"Working Out Our Salvation"

This does not mean that we are to “work for our salvation”… Because we cannot earn it… It is a free gift. But to work out our salvation is referring to our responsibility, as believers, to be obedient to living a life that would honor and glorify God… being obedient to the goal of becoming more like Christ each and everyday....

The Christian Music Group “Sidewalk Prophets” sing a song entitled... “Live Like That”… It is a challenge to live a better life for Christ… Here are some of the lyrics...

“Sometimes I think What will people say of me When I'm only just a memory When I'm home where my soul belongs

Was I love When no one else would show up Was I Jesus to the least of those Was my worship more than just a song

I want to live like that And give it all I have So that everything I say and do Points to You

Am I proof That You are who you say You are That grace can really change a heart Do I live like Your love is true

People pass And even if they don't know my name Is there evidence that I've been changed When they see me, do they see You

I want to live like that And give it all I have So that everything I say and do Points to You”

As we continue in our study of 1 Peter, Peter is going to give us some guidelines as to how we can... and should be... working out our salvation… Lets look at our passage together… (Read vv.13-16)

Meat:

In recent weeks we have considered the gracious salvation provided for humanity and the hope we have in Christ, even in the midst of great difficulty. Having assured believers in their faith through the certainty of God’s promises, Peter now turns his attention to the life we are to live following salvation.

We know this because of the word “Therefore” in v.13… Everything Peter has said up to this point has been stating facts concerning salvation and life in Christ. But Now he begins to give us some guidelines and actually, they can be seen as commands, to us as Believers.

Basically, Peter is saying… “Ok, now that you have recieved this free gift of salvation here is what Christ expects”…

Guidelines For Believers…

In order for you to “Work Out Your Salvation”… you must first…

1. Prepare Your Mind

1 Peter 1:13 “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;”

Peter said to “Gird up the loins of your mind”… In ancient times people wore long flowing tunics. Around the tunic in the midsection they would wear a girdle (belt)… These long garments would get in the way when fighting or working.

When the Hebrews went to battle with the Philistines, the men would lift the hem of their tunic up and tuck it into their girdle. This provided more freedom of movement. And the garment would no longer be a hindrance in the midst of hard labor or battle. When Peter says “gird up the loins of your mind” he is saying to "get ready for battle".

Here in the U.S. we are very blessed to have many different ways to read God’s Word. Hard copy Bible, Apps on phones or tablets, computers… but there are Christians around the world today that could be killed for even possessing a copy of God’s Word...

What if your Bible was taken away?? What if every Bible you owned was taken away and any device that had the ability to have the Bible on it, was confiscated and destroyed… Would your mind be prepared??

One of the best ways to prepare your mind is …

1.1 Through Scripture Memorization

Many Christians allow themselves the luxury of laziness. Scripture memorization has seemingly become a thing of the past. For us as believers, there is no room for mental laziness. Satan will do whatever it takes to get control of our mind. We are in a battle.

I will take this a step further and say that memorizing Scripture is a good start, but it isn’t enough. We have to study it and understand what the verses are saying, so that we know the truth.

Ephesians 4:14 says… “14 that we should no longer be children, tossed to and fro and carried about with every wind of doctrine, by the trickery of men, in the cunning craftiness of deceitful plotting,”

We need to know the truth, so that when Satan tries to use God’s Word to deceive us (and he will, because he did it to Eve and he did it to Christ)… when he tries to use God’s Word to deceive us, our alert systems will go off and say “nope, something is not right here”…

As Christians, we must be prepared mentally. We must remove anything from our minds that would hinder our ability to withstand the ungodly thoughts and ideas that Satan tries to implant into our minds.

This Takes Discipline…

1.2 It Takes Discipline

Or as Peter says “Be Sober”… The Greek word that is used here is pronounced “Nepho” (Nay-fo)… it means - To be vigilant, watching. prepared. - "calm and collected in spirit, to be temperate, circumspect,". This carries the idea of having mental and self control.

There are things that intoxicate the mind… Worry, Anger, Bitterness, Jealousy and Resentment. When we dwell on these things (and many others) it clouds our mind and interferes with our judgment. If you try to fight a battle when your mind is focused on something else you will be overtaken by the enemy!

It takes discipline to remove those things from our mind that will distract us from the task at hand… That is why Paul tells us in Philippians 4:8

Philippians 4:8 NASB95

8 Finally, brethren, whatever is true, whatever is honorable, whatever is right, whatever is pure, whatever is lovely, whatever is of good repute, if there is any excellence and if anything worthy of praise, dwell on these things.

Paul also says in Titus 2:12

Titus 2:12 NKJV

12 teaching us that, denying ungodliness and worldly lusts, we should live soberly, righteously, and godly in the present age,

It takes discipline to prepare our minds… but it also take motivation…

1.3 It Takes Motivation

Peter shares that motivation at the end of verse 13… “and rest your hope fully upon the grace that is to be brought to you at the revelation of Jesus Christ;”

Peter tells us to focus on the grace that we will receive when Christ returns:

new bodies,

we will rule with Christ,

and, if we are alive when Jesus comes to rapture the Church, we will escape death…

This is our great hope as Christians… Again I remind you that the people this epistle was addressed to were enduring great sufferings. This hope was motivation for them to endure the great trials they were facing.

It is also our motivation to press on today! We are living in the here and now but we do so, looking forward to the future. We are looking forward to the day that we are able to see “Our Living Hope”, Jesus Christ, face to face…

In this one verse we see that in order to prepare our minds, we need to remove worldly things and focus on Godly things. Which takes discipline… however, we do have great form of motivation!…

Our second guideline (or command) that Peter gives us, for working out our salvation, is…

2. Be Obedient

1 Peter 1:14 “14 as obedient children, not conforming yourselves to the former lusts, as in your ignorance;”

As Christians we are the CHILDREN OF GOD! We are to live as obedient children. We do this by Obeying God's commands, Looking to Him for guidance and direction, Submitting to His will and Having confidence in Him at all times.

Just as the song goes… “Obedience is the very best way to show that you believe”

When we are obedient to God’s commands and submissive to His will for our lives,

We are in the best position to receive blessings from Him

We are in the best position to not receive any spiritual spankings....

Being obedient means that we will be

2.1 Transforming and Not Conforming

“ not conforming yourselves to the former lusts, as in your ignorance;”

This is similar to the concept of Romans 12:2 “2 And do not be conformed to this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind, that you may prove what is that good and acceptable and perfect will of God.”

One of the paraphrased translations words it this way… "Don’t let the world around you squeeze you into its own mold, but let God remold your minds from within."

Peter offers an interesting thought: according to the former lusts in your ignorance. While we lived in sin, we were condemned by sin and accountable for that sin, but we sinned in ignorance to the truth of God. Our eyes had not yet been opened to the truth of the Gospel.

After salvation, we can no longer claim ignorance. We have been delivered from darkness into light. The Holy Spirit now resided within, bringing guidance and conviction. We are without excuse in regard to sin and are expected to live in obedience to the Lord!

This means do not return to your old ways. Do not go back to a life that is spent satisfying your fleshly desires… Peter is telling us to "refuse to return to the old life". When we live as obedient children we will not conform to our former lusts.

The Apostle Paul gives us a small list of these “Former Lusts”, in Colossians 3:8

Colossians 3:8 NKJV

8 But now you yourselves are to put off all these: anger, wrath, malice, blasphemy, filthy language out of your mouth.

We are to be transforming into the image of Christ, more everyday…

Romans 6:4 NKJV

4 Therefore we were buried with Him through baptism into death, that just as Christ was raised from the dead by the glory of the Father, even so we also should walk in newness of life.

If you do not "gird up the lions of our mind"... If you are not living "soberly" ...When you do not live focused on the return of our Savior... and If you are not obediently submitting to the will of God for your life… Then I believe that it is only a matter of time before you return to the "former lusts in your ignorance"

Only this time, you will have to deal with the chastening of God…

Peter gives us the next guideline… which simply put is…

3. Be Holy

1 Peter 1:15-16 “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.””

Remember, these are guidelines for believers…

It is not necessary to be Holy to be saved… Jesus says come to me all of you who are tired, Beat down, All of you that carry heavy burdens… He says everyone who call s on the name of The Lord will be saved… He does not say you have to clean up first…

But as Peter is explaining here, once we have received the gift of salvation… Holiness should be our goal.

3.1 Christ is our Example

“ but as He who called you is holy,”… We are reminded of the holiness of the Lord. This is a very humbling thought for me. Every believer ought to be aware of the holiness of God, but I fear we lose the awe and wonder over time.

Here is the reality of the situation… God’s very nature is absolute holiness. He will not fellowship with those who are unholy or tolerate sin of any kind in His presence. Sin is what causes our separation from God.

If we were to be reconciled to God, having any opportunity of dwelling in His presence, we too would have to be made holy. The only way that was possible was through the sacrifice of His Son, Jesus Christ, and His holiness being credited to our account.

As soon as we repent of our sins, and put our faith in Christ, God begins to view us in light of the holiness of Christ. We must strive to follow the example of holiness set before us. When sin enters our lives, we must be willing to immediately confess and forsake that sin!

Our striving to Be Holy is…

3.2 A Life-Long Process

“you also be holy in all your conduct, 16 because it is written, “Be holy, for I am holy.””

God set the standard we are to follow and strive to obtain. I will agree, we will never achieve sinless perfection in this life, but we must strive to obtain it! Every believer is expected to strive for holiness in this life.

We must notice this isn’t limited to Sunday mornings or while attending church activities; The NASB words v.15 in this way “but like the Holy One who called you, be holy yourselves also in all your behavior;”…

not some, not most… but “All your behavior”, in everything that you do, everywhere you go, everything that you say… In essence, every thought, action, and deed must be done in light of the holiness of God.

God’s standard of holiness and expectation for His people has been consistent throughout the life of humanity. God gave this same command to the children of Israel in the book of Leviticus (11:44)… that’s why v. 16 says “because it is written, “YOU SHALL BE HOLY, FOR I AM HOLY.””

Peter was serving the same God that led the Nation of Israel out of Egypt, we are serving the same God today… and because God does not change, the commands for His people do not change either…

Even though modern society cares nothing for the ways of God and reject His holiness, we remain obligated to live upright before Him. In fact, the need is greater today than at any other time in our nation’s history. Those around us need to experience and interact with believers who live upright for the Lord.

We will never be an effective witness for the Lord if our lives are no different than anyone else. Much damage has been done to the cause of Christ by those who profess a relationship with Him, but their actions reveal something entirely different.

It is my prayer that we live upright for the Lord in the midst of a sinful and perverse generation! May we “Be Holy in ALL of our behavior”…

Closing:

God wants us to be "Working Out Our Salvation" … and in order to do so we must Prepare our Minds, Be Obedient, and Be Holy

Are you "sober" and watching? Have you "girded up the loins of your mind"? Are you living in the here and know while anticipating the return of Christ? Could your life be described as one that is lived as "an obedient child of God"? Or would you have to say that you have "returned to your former lusts"

Maybe you have turned back to the old life. I want you to know that there is hope for you! God can turns things around in your life. And He is calling you to return to Him today! If you are His child then His command still stands "Be Holy, for I am holy?"

Maybe you are here and you are not a child of God. That could change today as well. There is an opportunity for you to be adopted into the family of God...RIGHT HERE, RIGHT NOW!!! In John 3:3 Jesus said ... Except a man be born again, he cannot see the kingdom of God. - That opportunity is available for you today. You can be born again.

And each person who is born again has the opportunity and the responsibility to be "Working Out Their Salvation", Until we are in the presence of Our Living Hope, Jesus Christ...

Prayer:

- Prepare our Minds

- Be Obedient

- Be Holy

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