Page 17 - Florida Sentinel 11-15-19

Faith That Is Focused 1 PETER 1:13-25 (KJV)
SCRIPTURES
13 Wherefore gird up the loins of your mind, be sober, and hope to the end for the grace that is to be brought unto you at the revelation of Jesus Christ;
14 As obedient chil- dren, not fashioning yourselves according to the former lusts in your ignorance:
15 But as he which hath called you is holy, so be ye holy in all man- ner of conversation;
16 Because it is writ- ten, Be ye holy; for I am holy.
17Andifyecallonthe Father, who without re- spect of persons judgeth according to every man's work, pass the time of your sojourning here in fear:
18 Forasmuch as ye know that ye were not redeemed with corrupt- ible things, as silver and gold, from your vain conversation received by tradition from your fathers;
19 But with the pre- cious blood of Christ, as of a lamb without blem- ish and without spot:
20 Who verily was foreordained before the foundation of the world, but was manifest in these last times for you,
21 Who by him do be- lieve in God, that raised him up from the dead, and gave him glory; that your faith and hope might be in God.
22 Seeing ye have pu- rified your souls in obeying the truth through the Spirit unto unfeigned love of the brethren, see that ye love one another with a pure heart fervently:
23 Being born again, not of corruptible seed, but of incorruptible, by the word of God, which liveth and abideth for ever.
24 For all flesh is as grass, and all the glory of man as the flower of
grass. The grass with- ereth, and the flower thereof falleth away:
25 But the word of the Lord endureth for ever. And this is the word which by the gospel is preached unto you.
Background
In Unit 3 of this quarter, we’ve been looking at the let- ters to the early churches that tell the Corinthians and Thessalonians how to live as faithful followers of Christ. First and 2nd Peter teach that faith requires holy living and goodness.
Be Ye Holy; For I Am Holy (1 Peter 1:13–16)
The “wherefore” at the beginning of verse 13 refers to the fact Peter was ex- pounding just prior to these verses: that our God has caused us to be born again to a living, active, glorious, joy- ful hope.
In fact, God’s grace, as it has been lavished upon us, is so great that the angels are almost jealous! The great- ness of God and his work, however, deserves a proper response. Those to whom God has been wondrously
gracious have been given marching orders by that grace. So Peter calls us to “prepare our minds for ac- tion,” focusing forward on Christ, who has redeemed us. How do we do that? By seeking to be “holy in all manner of conversation” (v. 15).
Apart from the Holy Spirit, such a command is impossible. But with the un- derstanding that this is pre- cisely one of the reasons that Christ died and rose again, such a command to be holy becomes freeing. Before Christ’s death, He assured His disciples with the prom- ise that He would send the Holy Spirit to indwell all those who are united to Him by faith. Holiness is not an option. It is a joyous impera- tive.
Being holy begins on the inside with reverent fear of the Lord, and that holiness
expresses itself outwardly through obedience and sin- cere love for one another.
A Great Price Was Paid (vv. 17–25)
Peter encourages his au- dience that God the Father “without respect of persons judgeth according to every man’s work” (v. 17). It is im- portant to see this as encour- agement, not as a burden. If one follows a message that stipulates obedience and blessing are linked so closely that if you suffer, it is purely because of your deeds, then the concept of “works” be- comes a burden. God’s im- partial judgment might also be seen as a burden if one views it through the lens of works of righteousness, which would encourage us to work in order to gain God’s favor.
Peter reminds us that God is our Father, into whose family we have been adopted. Thus, we must live out of fear, respect, and love for our Heavenly Father who showed His love for us by re- deeming us with the precious blood of Christ (v. 19). That life involves forsaking the “vain conversation received by tradition from your fa- thers” (v. 18) and the “for- mer lusts in your ignorance” (v. 14) and instead clothing ourselves with the Holy Spirit.
This can only be done when we recognize and af- firm that we have been made believers in God through our union with Christ and that our only hope rests in Him alone.
Peter tells us to live holy lives in order to draw others to Christ. Live as alert, pure, purposeful, prayerful and loving children of God.
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