“First Peter 1:17-21”

Wednesday, August 30, 2017

“If you address as Father the One who impartially judges according to each one’s work, conduct yourselves in fear during the time of your stay on earth; knowing that you were not redeemed with perishable things like silver or gold from your futile way of life inherited from your forefathers, but with precious blood, as of a lamb unblemished and spotless, the blood of Christ. For He was foreknown before the foundation of the world, but has appeared in these last times for the sake of you 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.’”

---End of Scripture verses---

While it is very comforting for suffering Christians to know that God is a loving Father, we must also understand that God is the all-powerful Judge. It is not healthy or wise for us to develop a lopsided picture of the Creator of the Universe. Our “God is love” (1 John 4:8), but He is also “a consuming fire” (Hebrews 12:29). God loves all the people in the world so very much that He formulated a plan of salvation, He sent Jesus to shed His “precious blood” (verse 18) to provide the forgiving power behind that plan, and revealed His plan to everyone through the pages of the New Testament. But His perfect justice and holiness demands that sinfulness cannot go unpunished. If we refuse to follow the plan by living faithfully to Christ who “redeemed” us by taking the punishment we deserve, we will face eternal punishment come Judgment Day.

God “impartially judges according to each one’s work” (verse 17). Another lopsided view in the religious world is that we are saved by God’s grace alone and that no amount of human effort will have any effect at all upon salvation. But the inspired apostles tell us clearly that people will be judged by their righteous and sinful deeds. Paul wrote in 2 Corinthians 5:10, “For we must all appear before the judgment seat of Christ, so that each one may be recompensed for his deeds in the body, according to what he has done, whether good or bad.” We are saved by God’s amazing grace through our obedient faith (Ephesians 2:8) and there is nothing we can do to earn our salvation. That being said, there are still works of obedience that we must perform in order to be right in God’s sight (Hebrews 5:8-9).

And that is really the main thrust of Peter’s message for us today. In light of the fact that God is an impartial Judge, we should be motivated to live righteous lives in all holy “conduct”. “Conduct yourselves in fear during the time of your” brief “stay on earth” (verse 17). Jesus says some interesting things about fearing God in Matthew chapter 10. He tells us to “fear Him who is able to destroy both body and soul in hell” (verse 28). But then He tells us in verse 31, “Do not fear.” If we have a healthy fear (reverence) that prompts us to faithfully serve our Father and Judge, then we have nothing at all to fear (be afraid of) in anticipation of Judgment. 

Please read 1 Peter 1:22-25 for tomorrow.

Have a blessed day!

-Louie Taylor

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