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1 Peter 3:13
13 And [kai] who [tis] is he that will harm [kakoo] you [humas], if [ean] ye be [ginomai] followers [mimetes] of that which is good [agathos]? KJV-Interlinear
13 And who is there to harm you if you prove zealous for what is good? NASB
Peter has previously quoted Psalm 34, and then continues with a question. If you pursue the details of the psalm, then who can stop you, who can bring harm to you? And the inference here is simply this, ‘What harm can you suffer if you comply with the requirements of Psalm 34? What is the real cost to you?
And the quick answer is, ‘None.’ There is no real cost to anyone, no cost of any kind, whatsoever, to those who pursue and comply with Gods mandates. There is only gain.
But when people read or hear these requirements, then they become defensive. They wish to think about it for a while. They begin to disagree with the interpretation. They begin to build up their arguments as to why they should not fall under these obligations, or that they do not apply to them.
And that is why most people do not advance in their spiritual lives.
Just as Jobs friends came up with arguments and opinions galore, most of which were totally out of left field and unrelated to the facts at hand, so too, people who simply do not want to comply with Gods mandates, comes up with their own arguments, which to them, seem more than reasonable. After all, God is not here to counter their disagreement.
But then, doctrine is here, and rational thought is here, and most folks know, deep down inside of them, that they have responsibilities and obligations, but they simply do not want to do them. One excuse becomes two, and then the whole realm of Bible doctrine becomes easier to compromise and transform into whatever a person wants it to be.
And that is the objective of arrogance. Selfishness is the result of not wanting to do what God demands, but doing what you want to do, or not doing what you do not want to do.
And the question asked here is, ‘What is the real cost to you?’
Seeing that God provides you with everything and you provide yourself with nothing. Hummm! Did you give yourself life? Did you choose the time in history in which you were going to be born? Can you control the weather, or the economy, or anything in life? Can you force or persuade anyone to do whatever it is that you want?
And the answer is, ‘No.’
Jesus Christ controls history. He placed you into history, just as He placed every detail of your life into history along with you and everyone else.
How did humanity survive for so many thousands of years without antibiotics or a simply bandaid? For that matter, how did humanity survive without grocery store deli’s, a television, a cell phone, a microwave, or an mp3 player?
You may read, or listen to, or learn Bible doctrine, but it is the Holy Spirit within you, that makes all of the spiritual ingredients function. You cannot control the beating of your own heart, but it is Jesus Christ, who put together the biological functions that keep your heart beating.
So, if it is God who provides you with everything, and He does, then where is the danger in complying with His mandates? Where is the disadvantage of pursuing truth? Where is your argument that justifies your non-compliance? What is it that you can have that is better, than that which God provides?
Truth overwhelms all other opinions, and yet the world’s populations will reject it, without blinking an eye.
Isa. 50:9
9 Behold, the Lord God helps Me; Who is he who condemns Me? Behold, they will all wear out like a garment; The moth will eat them. NASB
Rejecting God and embracing the world, makes you the victim of the moth, and the moth is virtually nothing. So what would that make you?
