Redeemed Living

Intro:

Last week we talked about how our redemption should motivate us to live our lives in a way that honors and brings glory to Our Redeemer, Our Living Hope, Jesus Christ.

Today we are going to dig a little deeper and focus on what “Redeemed Living” looks like…

The Apostle Paul tells us in Romans 12:1-2 “1 I beseech you therefore, brethren, by the mercies of God, that you present your bodies a living sacrifice, holy, acceptable to God, which is your reasonable service. 2 And do not be conformed to this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind, that you may prove what is that good and acceptable and perfect will of God.”

Paul also says in Colossians 3:1-3 “1 If then you were raised with Christ, seek those things which are above, where Christ is, sitting at the right hand of God. 2 Set your mind on things above, not on things on the earth. 3 For you died, and your life is hidden with Christ in God.”

It is very evident that after we accept God’s free gift of salvation, that there should be a change in our lives… This change doesn’t necessarily happen overnight, but as the Holy Spirit convicts us of the sin in our lives, we need to start taking steps to get away from that sin, so that it will no longer have any control over our lives.

Some one once said…

Illustration: “I am not what I might be, I am not what I ought to be, I am not what I wish to be, I am not what I hope to be. But I thank God I am not what I once was, and I can say with the great apostle, "By the grace of God I am what I am.”

In our passage today, Peter is going to show us a few evidences of Redeemed Living… Meaning, if you are claiming to be living as a redeemed person (a follower of Christ), then these things should be evident in your life.

Evidences of Redeemed Living:

Let’s look at our Passage together… 1 Peter 1:22-2:3 READ…

Meat:

Peter here, stresses points of behavior and conduct that will result from our being Christians… He says “Since you have purified your souls...” or “Since you are now Living the life of a Redeemed person”… then your lives should reflect that change in these ways…

The First Evidence of Redeemed Living that Peter mentions is…

1. A Love For Other Christians

1 Peter 1:22 “22 Since you have purified your souls in obeying the truth through the Spirit in sincere love of the brethren, love one another fervently with a pure heart,”

Since you are now living redeemed… love your fellow brothers and sisters in Christ....

Jesus shared this same principal in John 13:35

John 13:35 NKJV

35 By this all will know that you are My disciples, if you have love for one another.”

Peter, in our passage, mentions two types of Love… First of all, he mentions…

1.1 Brotherly Love

“Since you have purified your souls in obeying the truth through the Spirit in sincere love of the brethren...”

The Greek word translated as “Love of the brethren” is, Philadelphia.

This has the idea of the affection naturally befitting the relationship between siblings; especially as the affection of those who are now siblings in God’s family.

I realize that not everyone gets along with their siblings… (I have a sister in the back that is shaking her head in agreement…) But, When we learn to obey the Word of God we'll also develop a strong love for others.

The second type of love that Peter mentions is…

1.2 Fervent Love

The last part of v.22 says “love one another fervently with a pure heart”

The Greek word translated as “love” here is, Agape’.

This means to have a great affection for, to care for, or to have a loyalty towards… another definition is: to have a strong, non-sexual affection and love for a person and their good as understood by God’s moral character; especially characterized by a willing forfeiture of rights or privileges in another person’s behalf.

Agape love is a sacrificial love… This is the type of love that Christ has for us… He sacrificed Himself on our behalf…

But what does fervently mean?? “love one another fervently with a pure heart”

In Acts chapter 12, this same word is used concerning the prayers offered up for Peter while he was imprisoned by Herod. There it is translated as “constantly” or “earnestly.”… So Peter is commanding believers to constantly and earnestly love one another, with a sacrificial love, because of the redemption that they have recieved from Christ.

Remember, love is not a feeling. It is a choice… and for the follower of Christ, it is a command. 1 John 4:11-12

1 John 4:11–12 NASB95

11 Beloved, if God so loved us, we also ought to love one another. 12 No one has seen God at any time; if we love one another, God abides in us, and His love is perfected in us.

The best way to let others see God is for you to demonstrate His sacrificial, unconditional love...

The second evidence of Redeemed Living that I want you to see is…

2. A Confidence In God’s Word

1 Peter 1:23-25 “23 having been born again, not of corruptible seed but incorruptible, through the word of God which lives and abides forever,

24 because (Isaiah 40:6-8) “All flesh is as grass, And all the glory of man as the flower of the grass. The grass withers, And its flower falls away,

25 But the word of the Lord endures forever.” Now this is the word which by the gospel was preached to you.”

It is the Word of God that provides a strong foundation for our faith. Peter uses three adjectives to describe God’s Word in verse 23.

First he says that God’s word is imperishable,

2.1 It Is Incorruptible

This means that it is completely trustworthy. You can have confidence, that every account that you find written in God’s Word is true and it actually happened…

Adam and Eve - Real people

Parting of the Red Sea - happened

David and Goliath - Actual battle

Death, burial, and Resurrection of Jesus - You better believe it...

God’s Word is not full of fairy tales and mythological creatures… it is completely true and trustworthy.

Being incorruptible also means that it is imperishable. It is indestructible… but we will look at that in a minute…

Peter says that God’s Word is…

2.2 It Is Living

The writer of Hebrew says the same thing…

Hebrews 4:12 “12 For the word of God is living and powerful, and sharper than any two-edged sword, piercing even to the division of soul and spirit, and of joints and marrow, and is a discerner of the thoughts and intents of the heart.”

The Bible is living; Because God has breathed His life into it.

It is still just as useful and relevant today as it was when it was first written… Every Time I read God’s Word, even though I have read it before, something that I didn’t catch before is usually revealed.

That is why Peter also says that…

2.3 It Is Everlasting

“… through the word of God which lives and abides forever,

24 because (Isaiah 40:6-8) “All flesh is as grass, And all the glory of man as the flower of the grass. The grass withers, And its flower falls away,

25 But the word of the Lord endures forever.” Now this is the word which by the gospel was preached to you.”

As I said before it is indestructible… It has no expiration date…

When you finish reading other books you lay them down and go to another one. But you’ll never finish reading the Bible…

Throughout history, the Bible has had plenty of skeptics. But the skeptics are gone and (guess what...)… the Word of God endures.

In the late 1700s, the French atheist, Voltaire, predicted that “within a hundred years of his life that Christianity and the Bible would be swept from existence and pass into the dust-bin of history.” He died in 1778, and by 1828, the Geneva Bible Society had bought his house and was using it for the printing and distribution of Bibles.

Today, people are trying to change the Bible to fit their lifestyles, however, just as the One who inspired it is unchanging, so are the principles found in His Word.

And when we have confidence in His Word, just the way that it is written,… it is evidence of our Redeemed Living…

The final evidence of Redeemed Living that I want you to notice is…

3. A Changed Life

1 Cor. 13:11 “11 When I was a child, I spoke as a child, I understood as a child, I thought as a child; but when I became a man, I put away childish things.”

Christ paid the penalty for our sin and has redeemed us from its bondage. Knowing the price that He paid should motivate us to get away from that sinful lifestyle, that we were living in before our redemption…

A major part of a Changed life, is…

3.1 A Character Change

1 Peter 2:1 “1 Therefore, laying aside all malice, all deceit, hypocrisy, envy, and all evil speaking,”

Peter uses wording here that is very common to Paul and James in that Christians are to lay aside the old remnants of sin… This word meant to take off a piece of clothing and lay it aside.

Although we are supposed to lay aside all sins away from us, these particular sins destroy good relationships… Remember, Peter just got done saying that we are to “love one another”… If we are characterized by these qualities, then it will be very difficult for us to share the Love of Christ with anyone…

1. Malice = "The word translated “malice” is larger in meaning than just malice but can be and is translated as “wickedness”… Notice that it says “All Malice”… No wickedness is to be tolerated.

2. Deceit = a Greek word, meaning to "catch by bait" (tricky, manipulative, the practice of an illusion…) “This is how Satan does his work. He deceives people by making things look like they are not and this deceives and ensnares many.”

3. Hypocrisy = to pretend to be who I am not… this carries with it the practice of insincerity. The church is filled with hypocrites. They say one thing and do another. The Pharisees were like this. The believer, however, is to be sincere, faithful, truthful, honest”.

4. Envy = jealousy or setting up a competition in my mind… Romans 12:15 Tells us to “15 Rejoice with those who rejoice, and weep with those who weep.” Envy prevents many from rejoicing with those who rejoice, because it puts a jealous attitude in the way… especially when it is some form of financial gain.

5. Evil Speaking = defamation of character… or the practice of incrimination. Another word for it would be slander… There is a lot of that sort of thing among believers.

John G. Butler says, in his commentary: “Evil does not need facts to accuse, if it lacks facts it invents them.”

As Christians, we still struggle with sin. But we must continually be laying aside these kinds of things. Not only external habits and things that are not good, but constantly taking stock of what is within.

Every time we see a remnant of our old self, a sinful behavior, a worldly habit or attitude, we must lay it aside as we would a dirty piece of clothing after a hard day’s work. It is a lifelong process, but if we stop moving forward, we will begin to drift back…

Not only do we need to have a character change, but we also need…

3.2 An Appetite Change

1 Peter 2:2-3 “2 as newborn babes, desire the pure milk of the word, that you may grow thereby, 3 if indeed you have tasted that the Lord is gracious.”

Just like a child needs the right food in order to grow… we as believers need to be feeding on the food as well. Peter knew this and it is no accident that he tells us to lay aside our sinful behavior before he tells us what we should eat.

Again, John G. Butler says: “Lack of spiritual appetite comes when you have filled your life with evil”

We should have a hunger for God’s Word… The Word of God is the food that will bring spiritual growth… and one of the reasons that many Christians have a hard time growing spiritually is because they allow so many other things take up the time that they should be feeding on God’s Word.

We must desire the Word passionately, because it is what sustains our walk with Christ. Peter doesn’t tell us to read, study, memorize, preach, or anything else... the Word,... but simply to desire it.

As Christians, if we desire it, all these other things will come. If you desire God’s Word… If you have an appetite for it… then you will read it, you will study it, you will memorize it… and the promise is that you will “ grow thereby, 3 if indeed you have tasted that the Lord is gracious.”

Closing:

Are these evidences found in your life today?

Do you have a love for other Christians?

Do you have Confidence in God’s Word?

Has your life changed from what it was before?

I want to close this morning with a few more verse out of Colossians 3…

Colossians 3:5 “5 Therefore put to death your members which are on the earth: fornication, uncleanness, passion, evil desire, and covetousness, which is idolatry.”

Colossians 3:9-10 “9 Do not lie to one another, since you have put off the old man with his deeds, 10 and have put on the new man who is renewed in knowledge according to the image of Him who created him,”

Colossians 3:12-14 “12 Therefore, as the elect of God, holy and beloved, put on tender mercies, kindness, humility, meekness, longsuffering; 13 bearing with one another, and forgiving one another, if anyone has a complaint against another; even as Christ forgave you, so you also must do. 14 But above all these things put on love, which is the bond of perfection.”

Prayer:

Benediction - Colossians 3:15-17…