Persecutor/Persecuted Relationship

⁵The Lord descended in the cloud and stood with him there, and proclaimed the name of the Lord. ⁶The Lord passed before him and proclaimed, “The Lord, the Lord, a God merciful and gracious, slow to anger, and abounding in steadfast love and faithfulness, ⁷keeping steadfast love for thousands, forgiving iniquity and transgression and sin, but who will by no means clear the guilty, visiting the iniquity of the fathers on the children and the children’s children, to the third and the fourth generation.” (^ESVEx. 34:5-7)

¹That is why ˢyou, you fellow member of the human race, have absolutely no excuse—any human being who pronounces against another a sentence of condemnation. To the extent that ˢyou condemn someone else, you see, it is actually yourself that you are condemning, in view of the fact that you, the one who condemns, are guilty of doing the very same things. ²Now we know that when God judges, he renders accurate and impartial verdicts against those who do such things. ³Well, do ˢyou really imagine, you puny sinful human—you who condemn those who do such things even though you are guilty of the same—that you yourself will somehow escape the judgment of God? ⁴Do ˢyou dare snub your nose at the incomparably vast and precious riches of his kindness and restraint and patience, failing to understand that God’s kindness is meant to lead you to repentance? ⁵Because of ˢyour dullness and stubbornness and refusal to repent, however, you are storing up punishment for yourself in the Day when God will pour out his wrath and reveal his righteous judgment ⁶and “repay each person according to his deeds.”  (^BHTRom. 2:1-6)

⁸But do not forget this one thing, dear friends: With the Lord a day is like a thousand years, and a thousand years are like a day. ⁹The Lord is not slow in keeping his promise, as some understand slowness. He is patient with you, not wanting anyone to perish, but everyone to come to repentance…. ¹⁴So then, dear friends, since you are looking forward to this, make every effort to be found spotless, blameless and at peace with him. ¹⁵Bear in mind that our Lord’s patience means salvation, just as our dear brother Paul also wrote you with the wisdom that God gave him. (^NIV2 Pet. 3:8, 9; 14, 15)

³⁰And do not grieve the Holy Spirit of God, with whom you were sealed for the day of redemption. ³¹ Get rid of all bitterness, rage and anger, brawling and slander, along with every form of malice. ³² Be kind and compassionate to one another, forgiving each other, just as in Christ God forgave you. ^5:1Be imitators of God, therefore, as dearly loved children ²and live a life of love, just as Christ loved us and gave himself up for us as a fragrant offering and sacrifice to God. (^NIVEph. 4:30-5:2)

⁴When Christ (who is your life) appears, then you too will be revealed in glory with him. ⁵So put to death whatever in your nature belongs to the earth: sexual immorality, impurity, shameful passion, evil desire, and greed which is idolatry. ⁶Because of these things the wrath of God is coming on the sons of disobedience. ⁷You also lived your lives in this way at one time, when you used to live among them. ⁸But now, put off all such things as anger, rage, malice, slander, abusive language from your mouth. ⁹Do not lie to one another since you have put off the old man with its practices ¹⁰and have been clothed with the new man that is being renewed in knowledge according to the image of the one who created it. (^NETCol. 3:4-10)

²⁷But I tell you who hear me: Love your enemies, do good to those who hate you, ²⁸bless those who curse you, pray for those who mistreat you. ²⁹If someone strikes you on one cheek, turn to him the other also. If someone takes your cloak, do not stop him from taking your tunic. ³⁰Give to everyone who asks you, and if anyone takes what belongs to you, do not demand it back. ³¹Do to others as you would have them do to you. ³²If you love those who love you, what credit is that to you? Even “sinners” love those who love them. ³³And if you do good to those who are good to you, what credit is that to you? Even “sinners” do that. ³⁴And if you lend to those from whom you expect repayment, what credit is that to you? Even “sinners” lend to “sinners,” expecting to be repaid in full. ³⁵But love your enemies, do good to them, and lend to them without expecting to get anything back. Then your reward will be great, and you will be sons of the Most High, because he is kind to the ungrateful and wicked. ³⁶Be merciful, just as your Father is merciful. (^NIVLk. 6:27-36)

⁵Be wise in the way you act toward outsiders; make the most of every opportunity. ⁶Let your conversation be always full of grace, seasoned with salt, so that you may know how to answer everyone. (^NIVCol. 4:5, 6)

• ⁵Conduct yourselves with wisdom toward outsiders, making the most of the opportunities. ⁶Let your speech always be gracious, seasoned with salt, so that you may know how you should answer everyone. (^NETCol. 4:5, 6)

• ⁵Act wisely toward outsiders, making the most of the time.  ⁶Your speech should always be gracious, seasoned with salt, so that you may know how you should answer each person. (^HCSBCol. 4:5, 6)

• ⁵ Live wisely among those who are not believers, and make the most of every opportunity. ⁶Let your conversation be gracious and attractive so that you will have the right response for everyone. (^NLTCol. 4:5, 6)

⁹Now on the topic of brotherly love you have no need for anyone to write you, for you yourselves are taught by God to love one another. ¹⁰And indeed you are practicing it toward all the brothers and sisters in all of Macedonia. But we urge you, brothers and sisters, to do so more and more, ¹¹to aspire to lead a quiet life, to attend to your own business, and to work with your hands, as we commanded you. ¹²In this way you will live a decent life before outsiders (“win the respect of outsiders,” ISV, NIV; TEV; “so that you may behave properly toward outsiders,” NRSV) and not be in need. (^NET1 Thess. 4:9-12)

¹¹Dear friends, I exhort you as “exiles and resident foreigners” to refuse the evil desires of the mortal body, which wage war against the inner self, ¹²your conduct among the Gentiles being so honorable that when they slander you as evildoers, they may see your good deeds and change their minds, and glorify God on the day he comes to save. (^BHT1 Pet. 2:11, 12)

¹⁸Slaves, submit yourselves to your masters with all respect, not only to those who are good and considerate, but also to those who are harsh. ¹⁹For it is commendable if a man bears up under the pain of unjust suffering because he is conscious of God. ²⁰But how is it to your credit if you receive a beating for doing wrong and endure it? But if you suffer for doing good and you endure it, this is commendable before God. ²¹To this you were called, because Christ suffered for you, leaving you an example, that you should follow in his steps. (^NIV1 Pet. 2:18-21).

¹In a similar way, you wives must submit yourselves to your husbands so that, even if some of them refuse to obey the word, they may be won over without a word through your conduct as wives ²when they see your pure and reverent lives. (^ISV1 Pet. 3:1, 2)

• …like Sarah who obeyed Abraham, calling him lord. You become her children when you do what is good and have no fear in doing so (lit. “and not fearing any terror/source of fear”). (^NET1 Pet. 3:6)
• For instance, Sarah obeyed her husband, Abraham, and called him her master. You are her daughters when you do what is right without fear of what your husbands might do. (^NLT1 Pet. 3:6).
• You show yourselves to be her when you follow her noble example, without being afraid of human threats or intimidation (^BHT1 Pet. 3:6)

¹It was about this time that King Herod arrested some who belonged to the church, intending to persecute them. ²He had James, the brother of John, put to death with the sword. ³When he saw that this pleased the Jews, he proceeded to seize Peter also. This happened during the Feast of Unleavened Bread. (^NIVAc. 12:1-3)

¹⁵It is true that some preach Christ out of envy and rivalry, but others out of goodwill. ¹⁶The latter do so in love, knowing that I am put here for the defense of the gospel. ¹⁷The former preach Christ out of selfish ambition, not sincerely, supposing that they can stir up trouble for me while I am in chains. ¹⁸But what does it matter? The important thing is that in every way, whether from false motives or true, Christ is preached. And because of this I rejoice. (^NIVPhp 1:15-18)

…on frequent journeys, in danger from rivers, danger from robbers, danger from my own people, danger from Gentiles, danger in the city, danger in the wilderness, danger at sea, danger from false brothers (^ESV2 Cor. 11:26)

Letting Him Make Us into Merciful and Holy People