Lesson Notes:  1 Peter  2:11-17 (NIV based)

READ:  1 Peter 2:11-17, with vv.9-10 for context

As you are doing good and living righteously before God in your home, family, marriage, job, school, community, etc., what should be your understanding and approach as described in this passage? 

v.11
In what ways are we believers "aliens and strangers in the world"?  Describe.
- - Remember that you are spiritually and morally an alien and stranger.  (vv.9-10)
- - You are expected and directed to actively abstain from sinful desires, which are appealing to people in the world. 
- - The morality of the world is at war against you.
- - Your own natural desires are at war against you.

In what ways do sinful desires war against our soul?  What are the dynamics of outer or external war?  What are the dynamics of inner or internal war?  What have you experienced in these areas?  Describe.

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v.12
What is this verse saying about the visibility, the quality, and the impression we impact on people through how we believers live our life?

What should we believers expect from unbelievers or "pagans" around us as they observe how we live our life?
- - You will certainly receive suffering for doing good.
- - You will certainly be accused of wrongdoing.
- - People will be watching you with criticalness and with contempt.
- - People will reject your morality and religious beliefs.
- - But, God is glorified when we are wrongly accused while living righteously.

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vv.13-14
As we go about our daily lives, in what ways do we "submit", or not, to "authority instituted among men"?  List as many examples as you can think of.  And then, list the examples that you do not consistently submit to and why.
- - “submit” = Strong's #5293 to place under in an orderly fashion; "to subordinate".

From the implication in verses 13-14, what results are likely to be occurring, whether you can detect them or not, when you submit, or not, to authority over you?
- - You are instructed to submit to every authority over you, and by implication people will watch you and see whether you submit, especially to the ones you do not agree with or like.
- - Your submission promotes and benefits God’s agenda.
- - Remember that God has ordained the authority structures over you, and He has ordained that they are authorized to both punish and reward, which are applied to both pagans and believers alike.

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Does God have any purposes that He wants to accomplish through how we live our life in front of others?  What?
v.15
- - God’s will is for you to suffer for doing good, doing right - He wants you to experience and endure this suffering.
- - One of God’s purposes is to “silence the ignorant talk of foolish men” - i.e. to bring reproach upon them through your righteous living.
v.16
- - Living righteously results in living free from the bondages to sinfulness, which we can model and showcase for unbelievers who are enslaved to sins.  But it does not give you license to covertly engage in sinfulness, which would be counterproductive to what God is wanting to accomplish both in you and through you.
- - You represent God when you live according to His righteous standards.
- - Serving God may involve serving others who do not deserve it.

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v.17
How do we "show proper respect to everyone"?  What is required in our mindset, perspective, and attitude in order to do that?  Compare your answer to the mindset, perspective, and attitude of someone who has disrespect for other people.

Three categories are listed here for whom we should show proper respect to and with what kind of active approach to use for each.  Analyze each category and why its corresponding kind of active approach is necessary for that category in order to show proper respect.

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BIG IDEA:  Live righteously, with proper respect and love for everyone, and with submission to God and to authority over you.

When you live a righteous life that God wants you to, though, expect that you will encounter and endure unjust suffering and additional expense perpetrated by the worldly people around you.  But remember that morally blending in with society around you to avoid suffering and persecution are contrary to God’s will for you.

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IMPORTANT SUB-POINTS:  What are some other important points God is making here in these verses?

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APPLICATIONS:  What applications can you think of for how we should respond to the concepts in these verses? 

PERSONALIZED APPLICATIONS:  From these verses, what do you think God wants you to learn, or know, or remember, or put into effect in your life?  How are you going to do that?

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Works Cited:
Bible. “The Holy Bible: New International Version.” The Bible Library CD-ROM. Oklahoma City, OK: Ellis Enterprises, 1988.

“Strong's Greek Dictionary.” The Bible Library CD-ROM. Oklahoma City, OK: Ellis Enterprises, 1988.
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File name: 1Peter2_11-17-Lesson.___ (.htm, .doc, .pdf)
Translation used: NIV, quoted or referred to in various places within this document
Source: www.BelieverAssist.com
Updated:  December 23, 2016