Today on the verdict with Pastor John Monroe. Peter now deals with this concept of redemption. The Romans and the Greeks often took prisoners of war. who were then made slaves. 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. Welcome to the verdict, featuring the Bible teaching of Pastor John Monroe, senior pastor of Calvary Church in Charlotte, North Carolina. Today, we're continuing in 1 Peter, exploring our motivations for holy living. While salvation is by grace alone through faith alone, Scripture teaches that our transformed lives should reflect our new identity in Christ.
Today, John examines two compelling motivations that inspire our godly living. What does the word holy conjure in your mind? Monks in a monastery, a large cathedral, Religious rituals? Followers of Christ worship a holy God, but it's difficult for us to think that we could ever be holy. Even the perfect angels in heaven cannot look directly at the Lord.
He dwells in unapproachable light. Yet, nonetheless, as we've seen in 1 Peter chapter 1, we are called to be holy as God is holy. The Apostle Peter was a very practical man, a fisherman. and he was the leader of the twelve apostles. For three years, he had followed the Holy Son of God.
He had seen him in action, listened to his teaching. He had even seen the risen Christ.
So Peter reminds us to be holy, but also gives us several wonderful motivations to be like our Lord Jesus Christ. Today, we return to our study of First Peter. Welcome. We're glad that you're with us. And what what we do, we have a high view of scripture and so we come Not to hear my opinion or anyone else's opinion, not really to hear about church, but rather to hear from God.
And the way we hear from God is to read and study His Word. We believe the Bible is the Word of God. It is inspired by God. It is without error. It is sufficient for all that we need for our salvation and for our spiritual growth.
And the inner study of Peter, we come today To 1 Peter chapter 1. If you've got a Bible, you can open it there. 1 Peter chapter 1, and we're looking at verses 17 through 21. Up to this point, Peter has presented our so great salvation in our Lord Jesus Christ. And now, having presented the magnificence of our Saviour, he now calls us to holiness.
He quotes from the Old Testament and says, You shall be holy, for I am holy. God the Father is holy. God the Son is holy. The Spirit is holy. We refer to the Spirit as the Holy Spirit.
And we who are followers of Jesus Christ, Peter is saying, are now called to live holy lives. That is, following Jesus Christ must make a difference in how we live. One thing to sing, one thing to talk, one thing even to preach, is another thing, isn't it, to live. And Peter is telling us that being a follower of Jesus Christ makes a difference. He's writing to people who are suffering, who are in very difficult circumstances, but they are to shine for Christ.
Can I say, don't justify your sin, don't justify your unholiness by comparing yourself to what is happening in the surrounding society. By nature, And by practice, we are unholy people. Try as we might, we cannot live holy lives. But this of course drives us to the brilliance and the uniqueness of the Christian gospel. That Jesus Christ, the Son of God, as we celebrated over Christmas, Jesus Christ, the Son of God, comes from heaven to earth, and He and He alone of all of the people who ever walked on this earth, He is the only, perfectly holy one.
And he comes to die on the cross for our sins. That is the Holy One. Takes the place of we who are unholy. He's perfectly good, we are evil. He dies in our place.
He is perfectly holy, and he takes our unholiness.
So the Bible says, this is the gospel, that Christ died. For our sins, according to the scriptures. And when we receive Jesus Christ as our Savior and our Lord, A miracle happens. He takes all of our sin, and we receive His holiness. And this imputed righteousness, this imputed holiness, that is, this holiness.
Which is transferred to us, which is credited to our account, becomes ours at the moment of our salvation. This is our justification. But now this holiness is to be lived out in our daily life. The theological word for that is our sanctification. We are justified as our sins are forgiven, as our sin is placed on Christ and we receive His holiness.
And now we are called, wherever we are, to live a life which is different, a life like Christ. This is our sanctification. This is what it means to become more and more like Jesus. And in our pursuit of holiness, Peter has told us in verses 13 through 16 that we are to be mentally alert. We can be very sleepy in our thoughts, can't we?
Mentally alert, self-disciplined. hopeful and obedient. How are we going to do this? What's the state in which I am to be now? I am to be mentally alert.
I'm to be self-disciplined. I'm to be hopeful. We were singing about our living hope. And we are to be obedient children of our Father. We learned previously that we belong to the family of God.
Peter says here in verse 17 that you call on God as Father. We are now, as followers of Jesus Christ. Placed in the family of God. God is my Father. And an understanding of that motivates us to live holy lives.
Now, in verses 17 through 21, Peter is going to give us two more powerful motivations to help us live holy lives. Anyone got any regrets over the past year?
Some things you wish you'd never said.
Some things you wish you had said.
Some things you wish you had done that you didn't do.
Some things that you did which you now wish you didn't do. Anyone like that? The answer is yes, all of us are like that. As we look back, There are mountaintops spiritually, there's also valleys. And we realize But if we are going to live holy lives in this society, This is going to be miraculous, and we're going to be transformed by the gospel of Jesus Christ.
And this is what we want, isn't it? Being and making authentic followers of Jesus Christ.
Now let. Stand and read these verses, 1 Peter. One verses seventeen through 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. Would you say that you conducted your life In the fear of God.
over the past year. I think previous generations were more aware of the fear of the Lord. Growing up, certainly was something I heard from my grandparents and my parents, the fear. of the Lord. You say, well, should we be afraid of God?
Paul talks of those unbelievers in Romans 6, he quotes from the Old Testament, and says, There is no fear of God before their eyes. If you don't have a fear of God, you will live your own life. You will do what you want. You will be self-centered. Selfish, self-indulgent, self-absorbed.
Peter is saying no, we are to Conduct ourselves with fear throughout the time of your exile. The fear of the Lord, Solomon says, the wisest man who ever lived, the fear of the Lord is the beginning of wisdom. Psalm 128, verse 1: How blessed is everyone who fears the Lord. who walks in these ways. The man, the woman.
Who fears the Lord is a blessed person. We walk in his Waves.
Now you say I'm not Too excited about this concept of the fear of the Lord?
Well, let's think of it. The fear of the Lord. Is this? It's the sense of awe. We use that word awesome in a trivial way, don't we?
Something You go to But now I'd go to a restaurant and and We ordered Um Not scotch, no. We ordered ginger ale or water. And the waitress says, that's awesome. Think what? What's awesome about ordering a drink.
That's awesome. This pizza is awesome. That's awesome. No, it's mediocre. It's not awesome at all.
The sense of awesome is a sense of awe. Do you? Have a sense of all. As you came into the sanctuary this morning. to worship God.
Did you have a sense that you're in awe 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. He is the Lord. He's the creator of the heavens and the earth.
He's not the big guy upstairs. We don't refer to God like that. He is. The Lord of eternity And says Peter to the suffering saints in the first century: as you live your life, remember this: that you're to conduct yourself. In the fear of the Lord, an awareness of living.
In the presence of the Lord.
Now this concept that the Lord is with us is very comforting, isn't it? We love that, that God is with us, that in my difficulty, in my trouble, in my bereavement. When I lose my job, when things are down, that God is with me. A great concept, but. Also think of it this way.
It's a sense of that if God is with me, If God's at my side, There's a sense of awe. A sense of Reverence. Peter has told us. That you call on him as father. That's a tremendous privilege, isn't it?
This great God is my father. Yes, but says Peter. He's a father who judges impartially according to each one's deeds. He's a loving father, but he's also a just judge. As a judge, Unlike human judges, he's perfect in his justice.
He is impartial. He does many favorites. He's not going to compromise because you're a special case or you look for some legal loophole. No. God is a perfect Judge.
He sees everything you do, and therefore you are to fear him. Why? Because you're accountable to him. Peter says you do this Throughout the time of your exile. He's reminded them at the beginning of the chapter that they're strangers, they're aliens, they're sojourners, that this world isn't our home.
We just heard sung.
Soon and very soon the Lord is coming.
Soon, all of us are going to be in the presence of the Lord. Therefore, Remember that you're about to go home to Celestial City, to use John Bunyan's words.
So conduct your life in the fear of the Lord. Our Heavenly Father. disciplines us, doesn't he? Just as a wise parent does a child, disciplines.
So when we stray, our father in love, yes. But he disciplines us because he's also our judge. We are accountable to Him. Paul says, Each one of us will appear before the judgment seat of Christ in 2 Corinthians 5. There's a day of accountability, therefore I am to fear the Lord.
Yesterday I was reading the opening chapters of Deuteronomy. And remarking There as Moses Is giving the law to the people, he's telling them to fear the Lord by obeying his commands. How do you demonstrate That you really are living in the fear of the Lord many ways, but number one, you obey your Father. Just think of it. In a physical sense, as you grow up, Or growing up.
My father was loving. I respected him. But he's also the father who would discipline me sometimes. And there's a sense in which I wanted to please my father, but when I did wrong, he would correct me. You say, did you look on him primarily as a judge?
No, I looked on him primarily as a loving father, but he was also. an individual who believed in discipline. and accountability. God is our perfect Father. Loves you.
You're greatly loved. But now As you live your life. Obey your father. Peter has said in verse 14: As obedient children, don't be conformed to the passions of your former ignorance, don't live as you once lived. Again, reflect over the last year.
Any unholy conduct. Or attitudes. Trapped into your life. How's that? Anything's begun to come into your life?
What about your speech? What about what you've looked at on social media? on television. What about your thoughts? But your actions.
Any unholiness? And the year isn't it isn't it time? That we repented. and resolved To live a holy life in the fear of the Lord. You may have seen this plaque in a house, used to be very common.
Christ, some of you may have this in your home. Christ is the head of this house. The unseen guest at every meal. the silent listener to every conversation.
Now when you read that, does that comfort you or does it convict you? Wonderful to know that Christ is the head of the house, that He's watching over our house, that He's protecting us. We pray for that, don't we? As a family, certainly as fathers, you pray for the protection. And how wonderful to know that Christ is the head of this church.
Yes, He's delegated His authority to husbands, to fathers. But it's the unseen gas at every meal. He's listening to your conversation. The silent listener to every conversation. You sit down and watch television, he's there.
As you speak, he's there. That's the point, isn't it? Of living in the fear of the Lord. An awareness of the Lord's presence is a great motivation to holy conversation. Holy behavior in our lives.
The fear of the Lord, tremendous comfort. But also, I trust a tremendous motivation to live a holy life.
Now there's a second one. The fear of God. Motivates holy living. Secondly, The cost of redemption. motivates poly living.
The cost of our redemption motivates holy living. Verse 18, knowing That you were 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. Freedom is purchased by a ransom being paid. We still have the concept of ransom. Today?
Someone is kidnapped, they kidnapped a child of a celebrity. and the kidnappers make a demand. They asked for a ransom. If you pay five million dollars, your two-year-old daughter will be released. On the payment of a price, on the payment of a ransom, an individual is going to be free.
We understand that, I think. Don't wait. 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. Jesus said that in John 8: the one who commits sin is a slave to sin. Slaves and we can't free ourselves. We can 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 or gold. Precious, highly desirable metals. but they're not sufficient to pay for your redemption.
Now those of you who invest in gold have had a great year. Imagine having a thousand troy ounces of gold. Uh that's about two million dollars. A lot of money, highly desirable. Gold.
Silver.
Now economy these poor people didn't have silver, didn't have gold. Uh they were poor people. But Peter is saying, listen, you're ransomed, 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 as silver and gold. Say perishable. People invest in gold. It it it rises in value. Uh spiritually.
It's perishable. It's destructible, it's corruptible. No spiritual value at all. You can have Millions of dollars in gold, they cannot purchase your salvation. This is the verdict with Pastor John Monroe and the start of a message titled: The Ransom is Paid.
John will be back in a moment with closing remarks. But first, let me tell you about a special resource we're offering our listeners. In today's message, Jean highlighted how we should live with an eternal perspective. Always remembering that Christ died for us. To help you continue to develop this biblical big picture, We'd like to send you a free copy of John's insightful booklet.
For the time is near, lessons from Revelation. This powerful guide will help you understand the key themes of the book of Revelation. And equip you to read this important but sometimes confusing book of scripture with confidence. Request your free copy today by visiting our website at theverdict.org. And when you do, don't forget to sign up for John's monthly email newsletter to stay in the loop with everything that's coming up here at the verdict.
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Now, here's Pastor John Monroe with his closing remarks.
Well, what's your verdict? What do you think about being holy? Do you have a desire to be a holy person? In our sleazy world, there are not many examples of holy living. But there's much which would distract us from following Jesus Christ.
We might also reflect on those people who are self-righteous. And they're often hypocrites. The closer we follow Jesus, the more we look to Him. The more we hear his teaching, the more we will be like him. and the holier we will be.
So look to Christ. Be holy. As God is holy. 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.
