1 Peter review

We will look at some things we learned from Peter.  First, we learn that past failure does not keep a person from being a very effective witness for Jesus Christ.   Peter had denied Jesus at His arrest, but after Jesus' resurrection, Peter accepted Him as his Savior and Lord, and he called on everyone to do the same.   Peter said this should bring us peace in life, no matter what is going on in the world around us.  Peter tells us that our salvation is incorruptible, kept by the power of God.  Nothing can steal our salvation once we are born again by faith in Jesus Christ as our Savior and Lord.   Peter also tells us that the trial of our faith is much more precious than silver or gold.  If we are following Jesus for material riches, then we are following Him for the wrong reason.  Peter also tells us that salvation through Christ was always the only way to salvation.  The prophets of old pointed to Him, and the people since His coming have pointed back to Christ.  God gave people free will, even knowing what it would cost Him to redeem them.  Peter calls on us to get ready to work for God, and not to be ruled by our former lusts of the flesh.  As Christians, we are to live by a different standard than the standard that the world lives by, and that standard is faith in Jesus Christ.  We are to be born again spiritually, and this should lead us to a real love for our fellow believers, but even more than that, for the lost people of the world as well.  We cannot effectively witness for Christ if we hate the people that we are witnessing to.   Peter also tells us that we are to lay aside malice, guile and hypocrisies and to live on the spiritual milk of the word of God.  The more we grow in Christ, the less we should see of these attitudes in our life.  Peter said that though the world rejected Him as such that Jesus Christ is the cornerstone of salvation upon whom we must build our life.  We are not to follow the values of the world but the values of God through faith in an obedience to Jesus Christ.  Peter tells us that as Christians we are a royal priesthood.  This does not mean that we were to act superior to other people, because he then tells us that we are to be subjected to the laws of the world, as long as they do not conflict with the laws of God.  Peter tells us that this world is not our home but that we are simply passing through, but that does not make us free from the law of the land.  We are to live in our freedom through Christ in such a way as to bring shame to the lost people of the world.