Brotherly Love - 1 Peter 1:22-25 - May 9, 2021

These are the Sermon Notes for May 9, 2021. We are meeting in person (check out our Covid-19 Plan here) and online (facebook and youtube) every Sunday at 9:37 am. You can also watch livestream recordings at any time.

 1 Peter 1:22-25 Brotherly Love

Good morning! We  are back in our study of 1 Peter this morning, we are going to look at chapter one, verses 22-25, that’s page 1014 in the pew Bibles. 

Over the last few weeks we have been looking at arguments for holy living. But during those studies we haven’t spent a great deal of time talking about what exactly holy living looks like. How are we supposed to do it now that the arguments have been made and we are thoroughly convinced we need to pursue holy living?

Well, verses 22-25 of 1 Peter give us the first step: Love.

Let’s look at the text, we’ll pray, and then jump in.

22 Having purified your souls by your obedience to the truth for a sincere brotherly love, love one another earnestly from a pure heart, 23 since you have been born again, not of perishable seed but of imperishable, through the living and abiding word of God; 

24 for “All flesh is like grass and all its glory like the flower of grass. The grass withers, and the flower falls, 25 but the word of the Lord remains forever.” And this word is the good news that was preached to you.

Let’s pray.

So Peter uses two different words or phrases here in these verses that we need to fully understand in order to come to a place where these thoughts really make sense. Those two phrases are: “The truth,” and, “the word.”

Now that may sound easy to you, Peter is obviously talking about the Bible; we call it God’s Word, we call it the truth, that must be what he means! Well, it isn’t.

Don’t forget that you are not Peter’s original audience. Peter’s original audience had access to what we call the Old Testament but may have only had access to a few letters of Paul and this letter from Peter, and maybe one or two of the Gospels. Peter isn’t talking about any of that.

So what could he be talking about? The context makes it clear since we know now that he wasn’t talking about the whole Bible as we know it. The truth that they had obeyed and the word that was preached to them was the gospel itself, the Good News that Jesus died to save sinners just like us.

Peter says, “Having purified your souls by your obedience to the truth…” The purification of souls is only  possible through faith in Jesus Christ, acceptance of the gospel.

Our English text makes it look like that purification of soul is a done deal, it’s in the past tense. Well, in Greek it’s not, it’s not aorist, it’s active, it’s continuing, and it is continually necessary, a constantly needed purifying, a constantly laying aside of evil. This isn’t Peter’s declaration of what they have already done but what they ought to do and continue doing. 

This is so important because the heart of holy living which is a sincere and pure brotherly love is not possible without the continuous purifying of the soul.

Purity of soul consists in obedience to God, not just in general like following the Ten Commandments, but obeying the truth, obeying the gospel, having faith in Jesus. Faith in Jesus is the primary way that we obey the truth and thus purify our souls.

Matthew Henry wrote, “Many hear the truth, but are never purified by it because they will not submit to it nor obey it.”

Many people mistakenly think that faith in Jesus, being born again, getting saved, is only about getting into Heaven. “I’m all saved, I’m all set. Now I can just sit and soak.”

But that isn’t it at all! Of course when we are saved we are adopted as God the Father’s children, we are heirs of His eternal kingdom, but there is much to do before the time comes that Christ return and calls us home. Where does that “much to do start?” Brotherly love.

We have been born again by faith in Christ, born again of imperishable seed, born of God, so we ought to live and love in a manner worthy of God.

The imperishable seed is the grace of God in the gospel that causes us to be born again. The flesh is from the perishable seed, it withers and falls like flowers of grass. Some of you may be more keenly aware of this than others.

The glory of the flesh- its wisdom, strength, riches, learning, honor, beauty, art, virtue, are all temporary and are passing away, but the word of the Lord, the gospel remains forever.

And if you have received the word of the Lord, you have received the imperishable seed which is the grace of God in the gospel of Jesus Christ, therefore you were born for eternity and are bound to live for eternity. Not just living forever but living for our Eternal Omnipotent Father, living as He lives.

And what does living for eternity look like?

22 Having purified your souls by your obedience to the truth for a sincere brotherly love, love one another earnestly from a pure heart, 23 since you have been born again, not of perishable seed but of imperishable, through the living and abiding word of God; 

Living for eternity looks like love.

Now to be clear, this is not the world’s definition of love, this is Christian love. And as Warren Wiersbe wrote, “Christian love is not a matter of feeling but a matter of will.”

Peter said, “having purified your souls by your obedience to the truth for a sincere brotherly love, love one another earnestly from a pure heart.”

Now we come back to the different Greek words for love, because Peter uses two of them here, “Philadelphia,” and “agapao.”

Philadelphia is brotherly love, this is affection specifically for fellow believers in Christ, and it is to be sincere, genuine, without pretense.

JP Lange wrote, “As natural relationship produces natural affection, so spiritual relationship produces spiritual affection. It is lasting because it emanates from an eternal source of life. Brotherly love must be the exponent of the nature, strength, and fruit of regeneration.”

Brtherly love is the love which God specially commends – in our self-centered times it is more important than ever to exercise this kind of love to the church. God would have us cultivate this kind of brotherly love towards one another and so testify our love of God and prove it with evidence and not just words.

1 John 4:19-21 says,

19 We love because he first loved us. 20 If anyone says, “I love God,” and hates his brother, he is a liar; for he who does not love his brother whom he has seen cannot love God whom he has not seen. 21 And this commandment we have from him: whoever loves God must also love his brother.

John Calvin wrote, “Nothing is more difficult than to love our neighbors in sincerity. For the love of ourselves rules, which is full of hypocrisy; and besides, everyone measures his love which he shows to others by his own advantage and not by the rule of doing good.”

But that is not the type of love Peter describes and commands, not selfish but selfless, not hypocritical or seeking our own advantage but sincere and genuine. Love for the brethren (and sisteren) is the evidence of our regeneration and justification by faith. This brotherhood flows from our new birth!

“Having purified your souls by your obedience to the truth for a sincere brotherly love, love one another earnestly from a pure heart.”

In light of our purification of soul through faith in the gospel of Jesus Christ we are made for brotherly love, Philadelphia, so, love one another, agapao, earnestly from a pure heart.

This kind of love, agapao, the selfless, choice of will to prefer another above oneself, can only come from a changed heart, from one whose motives are pure, and who seeks to give more than he takes. 

This love is expressed deeply, earnestly. That means, “At full stretch, all out, with intense strain.”

Because we are born again of imperishable seed, born of God, we ought to live and love in a manner worthy of God. Love for our brothers and sisters in Christ is the evidence of our new birth.

Johann Steiger wrote, “The Christian loves primarily those in Christ, secondarily, all who might be in Christ, namely, all men, as Christ as man died for all, and as he hopes that they too may become his Christian Brethren.”

Being children of God we ought first to love our siblings.

It is because we have been loved through the gospel that we are able to love one another, and we should do so more and more.

22 Having purified your souls by your obedience to the truth for a sincere brotherly love, love one another earnestly from a pure heart, 23 since you have been born again, not of perishable seed but of imperishable, through the living and abiding word of God; 

24 for “All flesh is like grass and all its glory like the flower of grass. The grass withers, and the flower falls, 25 but the word of the Lord remains forever.” And this word is the good news that was preached to you.

That word, the gospel, the Good News, is simply this:

For God so loved the world that He gave His one and only Son, that whoever believes in Him shall not perish but have everlasting life.

Do you believe in Him?

Amen.

Arguments for Holy Living part 2 - 1 Peter 1:17-21 - May 2, 2021

These are the Sermon Notes for May 2, 2021. We are meeting at the church with specific procedures and protocols that need to be followed. Read our Covid-19 plan here. You can still watch our livestream service every Sunday at 9:37 am on our facebook page or watch the livestream recordings any time.

 1 Peter 1:17-21 Arguments for Holy Living pt2

Good morning! We are picking up where we left off last week in 1 Peter, verses 17-21, page 1014 in the pew Bibles.

Last week we left on kind of a cliffhanger, we got the first three points on Arguments for Holy Living, what could the second three possibly be?!

It’s not much of a cliffhanger really, you have the text right in front of you and can read it for yourselves… Let’s read that text, we’ll pray, and then review.

17 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, 18 knowing that you were ransomed from the futile ways inherited from your forefathers, not with perishable things such as silver or gold, 19 but with the precious blood of Christ, like that of a lamb without blemish or spot. 20 He was foreknown before the foundation of the world but was made manifest in the last times for the sake of you 21 who through him are believers in God, who raised him from the dead and gave him glory, so that your faith and hope are in God.

Let’s pray.

So let’s review, what are the first three arguments for holy living based on this text?

Argument #1, We call on Him as Father, so we should act like His children. True faith is not a hollow dream nor empty talk but holy living in the fear of God, holy living in reverence and awe of our Father.

Loving our enemies, doing good, lending without expecting anything in return, being kind to the ungrateful and evil, being merciful just as our Father is merciful; being imitators of God as dearly loved children; we call on Him as Father, we should act like His children. 

Argument #2, He judges impartially according to each one’s deeds, and so, we should act accordingly, not to earn our salvation but to prove it. For we all must appear before the judgment seat of Christ, so that each one may receive what is due for what he has done in the body, whether good or evil. 2 Cor 5:10

Argument #3, Jesus chose us out of the world, we are exiles, therefore don’t start acting like the locals. The world hates the church because it hates Jesus, if we belonged to the world the world would love us as its own but because Jesus chose us out of the world we are not of this world anymore, so stop acting like it.

So because I love three point sermons so much the Lord decided to bless me with two in a row…

This morning we are going to focus on three more arguments for holy living.

I’d like to introduce those three arguments with a quote from Bede the Venerable. What a great name, he sounds like a character in a fantasy book or movie.

He was an actual person though, a Benedictine monk born around the turn of the eighth century in England.

He wrote, “In proportion to the price at which you have been redeemed from corruption of carnal life should be your fear not to grieve your Savior’s heart by a relapse, for the punishments will correspond to the worth of the ransom.”

Bede the Venerable was pointing back to where this argument all started, and that is the great worth of the gospel, the treasure that is the grace that is ours through faith in Christ. And that is where the second three arguments find their basis: when we consider the great worth of our salvation and the great price that was paid for it, we cannot help but aspire to holy living.

So here is Argument #4 from verse 18, 19: 18 knowing that you were ransomed from the futile ways inherited from your forefathers, not with perishable things such as silver or gold, 19 but with the precious blood of Christ, like that of a lamb without blemish or spot.

Argument #4 is that we have been ransomed and the price was great.

So in considering this argument it would behoove us to have a good understanding of what Peter meant by, “ransomed.”

Jesus said in Mark 10:45, “That He did not come to be served but to serve and give His life as a ransom for many.”

The word translated, “ransom,” can be, and has been translated, “redeemed.” These are fine words, churchy words, we sing them all the time. It stands to reason then that we ought to have a strong handle on what they mean.

The word, “lytroo,” translated here, “ransom,” describes deliverance, liberation, it’s the process of setting slaves free, purchasing them from their former masters with the express purpose of setting them free. 

Jesus Himself purchased us from our former master: death, and has set us free from the futile ways inherited from our forefathers that only lead to death, so that, we could have new life in Him.

As I said last week, the futile ways of our forefathers have their roots in appearances, devoid of all true foundation, they are selfish, empty and hollow. They may fool our friends but they will never fool our Father. We have been set free from these sinful ways that lead only to death, we have been bought back and the price paid was great.

1 Timothy 2:5,6 says, 5 For there is one God, and there is one mediator between God and men, the man Christ Jesus, 6 who gave himself as a ransom for all…

The price paid was not perishable things such as silver or gold, but with the precious blood of Christ, like that of a lamb without blemish or spot.

The precious blood of Christ, undefiled by sin, unstained. He is the spotless Lamb of God who takes away the sin of the world just as John the Baptist proclaimed.

We see the shadow of that Spotless Lamb in the Passover, the blood of the lamb spread on the doorposts of the houses of Israel so that the Angel of Death would pass over them while they were in Egypt.

Paul wrote in 1 Corinthians 5:7-8, For Christ, our Passover lamb, has been sacrificed. 8 Let us therefore celebrate the festival, not with the old leaven, the leaven of malice and evil, but with the unleavened bread of sincerity and truth. Sounds like holy living!

1 Corinthians 6:19-20 says, You are not your own, 20 for you were bought with a price. So glorify God in your body. That also sounds like holy living!

Titus 2:14 says, [Jesus Christ] gave himself for us to redeem us from all lawlessness and to purify for himself a people for his own possession who are zealous for good works. More holy living!

I could go on forever… actually, we will! But not starting right now…

Argument #4, we have been ransomed, bought back from death, and the price was great.

JP Lange wrote, “The blood of the God-Man is more valuable by far than the blood of many thousand valiant warriors.”

Argument #5 for holy living, Christ was foreknown by God and sent to earth for us.

20 He was foreknown before the foundation of the world but was made manifest in the last times for the sake of you…

This may seem obvious, probably because we talk about it all the time, but hear me out.

Christ coming to ransom us, to redeem us, was not a natural development. Jesus wasn’t just some good guy from the backwoods that thought He could help people by dying on a cross just for telling people to be nice to each other.

Jesus didn’t just show up when the time was right or the conditions were right, like a, “when the student is ready, the master will appear,” type of thing.

It was known and determined by God before Adam took his first breath that Christ would be sent to die on the cross to pay the price of our redemption, it wasn’t a sudden, knee-jerk decision by God, it was the plan from before the beginning.

The plan from before the beginning was to send Christ for us. Believers are the end and aim of the mission of Christ. He was sent so that we might believe, and so we do, and so we owe Him our allegiance and our obedience. We owe Him holy living.

Argument #4, we have been ransomed, bought back from death, and the price was great.

Argument #5, Christ was foreknown by God and sent to earth for us. Our salvation was the plan all along and so we ought to live in holiness.

And finally, Argument #6, God made faith and hope in Him truly possible through Christ and faith results in holy living.

20 He was foreknown before the foundation of the world but was made manifest in the last times for the sake of you 21 who through him are believers in God, who raised him from the dead and gave him glory, so that your faith and hope are in God.

Having faith and hope in God through Christ is the first step in holy living.

Hebrews 11:6 says …without faith it is impossible to please him, for whoever would draw near to God must believe that he exists and that he rewards those who seek him.

Holy living has faith and hope as its foundation, holy living is the sweet fruit of faith. This may, in truth, be the hardest of the arguments to live with but here goes…

James 2:14-19:

14 What good is it, my brothers, if someone says he has faith but does not have works? Can that faith save him? 15 If a brother or sister is poorly clothed and lacking in daily food, 16 and one of you says to them, “Go in peace, be warmed and filled,” without giving them the things needed for the body, what good is that? 17 So also faith by itself, if it does not have works, is dead. 

18 But someone will say, “You have faith and I have works.” Show me your faith apart from your works, and I will show you my faith by my works. 19 You believe that God is one; you do well. Even the demons believe—and shudder!

James used the word, “works,” we have been using the words, “holy living.” They mean the same thing.

Holy living is the evidence of faith and hope in God through Christ. 

If we have faith in Christ, if we have faith in His resurrection, if we have hope in His return, the confident expectation that His return will truly complete our salvation, then we will live lives in pursuit of holy living, the type of lives that He describes in His Word.

God sent Him, God raised Him, God glorified Him, God will send Him back for us, our faith and Hope are in God through Christ, and so, we must live lives that prove it.

We call on Him as Father, and so, we should act like his children.

He judges impartially based on a person’s deeds, and so, our deeds should be worthy of Him according to His Word.

We are exiles in this world because Jesus chose us out of the world, an so, we should not conform to the wicked customs of the land of our sojourn.

We have been ransomed and the price was great, and so, our lives should reflect our gratitude.

Our salvation through faith in Christ was God’s plan from the beginning, and so, we ought to live lives of holiness.

And finally, God made faith and hope in Him possible through Christ, and true faith results in holy living. 

There’s an often incompletely understood word that gets used a lot in the church, that word is, “worship.” Worship is often used to describe only singing, maybe even expanded to encompass our weekly services. But that kind of worship is only once a week, that kind of worship, though it is wonderful, is incomplete.

Life is worship. Through holy living we worship our Father. When we don’t pursue holy living as described in God’s Word we worship something else.

17 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, 18 knowing that you were ransomed from the futile ways inherited from your forefathers, not with perishable things such as silver or gold, 19 but with the precious blood of Christ, like that of a lamb without blemish or spot. 20 He was foreknown before the foundation of the world but was made manifest in the last times for the sake of you 21 who through him are believers in God, who raised him from the dead and gave him glory, so that your faith and hope are in God. Amen.

Arguments for Holy Living part 1 - 1 Peter 1:17-21 - April 25, 2021

These are the Sermon Notes for April 25, 2021. We are meeting at the church with specific procedures and protocols that need to be followed. Read our Covid-19 plan here. You can still watch our livestream service every Sunday at 9:37 am on our facebook page or watch the livestream recordings any time.

 1 Peter 1:17-21 Arguments for Holy Living part 1

Good morning! Once again we are back in 1 Peter chapter 1, this morning we are going to look at verses 17-21, that’s page 1014 in the pew Bibles.

Our text for this morning contains what is called, a “conditional statement.”

A conditional statement is a statement that uses the words, “if,” and, “then.” 

“If you want to play outside, then you must finish your supper.” That’s how conditional statements work.

This morning’s conditional statement is not an argument for eating your vegetables however, it is an argument for holy living, which, I suppose is a spiritual parallel to eating your vegetables…

Let’s look at our text.

17 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, 18 knowing that you were ransomed from the futile ways inherited from your forefathers, not with perishable things such as silver or gold, 19 but with the precious blood of Christ, like that of a lamb without blemish or spot. 20 He was foreknown before the foundation of the world but was made manifest in the last times for the sake of you 21 who through him are believers in God, who raised him from the dead and gave him glory, so that your faith and hope are in God.

Let’s pray.

Now you may remember the context of what Peter was writing here. He has addressed the great worth of the gospel, that wonderful treasure that we have, and also the hope that we have as a result. Because we have faith in Christ we have a confident expectation that when He returns we will come into possession of our glorious inheritance in His eternal kingdom.

Not only that, but with the hope of that future grace in view, with sober-minds, and the loins of our minds girded up and ready for action, we must act as obedient children of our Heavenly Father.

And what is the word we use for acting in this way? Holiness.

Our passage last week ended with the words, “Be holy, for I am holy.”

So here comes our conditional statement:

And if you call on him as Father who judges impartially according to each one’s deeds, [then] conduct yourselves with fear throughout the time of your exile…

Now I want to make something clear right off the bat because we are going to be addressing our behavior here this morning: I am not talking about living in such a way that earns salvation or favor with God.

JP Lange wrote “The Scriptures uniformly teach that forgiving grace is not conditioned by any work; it is absolutely free and unmerited and presupposes nothing beyond a penitent mind and an appropriating of the righteousness of Christ; but it insists upon a life corresponding with the will of God, and even supplies the strength to lead it. Faith must work by love. It is the living root of all good works, while unbelief is the father of every sin. God looks upon the life of a man as one connected work.”

So again, to be clear, holy living is not an effort to earn forgiveness, nor earn salvation. Holy living is living in light of our forgiveness and salvation. Peter calls this, “conducting yourselves in fear during the time of your exile.”

Conducting ourselves in fear, just as Peter commanded those First Century believers, is a command for us. “If you call on Him as Father… Then conduct yourselves in fear.”

But what exactly does Peter mean by, “fear?”

In this context, the word fear does not mean terror, but reverence, not horror but awe and profound respect.

Jesus said in Luke 12:4-5,

4 “I tell you, my friends, do not fear those who kill the body, and after that have nothing more that they can do. 5 But I will warn you whom to fear: fear him who, after he has killed, has authority to cast into hell. Yes, I tell you, fear him!

Lange also wrote, “Fear not, but fear, and therefore fear, that you may not fear.” If we fear God, meaning living in reverence, awe, and profound respect of our Heavenly Father, then we have nothing to fear from man nor the devil.

So here are the arguments for holy living within these few short verses. True faith is not a hollow dream nor hollow talk but holy living in the fear of God, holy living in loving reverence of our Father.

The first argument for holy living (and you may be surprised to hear that there are not three of these) is found in verse 16. If you call on Him as Father…

The “if,” at the beginning of this verse doesn’t denote any doubt that Peter’s audience believed and called on Him as Father, rather it was more of a reminder that you ought not call Him Father if you are not willing to walk before Him in holy reverence as obedient children.

Holiness and reverence, as Peter put it, fear, are bound to our relationship to God

Ephesians 5:1 says, “Be imitators of God as beloved children.”

Jesus said in Matthew 5:43-45, 43 “You have heard that it was said, ‘You shall love your neighbor and hate your enemy.’ 44 But I say to you, Love your enemies and pray for those who persecute you, 45 so that you may be sons of your Father who is in heaven. For he makes his sun rise on the evil and on the good, and sends rain on the just and on the unjust.”

Why should we love our enemies and pray for those who persecute us? Because that’s how our Father acts, that’s what He does.

Luke’s version sounds like this in Luke 6:35-36:

35 But love your enemies, and do good, and lend, expecting nothing in return, and your reward will be great, and you will be sons of the Most High, for he is kind to the ungrateful and the evil. 36 Be merciful, even as your Father is merciful.

Argument 1, we call on Him as Father, we should act like we’re His children.

Argument 2, v17 he judges impartially according to each one’s deeds.

God our Father, the righteous Judge does not measure with the same scale as us.

Lange wrote, “We find very great odds betwixt stately palaces and poor cottages, betwixt a prince’s robes and a beggar’s cloak; but the God they are all one, all these petty grievances vanish in comparison to His own greatness; men are great and small compared to one another; but they all amount to just nothing in respect to Him; we find high mountains and low valleys on this earth, but compared with the vast compass of the heavens, it is all but as a point, and has no sensible greatness at all.”

There is no outward mask that will fool Him, no class, nor race, nor sex is of any account, only the condition of the heart on the evidence of deeds. So walk in righteousness and obedience.

The list of references is long on this argument!

Romans 2:6-11, 6 He will render to each one according to his works: 7 to those who by patience in well-doing seek for glory and honor and immortality, he will give eternal life; 8 but for those who are self-seeking and do not obey the truth, but obey unrighteousness, there will be wrath and fury. 9 There will be tribulation and distress for every human being who does evil, the Jew first and also the Greek, 10 but glory and honor and peace for everyone who does good, the Jew first and also the Greek. 11 For God shows no partiality.

Matthew 16:27,27 For the Son of Man is going to come with his angels in the glory of his Father, and then he will repay each person according to what he has done.

2 Corinthians 5:10,10 For we must all appear before the judgment seat of Christ, so that each one may receive what is due for what he has done in the body, whether good or evil.

Need I go on? I could, all day…

Argument 1, we call on Him as Father, so act like His children. Argument 2, He judges impartially according to each one’s deeds so act accordingly, Argument 3, we are exiles, don’t start acting like locals!

Jesus said in John 15:18-19

18 “If the world hates you, know that it has hated me before it hated you. 19 If you were of the world, the world would love you as its own; but because you are not of the world, but I chose you out of the world, therefore the world hates you.

Those that Peter was writing to were literal exiles, Jews living apart from Jerusalem, but we too are exiles now that we have been chosen and set apart from the world. The world hates the church, don’t act like them!

Peter says that the ways that they inherited from their forefathers were futile. Those ways have their roots in appearances, devoid of all true foundation, they are selfish, empty, and hollow. Those are the ways of the land of our sojourn, of the flesh, of this fallen world in which, we too are exiles.

So here are the first three arguments for holy living based on our text so far:

Argument 1: We call on Him as Father, and so, we should act like His children.

Argument 2: He judges impartially based on a person’s deeds, and so, our deeds should be worthy of Him so we have no fear of judgment.

Argument 3: We are exiles in this world because Jesus has called us out of it so we should not conform to the wicked customs of the land of our sojourn.

I really didn’t want this to be a three point sermon, but I’ve only made three points and there are six, so now I’m forced into two three point sermons!

This is where we are going to leave it for this week soo this is just part one of arguments for Holy living. Next time we will focus on the great worth and high price that was paid for our ransom so that we could be set free from sin and its penalty.

Amen.