WWUTT 327 Zealous for What Is Good?

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Jesus said to his disciples, in this world you will have trouble, but take heart, I have overcome the world.

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The world is gonna beat us up because we are Christians, but the church needs to be a place where we can come back to and receive encouragement when we understand the text.

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You're listening to When We Understand the Text, an online Bible ministry so that we may know all the riches freely given to us by God.

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For questions or comments, send us an email to whenweunderstandthetext at gmail .com.

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Here's your teacher, Pastor Gabe. Thank you, Becky. We are in 1 Peter 3, verses 13 through 17 today.

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That's the section that we're gonna be looking at, but I'm gonna go back to verse eight so we keep all of these things together in context.

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So looking at what we read yesterday, Peter says, "'Finally, all of you have unity of mind, "'sympathy, brotherly love, a tender heart, "'and a humble mind.

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"'Do not repay evil for evil or reviling for reviling, "'but on the contrary, bless.

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"'For to this you were called "'that you may obtain a blessing.'" And some of your translations might say that you may inherit a blessing.

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"'For whoever desires to love life and see good days, "'let him keep his tongue from evil "'and his lips from speaking deceit.

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"'Let him turn away from evil and do good. "'Let him seek peace and pursue it.

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"'For the eyes of the Lord are on the righteous "'and his ears are open to their prayer. "'But the face of the

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Lord is against those who do evil. "'Now, who is there to harm you "'if you are zealous for what is good?

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"'But even if you should suffer for righteousness' sake, "'you will be blessed. "'Have no fear of them nor be troubled, "'but in your hearts, honor

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Christ the Lord as holy, "'always being prepared to make a defense to anyone "'who asks you for a reason for the hope that is in you.

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"'Yet do this with gentleness and respect, "'having a good conscience, "'so that when you are slandered, "'those who revile your good behavior in Christ "'may be put to shame.

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"'For it is better to suffer for doing good, "'if that should be God's will, "'than for doing evil.'"

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So yesterday we began this section, verse eight, with Peter saying, finally, all of you, and it's not that it's the last instruction that he's gonna give in the letter, because we're really only halfway through the letter.

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We're midway through chapter three, and we still got chapters four and five to go. So this is concluding a section that began in chapter two, verse 13, where Peter said, be subject for the

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Lord's sake to every human institution, being subject to the governor or the emperor supreme.

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And then you have the instruction for servants to be submissive to their masters. You've got instructions for husbands and wives, how they are to love and serve one another.

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And then we have, finally, the last relationship in this social order is how we interact with one another in the body of Christ, and therefore how we also interact with those who are outside the body, those who are still lost, needing to hear the gospel, calling them to repentance, repenting of their sins, turning from their worldliness, their sinfulness, and instead following in the righteousness of Christ.

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So first of all, Peter means for the brotherhood, the saints, the church, to have a unity of mind, sympathy, brotherly love, a tender heart, and a humble mind.

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We practice these things with one another, but then we also show love and sympathy toward those who are outside the church.

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Having unity of mind means that we are all devoted to the word of God, hearing it proclaimed, as Paul said to Timothy, do not neglect the open speaking of the word of God so that it is often declared to the saints, to the body of Christ, and that we would also declare it to a lost world that has yet to hear the gospel.

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So in our pursuit of sound doctrine, growing in knowledge and understanding of the word of God, we would have a unity of mind in these things.

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So Peter encourages that of his audience, so all of us in the church should be that way. We have sympathy and brotherly love for one another.

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When we practice these affections for each other, it makes it easier for us when we are in the world to therefore love people in the world, because we are well -practiced in it within the body of Christ.

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We need to have a tender heart and a humble mind, knowing that this faith that we have been given is not something that we acquired by lofty knowledge or man's wisdom, but because it is the gift of God who has given this to us, that we would be in the faith, that we would know

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Jesus Christ, our Lord, who is the author of our faith and the perfecter of our faith, according to Hebrews 12.

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He gave us this faith and he is growing us in it as well. So Peter gives this encouragement to the brotherhood so that when the saints then go from the church out into the world, we know that we have that safe haven, we have that place of encouragement in the body of Christ that we can always go to, and when the world beats us up, the church becomes our encouragement.

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So that's what Peter means to set the saints up with here as he's given this instruction.

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First we have in verse eight, how we are to treat one another in the church, and then we have in verse nine, how we as the church are gonna be interacting with people in the world.

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Now, these instructions absolutely apply individually. Like we can read this as a

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Christian, you're hearing it, you're saying, okay, I see how that applies to me. But remember that Peter is making this address to an entire church.

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So this isn't really meant to be a face -to -face sort of an encounter that Peter is having with another person and saying, you, this is how you need to behave.

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But that we have these instructions being spoken to a collective, to a group of saints gathered together to hear this letter from the apostle read aloud.

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And we even see in this particular section we're looking at today, verses 13 through 17, we see how

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Peter will speak in a collective sense. So like in verse 15, but in your hearts, honor

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Christ the Lord as holy. Okay, I don't have multiple hearts, do you?

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He is talking to the entire body of the saints that in all of our hearts, we would honor

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Christ the Lord as holy. This comes back to the instruction to be unified in our minds.

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We have unity of mind and in our hearts together as the saints, we honor Christ the

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Lord as holy. There are few ways as the body of Christ that we can be unified together in the same love, in the same spirit, in the same passion as when we glorify

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God together. So we as a church are singing praises to God.

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This is one of the beautiful things about singing songs together in church.

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Of course, we hear the same word declared. We're all hearing the same message from the pastor, looking at the same text together with our

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Bibles in our laps. But there is something about lifting our voices as one in song, singing together in song.

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Now I'll recognize that there are people sometimes in my church that'll trickle in a little bit late and we'll skip the music and we'll just wanna come in and sit for the teaching.

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And if I notice that, and I notice that it's a regular thing, like you didn't just oversleep on a

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Sunday morning, I'll try to grab that person. I'll try to say, look, brother or look, sister, you need to be here with us, singing with us, singing these songs together.

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It's one of the things that unifies us as a body that brings us closer together when we are lifting praises together and glorifying

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God as one. So this is another way that we as the body of Christ grow closer to one another, even in singing songs together, not just in hearing the word of God declared together as the congregation.

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We have in Colossians chapter three, the instruction to sing Psalms and hymns and spiritual songs, making music in your hearts to the

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Lord. And like with this letter from the apostle Peter, that instruction from the apostle

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Paul is given to an entire church body. So Peter is given this instruction to a church so that we have a unified body.

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We have sympathy and brotherly love toward one another. We are tenderhearted toward each other and humble in mind, not asserting ourselves over one another, but even being submissive to each other, putting the needs of others ahead of our own.

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So that then when the instruction goes in verse nine to going out into the world and preaching the gospel, when people will be evil towards you in the world, and this could apply to the church as well, but I think that especially the context here is our interaction with the world.

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When people are evil towards you, you're not repaying that with evil. When you are reviled, you are not reviling in return.

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And remember the instruction that, or the example rather, that was given us in Jesus Christ in chapter two, when he was reviled, he did not revile back.

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So he is our example. And when the world beats us up, we always know that we can come back to the body of Christ where we will find unity of mind, where all the rest of the world completely divided, all divisive.

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Titus 3 .3, before we came to Christ, we were hated by others and we were hating one another.

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That's what you find in the world. All these selfish pursuits, everybody as separated from one another as they possibly can be.

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But we can come back to the church and we have this unity. We have the same mind, the same ambition, the same goal, and that is to glorify

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God and have his gospel be proclaimed in the world. We have sympathy for one another, brotherly love.

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When the world hates us, we know that in the church, we find the love of the saints.

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As God has demonstrated this love toward every one of us, so we demonstrate it toward each other. Tenderhearted, a humble mind, nobody that's trying to be better than us, which is again, what you find in the world.

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But in the church, we have this constant compassion and encouragement and building one another up in love.

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When the world beats us up, the church is gonna be the safe place for us to come back to and receive this refreshing and this encouragement and this restored hope.

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I remember one time my kids were fighting, my two older ones, Annie and Zeej, were fighting with one another about something.

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And I don't even remember what it was now. I remember somehow they ended up outside still fighting. My wife locked the door and waited until they tried to come back in the house and said to them, you're gonna stay out there on the porch until you figure this thing out.

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And the way that our dining room is situated, we can actually sit in the dining room and look outside and see them sitting on the porch.

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And so that's what Becky and I were doing. We still had our eyes on the kids. And when it looked like they started getting along, they're sitting on the stoop together, even laughing and enjoying one another,

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I went outside and I joined them. I sat down on the step with them and I said to them, look guys, I wanna share something with you.

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When we as Christians go out into the world to try to share the gospel, the world's gonna beat us up.

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And even if you're not sharing the gospel, the world is still a pretty ruthless place. It's cutthroat.

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I mean, people are all trying to get what they want and they're not gonna let anybody stand in their way.

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Now we as Christians have been called to love and we need to be patient. But when the world beats you up, you're gonna want a safe place to come home to.

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And that's what our home needs to be, where we're not beating each other up and constantly fighting with one another, but you know that you can come home and this is a safe place where you will find love and encouragement.

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And so encouraging my two oldest, Annie and Zeej, to love one another and continue to show that love to each other, practicing that in the home, being selfless toward one another so that we can have this safe place at home, this loving environment, this place that we know that we can come back to and get all the love and care and affection from our family when the rest of the world is not always gonna be so kind to us in that way.

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So this needs to be the same in the church. When we have a common goal together to share the gospel and have the glory of God proclaimed in the world, may the church be that place where we can come back to brotherly and sisterly love and encouragement with and for one another.

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So as Peter goes on here in this instruction, talking about those who in the world will be out to harm us because of the

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Christ whom we follow. Remember that Jesus said to his disciples, when they hate you, they hated me first.

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So we have from Peter in 1 Peter 3, verse 13, now who is there to harm you if you are zealous for what is good?

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But even if you should suffer for righteousness sake, you will be blessed. And this reminds me so much of Romans chapter eight, where the apostle

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Paul says in verse 31, what then shall we say to these things? If God is for us, who can be against us?

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Peter saying, now who is there to harm you if you are zealous for what is good? Paul goes on, he who did not spare his own son but gave him up for us all, how will he not also with him graciously give us all things?

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Who shall bring any charge against God's elect? It is God who justifies.

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Who is to condemn? Christ Jesus is the one who died. More than that, who was raised, who is at the right hand of God, who indeed is interceding for us.

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Who shall separate us from the love of Christ? Shall tribulation or distress or persecution or famine or nakedness or danger or sword?

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As it is written for your sake, we are being killed all the day long. We are regarded as sheep to be slaughtered.

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No, in all these things, we are more than conquerors through him who loved us.

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For I am sure that neither death nor life nor angels nor rulers, nor things present nor things to come, nor powers, nor height, nor depth, nor anything else in all creation will be able to separate us from the love of God in Christ Jesus, our

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Lord. So once again, if God is for us, who can be against us? Who is there to harm you if you are zealous for what is good?

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Remember that if we are in Christ, we are his people. We've been reconciled not only to God, but to his people.

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And Titus 2 .14 talks about this, that Christ gave himself up for us to redeem us from all lawlessness and purify for himself a people who are zealous for good works.

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So if we are zealous for God, which is what Peter was getting to when he was quoting

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Psalm 34 earlier, verses 10 through 12, whoever desires to love life and see good days, let him keep his tongue from evil, his lips from speaking deceit, let him turn away from evil and do good, let him seek peace and pursue it.

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So if we are pursuing godliness, if we are zealous for what is good, who is there who can harm us?

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Who can bring any charge against God's elect? But even if you should suffer for righteousness sake, you will be blessed.

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This is Jesus in the Sermon on the Mount in Matthew chapter five, saying that blessed are you when people revile you and persecute you and speak all kinds of evil against you falsely on my account.

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Rejoice and be glad. For so they persecuted the prophets who were before you.

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Your reward is great in heaven, Jesus said. That's all there at the end of the

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Beatitudes. So if we should suffer for righteousness sake, we will be blessed. It's a blessing to suffer for the cause of Christ, that we would be counted worthy to suffer for the name as the apostles rejoiced in God for being persecuted because they were counted worthy for suffering for the name of Christ.

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It talks about in Acts chapter five. Have no fear of them, Peter said, nor be troubled, but in your hearts.

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Again, you have that plural address there to all of the church. In your hearts, honor

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Christ the Lord as holy. Always being prepared to make a defense to anyone who asks you for a reason for the hope that is in you.

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Yet do this with gentleness and respect. Once again, coming back to not reviling, don't repay evil for evil or reviling for reviling, but we bless that you may obtain a blessing.

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And how do we bless? By sharing the gospel. So when others persecute us for what it is that we believe, we have in our hearts

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Christ the Lord as holy so that we are ready then to give an answer to those who would revile us.

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We don't revile back, instead we share the gospel. You know what? I was a sinner.

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I was a child of wrath. I was under the wrath of God for behaving just like you're behaving, for reviling others that I was supposed to be loving, those who have been made in the image of God.

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All of us were sinners, depraved wretches, pursuing the passions of our flesh, desiring what we wanted, our selfishness, disregarding everybody else to get what it was that we wanted.

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Our self -righteousness, thinking that I'm good on my own without God. Pursuing these sexual desires.

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I was lying. I was speaking blasphemous things from my mouth. You know, on and on, whatever sins we are guilty of, showing this to another person so that they would know and become aware of their own sin, that what it is that they have done is contrary to what has been instructed in the word of God.

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But God showed mercy to me, even though I was a sinner and even though what I deserved was destruction and the wrath of God, he was merciful toward me.

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At the right time, Christ died for the ungodly. God demonstrated his love for me and that while I was yet a sinner,

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Christ died for me. And so it is through Christ that I have been called out of my slavery to sin and into his righteousness.

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And so as we share this with others, as we speak the gospel of Christ, we have been rescued from death into his life, an eternal reward, something that we did not deserve, but by his mercy and grace, he has given it to us through Jesus Christ.

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This is how we give an answer for the hope that is within us and doing this with gentleness and respect, not yelling, not trying to win an argument, but instead responding kindly.

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And in doing so, we are blessing. When we respond with the gospel, we bless.

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For to this, you were called, that you may obtain a blessing. You were called to share the gospel of Christ as the gospel was shared with you.

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And when you heard it, turn from your sin and to the righteousness of Christ. So this would be the same blessing that we would bestow on another person when we share the gospel with the lost.

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Let us have a good conscience, not feeling guilty about the way that we might've talked to somebody, putting them down, but our conscience is clear.

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We know that we responded the way Christ responded. We didn't revile back because Christ didn't revile back.

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So that when you are slandered, those who revile you for your good behavior in Christ may be put to shame.

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There are others who will see that. These accusations, these false accusations that are being made by those who revile against us, those accusations don't stick.

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It does not match up with our character. It does not match up with the witness that we have displayed, gently sharing the gospel of Jesus Christ so that those who revile our good behavior in Christ will be put to shame.

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For it is better to suffer for doing good, if that should be God's will, that you would suffer for proclaiming the gospel of Christ than for doing evil, than trying to think that by any means possible,

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I need to make sure that this person hears this message and turns from their sin. And so you would even go to great lengths as to do something evil so that somebody would hear this message, or you need to beat them over the head with something until they get it.

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You tie a person down and you scream in their face until they understand it. None of those things are gonna convince a person.

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It is the gospel of Jesus Christ that has the power to save, not our screaming at somebody that has the power to save.

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And so as the Apostle Paul talked about with Timothy in 2 Timothy 2, the

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Lord's servant must not be quarrelsome, but kind to everyone, able to teach patiently enduring evil, correcting opponents with gentleness.

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God may perhaps grant repentance leading to a knowledge of the truth after having been caught by the devil in a snare to do his will.

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But instead it's by the gospel of Christ that we have been rescued from the snare of the devil into the righteousness of Christ.

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So let us preach the gospel with gentleness and respect. It is the power of God that will change a heart, not the power or the inflection in our voices that do it.

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Our Lord God, as we wrap up our study here, may we as the church be committed to the sound teaching of the gospel of Jesus Christ.

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Help us also to turn from our sin and to the righteousness of God, being humble enough to come before the

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Lord and seek forgiveness when we have gone astray. If we ask forgiveness for our sins, it is promised us in scripture that you are faithful and just to cleanse us from all unrighteousness.

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Give us a spirit of peace in our hearts. Help us to seek peace and pursue it.

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And when we preach the gospel to those who are in this world who are lost, we are doing so with gentleness and respect so they may be won over by the gospel, not because we did or said anything great.

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We pray and ask these things in Jesus name, amen. Pastor Gabe keeps a regular blog sharing personal thoughts, alerting readers to false teachers and offering commentary on the church and social issues.

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You can find a link to the blog through our website, www .utt .com. Thank you for listening and join us again tomorrow as we continue our study in God's word when we understand the text.