I’m sure you have all heard of someone who is at the top of the world, or the height of fame, or something to that effect, and they are said to be “living the good life.” In the jargon of the world the phrase “living the good life” is associated with having an abundance of material things to enjoy; money, nice clothes, good food, luxurious vacations, and expensive cars, beautiful houses and beautiful people. To the world it means having the kind of life that is fulfilling, that is happy, that has all the luxuries of life in abundance. This is the American dream. I think you might even say for a lot of people that it’s the Christian dream. To have all that your heart desires is considered by many Christians today to be the fulfillment of the gospel in our lives. They quote the verse found in Psalm 37:4 “Delight yourself in the LORD; And He will give you the desires of your heart.” They believe that the good life means to have all that your heart desires. They believe you get to obtain the material blessings which many teach are the results of being spiritually blessed. Some preachers have made this doctrine the hallmark of their ministries, “how you can live your best life now.”
The question though is whether or not our perspective of what constitutes the good life, is formed by our carnality or by our spirituality.
Peter speaks in this chapter about living the good life. He speaks about the blessings the Christian can expect. And for those of you who like such things, he even gives us a formula for living the good life. We like formula’s don’t we? Well, Peter gives us, so to speak, a formula or a series of steps we can take in order to life the good life. But I will warn you in advance, the good life in God’s perspective probably differs considerably from the good life that the world promises.
In vs 10 Peter is quoting from Psalm 34, which says in vs 12, “Who is the man who desires life
And loves length of days that he may see good?” The Septuagint version, which is the Greek translation of the Old Testament that Peter and the apostles were familiar with, says it this way, as translated into the KJV; “For he that will love life, and see good days…” So semantics aside, the gist of what is being said is that if you want to live the good life, then these things are the principles you must live by.
Now I want to clarify one more thing by way of introduction before we get into the formula. And that is what is this good life that is spoken of? It’s the same kind of life that Jesus spoke of when He said in John 10:10, "The thief comes only to steal and kill and destroy; I came that they may have life, and have it abundantly.” The Greek word for life there is the same word that is used by Peter, which is zoe. And let me give you the definition of zoe; it means the state of one who is possessed of vitality or is animated. It means to really live in all the fullness of life. It speaks of spiritual life, having the fullness of life as it was intended at creation, an abundant life, even everlasting life.
Let me say further as an answer to my own earlier question, that the good life is found by living life in the Spirit, not in the flesh. It’s not found in carnal, material possessions, but it’s found in walking by the Spirt, living in the Spirit. So while Peter does talk about inheriting blessings in vs 9, he is not necessarily talking about carnal possessions, or money, or riches. Those things do not satisfy. They don’t bring fulfillment, they do not give happiness, and they certainly are not tied to an eternal reward. Jesus said in another place, "Beware, and be on your guard against every form of greed; for not [even] when one has an abundance does his life consist of his possessions.” And Paul in Galatians warns that “For the one who sows to his own flesh will from the flesh reap corruption, but the one who sows to the Spirit will from the Spirit reap eternal life.”
Now as I said last Wednesday night at Bible study, everlasting life or eternal life is not something we gain when we die and get to heaven. It’s something that begins when you are born again. And this new life in Christ is spiritual life, nurtured and taught by the Holy Spirit, and one in which we are to grow and mature. And that maturation process is what we call sanctification. Where we begin to follow in the pattern of Christ, following His footsteps, as Peter outlined in chapter 3vs21, and in so doing we develop the mind of Christ, we act in righteousness, we become conformed to the image of Jesus Christ, that the world might see by our testimony of life the truth of the gospel and that they might be saved.
This sanctified life that we live is what Peter is talking about as the zoe life. It’s what we who have the life are supposed to desire, that we might see good days, and that we might inherit a blessing. And that blessing is the gift of everlasting, eternal, zoe life.
So in vs 8 he says he is summing up what he has been saying all along. He's summing up this teaching about sanctification. And the goal of our sanctification is that our life may be like Christ’s life. That’s the abundant life. That’s zoe life. It’s not a life free from illness, it’s not a life free from suffering, or from persecution. It’s not a life filled with all the world’s goods. It’s a vibrant, spiritual life, a meaningful, fulfilling eternal life even in spite of suffering. Just a cursory read of 1 Peter and you will see that he was writing to Christians who were suffering, who were being persecuted. Yet again and again he makes the point in this epistle that in spite of their suffering, they should live righteously, living in the fullness of the Spirit led life.
So let’s get into the formula for the good life. A life that God defines as good, and that God will bless. The first point that Peter makes is that such a life requires the right attitude. It requires the right perspective. It requires the mind of Christ. And he goes on to say that this right attitude will be characterized by five things.
The first aspect of a right attitude is harmonious. “To sum up, all of you be harmonious.” Harmonious means to be like be like minded. To think the same, that's what harmonious means, to be like-minded. It has the sense of unity. Let me qualify that though by saying this; unity for the sake of unity without believing in the same truth is not Biblical. The United Methodist Church just had a big international conference about unity. It was in reference to their views towards LGBTQ issues. And only by the more conservative African votes were they able to maintain unity. But a large faction of particularly the American arm of the UM Church was in favor of accepting the LGBTQ agenda. And afterwards I read a quote by one of the African spokespersons who rightly said, “Separation in truth is better than unity in error.” So particularly in church doctrine, we do not compromise on the truth for the sake of unity.
But I’m not sure that church unity is what Peter is really referring to here. I think he’s talking about considering another persons needs as just as important as your own needs. Not working against one another, but working with one another. I think the idea of having a complementary attitude is what is being said here. Not flattery, but working with one another even though you may not all be singing the same note. Recognizing that God uses varying talents, and varying gifts, in order to weave together a tapestry. As Paul said to the church at Corinth, all the parts of the body are necessary. A good analogy might be a choir, where everyone sings, but they sing with individual voices and singing different parts, and yet the whole sounds harmonious. We should look for ways to work with others, to be a complement to one another, rather than try to make everyone be like us.
The second word that Peter uses in regards to the right attitude is sympathetic. Sympathetic means to show sympathy. It means caring about another’s problems. Showing sympathy towards someone who is suffering. Too often the church is viewed by the world as unsympathetic. We seem like we condemn everyone who isn’t one of us. And yet we forget where we came from. We forget who were were and what we were like before we were saved. Because we were fallen, sinful creatures we should be able to show sympathy to those who are also fallen, trapped by sin, and suffering the ravages of the devil. It doesn’t mean we wink at sin, but that we have mercy on those who are still in their fallen condition. Zechariah 3:1-2 speaks of Joshua the high priest as a brand plucked from the burning. Jude speaks of having mercy on some, snatching them out of the fire. Both indicate the means by which we were added to the church, only by God’s grace and mercy. And so we should be caring towards others, and sympathetic towards those who are suffering.
The third word he uses is the word from which we get Philadelphia. It’s translated as brotherly. It’s talking about an attitude of brotherly love that should be a characteristic of the good life. This kind of love is related to a love of family. It’s recognizing that we are all of the family of God. It’s sharing in the kind of love that God had for the world, in that He gave His only begotten Son in order that they might be saved. It’s the kind of love that the Good Samaritan showed towards the man that he found by the road who had been robbed and beaten. Jesus said the world will know you are My disciples by your love you show for one another.
The fourth word is “kind-hearted.” It means “compassionate.” It means tender-hearted. It’s sympathy in action. It means showing mercy. Showing love. It’s one thing to have sympathy for someone who is in need, and another thing to act to serve that need. The Good Samaritan could have had all kinds of emotive feelings about the person lying in the ditch and yet done nothing. But he showed compassion in getting down from his horse and tending the man’s wounds, and paying for his medical needs and physical needs from his own money. Compassion is an attribute of Christ that we should emulate.
The fifth word is humble in spirit. Jesus was humble in spirit. Above all others, He had a right to be exalted. Phil. 2:6-8 “who, although He existed in the form of God, did not regard equality with God a thing to be grasped, but emptied Himself, taking the form of a bond-servant, [and] being made in the likeness of men. Being found in appearance as a man, He humbled Himself by becoming obedient to the point of death, even death on a cross.” Paul tells us in Philippians what it means to be humble; Phil. 2:3-4 “Do nothing from selfishness or empty conceit, but with humility of mind regard one another as more important than yourselves; do not [merely] look out for your own personal interests, but also for the interests of others.”James 4:6 says, “God is opposed to the proud, but gives grace to the humble.”
So these five attributes are the characteristics of the right attitude, which is necessary if you are going to live the good life. And of course, it should be evident that the one person in whom all these attributes were most clearly exhibited was Jesus Christ. And Peter has said that we are to follow His example by walking in his footsteps.
In addition to the right attitude, we need to have the right response if we would live the good life. And to that Peter says in vs 9, “not returning evil for evil or insult for insult.” We’ve talked about this before, about not giving a tit for tat. Not treating others as you are treated.
The fact is that there is evil in the world. There is more evil than there is good. In fact, evil is the default position of the world, I am afraid. It’s more natural to do evil than good. We were talking at dinner the other night and my son mentioned that it seemed the majority of people that he came into contact with through his work or daily activities seemed to be rude. He said it seemed like that most people were so concerned about their own problems that they had no energy or inclination to be nice to others. But there was one woman that he mentioned that was always nice. And she made such an impression upon him, especially because so many others were rude.
As Christians, as people of God, don’t you think we ought to be one of those people that someone might say, “she is always so nice.” I’m afraid that I might act more rude than I actually feel. I admit I don’t always act nice, but neither do I realize that I sometimes act rude. And yet I am told because of my carelessness, or my preoccupation with something or another, I often come across as rude. It’s something that we should work on. It’s not the way we are supposed to act.
The key is not to retaliate. Not to come back with a retort. I have been on the receiving end of criticism a few times in my life. And though I can’t say I am always this way, I have tried on a few occasions to bend over backwards to diffuse the situation. And when I did so I found that it usually resulted in a complete reversal on the part of my accuser. And over time I learned the hard way never to respond to letters or emails or texts in an acrimonious way. But to allow their retort to go unanswered. The Bible says a soft answer turns away wrath.
Matthew 5:38, in the Sermon on the Mount, Jesus said Verse 38, "You have heard that it was said, 'AN EYE FOR AN EYE, AND A TOOTH FOR A TOOTH.' But I say to you, do not resist an evil person; but whoever slaps you on your right cheek, turn the other to him also. If anyone wants to sue you and take your shirt, let him have your coat also. Whoever forces you to go one mile, go with him two. Give to him who asks of you, and do not turn away from him who wants to borrow from you. You have heard that it was said, 'YOU SHALL LOVE YOUR NEIGHBOR and hate your enemy.' But I say to you, love your enemies and pray for those who persecute you, so that you may be sons of your Father who is in heaven; for He causes His sun to rise on [the] evil and [the] good, and sends rain on [the] righteous and [the] unrighteous.” So in other words, Jesus is saying that God does good to evil people, and so should we.
In the same way notice that Peter says, rather than retaliate, give a blessing instead. That’s kind of like taking our response to evil another level. How do you give a blessing to those who insult you? How do you give a blessing to someone who has done evil towards you? Peter says give a blessing to such people. How do you do that in real life?
Well, to start with, I believe giving a blessing means to forgive them. Jesus when He was being nailed to a cross, prayed “Father, forgive them, for they know not what they do.” Stephen prayed the same thing when he was being stoned to death. To forgive someone is to bless them. Another way Jesus showed us to give a blessing is to pray for them. It’s to seek their good, ultimately, to seek their salvation.
Peter said in vs 9, “but giving a blessing instead; for you were called for the very purpose that you might inherit a blessing.” To inherit something means that you didn’t earn it. It’s something that is given to you. This blessing we have been given is no less than everlasting life and all the glory that will be ours at the consummation of the Kingdom. And since you were given a blessing you didn’t earn, then shouldn’t we give a blessing to those who don’t deserve it as well?
The next attribute that we are to exhibit if we are living the good life is we must have the right standard. In vs 10 Peter is quoting from the Old Testament, Psalms 34. He’s quoting from scripture to validate what he is saying. In other words, he’s not just making up this criteria out of worldly philosophy, but he’s providing a scriptural basis. And notice that the verses he is quoting from in Psalm 34 echo the very same themes he has been saying in vs 8 and 9.
Let’s read what he quotes; For, "THE ONE WHO DESIRES LIFE, TO LOVE AND SEE GOOD DAYS, MUST KEEP HIS TONGUE FROM EVIL AND HIS LIPS FROM SPEAKING DECEIT. "HE MUST TURN AWAY FROM EVIL AND DO GOOD; HE MUST SEEK PEACE AND PURSUE IT.
So if you want to have the good life, the zoe life, the life of Christ living in you, then don’t speak evil, don’t speak deceitfully, slanderously, insultingly. Turn away from evil and do good, give a blessing instead, pray for them, forgive them. Seek peace and pursue it. In the beatitudes Jesus said, “Blessed are the peacemakers, for they shall be called sons of God.” That’s a blessing that we cannot even comprehend, to be called the sons of God. In Romans 12:18 Paul said, “If possible, so far as it depends on you, be at peace with all men.” I wonder if we are doing that to the best of our ability. I wonder if instead of being called peacemakers, I wonder if we are being called troublemakers. I hope not.
The final aspect of the good life that we are to aspire to is that we need the right incentive. Notice vs 12, which is still quoting from Psalm 34, “FOR THE EYES OF THE LORD ARE TOWARD THE RIGHTEOUS, AND HIS EARS ATTEND TO THEIR PRAYER, BUT THE FACE OF THE LORD IS AGAINST THOSE WHO DO EVIL.”
So our incentive to live the good life is because the eyes of the Lord are watching us. The eyes of the Lord is a rather ominous phrase, isn’t it? We get the picture of God watching to see if we are going to mess up and then He will punish us. But the eyes of the Lord is not necessarily a figure of speech that implies judgement so much as watch care over His people. It’s like a father or a mother who watches over their children, never taking their eyes off of them.
Why is the Lord watching us so closely? Is it to pounce when we fall? No, the Psalmist says it’s because His ears attend to our prayer. In other words, He is watching over us, listening for our prayers. He is waiting for us to call out to Him, much as a parent watches over a child playing outside, their ears tuned in case he should call out Mommy! or Daddy! And God is ready and willing to come to our rescue at a moment’s notice. Read the rest of Psalm 34, I don’t have time to read it all now, but it’s a Psalm of assurance that God will rescue us, that He will help us in the time of need.
Vs.4, “I sought the LORD, and He answered me, And delivered me from all my fears.”
Vs 6,7, “This poor man cried, and the LORD heard him And saved him out of all his troubles. The angel of the LORD encamps around those who fear Him, And rescues them.”
Vs. 17, “The righteous cry, and the LORD hears And delivers them out of all their troubles.”
So there is the response of a merciful, gracious, compassionate Father towards His children, watching over them, listening to their prayers. He helps us when we are unjustly treated, He helps us when we suffer. He helps us when we try to walk like Christ walked as sanctified in a fallen world.
But there is a different response of God towards those that are evil. It says the face of the Lord is against those who do evil. If you are not a child of God, (and children are known by their obedience to their Father,) then God will turn to those with a face of wrath. There will be a day of judgement for every careless word or deed for every man and woman living on the earth. The face of the Lord often is used in the Bible to speak of judgment.
Revelation 6:16, When at the coming of Christ the people begin to cry for the rocks and the mountains to fall on them they say, "Fall on us and hide us from the face of Him who sits on the throne and from the wrath of the Lamb." The face of God, the face of the Lamb, associated with wrath, with anger against sinners. There will be a day of reckoning for those who reject Christ.
The invitation still stands however, for you to become a child of God. That you might have the life that comes from Christ, even the best life, the good life, the zoe life, life eternal. Jesus came to offer Himself as a substitute to take your place by death on the cross to save you from the penalty of sin, if you will just trust Him and believe in Him as your Lord and Savior. To those who come to Him in faith He will give eternal life. You can live the good life. You can have life, and have it more abundantly. Come to Jesus today and trust Him as your Savior for the forgiveness of your sins, and find new life in Him.
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