by Stuart | 7 Apr 2022 | 1 Peter, Devotionals
The Christian faith is far more than a set of rituals reserved for two hours on a Sunday morning. Christianity is a living relationship with God that pervades all of life. It is, in other words, a faith that must intentionally influence every area of our lives. This...
by Stuart | 6 Apr 2022 | 1 Peter, Devotionals
Much attention has been given in recent years to addressing abuse scandals within the church. There was a time when Protestants mockingly considered abuse to be a peculiarly Catholic problem but, with recent high-profile scandals rocking evangelical churches, it has...
by Stuart | 5 Apr 2022 | 1 Peter, Devotionals
We have spent quite some time now digging into 1 Peter 1:13–25 and I want to take one last look (I promise!) at these verses before we move on. We have considered the ethical exhortations that Peter offers in these verses—holiness (vv. 14–16); fear of God (vv. 17–21);...
by Stuart | 4 Apr 2022 | 1 Peter, Devotionals
If you have ever tried holding an ethical discussion with someone who complete rejects the Christian faith, you know how frustrating it can be. Humans have an innate sense of ethical direction but, apart from the gospel, it is completely unmoored from any stable...
by Stuart | 1 Apr 2022 | 1 Peter, Devotionals
Peter has consistently rooted his exhortations in this opening chapter in the gospel, and he does so once again as he exhorts his readers to Christian love (1:22–24). Because they had “purified [their] souls by [their] obedience to the truth,” they should “love one...
by Stuart | 31 Mar 2022 | 1 Peter, Devotionals
One of the most frequent exhortations in the Bible is for people to fear God. It is also one of the most frequently misunderstood exhortations. Perhaps this is because the Bible envisions two types of fear. On the one hand, Scripture recognises the reality of dreadful...
