“Seeing Beyond Troubles” – “Live Holy Lives” – 1 Peter 1:10-16

Paul and Linda McCartney had a farm in Scotland. One day, they just sat down to a meal of mutton and sides when their flock of sheep wandered past the window. The McCartneys looked at their flock, then at their plates, then at each other. It was then that they decided to become vegetarians.

When we make a life-changing decision, whether it is the way we eat or anything else, if the decision is sincere, it will have an impact on the way we live and the way we see things in our world. It’s not unusual for a person who makes such a decision to become an advocate for their way of living.

In this part of Peter’s letter, he tells us about the anticipation for salvation to enter into the world and the result of that salvation that has now come into our world and our lives.

Background

One of the reasons the Bible is still relevant in our world is because its message is timeless. In part, the message is timeless because God never changes and people as a whole never change. Hence, what was relevant when the Bible was being written is still relevant for the most part because people are still in need of God’s salvation through Christ and the Spirit’s guidance.

I once heard a preacher say that when a particular passage of the Bible was being written, the person who was writing it didn’t know what he was talking about because that part of the Bible only applied to our day. I wanted to raise my hand at that time and interrupt the message to ask why he would say such a thing. I knew why he thought it was relevant for today, but I didn’t understand why he thought the message wasn’t relevant to those who were hearing it first.

In today’s text, Peter suggests that the prophets spent a great deal of time looking into when Christ would come to bring salvation into our world. He says it was “revealed to them that they were not serving themselves but you when they spoke of the things that have now been told you” (v. 12a). While it may seem to be saying that the prophets’ messages were not relevant to the time, that’s not entirely true.

Had Israel lived up to God’s requirements and walked in obedience to Him, Israel would have been the example to lead the world to salvation. But their rebellion against God and the laws led to the coming of Christ not to an obedient nation but to a nation blinded by God’s presence in their midst.

When God inspired a prophet to speak of future events, it was relevant to the initial audience because salvation is a result of faith in God through Christ. Later on, Peter wrote, “For Christ died for sins once for all, the righteous for the unrighteous, to bring you to God. He was put to death in the body but made alive by the Spirit, through whom also He went and preached to the spirits in prison” (1 Peter 3:15-19). Jesus told us in the parable of Lazarus and the rich man that in Hades there is a wide gap separating the people of faith from those without faith (Luke 16:19-31).

The point is that the message of salvation, even in the Old Testament, was relevant then because even then God had the plan of salvation by faith. Remember that God determined before creation to bring salvation to the world through Christ (cf. Ephesians 1:4). So even though the prophets spoke at times about the salvation that was to be gained in Christ Jesus, it was still meaningful to those who first heard it from the prophets themselves.

With this in mind, let us now take a closer look at today’s text, where we see this truth:

Central Truth: The salvation that God has given us in Christ enables us to live holy lives.

Our salvation:

1. Was revealed by God in the Old Testament (10-11)

Concerning this salvation, the prophets, who spoke of the grace that was to come to you, searched intently and with the greatest care, trying to find out the time and circumstances to which the Spirit of Christ in them was pointing when he predicted the sufferings of Christ and the glories that would follow.

Were you one of those people—perhaps you’re still one—who would search out the Christmas gifts weeks before Christmas, just to know what you were getting? Or are you someone who reads the last pages of a mystery before you start reading it, so you’ll already know who did it?

That’s sort of the impression we can get from these two verses. The prophets understood to some degree the significance of salvation through Christ, and it shouldn’t be a surprise that they would spend time and effort to try to discern when Christ would appear. Such an event would be the fulfillment of a lifetime for the prophets.

Again, I believe they understood that the prophecies had a significance for the initial audience and the audiences to come. We know that all Israel was eagerly awaiting the coming of Messiah when Jesus appeared. Sadly, many couldn’t fully comprehend that He had come.

Like men and women of today who eagerly and earnestly search the Bible for clues to Christ’s second coming, the prophets looked intently for an answer to the question, “When will Messiah appear?” The prophets were led by the Spirit to tell of the coming of Messiah, and the Spirit works in us today to discern His will and enables us to walk in obedience to Him. Like the prophets of old, we would do well to eagerly seek and do God’s will for our lives today.

2. Fulfills God’s promise told to the prophets (12)

It was revealed to them that they were not serving themselves but you, when they spoke of the things that have now been told you by those who have preached the gospel to you by the Holy Spirit sent from heaven. Even angels long to look into these things.

It was the night before Thanksgiving, and Mom was in the kitchen making preparations for the big meal that would be cooked the next day. I wandered into our kitchen, perhaps drawn by the aroma of freshly cooked cornbread. It was not unusual for me as a child to ask Mom for a taste of whatever she was cooking, and she was usually agreeable to allowing me a taste or two or three. But that night, she told me I couldn’t have a nibble of cornbread because it was all going into the stuffing for the turkey. To see a fresh pan of cornbread and know it wasn’t for me was a disappointment, to say the least.

Cornbread pales in comparison to the precious gift of grace and mercy that is expressed in salvation through Christ. I can only imagine the disappointment the prophets must have felt when the Spirit that their prophecy was not to come true in their lifetimes, but would come true in ours.

Please notice that Peter reminds us that the prophets were inspired by the Holy Spirit, and implies that it was the Spirit that revealed to them the future of salvation. It is this same Holy Spirit that is now at work in our world as the gospel is proclaimed today. Without the work of the Holy Spirit, we could never know the joy and fulfillment of the gospel of salvation in our lives today.

Because God’s timing is always perfect, He waited until the time was right to send Jesus into our world and brought salvation to us at the right time. Each person can only come to Christ when God calls us through His Spirit. The same Spirit that worked in the prophets works in us today to fulfill the gospel of salvation.

3. Allows us to live holy lives (13-16)

Therefore, prepare your minds for action; be self-controlled; set your hope fully on the grace to be give you when Jesus Christ is revealed. As obedient children, do not conform to the evil desires you had when you lived in ignorance. But just as He who called you is holy, so be holy in all you do; for it is written, “Be holy, because I am holy.”

The idea of cause and effect plays an important part of life. When we began our various jobs in life, we were trained to do the work, and once we were trained, we were expected to do the work effectively and completely. Peter has this same truth in mind when it comes to our salvation. All that he has written from v. 1 to now points us to the effect of our salvation through Christ. Knowing we are saved, there are expectations.

The work of salvation is from God through Christ as revealed by the Holy Spirit. But the living out of our salvation is not an automatic thing. It requires our conscious participation, and Peter tells us that our salvation requires holy living.

This is done through a conscious effort to prepare for action. We do this by practicing self-control. This self-control is grounded on the hope that Peter first mentioned in v. 3, and focuses on the faith of Christ’s promises fulfilled at His Second Coming.

This prepared mind of self-control is demonstrated in the willful determination on our part—empowered by the fruit of the Spirit—to no longer find fulfillment in earthly or worldly ways. The old ways of finding fulfillment may be considered noble in our world—perhaps we sought fulfillment through service to others, or through entertaining others. Maybe we sought fulfillment in being a good parent or child. There are baser ways to seek fulfillment, as well. But no matter how noble or seemingly justified these old ways of fulfillment were, the Bible calls them evil desires. Remember Jesus’ rebuke of Peter when Peter promised to protect Jesus from being turned over to His enemies in order to be crucified? The sentiment was sincere and noble, but Jesus said it was of Satan because Peter had in mind the things of man and not the things of God. The old ways of fulfillment are evil because they are the things of men, not the things of God.

So, why do we set our minds for action and self-control, and why do we no longer seek fulfillment according to the world’s ways? It is because God has saved us and calls us to be holy.

To be holy is to be set apart for God’s purpose and God’s service. To be holy is to take the will of God and make it our will, as well. It is living self-controlled lives so we can live Spirit-controlled lives. Being holy is taking on the characteristics of God as revealed in Christ and walking as Christ walked. It is loving as Christ loved; it is living out the Golden Rule. We do it not because we want to look good in God’s eyes, but because it is the example shown us by Christ Himself. We do it because we want to be like Him.

Conclusion

There’s an old picture my mom took of my dad and me. We’re at a picnic in Cloudcroft. The picture shows Dad leaning against a tree with his legs crossed at his ankles while he eats his sandwich. I sit beside my dad—I’m four or five years old—also leaning against the tree, legs crossed at the ankles while eating a sandwich.

As children, we wanted to be like our parents. As children of God, we should want to be like our Father. He enables us through the Spirit and makes us His children through our salvation in Christ. He calls us to be holy, to be like Him.

God has already done the hard part. Is your mind set?