Transcript & Slides: Live Your New Life (1 Peter 1:13-2:3)

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Live Your New Life (1 Peter 1:13-2:3)
By David Feddes

We were getting ready to go to a national basketball tournament, and we were excited because we had several very good teams. I was an assistant coach for our 15- and 16-year-old boys, and they were very good. So we were excited. 

That first game for the boys in that age group came at eight o’clock in the morning, which was not an ideal time for our boys. This group of boys that we thought was a good team got out there on the court, and the first thing that happened was that they promptly got behind a team that I didn’t think was very good—13 to nothing.

When you start your game at 13 to zero on the wrong end of that, and the other team isn’t so hot, you say, “What in the world is going on?” So the head coach and I talked to the boys and tried to encourage them that they ought not to be wearing their pajamas, that it was time to get out of bed and wake up and get their heads in the game. “You guys are getting killed, and you shouldn’t be getting killed.”

I’m sure it wasn’t the speeches or anything else, but at some point they actually did wake up and then outscored the other team 32–4 over the next little span of time. We won the game by more than 30.

When we started out way behind, it was not that our boys weren’t any good or that they didn’t have what it took. The problem was that they hadn’t woken up yet. Sometimes you have to wake up, get going, and get your head into the game.

The apostle Peter says something very similar to start this passage. He says, “Therefore, prepare your minds for action,” or in the older literal translation, “gird up the loins of your mind.” This referred to people who were wearing long robes, and if they had to run somewhere fast, they would grab those long robes, flip them up, tuck them in their belt, and then take off running. You had to get ready, because wearing long robes isn’t good for speed. So you gird up the loins of your mind. The focus is on getting your mind in the game, getting your mind ready for action.

“Be self-controlled; set your hope fully on the grace to be given you when Jesus Christ is revealed. As obedient children, do not conform to the evil desires you had when you lived in ignorance. But just as he who called you is holy, so be holy in all you do; for it is written: ‘Be holy, because I am holy.’ Since you call on a Father who judges each man’s work impartially, live your lives as strangers here in reverent fear. For you know that it was not with perishable things such as silver or gold that you were redeemed from the empty way of life handed down to you from your forefathers, but with the precious blood of Christ, a lamb without blemish or defect. He was chosen before the creation of the world, but was revealed in these last times for your sake. Through him you believe in God, who raised him from the dead and glorified him, and so your faith and hope are in God.

Now that you have purified yourselves by obeying the truth so that you have sincere love for your brothers, love one another deeply, from the heart. For you have been born again, not of perishable seed but of imperishable, through the living and enduring Word of God. For, ‘All men are like grass, and all their glory is like the flowers of the field; the grass withers and the flowers fall, but the Word of the Lord stands forever.’ And this is the Word that was preached to you. Therefore, rid yourselves of all malice and all deceit, hypocrisy, envy, and slander of every kind. Like newborn babies, crave pure spiritual milk, so that by it you may grow up in your salvation, now that you have tasted that the Lord is good” (1 Peter 1:13–2:3).

This ends the reading of God’s Word, and God always blesses his Word to those who listen.

This passage begins with the word “therefore,” and as you’ve heard many times, whenever you see “therefore,” you have to ask what it’s there for. “Therefore” is a connecting word; it says, based on everything I’ve just been telling you, now this. The “therefore” is based on what Peter said before: “Praise be to the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ! In his great mercy he has given us new birth into a living hope through the resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead, and into an inheritance that can never perish” (1 Peter 1:3–4). Peter goes on to talk about that new birth in Jesus through his resurrection and that great imperishable inheritance.

Therefore, since you’ve been born again through the resurrection of Jesus Christ and into that great inheritance, because all of that is true, now I want to tell you how to live. You’ve been given this new life in Christ—now live the new life in Christ.

The main command here is “set your hope.” Set your hope fully. If you were looking at the original grammar, “prepare your minds” is a part of it, and “be self-controlled” is a part of it, but really “set your hope” is the first main instruction here: set your hope fully on the grace to be given you when Jesus Christ is revealed.

I mentioned a moment ago that there’s the big “therefore” to launch this section, and it’s all based on what has been told us already—what God has done for us. That’s how the Bible works. If you read the New Testament, it almost always goes that way: it announces the good news of what God has done, and then at some point there’s a “therefore” about what that means for the way you live. Paul will go on for quite a few chapters sometimes without saying one word about what you ought to do; he’ll just tell you again in various ways what God has done. Then finally he’ll get to a “therefore,” maybe at chapter 12 or that sort of thing.

Peter does it a little differently. He launches with that great passage that those of you who were here last week heard about—about what God has done—and then he has this “therefore.” But as he moves through this section, he keeps weaving together what God has done and what you need to do. He’s not content to just give this section on what God has done and then move on to what our lives ought to be like. You’ll see again and again: this is what God is doing, this is what you need to do.

He says Jesus’ return is ultimate grace. When Jesus comes back again, everything’s made new. That’s what we’re looking forward to. And because that’s true, you need to get your mind in the game. You need to know what you’re headed for and who is headed for you. You need to get ready for that. First of all, that means being active—girding up the loins of your mind, getting your mind focused. It also means being sober or self-controlled. Some translations will just say “sober” rather than “self-controlled,” but it means that you’re not delusional, not drunk, not out of it. Instead, you’re in control of your faculties and in control of your behavior.

There’s a book about D-Day—the invasion of the coast of France by the forces of the Allies trying to drive back the forces of Adolf Hitler. Before D-Day occurred, the night before, many planes flew over and dropped paratroopers behind enemy lines. These paratroopers were being dropped in various places, and those who were dropped behind those enemy lines and into enemy territory were in a very dangerous situation. The invasion hadn’t even come ashore yet, and they were already behind enemy lines. Some of the bravest people who were key to that victory were those paratroopers who came in behind enemy lines. But not all of them were brave. Some of them were scared and hid, sitting there doing nothing.

There were others, though. One person who wrote about it described what happened. He and some of his fellow troops were moving when they heard a bunch of noise and singing, and they went to find out what that was all about. They sneaked up on a farmhouse, got outside, and looked inside. What they found was a bunch of American paratroopers, drunk as a skunk, singing in the middle of enemy territory. What was that? They had found some booze in the cellar of that farmhouse, and instead of thinking, “The great invasion is about to drive out the Nazis, in whose territory we are, and who could shoot us at any time,” they decided, “Let’s have a party!” So they got as drunk as they could and sang songs while they were supposed to be defeating Nazis—and could have been cut down by Nazis at any moment.

That’s the kind of thing that happens when Christians don’t have their mind in the game, are not sober and self-controlled, and don’t know what time it is. You don’t realize that you’re part of the advanced force and that Jesus is coming again. When you’re part of the advanced force, you face a lot of shots from the enemy, and this is no time to be filling up on booze. This is a time to be alert.

“Prepare your minds for action; be self-controlled; set your hope fully on the grace to be given you when Jesus Christ is revealed” (1 Peter 1:13). One of the keys to living the new life is setting your hope on Jesus’ coming again. If you forget about Jesus’ coming, it has a very negative impact on the way you live. As we go through these passages, we’re going to see intertwined what God does and how God’s action changes our lives. We’ll also look at a few lies that go along with these—lies about what God does and lies about what our life is.

One of the great lies is that Jesus is never coming back. In Peter’s second letter he talks about scoffers who say, “Where is this ‘coming’ he promised? Ever since our fathers died, everything goes on as it has since the beginning of creation” (2 Peter 3:4). In other words, “He isn’t coming back.” Along with that comes this principle for living: this life is all that matters. “Have a blast while you last—it’s party time. You might be dead tomorrow, so get that partying in while you can.” If you believe those kinds of lies, they will not result in the kind of life that’s pleasing to God.

The apostle goes on to say, “As obedient children, do not conform to the evil desires you had when you lived in ignorance. But just as he who called you is holy, so be holy in all you do; for it is written: ‘Be holy, because I am holy’” (1 Peter 1:14–16). This is another of those guidelines for living the new life. Where does your life come from? Who is your Father? What’s he like? If he’s holy and you’re his children—his obedient children—there ought to be a family resemblance.

In the book of Leviticus, God said, “Be holy, because I am holy” (Leviticus 11:44). You might say, “Wait a bit—Leviticus, that’s long ago. Forget Leviticus.” Not so quick. You might not be held under the new covenant to the mold laws anymore, or to exactly how to deal with skin diseases and sicknesses as described in Leviticus, but don’t think that “Be holy, because I am holy” got canceled out just because you’re now under a new covenant. God is still holy. He’s still set apart from all that exists. He’s still unstained by sin. And so he expects people who have his life to reflect that. Not only does he expect it—he gives that life, he gives that holiness. So be obedient to him. Do what he says. Be different.

Don’t conform to the evil desires you had when you didn’t know what you were doing. There is a way of life that is ignorant, that just doesn’t have a clue, and Peter’s saying, don’t be clueless when you know better. You know what God’s like. You know what he’s done for you. So don’t be an ignoramus. Don’t live like a dunce. Don’t conform to the evil desires you had when you didn’t know any better. You know better.

Have you ever said that to your children sometimes—“You know better”? Peter’s saying, you know better. You may have had a time in your life when you were ignorant, but that time has passed. You know better now. Live like obedient children of a holy Father. That means you’re not going to be identical to who you were without Christ, and you’re not going to be like the rest of the world around you.

Who sets the pattern for you—the holy God or the world around you? That’s a key question to ask. The lies we’re tempted to believe are these: “Holiness doesn’t really matter to God.” A great researcher, Christian Smith, has said that the religion of contemporary America is “moralistic therapeutic deism.” That’s quite a mouthful. “Moralistic” means it gives a few moral instructions, and usually they’re almost identical to what people already think is right. “Therapeutic” means it’s about feeling better. And “deism” means God really isn’t all that involved.

The message is that holiness doesn’t really matter to God, and the message is also that whatever you feel defines who you are—whatever you want, whatever urges you have, and in particular, in our society, whatever your sexual urges are—that’s who you are. You don’t define yourself as obedient children. You don’t define yourself as different from the world. You don’t see holiness as the standard. You say, “I want, therefore I am. I have these desires; I’m not going to ask what God thinks of them. I’m going to assume they’re okay.”

That is very different from the call to be holy. This is true not just in the sexual realm, although that certainly defines the kind of time we’re living in, but in all areas of life. If my want or my urge is who I am, then I’m not going to be living a holy life like God.

“Since you call on a Father who judges each man’s work impartially, live your lives as strangers here in reverent fear” (1 Peter 1:17). The fact about God—the reality about God—that we see here is that he’s your Father, but he’s also your Father who judges every action. And he doesn’t do it like a parent who has favorites.

Now I know some kids—maybe all kids—think their parents have favorites and that they’re not it. “When I was your age, I could never do that! But you get to do whatever you want.” There’s that kind of rationale. Some people may even project that onto God. They may say to themselves, “God likes me a lot. He’s very fond of me. In fact, I think I’m probably his favorite. So he’s going to let a lot slide when it comes to me. I don’t need to worry too much about judgment.”

Peter says you should worry about judgment. You belong to a Father who doesn’t play favorites. When you’re wrong, he’ll tell you you’re wrong and show you you’re wrong. If you belong to him, he’ll discipline you when you’re wrong. When you stand before him on the final day of judgment, you’ll answer to him.

Now, if you don’t know Christ as Savior at all, that day will be a day of terror and punishment forever. But even if you do know Christ, does that mean you’ll go waltzing up on the day of judgment saying, “I’ve got no problems, no fears, all’s good”? What does Peter say? “Live in fear.”

If you have parents whose opinion you care about, is your only worry that they might shoot you? Even if you have no worry about them executing you, you still might be concerned about dishonoring them and making them upset with your behavior. You fear their disapproval. If you love your Father and care what he thinks of you, then you do not want to disappoint your Father in heaven.

Peter says he is the judge. You’re here for a little while on earth—keep in mind that you’re going to answer to him. Do you want to answer him and say, “Okay, Father, this is my life. Here’s how I lived it. I know I wasted all my time. I know I did nothing for you, but I sure am pleased that I’m saved”? Well yes, it is wonderful to be saved, but the Bible also speaks of people who will be saved, “but only as one escaping through the flames” (1 Corinthians 3:15). They weren’t careful how they built; they weren’t careful with the materials they used in their lives, and so they suffered great loss. Peter is speaking of something similar here.

One of the motivations—not the only one, but one of them—for living the righteous life, the life that pleases God, is a sense of reverence and fear of God. “The fear of the Lord is the beginning of wisdom” (Proverbs 9:10). You never lose that sense of awe at God’s greatness and majesty, or that sense that you don’t want to disappoint him and do things that don’t count for anything. So your Father judges your every action, and the result in your life is a sense of holy awe and fear in his presence.

Once again, there are lies. One lie says, “God is too nice to judge anyone.” You can’t read the Bible and come to that conclusion. But if you neglect the Bible long enough and don’t pay attention to God’s message—or you find a preacher who tells you what you like to hear—you may come away thinking, “God’s too nice to judge anyone.”

Another lie says, “Fear is from the dark side. Fear of God is a harmful phobia. If you fear sin, you need a psychiatrist or counselor to help you get over it.” Well, there may be unhealthy fears, but fear of the Lord is not one of them. Fear of sin and disgust with sin is not a useless, negative, or harmful phobia. It’s something that helps you be a godly person and resist the temptations of evil. Fearing God is a key element of living the new life.

Above all, count on Christ. Peter says, “You know that it was not with perishable things such as silver or gold that you were redeemed from the empty way of life handed down to you from your forefathers, but with the precious blood of Christ, a lamb without blemish or defect. He was chosen before the creation of the world, but was revealed in these last times for your sake. Through him you believe in God, who raised him from the dead and glorified him, and so your faith and hope are in God” (1 Peter 1:18–21).

Count on Christ. The Messiah’s blood buys freedom. He buys freedom first of all from God’s wrath and punishment, and you can be glad that you are redeemed from that sentence of death. You are redeemed with the blood of the lamb without defect. One of the places where a lamb without defect appears in the Bible is in the story of the Passover and the rescue from Egypt.

The Israelites had to take a lamb, kill it, take some of its blood, and put it around the doorway of their home, and not venture out that night. The destroyer was going to come through the land and kill the firstborn of every household that didn’t have blood around the door—including the firstborn of Pharaoh and all the Egyptian oppressors. It was the blood of the lamb that protected the Israelites from the destroyer. The blood of the lamb was the key to their survival, and it was connected to their being redeemed or rescued from slavery in Egypt.

Peter says it wasn’t just any little thing or money payment that got you out of Egypt or that got you out of the domain of Satan and darkness. It was the precious blood of the Lamb, Jesus Christ. You were redeemed by the blood of that Lamb. He bought your freedom. The key to your new life of freedom from the control of Satan and from the powers of the world is the fact that Jesus’ blood has set you free. So you count on him. You believe in Christ and in his blood, and you trust in the God who raised him from the dead and made him alive again.

Because you have that new life—that resurrection life—and you’re counting on God, your faith and your hope are in God. You’re counting on Christ. You’re counting on God. You’re counting on that precious blood.

What are the lies? The lies say, “Jesus’ blood doesn’t pay for anything. It doesn’t actually save or rescue you. Instead, you’re controlled by the system and by the culture—that’s what runs your life.” One of the common things, even among so-called Christian theologians, is to claim that Jesus did not die to pay for sins and that his blood is not the key to rescuing us from God’s wrath or setting us free from the domain of the evil one.

This isn’t just something atheists say. It’s something that people who claim to teach religious studies or Christian theology say—that it’s unworthy of God to think he would actually need any kind of payment to forgive us. They say Jesus didn’t die as a substitute, but as a martyr or an example of love.

Well, the Bible says it’s the precious blood of Christ, the Lamb, that redeems you. So don’t believe those who say that it doesn’t pay, and certainly don’t believe those who underestimate the power of that blood to save you.

We live in a time now where you’re either a victim or you’re the oppressor. There’s a whole system of thought—whether you call it critical race theory or call it something else. In older times, it was Marxism. But there are two kinds of people: you are the oppressor, or you are the oppressed. One way or the other, you need your consciousness raised because that’s the way the system is. So if you’re the oppressor, you deserve whatever’s coming to you, and you need to realize how oppressive you’ve been, even if you didn’t know it or intend it. On the other hand, if you’re a victim, you’re kind of a perpetual victim, and if you can get a list of all the ways you’ve been victimized, that’s really valuable—it gives you markers in the political battles. One thing it doesn’t do is set you free.

If you buy into this identity system that says you’re part of a structure and you’re either the oppressor or the poor little victim, you’ve missed what God says. Before God, the blood of Christ sets you free from the whole system. So don’t go around thinking, “Poor little me, I’m the victim.” And don’t think, “I’m locked into this identity forever as the oppressor.” You were redeemed from a way of life, and you were redeemed from a system.

This also applies to your own family. If you grew up in a family that was godless or in a family that was not faithful to Christ or walking with Christ, you can lock yourself in and say, “Well, that’s my roots. That’s my family. You can’t expect me to be much different.” And God says, “Oh yes, I can.” Because “you were redeemed from the empty way of life handed down to you from your forefathers” (1 Peter 1:18).

You’re redeemed from family and from its grip on you if that was a negative grip. You are redeemed from the big shots, the leaders of the system. You grow up in an educational system and you’re fed a steady diet of Darwin and his evolutionism, and a steady diet of Freud and his atheistic psychology. You may not even know the names that go with it, but I guarantee you’re getting a good diet of it. When you’re in that system, and its media and its educational institutions keep feeding you that, you think, “Well, that’s just the way normal people think.” No—you were redeemed from a whole vain, empty, useless system that doesn’t count on Christ.

So ignore those who say Jesus’ blood has no impact and can’t rescue or save you from that. Don’t let yourself be controlled by a system of thought, by a culture, or by your family of origin if it was one that mistreated you or misled you about God. Peter says you were redeemed, and you have to keep hearing that, because sometimes even after you’re out of Egypt, it takes a while to get Egypt out of you.

You remember the Israelites—they sometimes had their moments where they wanted to get back to Egypt, or they acted like a bunch of Egyptian idol worshipers. Once you’re out of Egypt, you still have to get Egypt out of you. Peter reminds us that you were rescued from an empty way of life, and now live like it.

Then he says, “Love one another deeply, from the heart. For you have been born again, not of perishable seed, but of imperishable, through the living and enduring Word of God” (1 Peter 1:22–23). If you get right to the heart of what the Christian teaching about new life is, it’s about love. It’s about loving other people, loving them as you love yourself, doing to others as you’d have them do to you, and pouring out the love that God has given you onto other people as well. The basis for that is the fact that God’s Word causes new birth.

“You have been born again through the living and enduring Word of God. For, ‘All men are like grass, and all their glory is like the flowers of the field; the grass withers and the flowers fall, but the Word of the Lord stands forever.’ And this is the Word that was preached to you” (1 Peter 1:23–25).

He says you were people who heard the living and enduring Word of God. You’ve been born again—not of perishable seed, but of imperishable—and that’s the basis for love. Why? Because God is love. God is love, and when God comes into you and his life comes into you, then the life and power of love is inside you.

You’ve been born again. You have this seed. How does that seed come? It comes through the preaching of the gospel, through God’s call—not just through words, but through the call. When Peter speaks of God calling you, he’s not just saying, “Hey, people, I’d like you to pay attention.” God gives a powerful call.

It’s comparable to his call to Lazarus. Jesus said, “Lazarus, come forth!” and a dead man came forth. When God issues his gospel call, he says to you, “Arise,” and you arise. It’s not because you worked on it a while and got yourself into great shape. Lazarus was deader than a doornail. You may have been dead a while, starting to stink. You might be stinking; you might have no life in you. But when the voice of the Lord says, “Rise,” you rise. When the voice of the Lord says, “Live,” you live. That’s the call we’re talking about here. That call comes in power.

The apostle Paul says, “Those he predestined, he also called” (Romans 8:30), and this call is a powerful, transforming call. The call of God through the gospel causes you to be born again. When you’re born again, you have that brotherly, genuine, fervent love that God calls us to.

I’m not going to go through the whole letter of Peter here, but I’ll say that there’s a little bit of love in it. He says, “Though you have not seen him, you love him” (1 Peter 1:8). “Now that you have sincere love for your brothers, love one another deeply, from the heart” (1 Peter 1:22). “Love the brotherhood of believers” (1 Peter 2:17). “Above all, love each other deeply, because love covers over a multitude of sins” (1 Peter 4:8). “Greet one another with a kiss of love” (1 Peter 5:14).

Who is the apostle of love—John? Actually, poor Peter had nothing to say about love? Well, maybe Peter had a little to say about love too, because he also was a disciple of the Master, speaking the Word of the Master.

If you want to know what living the new life is, it is above all loving as you’ve been loved. We’ve seen that God’s Word causes new birth and puts this new life into you, and because God is love and his life is in you, the life of love is flowing out of you. You have a brotherly love—you’re loving people as fellow members of your family. It’s a genuine love, not fake, and it’s fervent—not cool, cold, or dead.

Because you love in that way, Peter says, “Therefore, rid yourselves of all malice and all deceit, hypocrisy, envy, and slander of every kind” (1 Peter 2:1). It may sound like he’s going on to talk about something new, but actually, he’s just saying, “Now don’t do the stuff that isn’t loving.” Malice is the opposite of love—it’s wanting something bad to happen to somebody or gloating when something bad happens to them. Deceit is the opposite of love—you’re not genuinely showing your heart to other people; you’re trying to trick them or fool them to get what you want. Hypocrisy is fakery, and love isn’t fake; love is real. Envy is caring more about yourself than others—you want what they have instead of wanting them to have it. And slander is using your mouth, your words, to blast people instead of building them up.

If you had to pick one word to summarize all that, it might be “competition.” You’re competing for the goodies, and you want to get them instead of others. That’s the opposite of love. So if you’ve been born again—if God’s love is in you—then therefore, rid yourself of all that junk.

Now, the lies. One big lie is that rebirth is not needed or that it’s ineffective. Many people have gone through life, even through church life, without hearing much about new birth or being born again. Or, it’s become almost a cliché to them. They don’t realize that you need to have the life of Christ in you—the life of God in the soul of a human being—or you don’t belong to God at all.

Faith is not just believing something about Jesus that happened a long time ago, though that is key. To be a Christian is to have life inside you—a different life—the life of God himself implanted in you. Those who say, “Oh, but you don’t really need that—that’s for fanatics or people who get carried away. We show up in church on a fairly regular basis and try not to kick the dog; isn’t that good enough?” No, it’s not.

“You must be born again” (John 3:7). That’s what Jesus said to Nicodemus, a very informed and highly placed religious teacher. But no matter how highly placed he was or what all the religious trappings were, he had to be born from above—born again by the Holy Spirit. That’s true for each one of us. So it’s a lie to say rebirth is unneeded.

A related lie is that it’s ineffective. Sometimes you see surveys saying “born-again people get divorced at the same rate as others” or “born-again people give about the same amount as others.” But if you dig deeper, the definitions of “born again” often don’t actually mean receiving life from above—the life of God. They’re based on self-proclaimed labels.

That doesn’t mean born-again people have never done anything bad, but if you want to make the case that born-again people are no different from those who are not, you are totally at odds with everything Jesus teaches and everything his apostles teach. The Bible teaches that if you have the life of Christ in you, it makes a difference—a huge difference. Rebirth is powerful; it changes you.

And let’s face it, some very undesirable people—indeed, all of us—have been reborn. It’s a work in progress. So yes, there’s a lot of growing up to do, but even with all allowances for that, it makes a difference.

Another lie says, “If there’s no new life implanted in you, then all you’ve got are your urges and your instincts—so be yourself. Follow your heart. Don’t change.” Well, I’d say, follow your heart if you have a brand-new heart in Christ and you’re filled with the Holy Spirit. But you’d better be able to distinguish between what that new, living heart from Christ is telling you and what the old, fallen flesh is telling you.

If you’re just saying, “Whatever I feel like doing, I’m following my heart”—well, yikes. We have enough people following their hearts these days, and it’s doing a lot of damage. I have good news: you don’t have to be yourself—you can be a new self. You can be the self Christ meant you to be, bought you to be, and gave you the Holy Spirit to be. Then, and only then, should you “be yourself.”

The claim “I was born this way,” whatever sin it’s applied to, doesn’t work as an excuse because God already told you, “Yes, I know all that—that’s why you need to be born again.” People who use “I was born this way” to justify sin are really saying, “I’m not born again.” “Be yourself—don’t try to change anything about your life” is a lie from hell, not the gospel.

Something that runs all through this passage is the word “imperishable.” It’s another way of saying “eternal.” “Imperishable” means it can’t be destroyed. Imperishable life is eternal life. What’s imperishable?

In the very first verses Peter says, “Praise be to the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ! In his great mercy he has given us new birth into a living hope through the resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead, and into an inheritance that can never perish” (1 Peter 1:3–4). The inheritance—heaven, the new creation—can’t perish because you’ve been begotten again through the risen Christ. He can’t perish. His heavenly kingdom can’t perish. The inheritance you have in that kingdom can’t perish. So when you belong to him, you have an imperishable inheritance that can’t be taken away or destroyed.

What else is imperishable? “You know that it was not with perishable things such as silver or gold that you were redeemed from the empty way of life handed down to you from your forefathers, but with the precious blood of Christ” (1 Peter 1:18–19). It wasn’t with perishable things—it was with the imperishable blood, the precious blood. That value can never perish.

Some of you may remember a story involving Peter in the book of Acts. Peter had been laying hands on people who believed in Christ, and they received the Holy Spirit. There was a local sorcerer who said, “Cool! I’d like to be able to do that. Hey dude, how much is it going to cost me?” And Peter said, “May your money perish with you, because you thought you could buy the gift of God with money” (Acts 8:20).

What an insult—to think you could buy the gift of God with money—when that gift of the Holy Spirit and of eternal life was bought with the precious blood of Jesus Christ, with imperishable blood.

That blood has infinite value. You have to understand that it would have been cheaper for God to wipe out all the earth and wipe out all galaxies and everything that exists—to just blow it all away. That would have been less costly for God than to sacrifice his own eternal Son, who had been with him forever as the second person of the Trinity. You have to understand the magnitude of what’s involved when God gives his Son and gives the blood of Jesus—the value of it as well as how long that value lasts.

That’s why some things that sound ridiculous when we talk about heaven are actually just logical. When you talk about people ruling even angels, or people having tremendous powers in the new creation, and living forever and having all of God’s riches, it sounds kind of far-fetched until you think about this: “He who did not spare his own Son, but gave him up for us all—how will he not also, along with him, graciously give us all things?” (Romans 8:32).

“All things.” Because if he gave his Son, that was the hard part. Anything else—that’s easy for God. Giving his Son, that was the big price. So the logic of the blood is this: if God gave that, there’s nothing he won’t give. And what he gives is going to last forever, because the blood is imperishable in its value, and it pays for everything.

So there’s an imperishable inheritance, an imperishable payment, and an imperishable seed. “You have been born again, not of perishable seed, but of imperishable, through the living and enduring Word of God” (1 Peter 1:23). You don’t need to know much Greek to understand what’s being said—you were born of imperishable sperma, because you were begotten. You weren’t begotten of perishable sperm; you weren’t begotten of normal human life, the way reproduction happens when sperm unites with egg and a new child is formed. You’ve been born of the imperishable seed—the life-giving, life-creating Word of God. And that Word of God stands forever.

What a thing it is to have eternal life! That’s why you can’t lose it. That’s why, when you’re made alive in Christ, you’re indestructible. I’m not making light of what I said earlier—that we should live in the fear of the Lord and fear displeasing him—but when you’re born again, when you have the life of Christ, when that seed of the Holy Spirit’s life comes into you, you’re forever alive. When that payment is made for you, that payment is forever sound and good. When that inheritance is given to you, it can’t be taken away and it can’t be wrecked. You have imperishable life; you have eternal life.

And now, of course, Peter calls you to live that new life. You’ve got it, but you still need to wake up—you still need to live it. You may be like a bunch of sixteen-year-olds who wish they were still in bed, still in their pajamas, still snoozing. But you’re in a game, so get with it. You’ve got what it takes. As Peter says at the beginning of his second letter, “His divine power has given us everything we need for life and godliness” (2 Peter 1:3). Now, make every effort.

That’s the logic of the mighty apostle Peter: God’s given it all to you, but come on now—he’s given you everything necessary for life and godliness, so be all the more diligent to make your calling and election sure.

“Like newborn babies, crave pure spiritual milk, so that by it you may grow up in your salvation, now that you have tasted that the Lord is good” (1 Peter 2:2–3). The key truth here is that God’s goodness is your food. It is your nourishment. It is what makes you alive and helps you grow. So crave that.

Little babies crave their mother’s milk because they’re hungry. And that milk—well, I won’t get into a long speech on that, because many of you already know the benefits—but the nourishment, the calories, aren’t the whole story. The ability of that milk to build a baby’s immunities so that whatever bugs are out there trying to make that baby sick or kill that baby—those immunities are strengthened by that pure milk.

So a baby gets bigger, fatter, healthier, and more resistant to all the things that would try to destroy it because of the power of that milk. And Peter says, “You’ve tasted that the Lord is good.”

Now does a baby say, “Oh yeah, I had milk thirteen days ago—why would I want any more? I had my taste.” No! More, more, more. “I want to grow, I want to get big, and I know the key to that is milk.”

Again, you may know there are other passages that say, “Come on, you shouldn’t be having milk anymore—you should be having solid food.” Those passages make a different point. This passage is simply saying you need spiritual nourishment. You need it a lot. Crave it. You’ve tasted that God is good—his goodness is what you’re feasting on.

When you go to the Bible, you’re hearing of God’s goodness and kindness. When you look at his mercy and goodness in your life, you say, “I’ve tasted that God is good, and I don’t just want more goodies from God—I want God. I want his goodness. I want to feast on him. I want to mature. I want to grow.” The last thing we have from Peter in the whole Bible, by the way, is this: “Grow in the grace and knowledge of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ” (2 Peter 3:18). That’s the last thing he says in his second letter, but here he’s already making that point—you’ve tasted that God is good, so grow up in your salvation.

The lies? Well, the original lie was, “Did God really say?” and “No, God is not good. He’s trying to keep you away from stuff that would make you like him. He’s trying to keep you from what’s really good.” That was Satan’s first lie in the garden of Eden: “God is not good. God is not delightful. You need to find your happiness somewhere else.” You hope God lets you off the hook and allows you into heaven, but in the meantime, if you want to be happy, you have to get it for yourself—and God doesn’t have much to do with that. “Do whatever makes you happy.” Those are the lies.

And the truth is this: God is good. If you’ve tasted his goodness, you want more—you want more of that goodness, more of God. That’s the key to growing up in the Lord.

Let me just run through these real fast in clusters. I don’t think Peter’s necessarily connecting one truth with one aspect of living—he’s interspersing them—but let’s look at what the lies look like and what the truths look like.

Here are the lies: Jesus is never coming back. Holiness doesn’t matter to God. God is too nice to judge anybody. Jesus’ blood doesn’t pay or save. Rebirth is unneeded, or if you are reborn, it’s not effective and doesn’t make any real difference. God is not good or delightful.

And those lies are closely connected to lies about how you live: this life is all that matters; your urges define who you are; fear of God is a harmful phobia; the system and the culture control everything; be yourself, don’t try to change; do whatever makes you happy.

What’s the truth? Here are the facts of the new life in Christ. Jesus’ return gives ultimate grace, so fix your minds on that ultimate grace of his return—be thinking about that coming of Christ. God who called you is holy. Your Father judges everything you do; he evaluates it all. The Messiah’s blood has bought your freedom. God’s Word causes new birth. God’s goodness is nourishment.

Therefore, live your new life. Get your head in the game. Be active, sober, self-controlled, with a focused mind on Christ’s coming. As obedient children, do not conform any longer to the desires you had when you lived in ignorance, but just as he who called you is holy, so be holy in all you do. Be fearful—live your lives here in reverent fear—because you know you’re going to answer to a Father who doesn’t play favorites. Trust and count on God, because he’s redeemed you from that empty way of life. He’s raised you again in Christ.

Love with a brotherly, genuine, fervent love. Keep feasting on Christ, feasting on the Scriptures, nurturing your life in prayer and in the Holy Spirit—and grow. Grow in the grace and knowledge of our Lord Jesus Christ. Live the new life.

Thank you, Father, for the gift of new life. Please guide us in living out that new life that is in us. Help us, Lord, never to be misled by Satan or by the lies of our own fallen nature or the world around us, but instead to live by your truth and by the wondrous reality of what Christ has done for us. Help each one of us as we walk with you—not to be misled, not to be fooled, but to realize that you’ve given us all things needed for life and godliness. Now, Lord, help us to keep adding to those and growing in your grace. Help each person here. Help them in their individual struggles—you know what they are. Help them, Lord, in their individual joys—you know what those are too, because you’ve given them. And so help them, Lord, to keep growing and growing and growing into the person you’ve called them to be. For Jesus’ sake. Amen.

Live Your New Life (1 Peter 1:13-2:3)
By David Feddes
Slide Contents

¹³ Therefore, prepare your minds for action; be self-controlled; set your hope fully on the grace to be given you when Jesus Christ is revealed. ¹⁴ As obedient children, do not conform to the evil desires you had when you lived in ignorance. ¹⁵ But just as he who called you is holy, so be holy in all you do; ¹⁶ for it is written: “Be holy, because I am holy.”¹⁷ Since you call on a Father who judges each man's work impartially, live your lives as strangers here in reverent fear. ¹⁸ For you know that it was not with perishable things such as silver or gold that you were redeemed from the empty way of life handed down to you from your forefathers,¹⁹ but with the precious blood of Christ, a lamb without blemish or defect.²⁰ He was chosen before the creation of the world, but was revealed in these last times for your sake. ²¹ Through him you believe in God, who raised him from the dead and glorified him, and so your faith and hope are in God.²² Now that you have purified yourselves by obeying the truth so that you have sincere love for your brothers, love one another deeply, from the heart. ²³ For you have been born again, not of perishable seed, but of imperishable, through the living and enduring word of God.²⁴ For, “All men are like grass, and all their glory is like the flowers of the field; the grass withers and the flowers fall,²⁵ but the word of the Lord stands forever.” And this is the word that was preached to you. ^2:1 Therefore, rid yourselves of all malice and all deceit, hypocrisy, envy, and slander of every kind. ² Like newborn babies, crave pure spiritual milk, so that by it you may grow up in your salvation, ³ now that you have tasted that the Lord is good.

Set your hope

Therefore, prepare your minds for action; be self-controlled; set your hope fully on the grace to be given you when Jesus Christ is revealed. (1:13)

• Jesus’ return gives ultimate grace.

• Active, sober, focused mind

Lies:

Be holy

As obedient children, do not conform to the evil desires you had when you lived in ignorance… “Be holy, because I am holy.” (1:14-15)

• God who called you is holy.

• Obedient, different, holy behavior

Lies:

Fear God

Since you call on a Father who judges each man’s work impartially, live your lives as strangers here in reverent fear. (1:17)

• Father judges your every action.

• Fearful of offending your Father

Lies:

• God is too nice to judge anyone.

• Fear of God is harmful phobia.

Count on Christ

… you were redeemed … with the precious blood of Christ… Through him you believe in God who raised him from the dead. (1:18-21)

• Messiah’s blood buys freedom.

• Trusting and counting on God.

Lies:

• Jesus’ blood doesn’t pay or save.

• System and culture control you.

Love others

Love one another deeply, from the heart. For you have been born again... through the living and enduring word of God. (1:22-23)

• God’s Word causes new birth.

• Brotherly, genuine, fervent love

Love, love, love

You love him. (1:8) Now that… you have sincere love for your brothers, love one another deeply, from the heart. (1:22) Love the brotherhood of believers. (2:17) Love as brothers. (3:8) Above all, love each other deeply, because love covers over a multitude of sins. (4:8) Greet one another with a kiss of love. (5:14)

Rid yourselves of all malice and all deceit, hypocrisy, envy, and slander of every kind. (2:1) 

Lies:

 

Imperishable

• Inheritance: begotten again through risen Christ into imperishable inheritance (1:2-3)

• Payment: redeemed with Jesus’ precious blood, not with perishable things (1:18-18)

• Seed: …begotten again by imperishable seed, God’s living, eternal Word (1:23-25)

Crave

Like newborn babies, crave pure spiritual milk, so that by it you may grow up in your salvation, now that you have tasted that the Lord is good. (2:2-3)

• God’s goodness is nourishment.

• Spiritual feasting and maturing

Lies:

Lies about God

• Jesus is never coming back.

• Holiness doesn’t matter to God.

• God is too nice to judge anyone.

• Jesus’ blood doesn’t pay or save.

• Rebirth is unneeded or ineffective.

• God is not good or delightful.

Lies about self

• This life is all that matters.

• Your urges define who you are.

• Fear of God is harmful phobia.

• System and culture control you.

• Be yourself; don’t try to change.

• Do whatever makes you happy.

Facts of new life

• Jesus’ return gives ultimate grace.

• God who called you is holy.

• Father judges your every action.

• Messiah’s blood buys freedom.

• God’s Word causes new birth.

• God’s goodness is nourishment.

Live your new life

• Active, sober, focused mind

• Obedient, different, holy behavior

• Fearful of offending our Father

• Trusting and counting on God

• Brotherly, genuine, fervent love

• Spiritual feasting and maturing