Living Grace

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Living Grace

The indwelling of the Holy Spirit of God was a mystery to the prophets.  In John chapter fourteen Jesus said, “15 If ye love me, keep my commandments. 16 And I will pray the Father, and he shall give you another Comforter, that he may abide with you for ever; 17 Even the Spirit of truth; whom the world cannot receive, because it seeth him not, neither knoweth him: but ye know him; for he dwelleth with you, and shall be in you.” 

There would be a radical change in the operations of the Holy Spirit of God after His indwelling of the believer after the Day of Pentecost.  Because of this radical change in the operations of the Holy Spirit of God, God has much higher expectations of His “born again children than He did in the Old Covenant (the Law).  These two different operations of the Holy Spirit of God in these two different dispensations and two different covenants are to which God refers in Scripture as being “under the Law” and “under grace” (Romans 6:14 and 15). 

“12 Let not sin therefore reign in your mortal body, that ye should obey it in the lusts thereof. 13 Neither yield ye your members as instruments of unrighteousness unto sin: but yield yourselves unto God, as those that are alive from the dead, and your members as instruments of righteousness unto God. 14 For sin shall not have dominion over you: for ye are not under the law, but under grace. 15 What then? shall we sin, because we are not under the law, but under grace? God forbid. 16 Know ye not, that to whom ye yield yourselves servants to obey, his servants ye are to whom ye obey; whether of sin unto death, or of obedience unto righteousness” (Romans 6:12-16)?

The word “under,” as used in Romans 6:14 and 15, communicates the idea of subservience or submission to authority.  Subservience to the Law could not, and did not, empower the believer to obey.  Subservience to grace is subservience to the indwelling Holy Spirit.  Subservience to the indwelling Holy Spirit is communicated by the word “yield.”  Subservience to the indwelling Holy Spirit provides supernatural empowering to the believer as the Spirit works in synergism with the believer’s Spirit to produce God-kind righteousness through the believer’s life (II Corinthians 5:17-21). 

These two phrases, “under the Law” and “under grace,” give us the context of the “wherefore” of I Peter 1:13.  God has higher expectations of the believer for holiness and strict obedience to His commands “under grace” than “under the Law” (see the “ye have heard” statements in Matthew 5:21-48).  “Under grace” in the New Covenant, the believer has the inward supernatural empowering to overcome the desires of his fallen nature.  The believer “under grace” can receive this supernatural enabling by simply fully surrendering his will to the indwelling Spirit of God Who will then work in synergism with the believer’s spirit to overcome the desires of the “flesh.”  This synergism with the believer’s spirit is referred to elsewhere in Scripture as the filling of the Spirit, which is also referred to as fellowship with God. 

“13 Wherefore gird up the loins of your mind, be sober, and hope to the end for the grace that is to be brought unto you at the revelation of Jesus Christ; 14 As obedient children, not fashioning yourselves according to the former lusts in your ignorance: 15 But as he which hath called you is holy, so be ye holy in all manner of conversation; 16 Because it is written, Be ye holy; for I am holy. 17 And if ye 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: 18 Forasmuch as ye know that ye were not redeemed with corruptible things, as silver and gold, from your vain conversation received by tradition from your fathers; 19 But with the precious blood of Christ, as of a lamb without blemish and without spot: 20 Who verily was foreordained before the foundation of the world, but was manifest in these last times for you, 21 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. 22 Seeing ye have purified your souls in obeying the truth through the Spirit unto unfeigned love of the brethren, see that ye love one another with a pure heart fervently: 23 Being born again, not of corruptible seed, but of incorruptible, by the word of God, which liveth and abideth for ever” (I Peter 1:13-23).

Understanding the doctrine of grace enabling comes with great moral responsibilities.  We should not see the indwelling Holy Spirit as a spiritual resource that gets us the things we want.  We should see the indwelling Holy Spirit as a spiritual resource for Him to empower us, and enable us, to accomplish the things He wants.  The difference is between the Holy Spirit becoming Someone we use to seeing ourselves as someone the Holy Spirit can use in any way He sees fit.  On some occasions, this later scenario can put the believer into some very uncomfortable situations of life as it did the Apostle Paul.  The fear of these potential situations is the most common reason most Christians refuse to fully surrender to Christ.  The fear of these potential situations is also the reason few Christians are ever really used of God. 

“22 Are they Hebrews? so am I. Are they Israelites? so am I. Are they the seed of Abraham? so am I. 23 Are they ministers of Christ? (I speak as a fool) I am more; in labours more abundant, in stripes above measure, in prisons more frequent, in deaths oft. 24 Of the Jews five times received I forty stripes save one. 25 Thrice was I beaten with rods, once was I stoned, thrice I suffered shipwreck, a night and a day I have been in the deep; 26 In journeyings often, in perils of waters, in perils of robbers, in perils by mine own countrymen, in perils by the heathen, in perils in the city, in perils in the wilderness, in perils in the sea, in perils among false brethren; 27 In weariness and painfulness, in watchings often, in hunger and thirst, in fastings often, in cold and nakedness” (II Corinthians 11:22-27).

         

The phrase “gird up the loins of your mind” in I Peter 1:13 can be difficult for those outside of the culture of the Mideast to understand.  The point of the phrase is to have the mind ready for opportunities for ministry.  The intent of the phrase is to be prepared.  In the Mideast, men wear long robes with a belt or sash tied at the waist.  This belt or sash was often called a girdle in that it held the garment in place.  When a man needed to work, he would use the sash to essentially tie up his robe into a pair of pants that looked like a baggy diaper hanging down to the knees.  Doing so would allow him to work freely without being hampered by his clothing. 

         

The phrase “gird up the loins of your mind” in I Peter 1:13 is not about insuring that our clothing does not interfere with our manual labor.  The phrase “gird up the loins of your mind” in I Peter 1:13 is about our thinking not interfering with our spiritual labors.  The mind gives the body permission to do the things it does.  A person’s thinking must be changed and under God’s control if he wants to be spiritually successful and used of God. 

         

For instance, modern day GENDER CONFUSION can be directly connected to a cocaine addict who thought it was normal to want to have sex with his mother. He believed all sexual fantasy was normal and the unwillingness to seek to fulfill those fantasies was the mechanism of religious repression creating a neurosis of guilt, which guilt psychoanalysis should seek to remove.  Biblically, we understand that guilt is produced by a properly prepared conscience in conjunction with a properly prepared heart through the knowledge of God’s will.  Take away belief and knowledge of God’s Word and the conscience can no longer work the way it is designed and created to work.  The person with a Bible understanding of the will of God will “gird up the loins” of his “mind” with Bible convictions that allow the conscience to guide and direct in a supernatural enabling way.  Therefore, Peter is really just saying, be filled with the Spirit as does Paul in Ephesians 5:18 and as John says in I John chapter one about living in “fellowship” with God. 

         

The words “be sober” in I Peter 1:13 can be misleading in that many see the words as merely directed towards abstaining from alcoholic beverages.  The emphasis is upon the clarity of mind that is able to be on watch, or guard, against the “wiles of the devil” (Ephesians 6:11). 

The girded mind is always a sober mind. 

The vices and lusts of this life should never be allowed to interfere with the Spirit-filled believer’s ministry to serve the Lord.  The admonition is to be constantly prepared for the coming of the Lord Jesus and the Judgment Seat of Christ that will follow shortly thereafter.  The point is that there is culpability for the resource given to the believer in the indwelling of the Spirit of Christ and His supernatural enabling of the Spirit-filled believer.  Culpability means accountability.  Simple stated, we will give account for what we have done with this supernaturally enabled life given us in “the regeneration.”  Jesus gave an extreme example of this to His disciples in Luke chapter twelve. 

“33 Sell that ye have, and give alms; provide yourselves bags which wax not old, a treasure in the heavens that faileth not, where no thief approacheth, neither moth corrupteth {what you give to the Lord’s service, you keep for eternity}. 34 For where your treasure is, there will your heart be also {make souls your treasure}. 35 Let your loins be girded about, and your lights burning; 36 And ye yourselves like unto men that wait for their lord, when he will return from the wedding; that when he cometh and knocketh, they may open unto him immediately. 37 Blessed are those servants, whom the lord when he cometh shall find watching {in expectation}: verily I say unto you, that he shall gird himself, and make them to sit down to meat, and will come forth and serve them. 38 And if he shall come in the second watch, or come in the third watch, and find them so, blessed are those servants. 39 And this know, that if the goodman of the house had known what hour the thief would come, he would have watched, and not have suffered his house to be broken through. 40 Be ye therefore ready also: for the Son of man cometh at an hour when ye think not” (Luke 12:33-40).

I Peter 1:13-16 is one continuous statement that involves some very serious expectations of us by Jesus Christ.  We should look at these expectations carefully and examine our lives regarding how we are doing with these Bible commands. 

“13 Wherefore gird up the loins of your mind, be sober, and hope to the end for the grace that is to be brought unto you at the revelation of Jesus Christ; 14 As obedient children, not fashioning yourselves according to the former lusts in your ignorance: 15 But as he which hath called you is holy, so be ye holy in all manner of conversation; 16 Because it is written, Be ye holy; for I am holy” (I Peter 1:13-16).

The “hope to the end for the grace that is to be brought unto you at the revelation of Jesus Christ” (I Peter 1:13) refers to the resurrection/translation/glorification of all Church Age believers at the rapture of the Church.  This is to what is commonly referred as “the blessed hope.”  Notice the similarities of what Paul says in Titus 2:11-14 to what Peter says in I Peter 1:13-16.

“11 For the grace of God that bringeth salvation hath appeared to all men, 12 Teaching us that, denying ungodliness and worldly lusts, we should live soberly, righteously, and godly, in this present world; 13 Looking for that blessed hope, and the glorious appearing of the great God and our Saviour Jesus Christ; 14 Who gave himself for us, that he might redeem us from all iniquity, and purify unto himself a peculiar people, zealous of good works” (Titus 2:11-14).

Therefore, the consummation of the grace of God in the salvation of all believers is their glorification to perfect holiness and an incorruptible new glorified body.  The “revelation of Jesus Christ” is when believers will “see Him as He is.”  Notice that the Apostle John defines the same culpable responsibilities for believers as do Peter and Paul.

“1 Behold, what manner of love the Father hath bestowed upon us, that we should be called the sons of God: therefore the world knoweth us not, because it knew him not. 2 Beloved, now are we the sons of God, and it doth not yet appear what we shall be: but we know that, when he shall appear, we shall be like him; for we shall see him as he is. 3 And every man that hath this hope in him purifieth himself, even as he is pure” (I John 3:1-3).

What we see in all of these texts is God’s expectations of what defines Biblical Christianity.  Although Biblical Christianity begins with the five Bible verbs (repent, believe, confess, call, and receive) that bring a soul to being “born again,” this is merely the beginning of a believer’s new life “in Christ.’  In other words, salvation from the penalty of sin does not automatically deliver the believer from power of his own sinful nature.  Deliverance from the penalty of sin is justification.  Deliverance from the power of sin is sanctification.  Justification is a gift of God offered by Grace and received through faith.  Sanctification is also a gift of God offered by grace to the “born again” believer through yielding (full surrender) to the indwelling Spirit of Christ.  Justification saves the soul from eternal damnation in Hell.  Sanctification saves the saved believer’s life from ruin and waste.  These are radically different aspects of salvation.  Justification is once for all based upon the once for all propitiation of God (satisfaction of His wrath upon sin in the Substitute). 

Sanctification is accomplished through the moment by moment partnership with the Holy Spirit as the believer fully yields his will to the will of God.  Justification makes it possible for a believer to live the Christ-life, or be a Christian.  It is the moment by moment sanctification of the believer’s life that actually defines him as a Christian.  Sanctification is the supernatural empowering of the believer to live separate from sin, apostasy, worldliness and to live separated to serving the Lord. 

The reality of a genuine conversion in the heart is the after effects of conversion in the operations of the indwelling Holy Spirit defined by Ephesians 2:10; “For we are his workmanship, created in Christ Jesus unto good works, which God hath before ordained that we should walk in them.”  This progressive transfiguration of a newly “born again” believer should be evident.  We call this after effect spiritual growth.  Spiritual growth is the progressive abandonment of the things of this world (worldliness) to progressively become more like Christ (godliness; Mark 8:27-38).

“27 And Jesus went out, and his disciples, into the towns of Caesarea Philippi: and by the way he asked his disciples, saying unto them, Whom do men say that I am? 28 And they answered, John the Baptist: but some say, Elias; and others, One of the prophets. 29 And he saith unto them, But whom say ye that I am? And Peter answereth and saith unto him, Thou art the Christ. 30 And he charged them that they should tell no man of him. 31 And he began to teach them, that the Son of man must suffer many things, and be rejected of the elders, and of the chief priests, and scribes, and be killed, and after three days rise again. 32 And he spake that saying openly. And Peter took him, and began to rebuke him. 33 But when he had turned about and looked on his disciples, he rebuked Peter, saying, Get thee behind me, Satan: for thou savourest not the things that be of God, but the things that be of men. 34 And when he had called the people unto him with his disciples also, he said unto them, Whosoever will come after me, let him deny himself, and take up his cross, and follow me. 35 For whosoever will save his life {for his selfish use} shall lose it; but whosoever shall lose his life for my sake and the gospel’s, the same shall save it {this refers to escaping a life wasted on worldliness}. 36 For what shall it profit a man, if he shall gain the whole world, and lose his own soul? 37 Or what shall a man give in exchange for his soul? 38 Whosoever therefore shall be ashamed of me and of my words in this adulterous and sinful generation {such an attitude is a contradiction against a profession and confession of Jesus as Lord}; of him also shall the Son of man be ashamed {this is not talking about salvation, but Jesus’ shame for failure to live for Him, which is a disgrace to genuine faith}, when he cometh in the glory of his Father with the holy angels {second coming in both the pretribulation rapture of Church Age believers and His post-tribulation second coming to reign during the Kingdom Age}” (Mark 8:27-38).

What are the identificational distinctives that define true, Biblical Christians given to us in these many texts?  We would be wise to carefully look at them.  Then, we would be equally wise to carefully look for them in our personal lives.  As we do so, it is critically important to understand that the Scriptures are redundant with statements regarding these distinctives.  In other words, what we see in these few portions of Scripture are general and not exhaustive.  Paul refers to these same principles as putting off the “old man” and the “flesh” while putting on Christ in Ephesians 4:20-32 and Colossians 3:8-17.  Nonetheless, they are distinctive expectations for which we are culpable.  Putting off the sins of the flesh, without putting on the power of Christ in us to transform our lives, is what most professing Christians define as Christianity.  Nothing could be further from the truth!  This is the main reason modern Christianity is so weak and powerless. 

Seven Characteristics of Genuine Christianity

1. Obedience to the will of God as revealed by the Word of God (I Peter 1:14)

2. “Not fashioning yourselves according to the former lusts” (I Peter 1:14), which is shaping our thinking, emotions, and living in a way that reflects the character of Christ rather than the character of the world

3. Being as holy as God is holy (I Peter 1:15-16), which means being distinctively unworldly and completely godly

4. We are to deny “ungodliness and worldly lusts” (Titus 2:12); the intent being we are not to allow “ungodliness and worldly lusts” access to our heart, mind, and walk.

5. We are expected to “live soberly, righteously, and godly, in this present world” (Titus 2:12).

6. We should live every moment of our lives in the imminent (any moment) expectation of the coming of our Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ (Titus 2:13-14), at which time we will stand before Him and give account of how we used our lives.  “For we must all appear before the judgment seat of Christ; that every one may receive the things done in his body, according to that he hath done, whether it be good or bad” (II Corinthians 5:10).

7. We must purify ourselves of all types of worldliness; “And every man that hath this hope in him purifieth himself, even as he is pure” (I John 3:3).

“As Obedient Children”

“14 As obedient children, not fashioning yourselves according to the former lusts in your ignorance: 15 But as he which hath called you is holy, so be ye holy in all manner of conversation; 16 Because it is written, Be ye holy; for I am holy” (I Peter 1:14-16).

There are so many simple truths for living the Christ-life in Scripture that they are often missed due to a cursory reading of the text.  I Peter 1:14 is such a text in the use of the phrase “as obedient children.”  There are two main types of obedience.  There is fear obedience and there is love obedience.  Fear obedience obeys because of fear of punishment or chastisement for disobedient.  Fear obedience really wants to disobey, but does not because of fear of the loss of privileges or rewards.  Fear obedience is juvenile/immature obedience.  Most people never spiritually grow beyond fear obedience, because they are never taught love obedience. 

Love obedience is mature obedience.  Love obedience is a transition in spiritual growth to the place where doing what is right becomes the most important character trait of a person.  Love obedience wants to live righteously and holy because this is what God wants.  If we love God, we want what He wants for us.  What is important to God becomes equally important to us.  This is the meaning of the phrase “as obedient children.” 

Secondly, we must understand that what God commands in I Peter 1:14-16 is impossible for us to do without the transforming grace of God available to us through yielding to His indwelling Spirit. 

“4 Hear, O Israel: The LORD our God is one LORD: 5 And thou shalt love the LORD thy God with all thine heart, and with all thy soul, and with all thy might. 6 And these words, which I command thee this day, shall be in thine heart: 7 And thou shalt teach them diligently unto thy children, and shalt talk of them when thou sittest in thine house, and when thou walkest by the way, and when thou liest down, and when thou risest up. 8 And thou shalt bind them for a sign upon thine hand, and they shall be as frontlets between thine eyes. 9 And thou shalt write them upon the posts of thy house, and on thy gates” (Deuteronomy 6:4-9).

God measures our love for Him by our willingness to submit our will to His will.  This submission to God’s will is called obedience.  This submission, and the resulting obedience, is the major defining factor of a broken will.  However, apart from loving God, obedience is merely a fear response to the threat of God’s judgment. 

         

Exodus 20:3 says, “Thou shalt have no other gods before me.”  Putting God first is an ATTITUDE that must govern our lives.  Do you think you were successful in putting God first in everything you did this last week?  Before you answer this question, let me define the parameters for you.  Everything you knew you should do, you did every time, and you did it in the enabling power and control of the Holy Spirit.  Everything you knew you shouldn’t do (or think), you did not do, and you obeyed in the enabling power and control of the Holy Spirit.  From that perspective, do you think you were successful in putting God first in everything you did this last week?

         

Our love motivated desire to put God first in our lives is measured by the effort we make to maintain our fellowship with Him.  This effort is how we measure our love for Him.  We do not do it just to express our love for Him, but because we love Him.  Our love for the Lord is what motivates us to maintain unbroken fellowship with Him.  God measures our love for Him by our ACTIONS and ATTITUDE in response to His truth.  The greatest difficulty in teaching our children love motivated obedience is due to the fact it is often not something that is part of the lives of parents.  Love motivation is an attitude resulting in an action of submission of the will to God a becoming obedience from the heart. 

“For this is the love of God, that we keep (action) his commandments: and his commandments are not grievous (attitude)” (I John 5:3).

         

On the other hand, rebellion is defined as the unwillingness to submit our will to the authority of another.  This is the major defining factor of an unbroken will.  Therefore, rebellion is an expression of attitude by action.  It begins with an attitude that results in wrong action.  Colossians chapters three and four reveal some of the basic relationships of life.

         

We see there the constant use of the words “submit” and “obey” in regard to these relationships.  Every willful act of disobedience is also an act of rebellion.  Each act of rebellion manifests our lack of love for our Lord at any given moment in time.  Attitude + Action = (reveals) our love for God (A+A=L).

         

Learn the principle of the broken will (submission)!  Loving God is work.  Loving anyone is work.  Loving someone is spiritual warfare.  Loving anyone is a battle with SIN (temptation - satanic outside forces of evil) and SELF (internal - carnal desires to sin).

“22 But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, longsuffering, gentleness, goodness, faith, 23 Meekness, temperance: against such there is no law. 24 And they that are Christ’s have crucified the flesh with the affections and lusts” (Galatians 5:22-24).

The “fruit of the Spirit” comes through loving the Lord (putting Him first).  The “fruit of the Spirit” comes from yielding ourselves, body, soul and spirit into the control of God’s Holy Spirit where we partner with Him in doing what God commands.  Putting God first, and self last, in the priorities of our desires must go hand in hand.  The New Man in Christ (Galatians 5:24) and the Old Man are a contradiction against one another (Galatians 5:17).

“And they that are Christ’s have crucified the flesh with the affections and lusts” (Galatians 5:24).

“For the flesh lusteth against the Spirit, and the Spirit against the flesh: and these are contrary the one to the other: so that ye cannot do the things that ye would” (Galatians 5:17).

People who come to me for counseling are frequently asked if they (in their opinion) love the Lord.  Almost always, regardless of improper attitudes or actions, they answer, yes!  The following principle applies:  anytime we continue to habitually have a problem with a particular area of sin in our lives, the PROBLEM is that we love ourselves more than we love God.

        

In any such area of our lives, God is not put first.  God measures our love for Him by our willingness to submit our will to His will.  If we love Him, submit our will to His will is not a great burden for us. 

The Bible concept of love is “Right Action + Right Attitude = Loving God.”  If the action is right but the attitude is wrong, the action of obedience does not qualify as loving God.

“And thou shalt love the LORD thy God with all thine heart, and with all thy soul, and with all thy might” (Deuteronomy 6:5). 

The Shema of the Old Testament was repeated twice daily; every morning and every evening.  The expectation of God in the Shema is the total commitment of all that we are to Him, body (might or physical strength), soul (will and personality) and spirit (desires and attitudes).  Loving God (sacrificially putting Him first) involves this kind of commitment.

“And these words, which I command thee this day, shall be in thine heart” (Deuteronomy 6:6).

Truth and the desire to obey must be in the heart, not just in the head.  Imprinting absolutes on the psyche refers to convictions of truth that are heart motivated that stimulate our conscience to act upon what we believe to be right and wrong.  This means we accept that there is reality to what we claim to believe.  That reality is evident by our moment by moment attitude about truth.  Our love for God is also evident by our work at integrating God’s truth into our lives and into our relationships with others.  We cannot honestly claim to love others if we fail to work at integrating God’s truths into our lives and into theirs.  We cannot love others and at the same time compromise truth through disobedience or neglect.

“7 And thou shalt teach them diligently unto thy children, and shalt talk of them when thou sittest in thine house, and when thou walkest by the way, and when thou liest down, and when thou risest up. 8 And thou shalt bind them for a sign upon thine hand, and they shall be as frontlets between thine eyes. 9 And thou shalt write them upon the posts of thy house, and on thy gates” (Deuteronomy 6:7-9).

These three verses detail the transfer of our love for God into the three other areas of relationships (husband/wife relationship, family relationship, and career or non-intimate relationships).  God’s emphasis regarding loving Him seems to be centrally concerned with our attitude and actions in obeying truth.  God’s emphasis in loving others seems to be centrally concerned with the integration and implementation of truth into their lives. 

         

Deuteronomy 6:7 shows the integration of truth into our children’s lives (Action + Attitude = Loving God).  The emphasis is upon the INCREMENTAL IMPLEMENTATION of truth as it is INTEGRATED into every aspect of living (not just memorization).  Incremental means piece by piece by piece by piece - a little here, a little there.  A fortress of Biblical convictions is built one brick at a time.  Each brick of truth must be carefully laid in place so that when the next truth is built upon it, the underlying structure is solid enough to support the additional stress of that new truth.

“For precept must be upon precept, precept upon precept; line upon line, line upon line; here a little, and there a little” (Isaiah 28:10).

Building truth and love motivated obedience into the lives of our children is the predominant factor in their education.  Like the weaving of a basket, Biblical truth must be interwoven into the everyday education of our children.  It is not something that can be done as an add-on to their education.  Neither is it something that can be done separately from their education.  It must be integrated within their education.

 

We must learn to use every opportunity in life (successes and failures) to incrementally integrate love motivated obedience to truth into the lives of our children.  The surest way to accomplish this is through the continual application of truth in our own lives and in the lives of our children.  There must be consistency.  The surest way to destroy this is through duplicity in our lives.  Duplicity is the erasure of absolutes imprinted upon the psyche.

         

According to Deuteronomy 6:8, the best way to incrementally integrate truth into the lives of our children is to live truth before them (by example).  Can we honestly, or even intelligently, expect our children to love the Lord any more than we do?  If God’s truth is not important enough for you to work at translating it into the language of living, do not expect your children to make the effort.   The spiritual REALITY that is evident in your life will become evident reality in theirs.

         

Deuteronomy 6:8 is referring to being a living testimony to a reality that God’s truths are important enough to you that you will make every effort to live those truths (not just an exhibition of spiritual piety).  When our lives are a living testimony of God’s truths, it brings glory to God.  When our lives are just an exhibition of personal piety, it only brings glory to us.  Our goal is to have our children’s lives bring glory to God by restoring God’s image in their lives.

         

According to Deuteronomy 6:9, God’s truths need to be integrated into our external relationships.  There is a lesser degree of influence and control in external relationships.  Again the emphasis is about a testimony of a living example.  The intent of living truth as a public testimony is to show a testimony to what you hold valuable by what you are willing to stand for, with, or against.  Your whole world is watching your attitude and actions.  You are a living testimony to the reality of Christianity.  Our public testimony is what we have established as a public standard.  It is defined by the priorities of our lives and the truths we have determined to live by.

         

What is your testimony for Christ?  The best way to find this out is not by telling people what it is, but by asking them.  Your testimony for Christ is not what you say it is, but what others say it is.  Our children are often a living example of our testimony for Christ.

         

What changes do you need to make in the way you truthfully live before others in order to have a living, vibrant testimony for Jesus Christ?  Will you decide to begin to work at those changes today?  Every change begins with a promise, and every promise begins with a decision.  Decide today!

1. Do you love the Lord?  This is measured by your attitude (God’s commands are not a burden) and actions (you obey God’s commands).

2. What is your level of commitment to keeping God first in everything you do?

3. What efforts are you making to incrementally integrate God’s truths into your own life and the lives of others (especially your children)?

“As obedient children, not fashioning yourselves according to the former lusts in your ignorance:” (I Peter 1:14).

This phrase is very similar to what Paul says in Romans 12:2.  The phrase “not fashioning yourselves” could read negate patterning your lives or conforming your lives to the driving desires of the flesh.  The intent is that true biblical nonconformity to worldly lusts, common to those that are ignorant of God’s expectations of holiness, will require a constant effort.  However, again this is not willpower holiness.  True holiness can only come through the divine enabling of the believer as he yields to the indwelling holy Spirit.  This is what defines living by grace.  A life of holiness, the Christ-life, is produced in the believer’s life when the believer enters into a partnership to that end with the indwelling Christ.  The Bible word for this partnership is “fellowship.”  Peter will expand upon the intent of this this verse throughout chapter four of I Peter.

“1 Forasmuch then as Christ hath suffered for us in the flesh, arm yourselves likewise with the same mind: for he that hath suffered in the flesh hath ceased from sin; 2 That he no longer should live the rest of his time in the flesh to the lusts of men, but to the will of God. 3 For the time past of our life may suffice us to have wrought the will of the Gentiles, when we walked in lasciviousness, lusts, excess of wine, revellings, banquetings, and abominable idolatries:” (I Peter 4:1-3).

Peter will also start his second epistle with a more detailed explanation of the doctrine of God’s enabling grace through the impartation of the divine nature – the indwelling Spirit of God.  In II Peter, the Holy Spirit is “the righteousness of God” imparted to the believer in justification continually and eternally indwelling the believer to produce God-kind righteousness through the believer’s life.  This union generates a potential for the supernatural enabling of the believer to live holy.  

“1 Simon Peter, a servant and an apostle of Jesus Christ, to them that have obtained like precious faith with us through the righteousness of God and our Saviour Jesus Christ: 2 Grace and peace be multiplied unto you through the knowledge of God, and of Jesus our Lord, 3 According as his divine power hath given unto us all things that pertain unto life and godliness, through the knowledge of him that hath called us to glory and virtue: 4 Whereby are given unto us exceeding great and precious promises: that by these ye might be partakers of the divine nature, having escaped the corruption that is in the world through lust” (II Peter 1:1-4).

The intent of the statement in I Peter 1:14-16 is intended to reflect the heightened expectations of believers now under the New Covenant in Christ’s blood (I Corinthians 11:25).  Paul speaks of this in II Corinthians 3:6, “Who also hath made us able {equipped with adequate power to perform what is commanded} ministers of the new testament {covenant}; not of the letter, but of the spirit: for the letter killeth, but the spirit giveth life.”  The Law made demands of the believer, but provided no power to obey.  The indwelling and filling of the Holy Spirit of God under the New Covenant Dispensation of Grace provides the power to obey the Law from the heart.  This is to what Jesus speaks in Matthew chapter five in what we know as the Beatitudes. 

Most English translations do not do a good job translating Matthew 5:17; “Think not that I am come to destroy the law, or the prophets: I am not come to destroy, but to fulfil.”  Critical to understanding the whole of Matthew chapters five through seven is our understanding of the two Greek words translated “destroy” and “fulfill” in Matthew 5:17.  The word “destroy” is from the Greek word kataluo (kat-al-oo'-o).  It means to loosen downwardly, to take apart, disintegrate, or dissolve.  Christ said, Do not think that He came to do such a thing.  Instead, understand that He came to “fulfil” the Law.  Many have offered numerous explanations regarding Christ’s meaning of this statement.  However, I think the best meaning is simply in the context of the grammar of the statement. 

         

The word “fulfil” is translated from the Greek word pleroo (play-ro'-o).  The word means to fill to the fullest extent; to cram full.  Granted, Jesus did fulfill the Law in both the sense of living it in its fullest intent from the heart and substitutionally satisfying its sentence upon the guilty offender through His death, burial, and resurrection thereby propitiating God’s wrath upon sin (I John 2:2).  We know Jesus fulfilled the Law in this way from numerous Scriptural testimonies. 

As Romans 10:4 says, Christ came to end the false teaching of apostate Israel that Law keeping could bring them the God-kind righteousness necessary to either salvation or “fellowship” with God.  However, this is not the context of Matthew 5:17.  The context is that Jesus did not come to lessen or loosen God’s expectations of sinners regarding Law keeping.

“1 Brethren, my heart’s desire and prayer to God for Israel is, that they might be saved. 2 For I bear them record that they have a zeal of God, but not according to knowledge. 3 For they being ignorant of God’s righteousness, and going about to establish their own righteousness {through legalistic Law keeping}, have not submitted themselves unto the righteousness of God {justification by grace through faith}. 4 For Christ is the end of the law for righteousness to every one that believeth” (Romans 10:1-4).

Jesus came to restore the extreme, fullest extent of God’s expectations in perfect Law keeping both inwardly and outwardly; i.e. from the heart.  Law and Grace do not oppose one another as enemies.  They are cooperating partners.  Neither do they exist apart from one another.  They are inseparable partners of truth that must walk hand-in-hand if mankind is to be restored both in salvation and sanctification.  An old poem by an unknown author states:

To run and work the Law commands,

Yet gives me neither feet nor hands;

But better news the gospel brings:

It bids me fly and gives me wings.

Teaching the moral obligations of the Law without teaching the doctrine of God’s supernatural enabling grace is Legalism.  Teaching the doctrine of God’s supernatural enabling grace without teaching the moral obligations defined by the Law is Liberalism.  Both abuses are spiritual aberrations of all that Christ teaches regarding the Christian life. 

The moral laws of God are not abrogated in Christ.  The moral laws of God are increased (crammed full) in Christ.  Christ’s life (the Spirit-filled life or the anointed life) became available to all believers with new definitions and increased expectations regarding the believer’s moral obligations during the Age of Grace. 

         

Christ, in Matthew chapters five through seven, is not giving a new definition of the moral laws given by Moses, but a restoration of their original intent in obedience from the heart.  Christ is correcting the false notion that the moral obligations could be fulfilled (fully obeyed from the heart) by fallen sinners.  The solution to this false notion was not a less strict interpretation of the Law, but a more intense, stricter interpretation.  The resulting conclusion in all of the five examples Christ gives is hopeless despair regarding any hope of finding acceptance before God for self-produced righteousness through externalism (Legalism).  Neither Legalism nor Liberalism, in any degree, is the solution to the problem of sin and mankind’s corrupt inward desires/lusts for sin.

         

The Law by itself brings nothing but guilt, failure, despair, hopelessness, and condemnation.  Until we understand the doctrine of Grace, there is little wonder why we hate the Law and its outcomes.  When all we see of God is the Law, we can find little about God that would cause us to love Him.  However, this scene of life is rapidly changed from a cloud of doom and despair to a rainbow of hope and blessings of God’s wondrous love, mercy, forgiveness, and eternal promises once a proper understanding of the doctrine of Grace is added to our scenario.  The Law by itself is a portrait of destruction and ruin.  Add an understanding of the doctrine of Grace to it and the portrait begins to progressively unfold into the present potentials of this life and the eternal blessings of progressive unfolding of “the regeneration.”  Grace saves us “through faith” and begins to progressively transfigure us through progressive sanctification as we actively work in partnership with the indwelling Holy Spirit of God. 

         

Secondly, this union of Law and Grace is an indestructible, eternal union.  Matthew 5:18 says, “For verily I say unto you, Till heaven and earth pass {referring to the final stage of God’s judgment in the dissolution of the original creation}, one jot or one tittle shall in no wise pass from the law, till all be fulfilled.”  When will this union of Law and Grace be dissolved by God in that this union will no longer be necessary.  At the end of the world!  The necessity of the marriage of Law and Grace enabling will be dissolved when the world is dissolved and redeemed mankind is glorified and delivered from the very presence of sin.

“14 As obedient children, not fashioning yourselves according to the former lusts in your ignorance: 15 But as he which hath called you is holy, so be ye holy in all manner of conversation; 16 Because it is written, Be ye holy; for I am holy” (I Peter 1:14-16).

The explanation of how these verses of Scripture are to be fleshed out is found in II Corinthians 5:16-21.  These few verses explain the radical transformation already taken place in every New Covenant believer’s spiritual new birth.

“16 Wherefore henceforth know we no man after the flesh: yea, though we have known Christ after the flesh, yet now henceforth know we him no more. 17 Therefore if any man be in Christ, he is a new creature: old things {the archaic} are passed away {historically gone by}; behold, all things are become {perfect tense} new {kainos - of a new kind}. 18 And all things are of God, who hath reconciled us to himself by Jesus Christ, and hath given to us the ministry of reconciliation; 19 To wit, that God was in Christ, reconciling the world unto himself, not imputing their trespasses unto them; and hath committed unto us the word of reconciliation. 20 Now then we are ambassadors for Christ, as though God did beseech you by us: we pray you in Christ's stead, be ye reconciled to God. 21 For he hath made him to be sin for us, who knew no sin; that we might be made {become; this is not referring to imputation, but rather the creation/production of God-kind righteousness through the believer’s life through ‘fellowship’ with the indwelling Christ} the righteousness of God in him (in Christ in ‘the regeneration’}” (II Corinthians 5:16-21).

        

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Numerous studies and series are available free of charge for local churches at: http://www.disciplemakerministries.org/ 
Dr. Lance Ketchum serves the Lord as a Church Planter, Evangelist/Revivalist. 
He has served the Lord for over 40 years.