What are his commandments?

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434» 1Pet 3:8a . . Finally, all of you be of one mind,

Peter’s not talking about the nerve center of a Borg-hive collective. The
Greek word translated "one mind" basically means harmonious; and this is
the only place in the entire New Testament where that word appears.

Webster’s defines "harmonious" as: 1) musically concordant, 2) having the
parts agreeably related; viz: congruous, and 3) marked by accord in
sentiment or action.

Peter's instructions emphasize the third element-- "marked by accord in
sentiment or action". Head-strong Christians, domineering Christians, and
those for whom every disagreement is either an affront or an act of war to
win at any cost-- those for whom the words diplomacy and tact have no
meaning --of course have trouble complying with 1Pet 3:8a; that is: if they
even consider it worthy of their notice.

Anyway; Peter's instructions relate to a timeless complaint that goes
something like this: Why can't we all just get along? (cf. Ps 133)
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[blueluna5]

Remember the Sabbath day, to keep it holy. Six days you shall labor and do all your work, but the seventh day is the Sabbath of the LORD your God.

Yet when do we worship God? "Sun" day. Why don't we worship on the Sabbath anymore? We say Jesus rose on the 3rd day, but this theory makes no sense. Jesus never said to change this commandment.

 

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435» 1Pet 3:8b-9 . . Have compassion one of another, love as brethren, be
pitiful, be courteous; not rendering evil for evil, or railing for railing, but
contrariwise: benevolence.

"compassion" is from a Greek word that basically means having a fellow
feeling; viz: empathy, i.e. mutual commiseration.

One of the meanings of commiserate is condole: like when we share
someone's grief at the passing of a loved one, or their job has been
outsourced to cheap labor in a foreign country, or they've lost their entire
retirement fund to an unscrupulous corporation like ENRON, or their life
savings to a crooked Ponzi schemer like Bernie Madoff, or when there's news
from their doctor they have to begin chemo-therapy for a recently detected
advanced cancer, or when the car of a single mom with limited income
needs expensive repairs.

People in those predicaments are in no mood for philosophical platitudes.

The Greek word translated "railing" basically means slander or vituperation;
which Webster's defines as 1) to abuse or censure severely or abusively;
viz: berate, and 2) to use harsh condemnatory language.

Toxic rejoinders fall into that category; which are defined as a usually rude
or angry reply to something written or said; viz: insensitive retorts
deliberately meant to hurt people's feelings; viz: tit for tat, i.e. food fights.
That kind of behavior doesn't go unnoticed.

● Matt 12:36-37 . . I say to you, that every careless word that men shall
speak, they shall render account for it in the day of judgment. For by your
words you shall be justified, and by your words you shall be condemned.
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436» 1Pet 3:10-11 . . Let him who means to love life and see good days
refrain his tongue from evil and his lips from speaking guile. And let him turn
away from evil and do good; let him seek peace and pursue it.

Webster's defines "guile" as duplicity which is defined as: contradictory
doubleness of thought, speech, or action; especially in the belying of one's
true intentions by deceptive words or action; in other words, speaking with a
forked tongue and/or saying one thing while meaning another.

Quite a bit is said in the Bible about the words people speak, whereas little
to nothing is said about the words they write. That could be because so
many people back in the day were illiterate. But surely one's written words
have just as much voice as one's spoken words; else we couldn't justify
calling the Bible the word of God.

Good and evil are here juxtaposed as benevolence vs malevolence, i.e. good
will vs ill will.

To "seek peace and pursue it" is blessing-worthy.

● Matt 5:9 . . Blessed are the peacemakers: for they shall be called the
children of God.

If it's true that only peaceable kinds of people qualify to wear the label
"children of God" then the opposite is just as true: difficult Christians are
unworthy of the distinction.
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