A Set Apart People (2)

Intro

a) We’re continuing our series called A Distinct People. In 1 Pet.1:1-12 Peter showed why we as believers should praise God & rejoice, even in our trials & suffering. God the Father foreknew us. God the Son shed His blood for us. The HS made us spiritually alive & is sanctifying us.

b) We have a living hope & an inheritance that’s kept in heaven for us. We’re being guarded by God’s power through faith until we reach that inheritance. Peter’s been showing us the gospel indicatives: what God has done. In His great mercy God has adopted us as His beloved children.

c) But now starting in v13 Peter shifts from the gospel indicatives (what God has done) to the gospel imperatives (how we should respond or live). Now here’s the danger as we move to these gospel imperatives. We live in a performance-based culture, & in many ways, that’s a good thing.

d) However, that performance-based mentality must not inform how we hear these gospel commands. The gospel doesn’t say obey to be loved & accepted, but b/c you are loved & accepted therefore obey. Gospel obedience isn’t motivated by insecurity or fear of what God might do.

e) It’s motivated by a grateful joy for what God has done. Think about if my wife & I adopted a child. Imagine if we said to that child: “You’re in our family now, but here are the rules. Based on how well you perform & follow the rules, will determine if you remain our child & in this family.”

f) Imagine the fear & anxiety of that child. They wouldn’t obey out of joy & love, but out of fear & insecurity. Now imagine if we adopted that same child & said: “We love you. You’re part of our family. You’re in. No matter what you do, we’ll always love you & never leave or forsake you.

g) Now b/c you are part of this family, here’s how Corbin’s live. Do you hear the difference? See, as we shift to the gospel imperatives, these commands aren’t: do this to be loved & accepted or to keep being loved & accepted. It’s now that you are loved & accepted & adopted - live like this.

h) Live out your new identity as a loved, accepted & adopted child of God. In v13-21 Peter gives us 3 ways we should live or respond to what God has done for us. I’ve titled today’s sermon A People Set Apart. So w/ that background, let’s now hear God’s holy word in 1 Pet. 1:13-21. Read & Pray.

Here’s the 1st way we’re a set apart people in v13: our hope is set fully on the grace that will be ours

a) Peter says to set our hope fully on the grace to be ours when Christ is revealed requires action on our part. v13 says: “preparing your minds for actions & being sober-minded.” To prepare your mind for action means to intentionally think about this grace. We must meditate on God’s promises

b) We must remind ourselves God is for us, not against us. We must remember we can’t out-sin His grace. We must consider God won’t abandon us, nor does He regret saving us. Jesus knew who & what He was buying when He went to the cross & when He hung on the cross for us & our sin.

c) To set your hope on the grace that will be yours requires mental preparation. How many of you have traveled overseas? See, a trip like that requires research & planning. You don’t just show up. You have to make plan. Get a passport. Set a budget. Book hotels. Build an itinerary.

d) As that trip requires mental preparation, that’s how we set our hope on the grace to be ours.

e) What we hope in determines how we live. How we live demonstrates what we truly hope in. But then Peter says we must be “sober-minded.” Be self-controlled or have a sober outlook. Now we use the word sober to mean someone’s not using a substance like alcohol, drugs or tobacco.

f) To be sober means not having your mind clouded or distorted by a substance. Think about a drunk person. Their perception is skewed. Their reactions are slow. They don’t think clearly or control their desires & actions. They are unpredictable, unreliable & easily swayed.

g) Peter says to set our hope on the grace that will be ours, we must be sober-minded. We need to be sober in our thinking, not drunk on the priorities or promises of this world. Nothing should distract our hearts & minds from the grace that will be ours. We don’t hope in any 1 or anything else.

h) Notice Peter says set your hope fully on the grace to be yours. Our hope isn’t the grace Christ will bring + something else. Our hope if fully set on Him & the unimaginable grace He will bring us into on that day, which will make the joys & graces of this life will pale in comparison.

i) So Peter says: “prepare your minds, be sober-minded.” And friends, if we truly live w/ our hope fully set on that day & grace, we will be a set apart people. We will look & hope much differently.

The 2nd distinct way our lives should show we are a set apart people is in v14-16: we live holy lives

a) Peter says in v14-16, “As obedient children, do not be conformed to the passions of your former ignorance, but as he who called you is holy, you also be holy in all your conduct, since it is written, ‘You shall be holy, for I am holy’.” Notice how Peter starts v14: “As obedient children.”

b) He doesn’t say live holy lives so you might become God’s children. He calls us to live holy lives b/c we are God’s children. B/c we have been born again & have spiritual life in us & are part of God’s family, we are to bear the likeness of our Father. As the adage goes: Like Father, like son.

c) As obedient children we’re called to live in a way that reflects the character of our new Father & family. When I was a young my dad told us: “Don’t do anything to embarrass the family name.” As Christians, we should never live in such a way that would embarrass our new Father or family.

d) We’re called to represent & image our Father in heaven & His family. That’s why Peter says in v15: “as he who called you is holy, you also be holy in all your conduct.” Now hear me this morning. When we hear the word holy, we usually think about what we need to stop doing.

e) And in 1 sense, that is good & true. As those who’ve been born again, we are commanded to stop doing certain sinful things. That’s why Peter says in v14 that as obedient children we should “not be conformed to the passions of our former ignorance.” Ignorance there means sinful or evil.

f) It’s to renounce our former way of living apart from Christ. There should be a transformation or reorientation of our lives. If God’s Spirit dwells in us, He will begin to enlighten God’s word to us & expose areas of our lives where we need to stop doing certain things.

g) But that’s not all that it means to be holy. We are also called to start doing good things or good works. We not only abandon our former passions, but we begin to have & act on new passions.

h) The Christian life isn’t about tweaking or improving your old sinful way of living. It’s about having a radically new way of living. As v15 says: “Be holy in all your conduct.” We are to be a distinct people, not just by what we don’t do, but also by what we actually do.

i) We are to image God’s own distinctiveness. See, God’s own holiness isn’t just about what He doesn’t do, but about the beauty & goodness of what He does do. The gospels show us what this looks like. In Jesus we see the beauty & goodness & perfection of God’s thoughts, words & deeds.

j) Jesus was radically distinct from the world. Not just b/c of what He didn’t do, but b/c of what He did. He went to the lepers & outcasts. He lived & loved & spoke in such a way that made Him distinct. And united to Him by faith, we are called to imitate Him in every aspect of our lives.

k) v16 says, “it is written, ‘You shall be holy, for I am holy’.” But here’s what we must also hear today. Holiness isn’t just about the sinful things you need to stop doing & the good things you need to start doing. There’s a 3rd way we are called to be holy as He is holy.

l) See, most of the time when we think or talk about God’s own holiness, we describe it as God being separate or set apart from everything, or as God being separate & set apart from sin & sinners. And that’s true. But that meaning of holiness only tells us how God is not like anyone or anything else.

m) That definition of holiness only tells us what God is not, not what God is. It gives us a partial view of what it means for God to be holy. So, what is God’s holiness? What do the seraphim who Isa. 6 says are above God’s throne mean when they declare to 1 another: “Holy, holy, holy is the Lord?”

n) Sinclair Ferguson defines God’s holiness like this: “the perfect & pure devotion of each of the 3 persons of the Trinity to the other 2. It is an absolute, permanent, exclusive, pure, irreversible & fully expressed devotion. Holiness is the intensity of the love that flows within the very being of God among & between each of the 3 persons: Father, Son & HS.”

o) When God declares Himself holy, it doesn’t simply mean He’s distinct from His creation & morally pure, but that God’s devoted to Himself. Everything God does is for His own name & glory. God is devoted to God. So now think about what it means for us to be holy as He is holy.

p) Taking Ferguson’s definition, then holiness in us must also be a deeply personal, intense, loving devotion to God. It’s a belonging to God that is irreversible, unconditional & w/o any reserve on our part. We are entirely His. All that we are, all that we do, all that we possess belong to Him.

q) Our lives are now wholly devoted to God. We live for Him. We live for His purpose & service & glory. Everything we do is for the sake of His name. His will is now our will. See friends, that’s why Peter started this letter the way he did. He began by showing us whose we are & who we are.

r) We’ve been chosen & loved by God. Why? So we might belong & be wholly devoted to Him. We are the Lord’s. We’ve been brought into that deeply personal, intense, loving devotion that exists in our triune God. Holiness was never meant to be merely keeping the OT sacrifices, rituals & laws.

s) Holiness isn’t simply a list of to do’s & to don’ts. Holiness is having fellowship w/ God in such a deeply intense, personal way that we become like Him.

t) That’s why Jesus said we must die to self or deny self. We no longer live for ourselves, but for Him who died & was raised for us. We must see ourselves every moment of everyday as someone who has died to sin & been raised to not just a new life, but to a new love.

u) Holiness flows from seeing & believing God is better than anyone or anything this world can offer. Holiness flows from seeing yourself as someone who is now wholly devoted to God. To live for Him. To please Him. Believing He alone can bring the hope, joy, peace & satisfaction we long for.

v) God is devoted to our holiness. God commanded our holiness. Christ died for our holiness. The HS has been given to us so we might be holy. God sends trials & successes for our holiness. God has prepared a place for us that will be filled w/ holiness & His holy people. But until then, we are called to be a set apart, distinct people by being holy as He is holy.

The 3rd distinct way we show we are a set apart people is in v17-21: we live in reverent fear of God

a) Peter’s final command in this passage is at the end of v17: “conduct yourselves w/ fear throughout the time of your exile.” Now the idea of living in fear might seem contradictory to the grace of the gospel. But Peter isn’t commanding us to live in a state of terror or insecurity.

b) He’s commanding us to live w/ a reverence & awe of God. It’s a spiritually healthy trembling in light of who God is. And Peter roots this fear in 3 things. 1st, it’s rooted in what we see in the 1st part of v17: “if you call on Him as Father who judges impartially according to each one’s deeds.”

c) Peter reminds us that knowing God as our Father should not lead to complacency, nor a casual attitude toward sin. While we rejoice in the intimacy & love that comes from our adoption into God’s family & having God as our Father, we must remember He is also the Judge of all the earth.

d) We must never become so comfortable w/ God’s grace that we forget His majesty. We live w/ an awe & reverence for God b/c He has taken away the judgment that stood against us. God the Father sent His Son into the world to take our judgment. That's why Jesus said this in John 5:24:

e) “Truly, truly, I say to you, whoever hears my word & believes Him who sent me has eternal life. He does not come into judgment, but has passed from death to life.” That’s why we live w/ an awe & reverence of God. B/c this great & undeserved gift we’ve been given.

f) We see a 2nd reason we conduct ourselves w/ fear in v18-19: “knowing you were ransomed from the futile ways inherited from your forefathers, not w/ perishable things such as silver or gold, but w/ the precious blood of Christ, like that of a lamb w/o blemish or spot.”

g) We live w/ a fear of God b/c we know the price He paid to redeem us: the precious blood of Christ. Peter says Christ is a lamb w/o blemish or spot. He’s again pointing us back to the OT. The OT law required an unblemished lamb to be sacrificed to atone or take away the people’s sin.

h) And we know the OT sacrifices pointed forward to the perfect sacrifice of Christ. Heb. 9 says the blood of an animal could never truly take away our sin. But Christ offered Himself to “purify our conscience from dead works to serve the living God.” Peter says if we know the unimaginable cost God paid to redeem us, we will “conduct ourselves w/ fear throughout the time of our exile.”

i) To live flippantly or continue in our sin is to trample on Christ’s shed blood that redeemed us. It’s to live as if the cross were an insignificant act & gift. But then in v20-21 Peter gives us a 3rd reason why we should “conduct ourselves w/ fear.” B/c of God’s eternal plan of salvation.

j) Christ’s coming & sacrifice wasn’t God’s Plan B to save sinners. v20 says Christ “was foreknown before the foundation of the world.” The Father not only foreknew the people He would save, but He also foreknew the means by which He would save them: His Son & our Lord Jesus Christ.

k) The plan was eternal. Before creation, God planned to redeem a people through His Son. But praise God that plan also became historical. As v20 says God’s eternal plan was “made manifest in the last times for the sake of you.” What was decided beyond time & space has entered time & space.

l) How? Through the life, death & resurrection of Jesus. v21 says the Father “raised Him from the dead & gave Him glory so that our faith & hope are in God.” Knowing God’s eternal plan was made manifest for you, even before you or anything else existed, should cause us to tremble.

m) God planned & has now redeemed us from “the passions of our former ignorance.” God planned & has now ransomed us “from the futile ways inherited from our forefathers.” We are a distinct & set apart people who know God’s eternal plan which leads to living w/ a fear of Him who saved us.

Let me close this way.

a) In the movie Saving Private Ryan, Cpt. Miller & his squad are given mission to find & save Private Ryan during WW2. Pvt. Ryan had 3 brothers in the war who had been killed in action. And this mission to find & save Pvt. Ryan came at a high cost. Many of Cpt. Miller’s men died doing so.

b) Toward the end of the movie as Cpt. Miller finally finds Private Ryan. However, Cpt. Miller is then seriously wounded. As he lies dying, Cpt. Miller says to Pvt. Ryan: “Earn this. Earn it.” He told Pvt. Ryan to go & live a life worthy of the incredible sacrifice that was made to spare his life.

c) And in the final scene of the movie, a now aged Pvt. Ryan stands at the grave of Cpt. Miller at the Arlington National Cemetery. Pvt. Ryan kneels down & says, “Every day I thought about what you said to me. I hope that in your eyes I’ve earned all that you have done for me.”

d) See, just as Pvt. Ryan was called to live in light of the sacrifice made for him, Christians are called to live in light of the much greater sacrifice Christ made for us. The sacrifice of the soldiers in Saving Pvt. Ryan was immense, but the sacrifice of Christ, the perfect Son of God is far greater.

e) Cpt. Miller’s plea to earn this echoes Peter’s exhortations to us here. In light of what God’s done for us, we’re called to live as a distinct, set apart people. A people who’s hope is fully set on the grace that will be ours when He returns. A people who are holy as He is holy.

f) A people conduct ourselves in fear until Christ returns or calls us home. We know we can’t earn our salvation, but we are called to live in a manner worthy of the great salvation we have been given. May God help us to that end.