Abstain

1 Peter 2:11 "Dearly beloved, I beseech you as strangers and pilgrims, abstain from fleshly lusts, which war against the soul."

The Amplified Classic says it this way, "Beloved, I implore you as aliens and strangers and exiles [in this world] to abstain from the sensual urges (the evil desires, the passions of the flesh, your lower nature) that wage war against the soul."

If we are going to be successful in finishing our course, we must take on the attitude and lifestyle of a pilgrim, stranger, exile, or alien (foreigner). “I am not from here, this is not my lifestyle, this is not my language, this is not my culture,” should be our mindset. If not, we are conforming to a place we are supposed to be passing through on the way to our final destination: Heaven and the Judgement Seat of Christ.

It is interesting that this verse starts out with “Dearly beloved.” It is almost like God is saying, “I love you so much and I just want to protect you.” God does love us very much and is doing everything He can to protect us from this world and the destruction that is all around us, and so, He is asking us to keep the attitude of, “I don’t belong here, this is not my home.”

It reminds me of friends of ours from India when they went to Bible School in the United States. They refused to live like they were from here. They wanted to be able to go back to India and not “long for” the United States and its comforts and conveniences. People didn’t understand, but they were wise in doing that because they were able to readapt to their culture and surroundings very quickly, while others, who didn’t do what they did, adapted to our culture and ended up returning to the United States to live and never fulfilling what God had for them.

Once we are born again, our citizenship is from Heaven, so we’re no longer from here. I am a foreigner, and I cannot afford to adapt to what is here. I have to abstain.

When you abstain from something, you don’t participate, and that also includes not doing something enjoyed, especially by our flesh. To abstain also means not to get involved. It’s like when there is a vote in the government and 20 people abstain from voting. This means they refused to participate in the vote.

When it comes to our flesh, both definitions are important. We are abstaining from things our flesh would enjoy, and we are refusing to participate in the lusts of our flesh.

I abstain from evil desires, passions of my flesh, and my lower nature! Let’s not participate!