Welcome... We are continuing our series in 1 Peter. Last week was our first talk and it was all about our salvation. Today Peter moves on to talk about how we should now live, but he still doesn’t move very far from talking about our salvation. For how we are to live now as elect exiles in this world, is still very much tied to our salvation. Before moving on to some specifics later in the letter, Peter lays out four main areas for us, in how we are to think and act in light of our salvation, in light of who are are now in Christ.
I’ll first pray asking God for help now.
Heavenly Father,Help us to understand your word, to see the greatness of our salvation in your Son, and help us to live in a way that aligns with how we are to be as your children.In Jesus name. Amen.
Today the main idea I want us to think about is, what is the grounding thing for your actions and behaviour? What drives you to do the things that you do? What are the basis of your hopes and fears?
Our culture has no real ground on why we should live in a certain way. On why something is good or why something is bad. We seem to have an ethic based on the goodness of people and on the general consensus of the majority. And that is kinda strange, as it comes from a strange understanding of who we are as people.
Rousseau from the 18th Century has dramatically shaped the West’s way of thinking about ethics. His basic idea is that humans are naturally good and free and uncorrupted. Rousseau wrote a book called Confessions and in that, he talked about stealing some pears as a youth. The reason he did this wasn’t because he needed them but because he was peer-pressured into doing it. In this sense, we see that it was society that corrupted his way. You see, being in a community provokes envy, hatred, lying, competition for the other etc. And he would say, in our own natural state - our free state - we do not feel these things, but when we have to relate to others, that is when restrictions and shame and punishment are put on people.
You may see this today. Peer pressure is a real thing, which is why any good parents ask their teens two very important questions when they are about to go out. They ask, “Where are you going” and “Who are you going with”.
You might also find the corrupting nature of society in the workplace, where you might be doing something just fine, but when someone comes along doing the same thing, then there may be envy, comparison or competition between the two. The effect of having more people around can corrupt ur mindset and actions.
But the problem with Rousseau and this dominating idea we have today was that he was an idiot. Let's not mention the observational bias he (and everyone who agreed with him) about how good and pure they are is, he was also trying to rip off Augustine.
Augustine in the late 4th century wrote a book called Confessions and in that he talked about stealing apples when he was a youth. He didn’t even want apples and they didn’t even taste that good, but there was something inside of him that just enjoyed the thrill of eating stolen apples, which is why he did it.
Rousseau blamed society for corrupting people, as he thought that left to their own people would do good. Augustine blamed his own internal desires for corrupting him and needed an external change for him to do good.
Ethics in a Christian context begins with a belief in the depravity of humans and their need for repair and restoration. Because Adam took God’s credit card and put it in the negative, we are all born into his debt. We all need a new shot at life. And only once we have been given a new life, we can live a new life.
Peter in our passage rests everything on our salvation as a basis of ethics, of a basis of our mindset and behaviour. Belief about God undergirds our belief about what is right and wrong and how we are to behave.
And in our passage today, Peter points out in four areas where our salvation affects our mindset and behaviour. And at the end of this talk, I will circle back to what is permanent against what is perishable.
And thinking about the future grace awaiting us, will give up hope in this world and affect how we see the present. We are saved, but the ultimate end, our inheritance that can not be taken away from us, hasn’t been fully realized yet. We can live with an undivided confidence in our salvation and not default to trusting in ourselves, or money or education or government to bring about anything of lasting value. Our hope is in Jesus' return.
Some years ago a hydroelectric dam was to be built across a valley in New England. The people in a small town in the valley were to be relocated because the town itself would be submerged when the dam was finished. During the time between the decision to build the dam and its completion, the buildings in the town, which previously were kept up nicely, fell into disrepair. Instead of being a pretty little town, it became an eyesore... As, one resident said, “Where there is no faith in the future, there is no work in the present.” (Michael P. Green. (2000). 1500 illustrations for biblical preaching (p. 194). Baker Books.)
As we think about the future, we can have this living hope right now and live in such a way to show the world our hope. This hope can be shown in some hard ethical choices Peter will ask his readers to do later in this letter with governments and masters and accusers. This hope affects how we are to do good, even to those who do not like us, for knowing the fixed certain final outcome will help with our resolve to live and do good in the bumpy present.
You may have heard the phrase "like father like son". As God’s children, we are to be like our Father who is holy. How we conduct ourselves shows who we are dedicated to, and who is our influence. We once lived a certain way, but now after being born again, there may need to be a new adjustment in how we live.
And family influence is a big thing. Our own upbringing shapes the way we do some things. I grew up on tank water, which meant that having running water in our house was kind of a no-no. We all had to have short showers.
This family influence came to light early in my marriage. In my family, the kettle would always be full, this is because when you go to wash up and turn on the hot tap, normally the water isn’t immediately hot, so you would run the water for a bit for it to get warm. Well, in my house, you would use that running water to fill up the kettle, otherwise it was a bit of a waste.
This would annoy Hannah to no end. As when she wanted a tea, she would have to wait for the full kettle to boil, instead of just boiling a cups worth of water. In my house, you could just use the microwave the heat up one cup of tea as that would be quicker. But there was no way in Hannah’s house you would do that. You use the kettle for tea water.
There was a family clash going on based on how we have been brought up. There had to be a bit of a readjustment in how we were to get along in our new family.
And we are a little like that. We are to be like our Heavenly Father. We have been born again, into this new family. We don’t live to the evil desires we once had, instead, He calls us to be holy, because we are now holy in Christ because He called us to follow Him. So we now are to be obedient children and to be holy for God is holy.
Being holy doesn’t just mean we need to perform some sort of religious practice, but it means a whole of life change from the world. We are to be different, strange even, to the world around us. We live in a way that reflects the same characteristics of God. He does not lie, he is slow to become angry, full of mercy and abounding in love.
Christians are to live in the world on the terms God prescribes, one restrained by sin. One that reflects on their calling. This is quite clear, our salvation is to affect how we are to live. And we are to live with the same characteristics of God, which will separate ourselves from the world. Even if the activities are the same, our motivation is different, for in our actions we are to remember who God is.
So we are to live out our time, knowing this place is not the end, living as foreigners or temporary residents here, we are to fear God. And that doesn’t mean to live in abject terror or in dread or anxiety, but rather a healthy human response before an altogether different kind of perfect and all-powerful being, who we are going to be with when our temporary visa comes to an end. A confident driver still has a healthy fear of an accident which prevents them from taking risks on the road and so a healthy fear of judgement, or a healthy knowledge of who the judge is, can help us to know that we are to still live in a certain way, loving and obeying God, now that we have been saved.
Jesus bore out sins, so that we might to die to sins and live for righteousness (1 Peter 2:24). We are to live a new way, one apart from sin, for God is both Father and Judge.
I think it is talking about salvation and it is in the past tense. They are not purifying themselves, they already have purified themselves. Peter is talking about conversion and is not telling his readers to keep on cleaning their souls, but reminding them that they have already done so.
And how did this salvation come about? By obeying the truth, which I think means they responded to the Gospel. Peter has already addressed these readers as those who believe in God. Even the verse before this he calls them those who put their faith and hope in Him. And three other times in this letter unbelievers are described as those who disobey the message (2:8), who do not obey the word (3:1) and those who do not obey the gospel (4:17). Peter seems to talk about obeying the word or the gospel as a descriptor of belief.
So those who do obey the word or who obey the truth that was preached to them, are those who are already saved. Believers are called to do a number of things like repent, believe, be baptised and confess Christ to be saved. Not everyone by default goes to heaven because of Jesus, there is still the chosen group who call out to Christ for salvation, those who believe in Him and obey Him. Because coming to faith is more than an intellectual event, it results in transformation, and in verse 22 it is directly ties salvation to loving one another. As Paul might say faith works through love (Gal 5:6) and love comes from a sincere faith (1 Tim 1:5).
We have been shown God’s love so we are to show each other love. We can do this because we know who we are under God. Knowing who we are under God means we know who we can be in society around us. I want people to look at St Matt's and see the people there living some alternative lifestyle. One where we each show deep love for one another.
Love for each other is a way we can set ourselves apart from the world. It is putting others' needs ahead of our own, its not trying to exit that awkward conversation after church with that person you kinda don’t really like. It bringing people’s meals, it being available to help that person move or to give that lift. It’s doing that thing for that one person, that no one will ever know about. It’s putting in those extra hours for Life Group prep, or catching up with that person in our community, buying them a coffee and asking how they really are.
In all of these areas we have looked at, hope, holiness, fear of God and love for one another, the motivation for a Christian to do all these things is that of our salvation. The world may assume and even behave in some overlapping ways, but our motivation for this way of life is different. It is grounded in Jesus and what He has done and will do, and we can have confidence for this is not a fad but permanent, and for all time.
Peter stretches out our own timeline to go beyond ourselves, for us to see beyond the possibly hard moments of the present. For there is a contrast in this passage on those things that are temporary and those things that will last. On the perishable and the permanent.
In our world, a thing is worth as much as someone is willing to pay for it. this is why we see crazy house prices, but also for things like Pokemon cards, or artwork. My sister went to Hawaii and while she was there she bought a belt for $900 Australian dollars. I own two suits, one I wore to my wedding. Combined my two suits are not worth $900. But if someone is willing to pay that, then that is what it is worth.
And Peter says we have been bought with the precious blood of Jesus. He has done it, it has happened and you can’t change the past. So we can have hope in the future, for He has already paid the price for us.
And that price was blood. That is how important you are, or how costly you are to God. He paid it in full. He was will willing to sacrifice Himself for you.
And we believe in the same God that raised Him from the dead. Our hope isn’t a dead one, but a living hope. Jesus is alive and coming back. May we be alert, and mindful and hopeful of seeing Jesus and receiving His gift of eternal life.
And as we look back and forward along our longer timeline there is another thing that is permanent in our passage, another thing that can give us assurance in the present.
Peter even used God’s word to show us that God’s word endures forever. Leaning on Isaiah he says, all people are like grass. We grow and we wither. This may sound a little depressing, but the contrast is, that the word of the Lord endures forever. And this word of the Lord gives us new life. This word of the lord tells us how we have been purchased by the precious blood of Christ. This word of the Lord gives us hope for the future because of what Jesus had done for us in the past.
So as we live in the now may we have hope in the future, trusting in His word that gives life and endures forever.
Steam trains are powered by shovelling coal into the furnace to heat up the boiler, cars go forward by using petrol for energy, and you have to keep charging your Tesla for it to move. The Christian life is fueled by the Gospel, it is the reason why we behave in such a way.
Our society may approve of what you do as a Christian as you live your life, loving those around you, working hard and doing good. There may be some things that people around you maybe be surprised with, like how you don’t hold a grudge, or own up to mistakes and are quick to forgive. I hope they can see the hope that you have. The assurance you have knowing God is going to return, that you have been born again, that you have been redeemed by the precious blood of Christ. Have great confidence in this.
Would you be willing to tell those who notice your behaviour the reason for the hope that you have? Someone may ask why you are so nice, and the default response may be something like, “Well it seems like the right thing to do”. Would you perhaps take it a bit further and say something like, “Well as a Christian I think it is the right thing to do”.
Our world doesn’t have a good basis for how to conduct ourselves, and even if it did, it would not be built on something so permanent as Jesus’ blood or God’s word. It sort of picks and chooses what actions are good and bad, and goes through phases. May we live in a way to show the world the truth of our message as we live our lives motivated by the good news about Jesus?
Are you a holiday planner? Having a date and a destination in mind can give you something to look forward to. As you plan you may look at what is the in area, what sights and activities are there. As Christians, we have a destination and we are slowly moving there, may we be fully alert to this journey and conscious of the end destination.
May we have this long-time frame mindset, as we think past our own past to Jesus and beyond our own future to Jesus coming back again. May we look to God and His holy character and have hope and confidence in God’s word which will not fade but will endure forever.
Today the main idea I want us to think about is, what is the grounding thing for your actions and behaviour? What drives you to do the things that you do? What are the basis of your hopes and fears?
Our culture has no real ground on why we should live in a certain way. On why something is good or why something is bad. We seem to have an ethic based on the goodness of people and on the general consensus of the majority. And that is kinda strange, as it comes from a strange understanding of who we are as people.
You may see this today. Peer pressure is a real thing, which is why any good parents ask their teens two very important questions when they are about to go out. They ask, “Where are you going” and “Who are you going with”.
You might also find the corrupting nature of society in the workplace, where you might be doing something just fine, but when someone comes along doing the same thing, then there may be envy, comparison or competition between the two. The effect of having more people around can corrupt ur mindset and actions.
But the problem with Rousseau and this dominating idea we have today was that he was an idiot. Let's not mention the observational bias he (and everyone who agreed with him) about how good and pure they are is, he was also trying to rip off Augustine.
Rousseau blamed society for corrupting people, as he thought that left to their own people would do good. Augustine blamed his own internal desires for corrupting him and needed an external change for him to do good.
Ethics in a Christian context begins with a belief in the depravity of humans and their need for repair and restoration. Because Adam took God’s credit card and put it in the negative, we are all born into his debt. We all need a new shot at life. And only once we have been given a new life, we can live a new life.
Peter in our passage rests everything on our salvation as a basis of ethics, of a basis of our mindset and behaviour. Belief about God undergirds our belief about what is right and wrong and how we are to behave.
And in our passage today, Peter points out in four areas where our salvation affects our mindset and behaviour. And at the end of this talk, I will circle back to what is permanent against what is perishable.
Hope
Our first area to think about is hope, our passage starts off with:Therefore, with minds that are alert and fully sober, set your hope on the grace to be brought to you when Jesus Christ is revealed at his coming. 1 Peter 1:13 (NIV)We are to roll up the selves of our minds and get to work thinking about Jesus’ return. We may sometimes forget, but Jesus is coming back and that one day we will see Him face to face. This is not a distant dream but a certain reality. He is going to come back, we will be His forever.
And thinking about the future grace awaiting us, will give up hope in this world and affect how we see the present. We are saved, but the ultimate end, our inheritance that can not be taken away from us, hasn’t been fully realized yet. We can live with an undivided confidence in our salvation and not default to trusting in ourselves, or money or education or government to bring about anything of lasting value. Our hope is in Jesus' return.
Some years ago a hydroelectric dam was to be built across a valley in New England. The people in a small town in the valley were to be relocated because the town itself would be submerged when the dam was finished. During the time between the decision to build the dam and its completion, the buildings in the town, which previously were kept up nicely, fell into disrepair. Instead of being a pretty little town, it became an eyesore... As, one resident said, “Where there is no faith in the future, there is no work in the present.” (Michael P. Green. (2000). 1500 illustrations for biblical preaching (p. 194). Baker Books.)
As we think about the future, we can have this living hope right now and live in such a way to show the world our hope. This hope can be shown in some hard ethical choices Peter will ask his readers to do later in this letter with governments and masters and accusers. This hope affects how we are to do good, even to those who do not like us, for knowing the fixed certain final outcome will help with our resolve to live and do good in the bumpy present.
Holy
The second thing Peter asks of his readers is to be holy as God is holy.As obedient children, do not conform to the evil desires you had when you lived in ignorance. But just as he who called you is holy, so be holy in all you do; for it is written: “Be holy, because I am holy.” 1 Peter 1:14–16 (NIV)We are to be obedient children and are to put away our old family habits as we are now in a new family.
You may have heard the phrase "like father like son". As God’s children, we are to be like our Father who is holy. How we conduct ourselves shows who we are dedicated to, and who is our influence. We once lived a certain way, but now after being born again, there may need to be a new adjustment in how we live.
And family influence is a big thing. Our own upbringing shapes the way we do some things. I grew up on tank water, which meant that having running water in our house was kind of a no-no. We all had to have short showers.
This would annoy Hannah to no end. As when she wanted a tea, she would have to wait for the full kettle to boil, instead of just boiling a cups worth of water. In my house, you could just use the microwave the heat up one cup of tea as that would be quicker. But there was no way in Hannah’s house you would do that. You use the kettle for tea water.
There was a family clash going on based on how we have been brought up. There had to be a bit of a readjustment in how we were to get along in our new family.
And we are a little like that. We are to be like our Heavenly Father. We have been born again, into this new family. We don’t live to the evil desires we once had, instead, He calls us to be holy, because we are now holy in Christ because He called us to follow Him. So we now are to be obedient children and to be holy for God is holy.
Being holy doesn’t just mean we need to perform some sort of religious practice, but it means a whole of life change from the world. We are to be different, strange even, to the world around us. We live in a way that reflects the same characteristics of God. He does not lie, he is slow to become angry, full of mercy and abounding in love.
Christians are to live in the world on the terms God prescribes, one restrained by sin. One that reflects on their calling. This is quite clear, our salvation is to affect how we are to live. And we are to live with the same characteristics of God, which will separate ourselves from the world. Even if the activities are the same, our motivation is different, for in our actions we are to remember who God is.
Fear God
As we remember that God is Father we also need to remember that God is Judge. Verse 17Since you call on a Father who judges each person’s work impartially, live out your time as foreigners here in reverent fear. 1 Peter 1:17 (NIV)It is important for us to remember who God is and to display the proper reverence that God deserves. God is the creator and sustainer of all things and so will be the just judge of everyone he has made. As we are in a new family we have new responsibilities. Every person will one day have to give an account to God who is ready to judge the living and the dead.
So we are to live out our time, knowing this place is not the end, living as foreigners or temporary residents here, we are to fear God. And that doesn’t mean to live in abject terror or in dread or anxiety, but rather a healthy human response before an altogether different kind of perfect and all-powerful being, who we are going to be with when our temporary visa comes to an end. A confident driver still has a healthy fear of an accident which prevents them from taking risks on the road and so a healthy fear of judgement, or a healthy knowledge of who the judge is, can help us to know that we are to still live in a certain way, loving and obeying God, now that we have been saved.
Jesus bore out sins, so that we might to die to sins and live for righteousness (1 Peter 2:24). We are to live a new way, one apart from sin, for God is both Father and Judge.
Love one another
And the last thing in this passage Peter points out how we are to live in light of our new birth is that we are to love one another deeply. And I think this is another like Father like Son thing, for since we have been shown love, we are to show love too. Verse 22Now that you have purified yourselves by obeying the truth so that you have sincere love for each other, love one another deeply, from the heart. 1 Peter 1:22 (NIV)Now the start of this verse may also bring up some questions about how we are saved. Aren’t we saved by Jesus and not by our own works? Here it says our obedience to the truth has purified us. What does that mean?
I think it is talking about salvation and it is in the past tense. They are not purifying themselves, they already have purified themselves. Peter is talking about conversion and is not telling his readers to keep on cleaning their souls, but reminding them that they have already done so.
And how did this salvation come about? By obeying the truth, which I think means they responded to the Gospel. Peter has already addressed these readers as those who believe in God. Even the verse before this he calls them those who put their faith and hope in Him. And three other times in this letter unbelievers are described as those who disobey the message (2:8), who do not obey the word (3:1) and those who do not obey the gospel (4:17). Peter seems to talk about obeying the word or the gospel as a descriptor of belief.
So those who do obey the word or who obey the truth that was preached to them, are those who are already saved. Believers are called to do a number of things like repent, believe, be baptised and confess Christ to be saved. Not everyone by default goes to heaven because of Jesus, there is still the chosen group who call out to Christ for salvation, those who believe in Him and obey Him. Because coming to faith is more than an intellectual event, it results in transformation, and in verse 22 it is directly ties salvation to loving one another. As Paul might say faith works through love (Gal 5:6) and love comes from a sincere faith (1 Tim 1:5).
We have been shown God’s love so we are to show each other love. We can do this because we know who we are under God. Knowing who we are under God means we know who we can be in society around us. I want people to look at St Matt's and see the people there living some alternative lifestyle. One where we each show deep love for one another.
Love for each other is a way we can set ourselves apart from the world. It is putting others' needs ahead of our own, its not trying to exit that awkward conversation after church with that person you kinda don’t really like. It bringing people’s meals, it being available to help that person move or to give that lift. It’s doing that thing for that one person, that no one will ever know about. It’s putting in those extra hours for Life Group prep, or catching up with that person in our community, buying them a coffee and asking how they really are.
In all of these areas we have looked at, hope, holiness, fear of God and love for one another, the motivation for a Christian to do all these things is that of our salvation. The world may assume and even behave in some overlapping ways, but our motivation for this way of life is different. It is grounded in Jesus and what He has done and will do, and we can have confidence for this is not a fad but permanent, and for all time.
Perishable vs Permanent
The way we look to the future is grounded in the past so we know how to live in the now.
Peter stretches out our own timeline to go beyond ourselves, for us to see beyond the possibly hard moments of the present. For there is a contrast in this passage on those things that are temporary and those things that will last. On the perishable and the permanent.
For you know that it was not with perishable things such as silver or gold that you were redeemed from the empty way of life handed down to you from your ancestors, but with the precious blood of Christ, a lamb without blemish or defect. 1 Peter 1:18–19 (NIV)In our passage, it says we were not redeemed or paid to be released by the worth of gold or silver. Gold was not precious enough for us to be redeemed. The value of gold was not enough to pay off our debt incurred. Instead, we were redeemed by the precious blood of Christ.
And Peter says we have been bought with the precious blood of Jesus. He has done it, it has happened and you can’t change the past. So we can have hope in the future, for He has already paid the price for us.
And that price was blood. That is how important you are, or how costly you are to God. He paid it in full. He was will willing to sacrifice Himself for you.
And we believe in the same God that raised Him from the dead. Our hope isn’t a dead one, but a living hope. Jesus is alive and coming back. May we be alert, and mindful and hopeful of seeing Jesus and receiving His gift of eternal life.
And as we look back and forward along our longer timeline there is another thing that is permanent in our passage, another thing that can give us assurance in the present.
For you have been born again, not of perishable seed, but of imperishable, through the living and enduring word of God. 1 Peter 1:23 (NIV)God’s word is permanent. It was relevant 700 years before Peter wrote this letter which again is itself 2000 years old. God’s enduring word saves people, it enables people who hear its message to be born again. It is what was preached to the original readers and saved them, it is the same message that is preached to people today which saves them.
Peter even used God’s word to show us that God’s word endures forever. Leaning on Isaiah he says, all people are like grass. We grow and we wither. This may sound a little depressing, but the contrast is, that the word of the Lord endures forever. And this word of the Lord gives us new life. This word of the lord tells us how we have been purchased by the precious blood of Christ. This word of the Lord gives us hope for the future because of what Jesus had done for us in the past.
So as we live in the now may we have hope in the future, trusting in His word that gives life and endures forever.
Our society may approve of what you do as a Christian as you live your life, loving those around you, working hard and doing good. There may be some things that people around you maybe be surprised with, like how you don’t hold a grudge, or own up to mistakes and are quick to forgive. I hope they can see the hope that you have. The assurance you have knowing God is going to return, that you have been born again, that you have been redeemed by the precious blood of Christ. Have great confidence in this.
Would you be willing to tell those who notice your behaviour the reason for the hope that you have? Someone may ask why you are so nice, and the default response may be something like, “Well it seems like the right thing to do”. Would you perhaps take it a bit further and say something like, “Well as a Christian I think it is the right thing to do”.
Our world doesn’t have a good basis for how to conduct ourselves, and even if it did, it would not be built on something so permanent as Jesus’ blood or God’s word. It sort of picks and chooses what actions are good and bad, and goes through phases. May we live in a way to show the world the truth of our message as we live our lives motivated by the good news about Jesus?
May we have this long-time frame mindset, as we think past our own past to Jesus and beyond our own future to Jesus coming back again. May we look to God and His holy character and have hope and confidence in God’s word which will not fade but will endure forever.
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