ECT Gather 'Round Peter

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Re: Gather 'Round Peter

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● 1Pet 3:8a . . Finally, all of you be of one mind,

Peter’s not talking about the nerve center of a Borg-hive collective. The Greek word for "one mind" is homophron (hom-of'-rone) which means: harmonious; and this is the only place in the entire New Testament where that word appears.

Webster’s defines "harmonious" as: 1) musically concordant, 2) having the parts agreeably related; viz: congruous, and 3) marked by accord in sentiment or action.

Peter's instructions emphasize the third element-- "marked by accord in sentiment or action". Head-strong Christians, domineering Christians, those for whom every disagreement is either an affront or an act of war to win at any cost-- those for whom the word diplomacy has no meaning --of course have trouble complying with 1Pet 3:8a; that is: if they even consider it worthy of their notice.
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Re: Gather 'Round Peter

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● 1Pet 3:8b-9 . . having compassion one of another, love as brethren, be pitiful, be courteous; not rendering evil for evil, or railing for railing: but contrariwise blessing.

"compassion" is from the koiné Greek word sumpathes (soom-path-ace') which means: having a fellow-feeling; viz: sympathetic, i.e. (by implication) mutually commiserative: empathetic.

One of the meanings of commiserate is condole: like when we share someone's grief at the passing of a loved one, or their job has been outsourced to cheap labor in a foreign country, or they've lost their entire retirement fund to an unscrupulous corporation like ENRON, or their life savings to a crooked Ponzi schemer like Bernie Madoff, or when there's news from their doctor they have to begin chemo-therapy for a recently detected advanced cancer, or when the car of a single mom with limited income needs expensive repairs. That is no time to be thoughtless. People in those predicaments are in sore need of condolences, and they are in no mood for philosophical platitudes.

The Greek word for "railing" is loidoria (loy-dor-ee'-ah) which means slander or vituperation; which Webster's defines as 1) to abuse or censure severely or abusively; viz: berate, and 2) to use harsh condemnatory language.

Rejoinders fall into that category; which are defined as a usually rude or angry reply to something written or said; viz: insensitive come-backs deliberately meant to hurt people's feelings; viz: tit for tat. That kind of behavior doesn't go unnoticed.

● Matt 12:36-37 . . I say to you, that every careless word that men shall speak, they shall render account for it in the day of judgment. For by your words you shall be justified, and by your words you shall be condemned.
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Re: Gather 'Round Peter

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● 1Pet 3:10-11 . . Let him who means to love life and see good days refrain his tongue from evil and his lips from speaking guile. And let him turn away from evil and do good; let him seek peace and pursue it.

Webster's defines "guile" as duplicity which is defined as: contradictory doubleness of thought, speech, or action; especially in the belying of one's true intentions by deceptive words or action; in other words, speaking with a forked tongue and/or saying one thing while meaning another.

Quite a bit is said in the Bible about the words people speak, whereas little to nothing is said about the words they write. That could be because so many people back in the day were illiterate. But surely one's written words have just as much voice as one's spoken words.

Good and evil are here juxtaposed as benevolence vs malevolence, i.e. good will vs ill will.

To "seek peace and pursue it" is blessing-worthy.

● Matt 5:9 . . Blessed are the peacemakers: for they shall be called the children of God.

If it's true that only peaceable kinds of people qualify to wear the label "children of God" then the opposite is just as true: difficult Christians are unworthy of the distinction.
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Re: Gather 'Round Peter

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● 1Pet 4:8 . . Above all, keep fervent in your love for one another, because love hides a large number of sins.

A person easily provoked is not a loving person.

One Saturday morning I and another man at church were moving some furniture from one place to another inside the main building where, completely unknown to us, a wedding rehearsal was being conducted.

The woman in charge of organizing the wedding came out into the hall and began scolding us for talking and making noise. When I pointed out that there were no posted signs in the hallway indicating a function in progress on the other side of the door, she became sullen, and tightened her lips and narrowed her eyes in anger.

Had that lady exemplified the love about which Peter wrote, she would have handled her inconvenience with a little more tact and sensitivity, i.e. diplomacy.

● Matt 5:9 . . Blessed are the peacemakers: for they shall be known as God's kin.

BTW: That same lady was also in the choir, and sang doxologies in front of about 2,000 people every Sunday morning. She was good at musical harmony, but obviously in sore need of some training in the civil kind.
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Re: Gather 'Round Peter

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● 1Pet 5:5b . . and all of you, clothe yourselves with humility toward one another, for God is opposed to the proud, but gives grace to the humble.

The Greek word for "humble" is tapeinophrosune (tap-i-nof-ros-oo'-nay) which means lowliness of mind; viz: modesty, which Webster's defines as freedom from conceit or vanity. Lowliness of mind is to be greatly desired for its blessing.

● Matt 5:3 . . Blessed are the poor in spirit: for theirs is the kingdom of heaven.

Humility is very rare on internet forums. Active members are typically easily insulted and infected with vanity; plus imperious, domineering, despotic, assertive, confrontational, arrogant, conceited, reactive, thin-skinned, self-righteous, emotional, critical, and defensive. Those are not what I would call good Christian attributes. They also have a propensity to jump to conclusions, get the wrong impression, and fly off the handle. Those aren't good Christian attributes either; in point of fact; none of those attributes are blessing-worthy.

"Grace" is one of those ambiguous abstract nouns that nobody seems to agree upon. Noah found grace in God's eyes (Gen 6:8) which in his case, regarded providence; which can be defined as kindly patronage. It was by God's providence that Noah and his family survived the Flood while the sons of God and their harems didn't. Let that sink in. Just because people label themselves a Christian, and profess a belief in Christ, is no guarantee they'll escape the horrors of the book of Revelation. Noah was a righteous man, and perfect in his generation; too many of today's card-carrying Christians are neither.

The Greek word for "proud" is huperephanos (hoop-er-ay'-fan-os) which means appearing above others, viz: haughty. Those kinds of people typically regard others with contempt, i.e. undeserving of respect or even so much as common courtesy. Haughty people are typically cruel, thoughtless, insensitive, and badly infected with a superiority complex, which goes hand in hand with arrogance: defined as an exaggerated sense of one's importance, sometimes manifested in an overbearing manner.

Arrogant people can be intolerably pushy and assertive at times; standing up to them usually always provokes an indignant reaction and a call to arms, so to speak, because these folk regard any and all disagreements with their way of thinking as demeaning attacks upon their core values and their distorted sense of self worth. These people have very little interest in harmony; they're stand-up fighters whose primary interest is winning.

Seeing as how Heaven is reputed a place of peace, then the arrogant, the haughty, and the proud cannot be allowed to go there with their unholy personalities. For sure they'd just end up making things very uncomfortable for Heaven's normally mild-mannered, affable society.
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Re: Gather 'Round Peter

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● 1Pet 5:6 . . Humble yourselves, therefore, under the mighty hand of God, that He may exalt you at the proper time

Humility is defined by Webster's as ranking low in a hierarchy or scale; for example:

● Matt 18:4 . .Whoever humbles himself like this child is the greatest in the kingdom of heaven.

"greatest' is a category. In other words: there is more than one great person in heaven certainly. But Jesus taught it is better that you be made great than to make yourself great; for example:

● Luke 14:8-11 . .When you are invited by someone to a wedding feast, do not take the place of honor, lest someone more distinguished than you may have been invited by him, and he who invited you both shall come and say to you "Give place to this man" and then in disgrace you proceed to occupy the last place.

. . . But when you are invited, go and recline at the last place, so that when the one who has invited you comes, he may say to you; "Friend, move up higher" then you will have honor in the sight of all who are at the table with you. For everyone who exalts himself shall be humbled, and he who humbles himself shall be exalted.

Speaking critically of the religious luminaries of his days; Jesus once said:

● Matt 23:2-7 . .The scribes and the Pharisees do all their deeds to be noticed by men; for they broaden their phylacteries, and lengthen the tassels of their garments. And they love the place of honor at banquets, and the chief seats in the synagogues, and respectful greetings in the market places, and being called by men: Rabbi.
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Re: Gather 'Round Peter

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● 2Pet 1:5-7 . . Make every effort to add to your faith virtue; and to virtue, knowledge; and to knowledge, self-control; and to self-control, perseverance; and to perseverance, godliness; and to godliness, brotherly kindness; and to brotherly kindness, love.

All those things listed by the apostle Peter are "supplements" defined by Webster's as things that are added.

If Peter's list is chronological, then it's evident that believers are not supposed to start with love and work towards faith, rather they're supposed to start with faith and work towards love, viz: unloving believers are still believers yes, but they've plenty of room for personal improvement; viz: their confidence in Christ's crucifixion as a price he paid to ransom their souls from the wrath of God is good, but it's only the beginning; i.e. a foundation upon which Peter urges them to accumulate the traits on his list.
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Re: Gather 'Round Peter

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2Pet 1:5-7 reprised from post No.27

"Make every effort to add to your faith virtue; and to virtue, knowledge; and to knowledge, self-control; and to self-control, perseverance; and to perseverance, godliness; and to godliness, brotherly kindness; and to brotherly kindness, love."

The Greek word for "virtue" is arete (ar-et'-ay) which basically refers to the strength, and the courage, to stand for what's right.

The word for "knowledge" is gnosis (gno'-sis) which basically refers to information obtained by teaching, instruction, and study rather than known naturally by intuition and/or instinct.

The word for "self-control" is egkrateia (eng-krat'-i-ah) which means: continence. The opposite of continence is incontinence; which is the condition where a person cannot restrain their natural impulses.

The word for "perseverance" is hupomone (hoop-om-on-ay') which means: cheerful (or hopeful) constancy. A hupomone person always keeps looking for the light that they know is at the end of the tunnel; and even if they can't see it for now; they fully expect to.

The word for "godliness" is eusebeia (yoo-seb'-i-ah) which means: piety; defined by Webster's as dutifulness in religion; viz: devoutness; i.e. dedication.

The word for "brotherly kindness" is philadelphia (fil-ad-el-fee'-ah) which means fraternal affection; i.e. fondness. In these days of dysfunctional homes in the USA, fraternal affection has no point of reference in the thinking of some people because they've never seen it, nor ever experienced it. Is it any wonder then that so many homes in America are producing sociopaths, and kids with Reactive Attachment Disorder?

The word for "love" is agape (ag-ah'-pay) which may or may not contain the elements of affection and fondness; but always contains the element of benevolence.

Benevolent people are good folk; they're typically helpful, kind, generous, cordial, hospitable, courteous, tolerant, sympathetic, loyal, and civil.

Agape was a sorely-missing element in my three years of service in the US Army from 1961 to 1964. The men disliked each other; and the men disliked the officers and non-coms; and they in turn disliked the men. Everybody mistrusted each other and each guy had at the most only a couple of guys in my whole 200-man unit he could lean on. That lack of agape had an impact on unit cohesiveness and made America's enemies seem more like friends than foes.

I really appreciate Charlie Sheen's line towards the end of the Hollywood movie "PLATOON". It goes something like this: "I think now, looking back, we did not fight the enemy-- we fought ourselves . . . and the enemy was in us." That line is profound; and an excellent companion to a line in "Terminator 2, Judgment Day" when Arnold Schwarzenegger commented to the young John Connor: "It is in your nature to destroy yourselves."
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Re: Gather 'Round Peter

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● 2Pet 3:14 . . Be diligent to be found by Him in peace, without spot and blameless

Some of the brethren haven't a clue what it is to be in peace; their temperaments won't permit. But that's something they really need to work on because temperamental behavior isn't permitted in Heaven, and it won't be permitted in the new cosmos either.

FAQ: Is there no hope for people born with temperamental dispositions?

A: It's possible for people to be rid of their natural-born human nature and replace it with a nature very similar to God's.

● 2Pet 1:3-4 . . His divine power has granted to us all things that pertain to life and piety, through the knowledge of Him who called us to His own glory and excellence, by which He has granted to us His precious and very great promises, that through these you may escape from the corruption that is in the world because of passion, and become partakers of the divine nature.

It's pretty obvious throughout the New Testament that Jesus had divine nature. (2Cor 5:21, Heb 4:15, 1Pet 1:18-19, 1Pet 2:22, and 1John 3:5)

It gave him quite an advantage.

● John 8:29 . . He that sent me is with me: the Father has not left me alone; for I do always those things that please Him.

Were it not for his having divine nature; Jesus could never claim to always please the Father. Had Jesus come into the world having only human nature, he might've pleased the Father some of the time, or even most of the time, but certainly not all the time.

The Greek word for "looking forward" is prosdokao (pros-dok-ah'-o) which means: to anticipate; viz: to await; for example:

When I was a small boy living in Santee California back in the late 1940's, I used to climb one of the olive trees in the front yard so I could see down the road in the direction that my dad came home every evening in a black 1933 Model A Ford. I always climbed the tree ahead of time so I could begin watching for my dad and spot him coming a long ways off, and then I'd get down and sprint out to the end of our dirt driveway and jump on the running board of that old Ford and ride it back to the house with my dad.

Prosdokao is like that. It fully expects the arrival of a future event; and the future event Peter spoke of in previous verses is not only The Lord's return; but also the utter annihilation of the current cosmos to be replaced by one in which only righteousness exists. Today, righteousness and unrighteousness exist side by side, but in the future, it won't be like that.
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Re: Gather 'Round Peter

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● 2Pet 3:18 . . But grow in grace, and in the knowledge of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ.

A gracious person is honest, kind, courteous, inclined to good will, generous, cheerful, reliable, trustworthy, faithful, genial, sociable, generous, thoughtful, patient, lenient, tolerant, temperate, approachable, helpful, peaceable, charitable, altruistic, compassionate, sympathetic, cordial, proper, elegant, polite, genteel, reasonable, affable, agreeable, genial, cheerful, warm, sensitive, hospitable, considerate, diplomatic, and tactful.

Why the instruction to grow in grace? Because people in Heaven are nothing like the churlish race of brutish hominids infesting the world down here. Heaven's society is populated with really nice folk: they're good people; the best of the best. Unrefined behavior doesn't fit in there; it's a fish out of water. People of little grace would likely hate the place anyway; and very definitely annoy God and disgust Him to no end.

Buen Camino
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[revnate7]

The closer i get to becoming a "senior" the more true i find this is. The more time i spend with those "senior" to me, the more i realize they know and need to share. I am alive and a sold-out believer and follower of JESUS CHRIST today because of the never-ending prayers of a couple of "seniors". I praise God for them. Thank you for sharing. (onmissionliving.com) . - pastor nate

 

[DAN P]

Re: Gather 'Round Peter

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● 2Pet 3:18 . . But grow in grace, and in the knowledge of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ.

A gracious person is honest, kind, courteous, inclined to good will, generous, cheerful, reliable, trustworthy, faithful, genial, sociable, generous, thoughtful, patient, lenient, tolerant, temperate, approachable, helpful, peaceable, charitable, altruistic, compassionate, sympathetic, cordial, proper, elegant, polite, genteel, reasonable, affable, agreeable, genial, cheerful, warm, sensitive, hospitable, considerate, diplomatic, and tactful.

Why the instruction to grow in grace? Because people in Heaven are nothing like the churlish race of brutish hominids infesting the world down here. Heaven's society is populated with really nice folk: they're good people; the best of the best. Unrefined behavior doesn't fit in there; it's a fish out of water. People of little grace would likely hate the place anyway; and very definitely annoy God and disgust Him to no end.

Buen Camino
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Hi and why GATHER ROUND PETER as PETER is not the apostle of the B O C ?

1 1 Cor 11:1 says to IMITATE Paul as Paul follows Christ !!

dan p