1 Peter 1:13-20
13 So prepare your minds for action and exercise self-control. Put all your hope in the gracious salvation that will come to you when Jesus Christ is revealed to the world. 14 So you must live as God’s obedient children. Don’t slip back into your old ways of living to satisfy your own desires. You didn’t know any better then. 15 But now you must be holy in everything you do, just as God who chose you is holy. 16 For the Scriptures say, “You must be holy because I am holy.” 17 And remember that the heavenly Father to whom you pray has no favorites. He will judge or reward you according to what you do. So you must live in reverent fear of him during your time here as “temporary residents.” 18 For you know that God paid a ransom to save you from the empty life you inherited from your ancestors. And it was not paid with mere gold or silver, which lose their value. 19 It was the precious blood of Christ, the sinless, spotless Lamb of God. 20 God chose him as your ransom long before the world began, but now in these last days he has been revealed for your sake.
The old testament prophets, writing under the Holy Spirit's inspiration describe the coming of the Messiah. The New Testament apostles through the inspiration of the same spirit preached the crucified and risen Lord. The eminent return of Christ should motivate us to live for him. This means we need to be mentally alert and think clearly and be disciplined and using self control. We must be focused and look forward. Are you ready to meet Christ, living as God's obedient child?
The God of Israel is holy, He alone sets the standard for morality.
He expects us to imitate him by following his high moral standards and by being both merciful and just.
After believers commit their lives to Christ, they sometimes still feel a pull back to their old sinful ways. But Peter tells us to be like our Heavenly Father … Holy in everything we do. Holiness means being totally devoted or dedicated to God, set aside for His special use and set apart from sin and its influence on us. We are to be set apart and different, not bowing and blending in with the crowd.
God's qualities and presence in our lives make us different. Our focus shifts and our priorities must be God's priorities. All of this is in direct contrast to our old ways… As a believer we should desire to do better… We may not be where we want to be but we must praise God and thank him that we're not where we used to be. We cannot become holy on our own, but God is the one who gives us his holiness, his Holy Spirit to help us obey and to give us power to overcome sin. We have help!… God doesn't expect us to do it alone… Call on Him, ask Him to help you! We must stop excusing away sin… We must rely on God's power in us to help free us from sin's grip!
God ransomed us from the Tyranny of sin not with money but with the precious blood of his own son Jesus, we cannot escape sin on our own.. only the life of God's son can free us. Jesus Christ's sacrifice for our sins was not an afterthought, it was not something that God decided to do when the world spun out of control. This plan was set in motion by the all knowing, eternal God long before the world was ever created. What a comfort it must've been to Jewish believers to know that Christ's coming and the work of his salvation were planned by God long before the world ever began.
We can be assured that we don't live by the law but by the coming of Christ as part of God's eternal plan… It is all part of God's sincere and unconditional love for us all… There is only one way… And his name is Jesus!!
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Live in Holiness, free from the law!
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