Beloved, I urge you as sojourners and exiles to abstain from the passions of the flesh, which wage war against your soul. (1 Peter 2:11)In that one, simple, straightforward verse, Peter says a lot. Note, first, the motivation -- "Beloved." He's not trying to be judgmental, trying to be preachy, trying to foist off ideas or opinions. He's trying to love. As we ought. Next, he urges us toward something.
Before he tells us what he urges us toward, he gives us the first reason why: we are sojourners and exiles. This world is not our home. We really are just passing through. It makes no sense to invest oneself too heavily in someplace that is brief.
Now he gets to the request, the "urge." The Greek is parakaleō, meaning "to call near." You may see its proximity to a reference to the Holy Spirit from the lips of Jesus (John 14:16, 26; 15:26; 16:7). That word (same root) is "comforter" or "helper." So Peter is saying, "Please, let me help you by inviting you to walk alongside me as we do this." Do what? "Abstain from the passions of the flesh." Now, of course, we've all heard that kind of talk before. And, too often, it makes us think of God as the Cosmic Killjoy. But, we know, a "good Christian" doesn't do those things, so ... sigh ... we'll try. Sort of. Because, after all, "the passions of the flesh" are where we live. Seriously. That is our contact with reality. And, in truth, most of them aren't, by definition, sinful. They only become sinful when they rule us, when they are corrupted, when they rise to the level of idolatry -- a god before God. It's not a sin to eat; it's a sin to be gluttonous. It's not a sin to have sexual relations; it's a sin to have sexual relations outside of God's plan and purpose for them. The flesh is our current living arrangement. It is corrupted by sin, but it's where we live. So the problem isn't our bodies as much as the passions that rule. Abstain from those passions that are purely about our bodily pleasures. Why? Well, there's more than one reason, but he already said that our bodies are temporary. We're sojourners and exiles.
That is one reason. He gives the big one next. Yes, we're temporary residents, so don't make this residence our primary focus. But it's more than that. These passions "wage war against your soul." Paul says, "I see in my members another law waging war against the law of my mind and making me captive to the law of sin that dwells in my members." (Rom 7:23). We are new creations (2 Cor 5:17), born again (1 Peter 1:3, 23). We have a new mind, a new will, and new emotions -- the soul. These fleshly passions, then, attack our true identity.
Peter doesn't say, "Stop sinning." Instead, he rightly points to the root of the problem -- passions. The only way to stop sinning is to change within, and that means changing your passions -- the things that drive you. We all have passions. They drive us to act. Peter didn't say to stop acting on our passions; he said to avoid the ones that harm us. To "abstain." Because the problem is the desire long before the acting on that desire occurs. Abstain, then, from those passions. Withdraw from them. Put distance between you and them. Don't get close. Don't ask, "Is it okay to do this? I ask because it is really close to that, and that is sin." Go the other way (Psa 1:1-2; Prov 4:14). Because, you see, they're bad for you. (Do you see how that's love to urge this?) They are at war with you. They will cause you serious damage.
Peter approaches this in love for those whose home is elsewhere. He warns them of the serious danger of pursuing passions of the flesh. "Run," he says. "Change your passions." Because, he says, those fleshly passions are out to harm you. They're out to kill you. They're out to tear down your soul. So put them as far from you as you can. It doesn't seem like something about which we should be lackadaisical.
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