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Responding to Salvation

Jonathan Sarr
1 Peter 1:13-21
2009-12-02
one28 Wednesday worship

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If you were standing at the foot of a tall building and a piano were dropped off of the roof directly above you, and it were on path the land directly where you were standing, what would be your response? 

 

What if you were dying of cancer, and I were to tell you that you were completely healed?  What would your response be?  Joy?  Humility?  Certainly there would be some response.  In fact, to have no response to news like that would call into question your humanity.  Besides, even no response is a response in itself. 

 

But certain facts elicit certain responses, and the responses are natural, inevitable and obvious.  And the Word of God is full of facts that require a response from us.  Death – that is, the wages of sin – is flying at us with greater certainty than a falling piano.  Common sense and even instinct would require that we quickly and urgently step out of the way.  I would contend that knowing that Jesus is God and is the Savior of mankind is as valuable as seeing a piano falling toward your head.  By itself, it does us no good, but that information requires our action.  There is much wrapped up in the term “belief” in the gospels, when Christ says “Everyone who believes in me shall never die” (John 11:26).  Real knowledge of Christ requires a response.  We embrace Him or we reject Him, but we respond.

 

Similarly, if I were to tell you that you were healed of terminal cancer, the response is obvious: you would be thankful and excited, perhaps humbled and happy.  But you wouldn’t say, “Yeah, whatever,” and go back to life as it was before.  Something like that changes a person.  And a little tiny thing like prolonging the blink of an eye that is this life cannot be compared with what we have in the Savior’s giving us eternal life, rescuing us from an eternity of suffering and destruction that we have earned.  And our apathy is inexcusable, but understandable, because our focus is small and our perspective is skewed.  We are continually focused on this life rather than the life to come.  We all do it.

 

So you can’t, NOT respond to this information that Christ is Savior, or that we have an eternal inheritance awaiting us in heaven, or that we are the elect of God any more than you can ignore a falling piano. 

 

And these are reminders to them, but empowering ones at that.

 

I was praying yesterday that I would break out of the rut of beating on this same drum of joy in suffering, joy in salvation, a focus on salvation, etc.  But then I was quickly rebuked by my own heart, because if that is the point that the Holy Spirit is belaboring in this beautiful and powerful epistle, then how dare I change it?  It is what God would have for us at this time, and I’m guessing he would continue to have us listen to Peter until we start doing what he says.   

 

WE MUST FOCUS ON OUR SALVATION!  We take this for granted far, far too often.  We don’t think about what we have and what awaits us.  And we certainly don’t think about how we ought to live now in light of that. 

 

I am absolutely guilty of this.  I want nice things, and focus on material possessions.  I want my life now to be as happy and healthy and comfortable as possible, so I exercise and try to eat right, and it’s all ostensibly under the umbrella of discipline and stewardship – because it IS, but I can’t help but wonder, “How much is too much?”  Where is the line?  What’s appropriate level of involvement in ministry, or, where do I go to college? 

 

A focus on salvation ought to help you answer the tough questions. 

 

We’ve spent the last several weeks talking about Peter’s instruction for his readers in this his first epistle to them.  And his words so far have centered on their salvation as a focal point. Their life here was miserable and they were losing friends and possessions, but that was clarifying their perspective regarding what is important, and was broadening their platform for ministry. 

 

So he has told them, in essence, “This time when all the visible distractions of the world are being removed is our greatest opportunity yet to impact a dying world while dying ourselves.  This is not a time of despair, but a time of opportunity, and the key is to remain focused on your salvation…to live on what is unseen!”

 

He taught that their salvation and their inheritance in Christ were rich and glorious and incomparable to anything we’ve seen or known. 

 

This is a longer paragraph, spanning nine verses, from 1:13-1:22, and some translations split this up, identifying 13-16 as separate from 17-21.  But they at least dovetail together nicely under the heading of a call to action for believers who are focused on their salvation and their position in Christ.  Their position is a certain one, and so what do they do with that information?

 

Well let’s read 1 Peter 1:3-21.  We’ll get the greater context and then narrow our gaze to verses 13-21.  And as we do so I’d have you take note of the shift from mere statements to commands that occurs in verse 13. 

 

READ 1 PETER 1:3-21

 

Peter here instructs his readers in the way they are to respond to their current situation and their future situation.  They have been informed about their future and the grace that awaits them.  Now notice the change in the mood of Peter’s writing.  In the first half of chapter one, he’s been in the indicative mood, simply stating facts related to their salvation and their position in Christ.  This is actually powerful, since he’s not asking questions or telling them what to do; rather, he’s just stating the facts.  He’s establishing a groundwork for their holy action in a decadent situation.  This is the facts and figures part of history class, for instance, when you’re listing names and dates and places.  It’s just the facts of their position in Christ.  Now he’s moving on to the implications of their actions and what they should do with this information. 

 

Let’s look together at his commands for his readers, specifically related to their response to their salvation.  He identifies three aspects that will always identify the believer who is properly focused on eternity: Hope, Holiness, and Honor.  So three commands will serve as our outline for our study.

 

1.    Respond with Hope (v. 13)

2.    Respond with Holiness (v. 10-16)

3.    Respond with Honor (vv. 17-21)

 

 

1.    Respond with Hope (v. 13)

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. 

 

Before issuing an actual command, Peter gives his readers two modifying participial phrases:  “preparing your minds for action, and being sober-minded.”  This is the actual condition that their minds are to be in as they prepare for action. 

 

“Preparing your minds for action,” might also be translated “girding up the loins of your mind.”  This is a familiar concept that you’ve undoubtedly heard before to refer to binding up the loose ends of one’s garment in his belt to facilitate movement.  It presents a mental picture of tying up the loose mental distractions of worldliness, earthly obsessions and so on as we prepare to ACT.  And I love this, because it’s like Peter is saying, “GET READY! HERE WE GO!” And then the charge that he issues is not one related to physical battle, but spiritual warfare, using weapons like hope and holiness and fear of the Lord.

 

“Being sober-minded,” says Peter.  While sobriety of mind is appropriate, I suppose the simplest contrast with sober-mindedness is intoxication with the world and its desires.  An intoxicated mind is not sharp or clear in its thinking.  Reflexes slow down and we are very vulnerable while drunk on the lusts of the world.  Peter says again, to cast these things off and to focus! 

 

Now, for the command itself.  “Set your hope fully on the grace that will be brought to you at the revelation of Jesus Christ.” 

 

This is interesting, because his call to ACTION, is to focus on GRACE.  Not exactly how I would have drawn it up.  Does that seem like much of an action to you?  It’s not a call to any movement, but rather a mindset. 

 

If there was one thing that would be a great help to the readers of Peter’s letter, it would be hope.  Hope is an anticipated positive outcome.  When times are tough, that is exactly what we need.  I think that most of us (at least I do) come to the table with a skeptical view of hope.  And that is because most of the hope we have is in things that are not promised or things that are promised by men.  I can hope that it snows tonight, but that would be based on no promise, and to put my hope fully in that possibility would be to set myself up for almost certain disappointment.  I can hope that someone I’m relying on will come through for me, but men are fallen and they are given to selfishness and sin, so my hope in people is automatically cautious and reserved.

 

On the other hand, hope in God is grounded in the truths of His Word and the certainty of His unchanging character.  This is a hope, that is faith in a future grace that is promised to deliver!  What a thought!  Our own experience is tainted by negativity and the scars of hurt since we’ve been disappointed so many times.  In fact, it is hard for us to have an unguarded hope in God because we’ve been negatively conditioned.  But He will not disappoint us or forsake us.  This is a hope that is certain.

 

And this is a hope that Peter’s readers needed.  What was promised to them WOULD come in eternity.  And this is a hope that we need, too.

 

In verses 1-12, they’ve been focusing on salvation in the midst of their trials.  And a focus on the grace that Peter is talking about here and in verse 10 is a focus, in part, on salvation, but it’s actually much bigger than that.  The grace that we will receive at the revelation of Jesus Christ is greater than merely being saved, yet it comes with salvation.  In the same way that a focus on triangles is a focus on shapes, so is a focus on salvation a focus on grace. 

 

Until this point, Peter has done a masterful job highlighting the different aspects of what awaits us in eternity that we should be focusing on, including an inheritance that is beyond imagination.  But there are many other marvelous things will be “brought to [us] at the revelation of Jesus Christ” that we could meditate on and that will be marvelous.  We could think about the streets of gold and the realities of the physical heaven.  We could imagine experiencing and perceiving heaven with additional senses beyond mere sight, taste, smell, hearing and touch, since these things are tainted by sin.  And all of these things are fantastic, but they’re not where Peter tells his readers to set their hope.  Rather, he says to set their hope fully (not partially) on the GRACE that will be brought to them at the revelation of Jesus Christ, that is, at His coming again. 

 

He wants them to always remember – and we would do well to remember this, too – that they will never amount to anything before a holy God apart from the work of Christ.  They will never deserve to be in heaven.  They will never deserve the forgiveness of their sins.  They will never deserve to be in the very presence of God, in consummate joy and delight for all of eternity except by the great GRACE of God.  Now, hoping in such a grace is a great way to prepare for action.

 

I was trying hard to stay within this passage, and not to do a mere word study on grace and hope in Scripture so as to best get a sense for what Peter would have intended for his audience.  And it made me think about the plain, simple meaning of a hope that is fixed “fully on the grace that will be brought to you at the revelation of Jesus Christ.”  And it’s a marvelous thought!  I think that such a hope would yield some important and distinct attitudes.  For instance…

 

·      A grateful heart.

Constant reminding that we don’t deserve any of the blessings we enjoy now or anticipate in eternity ought to make us more thankful people. 

·      Frequent praise.

This will in turn, cause us to praise God for His grace, kindness, provision, etc.

·      An eager anticipation of eternity.

·      A happy heart.

·      A joyful spirit.

·      A sincere and deep love for Christ.

Peter said of his readers that they loved Jesus.  Can the same be said of us?  We may quickly dismiss this as we say, “Well, of course I love Him.  I’m a Christian, right?  Isn’t that what Christians do?  They love Jesus?”  Well, yes, but slow down.  Do you love Him?

 

·      A hungry curiosity regarding the Word. 

Do you have an appetite for Scripture?  Don’t you think that if you were really anticipating eternity you’d be dying to know what was in store?  And don’t you think you’d be spending time regularly in the one source that can tell us? 

·      Conversation dominated by spiritual things.

I think Ryan Hall is looking forward to heaven, because he’s always talking about spiritual things.  I think Chuck Weinberg wants to be in heaven, because he’s clearly gaining a greater distaste for this world and for mindless conversation.  We’ve all talked to people who have their hope set on grace to come, and they’re not obsessed with this world. 

·      Courageous conversation.

With a right focus will come a lack of a fear of men.  When we don’t fear what men can do to us then we will be free to speak the truth at all times. 

 

And this is only a partial list.  These are dangerous weapons in the hand of the believer as he is combating a spiritual foe or even worldly ones who do the devil’s bidding.  When their lives were being torn apart by evil men, the readers of Peter’s letter could be marked by gratitude, praise for God, joy and happiness, affection for Christ and so on, right conversation, and a knowledge of the Word.  These are among the most dangerous tools in the Christian’s arsenal as they are difficult to stop!

 

The best part is that a hope in these things is a secure and a solid hope as it is nothing less than a hope in the Word of God.  While hope in men may be bankrupt and dangerous, hope in the grace that is yet to come is a sound investment of our attention and emotions. 

 

2.    Respond with Holiness (vv. 10-16)

¹⁰ As obedient children, do not be conformed to the passions of your former ignorance,  ¹⁵ but as he who called you is holy, you also be holy in all your conduct,  ¹⁶ since it is written, "You shall be holy, for I am holy." 

 

We rightly respond to our salvation with holiness.  This comes from…

 

A thankful heart that wants to obey God’s law.  “As obedient children.” 

We mentioned earlier wanting to know more of God’s word, and it follows that we would want to know it.

 

A desire to sever ties with who we were before.  “Do not be conformed to the passions of your former ignorance.

 

The believer naturally wants to distance himself from his past.  Peter’s readers were saved out of a decadent, pagan, polytheistic culture.  Even his Jewish readers had much in their past to walk away from as they embraced Christ. 

 

Beyond this, their former passions and behaviors were born out of their “former ignorance.”  Unbelievers do not know the joys of obedience to Christ, so their longing hearts find joys in shallow, temporal joys.  Think of a baby who eats nothing but milk has no conception about the glories of steak or ice cream or apples.  So why would the weaned grownup go back to milk?  He wouldn’t. 

 

Yet that’s exactly what we do when we enable ourselves to be filled with the temporally-satisfying lusts of the flesh, lusts of the eyes, and the boastful pride of life. 

 

This familiar quotation from the Old Testament serves as God’s rationale for calling His people to holy living.  The logic is clear and simple; we are to be holy because God is, and God is setting the standard and the requirement, and requires that we be like Him.  We must also be holy if God is to ever look on us with favor, as His eyes cannot tolerate iniquity due to His holiness. 

 

This is bad news for humanity, but glorious news for the believer.  Humanity can never attain to this standard.  Our best isn’t good enough.  Far too many people assume that because they do the very best that they can that God is going to be satisfied, maybe even pleased.  Well, the majority of our deeds are only greater cause for our condemnation rather than our commendation.  And even our “good” deeds done apart from faith have a wrong motive and are done apart from faith. That makes them sinful.

 

But you know what else is exciting?  God says that we are to be holy as He is holy not only because that is the standard and we are to be like Him, but OF COURSE we’ll be holy as He is Holy because HE LIVES IN  THE BELIEVER!  The Holy Spirit takes up permanent residence in the believer’s heart and directs his behavior.

 

When we remember this, “Be holy as I am holy” takes on new significance.

 

3.    Respond with Honor (vv. 17-21)

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 your sake,  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.

 

This will be the subject of our next study. 

 

CONCLUSION

 

Almost a week ago we celebrated Thanksgiving.  Sadly we tend to express more thanksgiving during this one season than the rest of the year combined, though every day spent with Christ ought to elicit more thanksgiving from us.  But let me ask you…

 

1.    How would giving of thanks fit in to this paragraph?

2.    What would Peter say we have to be thankful for?

3.    What would your life look like if you were to “set your hope fully on the grace that will be brought to you at the revelation of Jesus Christ?”

4.    Do you live like the Holy Spirit resides in you?  How is your holiness?