1 Peter 1:17-21 BSB (Berean Standard Bible)
“17Since you call on a Father who judges each one’s work
impartially, conduct yourselves in reverent fear during your stay as
foreigners. 18For you know that it was not with perishable things such as
silver or gold that you were redeemed from the empty way of life you inherited
from your forefathers, 19but with the precious blood of Christ, a lamb without
blemish or spot. 20He was known before the foundation of the world, but was
revealed in the last times for your sake. 21Through Him you believe in God, who
raised Him from the dead and glorified Him; and so your faith and hope are in
God.”
The Empty Way of Life
So, what does this “empty way of life” look like? Well,
empty can mean “vacant, hollow, void,” i.e. having no real substance to it,
devoid of truth and righteousness and holy living because no genuine faith in
Jesus Christ ever took place in the person’s life, whether or not they ever
professed faith in the Lord Jesus. And this can be a result of what “gospel”
message many people are believing or are not believing. For many people today
are teaching a false and empty gospel devoid of truth and righteousness.
Many people are teaching “the gospel of Christ” as though
all it consists of is Jesus’ death and resurrection, and a verbal confession of
faith in Jesus Christ by human beings, after which they are now promised forgiveness
of all sins and heaven as their eternal destiny, but regardless of how they
live; regardless of whether or not they obey God and His commands and if they leave
their lives of sin behind them. Many are teaching that God does not require
death to sin and obedience to His commands, which is a bold lie!
But those who are living in addiction to sin will often adopt
this false and empty gospel message because it promises them forgiveness of sin
and eternal life with God regardless of how they live, in practice. But they
are being given a false promise of eternal life with God which will not end up
in heaven but in hell. It will not end in the salvation of their lives, but in
their deaths for eternity. And that is a very sad reality which breaks my
heart! I fear for those who are relying on this empty “gospel” to save them.
For Jesus Christ taught that to come to Him we must deny
self, take up our cross daily (die daily to sin), and follow (obey) Him. For if
we hold on to living in sin and for self, we will lose our lives for eternity.
But if we deny self, die daily to sin, by the Spirit, and we walk in obedience
to our Lord and to His commands, in His power, then we have eternal life with
God. For not everyone who calls Him “Lord” will enter the kingdom of heaven,
but the one DOING (obeying) the will of God (see Luke 9:23-26; Matthew
7:21-23).
1 Peter 2:1-3 BSB (Berean Standard Bible)
“1Rid yourselves, therefore, of all malice, deceit,
hypocrisy, envy, and slander. 2Like newborn babies, crave pure spiritual milk,
so that by it you may grow up in your salvation, 3now that you have tasted that
the Lord is good.”
Rid Yourselves Of..
Sadly, there are many people today who are professing faith in
Jesus Christ who are believing that all their sins are forgiven and that heaven
is guaranteed them as their eternal destiny, but who are still making malice,
deceit, hypocrisy, envy, slander, moral impurity, manipulation, faithlessness,
and fakery their life practice. But they lie about what they are doing or are
not doing as a way to hide the reality of how they are living from other
humans. And they may even present themselves to others as righteous.
And they do this out of pride, i.e. they are swelled with
pride, and so they do not want to admit that they are living in moral failure,
and so they present outwardly that all is well, or that they are living for the
Lord and that they are walking in His ways and that God does hear and answer
their prayers, etc. And they put on a performance that they are ridding
themselves of all of these types of sins mentioned above, but they are faking
it. Instead, they are deteriorating and worsening and declining morally. Sad to
see!!
Like Newborn Babies
Now this is not suggesting that we act immaturely like
babies, but that if our faith in Jesus Christ is of God, and if it is genuine
biblical faith which requires death to sin and obedience to our Lord’s
commands, that we should crave the teachings of the Scriptures, the Word of the
Lord, and we should long to follow our Lord in walks of obedience to His
commands, to do what pleases Him. Our heart’s desire should be to do what
pleases our Lord and no longer what pleases our sinful flesh. We should hunger
for truth and righteousness!
Sadly, far too many who profess faith in Jesus Christ do not
hunger after the Lord in the way in which a baby hungers after his or her mother’s
milk. Far too many have drifted from the teachings of the Scriptures on what it
means to be followers of Christ, those born again of the Spirit of God, who now
have an inheritance with God. Far too many professers of faith in the Lord are
living still for the flesh and in sinful practices and not in surrender to
Christ as Lord (Owner-Master) of their lives while they claim to be In Christ.
But if we are to be of genuine faith in the Lord Jesus, we
must surrender our lives to the Lord. We must deny self, die to sin, and obey
our Lord and His commands (New Covenant) in life practice. Sin must no longer
be our habit, our lifestyle. This is not to say, though, that we will never sin
(1 John 2:1-2), but that sin is to not be our practice. And we must obey God in
practice. For if we continue living in sin, in disobedience to God, we will not
inherit eternal life with God, even if we do profess faith in Jesus Christ with
our lips.
[Matthew 7:13-14,21-23; Luke 9:23-26; John 10:27-30; Acts
26:18; Romans 1:18-32; Romans 2:5-10; Romans 3:23; Romans 6:1-23; Romans
8:1-14; Romans 12:1-2; 1 Corinthians 6:9-10,19-20; 1
Corinthians 10:1-22; 2 Corinthians 5:10,15,21; Galatians
5:16-24; Ephesians 2:8-10; Ephesians 4:17-32; Ephesians 5:3-6; Titus 2:11-14;
Hebrews 3:1-19; Hebrews 4:1-13; Hebrews 10:19-39; Hebrews 12:1-2; 1 Peter 2:24;
1 John 1:1-10; 1 John 2:1-6; 1 John 3:4-10; Revelation 2:1-29; Revelation
3:1-22]
Redeemed From the Empty Way of Life
An Original Work / October 1, 2026
Christ’s
Free Servant, Sue J Love
The Heart of Man
Based off Matthew 15:1-20; Mark 7:1-23
An Original Work / April 4, 2012
Christ’s Free Servant, Sue J Love
Listen to me
ev’ryone and
Understand this
teaching of Christ:
Why do you break the
commands
Of God for the sake
of tradition?
When you follow the
ways of man,
And don’t obey the
words of Christ,
You nullify the
words of God,
And you hold to the
ways of man.
What comes out of a
man’s mouth is
What makes him
unclean and dirty.
The things that come
out of the mouth
Come from the heart,
from within him.
The heart of man is
so sinful;
From his nature, out
comes evil:
Lying, cursing,
greed and malice,
Lust and lewdness,
deceit, slander.
Jesus calls us to
obey Him;
Turn from our sins;
follow His ways.
Yet, His people
honor Him with their lips,
but their hearts not
with Him.
Their worship of God
is in vain.
Their teachings are
rules taught by man.
Jesus calls us;
gently leads us
To return and follow
His truth.
https://vimeo.com/125490002
