Holy Living Pt. 2 - the Source of Growth - 1 Peter 1:22-2:3
1 Peter • Sermon • Submitted
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· 4 viewsWe are called to stand firm in the grace of God - the mystery of our salvation, which is Christ in us the hope of glory. Our salvation is through FAITH. Faith in Jesus Christ, the Word made Flesh. We are saved by taking God at His WORD. We believe what He has SAID about what He has DONE. GOD LOVES TO BE TRUSTED!
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GOD LOVES TO BE TRUSTED!
GOD LOVES TO BE TRUSTED!
So far in 1 Peter, we’ve seen:
Purpose: 1 Peter 5:12
Through Silvanus, our faithful brother (for so I regard him), I have written to you briefly, exhorting and testifying that this is the true grace of God. Stand firm in it!
The True Grace of God
We are SAVED (1 Peter 1:10-12) = Chosen, Born Again, Protected, Encouraged and Joyful through HIS FAITHFULNESS
We are ABLE TO WORSHIP, ABLE TO PLEASE OUR LORD - we still have TIME on EARTH to be USED BY GOD FOR HIS PURPOSE and PLEASURE - Our salvation is a free gift from God, but it is not a CHEAP gift. It cost Jesus His life. It was a ransom payment.
We are saved to glorify the LORD by living like He wants us to LIVE. We need to live a HOLY life - different from the normal, and special for the LORD.
Today we are going to look at the source of nourishment for the new lives.
1 Peter 1:22-2:3
1 Peter 1:22-2:3
Since you have in obedience to the truth purified your souls for a sincere love of the brethren, fervently love one another from the heart,
for you have been born again not of seed which is perishable but imperishable, that is, through the living and enduring word of God.
For,
“All flesh is like grass,
And all its glory like the flower of grass.
The grass withers,
And the flower falls off,
But the word of the Lord endures forever.”
And this is the word which was preached to you.
Therefore, putting aside all malice and all deceit and hypocrisy and envy and all slander,
like newborn babies, long for the pure milk of the word, so that by it you may grow in respect to salvation,
if you have tasted the kindness of the Lord.
PRAY
BABIES, BABIES, EVERYWHERE!!! - We just ran into some friends this weekend at Lee’s China Inn. They are actually more than friends, they are part of our church family. Haven’t seen them much recently as they just had their 3rd baby! She’s doing well, but having a hard time sleeping and eating. We actually know of many, many friends that have either just had or are having babies soon! Praise the LORD!!
Babies are wonderful! But, honestly, I’m so glad that BABIES don’t STAY BABIES for long. They grow up! AMEN! Could you imagine what it would be like if they didn’t?! And it seems to take so long for it to happen...
Adam and Eve were created as mature adults - but they were the only two, and God designed it so that the rest of us would all start out as BABIES. The goal is to grow into Mature Adults. The same is true for us as CHRISTIANS. We OUR BORN AGAIN, BORN NEW.
The Lord tells us through Peter that life is about living for the Lord.
Again,
We are saved to glorify the LORD by living like He wants us to LIVE. We need to live a HOLY life - different from the normal, and special for the LORD.
The rest of this letter is on what that HOLY LIVING looks like. Today we are going to look at a picture of Mature Holiness, and then on how we grow towards that.
A Mature Christian LOVES other Christians
A Mature Christian LOVES other Christians
Since you have in obedience to the truth purified your souls for a sincere love of the brethren, fervently love one another from the heart,
Teaching Points
Teaching Points
Belief in Jesus Christ for salvation “obedience to the truth” leads to a genuine love of believers.
Do you feel an instant connection w/ other believers? EX: Mission trips, Visiting other Churches, Meeting new people then finding out they are believers
There is a connection b/w siblings. We are commanded to have an unconditional love for each other.
John 13:34-35
“A new commandment I give to you, that you love one another, even as I have loved you, that you also love one another.
“By this all men will know that you are My disciples, if you have love for one another.”
This is the STANDARD of MATURITY that we are shooting for. Simple, right? But is it easy? Nope. It just isn’t. It is tough and it takes TIME...
God knows it isn’t going to be easy, so He reminds us that it is a process of GROWTH.
God knows it isn’t going to be easy, so He reminds us that it is a process of GROWTH.
The SOURCE of our GROWTH
The SOURCE of our GROWTH
for you have been born again not of seed which is perishable but imperishable, that is, through the living and enduring word of God.
For,
“All flesh is like grass,
And all its glory like the flower of grass.
The grass withers,
And the flower falls off,
But the word of the Lord endures forever.”
And this is the word which was preached to you.
Teaching Points
Teaching Points
When we have fixed our hope completely on the grace of Jesus Christ, which is also described as having purified our souls by obeying the truth, we are born again. But our faith is based on what GOD HAS SAID!
Heb 11:1
Heb 11: 6
Romans 10:17
Here He reminds us that we have TRUSTED in GOD’s word, which is LIVING and ENDURING.
This is a quote from Isaiah 40. God’s word can be trusted, because GOD IS FAITHFUL!!
The GROWTH Process
The GROWTH Process
Therefore, putting aside all malice and all deceit and hypocrisy and envy and all slander,
like newborn babies, long for the pure milk of the word, so that by it you may grow in respect to salvation,
if you have tasted the kindness of the Lord.
Teaching Points - Out with the OLD (bad), In with the NEW (good)
Teaching Points - Out with the OLD (bad), In with the NEW (good)
Therefore - points back to vs. 22 - LOVE ONE ANOTHER - In order to love one another and thus live the HOLY life that God saved us to live, we must do 2 things.
GRASS - out with the weeds and thorns - and in with new grass!!
The OLD
The OLD
PUTTING ASIDE - cast off, to place aside.
ALL Malice: wickedness, evil, badness, depravity - the OPPOSITE of EXCELLENCE!
ALL Deceit: bait, snare, craftiness, fraud - quit PRETENDING and intentionally making people think something about your character that is not true.
Hypocrisy: pretense, play-acting, acting under a feigned part
Envy: ill-will or malice, esp. regarding the good fortune of others - Envy is Misery loves company
Slander: kata-lalia - defamation, talkative against - backbiting, evil speaking...
WORDS. There are good words and bad words.
1 Peter: An Introduction and Commentary 1. Be Nourished by the Lord through the Word (2:1–3)
All these sins aim at harming other people, whereas love seeks the good of others.
The NEW
The NEW
The command is to LONG FOR - intensely crave, desire, yearn - the PURE MILK of the WORD!
It is makes sense, as it is the source of TRUTH, which is the SEED by which we were BORN!!
THE WORD OF GOD
PURE - w/o fraud - OPPOSITE OF DECEIT - not PRETEND. NOT A LIE - TRUTH
SPIRITUAL - reasonable,
MILK - SPIRITUAL SUSTENANCE
WHY for GROWTH, for continued renewing and forming and CHANGING into being more like CHRIST.
This is about our Character - WHO we ARE!
What about us?
What about us?
Jesus Christ gave His life so that we could have this salvation, this abundant life. Don’t we want KINDNESS, COMPASSION, LOVE?
Think about the KINDNESS OF THE LORD towards you.
Do some inventory about what you have said - even in your own head - about other people in your church family recently. Start there, and stay there. What do you need to put aside? Do your words resemble the KINDNESS of the LORD?
How - confess it. Seek forgiveness. Offer forgiveness. Get it out!
Prevent it. Pray, pray, pray.
Read, Study, Meditate, Memorize, OBEY GOD’s WORD
Heb 11:6
Romans 10:17
James 1:22
God LOVES to be TRUSTED.
God LOVES to be TRUSTED.