Today on the verdict with Pastor John Monroe. Central to the idea of redemption is the payment of a price. We couldn't pay the ransom ourselves. Our sin amounts to an impossible debt. Jesus says in the Gospels that the Son of Man did not come to be served but to serve and to give his life a ransom for many.
Um Welcome to the verdict, featuring the Bible teaching of Pastor John Monroe. In our current series in 1 Peter, we're examining the compelling motivations for living holy lives as believers. John previously discussed the concept of our redemption, the process of our Christ paid to free us from the slavery of sin. Today, we'll go deeper into understanding the extraordinary nature of Christ's sacrifice. Let's join Pastor John Monroe as he continues his message: the ransom is paid.
We've been considering the important subject of holiness in the first chapter of 1 Peter. The Son of God is given the name Jesus, for he will save his people from their sins. Notice that Jesus saves us from our sins. He does not save us so that we can continue in our sins. As we follow Jesus, we are to live different lives from unbelievers who do not know God.
In the miracle of salvation there is a great exchange. Jesus Christ takes our sins and we receive His righteousness. This is our sanctification, our holiness. And Peter has identified important motivations to help us live holy lives. He's reminded us of the fear of the Lord.
Now we will continue to see that the cost of our redemption is a great motivation to holy living.
Now look. And And read these verses, 1 Peter. One verses seventeen through twenty-one. Will you read them with me? And if you call on him as father, who judges impartially according to each one's deeds.
conduct yourself with fear throughout the time of your exile. Knowing that you are ransomed from the futile ways inherited from your forefathers. not with perishable things such as silver or gold, but with the precious blood of Christ, like that of a lamb without blemish or spot. He was foreknown before the foundation of the world. But was made manifest in the last times for the sake of you who through him are believers in God.
who raised them from the dead. and gave him glory.
So that your faith and hope are in God. Amen. Please be seated. First of all, we want to see, as we look at verse 17, that the fear of God motivates holy living. The fear of God motivates holy living.
Verse seventeen. And if you call on him as father, Who judges impartially according to each one's deeds, conduct yourself with fear. throughout the time of your exile. We are to conduct our lives in the fear of God. The fear of the Lord.
is this. It's the sense of awe. That you're in awe of. Of God. A sense of reverence, a sense of respect.
Not dread, not condemnation, not thinking of God in that sense, but a sense that He is God.
Now there's a second one. The fear of God motivates holy living. Secondly, The cost of redemption. motivates poly living. We are CT knowing.
That you are ransomed from the futile ways inherited from your forefathers. not with perishable things as silver or gold. But with the precious blood of Christ, Like that of a lamb without blemish or spot. He was foreknown before the foundation of the world, but was made manifest in the last times for the sake of you. The cost of our Redemption.
And Peter now deals with this concept of redemption. The Romans and the Greeks often took prisoners of war. who were then made slaves. In some cases, These slaves could be bought out of their captivity Someone would buy them so that the slave then could be free. The money paid to release the slave was called A ransom.
And Peter is saying to us, As he refers to this concept of ransom. that you were ransomed. Let's see what you mean.
Well By nature we're slaves to sin. And we can't free ourselves. We can't redeem ourselves. Oh, someone says, Well, I'm a very wealthy individual, and I will be able to pay my ransom. No, says Peter.
No, notice what he says. You were ransomed. not with perishable things as silver. Or gold. Silver gold.
Precious, highly desirable metals. but they're not sufficient to pay for your redemption. But Peter is saying, listen, you're ransom, the price to be paid cannot be paid by these precious metals, these highly desirable metals. Why? He says, how does he describe them?
Perishable things, a silver and gold. See, perishable. People invest in gold, it rises in value spiritually. It's perishable. It's destructible, it's corruptible.
No spiritual value at all. You can have Millions of dollars in gold, it cannot purchase your salvation. Can't purchase you. Verse 14, from your former ignorance. Peter refers in verse 18 to your futile ways.
Life without Jesus Christ is ultimately futile. It's a chasing after wind. That's another way, is it? Notice he says Have we redeemed verse 19? with a precious blood of Christ.
Central to the idea of redemption is the payment of a price. We couldn't pay the ransom ourselves. Our sin amounts to an impossible debt. What's the ransom price? The precious blood of Christ.
Jesus says in the Gospels That the Son of Man did not come to be served, but to serve and to give his life. Remember what we say is the word ransom. For many. How am I going to be ransomed? How am I going to be freed from my sin?
How am I going to be saved?
Something that I can do? My riches, my wealth, my education, my accomplishments, absolutely not. All of the silver and gold in the world cannot be compared to a drop of the precious blood of Christ. Notice how Peter describes this lamb. He says like that of a lamb.
without blemish. Or spot. If you're familiar with the Bible, your mind goes back, doesn't it, to Exodus 12? The day of the Passover, the day of redemption, that great day in the history of Israel when there were slaves in Egypt. How were they going to escape?
How were they going to be redeemed? A lamb was going to be taken, not just any lamb, the best lamb you had, without spot, without blemish, and it was going to be killed. And his blood was going to be put on the doorpost. And when the angel of death came, when it saw the blood, it would pass over. And so the people are redeemed, they are saved.
This idea of redemption then is rooted in the Old Testament. Our redemption from our sin is likened to the Exodus from Egypt. They were physical slaves. In bondage, we are spiritual slaves, and we are redeemed, we are set free. The price is paid not by our accomplishment, but by the precious lamb.
of God who is without blemish. Our spa, don't you love that?
So John the Baptist says of Jesus, Behold, The Lamb of God. Who takes away the sin? of the world. John in the book of Revelation, as he looks at worship in heaven, He sees a lamb standing as though it had been slain. And he alone is worthy to take the scroll and to open its seals.
For you were slain, and by your blood you ransomed people. There it is. Ransom people for God. Listen to this vines. From every tribe.
and language and people and nation. We sometimes wonder, don't we, about missions? As we were Showing our deep appreciation of Vince for years spent at missions here at Calvary and.
So much is done and Sometimes we wonder, is there anything happening? Yes, there is a lot happening. People are being ransomed. from every tribe. from every language, from every people and nation.
And they in heaven surround the Lamb and say he alone is worthy. Think of it when our Lord Jesus was on earth. Think of the scrutiny. That he was under all of his life. The Pharisees The scribes, the Herodians, the elders.
Constantly were trying to find fault with him. But there was no flaw. No spot, no blemish in their Lord. Imagine if I took someone up here And uh said Over this past year Can anyone out there p find fault? with our individual.
Supposing I selected one of the pastors, Jim Cashwell. It was up here. Right.
Some of you know Jim very well. And I say to you. And do you find any? thing that Jim has said they've done wrong. What do you think?
Every single one without exception, someone would point a finger. And say you said that You did that. You didn't do this. You weren't particularly kind in that situation. What you said there, what you did there.
Far less what you're thinking. But think of our Lord Jesus Christ under intense scrutiny all of his life. And at the beginning of his ministry, even the demons describe him as the holy one of God. And after 30 years of obscurity, At the baptism of our Lord. His God and his father.
Who knew the heart of his son declares from an open heaven, this. is my beloved son. in whom I'm well pleased. A perfect sun. coming from a perfect father.
And they attacked him and they scrutinized him. And they argued with him to find some fault in the Lamb of God. The man who betrayed him, Judas said, I've sinned by betraying innocent blood. Pilate, his judge, said, I find no fault in him. The thief on the cross said, And we indeed justly, for we're receiving the due reward of our deeds, but this man.
has done nothing wrong. This Is the perfect Sinless Saviour, without blemish, without sin. Therefore, He and He alone is the only one who can take away the sin of the world. And this means that vital to authentic Christianity is the cross of Christ. That's why we have a cross.
On the roof, someone said to me the other day, I've come to Calvary and I don't see a cross. I said, You need to look up. There it is. Central To authentic Christianity is the cross.
Some churches today are so enamored with social justice or political action that the cross of Christ. is being de-emphasized or even ignored. An unbelieving world is very accepting of an uncrucified Jesus. Unbelievers are quite happy to talk about that Jesus Who gave a good example, who gave some teaching, perhaps even who did some miracles, and perhaps he was a prophet. But central.
to authentic Christianity. Central to uh Orthodox, historic Christianity is the cross, that our Lord Jesus Christ comes. as the Lamb of God. We believe that He died for our sins. His blood was shed.
So that we could live. In my place, as we sometimes sing. Condemned he Stirred. Yes, our sins. Your sins and mine, put them on the cross.
Yet in His amazing grace, He died that we might be free. His blood is shed for our redemption. And we are free as followers of Christ. We're free from the pollution of sin. We're free from the power of sin.
We're free from condemnation. We're free from our enemy. We are free from the bondage of death. We are redeemed. We are set free.
And we must never ever go back to the life that we lived before coming to Christ. That's what Peter is saying. Understand. What Christ has done. That you've been rescued Why would you go back to the time of your ignorance?
Why would you go back to a futile way of living, living without God? It's unthinkable when you think of the sacrifice of our Lord Jesus Christ. The one who made us our Creator is also now our Redeemer. Little boy built a boat. Sailed in the sea.
And lost it. He's very crestfallen. A few months later, He saw his boat for sale in a store. And he went in and he told the owner, he said, That's my boat. And the owner said, Well, Uh it's my no.
If you want the boat, You must buy it. Little boy went home and told his father. And so the father came. and paid for the boat. A little boy took the boat and said, This boat is mine twice.
I made it. And I bought it. Think of this. Followers of Christ. God made you.
You're made an image of God. And now he has redeemed us. He owns us. He owns us by creation, but he owes us by redemption because we have been redeemed by the precious blood of Christ. He's bought us back.
And understanding, this is the point I want you to get, understanding. The cost of our redemption is a powerful motivation. The Holy Living. Alexander White tells the story of the man who dreamt. That you saw Jesus.
Tied or whipping post. And the soldier is scourging him. He saw the whip in the soldier's hand, and saw on the whip there were pieces of lead and bone. intended to cut into the flesh. And as the soldier brought the whip down on the bare back, the bare shoulders of Jesus Uh the dreamers shuddered.
when he saw the marks and the bloodstain. left behind. And when the soldier raised his hand to once again bring down the the whip. On the back of Jesus, the man in his dream rushed forward to stop it, and as he did so, the soldier turned. And he saw it was himself.
Do you believe that? That your sins Think of the harder. and the awfulness of our sin that put Christ on the tree. We dare not regard the blood of Christ lightly. It's the price of our redemption and it must change.
Yes, how we view ourselves. How we view God and His grace, how we view the precious blood of our Lord Jesus Christ, that because He died and bore the price and was buried and rose again, I can now live. How can we pursue unholiness? in such a situation. Twas I that shared The sacred blood.
This is Horatius Bonner, the Scottish minister. He writes. T'was I that shed the sacred blood, I nailed him to the tree, I crucified the Christ of God. I joined the mockery. Around the cross, the throng I see mocking my Saviour's groans.
Yet still my voice It seems to me. As if I mocked. Alone. Who put Christ on the tree? Your sins And mine.
And the cross therefore changes everything. And now Peter is saying, You've been redeemed with this precious blood of Christ, the one who was without blemish and without spot, the Holy One.
Now you who follow Him live a holy life. To continue to live as you once lived is to deny the value of the death of Christ. There's the old Easter hymn. There is a green hill far away. Without a city wall, It goes on to say, He died that we might be forgiven.
He died to make us Good. That is, the precious blood of Christ has sanctifying power as well as saving power. Christ died, yes. To forgive us. Ah, but also to make us good.
to make us faithful. to make us holy. How then? Can you damble? and sin.
Consider The price of our forgiveness, the precious blood. of Christ. Peter is saying in here in verse 20 that we're living in the last times. That Christ has come from eternal glory, he says in verse 20, for the sake of. Yeah.
This is very personal, isn't it? My sin put Christ on the tree. He died for me. The gospel is not only to be understood intellectually, it's to be personally received. And accept it.
that I've been redeemed with the precious blood of Christ. Paul says in Ephesians 1, in him that is in Christ, we have redemption through his blood. The forgiveness of our trespasses according to the riches of His grace which He lavished upon us. That we have been redeemed, we've been set free. Is that true of you?
Have you been to the cross? I need Do you know what I'm talking about? When I say I've known Christ personally. Not just to understand, but to respond by faith, to place your faith in this one who loved you and gave himself for you, and to have this personal relationship with Christ, a transforming relationship, not just in your head, not just as a churchgoer. But as one who knows Christ, one who is following Christ.
And Peter is saying here in verse 21, who was raised with power, raised from the dead, and gave him glory, so that your faith and hope are in God. Your faith in God. This we do know. That is, we put our faith Yeah. and our hope in God.
That we will be unshakable, that God is with us. And if God is with us, who can be against us? Peter is saying, God Christ gave. It's precious blood for you. No, Liv.
A holy life. Our Father and our God, we seek to do that. We confess we're unable to do so in our own strength.
So strengthen us. You're faithful and just to forgive us our sins and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness. But may. That precious blood shed for us motivate us.
So live for Christ wholeheartedly. To seek first the kingdom of God, to live in the fear of God, so that we may please you and be a blessing to others. In Christ's name we pray. Amen. This is the verdict with Pastor John Monroe, and the conclusion of a message titled: The Ransom is Paid.
John will be back in a moment, so stay with us. Today's powerful message reminds us of the immeasurable value of Christ's sacrifice. God's perfect Lamb, without spot or blemish, who gave His life as our ransom. As we contemplate these eternal truths, you might want to deepen your understanding of God's redemptive plan and future promises. That's why we're pleased to offer you John's helpful booklet for the time is near: Lessons from Revelation.
This resource helps you understand the finished work of Christ with His coming return. Discover key themes such as the centrality of Jesus Christ. God's prophetic calendar. and what scripture teaches about heaven. To receive your free copy, simply visit us at theverdict.org.
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Now, here's Pastor John Monroe with closing remarks.
Well, what's your verdict? First of all, can you truly say that your sins are forgiven? Do you have the assurance of salvation? That salvation and that assurance of salvation come from claiming the promises of God, entrusting His Son, our Lord Jesus Christ. If you are saved, you belong to Jesus Christ.
You're following Him. And the more you meditate on the cost of your redemption, the holier you will be. Join me next time as we continue considering the brilliant teaching of Peter. and this important concept of holy living. Thanks for joining us today on The Verdict.
I'm Michelle Davies. Today's program with Pastor John Monroe was produced and sponsored by Calvary Church in Charlotte, North Carolina.
