Peter has been admonishing, exhorting,
instructing to follow the Lord as obedient children. He which
hath called you is holy, so be ye holy in all manner of conversation,
because it is written, Be ye holy, for I am holy." We come
here now to verse 17, and I made a comment to you before that
from verse 10 of the first chapter over to verse 10 of the 2nd chapter,
Peter is dealing with the same subject, and this is where obedience
begins. And it's a heart matter. 1st
Peter chapter 1. So we begin 1st Peter chapter
1 verse 17. And if you call on the Father,
who without respect of persons judgeth according to every man's
work, pass the time of your sojourning here in fear. For as much as
you know that you were not redeemed with corruptible things as silver
and gold from your vain conversation received by tradition from your
fathers, but with the precious blood of Christ as of a lamb
without blemish and without spot, who verily was foreordained before
the foundation of the world, but was manifest in these last
times for you, who by him do believe in God that raised him
up from the dead and gave him glory, that your faith and hope
might be in God. seeing you've purified your souls
and obeying the truth through the spirit under unfamed love
of the brethren, see that you love one another with a pure
heart fervently, being born again, not of corruptible seed, but
of incorruptible by the word of God, which liveth and abideth
forever. Now in verse 17, If you call
on the Father, if you call God your Father, you're a believer,
you're a child of God, who without respect of persons judgeth according
to every man's work. The scriptures speak of our God
as not being a respecter of persons. God's not looking at the outward. Men look at the outward. Men
look at, just as men will look at gold apparel and look at fine
clothing and have respect to a person that wears such. We
all have a nature in us that delights in works that appear
righteous outwardly. Works that appear and look down
upon those things that are not honorable. God is judging according
to the heart. And here's some good news for
us, very good news for us. He's judging according to every
man's work. Whenever you read about judgment
in connection with work, right here we're talking about a believer. He's talking about someone who
trusts the Lord. And the word work is in the singular.
Throughout the Scriptures, if you find where Paul is speaking
of religious men judging by the outward appearance, like he did
in Romans 1 and 2, the word judgment and works will always be plural.
Works, deeds, things. In Revelation 20, you find the
books open and things judged out of the books. Whenever you
find the believer and the word work, And the word judgment,
you will find it in the singular, in the singular, when it's referring
to a believer. Because the work that God judges
by, that God discerns the heart with, that which is well pleasing
to Him, is that entering in by the straight and narrow gate,
faith in Christ. You remember whenever they came
to the Lord and they said, What shall we do that we might work
the works of God? Plural. And he answered in the
singular. And he said, This is the work
of God, that ye believe on him whom he hath sent. Now God has
ordained a believer unto works, good works, which he has before
ordained. But what makes those works well-pleasing
in the sight of God is, is even though our works are mixed with
so much sin and unbelief, and so much so that were they judged
outside of Christ, they would just be filthy rags. But in Christ, by faith in Christ,
because He has performed all the works given Him, and has
done everything absolutely perfect, by faith in Christ the Lord,
What we do is perfect. It comes up to God a well-pleasing
savor in Christ. But this thing of faith is where
we're starting here. This is where Peter's going to
address many things here about submission. Submission starts
in the heart. Submission starts in here. If
there's no submission in here, there won't be any submission
outwardly. There won't be any submission outwardly at all. And if there is submission outwardly,
it still will be rebellion in the heart. And it's still counted. Without faith, it's impossible
to please God. This is where we start, in the
heart. This is where God begins this thing, in the heart. And
then he speaks here of past the time of your sojourning in fear. This is not fear with torment,
it's the fear of the new heart. It's a reverence of the new heart. This fear has the purity of faith
in it, of hope and of joy. And it's what makes us distrust
ourselves. and put all confidence in the
father, clinging to him for all safe refuge. We pass through
this life in reverence to our father in constant need of his
keeping power. I need him. I need him. I can't
do anything without Him. I need Him to keep me, to keep
me. The evil which we fear, which
I truly fear, is dishonoring my Heavenly Father, of being
found outside of Christ, of being found not believing on Him, and
counting Him to be all my standing, all my righteousness, my all
with God. This heart faith is what we're
talking about. Call on His name. Pass the time
of your sojourning here truly believing Him, truly reverencing
Him. Why is that? Look at verse 18. For as much as you know that
you were not redeemed with corruptible things as silver and gold from
your vain conversation received by tradition from your fathers.
I want to look at three things here. We spent a little extra
time in the back today, so I want to But I want to look at the
three things here about redemption. What does it mean to be redeemed?
That's the first thing. Secondly, what is the believer
not redeemed with? And thirdly, what is the believer
redeemed with? First thing is, what does it
mean to be redeemed? Redeemed means to be set free,
to be liberated by the payment of a ransom price. A payment
had to be made, a ransom price. It implies bondage, captivity,
slavery. Every sinner born into this world
is a slave to sin. Paul said, you were the servants
of sin, and the word is slaves, slaves. Peter says, the servants
of corruption, for of whom a man is overcome, the same is he brought
in bondage. One of the best illustrations
that God gave us of this bondage was the Egyptian bondage, the
children of Israel in bondage in Egypt. And it said there in
Exodus that the Egyptians made the children of Israel to serve
with rigor. They made their lives bitter
with hard bondage in mortar, in brick, in all manner of service
in the field. All their service wherein they
made them serve was with rigor. There's nothing harder, there's
nothing more cold, there's nothing more displeasing to a child of
God than slavery. Slavery, bondage from men, bondage
and hard rigor wherewith men try to make you serve. But we
were that in our nature. We were in bondage. We were slaves. And every man born into this
world the first time is this way. Sin has dominion over the
sinner. Complete and total dominion over
a sinner. Just as when you think of being
wrapped up in a straitjacket and not being able to move or
get free out of a straitjacket. That bound. That completely,
totally bound. By the transgressions of Adam,
we became slaves to the guilt of sin and to the power of sin. The guilt of sin and the power
of sin. The natural heart is deceived
in chains of darkness. Deceived. The natural will is
in bondage to sin. Men think because they can get
up in the morning and wear what they want to wear and eat what
they want to eat and drive what they want to drive and work where
they want to work That their will, I have a free will. As
one of the old men said, it's free as a frog in a snake's belly. That's how free it is. It can
jump around a lot, but it can't get out of the snake's belly.
Bondage. Bondage. Complete bondage. And
there's no way a sinner can redeem himself from that bondage. There's no way a sinner can free
himself from the guilt of sin nor the power of sin. No way. The captive has got to be set
free. And a price has got to be paid
before that captive can be set free. Here's the second thing,
with what is the believer not redeemed? With what is the believer
not redeemed? Well, he says here in verse 14,
Peter said this, as obedient children, not fashioning yourselves
according to the former lusts in your ignorance. Now in verse
18, he gives us an example, beginning here with what one of those former
lusts was. For as much as you know that
you were not redeemed with corruptible things as silver and gold from
your vain conversation received by tradition from your fathers."
This was the way of life. This was the conduct. This was
what was taught, passed down, given to you, and you were instructed
in, he says. And he says it was vain. It was
vain. Now these men were not irreligious.
They were religious men. But when does a religious work
become a corrupt thing? When is a religious tradition
become lust of the flesh and ignorance? When is tradition
a vain tradition? When does it leave us thinking
thoughts that are not consistent with the word of God? This is
so. This is what the Scriptures do.
Whenever it does not wholly shut us up to rest in the finished
work of God's own Son, Christ Jesus the Lord. That's exactly
what Peter's doing here. He's going to talk about many
things throughout the letter. But they're all bound up in this. bound up in Christ the Lord in
our understanding and our believing wholeheartedly what He has done
for us and accomplished in us. This tradition that he's alluding
to here was a corruption of the Word of God. Look back at Exodus
30. It's not like that this was passed
down and it was just made up, though there were many things
made up that were added by the fathers that were added, like
washing of cups and plates and hands and all those things, which
came, originated with just some simple washings that the Lord
gave in His Word, and it just went on from there. Well, if
that's good, then let's watch, make sure our cups are clean
and our hands are clean. And these things become, over
time, tradition, so that now tradition is taught as a commandment
of God, when God didn't even say anything about it, period.
But, you know, Gamaliel taught this. Well, this is what God
says, and here's where we bring it to. What does God say? Now
look, this came out of the Word of God. Look at Exodus 30. Look
at verse The Lord spake unto Moses, saying,
When thou takest the sum of the children of Israel after their
number, when you count them, when you count them, anybody
that's going to be counted in God's house, in God's kingdom,
in God's church, here's what has to take place. Then shall
they give every man a ransom for his soul unto the Lord. when thou number'st them, that
there be no plague among them when thou number'st them." He
had to bring a shekel, a coined shekel of the sanctuary, a pure
shekel of the sanctuary. It couldn't have been one that's
been passed around out in public use and be one that's been rubbed
and shaved off and is not the exact weight of the shekel of
the sanctuary. It's got to be the shekel of
the sanctuary. This was important. Watch. This
they shall give everyone that passeth among them that are numbered
half a shekel after the shekel of the sanctuary. A shekel is
twenty giraz, and half shekel shall be the offering of the
Lord. Everyone that passeth among them that are numbered from twenty
years old and above shall give an offering unto the Lord. The
rich shall not give more, and the poor shall not give less
than half a shekel when they give an offering unto the Lord
to make an atonement for your souls. And thou shalt take the
atonement money of the children of Israel, and shalt appoint
it for the service of the tabernacle of the congregation, that it
may be a memorial unto the children of Israel before the Lord to
make an atonement for your souls." It was called redemption money.
because it was a memorial to put them in mind that they were
sinners in bondage in Egypt. And that God came and He paid
their ransom, and He delivered them, redeemed them out of bondage. And so this was to be a reminder,
anybody that's counted a child of God in Israel, was to come
forth when they were counted with this shekel, this half shekel,
the shekel of the sanctuary. And it's a picture of Christ.
Without Christ, we can't be counted a child of God. Without Christ
having paid the full redemption price, we cannot be a child of
God. Their plague will be within us
if we come any other way. We're coming outside of Christ
in whom all the sin is put away, but without Him. And everything,
they took this money, and they took it and they made the rings
in the tabernacle out of it. They made the sockets in the
floor of the tabernacle out of it. Many things, it could be
gold or silver, but many things were made of these half shekels. That's what it was appointed
for, the service of the tabernacle. So that when they served in the
Lord's house, you couldn't look anywhere in that house without
being reminded that redemption was paid by God by Him paying
the price. By Him paying the price. So whatever
you did, whatever work you were doing, it was on the foundation
of those giant sockets made out of that that silver of the sanctuary. And it was finished work, a finished,
completed work. That's what we're talking about.
But it was for a memorial. You know, there's statues, war
memorial statues of every statue of soldiers fighting and what
have you. It's to remind us that they paid the supreme price with
their life to give us liberty, right? Does building that statue
Make us free? It doesn't, does it? That statue
is just to remind us that we were made free by somebody else.
Well, that's what this was. It was a memorial, but over time
it began to be taught, I accept you, bring a half shekel. You can't be accepted. You can't
be accepted. This was something that needed
to be taught even in this day here after our Lord had come
and risen again. Because anything will take and
try to add to this work of redemption and say, yeah, but accept you.
Accept you. Accept you. That's the corruption of the
nature. That's the corruption. That's
why He's teaching us here to pass this time in reverence. Pass this time. Do we truly reverence
the Father? It's not about me being right.
It's not about you being right. It's about God being right. That's
what it's about. It's about serving the Lord and
giving all the glory to Him. That's what this is about. You
see, the moral law is an example. It was given to give the knowledge
of sin, that every mouth may be stopped and all the world
become guilty before God. It's Romans 3, 19. That's what
it was given for. Change the use of it, and it
becomes a vain, corrupt tradition, and it's used for the wrong purpose
for which it was given. The ceremonial law, the blood
of bulls and goats were to foreshadow Christ our Redeemer who obtained
eternal redemption for His people with His own blood. To require
a believer to observe some ceremony now that Christ has come and
finished that work is to change the purpose for which the law
was given. Circumcision was given to show
the work of the Spirit in the heart. He's a Jew which is one,
not one outwardly, but one inwardly. Circumcision is that of the heart,
in the spirit, not in the letter, whose praise is not of men, but
of God. Can you read it? I mean, think
about it. Think about if you had been taught all your life
something, and you had such a zeal for Moses, who passed these things
down in truth, in truth, But between Moses and you, somebody
passed it to you, putting emphasis on things that appeal to your
flesh, and they make you now stand up before the Lord Jesus
Christ Himself, face to face with Him, and say, I don't care
if you say that. Moses said this. Moses said it. That's what we do when we turn
a tradition of men into the Word of God. Just that very same thing. That very same thing. And that's
what we're very apt to do. Very apt to do. A tradition is
a good thing to hold to if it shuts us up wholly to Christ. When you read the works of the
old writers, Find those things that are shutting you up to Christ.
Find those things that are, and you'll find some wonderful things.
And those things, brethren, that are turning us away from Him. Not gonna be good. Just not gonna
be good. Gospel graces, church attendance,
and prayer and giving, any work whereby we may help in the furtherance
of the gospel. These are things that are the
privileges of believers, but when they're forced to be done,
forced to be done, it's not done from a willing heart. It's not
done by the Spirit of God creating this willingness and this desire
in the heart of a believer. It doesn't matter. It's not a
good thing. It'll divide and it'll tear a place and a people
apart. Alright, so, Peter's motivating
us by that which is true here. Here's what he says. Here's our
motive. It's by how we were redeemed. Alright, verse 19. How were we
redeemed? How is the believer redeemed?
Verse 19. but with the precious blood of
Christ as of a lamb without blemish and without spot." Christ alone
is the lamb without blemish and without spot. Next time that
you begin to notice somebody that's a little spotted and a
little blemished, Well, if that person professes to believe the
Lord, remember this, just remember this, the Lamb, the Lamb who
makes them absolutely spotless and without blemish is Christ
the Lord. And He is the only one who is
without spot and without blemish, completely whole, the perfect
nature of a man. The perfect obedience of a man
is Christ the Lord. Christ is the Lamb who is God
Himself, and He is the Lamb God providing Himself. Let's look at Him and behold,
God in human flesh, the absolute God of sovereign authority, declaring
to us what the absolute perfect man is. It is Christ the Lord. And because He was that Lamb,
and because He was without spot and without blemish, He was fit
to bear the sin of His people in His own body. Verse 20 says,
"...who was verily foreordained before the foundation of the
world, but was manifest in these last times for you, for you who
by Him do believe in God that raised Him up from the dead and
gave Him glory." He was foreordained before the foundation of the
world. There's never been a moment in time when the purpose of eternity
has not been in progress. Never a time. In the garden when
Adam sinned against God, It was right according to the purpose
of God in what He foreordained for the world, in Christ being
a Redeemer. He became the near kinsman, and
you have to be a near kinsman, you have to be one with your
brethren, the elder brother, to redeem people from their sin. And this one became the elder,
he became the near kinsman when God put a people in His hands,
entrusted a people into Him to redeem and to buy out a bondage. He came to this earth not wondering
who He was going to redeem or who might receive what He accomplished.
He came to this earth to accomplish redemption for a particular people
that He knew He would die for when He walked into this earth.
He knew who He was going to die for when He came. when He came.
Everything written in the Law and the Prophets was to declare
Christ our Redeemer. That's what this book is about.
It's about Christ Jesus and redemption by His blood. Everything in this
book is about that. He was foreordained before the
world began, but was manifest in these last times for you.
The Hebrew writer says God at sundry times and in a different
manner spoke in times past by the Prophets. Paul said the Gospel
which God declared before in the Law and the Prophets. The
Law and the Prophets bear witness of the righteousness of God.
And then in time He came forth and God said, now here He is. This righteousness I've been
declaring is not a thing, it's not something you're going after,
it is a person. It is Christ Jesus the Lord.
Now watch Him work that which is righteous. And then, when
He was manifest in these last times for you who by Him do believe
on Christ, what He came to this earth to do was to fulfill every
precept of the law. Now, when we think of that, we
think that of actively striving to fulfill the precept. He was made under it without
sin, perfect nature, and He came forth only doing that which was
pleased the Father. It wasn't like he was having
to curb himself and try and strain. It was just every nature, every
idea, every thought, everything was to do only that which pleased
the Father. We have to get ourselves into
a frame of mind sometimes. He didn't have to do that. He
was doing that which pleased the Father all the time, all
the time. And when He went to the cross, He was condemned on the cross. And because He bore the condemnation,
now there's no condemnation for them that be in Christ Jesus.
He was made a curse, and because He was made a curse, now there
is no curse for them that be in Christ Jesus. He bore our
sin in His own body on the tree, and because He purged our sin,
there is no sin for them that be in Christ Jesus. He suffered
the wrath of God, and now for those for whom He suffered, there
is no wrath of God to them that are called and are in Christ
Jesus. He is truly the end of the law for righteousness to
them that believe. And by Him we believe. By Him
we believe. This is what one old writer said,
we were not only justly exposed by nature, and by practice to
the wrath and displeasure of Almighty God, but our whole nature
was under the dominion and influence of sin, and none short of Christ
could buy us out. The Son of God, therefore, by
price and by power accomplished both those purposes of salvation,
and not only delivered us from the wrath to come, but brought
us into the privileges of a purchased inheritance. Yea, He induced
in us a new nature in taking away the natural enmity of our
hearts and making us willing in the day of His power." It's
by Him. That's what we saw the other
day. We looked at His glory and His suffering. Peter said, He
has shed forth this which you now see in here. He's both Lord
and Christ. Not just sovereign in providence,
He's sovereign in salvation. Absolutely sovereign. And Paul
said, being made then free from sin, being liberated from sin,
from its guilt and its dominion, we became the servants of righteousness,
servants to God, servants to Christ. We're either going to
be a servant to sin, or we're going to be a servant to righteousness.
We're either going to be a servant to Satan under the power of the
Prince of the air, or we're going to be a servant to Christ. One
of the two. One of the two. Why is He precious? Why is His blood? Do you believe
He's precious? Why? Why is He precious? Why
is His blood precious? Satisfaction has been made to
God for us by His blood. His blood has sanctified us,
so we're talking about this power, purged our conscience from dead
works to serve the living God through the Spirit. His blood
continually cleanseth us from all sin. Sin's in us and it's
with us and it's in everything we do, but it's His blood that
continually cleanseth. That's what that ETH means, it's
ongoing. His blood preserves us. He said,
when I see the blood, I'll pass over you. His blood pleads for
us in heaven. It speaks better things than
that of Abel. His blood gives us entrance with liberty into
God's presence, brought nigh by the blood of Christ. His blood is our assurance. I don't find much assurance in
me. I don't find much assurance in my faith. I don't find much
assurance in things I do. I don't find much assurance in
what I know. I don't find any assurance in how well I've walked
before the Lord. If I looked at those things,
I wouldn't find any assurance whatsoever. I looked at those
things, it just totally brings me to total panic. But this is my assurance. This is the New Testament in
my blood which is shed for you. This covenant is written in His
blood and it can't be changed, can't be altered. That's my assurance. That's my assurance. His blood
is our peace with God, having made peace through the blood
of His cross. His blood invigorates us. You know why, Peter? This whole
letter is about submission. This whole letter is about bearing
with things that we don't like to bear with. Things that just
are contrary to our sin nature. Totally. Completely. Submission. Submission. We don't like to
submit to anybody. We start out from the time we
leave our mother's womb. We want to be We want to be the
baby in the crib that gets to hold the pacifier in our mouth
and take it out of the other one's mouth. We want to be the
one who, when we get old enough to have a lollipop, we want to
be able to have the lollipop for ourself. When we get old
enough to drive, we want to be the one with the car keys doing
the driving and everybody else sitting in the backseat. When
we get old enough to go out and get a job, we want to get from
that entry level all the way up, so we're the one calling
the shots. Submission. Submission. What's going to invigorate us?
to walk worthy of this calling, to go after and to wait on the
Lord and to follow Him in truth and in spirit. What invigorates
us? This is what the Lord said, my blood is drink indeed. That's better than any five-hour
energy drink. better than any kind of power
aid. He said, My blood is drink indeed. Drink indeed. What am I saying? I'm saying to you what Paul said.
This is what's going to invigorate God's people to serve Him and
to follow Him. knowing how it is we've been
brought out of bondage into liberty and accepted of God. And how
is it we're going to overcome? And all the obstacles and all
the things we've faced in this life, how are we going to overcome?
Revelation said they overcame by the blood of the Lamb. Peter
sums it all up in this last phrase in verse 21, that your faith
and hope might be in God. that your faith and hope might
be in God. It's not in ourselves. It's not
in our works. It's not in our obedience. It's
not in how well we've conformed. We strive for those things. We
want to do those things. We don't want to do anything
other than those things. But that's not where our faith
and our hope is in God. This is what Paul said. We know
that whatsoever the law saith, it saith to them who are under
the law. Whenever we look at it as letter and we start trying
to force a letter, a deed, it's for those who are unregenerate
in a natural state. He says, before faith came, we
were kept under the law, shut up under the faith, which should
afterwards be revealed. We weren't free. We were not
free. Our faith and our hope then was
in something in us, by us, something, something, something. And because
of it, we wouldn't submit to God. We said, we won't have this
man reign over us. We wouldn't submit to anybody,
nobody, nobody. But, after, in the fullness of
time, God sent forth His Son, made of a woman, made under the
law, to redeem them that were under the law, that we might
receive the spirit of adoption. And because you were children,
chosen and given to Christ before the foundation of the world,
God sent forth His Spirit into our hearts, whereby we cry, Abba,
Father. Submission. For the first time,
submission. submission. Look what Paul says
about that. I want to get you to turn there
to Galatians chapter 4. Galatians chapter 4. Look at verse 7. Wherefore, thou
art no more a servant, not a slave any more, not a slave to sin,
but a son. And if a son, then an heir of
God through Christ. Howbeit then, when you knew not
God, you did service unto them which by nature are no gods.
All those things that you were looking at. But now, after that
ye have known God, or rather, are known of God, how turn ye
again to the weak and beggarly elements, whereunto ye desire
again to be in bondage? Look over at chapter 5, verse
1. This is the same thing Peter
is declaring to us. Stand fast therefore in the liberty
wherewith Christ has made us free, and be not entangled again
with the yoke of bondage. Behold, I, Paul, say unto you
that if you be circumcised, Christ shall profit you nothing." Circumcision
was just the opening up of the law. You can put anything else
in there that is a must, except you do this, you won't be saved.
Christ won't profit you anything. You'll be coming in that and
not trusting Christ alone. For I testify again to every
man that is circumcised that he is a debtor to do the whole
law. Christ is become of no effect unto you, whosoever of you are
justified by the law, you are fallen from grace. For we through
the Spirit wait for the hope of righteousness by faith." Look
down one last place, verse 18. Paul had said back over there
in Romans 3, them that are under the law, that's who the law is
speaking to. unregenerate man. But now look what he says. Verse
18. But if you be led of the spirit, you are not under the
law. Not under it. So I got to tell you this. There
was a little boy. He was working. Dad sent him out to the field,
told him to go to work. And he went out there not really
walking very fast and kind of moping and not wanting to do
anything. And he went out there and started
doing the work his dad gave him to do, but he really wasn't wanting
to do it. And his dad went out there to him and he called him
over and he said, son, do you have any idea how much you cost
me? And the little boy said, no,
sir. And the dad threw out this just giant sum of money, you
know, million dollars. A little boy got thinking about
that. He just couldn't conceive of all that, how much money that
costs. And the father said, it's all
been free. He said, now go back, do the
job I gave you to do. The little boy went back and
the more he thought about those, how much he cost, and how much
his father paid for him, the more happy he got, the more joyful
he got, the more excited he got about his work, and the more
he worked for his father. This is what Peter's saying,
do you remember how much it cost? You know how much it cost? If
we know how much we cost, we don't want to serve Him, because
He paid everything free. So pass the time of your sojourning
here in reverence to your Father, as obedient children, not fashioning
yourselves according to the lusts of our flesh in ignorance. See,
22, seeing you've purified your souls and obeying the truth through
the spirit under unfain love of the brethren, see that you
love one another with a pure heart, fervently. A pure heart,
a pure heart. A pure heart, fervently. Being born again, not of corruptible
seed, but of incorruptible by the word of God, which liveth
and abideth forever.