I Peter 1:17-21 “And if you call on the Father, who without partiality judges according to each one’s work, conduct yourselves throughout the time of your stay here in fear; knowing that you were not redeemed with corruptible things, like silver or gold, from your aimless conduct received by tradition from your fathers, but with the precious blood of Christ, as of a lamb without blemish and without spot. He indeed was foreordained before the foundation of the world, but was manifest in these last times for you who through Him believe in God, who raised Him from the dead and gave Him glory, so that your faith and hope are in God.”
Have you ever had a sinner accuse you of being a hypocrite because you would not give them their way? Or have you heard claims that our beliefs discourage people from asking questions, or that your faith is based upon mere traditional superstitions?
Christians should know what they believe based upon the Bible, not what lost people claim they believe. The facts are that true Christians do not always see everything the same way, but we stand up for certain non-negotiable truths. These are boundary markers that set us apart from the false religions of this world and mark us our believers of Divine truth.
(1) We believe in a God who is both compassionate and righteous at the same time! Peter said, “And if you call on the Father, who without partiality judges according to each one’s work, conduct yourselves throughout the time of your stay here in fear…”
Christians should know what they believe based upon the Bible, not what lost people claim they believe. The facts are that true Christians do not always see everything the same way, but we stand up for certain non-negotiable truths. These are boundary markers that set us apart from the false religions of this world and mark us our believers of Divine truth.
(1) We believe in a God who is both compassionate and righteous at the same time! Peter said, “And if you call on the Father, who without partiality judges according to each one’s work, conduct yourselves throughout the time of your stay here in fear…”
-As our Father we call on him as His children.
-As our Judge we reverence Him with awe. The most important quality of a judge is that he be impartial. He must be fair in all his decisions.
-As our Judge we reverence Him with awe. The most important quality of a judge is that he be impartial. He must be fair in all his decisions.
-As our Redeemer we live as strangers passing through this world. Some of the early American colonists were called Pilgrims, but strangers are different. Strangers do not become settlers because we are on a temporary visa. We are not to become naturalized citizens of this ungodly society, but separated unto God’s service in this world.
(2) We also believe that redemption is provided by an incorruptible one!
“…knowing that you were not redeemed with corruptible things, like silver or gold, from your aimless conduct received by tradition from your fathers…” We know that the things of this world are corruptible.
(2) We also believe that redemption is provided by an incorruptible one!
“…knowing that you were not redeemed with corruptible things, like silver or gold, from your aimless conduct received by tradition from your fathers…” We know that the things of this world are corruptible.
-Inheritance can not provide redemption.
At the time of Christ, many Jews believed they would be saved just because they were in the covenant nation of Israel, but John the Baptist
refuted that view in Matthew 3:7-10:
“But when he saw many of the Pharisees and Sadducees coming to where he was baptizing, he said to them: “You brood of vipers! Who warned you to flee from the coming wrath? Produce fruit in keeping with repentance. And do not think you can say to yourselves, ’We have Abraham as our father.’ I tell you that out of these stones God can raise up children for Abraham. The ax is already at the root of the trees, and every tree that does not produce good fruit will be cut down and thrown into the fire.”
-Religion can also be corrupted.
Romans 10:1-3 “Brothers, my heart’s desire and prayer to God for the Israelites is that they may be saved. For I can testify about them that they are zealous for God, but their zeal is not based on knowledge. Since they did not know the righteousness that comes from God and sought to establish their own, they did not submit to God’s righteousness.”
-What was the price of redemption? Peter said it was “with the precious blood of Christ, as of a lamb without blemish and without spot.”
Mark 10:45 declares, “For even the Son of Man did not come to be served, but to serve, and to give his life as a ransom for many.”
We were delivered from an empty way of life and purchased by Christ. We have now become a servant for God
“But when he saw many of the Pharisees and Sadducees coming to where he was baptizing, he said to them: “You brood of vipers! Who warned you to flee from the coming wrath? Produce fruit in keeping with repentance. And do not think you can say to yourselves, ’We have Abraham as our father.’ I tell you that out of these stones God can raise up children for Abraham. The ax is already at the root of the trees, and every tree that does not produce good fruit will be cut down and thrown into the fire.”
-Religion can also be corrupted.
Romans 10:1-3 “Brothers, my heart’s desire and prayer to God for the Israelites is that they may be saved. For I can testify about them that they are zealous for God, but their zeal is not based on knowledge. Since they did not know the righteousness that comes from God and sought to establish their own, they did not submit to God’s righteousness.”
-What was the price of redemption? Peter said it was “with the precious blood of Christ, as of a lamb without blemish and without spot.”
Mark 10:45 declares, “For even the Son of Man did not come to be served, but to serve, and to give his life as a ransom for many.”
We were delivered from an empty way of life and purchased by Christ. We have now become a servant for God
1 Corinthians 6: 20 “For you were bought at a price; therefore glorify God in your body and in your spirit, which are God’s.”
(3) We also believe that Jesus is the passageway to God.
Many lost people believe in God, but we believe the way to God is through Jesus Christ our Lord. Again, Peter said this, “He indeed was foreordained before the foundation of the world, but was manifest in these last times for you who through Him believe in God…”
(3) We also believe that Jesus is the passageway to God.
Many lost people believe in God, but we believe the way to God is through Jesus Christ our Lord. Again, Peter said this, “He indeed was foreordained before the foundation of the world, but was manifest in these last times for you who through Him believe in God…”
Jesus Christ is God's only provision for man's sin. Through Him you can know and experience God's love and plan for your life.
-He Died in Our Place!
Romans 5:8 “God demonstrates His own love toward us, in that while we were yet sinners, Christ died for us.”
-He Rose From the Dead!
1 Corinthians 15:3-8 “For I delivered to you first of all that which I also received: that Christ died for our sins according to the Scriptures, and that He was buried, and that He rose again the third day according to the Scriptures, and that He was seen by Cephas, then by the twelve. After that He was seen by over five hundred brethren at once, of whom the greater part remain to the present, but some have fallen asleep. After that He was seen by James, then by all the apostles. Then last of all He was seen by me also, as by one born out of due time.”
-He Is the Only Way to God!
John 14:6 “Jesus said to him, ‘I am the way, and the truth, and the life; no one comes to the Father, but through Me’.”
I Timothy 2:5, 6 “For there is one God and one mediator between God and men, the man Christ Jesus, who gave himself as a ransom for all men-the testimony given in its proper time.”
2 Corinthians 5:17 “Therefore, if anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation; the old has gone, the new has come!”
2 Corinthians 5:17 “Therefore, if anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation; the old has gone, the new has come!”
These are boundary markers that cannot be removed or replaced. They are what make us what we are today-blood bought, redeemed, believers through Jesus Christ our Lord.
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