Conduct Yourselves with Fear

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.”

 

When we believe in Jesus Christ with God-given faith, not a faith created in the minds of human beings, but biblical faith which dies with Christ to sin and lives to Christ and to his righteousness, and which walks in obedience to his commands, we are delivered (saved) from our slavery (addiction) to sin so we might now become slaves of God and of his righteousness (Rom 6).

 

But it doesn’t end there. Our salvation is not a one-time experience in our lives which guarantees us eternal salvation and eternal life with God. For the righteous requirement of the law is fulfilled in us who walk (in practice, in conduct) no longer according to (in agreement with) our flesh but according to the Spirit of God (Rom 8:4).

 

For, if we live according to the flesh we will die in our sins. But if by the Spirit we are putting to death the deeds of the body (of the flesh), then we will live. For it is all who are being led by the Spirit who are the children of God. For we are slaves of the one whom we obey, either of sin, which leads to death, or of obedience, which leads to righteousness and to sanctification and which ends in eternal life (Rom 8:13-14; Rom 6:16-23).

 

Jesus said that not everyone saying to him, “Lord, Lord,” will enter the kingdom of heaven, but the one doing the will of his Father who is heaven. And Paul said that if we are sowing to please the flesh, from the flesh we will reap destruction, but if we are sowing to please the Spirit, then from the Spirit we will reap eternal life. And John said, “If we walk in the light, as he is in the light, we have fellowship with one another, and the blood of Jesus his Son cleanses us from all sin” (Matt 7:21; Gal 6:7-8; 1 Jn 1:7).

 

And there are many more passages of Scripture which teach that our salvation is progressive. We are saved (past). We are being saved (present) and we will be saved (future) when Jesus Christ returns for his bride and our salvation is complete provided that we do not make sin our practice and that we walk in obedience to his commands, and we continue in him in steadfastness of faith until the very end.

 

So, this is why we must be preparing our minds for action, and being sober-minded, because we don’t “get saved” and then one day we are going to go to heaven regardless of how we live our lives on this earth. What we do and how we live on this earth determines where we will spend eternity. For, setting our hope fully on the grace that will be (future) brought to us at the revelation of Jesus Christ has to do with remaining steadfast in faith, and walking according to the Spirit, and living to please our Lord.

 

[Rom 8:24; Rom 13:11; 1 Co 1:18; 1 Co 15:1-2; 2 Tim 1:8-9; Heb 9:28; 1 Pet 1:5; Jn 8:31-32; Jn 15:1-12; Rom 11:17-24; 1 Co 15:2; Col 1:21-23; 2 Tim 2:10-13; Heb 3:6, 14-15; 2 Pet 1:5-11; 1 Jn 2:24-25]

 

1 Peter 1:14-19 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.’ 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.”

 

Therefore, we are to be obedient children of God, and as obedient children we are not to be conformed to the passions of our former ignorance when we did not believe in Jesus. This means we are not to live in sin any longer. We are not to be engaged in sexual immorality, idolatry, adultery, homosexuality, lying, cheating, stealing, gossiping, and slandering, etc.

 

Instead we are to be holy which means to be set apart from the world and unto God so that we are no longer like the world in character, thinking, believing, and behaving. But now we are being conformed into the likeness of Christ by God’s Spirit. And we are to be holy, not just in character, but in all our conduct. We should not be participating in anything that is ungodly and unholy and that is evil in nature, not anymore.

 

And since God will judge us one day according to our deeds, we are to conduct ourselves with the fear of the Lord, in taking him and his word very seriously and not dismissing his words at all thinking they don’t apply to us. But we are to honor him as Lord, and we are to walk in obedience to his commands, and we are to treat him with the utmost respect.

 

“Once Saved Always Saved” is not true biblical salvation, so please take the time to read your Bible, starting in Matthew all the way through Revelation, and let the Holy Spirit show you the truth, because many of you are going to hear the Lord say one day, “Depart from me you workers of iniquity. I never knew you,” because you thought a profession of faith in Jesus was all you needed to secure your salvation and you did not take the time to read what Jesus and the apostles had to say on that subject.

 

For, Jesus didn’t die that horrible death on a cross so that you could be free from the guilt and punishment of your sin while you continue in habitual and deliberate and often premeditated sin against your Lord. He is not looking down on you and smiling. He is not delighting in you if you are vegging out on porn while you claim heaven as your eternal home. He will judge you by your deeds because he said he would.

 

So, honor Jesus Christ for who he is and for what he did for you in ransoming you from the futile ways inherited from your ancestors or that come from our sin natures we are born with. Don’t play around with sin thinking you won’t get burned. And don’t ignore what I am saying to you here, and don’t come back to me with the cheap grace gospel, for it does not coincide with the teachings of Scripture, in their fulness.

 

Leave your lives of sin behind you, let the Spirit of God transform you and make you into a new creation in Christ Jesus, and then walk in obedience to the Lord and to his commands in his power and strength in all holiness and righteousness in honor of Jesus and his sacrifice for us on that cross so we would now be free of our addiction to sin and free to walk in his righteousness for the rest of our days. Love Jesus by obeying Him!

 

[Lu 9:23-26; Jn 6:35-58; Jn 15:1-11; Rom 6:1-23; Rom 8:1-17; Eph 4:17-24; 1 Pet 2:24; 1 Co 6:9-10, 19-20; 2 Co 5:10, 15; Tit 2:11-14; Jas 1:22-25; Gal 5:16-21; Eph 5:3-6; Gal 6:7-8; Rom 2:6-8; Matt 7:21-23; Heb 10:26-27; 1 Jn 1:5-9; 1 Jn 2:3-6; 1 Jn 3:4-10; Rom 12:1-2; Eph 2:8-10]

 

I Stand in Awe

 

By Mark Altrogge

 

You are beautiful

You are beautiful beyond description

Too marvelous for words

Too wonderful for comprehension

Like nothing ever seen or heard

Who can grasp Your infinite wisdom?

Who can fathom the depth of Your love?

You are beautiful beyond description

Majesty, enthroned above

 

And I stand, I stand in awe of You

I stand, I stand in awe of You

Holy God, to whom all praise is due

I stand in awe of You

 

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