Commentary on First Peter (31)
Posted by Vincent Cheung on May 27, 2006Now, the non-Christians' empty way of life is often handed down to them by their forefathers (v. 18). Sometimes the family has lived as unbelievers for generations, and the latest generation is expected to perpetuate the traditions, values, and beliefs of the family. These might include various forms of idolatry, like Buddhism, paganism, and ancestor worship. Some families pass on traditions of crime, of violence and drug abuse. Many pass on a heritage of adultery, fornication, homosexuality, and of "open-mindedness" to irrational thinking and licentious living.
Rich families can appear refined and proper, and outwardly they have just about everything that any depraved man could desire. But of course their way of life is no less futile than everyone else's. As with others, they hand down a tradition of pride, selfishness, hypocrisy, and covetousness, which is idolatry (Colossians 3:5). And parents everywhere today hand down a tradition of blasphemy – teaching their children atheism, evolution, feminism, and the like.
But now God is our Father (v. 17). As Christians, we have been accepted into a new family, so that we are now inheriting new traditions and learning new values. We have been saved from our old families along with their irrational superstitions (from paganism to scientism), deviant lifestyles, false teachings, false priorities, and false values.
Old beliefs and habits might be hard to break. We must make a conscious effort to rid ourselves of the old traditions and patterns, or else we will continue to conform to them in various ways (v. 14). But it is not as if we have simply changed places – we have been reborn into this new family by divine power. We are a new creation in Christ Jesus. We can throw off the yolk of past generations and begin anew. The old traditions will try to force us back into its mold, but now we have the strength to refuse according to the sovereign work that God continues to perform in us (Ephesians 2:10; Philippians 2:13). Now we can leave all of that behind us.