The Anatomy of a Christian

Church family: There are several ways to dissect a Christian. You can divide a Christian into mind, body, and spirit and then make observations about what you find in each of those areas. Or you can question his thoughts and his reasoning to see what he thinks about God. Or you can examine his heart to see what he feels about God. Or you can simply squeeze a Christian really hard just to see what comes out!

The Apostle Peter in 1 Peter 3 takes a different approach. He gives a simple encouragement for the believers of first century Asia Minor who were experiencing intense persecution, and in so doing he lays out for believers of all ages a straightforward look at the composition of a Christian.

He begins with our inward attitudes in 3:8: Finally, all of you, have unity of mind, sympathy, brotherly love, a tender heart, and a humble mind. These are five attitudes that every believer is to maintain. Five qualities every believer should have. Five traits that should characterize every believer. These attitudes are inward-facing; they are attitudes we are to have towards our fellow brothers and sisters in Christ. These qualities are to govern our hearts and our minds as we live in community with one another here on earth. Anyone on the outside who looks in to get an inside peek at the Christian community should see these attitudes in plentiful abundance.

And then Peter moves on to an external view of the Christian: Their outward-facing actions to the world in 3:9-11: Do not repay evil for evil or reviling for reviling, but on the contrary, bless, for to this you were called, that you may obtain a blessing. For “Whoever desires to love life and see good days, let him keep his tongue from evil and his lips from speaking deceit; let him turn away from evil and do good; let him seek peace and pursue it. These are to be the actions of a believer toward those who are living in the world. The world will know that we are Christians by two things; by what we DO and by what we SAY.

And then Peter finishes out his word of encouragement with the reason and motivation for having these attitudes and actions -> WHO we live for, our audience in 3:12: For the eyes of the Lord are on the righteous, and his ears are open to their prayer. But the face of the Lord is against those who do evil.” There is one God whose opinion matters to the believer. It is God, the Lord Jesus Christ, the Creator of the universe, the eternal Logos and the eternal Spirit, Yahweh Himself. God watches over His people with the deepest love, care, and compassion for them. He is ever-listening to the prayers of His people and ever-guiding and protecting their steps. He is an amazing, omnipresent God who will never leave us nor forsake us!

Looking forward to worshipping our amazing God together this Sunday: Kyle