The Foundations of Holiness

Sermon Text

1 Peter 1:17-21

17 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; 18 knowing that you were not redeemed with corruptible things, like silver or gold, from your aimless conduct received by tradition from your fathers, 19 but with the precious blood of Christ, as of a lamb without blemish and without spot. 20 He indeed was foreordained before the foundation of the world, but was manifest in these last times for you 21 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.

New King James Version (NKJV) Scripture taken from the New King James Version®. Copyright © 1982 by Thomas Nelson. All rights reserved.

• Christian holiness is rooted in a relationship with God as both loving Father and impartial Judge, so believers approach him with reverent fear rather than either carelessness or slavish terror.
• Every inherited religious practice and human effort is powerless to redeem; sinners are ransomed only by the precious blood of Christ, the spotless Lamb.
• Jesus was foreordained before the foundation of the world, revealed in history, raised from the dead, and glorified so that faith and hope rest in God rather than in human tradition.
• Redemption frees believers from slavery to sin and death and brings them into God's family as adopted sons and daughters who may call him Father.
• Grace is neither permission to continue in sin nor a legalistic demand to earn acceptance; those already redeemed are called and enabled to fight sin and bear the Spirit's fruit.
• Believers therefore pursue holiness as blood-bought, Spirit-filled, heaven-bound children, repeatedly repenting and returning to Christ when old sins seek to master them again.

• Do I approach God as both my loving Father and the holy Judge before whom every life is open?
• Am I trusting inherited customs, moral effort, money, or religious activity to do what only Christ's blood can do?
• Which old sin still speaks as though it were my master, even though Christ has redeemed me from its dominion?
• Have I mistaken grace for permission to remain unchanged, or holiness for a way to earn God's acceptance?
• Where do I need to repent and run toward God rather than hide from him in fear?
• What fruit of the Spirit should become more visible in my speech, relationships, and self-control?
• Is my faith and hope resting in the risen Christ alone?

Reverent fear

Awe before God's holiness and impartial judgment that drives his children toward him in trust and obedience rather than away from him in servile terror.

Redemption

God's act of purchasing sinners out of bondage to sin and death through the precious blood of Jesus Christ.

Impartial judgment

God's perfectly just evaluation that cannot be influenced by wealth, status, ancestry, or outward religious claims.

Precious blood of Christ

The sacrificial death of Jesus, the spotless Lamb, which alone pays the ransom and removes the curse owed by sinners.

Adoption

The grace by which those redeemed through Christ are received as God's sons and daughters and may call upon him as Father.

Holiness

A life increasingly set apart for God, resisting former masters and reflecting the Father's character through the Spirit's work.