Live As Aliens and Strangers in the World-1 Peter 2:11-12
1 Peter 2:11-12
Key Verse: 11
“Beloved, I urge you as aliens and strangers to abstain from fleshly lusts which wage war against the soul.”
Look at verse 11 again. “Beloved, I urge you as aliens and strangers to abstain from fleshly lusts which wage war against the soul.” In this verse, Peter starts by addressing fellow believers as “Beloved.” Peter wanted to remind them that they were loved by God and as their shepherd he also loved them. It was God’s love for them that would strengthen and spur them on to obedience. Because they have been loved so much Peter gives them an exhortation. We understand his heart when we also warn someone whom we know and love of some danger ahead. For example, if we know that there is a broken bridge ahead of us on the highway and we see someone driving towards that direction. We just don’t let them drive by and say nothing. Instead, we flag them down and warn them of the danger ahead. Because we care for them and don’t want them to get hurt or die. We understand also that aliens and strangers are constantly moving around because they do not have a permanent place in the world. These days on the news, we see immigrants or aliens and strangers, being driven from one state to another because they have no permanent home.
Before the war in Ukraine started, it was Maria’s dream to visit Budapest, Hungary since she was never there. Then by an unplanned visit because of the war we stayed there almost two months as refugees. Even though we stayed in a fancy hotel, paid by my school, and attended a UBF church we missed our home and church in Kyiv. Though Budapest was a beautiful city and nice place to visit, it was not our real home. We voluntarily left Budapest, in order to go back to Kyiv, the capital of Ukraine, even though teachers were told to stay away. Dr. Ben and Christy Toh visited us in Kyiv, Ukraine before. [Pic 3] But I don’t think that they want to stay there permanently, because they have a home here in Chicago. Many Ukrainians, including our church members, were scattered around the world as refugees, also known as aliens and strangers: Poland, Bulgaria, Bratislava, England, Montenegro, Spain, Italy, America, etc. But many Ukrainians want to come back to their own homeland and own homes. This human desire to go home is normal. For Christians, it should be our normal spiritual desire to go to our final home. Ultimately, we should long for our true and everlasting home in the kingdom of God. That is where our true citizenship is in heaven. Philippians 3:20, “Our citizenship is in heaven, from which also we eagerly await for a Savior, the Lord Jesus Christ.” To be citizens in heaven we do not need a passport, but we need only to repent of our sins and accept Jesus as our Lord and Savior. On this earth, we are aliens and strangers here. Though we each have a national passport respectively, believers are living as temporary residents in the world because our true home is the kingdom of God. That is why we must also have a different spiritual attitude while living in this sinful world.
Look at verse 11b. “…to abstain from fleshly lusts which wage war against the soul.” Peter warned believers not to relax and enjoy a spiritual vacation because there was a war against their souls. We must be spiritually alert because we are in a spiritual war. Actually, during the week of February 24, Maria and I were in west Ukraine because I had a one-week vacation from work. We were just relaxing and enjoying our vacation, not worrying about anything. Then on the 24th, 6 am, our sister Anya called us and told us the war has started and to get out of Ukraine. We suddenly could not enjoy our vacation anymore. We had to be on war alert. We had to find a place to go for safety. We had to find a new place to stay. Those in the capital of Ukraine, Kyiv, had to prepare to go to bomb shelters or sleep in underground subways. Even one mother had to deliver her baby in the underground subway. They had to listen carefully for sirens and be prepared to move out. President Zelensky had to the get the nation ready for war. Generals and military leaders had to get their soldiers ready and put them in strategic locations. This is what being in a war means. It is the same when we are fighting a spiritual war. It is not a time of spiritual vacation but a time of spiritual alertness.
We must always be aware that we are in a spiritual war with our enemy the devil. Peter wrote in 1 Peter 5:8. “Be self-controlled and alert. Your enemy the devil prowls around like a roaring lion looking for someone to devour.” We cannot take a spiritual vacation otherwise the devil will win. He is our spiritual enemy now and to the end of our lives in this fallen world. There is the story of king David, when his men went out to war, but he did not go to lead the army. Instead, he stayed home and enjoyed a lot of free time. Actually, it would have been better for him spiritually to lead his men in battle, because while in a vacation mentality he saw outside his balcony a beautiful woman Bathsheba bathing. Even though he knew that she was the wife of one of his most trusted army general he still committed adultery with her. Later, he had his own faithful general killed during a war. What a terrible sin he committed before God! He did so because he was not spiritually alert at the time of temptation. Satan always sets a spiritual booby trap for God’s people, like mines on the roads or fields where we walk through. Unexpectedly, we walk on these mines when we do not keep spiritually alert, then we are suddenly engulfed with sinful passions.
Peter warns believers to “abstain from fleshly lusts.” For example, pornography, is a billion-dollar business. There are so many sex offenders and predators who got their start because they watched a lot of pornography when they were young. But fleshly lusts are not exclusively about sexual sins. Galatians 5:19-21 read, “Now the deeds of the flesh are evident, which are: immorality, impurity, sensuality, idolatry, sorcery, enmities, strife, jealousy, outbursts of anger, disputes, dissensions, factions, envying, drunkenness, carousing, and things like these, of which I forewarn you, just as I have forewarned you, that those who practice such things will not inherit the kingdom of God.” “Fleshly lusts” mean then any of the strong desire that tempt us due to our fallen nature. For example, getting easily jealous or drunkenness or bursting out in angry emotions is a fleshly lust. We must know ourselves before God. Even though we are forgiven sinners, the power of sin is always lurking in our hearts ready to pounce. This is a battle we face all our earthly lifetime. Not only David, but the Bible mentions other servants of God who sinned because they became spiritually complacent in the latter part of their lives including Noah, Abraham, Hezekiah, and others. George Mueller, who lived as a holy and faithful believer for most of his life, prayed to God. “Don’t let me die as a dirty old man.” We see the constant danger and every present temptation of “fleshly lusts.”
How can we “abstain from fleshly lusts” if they are so prevalent and ubiquitous? We must depend on God by the power of the Holy Spirit. Galatians 5:16 reads, “But I say, walk by the Spirit, and you will not carry out the desire of the flesh.” We must discipline ourselves in prayer and depending on the guidance of the Holy Spirit every day. When we received salvation, we also received the indwelling of the Holy Spirit—that is why we know that we are the children of God. Therefore, we must continue to follow the leading and guidance of the Holy Spirit daily. In this way, we can “abstain” from following the sinful ways of the world. One preacher illustrated “abstain” in this way. If we are like ships, we have to anchor in the proper and safe place because near the shore are rocks that will damage the hull of a ship and may even cause it to sink. These rocks represent the “fleshly lusts.” We anchor at a distant because the waves or the current is trying to push us towards the danger zone. We anchor ourselves in Jesus, the anchor of our souls and depending on the leading and power that the Holy Spirit provides for believers. First Corinthians 10:13 reads, “No temptation has overtaken you but such as is common to man; and God is faithful, who will not allow you to be tempted beyond what you are able, but with the temptation will provide the way of escape also, so that you will be able to endure it.” We must not be like dead fish that float downstream because of cultural sickness and transmission. Instead, we must swim upstream like the salmon fish does in order to return to their birthing place. Our birth place is the kingdom of God because we have been born again. When we sincerely struggle before God inwardly, against “fleshly lusts” and temptations, then our inward struggle causes us to produce good outward fruit. Fruit that not only pleases God, but is recognized by even the unbelieving people of the world.
I confess I am no holier or more righteous than anyone here. I have struggled with the desires of the flesh since as a teenager but when I became a Christian as a college freshman, I became aware of the spiritual battle that is going in my soul and flesh. Even though I am not perfect God has given me spiritual victories in the course of my Christian life by the guidance of his Holy Spirit. Victories over “fleshly lusts” that I know that only God can do because I could not have them by my own efforts. I pray that God may continue to give me victories to the end of my life so that I will live out the rest of my life seeking holiness. I pray like George Mueller did not to die as a dirty old man. Let’s continue on to our last verse.
Look at verse 12. “Keep your behavior excellent among the Gentiles, so that in the thing in which they slander you as evildoers, they may because of your good deeds, as they observe them, glorify God in the day of visitation.” In Peter’s time, Christians were severely criticized and misunderstood by pagans. They were accused of many terrible things and false accusations. For example, pagans accused them of committing incest because they called each other brothers and sisters, and then they married their brother or sister in Christ. Pagans accused them of cannibalism because they talked about eating the body of Christ and drinking his blood. They were even accused of being atheists because they did not worship the pagan gods. They were known as rebels because did not worship the Roman emperors who considered themselves gods. Obviously, they were all totally false slanderous accusations. Instead of trying to defend themselves, Peter told believers to “keep your behavior excellent” so that the pagans could see what true Christianity looks like. Our excellent behavior can be used by God for evangelistic purposes.
Look at verse 12b. “they may because of your good deeds, as they observe them, glorify God in the day of visitation.” Here the words “as they observe them” means that unbelievers are watching how believers live and behave. Whether we like it or not, once unbelievers know that we are Christians they immediately begin to watch our actions. They will either start judging Christians as hypocrites or sincerely good people. What is “glorify God in the day of visitation”? In the Bible, a visitation from God could either mean a visit of blessing or a visit of judgment. For example, the angel visited the virgin Mary with the good news of her pregnancy with the Messiah, the Son of God. The angel visited Zechariah to give him the good news that his aged wife Elizabeth would have a son. But it could also refer to the future day of judgment when Jesus comes again to judge the living and the dead. Some pagans will have been converted because they had seen the good deeds and observed the beautiful lives of Christians whom they had persecuted. They will glorify God for his saving grace and for the faithfulness and good example of his people. Alexander MacLaren, the great Scottish preacher wrote, “The world takes its notions of God most of all from the people who say that they belong to God’s family. They read us a great deal more than they read the Bible.” This can be very practical to believers especially when they work and live with unbelieving people. One of the most powerful tools in evangelism is our righteous lives.
For us, the point is that as pilgrims, we keep that great day of visitation in view. We live now knowing that one day everyone must stand before God, either for commendation or condemnation. Thus, we should seek to live with that day in view, so that we will hear from our Lord Jesus say, “Well done, good and faithful servant!” And as we live with that day in view, we should seek to persuade those who are on the road to condemnation to receive God’s mercy before it is too late. May God help us to live as spiritual aliens and strangers in the world for the glory of God. Let’s remember that there is a spiritual war for our souls and for the soul of America. Only by depending on Jesus and the Holy Spirit we can fight the spiritual war inwardly and produce good fruit outwardly. Amen.
