The following is reprinted with permission
of The Timely Messenger
AN INFORMAL SURVEY OF THE NEW TESTAMENT
A Dispensational Approach
I PETER
By: R B. Shiflet
I. THE REALITY OF SALVATION 1:2-21
II. THE REQUIREMENT OF BROTHERLY LOVE 1:22-25
III. THE READINESS FOR WORSHIP 2:1-3
IV. THE "ROYAL PRIESTHOOD" AND THE BODY OF CHRIST 2:4-10
V. THE REMINDER TO LIVE HOLY LIVES 2:11-12
VI. THE RESPONSIBILITY TO AUTHORITIES 2:13-17
VII. THE RESPONSIBILITY OF WIVES AND HUSBANDS 3:1-7
VIII. THE REPRESENTATIVE TRAITS OF CHRISTIAN LIVING 3:8-12
IX. RECOGNIZING THE LORDSHIP OF CHRIST 3:13-15
X. REFLECTIONS ON SUFFERING-OURS AND CHRIST'S
A. Our Suffering
B. Christ's Suffering 3:18-19
A comparison of the sermons of Peter in early Acts with his epistles,
written many years later, presents an excellent example of progressive
revelation. In the sermons, he charged Israel with the crime of crucifying
their Messiah and said nothing about His death for our sins, or redemption
through His blood. It is recommended that we go to Acts and read his sermons
in their entirety and then go to his epistles. Here are a few excerpts
from those sermons:
"Ye men of Israel, hear these words;
Jesus of Nazareth, a man approved of God among you by miracles and wonders
and signs, which God did by him in the midst of you, as ye yourselves
also know: Him, being delivered by the determinate counsel and foreknowledge
of God, ye have taken, and by wicked hands have crucified and slain:"
(Acts 2:22-23)
"The God of Abraham, and of Isaac,
and of Jacob, the God of our fathers, hath glorified his Son Jesus;
whom ye delivered up, and denied him in the presence of Pilate, when
he was determined to let him go. But ye denied the Holy One and the
Just, and desired a murderer to be granted unto you; And killed the
Prince of life, whom God hath raised from the dead; whereof we are witnesses."
(Acts 3:13-15)
"Then Peter and the other apostles
answered and said, We ought to obey God rather than men. The God of
our fathers raised up Jesus, whom ye slew and hanged on a tree. Him
hath God exalted with his right hand to be a Prince and a Saviour, for
to give repentance to Israel, and forgiveness of sins." (Acts 5:29-31)
Peter limited his ministry to Israel. After
all, Christ had told them to begin in Jerusalem, and then go to Judea,
then Samaria and only then to the uttermost parts of the earth. In Acts
chapter 10 we have the account of a special vision and a voice from
Heaven that convinced a reluctant Apostle to go to Caesarea and witness
to a Gentile centurion who was ready to be saved. After the Jerusalem
Council, in which it was decreed that believing Jews might continue
the practice of circumcision and the feast days and fast days, Gentile
believers were under no such obligations. Peter even visited Gentile
Christians in Antioch, ate with them and had fellowship with them until
some of the Judaizers from Jerusalem came to Antioch. At that time,
Peter withdrew himself and had no fellowship with the Gentile believers.
Paul tells us in Galatians 2 that at Jerusalem he withstood Peter to
the face for he was to be blamed. On that occasion, Peter recognized
Paul's distinctive ministry and gave to him and Barnabas the "right
hand of fellowship." He agreed that the Twelve Apostles would limit
their ministry to the Jews (circumcision), preaching the "gospel
of the circumcision" while Paul, Barnabas and their associates
would go to the Gentiles (unvcircumcision) preaching the gospel of the
uncircumcision.
In his letters, Peter revealed such truth
concerning the meaning of the cross as we see in:
"Forasmuch as ye know that ye were
not redeemed with corruptible things, as silver and gold, from your
vain conversation received by tradition from your fathers; But with
the precious blood of Christ, as of a lamb without blemish and without
spot: Who verily was foreordained before the foundation of the world,
but was manifest in these last times for you, Who by him do believe
in God, that raised him up from the dead, and gave him glory; that your
faith and hope might be in God. Seeing ye have purified your souls in
obeying the truth through the Spirit unto unfeigned love of the brethren,
see that ye love one another with a pure heart fervently: Being born
again, not of corruptible seed, but of incorruptible, by the word of
God, which liveth and abideth for ever." (I Pet. 3:18-23)
In the closing verses of his second epistle,
he pointed h is readers to "Brother Paul's" writings and urged
them to GROW IN GRACE and in the knowledge of our Lord and Savior Jesus
Christ. Read it in:
"And account that the longsuffering
of our Lord is salvation; even as our beloved brother Paul also according
to the wisdom given unto him hath written unto you; As also in all his
epistles, speaking in them of these things; in which are some things
hard to be understood, which they that are unlearned and unstable wrest,
as they do also the other scriptures, unto their own destruction. Ye
therefore, beloved, seeing ye know these things before, beware lest
ye also, being led away with the error of the wicked, fall from your
own stedfastness. But grow in grace, and in the knowledge of our Lord
and Saviour Jesus Christ. To him be glory both now and for ever. Amen."
(II Pet. 3:15-18)
(To Be Continued )
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