Page 70 - Biblical Ethics Course

Watch your wisdom
James 3:13–15 (NASB95)
13 Who among you is wise and understanding? Let him show by his good behavior his deeds in the gentleness of
wisdom. But if you have bitter jealousy and selfish ambition in your heart, do not be arrogant and so lie against
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the truth. This wisdom is not that which comes down from above, but is earthly, natural, demonic.

Watch your devotion.
James 4:7–8 (NASB95)
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7 Submit therefore to God. Resist the devil and he will flee from you. Draw near to God and He will draw near to
you. Cleanse your hands, you sinners; and purify your hearts, you double-minded.

Watch your pride
James 4:10–11 (NASB95)
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10 Humble yourselves in the presence of the Lord, and He will exalt you. Do not speak against one another,
brethren. He who speaks against a brother or judges his brother, speaks against the law and judges the law; but
if you judge the law, you are not a doer of the law but a judge of it.

Watch your Patience
James 5:7–9 (NASB95)
7 Therefore be patient, brethren, until the coming of the Lord. The farmer waits for the precious produce of the
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soil, being patient about it, until it gets the early and late rains. You too be patient; strengthen your hearts, for
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the coming of the Lord is near. Do not complain, brethren, against one another, so that you yourselves may not
be judged; behold, the Judge is standing right at the door.

Peter’s Ethics.

The author of 1 Peter identifies himself as the Apostle Peter and a witness of the sufferings and resurrection of
Christ (1 Pet.1:1; 5:1). The readers are meant to see their difficult circumstances through a lens of hope, looking
to Christ for strength. Peter knows that those who choose to follow Christ are no longer completely at home in
this world. They are foreigners—not yet out of this world, but not fully part of it any longer (1 Pet. 2:11). They
are set apart as God’s holy priesthood, part of the temple that has been built on Christ the cornerstone (1
Pet.2:4–5). As such, they should not be surprised if the world does not understand them—or in some
circumstances even persecutes them. Christian can live a holly and victorious life in the midst of hostility without
losing hope or becoming bitter. Believers are called to obey and trust God in all circumstances. Peter wished to
impress on his readers that by living an obedient, victorious life under pressure, a Christian can actually
evangelize his hostile world.

Our identity in Christ is the Basis for Right Living

1 Peter 1:14–16 (NASB95)
14 As obedient children, do not be conformed to the former lusts which were yours in your ignorance,
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15 but like the Holy One who called you, be holy yourselves also in all your behavior; because it is written, “YOU
SHALL BE HOLY, FOR I AM HOLY.”

Living as Aliens to Bring Glory to God in a Hostile World

1 Peter 2:1–2 (NASB95)
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1 Therefore, putting aside all malice and all deceit and hypocrisy and envy and all slander, like newborn babies,
long for the pure milk of the word, so that by it you may grow in respect to salvation,

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