1 Peter 1:17-2:3

1 Peter 1:17-2:3

I came across this description of Peter’s first epistle comparing of our culture today and the Roman culture of the first century when the church was just getting started. The author said:

This letter that was written to believers two thousand years ago speaks to us as well, and gives us good counsel on how to get through life these days, when Christians are once again being marginalized and sometimes considered fools for what we believe.

If you believe in the biblical story of creation (which I hope you do), you are likely to be in the minority. I believe statistics show that creationists are still leading in the polls, but the trend is against us.

If you believe in the sanctity of life and are against abortion under any circumstances, you are likely to be in the minority.

If you believe in traditional marriage and that homosexuality is a sin then according to all the polls I’ve seen, you are becoming more and more the minority.

If you believe in abstinence and that boys and girls, men and women should abstain from sex outside of marriage you are certainly in the minority, even among Christians.

If you believe gambling is wrong and is not only harmful to society, but shows a lack of trust in the provision of God, you are the exception.

If you believe smoking is inconsistent with the proper care of the temple of God – our bodies – or think gluttony is a sin, you’re the exception.

If you believe lying is wrong, even if it seems necessary to protect you or your reputation, you are probably one in ten thousand.

If you care about your brothers and sisters who are being tortured for being Christian around the world, you’re certainly the exception, not only in the world, but even in the church.

If you believe in prayer, and pray, you are probably the exception.

So with all these shifts in our culture AWAY from the biblical principles and AWAY from what Christians traditionally have believed, that we are experiencing in the world AND in the church, how do we, the faithful, stay encouraged? How do we get through life? How do we maintain joy when all that we believe in is being dismantled and falling apart around us? How do we hold fast to Christian doctrine and practices when it’s becoming so unpopular and even considered hate speech?

If you are living in the world with no problems, no friction, no disgust in the direction things are going these days, then you are probably out of step with the ways of our God, as given to us in the Bible. If that’s the case, you need to examine your faith and get right with God.

Jesus warned that in this word we would have trouble. He also warned that the world would hate us because of our faith and allegiance to him. As Peter wrote his letter to the churches of Asia Minor they were experiencing these problems. The culture was against. The government was against them. They were having a difficult time and needed some encouraging. So that’s what Peter does and I pray that his letter will be an encouragement to us as well. We are living in time when our culture is rapidly moving away from God and we need to be strengthened in our convictions to remain faithful to the truth of God’s word.

Turn to 1 Peter 1. Last week I did something I can only remember doing once since I’ve been at West Side and that’s to start a sermon and not finish it. Tonight we have part two of the message I started last week. Peter began the subject matter of the letter talking about our living hope in Jesus. He then turns to how we should live because of that hope. In verse 15 he said we are to be holy in all that we do. That’s the subject of the passage we started last week, living a holy life. What lessons do we learn from Peter about living a holy life?

First, Peter says we need to develop a clear head.

1 Peter 1:13 Therefore, with minds that are alert and fully sober, set your hope on the grace to be brought to you when Jesus Christ is revealed at his coming.

We develop a clear head by preparing our minds for action, being in control of our thinking as opposed to allowing ourselves to be ruled by our emotions, and by setting our hope on Christ’s return. Holy living begins by the way we think.

Second, develop a clean life.

1 Peter 1:14-16 14 As obedient children, do not conform to the evil desires you had when you lived in ignorance. 15 But just as he who called you is holy, so be holy in all you do; 16 for it is written: “Be holy, because I am holy.”

Developing a clean life begins with obedience. I commented Sunday evening that it’s been said the opposite of faith isn’t doubt but disobedience. We please God through our faith and we demonstrate our faith through obedience. And second, don’t give in to the desires of the flesh. God has given us a new way of living with new desires.

This evening we’ll continue this list of instructions Peter gives for living a holy life. We’ll pick up at verse 17. We only covered four verses last week but we’ll move a little quicker tonight.

Third, develop a reverent fear.

1 Peter 1:17-21 17 Since you call on a Father who judges each person’s work impartially, live out your time as foreigners here in reverent fear. 18 For you know that it was not with perishable things such as silver or gold that you were redeemed from the empty way of life handed down to you from your ancestors, 19 but with the precious blood of Christ, a lamb without blemish or defect. 20 He was chosen before the creation of the world, but was revealed in these last times for your sake. 21 Through him you believe in God, who raised him from the dead and glorified him, and so your faith and hope are in God.

There’s enough in just those four verses for a sermon, but there’s just one thought throughout them – our relationship to God. The third lesson for living a holy life is to fear God.

There have been so many books recently dealing with the subject of fear. Here are only a few book from Christian perspective:

· Telling Fear to Go Away

· From Fear to Faith

· Fear and Faith: Finding the Peace Your Heart Craves

· Letting Go of Fear

· Fear Less, Pray More

· Finding a Faith That Is Stronger Than All My Fears

· Fearless, 90 Days to Eliminating Fear in Your Life

· The Fearless Life

· Conquering the Fears That Hold You Back

· Facing Down Your Fears with Faith

· Becoming Fearless

· Imagine Your Life without Fear

The NIV and several other translations add the word “reverent.” The Greek just says we are to “fear.” However, when the Bible talks about fearing God it is a different kind of fear than the fear all those books are addressing. That’s why Jerry Bridges could title his book “The Joy of Fearing God.” The fear those first authors described is one we should avoid. As Paul wrote to Timothy:

2 Timothy 1:7 (NKJV) For God has not given us a spirit of fear, but of power and of love and of a sound mind.

God does not intend for us to be fearful, but we are to live in reverent fear of God. While God is love he is also a God who will one day judge the world because of sin.

Hebrew 9:27 Just as people are destined to die once, and after that to face judgment.

There is a reason to be afraid of God. However, because of his love for us God sent his Son to die for us. Therefore, we don’t live fearfully, but reverently. To fear the Lord means that we have reverence, awe and respect toward God. How do we do that?

First, we must realize that God is a holy judge. We call him Father even as Jesus taught us to, but he is still a judge. However, he is a holy judge. That means he will always do what is right. We can trust his judgments. His judgments will always be impartial. Earthly judges try to be impartial, but their human. They are enamored with wealth and fame. They may allow their emotions to get the better of them. And there are always crocked judges willing to take a bribe. None of those is true about God. Knowing that God is judge and that he judges with absolute fairness should drive us to a healthy fear of God to obey him. Our reverent fear of should motivate us to obey God. Paul wrote to Romans saying that we were once slaves to sin and to and empty way of life.

Romans 6:16 Don’t you know that when you offer yourselves to someone as obedient slaves, you are slaves of the one you obey—whether you are slaves to sin, which leads to death, or to obedience, which leads to righteousness?

Once we had no choice but to sin, but now that we have been redeemed we can choose to obey God.

That brings us to the next point: remember the cost of your redemption. The word redeemed is a theological term for us, but it carried a different meaning for those reading Peter’s letter. In first century Rome there were more than sixty million slaves. A slave could buy their own freedom or someone could purchase their freedom for them. The process was known as redemption. Jesus is our redeemer. He bought our freedom. So what was the price of our freedom? Peter tells us that it wasn’t silver or gold but the precious blood of Jesus.

God is a loving Father, but he is also a judge. He will judge the world one day, but he gave his only Son so that we might have forgiveness and not need to be judged. Since we know we have been redeemed by the precious blood of Christ, we should be grateful to God and live in reverent fear, holiness, and hope before him.

Fourth, develop a sincere love.

1 Peter 1:22-25 22 Now that you have purified yourselves by obeying the truth so that you have sincere love for each other, love one another deeply, from the heart. 23 For you have been born again, not of perishable seed, but of imperishable, through the living and enduring word of God. 24 For, “All people are like grass, and all their glory is like the flowers of the field; the grass withers and the flowers fall, 25 but the word of the Lord endures forever.” And this is the word that was preached to you.

Since because of God’s love we have been forgiven, we should love one another. Peter expects that we will love each other as did Paul. Here’s some of what Paul had to say about our love for each other.

· Romans 12:10 Be devoted to one another in love. Honor one another above yourselves.

· Romans 13:8 Let no debt remain outstanding, except the continuing debt to love one another, for whoever loves others has fulfilled the law.

· 1 Corinthians 16:14 Do everything in love.

· Ephesians 4:2 Be completely humble and gentle; be patient, bearing with one another in love.

Love is important. Of course we already knew that since Jesus listed our love for God and for each other as the two most important commands.

The foundation of our love is our new birth into the family of God. Our new birth gives us a new likeness that includes the characteristics of God and his Spirit. God is love and the fruit of the Spirit is love, therefore God’s people will love each other.

And fifth, develop a spiritual hunger.

1 Peter 1:23 - 2:3 23 For you have been born again, not of perishable seed, but of imperishable, through the living and enduring word of God. 24 For, “All people are like grass, and all their glory is like the flowers of the field; the grass withers and the flowers fall, 25 but the word of the Lord endures forever.” And this is the word that was preached to you. 1 Therefore, rid yourselves of all malice and all deceit, hypocrisy, envy, and slander of every kind. 2 Like newborn babies, crave pure spiritual milk, so that by it you may grow up in your salvation, 3 now that you have tasted that the Lord is good.

Now we’re finally getting to the things we might have assumed would be in Peter’s list for living holy lives. Here he lists some sins we should avoid.

Peter starts the first sentence of chapter 2 with “therefore.” We are to rid ourselves of these sins because of what’s he’s just said at the end of chapter 1. Because we have been born again we are to get rid of evil in our lives. True repentance must always begin with putting off evil and turning from it. James wrote:

James 1:21 Therefore, get rid of all moral filth and the evil that is so prevalent and humbly accept the word planted in you, which can save you.

The verb used by both Peter and James means “lay aside” or “to cast it off.” That’s the way we should always approach evil. As the writer of Hebrews put it:

Hebrews 12:1 Therefore, since we are surrounded by such a great cloud of witnesses, let us throw off everything that hinders and the sin that so easily entangles. And let us run with perseverance the race marked out for us.

In order to repent, we must turn from every form of sin. Christianity is not only to be believed; it must also be lived.

It begins with our new birth but then we must mature and we mature with the right food. We must be spiritually hungry. That is, to grow spiritually we need a good spiritual diet. Peter encourages us to desire pure spiritual milk. This spiritual milk refers to the things that nourish Christians in their growth: knowledge of God through the Word, prayer, fellowship, and faithful service.

Our craving for spiritual nourishment should be like the cravings of babies for milk. We’ve all seen babies who cry uncontrollably when they are hungry – they don’t let up or give up until they are fed. Now that we have tasted that the Lord is good, we should want to eat all the more.

With this last point in mind let’s review what happens when we fail to mature spiritually.

When a person fails to mature spiritually they will not have a clear head. The person’s mind is not alert and sober, but is intoxicated with the things of this world. Their hope is not focused on the coming of Christ. Instead, their hope is the opposite; they hope his return will be delayed. Without a maturing focus on the coming of Christ and the grace and glory we will receive, we are easy prey for Satan because we are not alert and sober.

When a person fails to mature spiritually they will not have a clean life. They continue to conform to the ways of this world and the life they led before they knew better. Once we know better, we must do better and with the help of God’s Spirit who lives in us we can. Our goal should be to develop a holy life because we are children of a holy Father.

When a person fails to mature spiritually they will not have a reverent fear of God. It’s possible for us to become so relaxed in our approach to God that we don’t take seriously God’s responsibility to judge and discipline his children. God doesn’t give us a pass to just because we’re his children. God is holy and He expects us to approach him with reverence and awe. And since our redemption was at such a tremendous cost God also expects us to take sin seriously.

When a person fails to mature spiritually they will not have a sincere love. The spiritually immature person thinks only of themselves. The immature person values relationships only as far as it meets their own needs. In contrast, the growing and maturing Christian looks to put their love into action. They want to be there for others – to help, and comfort, and instruct.

And finally, when a person fails to mature spiritually they will not have a spiritual hunger. Have you ever noticed how easy it is for children to develop a taste only for junk food? Why don’t most children develop a taste for things that are good for them – like vegetables, fruit, grains and protein? The maturing Christian develops a hunger for the spiritual things that are good for them like worship, bible study, prayer, fellowship, and service. They have tasted that the Lord is good and that the things of the Lord are good – and they can’t get enough.

I’ll stop where I started these two sermons last week:

1 Peter 1:15 But just as he who called you is holy, so be holy in all you do.