I Peter Chapter 2

I Peter 2:1-3 ~ The Spiritual Growth of Salvation

The Hebrew word for good is tov, which is used in all of creation. When something is tov it means it is functioning according to its created purpose. But ra in Hebrew means dysfunction, that is, to not function according to a designed purpose. So the Hebrew concept of evil does not mean to do bad things; it means to not function according to one's created purpose. And God created us for Him. When I am functioning for myself and according to myself, it is called evil. This word ra is the root word for all malice (in verse 1). When we are causing adversity for other people we are functioning in a way that is not according to our created purpose.

I Peter 2:9-10 ~ The Stone of Salvation Part 3

Once you are saved, you are saved. But the cortex of your brain still contains the experiences and effects of sin. So once God saves us then He spends our lifetime healing and mending and transforming our minds. Because the mind (psyche) is the arena where all of life takes place. Whatever is happening outside of my physical body is just activity. The real life is taking place in the mind. How I respond and how I react reveals exactly what is hidden inside my mind. So as Satan scouts me, he chooses things from this horizontal plane to get me to react. He knows there are certain things that do not mean anything to me, so why would he bother with those? Satan wants to get a reaction and he wants to get my mind occupied with things. He cannot take my salvation away from me but he can occupy the attention of my mind. And if he gets me focused on earthly things then I will not have the time or the capacity to focus on the things of Christ.

I Peter 2:18-20 ~ The Submission to Masters

"For, for this you were called because Christ also suffered on behalf of you, for you leaving an example in order that you might follow closely His footsteps.  To suffer unjustly is a calling. And the word for example means to write under.  When teaching the alphabet they used to have the alphabet already written out and you just put your paper on top of it and you would trace it, you would copy it.  Jesus Christ is put under us as an example.  That we could be a carbon copy of exactly what Jesus went through in the earth.  Closely, is a little preposition in there that describes the intensity.  Not just follow, but follow closely, follow exactly. Trace exactly His steps."