Our Response, Part 2
Living as Exiles • Sermon • Submitted • Presented • 52:18
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· 13 viewsIn this passage, Peter continues to outline the responses we should have to the hope found in Christ.
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Do you ever feel like you walk out of a sermon and felt like you needed to do something, but you weren’t sure what?
Sometimes, you need to wrestle with what God would have you to do. There will be some of that in the message this morning.
Other times, though, I could do a better job of giving you practical steps to take. I am hoping that is what we are going to do at the end of this message.
As we open our Bibles back up this morning, we will be looking at 1 Peter 1:22-2:3, which is on page 1075 in the Bibles in the back of the pew.
We have spent the last few weeks looking at the fact that, as followers of Jesus who have been saved and transferred into his kingdom, we are living as exiles here on earth.
We have different priorities and expectations than the ones we find in the culture around us, and so our lives are going to be different than those who aren’t following Christ.
As challenging as that will be, we have an unshakeable hope to hold on to. Since Jesus has been raised from the dead, he has given us life and is keeping an inheritance of undiminished joy in relationship with him that is waiting in heaven for us.
Last week, we began looking at what our response is to this incredible hope. We saw that keeping our minds on this hope will lead us to live holy lives, doing the kinds of things that honor God out of a reverent fear that recognizes the price he paid to save us and the standard to which he holds us.
This week, we are continuing that theme and looking at two more aspects of our response to the hope we have.
Let’s dive into the text.
As we pick up in verse 22, we see the need to...
1) Love one another.
1) Love one another.
This verse reads a little awkwardly in English.
We will look at the surrounding phrases in a minute, but for now, realize that the verse builds to the command at the end of the verse: “love one another constantly.”
Peter’s use of “one another” points to the fact that we are called to love our brothers and sisters in Christ—other Christians.
That’s reinforced by the fact that he said “brotherly love” right before that.
That’s part of our goal, isn’t it? That we would love God and others in our families, church, community, and world.
Loving each other involves investing in and sacrificing for and forgiving each other and doing life together.
Let’s look at what Peter says motivates us to love each other.
First, he identifies that brotherly love is part of the purpose of our purification at conversion.
In other words, when you responded to the message of the gospel (which we will look at more in a minute), your moral uncleanness was removed.
Part of what God was doing in saving you was cleaning out the roots of selfishness and pride that keep us focused more on ourselves than others.
That also prepared you for what he was calling you to do—show brotherly love to other believers.
This also teaches us that there is a unique kind of love that exists between followers of Christ that isn’t found elsewhere.
Military units may talk about espirit de corps, or the unique camaraderie that comes from serving in the military together. You may have even had this with some folks you played sports with in high school or college. They were your teammates, and you cared for them.
As powerful as those bonds are, they are not the same as the brotherly love God has wrought spiritually in us.
This love is eternal, based on the purification of our souls through the timeless word of God.
That’s what we see in the next part of the passage. Pick up in verses 23-25...
Again, Peter calls us back to the new birth God has given us.
We have all been born physically, but when Christ saves someone, he causes them to be born again. If you have been saved, you now have spiritual life that didn’t exist before.
This spiritual life is based on the eternal word of God, and it won’t fade away like our physical bodies will.
Peter quotes Isaiah to remind us of our own humanity and frailty. The most impressive parts of us are just like flowers in a field that are beautiful today and withered tomorrow.
However, Jesus came to deliver us from death by dying in our place. He rose physically from the grave and believers in Christ are made spiritually alive now and when he returns, our bodies will be transformed and all the weakness will be removed.
This is the gospel, part of the word of God that endures forever.
Peter is going to swing back around to the word in a minute, but we can see that we are supposed to love each other deeply with a brotherly love that is based of our purification and new birth.
It isn’t a love based on any human characteristic; rather, it is based off what God did eternally in saving me and you.
In case you are wondering what that looks like practically, pick back up in 2:1...
Part of brotherly love is putting off the five attitudes Peter lists here.
All have to do with tensions that sometimes come up within the church.
Let’s look at them:
Malice - Although this word can just mean “wickedness,” in this context, it probably refers to harboring ill-will toward someone else
Deceit - the literal word here is “bait” or “fishhook”. This is the idea of dishonesty and treachery.
Hypocrisy - Another expression of deceit - saying you are one thing and acting another, whether that is acting spiritual or acting like you care
Envy - being jealous of another’s position or possession
Slander - defaming someone else’s character. The word is “katalalias” in Greek, which kinda sounds like whispering or tattling on someone.[1]
Loving your brothers and sisters means laying all of that aside. Other groups may be known for jealousy and hypocrisy and gossip, but that should never be true of the followers of Christ.
We have been given a new birth into eternal life, we have been cleansed, and we should love one another because of it.
The final aspect of our response in this passage is that we must:
2) Long for the Word.
2) Long for the Word.
Read 2:2-3...
Living life with the hope and expectation of Christ’s return should lead to a desire to know God better.
The best way to do that is to get to know what he has told us in his word, which is the Bible.
The importance of God’s word has already shown up a few times in the first chapter.
If you go back to 1:10-12, you read about the prophets. The Spirit of God revealed to them truth about what Jesus would do when he came to earth. They didn’t fully understand what the Spirit was teaching them, but we now know that they were serving the future generations who would get to see Jesus fulfill them and trust in what he had done.
We have seen Peter quote the Bible in verse 16 and verses 24-25, showing that he relied on what God had shown in his word. He quoted from it again in this section in verse 3.
Now, he is calling us to develop a desire for God’s word that is like a newborn baby desiring milk.
When a baby is young, there are few things he wants more than to eat.
He eats often, and he will let you know if he thinks it has been too long.
Peter isn’t saying that we are to be babies spiritually; instead, he is saying that our desire for God’s word should be that strong.
Why? Because of verse 3…as you get to know his word, you see just how good God is.
We just talked about the good news of the gospel—that Jesus loved us enough to die in our place and rose to give us new life and now rules and reigns over creation.
That’s the truth we have put our trust in to be saved, to receive that new birth and ability to love.
In case you struggle with reasons to love God’s word, though, let me take you to a longer passage of Scripture:
The instruction of the Lord is perfect, renewing one’s life; the testimony of the Lord is trustworthy, making the inexperienced wise.
The precepts of the Lord are right, making the heart glad; the command of the Lord is radiant, making the eyes light up.
The fear of the Lord is pure, enduring forever; the ordinances of the Lord are reliable and altogether righteous.
They are more desirable than gold— than an abundance of pure gold; and sweeter than honey dripping from a honeycomb.
In addition, your servant is warned by them, and in keeping them there is an abundant reward.
God’s word is desirable. After you have been saved through the word of the gospel that was proclaimed to us, you continue to find abundant life through getting to know and obey God out of what you learn in his word.
It’s how you learn to live and grow up to enjoy everything that is a part of your salvation.
If that’s true, then we should have a desire for God’s word that would put a newborn to shame.
Here’s the thing, though. I bet there are a number of us who would say, “I know that, but honestly, I don’t know how to actually read the Bible and get anything out of it.”
There are lots of things we could say this morning, but I want to take some time and go over some super practical tips to help you get started or grow in your study of the Bible.
Pray for a greater desire and understanding.
Recognize that like any unfamiliar skill, it may feel mechanical at first and that not every day is going to be as inspirational as others. Not only that, you may need to listen to the Bible instead of read it. There are all kinds of ways to listen. You can use the YouVersion Bible app, you can find podcasts with daily readings, or you can just search for audio Bibles online and find free versions.
Think through what part of the Bible you are reading. You may want to start in John or the other gospels, any of the letters of Paul, especially the ones that end with “-ians” (Philippians, Ephesians), Proverbs, Psalms
Think about the pace at which you are reading. It is okay to spend a month or more going through one book; don’t feel forced to take on the Bible in a year unless that is something you sense God calling you to do. You are serving him for a lifetime, so it doesn’t have to all be done now.
Ask questions about the passage. Here’s my favorite set of questions to ask:
What does this teach me about God?
What does this teach me about people? (including me)
What else did I learn?
What questions do I have?
What do I need to do now?
If you are looking for a more in-depth guide to Bible Study, check out the Next Steps table in the Foyer on your way out today. There is a handout titled “Tools for Studying the Bible” that can walk you through a more in-depth study time. The guide is from The Village Church in Flower Mound, Texas and is not original with us. Take one and keep it in your Bible.
Get together with other people to talk about what you have been reading. Come to Sunday School or just get together with a couple folks at church and start working through the Bible together. If you need resources for that, please let me know.
In fact, that last principle brings us back around to our first point, doesn’t it? As I get to know and love my brothers and sisters in Christ, I will be challenged to know God better, which leads me into his word more. When I care about you, and you come up with a question about what you have been reading, it causes me to go back and study to figure out the answer. We both learn more, and we grow to love God better and invest more in each other.
Why does this matter? Because we have tasted part of life with God. He has caused us to be born again to a living hope and inheritance and is guarding us for that day.
He has called us to live holy lives in reverent fear that are marked by a love for each other and a longing for his word.
That’s how we respond to the hope he has given us.
Endnote:
John MacArthur Jr., 1 Peter, The MacArthur New Testament Commentary (Chicago: Moody Publishers, 2004), 97-98.