The Distinctive Marks of a Christian - (I Peter 1:13-25) - Conclusion

When we claim the name of Christ we are identifying whose family we belong to.  God is a holy God and, as we represent Him to our world, we must also bear the family image of holiness.  In a world that is extremely materialistic and self-obsessed and deceitful, there is a cry for someone to be distinctively different, someone who will stand for truth and purity and integrity.  


It must grieve God's heart to look on His children and see how much they mimic the world's lifestyle.  He has called us to live a higher calling, a life that is set apart for His service.  After all He has done for us, and knowing He is our ultimate Judge, dare we live below our calling?  Through yielding to His Spirit's leading in our moment by moment decisions, we can walk as Christ walked and re-echo God's call to all of humanity to be holy and pure.

"Oh, to be like Thee, Blessed Redeemer,

This is my constant longing and prayer.

Gladly I'll forfeit all of earth's treasures,

Jesus, Thy perfect likeness to wear.

Oh, to be like Thee!  Oh, to be like Thee,

Blessed Redeemer, pure as Thou art!

Come in Thy sweetness, come in Thy fullness;

Stamp Thine own image deep on my heart!

The Distinctive Mark of Brotherly Love - I Peter 1:22-25 - Part B

For you have been born again, not of perishable seed, but of imperishable, through the living and enduring word of God.  (v. 23)


"Born again", just like "purified" from the previous verse, is a perfect participle in Greek.  This signifies one decisive act in the past that has abiding results in the present.  Because we have been born again is another reason why we should love one another.


Peter gives us a firm foundation to build on in this verse by indicating that God is at work in the life of a believer, through His eternal Word. This is not just a temporary work, but something that will last for all time and eternity.  Through His Word He is continually cleansing us and preparing us for our destination with Him.


For, "All men are like grass, and all their glory is like the flowers of the field; the grass withers and the flowers fall, but the word of the Lord stands forever."   And this is the word that was preached to you.  (v. 24-25)


In these verses Peter quotes from Isaiah 40:6-8.  He reminds us that one day everything in life will pass away.  God alone is eternal.  We need to quit focusing on the temporary things and situations of this life, and begin focusing on God and His Word.  Our life in Christ is all that will last for eternity.


God's Word continues to speak to men down through the ages because it is truth, and truth never changes.  The Word is living and abiding because the Holy Spirit continues to confirm God's truth in us.

The Distinctive Mark of Brotherly Love - I Peter 1:22-25 - Part A

These verses give us the consequences of holy living in that Peter talks about the attitude of Christians toward one another.  After believers have received new life from God, they express this new life in new ways...such as in brotherly love.


Now that you have purified yourselves by obeying the truth so that you have sincere love for your brothers, love one another deeply, from the heart.  (verse 22)


The truth is what searches out motives.  It comes from God's Word and is the tool that the Spirit uses to bring about God's desired results in our lives.  God produces purification through His Word and His Spirit by our being yielded to the Spirit and not giving is to our own selfish desires and impulses.  Purity in the Old Testament referred to ceremonial purification, but in the New Testament it refers to moral purification, being delivered from the power of sin in our lives.  As we are obedient to truth, which is the living and eternal Word of God, we are purified and the love of Jesus compels us to love others.


As we yield to the Spirit, the fruit of love for our brothers is produced in our hearts.  This happens because we are filled with love for Jesus, which compels us to show love and kindness to others.  If we have little love for Jesus, we also have little love for others.  As we walk close to the Lord, love for Christ overflows towards others.  There is no substitute for love for our brothers in practical, everyday Christianity.  How much we give to the Lord's work, and how much time we spend in personal meditation, is without merit if we do not also love and serve others.  A Christian without love is not fruitful, or even usable, in God's kingdom.


This love must come from the heart and be sincere.  That means it is free from hypocrisy and evil.  When love comes from a heart that has been purified, it is genuine...one does not have to play-act.  Sincere love is selfless, not self-centered.  The love of God sets one free from focusing on one's self and refocuses on meeting the needs of others.  Just as Christ gave of Himself sacrificially, we are to follow His example and sacrifice ourselves by serving others with a love that is fervent.

The Distinctive Mark of Godly Fear - I Peter 1:17-21 - Part C

He was chosen before the creation of the world, but was revealed in these last times for your sake.  (I Peter 1:20)


God made provision for the cross before creation was ordered.  He was not surprised when man fell, but already had a remedy prepared for what He foreknew would happen.  Actually, all of history is based on the cross and Christ's sacrifice at Calvary.  God uniquely gave us history in reverse as the Old Testament retrogresses from the cross.  The New Testament progresses from the cross.  But in both the Old and New Testaments the theme is redemption by blood.


Proof that Christ preexisted comes from the fact that He was revealed.  He will be revealed again soon.  "These last days" refers to the period beginning with the first revelation of Christ, the incarnation, and extends to His second coming, or revelation.  In Peter's time people thought the second coming of Christ was near at hand.  When Peter said Christ was revealed "for your sake", he was giving his readers confidence that they were personally cared for by God.


Through him you believe in God, who raised him from the dead and glorified him, and so your faith and hope are in God.  (I Peter 1:21)


Peter gives two grounds for coming to God.  First of all we can count on God, have confidence in Him.  What God had done for Jesus by raising Him from the dead, He will also do for His obedient children.  And secondly, we can expect to share in Christ's glory, which gives us hope.  Glory is all that God has done to exalt Christ and give Him great honor.  The same will be ours.

The Distinctive Mark of Godly Fear - I Peter 1:17-21 - Part B

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 forefathers, but with the precious blood of Christ, a lamb without blemish or defect.  (I Peter 1:18-19)


The ransom price that Christ paid was not material, such as silver or gold, but it was His own precious blood, His very life.  He became our sacrificial lamb.  He did not die for His own sin, because He had no sin, but He became the atonement for the sins of others.  A slave could be redeemed through the payment of money, but the only escape we have from sin is through the payment of Christ's blood.  His blood was not called precious until after it was shed at Calvary.  Precious indicates it was of pure quality, of total perfection.


Christ was the perfect fulfillment of all Old Testament sacrifices.  The key phrase here is "a lamb without blemish or defect".  The lamb typifies the innocence, purity, meekness and suffering of Jesus.  Without spot or blemish corresponds to the Passover ritual requirement where the sacrificial lamb had to be perfect without any flaw.  In applying this to Jesus, it meant He was morally perfect.  This sacrificial outpouring of the blood of Jesus should humble us in gratefulness to God for what He has done for us.


to be continued...

The Distinctive Mark of Godly Fear - I Peter 1:17-21 - Part A

Peter reminds the believers that as Christians they are temporary sojourners on this earth and that they ought to live in awe of God.  After all, who are we that we should have an intimate family relationship with the Judge and King of all earth?


Since you call on a Father who judges each man's work impartially, live your lives as strangers here in reverent fear.   (I Peter 1:17)


It is an awesome privilege to call God, who is the Judge over all, our Father.  It means we cannot ignore God or treat Him casually, or live as spoiled children.  Rather, we are to be grateful and show respect to our heavenly Father.  God does not play favorites and therefore judges impartially according to each one's deeds.  However, His judgement is ultimate, and because of this there should be a holy reverence for God by living in obedience, and shunning evil.


Sojourners, or strangers in a foreign land, do not have the rights of citizenship, but are only temporary residents, such as Israel was in Egypt.  In that same manner, Christians are only temporary residents on this earth, and must live as though they do not belong here...nor do they plan to stay.


to be continued...

The Distinctive Mark of Holiness - I Peter 1:13-16 - Part B

As obedient children, do not conform to the evil desires you had when you lived in ignorance.  (I Peter 1:14)


Peter goes on to stress that just as the Hebrews had to abandon their Egyptian habits of life after the Exodus, baptized Christians must also abandon their pagan past.  There must be a complete break with the old way of living.  Passions and desires that lead one to self-indulgence of natural appetites keep one separated from God.  If one is controlled by having his drives satisfied, he will easily slip back into his old way of living, following after worldly and evil impulses.  Once they are delivered from their ignorance of God, Christians should no longer be conformed to the mindset of this day, which is characterized by lust, but they should be controlled by the Spirit of God...not the spirit of self.  They should forsake anything that displeases Christ.


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."  (I Peter 1:15-16)


God is holy in that He is "set apart" from sin.  His nature of holiness emphasizes His moral perfection and perfect goodness.  Basically holiness is a separation from anything that is evil.  When believers are consecrated to a holy God, they take on His character, living in obedience to His will by practicing moral integrity and shunning evil.  As members of God's family, we are to reproduce the family likeness and pattern our behavior after God's holy standards.  His priorities now become ours.


Only through the Holy Spirit are we able to overcome sin and live obediently before God.  God has called us to holiness and as we yield to the Spirit's leading moment by moment, He works His holiness out in us.  It is our love for Christ that compels us to live holy lives.  The more we love Him, the more we desire to please Him.  The inward holiness produced by the indwelling of the Spirit expresses itself outwardly in honorable actions that are pleasing to God.


God's call to holiness is an imperative and cannot be ignored.  It involves our total life-style, and calls for a separation from this world's values.  It is more than just refraining from evil, it is also living a life of service for God.  We have fellowship with God when we are obedient.  We live victoriously when we forsake sin.  But it is only as we live holy lives that others are convinced of the reality of a holy God.  If we want to attract others to Christ, we cannot live a carnal and worldly life-style.  People want to see what kind of difference God can make in their lives.  What kind of statement does our life-style make?


Again, I state that the only way one can live this life of holiness, separated from sin and evil, is by being filled with the Holy Spirit who enables us to conform to the character and likeness of Christ.  It is the Holy Spirit who produces the holy fruit in our lives.

The Distinctive Mark of Holiness - I Peter 1:13-16 - Part A

God has a twofold purpose for His people:  first, that they practice obedience and do His will; and second, that they become like Him, growing in holiness.  Prior to conversion a person is dominated by his own desires, but after his adoption into the family of God, he must seek to bear the family resemblance of holiness.  Our text starts out by giving us the practical consequences of regeneration and results that follow receiving the Gospel.


Therefore, prepare your minds for action, be self-controlled; set your hope fully on the grace to be given you when Jesus Christ is revealed.  (v. 13)


The KJV and the RSV render "prepare your minds for action" as "gird up your mind".  What is being said here is to be alert and ready in spiritual and mental attitude.  In antiquity people wore long robes, but when participating in strenuous activity the robe was tied up, or "girded up", to make sure it would not be in the way.  Peter's use of this metaphor may also have referred back to the night the Israelites were to start on their journey from Egypt to Canaan.  They were prepared to leave  even as they ate their lamb, with the loins girded, shoes on their feet, and staff in their hand.  Here, however, Peter is concerned about the mind rather than the body.  The active response of the mind is to forsake evil, not only in deed and word, but also in thought.  Our thoughts must come from the Lord and not from the media and secular publications, for those are rarely pure.


Peter goes on to exhort us to be self-controlled.  A contrast to self-control is self-indulgence.  It is obvious that self-indulgence, or a lack of discipline, leads to deterioration, but self-control leads to a calm and steady life that is well-balanced and able to make clear judgments.


Our hope stems from the grace God has given us.  We have salvation only in part in the present, but when Jesus comes back our salvation will be fully accomplished.  Therefore our hope is not in the insignificant rewards of this life, but in the rewards at the return of Christ.  We enjoy salvation and sanctification now, but when Jesus returns we will be transformed and glorified, even as He was.  This hope is the lighthouse in the darkness of the night.  When we anticipate the return of Christ, we are motivated to live holy lives and follow the example of Christ in our behavior by forsaking sin and obeying God.


to be continued