In the Same Way, part 2

The desire to be exalted is great in the heart of people. Humility is just the opposite of that. Humility is that of being nothing before God. Nothingness is the glory of a person and the Spirit of Christ. Jesus was just as humble in His dealings with people as He was with God. He felt that He was the servant of God for the people whom He made and loved. His humility was displayed in the Gospel of John. John 5:19 says, “I tell you the truth, the Son can do nothing by Himself; He can do only what He sees His Father doing, because whatever the Father does the Son also does.”
 

Here we have the Son of God – God Himself – saying that He can do nothing by Himself. That begins to define the difference between pride and humility. Pride does not wait for permission. Pride believes it has the right to do whatever it wants. Pride is not always obvious; it is displayed whenever a person makes a decision without factoring in the Will of God.
 

If the glory of a person is their nothingness before God, then that needs to be considered in every decision. Jesus saw Himself as a servant of God and would not do anything the Father was not doing. (Wow! would that attitude change our lifestyle or what?)
 

Whenever we give into temptation, we are deciding for ourselves how our lives will be lived out. And then after we have given into temptation, over and over again, we have the boldness to blame God for the circumstances of our life. Giving into temptation is the same as resisting authority, and if we are resisting authority, we are in a fight against God, which is ultimately going to bring judgment upon us. 

We must keep the context of Peter’s writing in mind. He is writing this while Christians are being persecuted and put to death. And in addressing the difference between humility and pride, he is saying, in essence, that the truly humble person will gladly serve even those who are trying to vex his/her soul, because the humble person sees the Will of God as the only thing in life that matters. 

That backdrop brings us to the title of this study, “In the same way.” 

Let’s go back to our opening verse and read it in its entirety. 1 Peter 5:5 “Young men, in the same way be submissive to those who are older. All of you, clothe yourselves with humility toward one another, because, ‘God opposes the proud but gives grace to the humble.’”
 

“In the same way, be submissive.” Submission in this context relates to humility. This is one of three times this phrase is used in 1 Peter. We are going to go back to chapter two to set this up. 1 Peter 2:23 “When they hurled their insults at Him, He did not retaliate; when He suffered, He made no threats. Instead, He entrusted Himself to Him who judges justly.” This is the context for this phrase, “In the same way.” 

“In the same way” that Christ entrusted Himself to His Father, young people should submit to their elders. The word, “entrusted,” in this verse, has the same basic meaning as submission does. It means to surrender or to yield up. When Jesus was unjustly punished, He surrendered His will to His Father. He yielded up His will to the One who judges justly. Do you realize the level of humility it would take to simply trust the fact that, in the end, God will balance the books?

Continued tomorrow