The Conduct of Faith, Part 2

Welcome to Delight in Grace, the teaching ministry of Rich Powell, pastor of Grace Bible Church in Winston-Salem. God calls His people to live for a higher purpose than we would on our own. As we abide in Christ and the truths revealed through His Word, He begins to change our desires and our attitudes.

Our conduct is an outflow of those heart changes, fruit growing from a healthy vine. Today, Rich continues the series, Live as People Who Are Free, focusing on 1 Peter 1, 14-17 and verse 22. This passage calls us to no longer be conformed to the passions of our former ignorance, to conduct ourselves with fear throughout the time of our exile. And verse 22 calls us to love one another earnestly from a pure heart. Let's listen in as Pastor Rich takes us deeper into this text. This is the second part of the message called The Conduct of Faith, first preached August 28, 2022. God who is an impartial judge, He says here, because He is the standard and He judges according to His standard, not ours, not how good we are.

It's His standard. 1 John 1-6, if we say we have fellowship with Him and walk in darkness, we lie and do not practice the truth. Here's the point of this. What you believe, you do. Think about that for a while. What you believe, you do. If I want to know what you believe, all I need to do is watch what you do. What you believe, you do. Now, that's a whole Sunday night seminar in and of itself.

Okay, that's not the point right now. What you believe, you do. So let's remember that, which is why He says, conduct yourselves with fear throughout the time of your exile. Am I captivated by the perfections of God in my accountability to Him?

Do I believe that? Am I living with the end in view? And He says, conduct yourselves with fear throughout the time of your exile.

Their exile is talking about the fact that we are here temporarily. You and I are here on this earth temporarily. Use the time wisely. Use the time purposefully.

Use the time as you are living for God, you point people to God. So don't waste your life. Remember, I said living for the line instead of the dot? That illustration, if let all of eternity be represented by a line from that wall to that wall.

All of eternity. What is your life on that line? It's a tiny, tiny little dot. And we were born with a problem of thinking that that dot is all that there is. And we are called, Christ rescues us from that, and we are called to live for the line and not for the dot.

If you just live for the dot, you're wasting your life. Conduct yourselves with fear throughout the time of your exile. The conduct of the Christian becomes the subject matter of the rest of Peter's letter. When we get done with this, this is the conclusion of a four-part series in this paragraph. And then, beginning in chapter 2 and going to chapter 4, we will begin a 12-part series entitled, The Character of People Who Are Free. Twelve characteristics of people who are free. This is Peter's focus throughout this. And this is why he says in chapter 2, verse 16, live as people who are free. Do you know your freedom?

You can't live as people who are free if you don't know that you're in fact free. This is why he emphasizes this. This is why he says, be holy in all your conduct. What does that mean, practically speaking? It means this, write this down. It's good because it's in your notes, right?

Maybe, I don't know, is it? Wherever I am, whatever I'm doing, I belong to God. His opinion alone is what matters. That is a practical way of looking at conduct yourselves with fear throughout the time of your exile. Be holy in all your conduct.

Why is that? Because I am holy, God says. Be holy because I am holy. It's not even good enough to say, well, I need to be holy because the Bible says so.

That's not good enough. God says, be holy, why? Because I am holy. He is the object of your faith. He is your creator. He is your redeemer. He is your reconciler. He is your sustainer. He is your highest good and your deepest satisfaction. Be holy because I am holy, he says. So, wherever I am, whatever I'm doing, I belong to God.

His opinion alone is what matters. What that is calling each one of us to do is to eradicate the compartmentalized life. Eradicate the compartmentalized life. All the rooms in the house of your life, all of the rooms, doors are wide open. There's no locked closed doors where you say, God, you can't go in there.

You're not allowed in there. That's a compartmentalized life. This is the eradication of that. So, wherever I am, whatever I'm doing, whether I'm at home, whether I'm at work, or whether I'm in leisure, whether I'm in private, or I'm in corporate worship, wherever I am, whatever I'm doing, I belong to God. And his opinion alone is what matters. It's being holy in all your conduct.

Why is that? Because God is light. The holiness of God, as John puts it, God is light and in him is no darkness at all. So, his light shines into my darkness and that darkness represents ignorance. It represents blindness. It represents confusion. It represents that which is contrary to his character and his purpose. So, you and I are holy in this sense that we are set apart.

We are dedicated. Now, you've heard me explain that and illustrate that before, haven't you? What comes to mind? Scissors, right? Andrea is a seamstress. She has special scissors at home. And she comes to me, you know, a guy will take scissors and he'll use them for everything under the sun, right? He'll cut wire with them, cardboard. She has special scissors for cloth.

They are dedicated for cloth. And Andrea comes to me and she says, look at me. You touch these scissors, I touch your face. No, no, she doesn't say that.

She's much nicer about it. But the message she communicates is, you stay away from my scissors. These scissors are not for whatever a guy uses scissors for. These scissors are for cloth only. That's dedicated scissors.

You know what those are? Those are holy scissors. Listen, that's what holiness means, set apart.

They're not for common use. They are set apart. Christian, listen to me. You are set apart.

You're not just a common ordinary human. You belong to God. You are set apart. You have a brand new identity, a new master, a new purpose, a new meaning. All of that, you're set apart.

Don't waste your life. Be holy in all your conduct. So there are two mutually exclusive practices going on here. And one of them is abiding in Christ. Synonymous with that is walking in the Spirit. Walking in the Spirit and abiding in Christ are pretty much the same activity. You're either doing that or you're engaging thought or behavior that is contrary to his character and his purpose.

That's what we call sin. Listen, you can't be doing both at the same time. You're either doing one or the other.

But you can't be doing both. Be holy in all your conduct. Now this is realized. To be holy in all my conduct, this is realized by God's grace. What do I mean by realize? Oh, yeah, I realize that. No, it means it becomes real in your life. It becomes a very real part of your life experience. It is realized. When it says be holy in all your conduct, it is realized by God's grace.

For two reasons. Number one, I have his favor. Number two, I have his resources. So number one, I have his favor. The Father sees me in Christ. I am the object of God's love.

Period. I am accepted. I am not accepted by, when it comes to salvation and justification, I am not accepted by God on a probationary basis. Aren't you glad for that? Because I am in Christ, I am accepted.

Period. Nothing changes that. There is nothing you can do to make God love you more or less. I am accepted because I am in Christ. That is my identity. That is my position. I don't have to strive for that acceptance.

I am free to live in the outflow of that acceptance. And that's why he says, you shall be holy in all your conduct. Conduct yourselves with fear. Interesting to note, that is a passive imperative.

That sounds oxymoronic, doesn't it? A passive imperative. What it just simply means is that it's God who is at work in you, forming you. God is at work in you, forming you. Realize that, Christian. Again, that goes back to the attitude of faith.

In other words, he's saying, become who you are in God's view and by his declaration. Paul says it well in the church to Philippi, he who began a good work in you will bring it to completion. God's working in you right now. He's working in you tomorrow at three o'clock, whether that's a.m. or p.m. He also says it is God who works in you both to will and to work for his good pleasure, Philippians 2.13.

So become what you are. I have his favor. Being holy in all my conduct is realized by God's grace.

Why? Because I have his favor, number one. Number two, because I have his resources. Very quickly, his resources include his self-disclosure. His self-disclosure.

Is it dwelling in you richly? And become like Christ. You want to live out the holiness that God has established in you. Let his self-disclosure dwell in you richly.

May God rescue us from bumper sticker and coffee mug theology. Consume the Word of God. We're so glad you've joined us for Delight in Grace, the teaching ministry of Rich Powell, Pastor of Grace Bible Church in Winston-Salem. You can hear this message and others anytime by visiting our website, www.delightingrace.com. You can also check out Pastor Rich's book, Seven Words That Can Change Your Life, where he unpacks from God's Word the very purpose for which you were designed. Seven Words That Can Change Your Life is available wherever books are sold. As always, tune in to Delight in Grace, weekdays at 10 a.m.