Set Free For A Purpose

Truly Free Video

[WELCOME]

We have had an amazing IMPACT Weekend with all of the students.

We had nearly 150 students from 4 different churches.

The Trent Murray Band led worship for us this weekend.

We had an opportunity to go and do a service project at Columbus Avenue Baptist Church in Waco where we put together food and hygiene kits for the homeless. The students put together about 600 food kits and 600 hygiene kits yesterday.

We had small groups in the homes and here at the church where we continued to talk about what it means to be truly FREE.

We had decisions that were made for Christ last night and many students convicted that they need to begin to seek after God more and more, which is likely the case for most of us.

[INTRODUCTION]

Last night we saw in Romans 8:1-4 that:

In Jesus, there is freedom from sin and death.

In providing for our freedom, God expresses His amazing grace.

Our freedom in Christ empowers a Spirit-fueled life.

In this final lesson session, we will see a challenge that Peter gives to those who are free in Christ.

Peter is a familiar character to us if we’ve been a Christ-follower for long. He is a prominent figure in the Gospels and the Book of Acts.

Additionally, he wrote the books 1 and 2 Peter. When Peter was a younger guy, he did things quick without much thought or care. but he loved the Lord, and you got a sense that he loved being a disciple.

But he often spoke or acted before he thought it through. How many of you have done that? This got him in trouble sometimes, but Jesus was always there to pick him up. Peter would go on to become one of the vital leaders of the New Testament church.

Background to 1 Peter

The author of this letter is Peter, the disciple of Jesus who was originally named Simon, But Jesus would eventually change his name to Peter. he was a natural leader and spokesperson for the disciples.

Peter would be a prominent figure in the early church preaching the gospel message which led to thousands of people trusting in Jesus Christ. He would travel quite a bit in his ministry and tradition holds that Peter was crucified for his faith in Christ but upside down because he did not feel worthy to be crucified the same way as his Savior.

This letter was written to Christians who are “living as exiles” according to verse 1. They have been dispersed because of their faith and because of the political, social, and personal persecution.

1 Peter 1 is addressing Christians in exile, and although they are experiencing trials of great pain, he told them, through Christ you have a new life. The temporary detours of suffering will actually strengthen their commitment to Christ and their testimony for him. He would encourage them to not let the trauma of the present situations to blur their vision of their glorious future with Christ. He would encourage them to not allow the trials of the moment to distract them from living a life of obedience to God. He would tell them to demonstrate their faith and love in Christ by reaching out to one another in love.

1 Peter 2 describes how God is building Christians. Living godly lives for God is building you into a spiritual house through Christ. He has made you a royal priesthood to be a positive example and witness to others. Therefore, he will explain that we need to respond properly to human authorities as well as to unjust suffering in your lives. We have to remember that though Jesus Christ himself suffering unjustly, he is our example of how to live and treat others and those in authority.

1 Peter can encourage anyone who experiences hardship because of their faith. In the passage, Peter gives us some advice on how to think about the freedom we have in Christ.

1 Peter 2:13–17 (CSB)

13 Submit to every human authority because of the Lord, whether to the emperor as the supreme authority 14 or to governors as those sent out by him to punish those who do what is evil and to praise those who do what is good. 15 For it is God’s will that you silence the ignorance of foolish people by doing good. 16 Submit as free people, not using your freedom as a cover-up for evil, but as God’s slaves. 17 Honor everyone. Love the brothers and sisters. Fear God. Honor the emperor.

Teaching Point 1: We live free, but with self-control. (vs. 13-14)

Here’s something we have discussed a lot the last few sessions: in Christ, you’ve been set free. Got it! We’ve covered this, right? You know this. We’ve been over it.

But does this new found freedom mean that we can now go and do whatever it is that we want to do? Of course not.

We know that in Christ, we are free from all the things that come with sin.

Guilt, shame, judgment, and death (spiritual death/separation from God).

What Peter is getting at is that though we are free in Christ, this does not give us the right or ability to go and do whatever we want. This isn’t like monopoly where you can get a “Get out of jail free” card and play it as an excuse to do what you want. “I’m a Christian so God will forgive me for what I have done wrong.” That is not what we are supposed to do as Christian.

What does self-control look like?

The first word used in verse 13 is the “submit” which means “to place yourself under someone, to rank under someone.” This is essentially a synonym for obedience.

Of course submission to authority does not involve actions that are sinful and contrary to God. The believer is to obey except when commanded to sin. This is the Christian’s responsibility towards all forms of human authority.

Which forms of authority does Peter say that we should submit to?

Some authorities? The ones that we agree with? “Every human authority”

Wayne Grudem says this about that word “Every”:

The inclusiveness of the word every makes it appropriate to apply this statement to other legitimate human authorities (parents/children, church leaders/members, and authority structures in businesses, educational institutions, and voluntary organizations). God has established such pattern of authority for the orderly function of human life, and it both pleases and honors him when we subject ourselves to them.

Peter tells us that we should be submitting willingly, but this is not submitted as an option, rather a command.

Why must we submit?

We do this because this is God’s desire for his people. He wants us to trust him because all governments and authorities are ultimately appointed and controlled by him.

I want to look for a moment what Paul said to the church in Rome.

Romans 6:1-2, 12-14 (CSB)

1 What should we say then? Should we continue in sin so that grace may multiply? 2 Absolutely not! How can we who died to sin still live in it?

12 Therefore do not let sin reign in your mortal body, so that you obey its desires. 13 And do not offer any parts of it to sin as weapons for unrighteousness. But as those who are alive from the dead, offer yourselves to God, and all the parts of yourselves to God as weapons for righteousness. 14 For sin will not rule over you, because you are not under the law but under grace.

What Paul was getting at with the church in Rome was that they are to not take advantage of the grace given to us by God. Our lives should be an outpouring of our obedience to God. Notice Paul says, “offer yourselves to God, and all the parts of yourselves to God as weapons for righteousness.”

Because we are to offer ourselves to God and follow His commands through obedience, we then have a fuller understanding of what Peter is saying.

1 Peter 2:13 (CSB)

13 Submit to every human authority because of the Lord, whether to the emperor as the supreme authority

Peter is telling us to obey authority because we obey God. This means showing kindness, peace, being slow to anger, careful with our speech, showing self-control.

But there is an interesting paradox at work here.

Because you’ve been set free in Christ, technically, we could say that no one can say anything against you. Technically, from a big picture perspective, in Christ, you’re kind of above the ways of this world. While life on this earth is rich and wonderful, and that in itself is a gift from God, this isn’t our home. Our time here is nothing but a blip compared to the eternity we’ll spend with God. And while this is true, Peter reminds us that while we are indeed free, we have to apply self-control to our freedom.

This may seem like a no-brainer to us, but it was an issue for Peter’s audience.

And as you get older, it may be something you think about more, as well. You may find yourselves not loving being under the authority of teachers and coaches. It doesn’t get any easier being under the authority of bosses. And it can rub us the wrong way being under the authority of mayors, governors, or presidents with whom we don’t see eye-to-eye.

But Peter says part of our freedom is honoring the authority of those people we interact with. God has set you free, but God desires that you be respectful toward parents, teachers, coaches, and so on. When we do, we bring honor to God. It may take self-control, but it’s a challenge God expects us to rise to.

[ILLUSTRATION]

Are you free to eat whatever you want?

Yes. For most of us, unless we have a medical reason that dictates otherwise, we are free to eat whatever we want.

If I wanted to, I could eat two pizzas and a suitcase full of Snickers bars for dinner. I could do that. There is no law stopping me. I have the freedom to choose what I eat.

But, it doesn’t take a medical degree to know that if I were to do this, it would be a terrible idea. Why? Because it’s not GOOD for me. I’m free to do it, but it’s harmful to me to do so.

Just because we are free in Christ, we still have to have boundaries. There are still best-practices that God wants us to follow. We can’t abuse our freedom. Jesus didn’t die for that.

[TRANSITION]

Being set-free comes with some expectations. That goes farther than simply how we obey those in authority.

Teaching Point 2: We live free, but with pure hearts. (vs. 15-16a)

1 Peter 2:15–16 (CSB)

15 For it is God’s will that you silence the ignorance of foolish people by doing good. 16 Submit as free people, not using your freedom as a cover-up for evil, but as God’s slaves.

The reason that Peter gives for believers submitting to every human authority is simply because this is God’s will.

By submitting to governing authorities, Christians demonstrate that they are good citizens, not anarchists.

By submitting to governing authorities, Christians extinguish the criticisms of those who are ignorant. Their ignorance is rooted in the foolishness of unbelievers. Ignorant people will be silenced by the good deeds of Christians. By setting an example and obeying the authorities, unbelievers will have nothing to say.

We obey because this is God’s will and through our obedience, we honor the Lord by doing as he commands.

Peter didn’t envision a society and government structure that would always side with Christians or commend them for their good behavior. His point was that the good behavior of Christians will minimize slanderous attacks on believers.

Peter was encouraging his audience to live such godly lives that people would have nothing negative to say about them.

Could it be also that perhaps some would see the good conduct of believers and glorify God by believing in the gospel? Perhaps!

Moving into verse 16, Peter uses the word “submit” again but this time adds “as free people”.

We have discussed this weekend how slavery was very common in the New Testament world. Slavery was part of the everyday culture.

The freedom that Peter is talking about here is different then the freedom that relates to being a slave to someone. Peter is talking about spiritual freedom.

The great freedoms of the Christian life are freedom from the ruling power of sin in our lives and freedom from guilt because our sins have been forgiven by God; and freedom from the impossible obligation of attempting to earn favor with God through perfect obedience.

Free people who are submitting to every human authority should not use their freedom to indulge in evil. Genuine freedom liberates believers to do what is good. Those who use freedom as a license for evil reveal that they are not truly free since , rather, are living a life of wickedness. They must obey authorities with a pure heart out of love and obedience to God the Father.

The final thing that is mentioned in verse 16 is that believers should submit “as God’s slaves”.

The freedom that we exercise is under God’s authority. Genuine freedom is experienced only by those who are God’s slaves. That may sound strange to an unbeliever, but the reality is, one is either a slave to sin or a slave of God. True liberty, according to the New Testament is exercised under God’s authority.

Believers are called upon to live under God’s lordship, obeying the governing authorities.

In Christ, we’re free from the judgment and condemnation of others.

But here’s the deal: because we’re sinful people in our hearts, we can even use our freedom in ways outside of God’s desire. God wants us to make sure that in our freedom, we’re embracing our freedom in a way that honors God and others. We can’t allow our freedom in Christ to make room for us to sin. We have to continue to live godly lives.

[TRANSITION]

There’s one more aspect of our freedom that is outward focused.

Teaching Point 3: We live free, and our lives are a blessing to others. (vs. 17)

1 Peter 2:17 (CSB)

17 Honor everyone. Love the brothers and sisters. Fear God. Honor the emperor.

When Jesus sets us free, there is a purpose behind it. We can define this purpose in many different ways.

One of them is that we are set free to bless others. Peter says here that we are to use our freedom as a means to serve others. It’s like this: we have been set loose from the things of this world that chain us down. As a result, we should use our freedom to lead others to experience the same freedom we feel. It’s a way of seeing our freedom as a call to bless others.

Peter gives 4 commands in this short verse.

The first command he gives is to “honor everyone.” The word “honor” here which can also mean “value” or “price”. Believers are to treat every person with dignity and respect since all human beings are created in the image of God. That aspect alone is a reason why everyone should be honored, they are valued by God.

Peter then gives a second command, to “love the brothers and sisters”. This is relating to fellow Christians. In the midst of the stresses and difficulties of life, and maybe even in difficulties of obeying governing authorities, we need to be reminded of the priority of love, and of the need to love fellow members of the family of God. We can be encouraged and strengthened when we gather together and show love to one another to continue in obeying the governing authorities.

The third command, and arguable the most important, is to “fear God”. This is placed in contrast to honoring the emperor. Believers are to honor the emperor and show him respect because of his office, but they are not to fear him. Only God is to be feared. We are being reminded again that our ultimate loyalty is to God alone.

You may have noticed the fourth command creates bookends for this verse. We are to honor everyone as well as the emperor. The same respect and honor we are commanded to give to governing authorities should be the same we give to everyone. Those with power are not exalted over ordinary people.

This is what Peter means when he says what he says in verse 17.

Honor everyone is a blanket call to respect the people we encounter daily. Love the brotherhood is a call to show genuine love to our fellow Christ-followers. Fear God means that in our freedom, we respect God above all else. But we’re still called to honor, or respect, the rulers we encounter. It’s a general call to be respectful and gracious to everyone, BECAUSE we have been set free in Christ. It’s how we spread Jesus’ love to the world around us.

[CONCLUSION]

We must live free by:

Showing self-control and obeying every human authority.

We live free by doing this with a pure heart, because this is the will of God.

And when we live free in Christ, we can be a blessing to others with the hopes of leading them to a knowledge and saving faith in Christ by the way that we treat and value others.

I want to end with a challenge for you students, and everyone else in this room.

Think about what it is that you need to do to live a life that is truly free in Christ.

Maybe you have trusted in Christ but you are to abiding in him and seeking after him.

Maybe your challenge is to begin diligently seeking him through his Word.

Maybe your challenge is to begin honoring those in authority, your parents, your teachers, your coaches, your bosses.

Maybe you need to start showing more love to your fellow brothers and sisters in Christ.

Maybe you are doing these things but you need to do them with a pure heart and not begrudgingly.

The altar is going to be open if you need to come and pray. Maybe you need to begin to do all this by first trusting in Christ. If you want to do that today, i’ll be down here to talk.