authorities to which we obey, we honor Him by showing respect for that which He set up. Our rebellion hurts God because it shows our lack of love for Him. Our love for Him is shown by our obedience to Him. Did He not say, "If you love me, you will obey what I command." John 14:15 NIV

Q5. (2:12) How can the good deeds we commit by living openly as Christians increase God's praise. How does our "blending in" detract from God's praise? Our good deeds will increase God's praise because those seeing our good deeds will be brought to Christ through them. When people question why the answer will ultimately be God. And others will want that. "Blending in" means we aren't separate. No one will notice we are the chosen people of God and thus will not seek to have what we have and the Gospel will not be spread. We must be separate - holy, because He is holy. If we are His chosen people, His royal priesthood we must stand out as that and not blend in, not conform.

Peter tells us we are aliens and strangers - this is NOT our home. For me this reminds me that I don't have to drive an expensive luxury car or the hottest SUV. I don't have wear the top brand-named clothes or see the most popular movie of the year if its content is offensive. I don't have to compete in the market place when that would require me to lie or cheat or steal. It tells me that I don't have to answer to the pull of this world. I so often need these reminders to bring my mind and my focus back to what is truly important and that is living a life worthy of my true home.

When I think of being part of God's chosen people I am humbled. My actions and attitude should be one of thanks to Him and love for Him. I should become more and more like Christ, His son with acts of kindness, generosity, goodness. I will increasingly deny and lose self and give my all to service of my God and King.

It's difficult to add anything to all these great answers. But here goes:I think praise must be offered from the heart. If all the acts of obedience, thanks, worship etc don't come from a heart full of love for God then the acts themselves are meaningless to God. For example the widow who gave all she had in Mark 12:41-44. Her offering was from her heart out love for her God. And Jesus knew that as He watched her. It touches my heart every time I read those verses.

The mindset of a priest is one of service which would be shown by acts of worship, praise and obedience. This inspires me to thank and praise God at all times and in all situations, to be generous toward others, to be charitable with my time and goods. It inspires me to serve God by serving others.

Have you ever felt you were of no worth or of no value? What does 1 Peter 1:18-19 say about your worth? What does it say about God's love for you? What does it indicate about the long-term value of your balance sheet and financial assets? What are your true long-term investments? Why? I can't say that I have ever felt I have no worth or value, however I'm not so sure these feelings spring from a godly point of view. 1 Peter 1:18-19 tells me that I am worth more than what our society holds dearest. It tells me that God loves me dearly, that the ransom paid for me was the spotless Son of God, who had no sin in Him. And this has nothing to do with financial worth. This ransom was paid so I could be saved. That makes me very valuable to God. If I am worth more than what society holds dearest then the only long term investment which has any meaning is salvation for which Jesus was offered as the ransom.

I think people get upset when they feel they are being judged because they want approval and acceptance in what they do and they don't want their motives questioned. Final judgment and God's love can be reconciled by Jesus death on the cross: For God so loved the world that He gave His only begotten son. . . and His death would be meaningless if there were no final judgment. The Gospel becomes incomplete if we leave final judgment out. People would continue to live in their sin because they would have no fear of the judgment that must take place.

Being holy is being separate or set apart from the world. I am holy in the sense that being a child of God makes me separate from the world. We must be obedient in order to become holy in the sense that if we are not obedient then we are one with the world and not separate from it. My biggest struggle with holiness comes in my job. God has given me abilities to be good at what I do and has blessed me with other Christians to work with, however I am continually attacked by the challenges of worldly accomplishments, greed, power over coworkers, etc. I must always remember to thank God and glorify HIM by separating myself from these challenges and do all that I do as if for the Lord. When I'm tempted to work for myself, or even for the company then I cease to be separate from the world. I struggle with that line of when it's for me or the company and when it's for God.

What gets my attention about Christ's coming is that I will finally meet Him face to face. And just looking forward to that makes me want to live totally for Him. It inspires hope because not only will we meet Him, we will live in eternity with Him. There will be no pain, sufferining or tears there. It inspires self-control and soberness because we will be judged and I long to hear the words, "well done, good and faithful servant"although I fall short every day of living an obedient life. Showing self-control, being obedient to Him will glorify Him. When we don't really expect Christ to come I think we become sloppy and lazy in our spiritual life. I know for myself, living with an eternal perspective is one of the most difficult things for me to accomplish. I always have to bring my focus back around to what is truly important and looking forward to meeting Jeus helps with that.

The basis of this joy is in faith and belief in our salvation. I experienced this joy at the moment my dad died. My emotions should have made me sad, however I was filled with inexpressable joy which came only from our Lord and knowing salvation is real and true. It was a spiritual experience which far outweighs an emotional experience. Happiness is temporary and relies on wordly things. Pursuing happiness can make us sad, depressed, angry etc if we don't attain what we think will make us happy. The pursuit itself can destroy us. How do we know if it's genuine joy? I think we will know that if we can't explain it. Emotions can be explained and understood, but genuine joy is from God and no human words can describe it.

God has repeatedly used difficult circumstances to refine and purify my faith. One in particular stands out which truly caused me to FINALLY give my all to Jesus. My husband and I decided to close our business. We just couldn't make it and needed to move on. This hit my husband extremely hard and he turned to alcohol as a way to ease the disappointment of what he perceived to be failure and in not knowing where to turn next. I turned to scripture and prayer and as my worry and anger over my husband's behavior was turned to comfort and peace, my husband also turned to Jesus. It was a rocky couple of years and when I felt divorce was headed our way, God told me all I had to do was LOVE my husband and sure enough God's love carried us through. We both now love the Lord and study His word together. My husband went through some really tough soul searching, detox, fear and all of what goes with that but as a result he has turned his life over to Jesus and that brings glory to Jesus. My husband and I both had our own tests, but in very different ways and the Lord brought us both to a stronger faith and increased our love and taught us what marriage should be in His eyes. Genuine testing brings glory to Jesus by revealing who He is and what He can do in the lives of those who love Him.

According to 1:5, God's part is to shield us by his power. Our salvation is secured by God. No matter what happens to us on this earth, our salvation is secure. If we live for eternity . . . and that's our part - to live by faith then God, by his great power, will shield, protect our eternal life with Him. It's our eternal life with Him that He is protecting for us. We can feel confident that through our faith He has secured a place for us with Him in eternity.

Obedience is the natural behavior of one who is forgiven. After confessing our sins and repenting of them, we become obedient to Christ. We cannot have one without the other. If we choose not to become obedient we have not really accepted the forgiveness offered to us. We are saved by grace as Jesus is the only one to have lived a perfectly obedient life to His Father. And by faith in Jesus we will live in obedience and that obedience will reveal itself by works. The Spirit will move within us and our works will be a natural reflection of the Spirit. By natural I mean the new man we have become - the nature of God within us.

I would describe the behavior of a Christian who identifies with this world more than with his heavenly home as someone who is imature in faith. A sprititual baby. I think it is a process we all must go through. It builds character if we let it. I see it in myself when I choose to be selfish by putting my needs first, by thinking more about my job than my family, by buying myself that special thing rather than donating, by making myself comfortable rather than helping someone with a need. In order to get my spiritual priorities straight I need to pray and study scripture. Or to have a discussion with someone more mature than myself. Through meditation and prayer, God can reveal my motives to me and often it seems so simple when He points out why I have behaved less than godly. He will forgive and I am able to grow from the experience into the mature Christian He desires me to become. But I feel it is a process. Look how long God worked with Noah, Moses, and others until He used them for His purposes. I feel He does the same with some of us. It is a continually growing process. I am very much looking forward to this study and growing with each post from everyone. May God continue to bless this work.