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As I have explained in the past, one of the reasons I am doing this blog is I am curious to see what kind of messages one might get from reading the bible. What might one learn as a take-away. Here is my quick summary of the good and bad from James and 1 & 2 Peter.
I'm continuing my efforts to organize and categorize the items here. Coming up with the right categories is more difficult than I had expected, but I think I'm getting the hang of it. I will start with the categories that have all good items, next show categories with some good and some bad items, then finish with categories with all bad items.
Good
J 1:19 Be a good listener and be slow to anger
"Know this, my beloved brothers: let every person be quick to hear, slow to speak, slow to anger;"
1P 2:13 Follow all rules of earthly government
"Be subject for the Lord's sake to every human institution..."
1P 5:2-3 Leaders should lead by example, and shouldn't be in it for personal gain.
"shepherd the flock of God...not for shameful gain, but eagerly; not domineering over those in your charge, but being examples to the flock."
--Interpersonal Conflict--
1P 2:1 malice, deceit, hypocrisy, envy, and slander are all bad things.
"So put away all malice and all deceit and hypocrisy and envy and all slander."
1P 2:12 Act in an honorable manner even in the face of slander.
"Keep your conduct among the Gentiles honorable, so that when they speak against you as evildoers, they may see your good deeds and glorify God on the day of visitation."
J 3:14 Lying, selfishness, boasting, and jealousy are bad
"But if you have bitter jealousy and selfish ambition in your hearts, do not boast and be false to the truth."
J 2:8 Love your neighbor
"If you really fulfill the royal law according to the Scripture, "You shall love your neighbor as yourself," you are doing well."
1P 4:8 Love has the power to repair rifts caused by sin
"Above all, keep loving one another earnestly, since love covers a multitude of sins."
J 3:13 Show your works through meekness
"Who is wise and understanding among you? By his good conduct let him show his works in the meekness of wisdom."
"Therefore it says, 'God opposes the proud, but gives grace to the humble.'"
J 5:7-8 patience is a virtue
"Be patient, therefore, brothers...8 You also, be patient..."
J 3:10 Be careful what you say, you can do a lot of damage with a thoughtless word
"From the same mouth come blessing and cursing. My brothers, these things ought not to be so."
1P 3:3-4 spend time developing a good personality and not just outer beauty
"Do not let your adorning be external--the braiding of hair and the putting on of gold jewelry, or the clothing you wear-- 4 but let your adorning be the hidden person of the heart with the imperishable beauty of a gentle and quiet spirit, which in God's sight is very precious."
1P 3:8-9 sympathy, love, humility, turn the other cheek
"Finally, all of you, have
1P 4:9-10 Help each other out
"Show hospitality to one another without grumbling. As each has received a gift, use it to serve one another..."
2P 3:14 Be good and at peace at all times
"Therefore, beloved, since you are waiting for these, be diligent to be found by him without spot or blemish, and at peace."
Good and Bad
J 1:6 Skepticism is bad
"But let him ask in faith, with no doubting, for the one who doubts is like a wave of the sea that is driven and tossed by the wind."
J 2:14 Do good works, faith is not enough
"What good is it, my brothers, if someone says he has faith but does not have works? Can that faith save him?"
J 5:16 Prayer is powerful if you are righteous enough
"Therefore, confess your sins to one another and pray for one another, that you may be healed. The prayer of a righteous person has great power as it is working."
1P 1:8 believe in Jesus despite a lack of evidence
"Though you have not seen [Jesus], you love him. Though you do not now see him, you believe in him..."
--Prejudice--
J 2:3-4 Don't treat poor people worse than you treat rich people.
"if you pay attention to the one who wears the fine clothing and say, "You sit here in a good place,"while you say to the poor man, "You stand over there," or, "Sit down at my feet," have you not then made distinctions among yourselves and become judges with evil thoughts?"
J 2:7 Rich people are blasphemers
"Are [rich people] not the ones who blaspheme the honorable name by which you were called?"
1P 4:3 Sex is bad, drinking is bad, and all non-Christians do it
"For the time that is past suffices for doing what the Gentiles want to do, living in sensuality, passions, drunkenness, orgies, drinking parties, and lawless idolatry."
--Suffering--
1P 3:17 Do good, even if you risk personal suffering
"For it is better to suffer for doing good, if that should be God's will, than for doing evil."
1P 4:1,13 suffering (for Christ?) makes you sin free
"...for whoever has suffered in the flesh has ceased from sin"
"But rejoice insofar as you share Christ's sufferings..."
1P 5:9 If you are suffering, you are not alone
"...knowing that the same kinds of suffering are being experienced by your brotherhood throughout the world."
Bad
--Apocalypse--
J 5:3,8 the end is near!
"...You have laid up treasure in the last days."
"...Establish your hearts, for the coming of the Lord is at hand."
1P 4:7 the end is near!
"The end of all things is at hand..."
--Fear--
1P 1:17 You should be ruled by fear
"conduct yourselves with fear throughout the time of your exile"
--Justice--
J 2:10 All crimes are equal
"For whoever keeps the whole law but fails in one point has become accountable for all of it."
1P 2:18 Slaves, respect your masters even if they are unjust to you
"Servants, be subject to your masters with all respect, not only to the good and gentle but also to the unjust."
--Knowledge--
2P 3:8 God can't tell a day from a millenium
"But do not overlook this one fact, beloved, that with the Lord one day is as a thousand years, and a thousand years as one day."
--Marriage--
1P 3:1,5 wives submit to your husband no matter what they do
"Likewise, wives, be subject to your own husbands..."
"For this is how the holy women who hoped in God used to adorn themselves, by submitting to their own husbands"
--Obedience--
1P 1:14,22 Obedience is of supreme importance
"As obedient children, do not be conformed to the passions of your former ignorance"
"Having purified your souls by your obedience to the truth..."
2P 2:9-10 lust and lacking obedience are the worst offenses of the unrighteous
"...and to keep the unrighteous under punishment until the day of judgment, and especially those who indulge in the lust of defiling passion and despise authority..."
--Sexuality--
"You adulterous people! Do you not know that friendship with the world is enmity with God? Therefore whoever wishes to be a friend of the world makes himself an enemy of God."
"For the time that is past suffices for doing what the Gentiles want to do, living in sensuality, passions, drunkenness, orgies, drinking parties, and lawless idolatry."
2P 2:2 sensuality leads to blasphemy
"And many will follow their sensuality, and because of them the way of truth will be blasphemed."
2P 2:2 sensuality leads to blasphemy
"And many will follow their sensuality, and because of them the way of truth will be blasphemed."
2P 2:9-10 lust and lacking obedience are the worst offenses of the unrighteous
"...and to keep the unrighteous under punishment until the day of judgment, and especially those who indulge in the lust of defiling passion and despise authority..."
2P 2:18 bad people use sex to trick believers away from the faith
"...they entice by sensual passions of the flesh those who are barely escaping from those who live in error."
--Slavery--
1P 2:18 Slaves, respect your masters even if they are unjust to you
"Servants, be subject to your masters with all respect, not only to the good and gentle but also to the unjust."
--Stacking the Deck--
J 1:13,17 God takes credit for good and distances himself from bad
"Let no one say when he is tempted, "I am being tempted by God," for God cannot be tempted with evil, and he himself tempts no one."
"Every good gift and every perfect gift is from above, coming down from the Father of lights with whom there is no variation or shadow due to change."
J 3:15 God gets credit for good things, absolved from bad things
"This is not the wisdom that comes down from above, but is earthly, unspiritual, demonic."
2P 1:3-4 God is the source of good stuff, bad stuff is from earth
"His divine power has granted to us all things that pertain to life and godliness...escaped from the corruption that is in the world because of sinful desire"
--Wealth--
J 5:4-6 All rich people are evil
"the wages of the laborers who mowed your fields, which you kept back by fraud... You have lived on the earth in luxury and in self-indulgence...You have condemned and murdered the righteous person..."
"sensuality leads to blasphemy" Is that why we say "oh God!" during sex?
ReplyDeleteReading "Forged" by Bart Ehrman. He mentioned that there were a ton of books by Peter that are known forgeries, including a couple apocalypses like "Revelations." This is probably forged too, since Peter almost certainly couldn't write, but I suppose it could have been dictated. I always wondered why Peter didn't have a Gospel considering he was the main man.
Forged looks interesting, I might have to go check it out.
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