Envy
“Envy” is an inward attitude behind much deceit and insincerity. In appears frequently in the vice lists in the NT as charateristic of the old life. (Rom. 1:29, Gal. 5:21, 26; Phil. 1:15, 1 Tim. 6:4, Tit. 3:3), and it was one of the motives of Christ’s crucifixion (Mat. 27:18, Mark 15:10). It is often associated with community strife and partiu spirit in the vice lists. Obviously, if one has the mind of Christ that seeks the good of others (Phil. 2:1-5), envu would be an immposible characteriction. Envy ofteb works itself out in “slander.” The Christians, of course, were victims of this (1 Pet. 2:13; 3:16), but that does not necessarily stop community from practicing it. Deceit is practiced to a person’s face, when one speaks only nicely of him or her, but for the person with envy and malice within, the insincerity will come out as he or she criticizes the person to others in that person to the others in that person’s absence. Wether this criticism is cloacked as “ sharing a problem,” a “prayer request,” or a “concern, ” it makes a little difference. Paul includes this activity in a cive list (2 Cor. 12:20), and James points out that it is a usurping of the role of God (Jas. 4:11). Therefore in this list Peter has nearly cut the ground for any practice other than open truth and love among members of the Christian community, it may be the “tough love” of a rebuke, but Christians should be able ti trust that an ulterior movtives lie behind fellow-belivers’ actions and that nothing is said in their absence that has not already been said to their face.
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