1 Peter 1:13 ESV
“Therefore, preparing your minds for action, and being sober-minded, set your hope fully on the grace that will be brought to you at the revelation of Jesus Christ.”
The Church in Exile
This was written to the church in exile. There are several
different thoughts we can read about in Bible helps regarding what the exile
was, and who it was that was being exiled, and why, but that isn’t really
relevant to us today.
What is relevant is that we are all to live as though we are
strangers on this earth. And we may even be forced into some type of exile due
to Christian persecution. And, the exile may be physical, or it may be more
that we are being rejected, ignored, pushed aside, or invited to leave groups
of people because of our testimony for Jesus and our seriousness of walks of
faith.
We are followers of Jesus Christ who are sanctified of the
Spirit of God, according to the foreknowledge of God the Father, for obedience
to Jesus Christ and for spiritual cleansing by his blood shed for us on that
cross. So, we have been set apart from the world and unto God for obedience to
Christ Jesus.
And this is where all believers in Jesus Christ should be.
For by faith in Jesus Christ we should all have died with Christ to sin, and we
should be continuing to put sin to death, by the Spirit, and we should be
walking (in practice, in conduct) according to the Spirit and not according to
the flesh, living our lives on this earth to please God (Rom 6:1-23; Rom
8:1-17).
Thus, we have the hope of salvation from sin and of eternal
life with God, not just because of what Jesus did for us on that cross, but
because, by faith, we are allowing the Spirit of God to transform us and to
make us to be more like Jesus. Thus, we are living lives which are separate from
(unlike) the world and unto God (Rom 12:1-2; Tit 2:11-14; 2 Co 6:14-18).
By God’s power we are being guarded through faith for a
salvation ready to be revealed in the last time. So, preparing our minds for
action, and being sober-minded, we are to set our hope fully on the grace that
will be brought to us at the revelation of Jesus Christ.
1 Peter 1:14-16 ESV
“As obedient children, do not be conformed to the passions of your former ignorance, but as he who called you is holy, you also be holy in all your conduct, since it is written, ‘You shall be holy, for I am holy.’”
So, what is all this saying?
What this is saying is that our salvation won’t be complete
until Jesus Christ returns. Biblical salvation teaches that we are saved (past),
we are being saved (present and ongoing), and we will be saved (future) when
Jesus Christ returns to take his own to be with him.
But this salvation is conditional, and not just upon Jesus’
death and resurrection, but it is conditional on our obedience and our walks of
faith in him – a faith which was initiated by God and which we possess only as
we are persuaded and empowered by God to believe in Jesus Christ (Jn 6:44).
For, when we believe in Jesus Christ, we die with him to
sin, and we are resurrected with him to newness of life in him, created to be
like God in true righteousness and holiness. The old life of living for sin and
for self is put to death so that we might now walk according to the Spirit and
no longer according to our flesh (Rom 6:1-23; Rom 8:1-17; Eph 4:17-24).
So, we are to be preparing our minds for action, and we are
to be being sober-minded as we set our hope fully on the grace that will be
brought to us at the revelation of Jesus Christ. And this involves action on
our part. And this also involves us being serious-minded about God and his
word.
So, what kinds of action? The kinds that the Scriptures talk
about. We are to be walking (in conduct, in practice) according to the Spirit
and no longer according to the flesh. For, if we walk according to the flesh,
we will die in our sins. We will not inherit eternal life with God (Rom 8:1-17;
1 Jn 1:5-9).
We are to be truth tellers, not liars. We are to be faithful
to God and to spouse, not adulterous. We are to be kind and to love others as
Jesus loves us, which is a pure love which prefers what God prefers, which is
what is holy, just, righteous, decent, moral, honest, and godly (Eph 4:17-32).
For, when we love like God loves us, we will do no willful
harm to others. We won’t cheat on, lie to, commit adultery against, slander,
mock, trick, abuse, misuse, or take advantage of others deliberately, and
especially not habitually. But we will do for them what will bring honor and
glory to God.
1 Peter 1:17-19 ESV
“And if you call on him as Father who judges impartially according to each one's deeds, conduct yourselves with fear throughout the time of your exile, knowing that you were ransomed from the futile ways inherited from your forefathers, not with perishable things such as silver or gold, but with the precious blood of Christ, like that of a lamb without blemish or spot.”
So many people today are teaching a gospel message which
says, or which implies that obedience to Christ, submission to him as Lord, and
the forsaking of our sins are not required by God and/or that God actually is
saying that we should not obey, submit or repent.
But this is just not supported Scripturally, and it is in
direct contrast to God’s divine nature and character and attributes, and it is
totally contrary to his divine will and purpose for our lives. But they claim
we are not to do any “works,” for that would be trying to earn our salvation.
But the Scriptures do not teach what they are teaching. The
Scriptures teach that we are God’s workmanship, created in Christ Jesus for
good works, which God prepared beforehand, that we should walk in them.
And the Scriptures
also teach that we will be judged by our works. For, if we live to please the
Spirit, from the Spirit we will reap eternal life. But if we live (sow) to please
the flesh, from the flesh we will reap destruction. If we walk according to the
flesh we will die in our sins, but if by the Spirit we are putting to death the
deeds of the flesh, we will have eternal life.
[Rom 2:6-8; Gal
6:7-8; 2 Co 5:10; 1 Co 6:9-10; Rev. 2-3; 1 Pet 1:17-21; Gal 5:16-21; Eph 5:3-6;
Rom 6:16; Rom 8:1-17; Jn 15:1-11; 1 Jn 2:3-6]
So, what is the
point of our salvation from sin? Is it just to save us so we can escape
punishment in hell and so that we can go to heaven when we die? This is what
many are teaching today.
No! That is not the
total reason for our salvation. For, we are saved from our slavery to sin so
that we can now, by God’s grace, be slaves of God and of his righteousness. It
is so we will no longer obey sin, as a matter of practice, but so that we will be
obeying the Lord, walking in righteousness.
For, we were bought
back for God (redeemed) with the blood of Jesus so that we would now honor God
with our lives, and so that we would no longer live for ourselves but for him
who gave his life up for us, and so we would die with him to sin and live to
him and to his righteousness (1 Pet 2:24; 1 Co 6:19-20; 2 Co 5:15).
By Jonathan
Foreman
I'm giving you all
of me
I want your symphony
Singing in all that
I am
At the top of my
lungs
I'm giving it my all
So, I lay my head
back down
And I lift my hands
and pray
To be only yours I
pray
To be only yours I
pray
To be only yours
I know now you're my
only hope
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