As Christians, we love songs and stories and sermons that remind us of God graciously, lovingly accepting us, forgiving us, calling us his own, and giving us a living hope
Last week we looked at Peter’s burst of praise on that topic
I gave you a whole list of songs that praise God for who we are in Christ
Laura Daigle’s song You Say played frequently on the radio and won awards this year
Who doesn’t love Jesus’ story of the Prodigal Son?
God’s undeserved grace saving us from our sins and making us his children is at the heart of the Gospel…it is truly good news
Sometimes we Christians are a lot less eager to talk about holy living after salvation
When I was trying to find our opening video for this morning, I had a hard time
Most of the opening videos we use come from a Christians video service that offers hundreds (probably thousands) of videos
When I ran a search for “holiness” and related terms I got dozens of videos, but almost all the were about the Holy Spirit or “holy week”
The only one that featured personal holiness had an ugly brown background and slightly ominous music as about a dozen verses scrolled past
We like to talk about Jesus receiving me just as I am and wiping my slate clean of sin
We also need to talk about what we do with that “clean slate” (our new life)
In other words, Jesus received me just as I am, but he did not save me so that I could stay just as I am
In today’s passage Peter begins exploring the implications of our identity in Christ
(1:13-16) Hope & Holiness
(13) Living out our identity in Christ requires conscious effort
The Christian life is not “I said a prayer and got my ‘fire insurance’ so now I’ll just kind of drift through life avoiding the ‘big bad sins’ and praying when I’m in trouble”
Peter speaks here in terms of getting ready for action and staying clear-headed
Literally: girding up the loins of your mind (tucking up your robe so that you’re ready for action) – modern equivalent: “rolling up the sleeves of your mind”
Sober-minded: being alert rather than allowing our mind to be impaired by substance abuse, sinful thought patterns, or just an unthinking “go with the flow” mentality
Our hope (assurance for the future that motivates us now) is in the grace of God
Purely out of his own goodness and love, he will follow through on all the undeserved empowerment, help, and blessings he has promised us
Peter focuses especially on the future aspect of this when Jesus returns in his glory and our salvation is complete
If your life is deliberately lived in light of this, what will that look like?
(14-16) Living in light of your hope in the grace of God means striving for holiness
The grace of God has given you a new identity, so don’t keep living according to the sinful desires of the old you
Christians must refrain from acting on sinful impulses/desires even if society excuses, accepts, encourages, or celebrates the free exercise of those desires
It is not enlightenment and freedom, but ignorance and slavery to “follow your heart” when your heart’s passion leads you into disobedience to God our Father
You may be thinking “ah, he’s talking about issues of sexuality”
That is certainly one major area where this applies as the practices of society are very different from the principles revealed in God’s Word
That is not the primary focus of this particular passage
Holiness is not about being on the right side of a single hot-button issue. It is about reflecting the character and will of our Heavenly Father in every area of our conduct
“Like father, like son”
God’s perfect holiness means that he is completely separate from sin – sin is completely foreign to his character
He never sins
Sin doesn’t appeal to him (he is not tempted by it)
Sin disgusts him (old school language: it is an abomination to him)
He never thinks of sin as “no big deal”
While we will not be sinlessly perfect like that until our salvation is complete in the presence of Jesus Christ, that is what we are headed for!
We should be moving more and more in that direction
God has given us commands and principles that guide us in his will
He has given us the indwelling Holy Spirit to help us understand and apply those principles & commands
As part of the sanctifying work of the Spirit, he produces in us godly motivations and desires (love, joy, peace, etc. – Galatians 5:16-26)
(1:17-21) Redemption & Holiness
(17-19) We know how seriously God takes our holiness, because we know what it cost
(17) We must keep in mind that our loving Father is also the holy judge of the universe to whom everyone will answer for what they have done
We must live in the proper fear of the Lord – that reverent awe that says:
“I care about pleasing my loving eternal Father, far more than I care about gaining the approval of human beings during my short time on earth”
“I don’t want to do things that disgust and grieve my Holy Almighty God even if doing so would briefly gratify my flesh”
We do not live in cringing fear of punishment because the Father’s righteous wrathful judgment of our sins was taken by Jesus Christ
(18-19) God the Son purchased our freedom from sin’s power and sin’s eternal consequences with his own blood
The sacrificial system of the Old Testament where over and over a perfect lamb symbolically took the place of the guilty sinner pointed forward to Jesus Christ
As he shed his lifeblood, he received the punishment for our sin
The perfect fellowship within the Trinity that had always existed was broken as he took on our sin so we could receive his righteousness (2 Corinthians 5:21)
He paid an infinite, eternal price so that we would be free from sin
To continue to live in sin because that’s how everyone else lives is to deny the value of Christ’s death
It would be a little like a multi-millionaire giving a homeless person a million dollars in cash to start a new life and the homeless person taking that money and using it to feed the fire at which he is warming his hands
…only worse, because we are talking about the life of God the Son, not just a big pile of money or silver or gold
He suffered and died to give us his righteousness, let us strive to live in that righteousness
(20-21) God didn’t do this for us reluctantly out of a sense of duty
This was his plan from before the creation of the universe
This wasn’t God making the best of big accident, but God’s sovereign will at work for his glory and our good
This wasn’t God’s obligation, but God’s grace and love toward us
We have true hope (assurance of a glorious future) because we trust in him
We are privileged to live in this last era of earth’s history when that plan has been made fully known
We don’t live with a general hope that “a savior is coming”
…but with “Jesus Christ died, rose again, is glorified in heaven, and is coming back for me”
But what does it look like to live in this holiness & righteousness, practically speaking?
(1:22-2:3) Love & Holiness
(22) Submission to the truth as it is found in Jesus Christ, not only purifies us from sin but gives us the ability (and responsibility) to truly love others
Holiness is about reflecting the character of God, and God is love
As used in the Bible, love is not primarily about an emotion but rather about genuinely looking out for the good of others especially if it costs us something – 1 John 3:16-18:
Jesus is the primary example of this love in action
It won’t always mean sacrificing money or possessions – it may mean investing time when it’s not convenient, hard work, emotional investment…
To be completely lacking in love is a big flashing warning light about your relationship with God
(23-25) Our ability and responsibility to love others is tied to the fact that we have been born again through the work and will of God (not merely human actions)
Again, there is that idea of “like father, like son” – we have God’s character as described in God’s Word
Added to this is the reminder that our new life comes from an eternal source
It is of value beyond this brief lifetime on this earth where everything is mortal
Why would we not willingly sacrifice things/time for the good of others when those things are temporary, & that time is just one tiny instant out of eternity?
Why would we worry about being outsiders in a society whose existence is the blink of an eye compared to the glorious kingdom that is coming?
(1) If we love one another fervently, certain things will be absent from our interaction with others
Malice: ill-will toward others
Might be actively trying to cause them pain or humiliation
Might be just hoping that bad things happen to them
Basically, the exact opposite of true love which wants the best for others
Deceit & hypocrisy: making someone believe something that is not true
The words used especially emphasize the idea of doing so for personal advantage
Could be to manipulate them into doing something for you
Could be to enhance or protect your own reputation
Either way, this deceit is all abouttemporarily making things better for me rather than living for God’s glory and the good of others.
Envy/jealousy: wishing I had what someone else has (or being upset because someone else has an “easier” or “better” life than me)
Again, it is an attitude that is completely focused on me
It comes down to being discontented with what God has given me and letting that boil over into how I think about and treat others
Slander/defamation: speaking ill of others
i.e. Trying to hurt or destroy others with our words
This could include trumpeting a person’s shortcomings (real or perceived) to the world on social media
This could include gossiping about someone behind their back to make sure that others know just how bad they are or how much they’ve wronged me personally
There is a time for speaking the truth in love to try to restore an erring brother or to warn others that something being publicly proclaimed is false/dangerous
…but far too often this is just used as an excuse to publicly humiliate someone we don’t like
That might be how the world tries to solve its problems (including when it disagrees with biblical teaching), but that is the opposite of holiness and love and does not belong in our life if we are followers of Jesus…
We don’t get to “fight fire with fire” in the arena of public humiliation
(2-3) Rather than letting our treatment of others be governed by self-centered reactions, we must crave the things that will help us grow in spiritual maturity
We have tasted the goodness of God as we were born again into a living hope
To keep growing in that new life and all the things it implies we must be taking in God’s Word and willingly yielding to his Spirit as he convicts us of sin and produces godly motivations and character traits within us
Applications
Trust in Jesus to give you true righteousness
Consciously make the effort to be holy
don’t just “go with the flow,” but live in the righteousness and freedom from sin that Jesus purchased for you with his lifeblood
Don’t “follow your heart” when your heart expresses desires/passions that go against the will of God – that he has declared to be sinful/foolish
Reflect the character of your Father
As it is revealed in his Word
As it is produced in you by the Holy Spirit (Galatians 5:22-23)
The aspect of God’s character to be imitated that is most strongly emphasized here (and throughout the NT): love each other
The moral intent of the entire Law is summed up in loving God with all that you are which shows itself by loving others as yourself, by treating others the way you would want to be treated (Matthew 5:22-23)
Be distinct from our society with its outrage culture & unparalleled ability to spread gossip, slander, and humiliation
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