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The Christ Church Wednesday Bible Study Group is studying the book of 1 Peter.
The thing that separates Christianity from other religions is grace. It is simply God doing something for you with no strings attached. God’s grace is solely motivated by love: deep, abiding, unconditional, sacrificial love.
Peter wrote this letter to Christians who were going through various trials. The apostle knew that a severe “fiery trial” was just around the corner, and he wanted to prepare believers for it. God’s message to us is, “Be hopeful! Suffering leads to glory! God can give you all the grace you need to honor Him when the going gets tough! The future is still as bright as the promises of God, so—be hopeful!
We are using for our study "Be Hopeful (1 Peter): How to Make the Best of Times Out of Your Worst of Times" by Warren W. Wiersbe.
1 Peter 1:13-21 NIV [13] Therefore, with minds that are alert and fully sober, set your hope on the grace to be brought to you when Jesus Christ is revealed at his coming. [14] As obedient children, do not conform to the evil desires you had when you lived in ignorance. [15] But just as he who called you is holy, so be holy in all you do; [16] for it is written: “Be holy, because I am holy.” [17] Since you call on a Father who judges each person’s work impartially, live out your time as foreigners here in reverent fear. [18] For you know that it was not with perishable things such as silver or gold that you were redeemed from the empty way of life handed down to you from your ancestors, [19] but with the precious blood of Christ, a lamb without blemish or defect. [20] He was chosen before the creation of the world, but was revealed in these last times for your sake. [21] Through him you believe in God, who raised him from the dead and glorified him, and so your faith and hope are in God.
Now we do have to admit that it is not easy to live in this world and maintain a holy walk. The anti-God atmosphere around us is always pressing against us, trying to force us to conform.
Peter presented to his readers five spiritual incentives to encourage them (and us) to maintain a different lifestyle, a holy walk in a polluted world. Here are the incentives and we are going to talk about each of them.
THE GLORY OF GOD
THE HOLINESS OF GOD
THE WORD OF GOD
THE JUDGMENT OF GOD
THE LOVE OF GOD
Last week we got through three of these incentives;
The glory of God revealed in the return Jesus 1 Peter 1:13 NIV Therefore, with minds that are alert and fully sober, set your hope on the grace to be brought to you when Jesus Christ is revealed at his coming; the holiness of God 1 Peter 1:14-15 NIV [14] As obedient children, do not conform to the evil desires you had when you lived in ignorance. [15] But just as he who called you is holy, so be holy in all you do; and the word of God 1 Peter 1:16 NIV [ [16] for it is written: “Be holy, because I am holy.”
The fourth incentive for us to maintain a different lifestyle, a holy walk in a polluted world is the judgment of God
1 Peter 1:17 NIV Since you call on a Father who judges each person’s work impartially, live out your time as foreigners here in reverent fear.
What is this judgment that Peter wrote about? It is the judgment of a believer’s works. It has nothing to do with salvation, except that salvation ought to produce good works. When we trusted Christ, God forgave our sins and declared us righteous in His Son. Our sins have already been judged on the cross and therefore they cannot be held against us.
God does discipline us however. As God’s children, we need to be serious about sin and about holy living. Our heavenly Father is holy and righteous. He will not compromise with sin. He is merciful and forgiving, but He is also a loving disciplinarian who cannot permit His children to enjoy sin. After all, it was sin that sent His Son to the cross.
Hebrews 12:4-11 NIV [4] In your struggle against sin, you have not yet resisted to the point of shedding your blood. [5] And have you completely forgotten this word of encouragement that addresses you as a father addresses his son? It says, “My son, do not make light of the Lord’s discipline, and do not lose heart when he rebukes you, [6] because the Lord disciplines the one he loves, and he chastens everyone he accepts as his son.” [7] Endure hardship as discipline; God is treating you as his children. For what children are not disciplined by their father? [8] If you are not disciplined—and everyone undergoes discipline—then you are not legitimate, not true sons and daughters at all. [9] Moreover, we have all had human fathers who disciplined us and we respected them for it. How much more should we submit to the Father of spirits and live! [10] They disciplined us for a little while as they thought best; but God disciplines us for our good, in order that we may share in his holiness. [11] No discipline seems pleasant at the time, but painful. Later on, however, it produces a harvest of righteousness and peace for those who have been trained by it.
We talked about this in our last study and this will take place at the Judgment Seat of Christ.
Each of us will give an account of his works, and each will receive the appropriate reward.
Jesus will inspect our works. What did we do with the resources God gave us? How faithful were we? Were we yielded to the Spirit, seeking to honor Christ and further His work in the world? If so, we will have reward
2 Corinthians 5:6-10 NIV [6] Therefore we are always confident and know that as long as we are at home in the body we are away from the Lord. [7] For we live by faith, not by sight. [8] We are confident, I say, and would prefer to be away from the body and at home with the Lord. [9] So we make it our goal to please him, whether we are at home in the body or away from it. [10] For we must all appear before the judgment seat of Christ, so that each of us may receive what is due us for the things done while in the body, whether good or bad.
Did we neglect our opportunities to serve the Lord? If so, we will suffer loss of reward.
Matthew 10:40-42 NIV [40] “Anyone who welcomes you welcomes me, and anyone who welcomes me welcomes the one who sent me. [41] Whoever welcomes a prophet as a prophet will receive a prophet’s reward, and whoever welcomes a righteous person as a righteous person will receive a righteous person’s reward. [42] And if anyone gives even a cup of cold water to one of these little ones who is my disciple, truly I tell you, that person will certainly not lose their reward.”
In the Greek, a single word is used for “judgment seat” in 2 Corinthians 5:10—the word is bema. A bema was a raised platform on which judges sat to view athletic games. Their job was to make sure contestants followed the rules and to present awards to the victors (see 1 Corinthians 9:24–27). The bema was never a place to reprimand the athletes or to punish them in any way. It was a place of testing and reward. In the same way, the bema of Christ will not be a place of condemnation or censure.
In view of the fact that the Father lovingly disciplines His children today and will judge their works in the future, we ought to cultivate an attitude of godly fear. This is not the cringing fear of a slave before a master, but the loving reverence of a child before his father. It is not fear of judgment, but a fear of disappointing Him or sinning against His love. It is “godly fear”, a sober reverence for the Father.
The fifth and greatest incentive for us to maintain a different lifestyle, a holy walk in a polluted world is the love of God
1 Peter 1:18-21 NIV[18] For you know that it was not with perishable things such as silver or gold that you were redeemed from the empty way of life handed down to you from your ancestors, [19] but with the precious blood of Christ, a lamb without blemish or defect. [20] He was chosen before the creation of the world, but was revealed in these last times for your sake. [21] Through him you believe in God, who raised him from the dead and glorified him, and so your faith and hope are in God.
This is the highest motive for holy living.
John 3:16 NIV[16] For God so loved the world that he gave his one and only Son, that whoever believes in him shall not perish but have eternal life.
In this paragraph, Peter reminded his readers of their salvation experience. This is one reason our Lord established the Lord’s Supper, so that regularly His people would remember that He died for them.
The word redeemed in verse 18 is, to us, a theological term, but it carried a special meaning to people in the first-century Roman Empire. There were probably sixty million slaves in the empire! Many slaves became Christians and fellowshipped in the local assemblies. A slave could purchase his own freedom if he could collect sufficient funds; or his master could sell him to someone who would pay the price and set him free. Redemption was a precious thing in that day.
Not only did we have a life of slavery, to sin but our lives were empty too. Peter called it “the empty way of life handed down to you from our ancestors” because we were born into sin as a result of Adam’s sin.
Romans 5:12 NIV Therefore, just as sin entered the world through one man, and death through sin, and in this way death came to all people, because all sinned—
He described it more specifically in
1 Peter 4:2-4 NIV [2] As a result, they do not live the rest of their earthly lives for evil human desires, but rather for the will of God. [3] For you have spent enough time in the past doing what pagans choose to do—living in debauchery, lust, drunkenness, orgies, carousing and detestable idolatry. [4] They are surprised that you do not join them in their reckless, wild living, and they heap abuse on you.
At the time, these people thought their lives were “full” and “happy,” when they were really empty and miserable.
Peter not only reminded them of what they were, but he also reminded them of what Christ did. He shed His precious blood to purchase us out of the slavery of sin and set us free forever.
When he called Jesus a lamb [19] but with the precious blood of Christ, a lamb without blemish or defect the was reminding them that they had been redeemed not by the payment of money but by the blood or Jesus just like the blood of a lamb was sacrificed to atone for the sins of a person. This blood was much more precious, [18] For you know that it was not with perishable things such as silver or gold that you were redeemed from the empty way of life handed down to you from your ancestors, [19] but with the precious blood of Christ, a lamb without blemish or defect.
This is the doctrine of substitution: an innocent victim giving his life for the guilty.
The doctrine of sacrifice of the innocent for the guilty started in Genesis 3, when God killed animals so that He could clothe Adam and Eve.
Genesis 3:21 NIV[21] The Lord God made garments of skin for Adam and his wife and clothed them.
A ram died for Isaac
Genesis 22:13 NIV[13] Abraham looked up and there in a thicket he saw a ram caught by its horns. He went over and took the ram and sacrificed it as a burnt offering instead of his son.
Passover lamb was slain for each Jewish household
Exodus 12:1-13 NIV [1] The Lord said to Moses and Aaron in Egypt, [2] “This month is to be for you the first month, the first month of your year. [3] Tell the whole community of Israel that on the tenth day of this month each man is to take a lamb for his family, one for each household. [4] If any household is too small for a whole lamb, they must share one with their nearest neighbor, having taken into account the number of people there are. You are to determine the amount of lamb needed in accordance with what each person will eat. [5] The animals you choose must be year-old males without defect, and you may take them from the sheep or the goats. [6] Take care of them until the fourteenth day of the month, when all the members of the community of Israel must slaughter them at twilight. [7] Then they are to take some of the blood and put it on the sides and tops of the doorframes of the houses where they eat the lambs. [8] That same night they are to eat the meat roasted over the fire, along with bitter herbs, and bread made without yeast. [9] Do not eat the meat raw or boiled in water, but roast it over a fire—with the head, legs and internal organs. [10] Do not leave any of it till morning; if some is left till morning, you must burn it. [11] This is how you are to eat it: with your cloak tucked into your belt, your sandals on your feet and your staff in your hand. Eat it in haste; it is the Lord’s Passover. [12] “On that same night I will pass through Egypt and strike down every firstborn of both people and animals, and I will bring judgment on all the gods of Egypt. I am the Lord. [13] The blood will be a sign for you on the houses where you are, and when I see the blood, I will pass over you. No destructive plague will touch you when I strike Egypt.
Messiah was presented as an innocent Lamb in Isaiah 53.
Isaiah 53:7 NIV He was oppressed and afflicted, yet he did not open his mouth; he was led like a lamb to the slaughter, and as a sheep before its shearers is silent, so he did not open his mouth.
John the Baptist pointed to Jesus and said, John 1:29 NIV
[29] The next day John saw Jesus coming toward him and said, “Look, the Lamb of God, who takes away the sin of the world!
Christian Togetherness
Now that Peter has given us incentive to be holy, different from unbelievers and this polluted world you would think that all of us Christians would get along right?
You would think that those who walk in hope and holiness would be able to walk in harmony, but this is not always true. In our last study we learned that one of the signs of the last days was that there would be increased persecution of the church, and that persecution is solely because of the church being followers of Jesus. Because we are going to be under the pressure of persecution there is a real need for us, the church, to be spiritually unified.
In this section of his letter, Peter emphasized spiritual unity by presenting four vivid pictures of the church.
We are all in the same family
We are stones in the same building
We are priests in the same temple
We are citizens of the same nation
Let’s read
1 Peter 1:22-2:10 NIV [22] Now that you have purified yourselves by obeying the truth so that you have sincere love for each other, love one another deeply, from the heart. [23] For you have been born again, not of perishable seed, but of imperishable, through the living and enduring word of God. [24] For, “All people are like grass, and all their glory is like the flowers of the field; the grass withers and the flowers fall, [25] but the word of the Lord endures forever.” And this is the word that was preached to you. [1] Therefore, rid yourselves of all malice and all deceit, hypocrisy, envy, and slander of every kind. [2] Like newborn babies, crave pure spiritual milk, so that by it you may grow up in your salvation, [3] now that you have tasted that the Lord is good. [4] As you come to him, the living Stone—rejected by humans but chosen by God and precious to him— [5] you also, like living stones, are being built into a spiritual house to be a holy priesthood, offering spiritual sacrifices acceptable to God through Jesus Christ. [6] For in Scripture it says: “See, I lay a stone in Zion, a chosen and precious cornerstone, and the one who trusts in him will never be put to shame.” [7] Now to you who believe, this stone is precious. But to those who do not believe, “The stone the builders rejected has become the cornerstone,” [8] and, “A stone that causes people to stumble and a rock that makes them fall.” They stumble because they disobey the message—which is also what they were destined for. [9] But you are a chosen people, a royal priesthood, a holy nation, God’s special possession, that you may declare the praises of him who called you out of darkness into his wonderful light. [10] Once you were not a people, but now you are the people of God; once you had not received mercy, but now you have received mercy.
First of all we are children in the same family
1 Peter 1:22-2-3 NIV [22] Now that you have purified yourselves by obeying the truth so that you have sincere love for each other, love one another deeply, from the heart. [23] For you have been born again, not of perishable seed, but of imperishable, through the living and enduring word of God. [24] For, “All people are like grass, and all their glory is like the flowers of the field; the grass withers and the flowers fall, [25] but the word of the Lord endures forever.” And this is the word that was preached to you.[1] Therefore, rid yourselves of all malice and all deceit, hypocrisy, envy, and slander of every kind. [2] Like newborn babies, crave pure spiritual milk, so that by it you may grow up in your salvation, [3] now that you have tasted that the Lord is good.
We have experienced the same birth (1:23).
[23] For you have been born again, not of perishable seed, but of imperishable, through the living and enduring word of God.
The only way to enter God’s spiritual family is by a spiritual birth, through faith in Jesus Christ. The new birth gives to us a new nature as well as a new and living hope.
John 3:3-8 NIV[3] Jesus replied, “Very truly I tell you, no one can see the kingdom of God unless they are born again.” [4] “How can someone be born when they are old?” Nicodemus asked. “Surely they cannot enter a second time into their mother’s womb to be born!” [5] Jesus answered, “Very truly I tell you, no one can enter the kingdom of God unless they are born of water and the Spirit. [6] Flesh gives birth to flesh, but the Spirit gives birth to spirit. [7] You should not be surprised at my saying, ‘You must be born again.’ [8] The wind blows wherever it pleases. You hear its sound, but you cannot tell where it comes from or where it is going. So it is with everyone born of the Spirit.”
2 Corinthians 5:16-17 NIV[16] So from now on we regard no one from a worldly point of view. Though we once regarded Christ in this way, we do so no longer. [17] Therefore, if anyone is in Christ, the new creation has come: The old has gone, the new is here!
Our first birth was a birth of “flesh,” and the flesh is corruptible. Whatever is born of flesh is destined to die and decay. This explains why mankind cannot hold civilization together: It is all based on human flesh and is destined to fall apart.
If we try to build unity in the church on the basis of our first birth, we will fail, but if we build unity on the basis of the new birth, it will succeed. Each believer has the same Holy Spirit dwelling within (Rom. 8:9). We call on the sameFather (1 Peter 1:17) and share His divine nature. We trust the same Word, and that Word will never decay or disappear. We have trusted the same gospel and have been born of the same Spirit.
We express the same love. Read
1 Peter 1:22 NIV 22] Now that you have purified yourselves by obeying the truth so that you have sincere love for each other, love one another deeply, from the heart.
Peter used two different words for love: philadelphia, which is “brotherly love,” and agape, which is godlike sacrificial love. It is important that we share both kinds of love. We share brotherly love because we are brothers and sisters in Christ. We share agape love because we belong to God and therefore can overlook differences.
By nature, all of us are selfish, so it took a miracle of God to give us this love. Love for our Christian brothers and sisters is an evidence that we truly have been born of God
1 John 4:7-20 NIV [7] Dear friends, let us love one another, for love comes from God. Everyone who loves has been born of God and knows God. [8] Whoever does not love does not know God, because God is love. [9] This is how God showed his love among us: He sent his one and only Son into the world that we might live through him. [10] This is love: not that we loved God, but that he loved us and sent his Son as an atoning sacrifice for our sins. [11] Dear friends, since God so loved us, we also ought to love one another. [12] No one has ever seen God; but if we love one another, God lives in us and his love is made complete in us. [13] This is how we know that we live in him and he in us: He has given us of his Spirit. [14] And we have seen and testify that the Father has sent his Son to be the Savior of the world. [15] If anyone acknowledges that Jesus is the Son of God, God lives in them and they in God. [16] And so we know and rely on the love God has for us. God is love. Whoever lives in love lives in God, and God in them. [17] This is how love is made complete among us so that we will have confidence on the day of judgment: In this world we are like Jesus. [18] There is no fear in love. But perfect love drives out fear, because fear has to do with punishment. The one who fears is not made perfect in love. [19] We love because he first loved us. [20] Whoever claims to love God yet hates a brother or sister is a liar. For whoever does not love their brother and sister, whom they have seen, cannot love God, whom they have not seen.
The love that we share with each other, and with a lost world, must be generated by the Spirit of God. It is a constant power in our lives, and not something that we turn on and off like a radio.
Not only is this love a spiritual love, but it is also a sincere love (“unfeigned”). We love “with a pure heart.” Our motive is not to get but to give.
This love is also a fervent love, and this is an athletic term that means “striving with all of one’s energy.” Love is something we have to work at, just as an Olympic contestant has to work at his particular skills. Christian love is not a feeling; it is a matter of the will. We show love to others when we treat them the same way God treats us. God forgives us, so we forgive others. God is kind to us, so we are kind to others. It is not a matter of feeling but of willing, and this is something we must constantly work at if we are to succeed.
The Spirit of God produces the “fruit of the Spirit” in our lives, and the first of these is love (Gal. 5:22–23). If we are filled with the Word of God and the Spirit of God
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