1 Peter 2:11-12; Eph. 4:17-24, War (3)

By way of illustration let us mention three of Israel’s kings and the fleshly lusts which war against the soul.  King Saul was given to jealousy and it ruined.  He was afraid of David whom he knew had God’s blessing and the promise of the throne after he, Saul, died.  So for several years he poured his soul into chasing David and trying to kill him.  Saul suffered from the pride of life.  (Read about his life in 1 Sam. 18-31).

King David, after years of walking faithfully with the Lord, became obsessed with a woman, another man’s wife, Bathsheba.  He committed adultery with her, and then tried to cover it up by having her husband killed in battle.  David was never the same after that.  God forgave him.  But David’s family became one tragedy after another.  And David was unable to rule effectively.  David suffered from the lust of the flesh.  (Read about this part of his life in 2 Sam. 11-20.)

King Ahab didn’t get what he wanted (the vineyard of one of his subjects, Naboth).  This became his obsession.  He sulked about it until his wife Jezebel took care of things.  Ahab was judged for the death of a righteous man.  He suffered from the lust of the eyes.  It ruined an already sinful soul.  (Read the story in 1 Kings 21.)

But for those who abstain from fleshly lusts there is a tremendous potential.  It is the potential of having your conduct honorable among the Gentiles.  It is possible for those who have come to Christ to live a righteous life in this world (Gentiles are the people of the nations, those whose loyalty is to this world and its ruler, John 14:30). 

The viewpoint here is powerful.  There is a war going on.  For the people of the world those who have come to Christ are the enemy.  They speak against you as evil doers when you are living a godly life.  But they are not our enemies.  Our war is against the fleshly lusts that war against our soul.  But we are not to hate the people around us or consider them our enemies.

Think about this and what it means.  We actually have an amazing power in this world.  If we reckon ourselves as sojourners and pilgrims and if we abstain from fleshly lusts we can live honorably in this world.  And even though the people around us may act offended and upset at us holier than thou Christians they may, in fact, actually see through their bias and see something desirable.  Remember that even as we turned from the world with its emptiness, so those around us may also be seeing the futility of their lives.  God may use our light in the darkness to call others out of darkness into His marvelous light.  May it be so!

Want to know what constitutes honorable conduct?  Come back tomorrow!