1 Sermon Series: Faithful Living in Faithless Times 1 Peter 1:13-21 Motivations for Faithful Living Pastor Brian Long: September 27th, 2015 Big Idea: Let your hopeful heart compel your godly choices. Welcome to week 2 of our new fall sermon series I m calling Faithful living in Faithless Times. Clearly being a Christian in our world and in our nation is becoming more and more challenging. Tolerance for Biblical values is lessening. Every one did that which was right in their own eyes, is no longer simply an ancient description of the culture in the time of the Judges in the Old Testament, it is a description of our culture today. This series is designed to refresh and revive the call on our lives to faithful living in faithless times. We are using Peter s letter originally written to Christians who were living in a 1 st Century culture that didn t know what to do with the Christ following Ones. Misunderstanding, intolerance, and persecution was often what the first Christians faced. Peter write to them to encourage them to faithful living in faithless times. Last week we kicked things off by looking at the first twelve verses of Peter s letter that set the foundation for faithful living. This week we are going to see the motivations for faithful living. Let s start by looking at the first word in verse 13. It actually calls us to bring to mind what has just been said. What the therefore is there for? As we discovered last week, the salvation we ve been offered is soooo special (God initiated it in his mercy, Jesus secured it for us on the cross, the prophets eagerly anticipated it and the angels longed to explore it). It is promised, it is sure, it is kept for us in heaven, and we are shielded by God s power until we experience it. Christians have a hope set on the mercy of God. Peter calls us to praise God for this gift of new birth into this living hope of salvation. We don t earn it we don t qualify for it. It is 100% born out of the mercy of God. And last week our big takeaway was having our hope set on this merciful gift of salvation can inspire perseverance in trials of life.
2 It doesn t mean we go through life disengaged and so heavenly minded that we re no earthly good. But, it means that as we navigate the challenges of life and sometimes suffer grief in all kinds of trials we keep the bigger heavenly-promise-picture in mind. And we rest assured that God will use all kinds of trials to strengthen and deepen our faith in him. Our hope in all of it is set on or based on the mercy of God. [Transition] Okay now, not only do Christians have their hope set on the mercy of God, but this week Peter adds to mercy, grace. Peter actually commands us to set our hope fully on the grace of God. Look at the last phrase in verse 13. Christians have a hope set on the grace of God. Peter actually commands Christians to set their hope on the grace of God that will be given when Jesus comes. Isn t that reassuring? Aren t you glad you don t have to set your hope on your performance or good intentions? Christians don t need to fear the end or dread the judgment of God when Jesus comes. Our hope is set on the grace of God to be given to us when Jesus comes. Christians have a hope set on the mercy and grace of God (1Peter 1:13a). So, when you couple what Peter said last week with what he s saying so far this week, our hope, as Christians is set on two unchanging things the mercy and grace of God. Remember the mercy of God means that we don t get what we deserve; which is judgment and punishment for our sin. Because God has mercy we don t get that. Now, when God has grace on us in addition to his mercy, here s what it means. Since MERCY MEANS YOU DON T GET WHAT YOU DO DESERVE. GRACE MEANS YOU ACTUALLY GET WHAT YOU DON T DESERVE GOD S LAVISH LOVE AND BLESSINGS. Bring them up. They have done something very offensive to me that deserves the most severe prosecution and punishment. When I give them mercy I essentially say, I m not going to give you the prosecution and punishment you deserve. That s mercy. When I add to mercy, grace I say, Not only are you not going to be punished by me, but I m actually going to invite you to be my friend, I m
3 going to love you no matter what, and I m going to support you and encourage you in your life emotionally and financially as best I can. Now, in terms of God s mercy and grace to us. Our sin has violently and horrifically offended his holy and perfect being. We deserve the death sentence. In his great love and mercy God offers forgiveness to each of us by choosing to place the death sentence we deserve on his Son Jesus, who lovingly steps up to take it on. But God s loving advance toward us doesn t stop there as if mercy was not enough, God adds to his mercy his grace to us which means He invites into a personal relationship. He gives us his very Spirit to bond to our spirit. He commits to protecting and providing for us as we journey together in life. And he promises that when this life is over, the best is yet to come. This friends is the gospel truth of Christianity! And in this way Christians have a hope that is set on the mercy and grace of God. Now, I do want to make sure again that we all understand that to experience all of this mercy, grace, and the sure inheritance of heaven each of us must place our trust in Jesus for his forgiveness of our sinful imperfections AND continue to give ourselves in an ongoing way to trusting and surrendering our lives to his leadership. In this way he becomes both Savior and Lord of our lives. Last week I invited any of you who had never trusted Jesus as your personal savior to do that. And I want to give that opportunity again today. This week I m going to ask you to let me know if you did by filling out the brief card in the chair pocket in front of you that says I became a Christian today. At the end of my message time today we ll be stepping into our worship through giving time, and when the baskets come by, you can drop that card in.
4 Now, in our text for today Peter is saying that these salvation realities have implications for our lives today. Last week he pointed out that we must allow these eternal/salvation realities to affect our perseverance in trials. This week Peter points out that we must allow these eternal realities to drive our earthly lifestyles. Notice how Peter says this. Look again at the beginning of verse 13 and then verse 14. Read 13a,b,c and 14-16. Let your hopeful heart drive your daily choices (1 Peter 1:14-21) Peter is saying, Christian in view of God s mercy and grace lavished on you and the solid hope it provides for your heart don t continue conforming your life to your former evil desires the evil desires you had before you learned of and embraced Jesus. Peter is basically saying, now that you know Jesus and have trusted him as your Savior, and your heart has embraced the solid hope he provides, your lives can change in a positive way. Don t lazily slip back into those old grooves of evil, doing just what you feel like doing. You didn t know any better then; you do now. The Message Of course, change takes conscientiousness and intentionality. That s why Peter says, prepare your minds for action; be self-controlled These phrases function like commands and they are the practices required to set everything about your life apart for God aligned with his will, loving as he loved, and engaged in his service. You see according to Peter here, trusting Jesus as Savior: Is not something that you just add as an addendum onto your life. It is not some sort of end-times fire insurance you agree too. It s not something you add to your life resume like some degree earned from the University, or a certification or credential you ve accomplished. And he s not simply an acquaintance that you are aware of and cross paths with from time to time, but never develop any sort of deep friendship. Trusting Jesus as Savior must come to permeate everything about who you are, your entire being. God calls the Christian to conform their life to God s desires! You see the blessings of God mercifully and graciously given to you call for your valuing, and gratitude driven intentionality in your lives! The mercy and grace shown to us is to inspire us to live according to
5 God s desires. These eternal realities are to drive our daily choices. The hope we set on the mercy and grace of God necessarily implies a decisively altered way of life. In the remainder of our passage for today Peter gives us several reasons why this is so In verse 15 Peter literally and shockingly calls us to be holy as God is holy. This is the key driving motivation Peter offers. But, most of us read that and take a step back. What does he mean? What could he be saying? How is that even possible? Let s unpack this a bit. The first thing we can rule out is that it means we must be perfect and we complete the thought we must be perfect in order to qualify to experience the promises of God Peter is talking about. And immediately fear rises in us because we know how fickle, moody, and imperfect we are. We conclude in a split second I can t do it. Please realize, this can t be the meaning purely because of the numerous texts such as Romans 3:10 that says, There is no one righteous, not even one and 1 John 1:8 that says, If we claim to be without sin, we deceive ourselves and the truth is not in us. There are countless passages like this that clearly teach that the sin nature in each of us will never allow us to be perfectly holy. So, what does it mean then??? There are two aspects to this. First You can never make yourself holy but God can and has if you have trusted him for your salvation. God in his holiness has given you mercy and grace on you. God has made you holy when you embraced his holy Son Jesus who was crucified and raised to life again. What s more, as The Apostle Paul says in Ephesians 1, When you believed, you were marked in him with a seal, the promised Holy Spirit, who is a deposit guaranteeing our inheritance until the redemption of those who are God s possession to the praise of his glory (13-14). So, God makes the Christian holy by PLACING US IN CHRIST, and placing HIS SPIRIT IN US. As Colossians 1:22 says, he has reconciled you by Christ s physical body through death to present you holy in his sight, without blemish and free from accusation
6 So, if that s true then why is Peter calling us to be holy as God is holy? Here s why The second aspect to the call to be holy is basically this: Since you have been made holy in his sight you now have the position (in Christ) and the resources (Spirit in you) to begin to live like the holy ones you are. You see this aspect of Being holy means to set yourselves (everything about who you are) apart for God aligned with his will, engaged in his service. To be holy means that as a Christians you are to conform your thinking and behavior to God s character, and on terms that God prescribes, not your former evil desires. Peter is basically saying when you become a Christian you must not just keep living with all your old evil, self-centered, destructive habits. You see, God s call that has brought you to Christ is also a call for you to deny those sinful impulses and abstain from godless ways of living. This is what it means to let your hopeful or hope-filled hearts drive your daily choices. Now in verses 17-21 Peter adds to this calling to be holy, three more motivations or incentives for allowing your hopeful heart to drive your daily choices. Look at verse 17. Additional incentives/motivations to make godly choices daily (vs. 17-21) 1. God has all authority to call us to godly living. God s a good Father, but he s a responsible father and has the authority to ask us to live as citizens of heaven and strangers on this earth. He loves you thoroughly enough that he won t let you settle for sloppy living. He has demonstrated the love and authority to call us to live to our potential, and get the most out of life by living it as he created it to be lived. Obviously, God has the authority to call us to a godly life, but Peter adds another reason. God not only has the authority, he s demonstrated how much he loves and values you. Look at verse 18-19 2. God has demonstrated you are worth godly living (18-19).
7 Peter is saying, It cost God plenty to get you out of that dead-end, emptyheaded life you grew up in. He paid with Christ s sacred blood, you know (The Message). He values you so much that he wants the best for you. Calling you to holy living and godly choices is a further demonstration of how much he values you. Finally, Peter adds one more incentive for allowing your hopeful heart to drive your daily choices. Look at verses 20-21 3. God has always wanted what s best for you (vs.20-21). This is an expression of God s eternal love for you. None of this was an afterthought. Even though it has only lately at the end of the ages become public knowledge, God always knew he was going to do this for you. Your holiness in him and your holiness in becoming like him has always been his plan for you. Summary For these reasons, Peter has a important point for us today. Given the rich, complex, deep, and lasting blessings God has given to us we can set our faith and hope on him and our hopeful hearts must drive our daily choices. Our hopeful hearts must drive how we conduct ourselves in every area of our lives: Our personal lives and our professional lives, our public lives and our private lives. It must influence how we treat our spouses, our kids, our friends, and our neighbors. It speaks into what we do to make our money and the daily choices about how we steward what he allows us to have. Of course, not allowing our lives to simply conform to godless, pre-jesus patterns is much easier said than done in our lives. Godless patterns are difficult to break, the love to go into remission and then come out again, and genuinely don t go away easily. Breaking free from godless ways of living and growing into godly ways of living requires a willingness to change. A willingness to change requires a willingness to: 1. Allow God s desires to take precedent over your desires. 2. Open yourself before God with the David prayer, Search my heart oh God 3. Call on the Holy Spirit to increase your self-awareness 4. Regularly look into the mirror of God s truth in the Bible
8 5. Give regular and careful thought to your ways in light of the Bible s truth. 6. Call on trusted friends to help you see your blind spots 7. Take advantage of all support resources available to help you break free from your old worn out ways of living 8. Let your hopeful heart drive your daily choices. Church of the Foothills 2015