1 Peter Series #3 Be Wholly As I Am Wholly

Series 1Peter “True Grace” Sermon #3  “Be Wholly As I Am Wholly”

1 Peter 5:12  “I have written to you briefly, exhorting and testifying that this is the true grace of God in which you stand.”

Three Key Words:    Suffering  –  Grace  –  Glory

Believers stand firm because they are God’s chosen pilgrims, begotten by the Father, with an untouchable inheritance, and great salvation. God’s commands are always rooted in his grace.

 Wrong Lyrics: ”Money for nothin’ and chips for free.”   “Hold me closer, Tony Danza.”

“Saving his life from this warm sausage tea.”    “Then I saw her face, now I’m gonna leave her.”

Text out of Context leaves a con. 

One bone … taken by itself it is difficult to see the whole picture.  A verse out of context …SAME!

Peter moves from identity to expression. He begins verse 13 with “So then” or “therefore.”

It’s a general rule of Bible study that whenever you see a therefore, you ask, “what’s it there for?”

Theology to ethics.

1 Peter 1:13-25

1 Peter 1:13 “So then, prepare your hearts and minds for action! Stay alert and fix your hope firmly on the marvelous grace that is coming to you. For when Jesus Christ is unveiled, a greater measure of grace will be released to you.”     

“So many of us cavalierly gloss over what he has done and zero in on what we’re to do, and that shift, though it might seem slight, makes all the difference in the world. Our obedience has its origin in God’s prior action, and forgetting that truth results in self-righteousness, …

…. pride, and despair. As you study Scripture, remember that the imperatives are always rooted in the indicatives. God calls you to become who you already are in Christ.”   E. M. Fitzpatrick

“God has not given us power to imitate Him. He has made us partakers of His nature so that we can actually be like Him. You don’t become a Christian by acting like one. We are not on a performance basis with God.”  Neil T Anderson

Romans 12:1-2  “I beseech you therefore, brethren, by the mercies of God, … be transformed by the renewing of your mind, that you may prove what is that good and acceptable and perfect will of God.”

Ephesians 4:23-24 “…be renewed in the spirit of your mind, and that you put on the new man which was created according to God, in true righteousness and holiness.”

“Your mind trying is catching up with what your spirit already knows.”  Caroline Leaf    (Switching On Your Brain)

A Mind Focused On These Four Things Will Allow You To Express Your Godly DNA In These Extreme Times:  1. His Nature  2. His Discipline  3. His Love  4. His Word

14 As God’s obedient children, never again shape your lives by the desires that you followed when you didn’t know better. 15 Instead, shape your lives to become like the Holy One who called you. 16 For Scripture says:  “You are to be holy, because I am holy.

Holy (hagios) :— Wholeness, fullness, abundance, overflowing, completely complete, — set apart for God, to be, as it were, exclusively his.

Paul Ellis “Holiness is not one aspect of God’s Character; It is the whole package in glorious unity … When the angels sing ‘Holy is the Lord,’ They are not admiring Him for His rule-keeping or sin avoidance. They are marvelling at the transcendent totality of His perfection.”

“Calling does not merely mean “invite” but conveys the idea of God’s power in bringing people from darkness to light. Just as God’s call creates light when there was darkness, so he creates life when there was death. The reference to “calling” is important, for again grace precedes demand. Otherwise the Petrine paraenesis  could be confused with the idea that human beings attain their own righteousness or that they live morally noble lives in their own strength. All holiness stems from the God who called them into the sphere of the holy.      Thomas R. Schreiner

Jesus did zero sin and he became sin we did zero right and I am the righteousness of God!

2 Peter 1:3 “By his divine power, God has given us everything we need for living a godly life. We have received all of this by coming to know him, the one who called us to himself by means of his marvelous glory and excellence.”

Billy Graham (Lifetime Guarantee) “Are Christians a truly holy people? Or are we TRYING to become a holy people?… As an oak sapling grows, it doesn’t get “oakier.” An oak is an oak. It simply matures into what it is, a full-grown oak tree.”

Jesus grew in favor, in wisdom and stature but he was every bit the son of god and Holy!!!

Luke 2:52 “And Jesus increased in wisdom and stature, and in favor with God and men.”

17 Since you call on him as your heavenly Father, the impartial Judge who judges (Judges in order to find something good. Warren Wiersbe – The Bible Exposition Commentary) according to each one’s works, live each day with holy awe and reverence throughout your time on earth.      

Inspires confidence!!!

18 For you know that your lives were ransomed once and for all from the empty and futile way of life handed down from generation to generation. It was not a ransom payment of silver and gold, which eventually perishes, 19 but the precious blood of Christ—who like a spotless, unblemished lamb was sacrificed for us.

20 This was part of God’s plan, for he was chosen and destined for this before the foundation of the earth was laid, but he has been made manifest in these last days for you. 21 It is through him that you now believe in God, who raised him from the dead and glorified him, so that you would fasten your faith and hope in God alone.

22 Now, because of your obedience to the truth, you have purified your very souls, and this empowers you to be full of love for your fellow believers. So express this sincere love toward one another passionately and with a pure heart. 23 For through the eternal and living Word of God you have been born again. And this “seed” that …

  …he planted within you can never be destroyed but will live and grow inside of you forever. For: Human beings are frail and temporary, like grass, and the glory of man fleeting like blossoms of the field. The grass dries and withers and the flowers fall off, 25  but the Word of the Lord endures forever! And this is the Word that was announced to you! 

Hebrews 10:10 (NLT) “For God’s will was for us to be made holy by the sacrifice of the body of Jesus Christ, once for all time.”

Hebrews 10:14 (TPT) “And by his one perfect sacrifice he made us perfectly holy and complete for all time!”

Acts 26:18 (AMP) “to open their [spiritual] eyes so that they may turn from darkness to light and from the power of Satan to God, that they may receive forgiveness and release from their sins and an inheritance among those who have been sanctified (set apart, made holy) by faith in Me.”

It’s not: Do Be Do Be Do Be         It is:       Be Do Be Do Be

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