Sermon Illustrations

A reality check on how we sabotage ourselves:

Do you at times long for days gone by where you did certain activities that you now do not do? This is our unredeemed flesh working on a mind that is not renewed by the word of God. We need to immediately cast out these unhelpful distractions, recognize the futility that they deliver, and fill our mind with what is edifying.

This previous life suffices (arketos) in this context means more than simply adequate, but conveys the sense of being more than enough. Peter’s readers had had a whole life full of opportunity to sin, and that is more than enough in doing what the Gentiles (the unconverted peoples) want to do living to fulfill sinful passions (cf. Eph. 2:1–3).

Source: From Matthew Kratz’s Sermon: But It’s Not Fair: Unjust Suffering

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