THEME: STAND FIRM IN GOD’S GRACE
THE BENEFITS OF SALVATION THROUGH JESUS CHRIST
1 PETER 1:13-2:3
When we come to God and God redeems our souls, we have many errant thoughts about ourselves, Him, and how to have a real relationship with Him and others. Our salvation that is permanent and guaranteed through the finished work of Christ, then must be “worked out” in our lives, emotions, thoughts, and eventually actions and relationships.
The Bible teaches that none seek after God in their sinfulness, but when we come to Him and he changes our hearts there is a misnomer, or a misbelief. We believe… “I am everything God intends for me to be now.”
That is incorrect thinking. When you come to God for salvation, you do not automatically become everything God intends for you to become, you are simply beginning. You are simply beginning the journey of a real relationship with Jesus Christ, and you must learn to stand firm in God’s grace through this salvation He has given you. IT TAKES TIME. IT TAKES A LIFETIME.
“What are the benefits of salvation in our everyday lives?”
1 Peter 1:13 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.
BENEFIT #1: IT PREPARES OUR MINDS FOR EVERYDAY ACTION.
What action should our minds be performing? Peter tells us, “Set your hope fully on the grace brought to you thru Jesus.”
My life is no longer about the sum of my actions. My life is now about the finished work of Christ that brings GRACE into my life EVERYDAY through my relationship with Him. So, how should it impact me daily? So, when I wake up in the morning, it is not about my view of me, it is not about your view of me. It is about God’s view of me through the finished work of Jesus. It is about the grace He wants to give my life to live that day.
Some of us who follow Christ live graceless lives. We believe in Jesus for our eternal salvation, but we forget that He is “saving” us every day through the grace He gives us.
Some of us go weeks, months, years, very long seasons where we try to live our lives on our own. We trust Christ for eternity, but we have not yet learned to prepare our minds for action in our everyday lives by simply looking to him and saying, “I need your grace for this day.
WHEN was the last time you asked the Lord for grace in your day? This should become a daily, many times a day occurrence. I remember when our cows got out on our farm and we were chasing cows for hours, I said to one of my children, “Have you prayed out loud and ask God for grace to help us.” Their response, “No, why would I do that.” I said to them, “We will be out here for a long while…and we were until we all cried out.”
Set your hope FULLY on God’s grace every day. Verse 14…
14 As obedient children, do not be conformed to the passions of your former ignorance,
What are the benefits of this salvation in our everyday lives?
BENEFIT #2: IT GIVES US THE ABLITY TO CHOOSE OUR BEHAVIOR.
When we give our lives to Jesus Christ, we are no longer slaves to our sinful past. We have a choice. It may at times be a very difficult choice, and we may not at times make the right choice, but we still have a choice. When we come to Christ, we are given the supernatural ability to choose holiness over our past sinfulness.
And you know as well as I do, this is an everyday battle and choice. Somedays we do better than others. This salvation gives us the ability to change, but it does not automatically change our behavior.
Since starting Vanguard twenty-five years ago, I have known of people who have given their life to Jesus Christ and their behavior changed momentarily, but then they went back to their ways of living. Peter said, “Don’t be conformed.” Do you know how to be conformed to old behavior now that you have new life living inside of you? DO NOTHING. See this word in the Greek is passive, it denotes one that is not taking action or steps; thus, they are left with what they started with.
For example, if you come to Christ and you struggle with lust, you will still struggle with it afterwards, more than likely. If you want to act on it before coming to Christ, there is a strong chance you will still want to act on it after coming to Christ. Then what is the difference between coming to Christ and not?
The difference is the ability to choose.
Even without knowing the Greek here, it can be detected that he is telling them to quit living or not to live like they used to live. He is implying that the potential to live like they use to live is still there, but he is also implying that the potential is there to overcome.
When someone says, I just couldn’t help myself, they are lying. They can overcome, it may take time, but they have been given the potential to overcome. I will pick on one that I grew up with. I grew up on a Tobacco farm in Kentucky. People would say, I would love to quit smoking, but I can’t. What they mean if they are followers of Jesus is this, “I would love to quit, but my love to quit is not as great as my love to continue. So, I will continue. The Bible teachers that this salvation frees us from the bondage of sin, sin is now a choice not the only option.
Now what is our motivation for not conforming any longer to the things of this world and to the evil desires of our flesh?
Peter continues…
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.”
What are the benefits of this salvation in our everyday lives?
BENEFIT #3: IT CALLS US TO BE HOLY LIKE JESUS.
NOT holier than thou! Holy, definition “apartness.” God has set us apart. We used to be like this…now we are like this.
If you do not have a desire to be holy, then I would question my salvation. Because the Bible teaches that we are to desire holiness because we desire God and God is holy. For us not to desire holiness is for us not to desire God and thus we desire the evil desires more.
Peter continues along these lines…
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,
That is, conduct your life with reverence and respect for God and God’s ways.
What are the benefits of this salvation in our everyday lives?
BENEFIT #4: IT CREATES CONVICTION WHEN WE SIN.
I don’t always know when I sin, but most of the time I do. And when I sin, I feel the conviction of the Holy Spirit say to me, “Don’t squander God’s favor on your selfish desires.”
Why does this salvation create a conviction in us when we sin? Look at verse 18…
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.
Why does this salvation create conviction when we sin? Because our sin cost Christ HIS life!
Look at what Peter says,
20 He was foreknown before the foundation of the world but was made manifest in the last times for the sake of you 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.
22 Having purified your souls by your obedience to the truth for a sincere brotherly love, love one another earnestly from a pure heart, 23 since you have been born again, not of perishable seed but of imperishable, through the living and abiding word of God;
24 for “All flesh is like grass and all its glory like the flower of grass. The grass withers, and the flower falls, 25 but the word of the Lord remains forever.”
What are the benefits of this salvation in our everyday lives?
BENEFIT #5: IT ELEVATES THE BIBLE AS THE WAY TO LIVE.
There are people who believe that the Bible is just another book. But there are also unbelieving people, my friend being one of them, who understands that if he gives his life to Jesus, he is required to live by what the Bible says, and frankly, he has told me, he doesn’t want to.
I respect that. But if you are a believer in Jesus, it is NOT an option to live by the Bible, it is a requirement.
So, Paul says in closing here in chapter 2…
2:1 So put away all malice and all deceit and hypocrisy and envy and all slander. 2 Like newborn infants, long for the pure spiritual milk, that by it you may grow up into salvation—3 if indeed you have tasted that the Lord is good.
What are the benefits of this salvation in our everyday lives?
BENEFIT #6: IT CREATES SPIRITUAL MATURITY IN US.
Spiritual maturity is not just a desire, it is an action. Peter says, “Put away…” This is an active present tense verb in the Greek language. It is an ongoing progressive present in our lives. Spiritual maturity is not just a desire not to sin, but a proactive approach to living Godly. My focus is no longer on “not sinning” but on “doing and living righteously.” I am committed to it and proactive in making it happen. I am “putting away” the things that keep me from being who God created me to be.
What is it in your life that is keeping you from being holy? What is it that causes you to crave the world instead of Him?
So, what does this salvation do for us? Bottom line is this, it transforms your life from reflecting the evil desires of this world to reflecting the spiritual maturity of a believer who craves the pure spiritual food of God.
What are you feeding your soul?
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