Part 4: 1 Peter 1:13–21
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13 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. 20 He indeed was foreordained before the foundation of the world, but was manifest in these last times for you 21 who through Him believe in God, who raised Him from the dead and gave Him glory, so that your faith and hope are in God.
Today as we move on through Peter he reminds us of the grace of God that is ours in Jesus Christ. This grace has come to us through our faith in Him.
During the frigid winter months the man stood alone along the river’s frozen edge, tending a covey of ducks. He fed them. He cut through the ice to open up an area of water for them. In short, he met their every need during the cold season. Every day. And there was a story behind why he was doing this which his friend told:
“He has just returned from the war in Vietnam. The story is that ducks saved his life. His unit had been ambushed. Many of his friends had been killed, and while he hadn’t been shot, he lay down to look like he had. He hoped they would go away. But they didn’t. The enemy kept coming. Through the fields they came. They’d put one more shot in every fallen man to ensure that he was dead. But suddenly a covey of ducks flew overhead, and the attention of the soldiers was diverted. In their excitement they began running after the ducks to shoot at them instead. In the end, they stopped checking the field for men and left. That’s how the man down by the river escaped. And now he has a special love for ducks. He loves because he lives.”
This is a picture of how it should be for us because Jesus has saved us by His astounding grace. We should indeed be grateful and have a special love for Him and everything that now follows in this passage is as a result of all that we have been given. How can we not live our lives in line with the will of God and not obey the words we hear today? We have, after all, been given a living hope as Peter said in verse 3.
13
We are to gird up the loins of our mind. What does that mean? We are not drunk, but sober, sane, in control. Of all the things that we can be told this is one of the most important for us to get a grasp of. We are to roll up the sleeves of our mind Peter is saying. We are to prepare ourselves for the life of holiness and it starts in the mind. In a way we are saying you put rubbish in, you get rubbish out. Or to put it biblically from:
7 Don’t be deceived: God is not mocked. For whatever a person sows he will also reap,
The interesting thing about sowing is that whatever we sow, like a seed, will produce a harvest greater than the seed we sow. So, if we sow into our minds good things, multiple good things will result but if we sow into our minds bad things then multiple bad things will result - whatever the result, good or bad, will show up in our behaviour.
2 Do not be conformed to this age, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind, so that you may discern what is the good, pleasing, and perfect will of God.
The principle is clear and we can revert back to our previous study in Philippians where it says:
8 Finally brothers and sisters, whatever is true, whatever is honorable, whatever is just, whatever is pure, whatever is lovely, whatever is commendable—if there is any moral excellence and if there is anything praiseworthy—dwell on these things.
The mind that is girded up is one that has been redirected by Scripture to think in a different way. The mind that is girded up remembers and relies upon the grace that will soon be brought to us at His appearing. I love the verses in Colossians that say
2 Set your mind on things above, not on things on the earth.
What is above? God. Heaven. Our citizenship. Our future. If we meditate on these it takes our mind of the temporary things of earth.
Peter in a nutshell is saying: Pay complete attention to the grace you have been given and will be given in Jesus when He returns.
14
In order for this to be fully seen in us we are to leave worldly things behind. We are to be obedient. This is both already true and to be true. We are obedient children for responding to the Gospel, that’s a great start! And we are to be obedient, not lustful as we were before we became Christians, before we knew about the salvation that Jesus brings. Let us be clear what lust is. Lust is an intense desire, not just for things that are sexual, but for things as well. Most sins can come under the umbrella of lust:
16 For everything in the world—the lust of the flesh, the lust of the eyes, and the pride in one’s possessions—is not from the Father, but is from the world. 17 And the world with its lust is passing away, but the one who does the will of God remains forever.
The point for us is that before we had an excuse to live the lives we led, as much as anyone can have an excuse. We lived the lives other people were living – we were conforming to the world but we were ignorant, without knowledge, without understanding but we now have no excuse for we are well aware that the price has been paid for us, that God through Jesus has loved us with an everlasting love.
15-16
We are now called to holiness as a response. We are called to repentance. We are called to set ourselves apart from the world and live unto God. We are called to be holy, wholly for God, separated for Him and His work in our lives and through our lives. Of course, only God can truly be holy. And if we were holy we would be like God – and that is the point – we haven’t made it yet but the command is still there. We have to become more like Jesus and less like the world.
Naturally we rebel against this – naturally we want to obey our lust and evil appetites but by doing so we are acting as mere men, as Paul puts it (1 Cor 3:3).
Let me tell you a true story: Late one evening an interesting conversation took place in a college dormitory room. One student posed the question, "What do you want to be?" Several different responses were thrown out by various students. Some thought it would be great to achieve academic distinction. Several thought it would be wonderful to win athletic awards. One or two had set their goal to be a professor. One young man surprised everyone by saying, "You fellows will laugh at me, but I want to be holy." It was an interesting response – but I wonder if it would be something we would agree with.
14 Pursue peace with everyone, and holiness—without it no one will see the Lord.
In which case this should all be what we want to be.
17
We know that the Father will judge us, each of us, you and me according to the works we do whether good or bad and we should keep that fear in mind before acting. We are strangers here on earth. Our stay here is short but Heaven is a long time. Time is short and we are fast running out of it. Comparing the shortness of our stay in this life with the rewards or lack of them that we will receive in Heaven for all eternity, it is, therefore, really important that we build our treasure for Heaven rather than here on earth. Every moment matters, eternally. Every minute affects millions of years into the future.
We are looking forward to that time when this life and its troubles pass away once and for all and a new world beckons us in. This new world is where we will truly be free from sin, free from trouble, free from crying, free from the past and truly holy:
3 And I heard a loud voice from heaven saying, “Behold, the tabernacle of God is with men, and He will dwell with them, and they shall be His people. God Himself will be with them and be their God. 4 And God will wipe away every tear from their eyes; there shall be no more death, nor sorrow, nor crying. There shall be no more pain, for the former things have passed away.”
5 Then He who sat on the throne said, “Behold, I make all things new.” And He said to me, “Write, for these words are true and faithful.”
6 And He said to me, “It is done! I am the Alpha and the Omega, the Beginning and the End. I will give of the fountain of the water of life freely to him who thirsts. 7 He who overcomes shall inherit all things, and I will be his God and he shall be My son. 8 But the cowardly, unbelieving, abominable, murderers, sexually immoral, sorcerers, idolaters, and all liars shall have their part in the lake which burns with fire and brimstone, which is the second death.”
Peter’s point is that if he and his readers have a special relationship to God by virtue of their calling and their new birth, then it is all the more urgent that they remember who he is in himself, and display the reverence that God deserves.
This is why Peter says our faith and hope is in God and that we are to rest our hope fully on the grace that will be brought to us when Jesus is revealed, when He returns to vanquish His enemies and ours.
18-19
If we have Jesus in view; if He is foremost in our minds and hearts; if we remember what Jesus has done through the cross, redeeming us not with money or shares or anything else that we think is of value but with His precious blood which is worth more than all the world can offer whether platinum, gold, silver, oil and gemstones put together, if we remember our response to Him can only be love in return. We were bought out of the market place of sin. The market place was the place where slaves were sold and to whomsoever they were sold they were then their slaves.
And we were not bought with something like money that will in the end perish but with His blood, Divine blood, blood spilt from the lashings, from the crown of thorns and from the nails driven through His hands and feet, from the sword thrust in His side, this blood paid for us in full. We are now His slaves. This blood has brought us atonement and forgiveness of sins as the author to the Hebrews makes clear:
22 And according to the law almost all things are purified with blood, and without shedding of blood there is no remission.
No remission means no forgiveness. But Jesus’ blood was shed for us for the forgiveness of our sins and so God’s perfect justice was satisfied.
John the Baptist got it right when he said:
29 The next day John saw Jesus coming toward him, and said, “Behold! The Lamb of God who takes away the sin of the world!
It seems so unfair that Jesus had to pay the price for us. The problem was that the price we would have paid was hell with no get out clause. The Father wanted us to avoid that so He sent His Son instead who could adequately pay the price of justice. We read in Exodus at Passover the Israelites killed a lamb and put the blood on the lintel and doorposts and the angel of death passed over them because the lamb was killed in their place. Well, with Jesus, His blood covers us and when the destroyer comes to deal with sin; he will see the blood and pass over us and leave us alone for a lamb, the Lamb of God, was sacrificed in our place. And because Jesus paid the price in full He defeated sin and the consequence of sin, death and hell and demonstrated His victory by rising from the dead.
For us the benefits of knowing Christ are endless. Another example is found in verse 18 it says we had aimless conduct but now He has given us a purpose and a hope, life in all its fullness if we would only live by the Spirit.
A verse that aligns closely with what Peter is saying and pay close attention to it:
4 For he chose us in him, before the foundation of the world, to be holy and blameless in love before him.
20
Our hope found in Jesus is well founded for before man stepped upon the earth Jesus was coming to save us and was revealed from Heaven in the birth of a child who grew up sinless as a witness to all around and then going on to take the fall for us by dying. He then rose from the dead giving many infallible proofs of it and Jesus is now sat at the right hand of God in inestimable glory.
21
Our faith can stand the trials of this life for the hope of the next. We shall finally receive the salvation of our souls.
So, not only should we live lives that are full of faith and holy living. This love He has shown us spurs us on and we are not embarrassed by it at all:
16 For I am not ashamed of the gospel, because it is the power of God for salvation to everyone who believes, first to the Jew, and also to the Greek.
We are those who believe in God through Jesus Christ. Since we are bought by His blood then we need to make sure we remember and not forget for these thoughts should keep us from doing wrong especially when He has done so much for us. The more we concentrate upon His grace the less we will want to displease the One who has loved us so dearly.
All the glory and honour and praise and worship goes to Jesus, and God, as well as we, give it to Him. We have been saved by faith in His name through His precious blood. The thought that we will be held accountable for all we do in this life may really put the fear of God into us and rightly so but one thing is guaranteed; our salvation, saved for all eternity not dependent upon the life we now lead. But we are called to live this life by faith and holiness is the result of such a life. Holiness is not achieved by trying in our own efforts but allowing His Spirit to work through us. And faith is active obedience to His will for we are bought at a price. We not only live a life of faith but we live a life of hope. And this hope helps us to live in a world overcome with fear and despair knowing all this will come shortly to pass.
Communion
Communion
23 For I received from the Lord that which I also delivered to you: that the Lord Jesus on the same night in which He was betrayed took bread; 24 and when He had given thanks, He broke it and said, “Take, eat; this is My body which is broken for you; do this in remembrance of Me.” 25 In the same manner He also took the cup after supper, saying, “This cup is the new covenant in My blood. This do, as often as you drink it, in remembrance of Me.”
26 For as often as you eat this bread and drink this cup, you proclaim the Lord’s death till He comes.
Benediction
Benediction
Bibliography
Bibliography