13 Therefore,
your minds must be clear and ready for action. Place your confidence completely
in what God's kindness will bring you when Jesus Christ appears
again. 14 Because you are children who obey God, don't live the kind
of lives you once lived. Once you lived to satisfy your desires because you
didn't know any better. 15 But because the God who called you is holy
you must be holy in every aspect of your life. 16 Scripture says,
"Be holy, because I am holy." 17 So if you call God your
Father, live your time as temporary residents on earth in fear. He is the God
who judges all people by what they have done, and he doesn't play
favorites.18 Realize that you weren't set free from the worthless life
handed down to you from your ancestors by a payment of silver or gold which can
be destroyed. 19 Rather, the payment that freed you was the precious
blood of Christ, the lamb with no defects or imperfections. 20 He is
the lamb who was known long ago before the world existed, but for your good he
became publicly known in the last period of time. 21 Through him you
believe in God who brought Christ back to life and gave him glory. So your
faith and confidence are in God. 22 Love each other with a warm love
that comes from the heart. After all, you have purified yourselves by obeying
the truth. As a result you have a sincere love for each other. 23 You
have been born again, not from a seed that can be destroyed, but through God's
everlasting word that can't be destroyed. That's why [Scripture
says], 24"All people are like grass, and all their beauty is like a
flower of the field. The grass dries up and the flower drops
off, 25 but the word of the Lord lasts forever." This word is
the Good News that was told to you. ~ 1 Peter 1:13-25
Does
Your Life Reflect Grace or Cheapen It? This sounds like a harsh question does
it? It is one that we must ask ourselves every day. Peter explains why, the way
we live must reflect that we have total confidence that God will deliver what
He promises. That our conviction of Christ return is unwavering. We show this
not by our words but by the way we live. If we say we believe in Christ and
that He will return and the way we live is the same as our neighbor who does
not consider Christ then who will believe us? If Christ calls us to be holy
then should we not live as a holy people? Not because it will gain us anything
in Heaven, we live this way to show this world who we belong to. We are here
for a brief time we should be apprehensive of what this world has to offer us,
for our God is the one who will judge all people by what they have done, we
know He does not show in favoritism.
The
Good News is that we have been set free from the wasted life of our inheritance
handed down from Adam and Eve, not by anything of value from this world but
from the cherished blood of our Redeemer, Christ Jesus. The Perfect Lamb, the
Son who knew no sin who became sin for our sake. The Word that nothing created
would exist except for Him who is and will be publicly known throughout the
entire globe at the end time. It is through Christ that we know our Father in
Heaven who brought Christ from the dead and set Him as His right hand to rule
is all His Glory. It is in this knowledge that we have faith and are confident
that our Creator is just.
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