Peter’s Words, Part IV Today's Three-minute Bible Study Print, Study and Apply Title: Peter’s Words, Part IV ------------------------------ Date: 07/04/2000 Keywords: "abstain" "behavior "lusts"" "Peter" Welcome to eXXit, the web site designed to help you stand strong in the face of sexual temptation. Passage: 1 Peter 2:11-12* 11. Beloved, I urge you as aliens and strangers to abstain from fleshly lusts, which wage war against the soul. 12. Keep your behavior excellent among the Gentiles, so that in the thing in which they slander you as evildoers, they may on account of your good deeds, as they observe them, glorify God in the day of visitation. Questions 1. Who is Peter addressing as "aliens and strangers" in verse 11 and why?   2. How do lusts wage war against the soul?   Practical help The power of Peter's text can be fully appreciated only when you know the circumstances of those he is writing to. This letter was sent to Christians who were fleeing persecution by zealous Jews and Romans. They were definitely aliens and strangers in the land they had traveled to. As they came into new circumstances, Peter advised them on how they should live and why. One of the times of greatest weakness to Christians who struggle with pornography is when they travel. They rationalize that because no one knows them in this new location, they are free to indulge their fantasies. After all, who will ever know? This leads them into the worst kind of conflict imaginable — a war inside themselves waged against their own souls. Following the act of giving in to lust comes the onslaught of guilt, remorse and shame — wave after relentless wave. They end up severely spiritually weakened and feeling like frauds as Christians. On the other hand, even when no one but God sees you resist temptation, you are infused with new vitality, and your life becomes one of deep joy and love for others. In the end, your consistent walk of obedience to God will result in others coming to know Him as their Savior. eXXit homepage Index of three-minute studies Copyright 2000 by eXXit *"Scripture taken from the NEW AMERICAN STANDARD BIBLE®, © Copyright The Lockman Foundation 1960, 1962, 1963, 1968, 1971, 1972, 1973, 1975, 1977, 1995. Used by permission."