Peter’s exhortation to his readers to abide by governmental laws is a good reminder to those believers who tend to overemphasise God’s power to achieve their own purposes, without discerning the situation...

1. ULDAH MINISTRY
LETTER TO THE
BROTHERS AND
SISTERS IN CHRIST
【SUBMIT YOURSELVES TO EVERY HUMAN
AUTHORITY FOR THE LORD’S SAKE】
As you come to him, the living Stone – rejected by
humans but chosen by God and precious to him –
5 you also, like living stones, are being built into a
spiritual house to be a holy priesthood, offering
spiritual sacrifices acceptable to God through Jesus
Christ. 6 For in Scripture it says: ‘See, I lay a stone
in Zion, a chosen and precious cornerstone, and the
one who trusts in him will never be put to shame.’
7 Now to you who believe, this stone is precious. But
to those who do not believe, ‘The stone the builders
rejected has become the cornerstone,’ 8 and, ‘A stone
that causes people to stumble and a rock that makes
them fall.’ They stumble because they disobey the
message – which is also what they were destined for.
9 But you are a chosen people, a royal priesthood, a
holy nation, God’s special possession, that you may
declare the praises of him who called you out of
darkness into his wonderful light. 10 Once you were
not a people, but now you are the people of God; once
you had not received mercy, but now you have
received mercy.
11 Dear friends, I urge you, as foreigners and exiles,
to abstain from sinful desires, which wage war against
your soul. 12 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.
13 Submit yourselves for the Lord’s sake to every
human authority: whether to the emperor, as the
supreme authority, 14 or to governors, who are sent by
him to punish those who do wrong and to commend
those who do right. 15 For it is God’s will that by doing
good you should silence the ignorant talk of foolish
people. 16 Live as free people, but do not use your
freedom as a cover-up for evil; live as God’s slaves. 17 Show proper respect to everyone, love
令和３年 ３月 月報
フルダ・ミニストリー
ー主に在る
とこしえの集いー
MARCH 2021
NO 305
Eternal Fellowship
News Bulletin
We believe in one GOD, in three
persons; FATHER, SON and
HOLY SPIRIT. We regard the
Bible (both Hebrew Bible and
New Testament) as the only
infallible authoritative
WORD OF GOD.
HULDAH MINISTRY aims to return
to the Word Of God, founded on
Hebrew background and to interpret
it from Hebraic perspective,
acknowledging that Jesus is a Jew
and the Jewish-ness of His teaching
as a continuation from the Hebrew
Bible. The Ministry also aims to put
His teaching into practice, to have a
closer relationship with the Lord,
Jesus Christ, and to regularly have
a Christian fellowship so that this-
worldly kingdom of God will
materialise in the midst of the
followers of Jesus here and now, as
well as earnestly seeking Christ's
Return to establish the otherworldly
Kingdom of God on earth.
All activities are free of charge and no obligation
whatever. Just enjoy our fellowship!
huldahministry.blogspot.jp
huldahministry.com
information@huldahministry.com

2. 2
the family of believers, fear God, honour the emperor. 1PETER 2:4-17.
The Lord spoke to Peter in Mt.16:18, ‘You are Peter, and on this rock I will build my church,
and the gates of Hades will not overcome it’, and used two different Greek words to describe
‘Peter’ the rock: ‘πέτρος’ (small stone), and ‘Christ’ the Rock: ‘Πέτρᾳ’ (rock). Peter uses the
same metaphor to explain the intimate communion between the Lord and believers in the passage
quoted in the beginning. Christ is the living Stone. Every believer in Christ is also a living stone,
which is quarried from the Rock by grace. The living Stone, Christ, has life in Himself and gives
life to others. Each individual is to enter into personal and vital relationship with this ‘Living
Stone’. While people in the world rejected Christ, God had chosen Him as precious. Likewise,
Christians may be rejected by the world but should be reminded of the knowledge that they are
valued and elected by God.
Believers, identified with Christ as living stones will be built into a spiritual house, whose base
is the living Stone, Christ. Now that all believers are priests, they no longer need a mediator other
than Christ to directly approach God. A cornerstone provides visible support, upon which the rest
of the building relies for strength and stability. Although Christ was rejected by the builders of
the world, He is to be the precious cornerstone in Zion. Here Peter encourages his readers with a
scriptural promise of ultimate victory for those who trust in Christ and who keep themselves holy.
On the other hand, he warns those who do not receive Christ as their Saviour of the judgment
they will have to face one day because of sin and disobedience.
God’s purpose of choosing believers for Himself is so that they may declare His praise before
others as witnesses of the glory and grace of God. For this reason, believers should live godly
lives in a pagan society. In other words, Christians should be discernibly different, behave
differently, which Peter spells out in verses 11 to 17. Christians are those whose values and
beliefs are rejected by the world, so they are to live as a pilgrim and a stranger to this world,
which means to live apart from sinful desires not only for their own spiritual well-being but also
in order to maintain an effective testimony to this world, hopefully to convict it of its sin.
Peter’s exhortation to his readers to abide by governmental laws is a good reminder to those
believers who tend to overemphasise God’s power to achieve their own purposes, without
discerning the situation: ‘Submit yourselves for the Lord’s sake to every human authority’.
Submission to lawful authority does not negate Christian liberty but rather, it is in accordance
with the will of God, who ordained human government, as long as those laws do not conflict with
the teaching of Scriptures. Christians can freely enjoy their freedom only when they submit
themselves to God and live as His servants.
I agree with the following article entitled “We Must Stop Looking to Politics for Answers to
America's State of Crisis”, issued on 16 Feb.’21, in which a journalist and former lawyer Michael
Snyder shares that the only hope for the US to be turned around is in Christ through repentance
but not by pursuing a political solution: We can all agree that America is hurting. Headlines reveal that
the pandemic lockdown as well as mass civil and political unrest have left us in a state of financial, mental
and emotional distress. "There's not going to be a political solution in this country," author, political
commentator and end-times expert Michael Snyder tells… the church has been looking in the wrong place
for answers. "Over the past four years, in the evangelical movement, we've been worshipping politics and
politicians and thinking this is how we're going to turn the country around," he says. "No matter—even if we
won every political race, even if we were successful in politics. On every level there, we're not going to turn
the country around without God, without repentance. And that's what we need." We must repent, Snyder
says, because "We really are in the end times. The judgment of America has begun, and it's going to
accelerate and get even worse. Very, very difficult times are ahead of us, and it's because as a nation, we
have rejected God; we've turned our backs on God. Even throughout the past four years, the American
people have continued to race after sin." But there is hope, Snyder says. Despite these trying times, those
who put their faith in the Lord Jesus Christ "will always have hope" and know that, at the end of everything,
God wins. (For more from Michael Snyder about how we can cope in these days of end-times
warning, listen to the entire episode of Greenelines here)