Lifestyle & Accountability God's Way: 1 Peter 1:17 (NIV) |
By
Spencer Gear [1]
|
For the last
13 years in the Wide-Bay Burnett region of
There is a constant that is ever before me: What will it take to have families and individuals healed so that these issues are solved or prevented from happening? Another burden is on my heart: Where can I find a community of people who will be an example for these fractured folks to see and receive help from?
We, the Christian church, need to demonstrate radically different relationships in our families and churches. Too often, the conflict in our families and in the church is such a poor example of what Christ wants to be and do in our families and church.
Where can I find a Christian community that is an example – a radical example – of loving, caring, relationships and that have a real burden to reach the lost folks of this community? A Christian community that will make the world sit up and take notice?
Peter cuts to the heart of this issue. In 1:10, he stated, "Concerning this salvation."
In
vv. 10-12, he links the salvation to the prophets and then Christ's sufferings
and the Gospel.
But in vv.
13-16, he says, THEREFORE, and links this salvation to your lifestyle as
Christians:
- Setting your hope fully/completely in the correct direction (v. 13);
- You must be holy (v. 15).
Now Peter continues this emphasis on the need for a vital Christian community, its salvation, and a lifestyle that stands out. But this time he reminds us of our accountability. Why should we live Christian lives of holiness & hope?
The MAIN THRUST of my message from this passage (v. 17) is: Since
you have experienced "this salvation", your life must show that you
are radically different through accountability.
There's another command here that comes with lots of meat associated
with it.
II. Your salvation means, your lifestyle & accountability must be done God's way (v. 17). |
"Since you call on a Father who judges each person's work
impartially, live out your time as foreigners here in reverent fear"
(1:17, TNIV).
We understand the
meaning of "accountability" as the one who checks up on you.
Who checks on how well you do your work in your employment? He or she is
the person to whom you are accountable. Who supervises your
actions? In living your Christian life here on this earth, who supervises
your lifestyle? To whom are you accountable – ultimately?
A. This salvation
means that you are accountable to God the Father
1. "Since you call on a
Father" (v. 17)
But the
Greek text literally says "And since a father you call on." Why
is this? Because if you are going to live a lifestyle of accountability, God's
way, your responsibility to your heavenly Father is at the centre of your
accountability.
Not any old father, but God the Father. This is the language repeated many times in the OT. Take passages like:
Ps. 89:26: "He will call out to me, 'You are my Father, my God, the Rock my Savior.'"
Jer. 3:19: "I myself said, 'How gladly would I treat you like sons and give you a desirable land, the most beautiful inheritance of any nation.' I thought you would call me 'Father' and not turn away from following me."
Isa. 63:16: "But you are our Father, though Abraham does
not know us or
Remember the beginning of the Lord's prayer? When you pray, when you call on Him, whom are you calling on? "This, then, is how you should pray: 'Our Father in heaven . . ." (Matt. 6:9).
Paul to the Romans wrote of the Holy Spirit: "And by him we cry, 'Abba,
Father.'"
Why is it important for the Scriptures to emphasise that God is our Father? Remember back in v. 14 of this chapter, Peter wrote to these believers as "obedient children." He is our heavenly Father, we are his obedient children AND as obedient children, we can expect at the end of this life that we will get either his approval or reproof.
The Scriptures are clear here and elsewhere that for all believers . . .
2. He "judges each [person's] [2]
work impartially" (v. 17)
There are no dud judges in
God's court. He judges with absolute
justice and there are no favourites with him.
This emphasis comes elsewhere in Scripture.
- James 2:1-9, God does not show favouritism, to the rich or to the poor.
- Rom. 2:11, "For God does not show favoritism" to Jew or Gentile.
- Eph. 6:9, "And masters, treat your slaves in the same way. Do
not
threaten them, since you know that he who is both their Master and yours is in
heaven, and there is no favoritism with him."
- Col. 3:25, "Anyone who does wrong will be repaid for his wrong, and there is no favoritism."
Are you living
daily for the approval of other Christians? Do you live so that your
church leaders will play favourites with you? I think many of us would
say that we are living for the Lord's approval, but if that is so:
Why is there such conflict among us? If we were living for God's approval, shouldn’t we relate to one another in a godly way that will gain God's approval? I'm speaking to me as much as to you: I must think before I speak so that I am living in a godly way in my speech. I ask you: What have you done this week, this month, that would gain the Lord's approval: "Well done good and faithful servant"? [3] OR, "That was a lousy job and I, the Father, am shocked with your performance after you became a Christian. I am displeased with you."
3. What will God, the Father, judge?
We must be very clear on this
point. Who is Peter addressing? Go back to v. 1, "God's elect." In v. 4,
he wrote of those who have been given "new birth into a living
hope." V. 10, "Concerning this salvation." He's
addressing Christians. So, when he says that he will judge each person's
work impartially, he is NOT talking about judging you as to whether you are
going to heaven or not.
Whether you or saved or not, is based on what you have
done with the crucified risen Lord. What have you done with the salvation
through Christ's death that has been offered to you? Have you
repented of your sin, accepted his salvation by faith, and are you continuing
to live a Christ-honouring life? If you have, Paul declares in Rom.
8:1, "There is now no condemnation for those who are in Christ
Jesus."
So this is included in the final judgment of Matt. 25:31-46
when the sheep are separated from the goats. But, for the Christian, it
is NOT the judgment for sinners who are still in unbelief. Christ took
the sin punishment for you and me and you are declared righteous when you
repent. This is the judgment of your actions AFTER salvation for your rewards.
Your sins were taken care of when you repented. Here the sheep will be
judged to receive rewards, based on their actions during their Christian
life. Unbelievers will be judged for their sins of unbelief.
Paul to the Romans wrote: "You, then, why do you judge
your brother? Or why do you look down on your brother? For we will all stand
before God's judgment seat. It is written: 'As surely as I live,' says the
Lord, 'every knee will bow before me; every tongue will confess to God.' So
then, each of us will give an account of himself to God" (Rom. 14:10-12).
Paul to the Corinthians: "For we must all
appear before the judgment seat of Christ, that each one may receive what is
due him for the things done while in the body, whether good or bad"(2 Cor.
5:10).
It is important for believers to understand that this
judgment of believers "will be a judgment to evaluate and bestow
various degrees of reward. . . but the fact that they will face such judgment
should never cause believers to fear that they will be eternally
condemned. Jesus said, 'Whoever hears my word and believes him who sent
me has eternal life. He does not come into judgment, but has passed from death
to life' (John 5:24) '" (Grudem 1994, p. 1143).
What
actions in your life will give you God's favourable judgment? 2 Cor. 5:9,
"So whether we are at home or away, we make it our aim to please
him." What does a life look like that is pleasing to God, and that
will lead to his positive, impartial assessment of the deeds of our
lives?
You will get God's "well done, good and faithful
servant" when you do what God considers is good and faithful. One of
the best recipes for that is to live a life governed by the fruit of the Spirit
in Gal. 5:16-26:
So I say, live by the Spirit, and you will not gratify the desires of
the sinful nature. For the sinful nature desires what is contrary to the
Spirit, and the Spirit what is contrary to the sinful nature. They are in
conflict with each other, so that you do not do what you want. But if you are
led by the Spirit, you are not under law.
The acts of the
sinful nature are obvious: sexual immorality, impurity and debauchery [ie
eagerness for lustful pleasure (4)]; idolatry and witchcraft; hatred, discord,
jealousy, fits of rage, selfish ambition, dissensions, factions and envy;
drunkenness, orgies, and the like. I warn you, as I did before, that those who
live like this will not inherit the
But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, patience,
kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness and self-control. Against such
things there is no law. Those who belong to Christ Jesus have crucified the
sinful nature with its passions and desires. Since we live by the Spirit, let
us keep in step with the Spirit. Let us not become conceited, provoking and
envying each other."
In your daily life
with your family, your employment, living in this community, you will gain the
better, fair judgment from God if what you do is determined by these kinds of
attitudes and actions every day::
- I will respond lovingly
to all people today.
- I will have a joyful
attitude today, whether I am shy, serious or jovial.
- Today, I will do all in
my power to promote peace in the church, at home, on the job, in my
community.
- With God's help, I will
be patient with all people today.
- Today I will be kind to
that difficult person.
- I will do what God
considers to be good today and this week. I cannot know what is good
without studying God's Word.
- I will act faithfully to
my spouse, children, boss and employees, my community, and most of all to
my Lord today.
- I will seek to do all
things today in the gentlest way towards all people.
- Lord, I need your help to
be self-controlled in all my actions today – especially with my
anger, eating food, the types of things I view. In what areas of
self-control, do you need the Holy Spirit's help?
Since they are the fruit of God's Holy Spirit, he needs to be the one to spiritually water your life so that His fruit will grow. I do not know how I can have the Holy Spirit's fruit growing in my life without spending daily time in the presence of God's Holy Spirit Himself. Daily time in the Word and in prayer are critical to developing fruit that will last.
Is God the central person in your life. Are you living so that when your work is judged impartially by God the Father, you will get this decision, "Well done, good and faithful servant."
This verse continues in dealing with our lives.
4. You are to "live your lives as
strangers" (v. 17)
Do you ever feel you are out of place in this wicked world?
"This world is not my home, I'm just a passing through." Please
note what v. 17 (NIV) says, "Live your lives as strangers." The
ESV reads: "Throughout the time of your exile." In v. 1 of this
chapter, there is a different word, but a similar idea: believers are
"strangers in the world." Here, the view is that we are living
alongside our non-Christian neighbours as "pilgrims or strangers."
It's the same word that appears in Acts 7:6, where it speaks of Abraham, whose
"descendants will be strangers in a foreign country."
Peter
is preparing us for what he will tell us in 2:11, "I urge you, as aliens
and strangers in the world." That's for another time.
If you are true believers and you find yourself out of step with what is happening in the world, that's the way it ought to be. I'm not talking about being mean-spirited to unbelievers and separating ourselves from contact with them. That would be contrary to the general emphasis of the Bible.
I did my master's degree
counsellor training at Ashland
Theological Seminary in
That's what we are to do: "Live as strangers" (v. 17).
- God the Father is the
impartial judge;
- He is the judge of each Christian's work while on earth;
- While on earth,
Christians are to live as strangers;
- As strangers, accountable to God, Christians are to do it . . .
5.
In reverent fear
(v. 17)
Remember the core of this verse? We deal with God the Father who is the impartial judge of our works. How are we to live in his presence? "In reverent fear." What does this mean biblically? It seems to be a country mile from the views of the seeker-sensitive, user friendly evangelical church today.
a. Whom should we fear?
The devil? Absolutely not! This is the "reverent fear" of God the Father, as this verse states.
b. What does it mean to fear God?
Let me share a few
other Scriptures with you so that we understand the absolute importance of
the fear of God:
- Ps. 112:1, "Praise
the LORD. Blessed is the man who fears the LORD, who finds great delight
in his commands." The word, "fear" as it relates to
God, appears 49 times [5] in the Book of Psalms.
- Ps. 2:11, "Serve the
LORD with fear and rejoice with trembling."
- Isa 8:13, "The LORD
Almighty is the one you are to regard as holy, he is the one you are to
fear, he is the one you are to dread."
- Prov. 1:7, "The fear
of the LORD is the beginning of knowledge."
- Remember Job? Job 1:8-12 reads:
Then the LORD said to Satan, "Have you considered my servant Job?
There is no one on earth like him; he is blameless and upright, a man who fears
God and shuns evil."
"Does
Job fear God for nothing?" Satan replied. "Have you not put a hedge
around him and his household and everything he has? You have blessed the
work of his hands, so that his flocks and herds are spread throughout the land.
But stretch out your hand and strike everything he has, and he will surely
curse you to your face."
The LORD
said to Satan, "Very well, then, everything he has is in your hands, but
on the man himself do not lay a finger."
Then Satan went out from the presence of
the LORD.
In Job 23:14-17, Job replies to God:
"He [God] carries out his decree against me,
and many such plans he still has in store.
That is why I am terrified before him;
when I think of all this, I fear him.
God has made my heart faint;
the Almighty has terrified me.
Yet I am not silenced by the darkness,
by the thick darkness that covers my
face."
Job feared God, but it did not stop devastation in his life, that was allowed by God.
What does it mean to have "reverent fear" of the Father?
A.W. Tozer said that one of the perils for the preacher is "when he loses his solemn fear in the presence of the High and Holy One." [6]
What is the fear of the Lord?
"It does not mean fear in our usual sense of being afraid. It means rather to quake or tremble in the presence of a Being so holy, so morally superior, so removed from evil, that in his presence, human boasting, human pride, human arrogance vanish as we bow in speechless humility, reverence, and adoration of the One beyond understanding." [7]
This fear of God is not a dread or terror of Him in an horrific sense. It is a loving reverence of him that finds us falling on our faces before him in willing obedience to his commands.
The fear of God includes trust in God, knowledge of God from creation and His Word, recognition of God's claim on my life. It is awe of the power and holiness of God. When I fear God, I cherish the sense of His presence. I tremble in his presence, knowing how puny I am, and how transcendently awesome He is.
We as human beings are dependent people. We depend, not on husbands or wives, not on children, bosses or government leaders. We must not depend on ourselves. We cannot act wisely if we are our own king.
Dependent human beings must fear God. We have a duty to obey Him. We must carry out the plans of our Creator. Life is only ordered correctly for us when God is in charge. We depend on the Almighty One for our very existence.
Paul, the Apostle, knew this: He wrote in 2 Cor. 5:11, "Since, then, we know what it is to fear the Lord, we try to persuade men." You will not develop a burden to evangelise this community if you do not have an awesome fear of the Almighty, Holy God, to whom you are accountable. Do you fear Him? He is the one who judges your deeds, for rewards, with an impartial judgment.
I want to apply this message to you and me, here in the 21st century.
III. Application |
1. Who are you living to please? Whose approval is most important in your life? Your peers? Your spouse, girlfriend/boyfriend, your boss? Do you seek the approval of your pastor, the church leaders? If you seek the approval of anyone less than God the Father, you are doomed to dissatisfaction and failure.
2. Honest now, do you live each day for God the Father's, "Well done, good & faithful servant"? If you are not there yet, what do you need to change?
3. If you don't live for God the Father's approval, it probably means that you don’t really fear God as you need to. Where is your "reverent fear" of God Himself? Why don't you have it?
4. Ps. 33:8 says, "Let all the earth fear the Lord; let all the people of the world revere him."
Why is
this sense of God's awesome holiness virtually unknown among Christians
today? Why is this holy reverence and overwhelming wonder missing in our
lives and churches? How can we be so blind as to treat God as a daddy, a
good bloke, rather than falling on our faces before Him in holy awe?
The apostle John, according to Rev. 1:17, fell as if he were dead at the feet of God. The reason for this lack of fear of God becomes clear:
"When I saw him, I fell at his feet as though dead. Then he placed his right hand on me and said: 'Do not be afraid. I am the First and the Last. I am the Living One; I was dead, and behold I am alive forever and ever! And I hold the keys of death and Hades.'"
Surely, there would be profound reverence and godly fear if we suddenly found ourselves in God's presence.
In John's words, the reason he had this holy fear was: "I saw him." Our lack of passionate love for God. The fear of God is not among us because we are so far from our Lord. We need to seek Him. We need to see him and know him.
5.
What's
stopping you from being an obedient child of God the Father?
6. You will be judged by God for your actions as a believer. Do you think that you ought to be on your face pleading for God to give you an awesome, reverential fear of Him?
7. Do you understand how radical the early church was? Acts 19:18 reads, "Many of those who believed now came and openly confessed their evil deeds." But for believers, James 5:16 says that this is what should be happening among us: "Therefore confess your sins to each other and pray for each other so that you may be healed. The prayer of a righteous man is powerful and effective." Have you ever thought that our prayers may not be effective and God's healing does not take place for people in our churches when we call upon him for a miraculous intervention, because we don't confess our sins to God and to one another?
IV. Conclusion |
The fear of the Lord was the secret of the early church. When Ananias and Sapphira dropped dead in judgment because they lied to God (they trampled on the holy), Acts 5:11 says, "Great fear seized the whole church and all who heard about these events." Is it going to take this kind of judgment of people in the church to get them to sit up and take notice of the need to have an absolute holy fear of the Almighty God? Could the tsunami have been a wake-up call?
The Scriptures link an awesome, reverential fear of God with a determined
pursuit of holiness. Second Cor. 7:1 (ESV), "Since we have these
promises, beloved, let us cleanse ourselves from every defilement of body and
spirit, bringing holiness to completion in the fear of God."
Notes:
1. Spencer
Gear is a family relationships' counselling manager, doctoral student in
biblical studies, & an active Christian apologist. He may be
contacted at:
2. The NIV translated it, "man." The NRSV says, "All people." "Each one" in the NET Bible's version, which it is "each person's" in TNIV.
3. Matthew 25:21.
4. New Living Translation.
5. Psalm 2:11; 15:4; 19:9; 22:23, 25; 25:12, 14; 27:1; 31:19; 33:8, 18; 34:7, 9, ; 36:1; 40:3; 46:2; 52:6; 55:19; 56:4; 60:4; 61:5; 64:9; 66:6; 67:7; 72:5; 85:9; 86:11; 90:11; 96:9; 102:15; 103:11, 13, 17; 111:5, 10; 112:1; 115:11, 13; 118:4; 119:38, 63, 74, 120; 128:1, 4; 135:20; 145:19; 147:11.
6. A.W. Tozer, God Tells
the Man Who Cares.
7.
Caleb
Rosado, "
8. "Auschwitz-Birkenau
Memorial and Museum" (Online), available from: http://www.auschwitz.org.pl/html/eng/historia_KL/liczba_narodowosc_ofiar_ok.html [8 May 2005].
9. Charles Colson, The Body.
References:
Grudem, W. 1994, Systematic
Theology: An Introduction to Biblical Doctrine, Zondervan Publishing House,
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