1 Peter 2:1 - Printer Friendly

ESV: So put away all malice and all deceit and hypocrisy and envy and all slander.

NIV: Therefore, rid yourselves of all malice and all deceit, hypocrisy, envy, and slander of every kind.

NASB: Therefore, rid yourselves of all malice and all deceit and hypocrisy and envy and all slander,

CSB: Therefore, rid yourselves of all malice, all deceit, hypocrisy, envy, and all slander.

NLT: So get rid of all evil behavior. Be done with all deceit, hypocrisy, jealousy, and all unkind speech.

KJV: Wherefore laying aside all malice, and all guile, and hypocrisies, and envies, and all evil speakings,

NKJV: Therefore, laying aside all malice, all deceit, hypocrisy, envy, and all evil speaking,

At the end of chapter 1, Peter urged his Christian readers to love each other deeply, earnestly, exhaustingly, from pure hearts. They had been born again through the word of God, which lasts forever. They had become eternal people with the capacity to give true, Christlike love to each other. In other words, built into our identity as Christians is the responsibility to love each other. This is not because of how it will benefit us, but because it is what our Father does. It is one way that He expresses His holiness (1 Peter 1:15–16). We are made to do the same.

In verse 1, Peter describes the ways in which we fail to give love to each other. He writes that we must get rid of these five attitudes and actions which oppose love. In every case, they represent a choice to focus on my benefit over and above the interests of someone else.

Malice is a wicked ill-will, hoping for another person to be harmed. Deceit is intentional dishonesty. Hypocrisy is also falseness, holding others to standards we don't live up to, for the sake of pride. Envy has been called "resentful discontent," focusing our angst on someone who has what we crave. Slander is using false or misleading words to harm another's reputation.

To put away these attitudes and actions means not serving ourselves first or above all other people. The church—the community of Christians—is intended to be a place where each of us is confident of God's care and providing. The relationships we have with each other should free us from promoting and defending ourselves, and enable us to do the work of freely and fully loving each other as our Father loves us.

1 Peter 2:1–12 describes the spiritual house God is building. Jesus is the perfect foundation stone God has chosen for the house. Those who trust in Him are also living stones used to build the house. In addition, we individually serve as both the priests and the spiritual sacrifices, our lives offered to the builder. Thus we must live good lives, as strangers in the world preparing to go home to be with our Father, engaged in battle against our desire to sin.

Peter gets specific about what it means to live as God’s set-apart people. Christ is the foundation stone of the spiritual house God is building. We must engage in battle with our selfishness and desire to sin. This includes submitting to human authorities, no matter how evil or harsh. It means enduring suffering, as Christ did for our sake when He died on the cross. Our role is not to fight a physical war for justice here; we will be going home soon.

First Peter 1 described the glorious reality of our present and future as God’s children, by His grace and through our faith in Jesus. He called us a holy people redeemed by God for new purposes. That means believers must live differently than those in the world around us. In this chapter, Peter narrows down exactly what it means to lead a holy life, including doing battle with our own desire to sin. This also means suffering under human authorities, even unjust ones.

Some 30 years after the resurrection of Jesus, Christians are facing greater persecution for their faith. How should they respond? How should we respond to suffering today? The apostle Peter writes this letter both to comfort believers and to encourage them to stay strong. He urges them to put all their hope in their perfect future with Christ, and to obey and trust Him in the present, even in their suffering. Christ suffered greatly; now the Christ-followers have the opportunity to follow Him even in this, showing His grace and power in their hopefulness, obedience, and faith.