God's Word Guardian of Our Soul
1 Peter 1:8-9
"You love him even though you have never seen him. Though you do not see him now, you trust him; and you rejoice with a glorious, inexpressible joy. The reward for trusting him will be the salvation of your souls."
Those who are saved, having been reborn, now have a joy that is beyond common understanding in this present age. They have joy, but not happiness in the sense that it is used by the worldly people. They have love, but not in the carnality characterized by the perverted nature celebrated by most people in this generation. They have exultation, but not the slavery that comes from fame, fortune, and vainglorious shame. In short, they are keeping it real.
The new life in Christ is the fulfillment of creation. The Lord gives to those who have never seen Jesus a life of hope, joy, certainty, and fulfillment. He gives them rest, and a life subject to testing and trial.
Wait wait wait...he does what?
Here you are telling people that the new birth is about joy and exultation, and then you slip in this thing about testing.
There's a test?
"But I said a prayer making Jesus my savior, and I told him he lives inside me, and that I make him my own. And they said I'm saved."
Now there's a test?
Yes, there's a test. Be careful what you ask for.
Being God’s people means being holy. In other words, who a Christian is, and what they do, must be determined by the One to whom they belong. You can call upon his name, and you can "make him your own", whatever that means to you, but when you become his follower, you have to follow.
Picture this, you're kneeling there, embraced by The Lord Jesus. You've prayed your prayer and accepted him as your Savior. And then Jesus stands up and begins to walk on. He's heading down the road. He turns and motions for you to come and walk with him. And you can see that ahead of him on the road is darkness and a coming storm.
What are you going to do?
Are you going to continue to kneel there crippled by the fear of what's to come if you get up off your knees and follow him?
You claimed God as your Father, and he wants only the best for you, and because he's holy he demands the best of you. You've been made aware of his perfect will; you couldn't have accepted him if you hadn't. Therefore, you are now an alien in this dark world. And he is walking with you, and watching you walk.
1 Peter 1:17
"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."
The holy life of God’s people is walking away from your former life and walking into the reverential fear of God. You're not just trying to be different; you now have the redeeming POWER of Jesus Christ making you holy. You've been reborn out of the empty life handed down to you by the world. You've been freed by Christ's death and resurrection, and therefore you are freed from your former life. To be reborn is to be set free. No more futility, the ways of your former life have moved on to a life of faithfulness in Christ Jesus.
1 Peter 1:14-15
"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. But now you must be holy in everything you do, just as God who chose you is holy."
When you face adversity, kneel again.
When you need wisdom, kneel again.
When you need help being obedient, kneel again.
If your knees are weak and can't hold you up, kneel.
Pray for greater faith. Pray for the strength to resist temptation. Pray for forgiveness and do better next time. Pray for a greater love of the heavenly things. And pray for others like you. Pray that your mind is stayed on God, God knows what's in your heart, and he's not always pleased. Pray that God's heart is your heart. Pray that his will is your will. Pray that the desires of his Spirit are working within you making you holy.
And don't forget to love God with all your heart, mind, spirit and strength. As with holiness, our capacity to love as God loves is not natural. God's love is a new capacity beyond human nature. It is recreated in us by the gospel. And yes, it is the Bible that gets this done.
1 Peter 1:23
"For you have been born again, but not to a life that will quickly end. Your new life will last forever because it comes from the eternal, living word of God."
And so, we must know God's will by walking in his word. For one day our human bodies will fail us all, no one gets out of this life alive, but our souls will move on into glory...
1 Peter 1:24-25
As the Scriptures say,
"People are like grass; their beauty is like a flower in the field. The grass withers and the flower fades. But the word of the Lord remains forever. And that word is the Good News that was preached to you."
...and what is left is what has passed through the refining fire walking in Christ today and our ultimate death and resurrection in Christ. The apostle Peter is reminding us all that when we are obedient to the truth of the Gospel we are purified by that word and then enabled by it to genuinely love God and one another.
1 Peter 1:22
"You were cleansed from your sins when you obeyed the truth, so now you must show sincere love to each other as brothers and sisters. Love each other deeply with all your heart."
So, let's back up...
You've claimed Jesus as your Savior, there you are on your knees and Jesus gets up and starts heading off into the darkness further on down the road. And you've got your Bible and it's telling you about Him and that road he's walking on.
What does it say?
1 Peter 2:22-25
"He never sinned, nor ever deceived anyone. He did not retaliate when he was insulted, nor threaten revenge when he suffered. He left his case in the hands of God, who always judges fairly. He personally carried our sins in his body on the cross so that we can be dead to sin and live for what is right. By his wounds you are healed. Once you were like sheep who wandered away. But now you have turned to your Shepherd, the Guardian of your souls."
So, what are you going to do? Are you going to get up or give up?
You've got his gospel. You've seen his example. And now you've got a choice to make. Stay on your knees and never move on through the refining test or get up and go forth on the road he is going.
I recommend you walk the talk. I hope and pray you do. That's what we do, we pray for each other to succeed in our walks. We encourage and exhort, building up each other. Strengthening each other. Loving each other. We're all like spotters at the gym. Pushing each other on to take another rep. And then another. Never giving up.
Amen? Amen.
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