13. Understanding our Redemption Pt 1

Understanding our Redemption

1Pe 1:13-19 Therefore gird up the loins of your mind, be sober, and rest your hope fully upon the grace that is to be brought to you at the revelation of Jesus Christ; (14) as obedient children, not conforming yourselves to the former lusts, as in your ignorance; (15) but as He who called you is holy, you also be holy in all your conduct, (16) because it is written, "BE HOLY, FOR I AM HOLY." (17) And if you call on the Father, who without partiality judges according to each one's work, conduct yourselves throughout the time of your stay here in fear; (18) knowing that you were not redeemed with corruptible things, like silver or gold, from your aimless conduct received by tradition from your fathers, (19) but with the precious blood of Christ, as of a lamb without blemish and without spot.

From verses 14 and following we have been delving into our position as children of God.

1.The defining nature of our relationship - Children of God v 14

We have seen the doctrine of adoption, that glorious act of grace by which the Father declares us legally and relationally His in and through the what Christ has done for us and in the application of it by the Holy Spirit

2.The defining characteristic of the Children of God is Obedience. v 14

Since, in the Greek it reads ‘As children of obedience’, there are two points. 1. We are the children because of Christ’s obedience and 2. obedience is that quality that describes the child of God. The qualities of obedience are that it is submissive, and that being willing and sincere, and it is intentional and directional to fulfill the requirements of the command.

3.The defining purpose of obedience is holiness – v 15, 16.

We addressed from the negative view of not conforming yourselves to your former lusts. There is a putting of the world’s standards. We are to no longer living in accordance to the world and the world of pleasing ourselves. The opposite of not conforming ourselves to former lusts is to conform ourselves to the standard that God has established in His word. You shall be holy for I am holy.

And as a subpoint of the purpose of obedience is holiness, and a means to accomplish that, we are to conduct ourselves during the time of our stay here on the earth, in fear. As we saw the position of this phrase is sandwiched between ‘if you call upon the father, and you were redeemed with the precious blood of the Lamb. We must therefore fear living as though our faith is not in God and fearing living as though Christ’s blood is not precious.

The idea of calling upon the Father, we saw previously, is that of calling upon Him in worship and in prayer. And as a reminder there would be no calling upon the Father without His first calling us v15. But like the holy One who called you…

The second part of conducting ourselves in fear during our stay upon the earth is knowing our redemption. It is here I want to focus our attention this morning. (18) knowing that you were not redeemed with corruptible things, like silver or gold, from your aimless conduct received by tradition from your fathers, (19) but with the precious blood of Christ, as of a lamb without blemish and without spot.

How do we conduct ourselves in fear while we are on the earth?

I. Knowing what we have not been redeemed with.

II. Knowing what we have been redeemed from

III. Knowing what we have been redeemed with

This morning we will look at the first two points.

Before we get to the points we have to define what the word knowing is. Greek is a wonderfully descriptive language. Where we have one word for love they have 4. Where we have one word for orange, Greek has two. One for the fruit and another for the color. The word know in English is no different. The have several words for knowing and each describe a particular kind of knowing. The word uses here is for self-evident and or intuitive knowledge. What does that mean. Self-evident for example is when someone points to a car and says ‘that is a car.’ Your response is ‘I know’. You know because it is self-evident, a car is a car, is a car. Mar 5:25-33  Now a certain woman had a flow of blood for twelve years,  (26)  and had suffered many things from many physicians. She had spent all that she had and was no better, but rather grew worse.  (27)  When she heard about Jesus, she came behind Him in the crowd and touched His garment.  (28)  For she said, "If only I may touch His clothes, I shall be made well."  (29)  Immediately the fountain of her blood was dried up, and she felt in her body that she was healed of the affliction.  (30)  And Jesus, immediately knowing in Himself that power had gone out of Him, turned around in the crowd and said, "Who touched My clothes?"  (31)  But His disciples said to Him, "You see the multitude thronging You, and You say, 'Who touched Me?' "  (32)  And He looked around to see her who had done this thing.  (33)  But the woman, fearing and trembling, knowing what had happened to her, came and fell down before Him and told Him the whole truth. It was self evident.

Intuitive knowledge is knowing something without seeing the facts personally. Parents know what their children need, many times, before their children do. Mat 6:8  "Therefore do not be like them. For your Father knows the things you have need of before you ask Him.

This poses an interesting question. If verse 18 and 19 are self-evident or intuitive, why do not all know this? Peter states this as a point in fact in time. Many were at the crucifixion of Jesus, but not all believed. Many heard Peter’s first sermon in Act’s 2 but not all believed. Many heard Paul’s preaching and testimony but not all believed. So if this is self-evident or intuitive knowledge but not all know is there something particular about the people of Pontus, Galatia, Cappadocia, Asia, and Bithynia that give them special knowledge? V18 says before they were Christian they were aimless in conduct, inherited from their forefathers. NASB and ESV translate it futile way of life. 1 Peter 1:14 says before they were Christian the were conformed to lusts in their ignorance. Those who are ignorant are not those who possess knowledge of this redemption. Scripture bears witness to this fact. It is also clear from the rest of Peter’s letter that not all the people of these areas believed because they were the one inflicting the persecution on the believers.

Eph 4:18  having their understanding darkened, being alienated from the life of God, because of the ignorance that is in them, because of the blindness of their heart;”. The word blindness is translated in the NASB and ESV as hardness. Hardness of heart. It is not that they are passively ignorant it is because of the hardness of heart. Rom 1:25  who exchanged the truth of God for the lie, and worshiped and served the creature rather than the Creator, who is blessed forever. Amen.

1Co 1:18  For the message of the cross is foolishness to those who are perishing,

Another question has to be asked. If this knowledge is not within man himself where does it come from? And this we all know from previous sermons in 1 Peter and Ephesians. The were caused to be begotten or born again to a living hope through the resurrection of Jesus Christ. We know that the Father decrees salvation for the elect, the Son accomplishes salvation for the elect and the Holy Spirit applies this salvation to the elect. And it is here that we see the work of the Spirit in the redeemed of God. It is the Spirit who revealed the coming of Christ to the prophets of old. It is by the Spirit the message of the gospel is proclaimed and it is by the Spirit the message is received and believed.

1Pe 1:10-12  Of this salvation the prophets have inquired and searched carefully, who prophesied of the grace that would come to you,  (11)  searching what, or what manner of time, the Spirit of Christ who was in them was indicating when He testified beforehand the sufferings of Christ and the glories that would follow.  (12)  To them it was revealed that, not to themselves, but to us they were ministering the things which now have been reported to you through those who have preached the gospel to you by the Holy Spirit sent from heaven—things which angels desire to look into.

Tit 3:4-7  But when the kindness and the love of God our Savior toward man appeared,  (5)  not by works of righteousness which we have done, but according to His mercy He saved us, through the washing of regeneration and renewing of the Holy Spirit,  (6)  whom He poured out on us abundantly through Jesus Christ our Savior,  (7)  that having been justified by His grace we should become heirs according to the hope of eternal life.

This knowing is a God bestowed knowing. It is a gift that accompanies and is part of our salvation. It is a knowledge the dispels ignorance and brings enlightenment.

1Co 2:6-16  However, we speak wisdom among those who are mature, yet not the wisdom of this age, nor of the rulers of this age, who are coming to nothing.  (7)  But we speak the wisdom of God in a mystery, the hidden wisdom which God ordained before the ages for our glory,  (8)  which none of the rulers of this age knew; for had they known, they would not have crucified the Lord of glory.  (9)  But as it is written: "EYE HAS NOT SEEN, NOR EAR HEARD, NOR HAVE ENTERED INTO THE HEART OF MAN THE THINGS WHICH GOD HAS PREPARED FOR THOSE WHO LOVE HIM."  (10)  But God has revealed them to us through His Spirit. For the Spirit searches all things, yes, the deep things of God.  (11)  For what man knows the things of a man except the spirit of the man which is in him? Even so no one knows the things of God except the Spirit of God.  (12)  Now we have received, not the spirit of the world, but the Spirit who is from God, that we might know the things that have been freely given to us by God.  (13)  These things we also speak, not in words which man's wisdom teaches but which the Holy Spirit teaches, comparing spiritual things with spiritual.  (14)  But the natural man does not receive the things of the Spirit of God, for they are foolishness to him; nor can he know them, because they are spiritually discerned.  (15)  But he who is spiritual judges all things, yet he himself is rightly judged by no one.  (16)  For "WHO HAS KNOWN THE MIND OF THE LORD THAT HE MAY INSTRUCT HIM?" But we have the mind of Christ.

It is a knowledge that rescues from our previous aimless and futile way of life to one that is full of purpose and intent. This God given knowledge reveals to us the difference between false religion and true faith. This brings us to our first point.

I. Knowing what we have not been redeemed with. You have not been redeemed with corruptible things like silver and gold.

Redeem means to pay a ransom price to set a slave free. The principle of redemption would have been readily known by both converted Gentiles and Jews. The Roman Empire had an estimated 60 million slaves so the buying and selling of them would have been commonplace. The converted Jews would understand from God redeeming Israel from slavery to Egypt.

Exo 6:6  Therefore say to the children of Israel: 'I am the LORD; I will bring you out from under the burdens of the Egyptians, I will rescue you from their bondage, and I will redeem you with an outstretched arm and with great judgments.

Also there is the kinsman redeemer - Lev 25:25  'If one of your brethren becomes poor, and has sold some of his possession, and if his redeeming relative comes to redeem it, then he may redeem what his brother sold.

Peter makes a special point to say what we are not redeemed with before he says what we are redeemed with. He says we are not redeemed with corruptible, the NASB and ESV translate it perishable. That which is corruptible is also that which is temporary, fading away, and has no eternal value. But gold and silver are precious, aren’t they? They were the legal tender of the day for the redemption form slaves. But here gold and silver are not precious, they cannot redeem, they have no value. This slavery is not physical but spiritual. Rom 6:16  Do you not know that to whom you present yourselves slaves to obey, you are that one's slaves whom you obey, whether of sin leading to death, or of obedience leading to righteousness? Until salvation comes we are in bondage and enslaved to sin. It is spiritual, it is the inheritance from our forefathers. Rom 5:12  Therefore, just as through one man sin entered the world, and death through sin, and thus death spread to all men, because all sinned— We are not only in bondage to sin but also under its curse. And it brings us to point 2.

II. Knowing from what we have been redeemed – aimless conduct, inherited from your forefathers.

Aimless means vain, empty, devoid of force, lacking in content, nonproductive, useless, dead, fruitless, of no real or lasting value. This adjective describes an ineffectual attempt to do something or an unsuccessful effort to attain something. It is here we see that apart from Christ we cannot achieve the chief end for which we have been created and that is to glorify God and enjoy Him forever. His life is the sum of Ecc 1:2-3  "Vanity of vanities," says the Preacher; "Vanity of vanities, all is vanity."  (3)  What profit has a man from all his labor In which he toils under the sun?

Life is devoid of meaning and purpose for it is impossible for man to please God. Man flails about seeking to fill that which only Christ can fill.

Aimless conduct not only has to do with how we live but also man’s attempts to justify himself before God. Gold and silver being corruptible are a picture also of man’s attempts to justify himself before God. He works to earn and labors to save his works righteousness but the testimony of Scripture is this: Gal 3:10  For as many as are of the works of the law are under the curse; for it is written, "CURSED IS EVERYONE WHO DOES NOT CONTINUE IN ALL THINGS WHICH ARE WRITTEN IN THE BOOK OF THE LAW, TO DO THEM."

Isa 64:6  But we are all like an unclean thing, And all our righteousness are like filthy rags; We all fade as a leaf, And our iniquities, like the wind, Have taken us away.

Application:

The point Peter is making is the redeemed know, by the Holy Spirit, the difference between false religion and true faith. The gentiles worshipped idols and the Jews lived according to the Law but neither saves. Both were religious but both were lost, dead in their trespasses and sins. I ask you this morning what is your hope for heaven. If in your mind you say I was baptized as a child, I have gone to church my whole life, I have been a good person, I have gone on short term missions, then I fear for your soul. All of our good works cannot quench the thirst of God’s wrath against our sin. There had to be another and there was. 1Pe 1:18-19  knowing that you were not redeemed with corruptible things, like silver or gold, from your aimless conduct received by tradition from your fathers,  (19)  but with the precious blood of Christ, as of a lamb without blemish and without spot.