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1 Peter 1:14
14 As [hos] obedient [hupakoe] children [teknon], not [me] fashioning yourselves according to [suschematizo] the former [proteron] lusts [epithumia] in [en] your [humon] ignorance [agnoia]: KJV-Interlinear
14 As obedient children, do not be conformed to the former lusts which were yours in your ignorance, NASB
Children are to obey their parents in all things. All things, means in truth, not in criminal activities or in things that are obviously not compatible with truth. However, the child is not the one who is making up the rules either.
The child, is a student without portfolio. That simply means that the child is here to learn and not argue, talk back, make scenes, be opinionated, disobedient and so forth. The child's first obligation is to respect and to obey, and to be quiet. A little emphasis on that last item.
Likewise the parent is to teach with authority, not with arrogance, with wisdom, not with stupid opinions, with fairness, not by taking advantage.
And so we have an outline of our obligation to God. He is the authority. Doctrine is His message. And we are to listen and learn in accordance with His schooling policies, while at the same time, being quiet with respect to our own opinions, and especially with our former beliefs.
The former you, is a reference to the sin nature. We are all born with the sin nature within our physical body. And if allowed, it will take us over, and rule us from its position of sin or human good.
We are living souls. The soul resides within the body, but is not a part of the body. When we die, we leave the body, ‘Absent from the body, and face to face with the Lord.’ At death the physical body is discarded, and left along with the sin nature, to rot in the ground. That is the value of the physical body and the sin nature. Good only for decay.
Out of fellowship, you are ruled by your sin nature. And here again, you are not to revert, once you have been saved, and in fellowship, back to the former self. Life within fellowship is far better, although you will not feel any different, nor have any sense of your different self, it is simply Gods command for residence, and accomplished by means of confession to God the Father.
Ignorance is lack of knowledge, or unawareness. It is a reference to the time either prior to your salvation, or to the time prior to your learning doctrine, or to the times when you are out of fellowship.
A baby is ignorant. An adult, presumably, has less ignorance. Although you probably know folks that you wonder about.
Ignorance is a reference to your knowledge, or lack of it, of the spiritual life, to doctrine, to God, to Christ and so forth.
You can conduct your life as a mature adult, with knowledge, understanding, and wisdom, or you can function in life without knowledge, understanding and wisdom, imitating a baby.
And your entire conduct in life is evaluated with respect to the Bible doctrine which you have in your soul, not with respect to the worldly knowledge, academic knowledge, or street smarts you may possess.
These latter items may get you around in a jungle environment, which is just another description of the world, but they do no good whatsoever in your spiritual life.
The former item, Bible doctrine, will get you around in your spiritual life, as well as help you to get by in the world, but although it will aid you in surviving in this life, its primary function is to prepare you for the next life (eternity), which is the lions share of your entire existence. This life in this world is but a blink on the eternal timeline.
So, obedience is the key to your success, and obedience means simply doing what God wants you to do, namely, study your Bible everyday, learn doctrine, apply it to your daily life, gain understanding from your learning and application, and allow this to build up wisdom within you, thus strengthening your faith.
Faith is the spiritual muscle which allows you to accomplish anything. And in this life, anything simply means waiting on the lord, and not allowing the world to break your faith.
The world has many weapons and subtleties for distracting you, causing doubt to enter into your thoughts, crusades or controversies for getting you involved in the world and away from your spiritual life, and so forth.
Keep your mind on doctrine and stick to the path of truth. Don’t wonder off.
