Pilgrims' Progress, continued

Today's concept from Peter is a little different from the photo above....that picture brings to mind a vacation trip. The idea that we are travelers for fun. Well, we truly can enjoy the trip, and the joy of the Lord, but today we're going to talk again about living as pilgrims.....

.....and the fact that there is a war to fight.
Yep.
You heard me correctly! W - A - R .  Let's look at our verses again, OK?

Dear friends, I urge you, as foreigners and exiles, to abstain from sinful desires, which wage war against your soul. 12 Live such good lives among the pagans that, though they accuse you of doing wrong, they may see your good deeds and glorify God on the day he visits us. (I Peter 2:11-12)

(Raising hand) Grammar nerd, here, calling our attention to the word "abstain." It means "to hold oneself constantly back from." We hear the word used pretty casually nowadays....legislators abstain from votes, people abstain from coffee for a day or two, and other things like that. In contrast, Peter used it in the sense of an ongoing, constant battle.
His words about waging war point to a military campaign.....those can be long and drawn out.....not just to a single battle.  As believers, we face a lifelong struggle against sinful desires; we fight fleshly lusts which if given in to, can take us captive and destroy us. I think that's what he means by war against our souls.
The total person.
The word soul makes us focus on the inner person, and if we are honest about it, the battle against sin is really waged in the mind. Remember in chapter one?

Therefore, with minds that are alert and fully sober, set your hope on the grace to be brought to you when Jesus Christ is revealed at his coming. 14 As obedient children, do not conform to the evil desires you had when you lived in ignorance. 15 But just as he who called you is holy, so be holy in all you do; (I Peter 1:13-15)

The trick is to win the war against sin in our thought life; then we will win in our behavior. All sin starts in the mind and so we must defeat it there.

We demolish arguments and every pretension that sets itself up against the knowledge of God, and we take captive every thought to make it obedient to Christ. (II Corinthians 10:4)

OK, so what does he mean by sinful desires? Some translations say "fleshly lusts."  Well, they include wrong sexual desires, but that isn't all.... also included are truly self-seeking desires, whether they are wishes for wealth, for power, or for pleasure.  We've touched on this before: me, me, me!! And then me, again! It's all about me! Unbelievers are ignorant of God and His Word, and they live for self. Everything they do is directed to promote themselves, or to please themselves, or to protect themselves. Many times even when they are doing something which appears nice on the surface, they are doing it for selfish reasons!! Unbelievers shrug off God. "What's that to me?" they say. They even mock God and His followers.

Above all, you must understand that in the last days scoffers will come, scoffing and following their own evil desires. 4 They will say, “Where is this ‘coming’ he promised? Ever since our ancestors died, everything goes on as it has since the beginning of creation.” (II Peter 3:3-4)

They think they are free; they can do anything they want; no chains on them! But in reality, they are enslaved by their sins and selfish desires. Believers, on the other hand, can live for the will of God, which is directly the opposite of the lusts and desires of human beings:

As a result, they do not live the rest of their earthly lives for evil human desires, but rather for the will of God.  (I Peter 4:2)

Do not love the world or anything in the world. If anyone loves the world, love for the Father is not in them. 16 For everything in the world—the lust of the flesh, the lust of the eyes, and the pride of life—comes not from the Father but from the world. 17 The world and its desires pass away, but whoever does the will of God lives forever. (I John 2:15-17)

Let's make sure that we understand one thing that Peter is saying here: he is talking to believers. Becoming a Christian does not eradicate the strong, emotional tug toward the "me, me" mentality, and toward sin. Walking with God for years and years doesn't mean that there is no longer a need to do battle!
Many of the folks whom we consider giants of God fell into sin after years of walking with Him. Noah got drunk and was indecently exposed after showing great faith and obedience to God. David, the man after God's own heart, was perhaps in his early fifties when he fell into sin. Elijah's faith wavered after years of courageous service to God, proclaiming His Word to Ahab and Jezebel. And Hezekiah, a godly king who reformed much of his people's lives, fell into the sin of pride fairly late in life.  As long as we are breathing in this body, we need to be careful; we must be vigilant and fight the war against these desires to go our own way, and sin against our Savior.

We are able and responsible to obey this command and abstain from these fleshly desires. They are powerful; God is more powerful. Through saving faith in Jesus and through the daily indwelling of the Spirit and the Word, we can be victorious in this war!

We are pilgrims here on earth.....we must cultivate the mindset of loving heaven more and looking forward to it, and we must be vigilant in the war against sin.

We'll learn more from Peter tomorrow!