lawless – Ministry of Grace Church

for the righteous one dwelling among them day by day, in seeing and hearing their lawless deeds his righteous soul was tormented.

Truth to Learn

Living in the midst of sin is torture for a committed Christian.

Behind the Words

“Righteous” is translated from dikaios, which is derived from dike, meaning “that which is right or just.” It refers to someone who lives by the rules and regulations set by God.

Anomos, is the word translated “lawless.” It is made up of the privitive a, meaning “not” and nomos, meaning “the law.”

The word “tormented” comes from the Greek word basanidzō, which means “an examination by torture.”

Meaning Explained

In the previous verses we talked about the wickedness of Sodom and its affect on Lot. According to verse seven God delivered “righteous Lot” who had been worn down by the lustful behavior of the lawless people of the city.

Today’s verse reiterates the fact that the actions of the people of Sodom had a tormenting and debilitating effect on Lot. Peter starts off this verse restating Lot’s righteousness as if to make the point that, in spite of his constant exposure to and oppression from the acts of the inhabitants of Sodom, Lot was indeed righteous. But he was not at peace!

The verse tells us that as Lot was living among these people, day after day, he was seeing their actions and hearing them talk about them. Apparently the thoughts and actions of the people of Sodom were constantly focused on their sinful lusts. I can just imagine all their billboards and all of their television commercials were laden with sexual innuendos and overt sexuality. I can imagine their Wall Street advertisers saying, “Sex sells our products.”

Today’s society, like Sodom of old, is controlled by lust. What we see today is a world totally focused on eating, drinking, partying, and sexuality. The effects of it are all around us, from alcoholism and drug abuse to an epidemic of obesity, to the blinding lust for power and riches, to overt depraved sexuality. In 1 John 2:16 it says,

because all that is in the world, the lust of the flesh, and the lust of the eyes, and the pride of life, is not of the Father, but is of the world.

It’s all around us. We are living in the midst of it day after day. Lot was being tortured by it. We all know what happens to people who are tortured, they will say and do almost anything just to end the torture. We need to be careful in our condemnation of Lot for his own perverse reasoning, offering his daughter to protect the angels. He was being tortured!

Application

The real question is, are you being tortured by what you see and hear around you today? Do the things you see and hear daily vex your spirit? Does it bother you to see blatant sexuality portrayed in movies and advertisements day after day? Are you able to keep your desires for food, fun, and sex in their proper place? Or have you succumbed to the constant barrage of sinfulness around you so that you spend more time during the day thinking about your own desires and things of the world than you do about the God who loves you?

Here’s a quick test. Compare the amount of time you spend daily fellowshipping with God (through prayer, reading and studying the Bible, and humbling yourself before Him) to the amount of time you spend in worldly pursuits or entertainment.

Ouch, that hurts!

In God's service, for His glory,

For the time of life having passed is sufficient for us to have worked out the will of the Gentiles, having lived in lewdness, lusts, drunkenness, revelries, drinking parties, and lawless idolatries.

Truth to Learn

We’ve wasted enough time; now let’s focus on serving God.

Behind the Words

“Lewdness” is translated from the Greek word aselgeia, which literally means “not having control.” It is used primarily with regard to sexual appetite and is sometimes translated as “wantonness.”

We saw the word “lusts” in the previous verse. It is the Greek word epithumia, meaning “excessive or uncontrolled desires.”

“Drunkenness” comes from the Greek word oinophlugia, which literally means “overflowing wine,” but by application it means “excessive drinking of alcoholic beverages.”

“Revelries” is translated from the Greek word kōmos, which means “carousing” or “reveling,” implying a “letting loose of control.”

The word translated “drinking parties” is from the Greek word potos, which means “getting together for the purpose of getting drunk.”

And finally, “lawless idolatries” comes from the Greek, athemitois eidōlolatreiais, which literally means “illegal image worship.” It refers to “the worship of anything other than God.”

Meaning Explained

Peter has just told us that we should no longer live for the lusts of men, but for the will of God. He now tells us that it’s time for change. We’ve spent enough time living like the ungodly to know that’s not the will of God. We did these things in the past enough to know that they don’t give us true happiness and certainly don’t give us peace. All they really do is produce amnesia, headache, and heartache.

We could probably sum up Peter’s description of these activities as illicit sexual activity, drunkenness, partying, and the worship of things instead of God. That’s how many of us lived before we were saved. Peter is saying that our past indulgences are to be put behind us so we can live unto God. None of these things is what God wants of us.

However, it’s easy for many of us to say, “I never committed any illicit sexual activity. I never got drunk, and I never went to wild parties, so this doesn’t apply to me.” What we often fail to see in this verse is that Peter groups “the worship of things other than God” in the same category as those other things.

Have you ever possessed anything that was so important to you that you would do anything to hang on to it, or that you spent so much time on that it made you forget about your commitments to God? These are all idols. I once had a car that was like that to me, and God had to tarnish my idol for me.

Application

As a Christian your life should not be characterized by the “party scene.” But remember, anything that distracts us from our focus on God is an idol, and our Heavenly Father considers that just as horrific as wild, sexual, drunken partying. Ouch!

In God's service, for His glory,

Ministry of Grace Church

Tag: lawless

2 Peter 2:8 – Tortured By Sinfulness

1 Peter 4:3 – Wasted Pleasure