Reasons to Endure
Greeting and a Cause to Endure (1-5)
Peter opened with addressing his audience, affirming their calling and salvation (1-2).
The first reason Peter gave the exiles to endure was that they had been born all over again to an undying hope of inheriting something that would never spoil, stain, or diminish (3-4), as their faith guarded them for ultimate salvation to be revealed (5).
A Cause to Rejoice (6-12)
Faith development was their cause to remain joyous even when life didn’t work out as they hoped. When they did everything right and some things turned out wrong, they had cause for joy. Faith was always being purified, and the difficulties of life were like the fire that purified their faith. When they remained steadfast in their faith, Christ Jesus received praise, glory, and honor, which means He would more fully reign in their lives (6-7).
Peter assured them they did not need to see Him to love Him; it was their trust in Him that gave them inexpressible joy. Their joy resulted from experiencing the very saving of their souls from being lust-driven and good feelings-obsessed, as faith while suffering produced deliverance from obsession with feelings. So, while their bodies experienced suffering and trials, their souls were being saved (8-9).
Peter went on to tell them that this salvation (where one was freed from the habit of being driven by lust and obsessed with how one felt) was one the ancient prophets longed for and constantly sought to know when Christ would bring it to the world (10-11). Those ancient prophets came to the conclusion that they were not serving themselves but were serving another day, and that day was now—the day when the Lord's apostles were preaching the good news (12).
A Cause to Be Holy (13-21)
Peter then told these exiles that because they had been given a present salvation that would give way to an ultimate one, they would want to be vigilant in their thinking. They were to:
think in a clear-headed way
set their hope fully on the power of God’s grace (13)
not be conformed to their passion (14)
fully set their actions and their whole person apart to God (15-16)
Next, they were to recognize God had redeemed them from a life of empty and purposeless living (17). He had purchased their new life not with what the world would value, but with the blood of Jesus Christ (18-19). Jesus was the One God planned to send all along and was the One now revealed, so they could believe God raised the dead and could have hope God would raise them (20-21).
A Cause to Purify Our Souls (22-25)
Those who recognized they belonged to God (were holy) purified their souls by washing out lust. Peter claimed that lust was washed out as a sincere and pure love for others was developed. Genuinely loving others like a brother or sister was what being holy and pure was all about (22).
Peter recognized these exiles could purify their souls because God's word had given their souls a new birth, and the seed in them was the word or gospel of Christ, and His word could never die (23). Their bodies may have been like grass and withering away under suffering, but their souls abided in the word of God and lived forever. (Their lives may have been dominated by lust, but the word had changed them and had saved their souls from dying, so they could have hope and rejoice that they would abide forever, just like God's word [24].) The word remaining forever was the Good News about Christ’s death, Resurrection, and the new life He had given to those exiles who believed (25). This is all why they were called upon to endure; God was using it all to save them completely.
Piecemeal Proverbs (22:17-31:9)
In this chapter, Hezekiah's scribes were putting together a group of Solomon’s proverbs they had discovered concerning friendship (1-10), the family (11-18), and the development of management skills (19-27).
In verses 1 through 4, Solomon gives excellent advice on those things detrimental to friendship.
In verses 1 and 2, he mentions the damage boasting can do.
In verses 3 and 4, he covers the issues of resentment and jealousy.
He moves from discussing those things that can harm friendships to those things that can foster good friendships.
In verses 5 and 6, the ability to take a rebuke is discussed.
In verse 7, he uses a metaphor to encourage one not to take friends for granted, nor to be overly picky.
In verse 8, Solomon warns his son not to wander too far from the home-like atmosphere of his friends.
In verse 9, his children are told that affectionate advice makes the stink of a bad situation smell better.
In verse 10, he calls for his children never to abandon a friend or family friend, for the friend who is near is often more valuable than the one far away.
Hezekiah's scribes now turn their attention toward the proverbs Solomon wrote concerning family.
In verse 11, notice the phrase “my son,” used twenty-three times in the book. Of first importance, Solomon wants his sons wise, to gladden his heart and quell the critics. He next encourages prudence so that danger and negative consequences are avoided (12). Then, he tells his children to be certain to get security on a debt from those to whom they are not related (13). He also encourages family members to be sensitive in expressing excitement over good fortune (14). In verses 15 through 16, a complaining wife is revealed as being torturous and impossible to hold back. In verse 17, Solomon reveals that outside of family relationships, a person needs friends who share blunt words with each other to shave and sharpen their lives. In verse 18, Solomon reminds his sons that if his family is going to prosper, he must pay his workers well and reward loyalty.
The scribes now turn to some proverbs that are meant to help his children develop their management skills.
They are to be aware that their face reflects what is in their heart (19).
Their desire will never be satisfied (20).
The praise they hear from others is a purity test (21).
Once a person is committed to foolishness, no matter how low you bring them, they will never get to the end of their rope (22).
Finally, Solomon gets to the real matter at hand: above all, take care, manage well, and do not neglect what makes you a living. You can't be sure of an inheritance or retirement, so care diligently for what supplies your living (23-27).