1 Peter 2 and Romans 3

I am reading 1 Peter 2 and Romans 3 this morning. There are a lot of really deep, good, theological truths in there.

1 Peter 2:2 - Like newborn babies, you must crave pure spiritual milk SO THAT you will grow into a full experience of salvation. Cry out for this nourishment,. This verse makes it very clear. You will not grow in your experience of salvation of you do not develop a craving for God's truth. Your salvation will at the most amount to very little and at the least not amount to anything at all. We need to develop a hunger and a passion and a desire for God through His truth. So many people miss the God part and just go after the truth part. All of faith is about a relationship with the Father and when we don't desire that above all else we miss out. Some will complain that they can't make themselves want something, but the truth is when we choose to pursue something with all of our energies we begin to love that thing. We did not love our spouses before we found them. It was the pursuit of them that helped spur the love we now have for them.

Peter mentions God's will which brings me back to something I read recently. The author was focusing on the idea that so many of us say we want to know God's will when what we really want is God's specific will for our lives from now until death. God very rarely gives us that because He knows we would have the tendency to walk away from Him. He conceals some of His will so we will stay beside Him, which is what is best for us anyway. Also, if you really want to know God's will, just read every passage in the Bible that says God's will or pleases God. You will find several things. The problem for us is we don't want to focus on those specific things. God has told us what His will is, we just didn't like that it didn't focus on us.

1 Peter 2:24 - Why did Jesus bear responsibility for our sin on the Cross? ... so that we can be dead to sin and live for what is right. He did not die just so we can go to heaven. He died SO THAT we could die to sin and SO THAT we could live for what is right.

Romans 3:22 - We are made right with God by placing our faith in Jesus Christ. And this is true for everyone who believes, no matter who we are. - It is by faith that we are made right. Not faith like we think where we say we believe there is a God, but faith that puts an active trust in God and that relies on God. The faith that makes us right is a relational faith and not just a mental one. It is a faith that hungers for God and anything less than that isn't faith.

Romans 3:31 - Well then, if we emphasize faith, does this mean that we can forget about the law? Of course not! In fact, only when we have faith do we truly fulfill the law. - Obedience does not necessarily lead to faith. Faith without obedience is a lie and not true faith. True faith always leads to willing obedience.

Love, Michael