The Apostle Peter has some strong words for us when it comes to dealing with our lusts of the flesh. He says that we should abstain from them because they are waging a war against our souls.
“Beloved, I urge you as sojourners and exiles to abstain from the passions of the flesh, which wage war against your soul.” (1 Peter 2:11 ESV)
In other words, sin is dangerous to us, even though we do not often perceive that danger. John Calvin’s comment on this verse has stuck with me for a long time. He writes,
“He reveals our carelessness in this respect, in that while we anxiously avoid enemies from whom we fear danger to the body, we willingly allow enemies hurtful to the soul to destroy us, indeed, we as it were stretch forth our neck to them.”
Are we abstaining from the lusts or passions of our flesh, or are we sticking our necks out to sin?
May our Lord Jesus Christ give us the eyes of faith to see the danger of our sins for what it really is. And may He grant each of us mercy and repentance that we might live as sojourners and exiles in this world, to the glory of God!
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