March 30, 2008

Salvation…Then What? (Love One Another)
1 Peter 1:18-22

I. Introduction

Parked on the side of the road, waiting to catch speeding drivers, a state trooper sees a car puttering along at 22 mph. Thinking the driver is as dangerous as a speeder, the state trooper turns on his lights and pulls the car over.

As he approaches the vehicle, the officer notices there are five elderly nuns inside—two in the front seat and three in the back—wide-eyed and white as ghosts.

The driver, obviously confused, says, "Officer, I don't understand. I was going the exact speed limit. What seems to
be the problem?"

The trooper, trying to contain a chuckle and realizing the nuns must not get out much, explained to her that 22 was the
route number—not the speed limit.

A bit embarrassed, the woman grins and thanks the officer for pointing out her error.

"Before you go," the officer says, "I have to ask: Is everyone in this car okay? These women seem awfully shaken."

"Oh," she answered, "they'll be all right, sir. We just got off of Route 167."

Today we will finish up a miniseries within Peter that I have called, “Salvation…Then What?”

The idea is that salvation is not the end of our journey; it is but the beginning.

Peter expresses this in the first chapter of his letter. He begins by extolling the greatness of the work of Jesus Christ and
the salvation that is available to us as a result.

But then he says in verse 13 of chapter 1, “Therefore prepare your minds for action; discipline yourselves…”
(NRSV)

Yes, you received the salvation of you souls, but now let that lead you to take action – prepare and discipline yourselves. What are we preparing and disciplining ourselves to do?

Once I have come to know and put my trust in Christ for salvation, how do I live?

First, live with a sense of hope. “Set all your hope on the grace that Jesus Christ will bring you when he is
revealed.” (verse 13)

Hope is not only life-sustaining for us, but it is also a powerful testimony to others. Later in his letter Peter writes,
“Always be prepared to give an answer to everyone who asks you to give the reason for the hope that you
have.” (1 Peter 3:15, NIV)

Second, Peter says, “as he who called you is holy, be holy yourselves in all your conduct…” (verse 15)

I tried to make it clear that holiness is not about legalism, but about pure love.

If we love God and love others we will do the right thing (be holy).

The third thing Peter says in light of our salvation is that we should fear God: “live in reverent fear…” (verse 17)

Remember, fear is your friend. It keeps you out of danger and trouble.

But Peter has one final exhortation to give in light of his opening comments and that is: “love one another deeply from
the heart.” (verse 22)

II. Love One Another

One thing I love about Peter is how enthusiastic he is about what Christ has done. Peter, as we know from the Gospel accounts, is a passionate man and this comes through as he is writing this letter.

Even though he has already passionately expressed the greatness of Christ and the nature of our salvation, Peter feels
the need to say more (I understand that!).

He just can’t contain himself, so in between his third and final exhortation, he says: “You know that you were ransomed from the futile ways inherited from your ancestors, not with perishable things like silver or gold, 19 but with the precious blood of Christ, like that of a lamb without defect or blemish. 20 He was destined before the foundation
of the world, but was revealed at the end of the ages for your sake. 21 Through him you have come to trust in
God, who raised him from the dead and gave him glory, so that your faith and hope are set on God.”
(1 Peter 1:18-21, NRSV)

But then he comes to what I think is the climax of the exhortation: “Now that you have purified your souls by
your obedience to the truth so that you have genuine mutual love, love one another deeply from the heart.”
(1 Peter 1:22, NRSV)

When Peter talks about genuine mutual love, he is speaking of a love that is without hypocrisy.

This is not a love we put on for special occasions. It is a love that flows from a soul that has been purified through the
fires of obedience to the truth.

As we seek to follow Christ we are daily bombarded with choices. For the one who chooses obedience, even when it leads to or springs out of difficult circumstances, there will be a purifying and softening of the heart.

This purifying obedience leads us deeper into the heart of God, and His loving Presence in our lives transforms us into people who have a genuine love for others.

This is not just a love for God, but a deep (fervent or constant) love for others. You cannot fake this love. It is a love
that can only come from God, and when we have this love it flows naturally and freely to everyone.

“Love one another deeply from the heart.”

Here are but a few of the many verses that make clear the emphasis of Scripture that we are to “love one another
deeply from the heart.”

“Let love be genuine; hate what is evil, hold fast to what is good; 10 love one another with mutual affection…” (Romans 12:9-10, NRSV)

“For you have been called to live in freedom, my brothers and sisters. But don't use your freedom to satisfy your sinful nature. Instead, use your freedom to serve one another in love.” (Galatians 5:13, NLT)

“Always be humble and gentle. Be patient with each other, making allowance for each other's faults because of your love.” (Ephesians 4:2, NLT)

“And may the Lord make your love for one another and for all people grow and overflow, just as our love for
you overflows.” (1 Thessalonians 3:12, NLT)

“Above all, maintain constant love for one another, for love covers a multitude of sins.” (1 Peter 4:8, NRSV)

“We know that we have passed from death to life because we love one another. Whoever does not love abides
in death.” (1 John 3:14, NRSV)

In spite of the clarity we see in Scripture concerning our call to love one another, it still never ceases to amaze me how
easy it is to focus on everything else but love.

We fight, we hate, we do not forgive, and we smear the name of the one we profess to love.

I believe it is this void of love among those who say they follow Christ that has done more damage to the cause of Christ than any other issue.

However, it is not a new problem; listen to Jesus as He addresses the Pharisees: “What sorrow awaits you Pharisees! For you are careful to tithe even the tiniest income from your herb gardens, but you ignore justice and the love
of God. You should tithe, yes, but do not neglect the more important things.” (Luke 11:42, NLT)

I am not sure why, but it seems to be in our nature to major on the minors of life and to neglect those things that are
truly important.

So, what are we to do?

III. Application

Although it is somewhat of a circular argument, I believe that Peter gives as good of an answer as any to this question.

How do we grow in our love one for another?

  -We daily call to mind that we are chosen by the Father and that we are being sanctified by the Holy Spirit for
    obedience to Christ (verse 2).
  -We rejoice in the glorious reality of our salvation (verses 3-9).
  -We prepare our minds for action and exercise discipline in our daily lives (verse 13).
  -We set our hope fully on the grace of God (verse 13).
  -We live holy lives (verses 14-15).
  -We live with a reverent fear of God (verse 17).
  -We allow ourselves to be purified by God through all the circumstances of our lives as we, with God’s strength,
    live in obedience to the truth (verse 22).

As we acknowledge our own inability to love and rely daily on God’s grace we will grow in all these things and
the end result is love.

This is why I called it a circular argument – all these things work together. The more we love, the more we will have
hope and the more we have hope, the more we will rejoice in our salvation and the more we rejoice in our salvation, the more we will live holy lives and the more we live holy lives the more we will love.

It is a journey, and although we will never fully arrive until we stand before God in heaven, it is a journey worth taking
and a mountain worth climbing.

“And now these three remain: faith, hope and love. But the greatest of these is love.” (1 Corinthians 13:13, NIV)