A Call to Holy Living (Part 2)

Introduction

Ecclesiastes 12:13 “Fear God and keep his commandments, for this is the whole duty of man.”

The implication of this verse is that if we fear God…then we will keep his commandments.

But so often…we do not keep God’s commandments (give examples)

Therefore…we often do not fear God....

FCF: So Why do we struggle to fear the Lord? What does it even mean to fear the Lord?

Last week we learned the first thing we must do to live holy lives for God is to keep our hope fixed on Jesus’ return in the future so we can live holy lives as obedient children in the present.

Tonight we will see Peter continues this theme for holy living and helps us answer the question of how we can fear the Lord...

Key Point: We can fear the Lord and live lives of holiness through knowing that we were ransomed with the precious blood of Jesus.

1 Peter 1:17-21 “And if you call on him as Father who judges impartially according to each one’s deeds, conduct yourselves with fear throughout the time of your exile, knowing that you were ransomed from the futile ways inherited from your forefathers, not with perishable things such as silver or gold, but with the precious blood of Christ, like that of a lamb without blemish or spot. He was foreknown before the foundation of the world but was made manifest in the last times for the sake of you who through him are believers in God, who raised him from the dead and gave him glory, so that your faith and hope are in God.”

1. Fear the Lord in all your conduct (vs 17).

Briefly touch on praying to God as Father…The one who righteously judges us is also our loving Father...

that he judges impartially…not according to rank or status…but the way we will live our lives.

Even as believers we will be judged (2 Corinthians 5:9-10).

Our deeds do not establish our faith but demonstrate our faith (James 2:12-25).

Tom Schreiner says, “the fear of judgement still plays a role in the Christian life. Paul himself realized that he would be damned if he did not live the message proclaimed to others (1 Corinthians 9:24-27). Such a recognition inspires him to live faithfully; it does not paralyze him with fear. Paul himself taught that genuine faith always manifests itself in works (Galatians 5:21; 1 Corinthians 6:9-11).

“Conduct yourselves with fear during the time of your exile...”

Explain in detail what is and what is not the fear of the Lord.

“the fear of God is the soul of godliness.” -John Murray

Proverbs 1:7 “The fear of the Lord is the beginning of knowledge;”

Fearing God does not mean “being afraid of God”

Exodus 20:18-20 “Now when all the people saw the thunder and the flashes of lightning and the sound of the trumpet and the mountain smoking, the people were afraid and trembled, and they stood far off and said to Moses, “You speak to us, and we will listen; but do not let God speak to us, lest we die.” Moses said to the people, “Do not fear, for God has come to test you, that the fear of him may be before you, that you may not sin.””

The word “fear” is translated as awe and respect in other passages in the Bible…yet these words do not seem to capture the full weight of what it means to fear God.

Fear should be actually understood as a synonym for love and joy.

Connect how fear is synonymous with love and joy…we fear what we love.

Fear issues forth from love…

For example…because we love ourselves, we fear bad things happening to us....because we love our friends…we fear bad things happening to them…because we love our possessions…we fear losing them or them getting damaged.

There is a difference between sinful fear and godly fear...

Sinful fear is generated by unbelief, and unbelief is strengthened by fear…anxiety grows best in the soil of unbelief....

Being afraid of God because you do not understand his love and justice will lead you to fear other things…things that cannot liberate or enliven you but only enslave and kill you.

Romans 3:11-18- Because we did not fear God, we turned away from him and committed wicked acts of evil.

So if this is “sinful fear” than what is godly fear?

Godly fear is rooted in faith in God through Christ.

Right fear given by the Spirit drives us, not away from God but to God.

Jeremiah 32:38-40 “And they shall be my people, and I will be their God. I will give them one heart and one way, that they may fear me forever, for their own good and the good of their children after them. I will make with them an everlasting covenant, that I will not turn away from doing good to them. And I will put the fear of me in their hearts, that they may not turn from me.”

Connect how glorifying God and enjoying him forever is synonymous with fearing God and keeping his commands.

Love and fear go hand in hand (Deuteronomy 6:1-5).

Israel is commanded to fear the Lord and obey his commands and then love the Lord with all their hearts.

The more we fear the Lord, the more we love the Lord.

Isaiah 60:5 “Then you shall see and be radiant; your heart shall thrill and exult, because the abundance of the sea shall be turned to you, the wealth of the nations shall come to you.”

Scripture is clear that just as the fear of God defines true love for God, so it defines true joy in God.

To fear the Lord is to enjoy him and drink of his sweet water...but the Israelites rejected his living water for bitter water because the fear of the Lord was not in them (Jeremiah 2:13, 19).

Holiness is not just running away from sin but also drawing closer to God, who is the very definition of holiness.

It is godly fear that will help us live lives of holiness and please God in all of our conduct.

“Godly fear is the salt that seasons every act that is acceptable to God.” -John Bunyan

“this right fear of God is part of the underlying grain of the new heart. The fruit of the Spirit is precisely that character which grows out of a God-fearing heart.” -Michael Reeves

Illustration of what it means to fear God.

APPLICATION: What if you lost the ability to worship God publically at Westwood? What if you lost access to read the Bible? What if you no longer had the freedom to pray in public places?

What are you afraid of losing?…what keeps you anxious throughout the day? that will tell you what you fear....and what you fear is what your heart truly loves. What you fear is what controls your thoughts, words, and actions.

Why should we love God? Why Should we fear God? BECAUSE WE HAVE BEEN BOUGHT WITH THE PRECIOUS BLOOD OF HIS SON!

You Have Been Ransomed by The Precious Blood of Jesus (vs 18-21)

“Knowing you were not ransomed with perishable things but with the precious blood of Christ”

Explain what the word ransom means.

Redemption- buying back slaves from the market or prisoners of war.

Refers to the redemption of Israel from Egypt.

For redemption to happen…a price MUST be paid.

Contrast the precious blood of Jesus with perishable silver and gold.

Penal substitutionary atonement…Jesus paid our ransom in our place (Mark 10:45).

Payment was Costly

without blemish or spot-the necessity of a perfect sacrifice.

Jesus had to fulfill the law perfectly to be our substitute.

Jesus’ blood is precious because his death was planned before the foundation of the earth (vs. 20).

It is only through Jesus’ life, death, and resurrection that our faith and hope are in God. (vs. 21)

Explain what we have been ransomed from “futile ways” (vs. 18)

Worthless, empty, and useless habits of life.

Our sinful lives, thoughts, and actions before we knew Christ.

Explain the purpose of Jesus ransoming us with his blood.

Not just for forgiveness but to live holy lives and have victory over sin.

We were ransomed from unholiness, wickedness, and lawlessness (Titus 2:14). Also see Ephesians 2:10.

He shed his blood to purchase our ransom payment, from futile conduct to holy conduct.

John Piper: “Christ’s ransom payment was NOT a failure. He obtained what he paid for…the Holy conduct of God’s people is SURE. This is why the Bible makes plain that if you do not have this holiness…you cannot make any claim that you are among the redeemed.”

We are not our own but have been bought with a price, therefore we must glorify God with our bodies (1 Corinthians 6:19-20).

But know this…the fight for holiness is directly connected with the truth that we have already been forgiven…the only sin we can conquer in this life is a forgiven sin…we are fighting from victory!!

APPLICATION: What are we saying about the blood of Christ that was shed to redeem us and make us holy when we live in the futile ways of life and do not love and cherish God above all things?

We make his blood seem not so precious...we make his grace cheap.

Anytime we minimize sin we devalue the righteous life and acceptable sacrifice of Jesus.

The truth is, all of us at one point or another have made his grace cheap…we live for the perishable things of this world…we do not fear God perfectly…we do not love him with our whole hearts…we do not enjoy and delight in him....and his righteous judgement is upon us all....

What must we do?

Response

Trust in Jesus who feared God perfectly

Isaiah 11:1-3 “ And the Spirit of the Lord shall rest upon him, the Spirit of wisdom and understanding, the Spirit of counsel and might, the Spirit of knowledge and the fear of the Lord. And his delight shall be in the fear of the Lord.”

Be enthralled by God through meditating on the cross.

“Knowing that you were not ransomed with perishable things but with the precious blood of Christ...”

“If you want to increase greatly in holiness and be strong against the temptations to sin, this is the only way to achieve it. Look at Christ’s death often, and so seek to know about his death. Consider often how much it cost for us to be redeemed from sin, and offer this answer to all the enticements of sin and the world: ‘Except if you can offer my soul something greater than the price that was given for it on the cross, I cannot listen to you.”

Be obedient to God out of your love for and joy in him.

Jesus bought you with his blood.

Don’t make his grace cheap.

If we love him, we will keep his commandments.