Live such good lives among the pagans that, though they accuse you of doing wrong, they may see your good deeds and glorify God on the day He visits us. 1 Peter 2:12

Most Americans use the term ‘good life’ when speaking about a life filled material success, fame or good times with friends and family. A good life from Peter’s perspective is something different altogether. The American version of the ‘good life’ is all about how I feel about my life circumstances. Peter’s version has to do with how I live my life according to what is true and good, not what I get out of life that makes me feel good. That’s a horse of a different color.

The good life described by Peter is intentional and emerges from an understanding of what I was and who I now am in Christ. When I remember that because of God’s great mercy, I have been redeemed from an ‘empty way of life’ by the precious blood of Christ and given ‘new birth into a living hope…and an inheritance that can never perish’, I want to live a life that reflects His goodness and greatness to others.

Peter says that we are to live such good lives that no one’s slander or accusations will stand up. To be sure, there will be false accusations made by those who hate the truth, but in the face of a truly ‘good life’ it is like holding water in a sieve, especially on the day of judgment. Let us, therefore, be sure that the life we live is a good life filled with good deeds.

This smacks in the face of those who claim that grace means we can live anyway we want to because the blood of Christ covers our sin. Such an attitude is not only heretical, it fails to grasp the reality of a ‘new birth’ and the command to be holy. It also fails to glorify God whose mercy raised us from a dead, empty life to a new life purified by obedience.

What do your children and grandchildren see when they look at your life? Will they find reason to accuse you of hypocrisy or living a lie? It might be possible to deceive pagans in our workplace or neighborhood for a while, but our children and grandchildren are not so easily deceived. What will they say about your life at your funeral? Will they give praise to God because you truly lived the ‘good life’?

What does the good life look like? We’ll unpack what Peter has to say about the matter in the weeks to come.

GRANDPAUSE: The Christian ought to be a living doxology. ?–Martin Luther