Each Man's Work - 1 Peter 1:17
Pastor Tim Brown, Calvary Chapel Fremont, Sunday August 16, 2009
Each man’s work
1 Peter 1:17
V14 introduces the theme of obedience and v15 gives you a reason to walk in obedience in – it is through obedience that you become holy. It is by saying YES to God and NO to sin that the beauty of Christ is developed in you. Nobody in this room was born holy. Your parents might have thought you were an angel, but after a while you convinced them that you were a devil. Nobody is born holy, i.e., w/ the beauty of the character of Christ/nobody takes on the beauty of Christ w/o obedience.
V17 gives another reason to walk in obedience to God – your obedience is being judged by an impartial judge. Being impartial doesn’t mean that God doesn’t love you, it means that He’s brutally honest. My bathroom scale is an impartial judge – it is brutally honest. I wish my scale liked me more, but it is so annoyingly impartial. If I call down to it, “But I’ve been trying,” it won’t budge.
V15 Become holy in each step you take. V17 Take each step in fear. Why? Because God will impartially judge your works.
Four truths about judgment:
#1 love does not do away w/ judgment
We pray: “Our Father, who art in heaven.” God has adopted us into His family through Jesus the Son. We have become sons and daughters of God through faith. Just because God loves you and you are in His family doesn’t mean He won’t judge you. Having a relationship w/ God as Father does not mean that God won’t also be your Judge. We have escaped condemnation, but not examination/damnation, but not discipline.
Because he loved me, when I was in trouble, I wanted my father as near as possible (park in W. Covina). Because he judged me w/ a brutal honesty, when I caused trouble, I wanted my father as far away as possible – (where’s that gun?)
Father is not just a term of relationship, it is also a term of accountability. Who is a child more accountable to than his/her father? When I have a problem with a child, I go find his father. Having God as Father doesn’t eliminate God as Judge. I was never confused by how hard my father could be. It was never an intellectual problem for me that the person who loved me most judged me the hardest.
Love demands that judgment take place. A judgment is an opinion on the worthiness/unworthiness of an action/motive. A father who does not pass judgment, is falling far below the vision of Biblical fatherhood. Judgment shapes life. #1 problem today: absent fathers. God will not be absent in your life. Jesus: “I will not leave you as orphans.” Orphan - one who is brought to birth/then abandoned
#2 judgment does not lead to condemnation
Romans 8:1 There is no condemnation, but there is judgment. Not all judgment is condemnation.
Judgment isn’t meant to lead to condemnation, but to praise. … if anyone competes as an athlete, he does not receive the victor’s crown unless he competes according to the rules. 2 Timothy 2:5 These rewards fall into 3 categories:
1. Praise, or Exaltation 1 Cor. 4:5
2. Prosperity, or Heavenly Riches Matt. 6:19–21; 1 Tim. 6:17–19
3. Position, or Rank Matt. 25:14–25 1
#3 god is judging according to our works, not our sin
The Lord is not going to repay according to our sin, but our works. If the Lord repaid according to sin, we’d all be doomed. Think of it as judging at the Olympics.
What works is God judging? A work is something you’re supposed to do. – work out your salvation. These are works all of us have been given.
1:22 Love one another from the heart
2:9 Proclaim His excellencies
2:11-12 Abstain from fleshly lusts/keep behavior excellent
2:13 Submit to every human institution
3:1ff Wives, be submissive to husbands
3:7 Husbands, live w/ wives in an understanding way
4:7 Be of sound judgment/sober spirit for purpose of prayer
4:8 Keep fervent in love for one another
4:9 Be hospitable w/o complaint
#4 the judgment is now
The present tense verb is used here. This is not a future judgment, but a present one. The consequences may be future, but the judgment is now. Today, God is recording your works. 2 Cor. 5:10; Matthew 16:24-27. The reality of a police officer behind you on the road leads to obedience. He is judging you.
Please note that it is not sin being judged, but self. The cross has dealt w/ sin – the indwelling of the Holy Spirit deals w/ self. When you come to the cross, sin is forgiven. When you take up the cross, self is slain. Will self reign or will Christ reign? Will you deny yourself and follow Christ or follow self and deny Christ?
Because love does not do away w/ judgment/judgment does not lead to condemnation/judgment is according to our works, not our sin/judgment is now: Conduct yourself in fear during the time of your stay upon earth
The reality of judgment is meant to lead to the beauty of Christ being progressively developed in you. This takes place as you take each step in the fear of the Lord – and as you look to God in each step you take, you become holy in each step you take.
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Each man’s work
1 Peter 1:17
V14 introduces the theme of obedience and v15 gives you a reason to walk in obedience in – it is through obedience that you become holy. It is by saying YES to God and NO to sin that the beauty of Christ is developed in you. Nobody in this room was born holy. Your parents might have thought you were an angel, but after a while you convinced them that you were a devil. Nobody is born holy, i.e., w/ the beauty of the character of Christ/nobody takes on the beauty of Christ w/o obedience.
V17 gives another reason to walk in obedience to God – your obedience is being judged by an impartial judge. Being impartial doesn’t mean that God doesn’t love you, it means that He’s brutally honest. My bathroom scale is an impartial judge – it is brutally honest. I wish my scale liked me more, but it is so annoyingly impartial. If I call down to it, “But I’ve been trying,” it won’t budge.
V15 Become holy in each step you take. V17 Take each step in fear. Why? Because God will impartially judge your works.
Four truths about judgment:
#1 love does not do away w/ judgment
We pray: “Our Father, who art in heaven.” God has adopted us into His family through Jesus the Son. We have become sons and daughters of God through faith. Just because God loves you and you are in His family doesn’t mean He won’t judge you. Having a relationship w/ God as Father does not mean that God won’t also be your Judge. We have escaped condemnation, but not examination/damnation, but not discipline.
Because he loved me, when I was in trouble, I wanted my father as near as possible (park in W. Covina). Because he judged me w/ a brutal honesty, when I caused trouble, I wanted my father as far away as possible – (where’s that gun?)
Father is not just a term of relationship, it is also a term of accountability. Who is a child more accountable to than his/her father? When I have a problem with a child, I go find his father. Having God as Father doesn’t eliminate God as Judge. I was never confused by how hard my father could be. It was never an intellectual problem for me that the person who loved me most judged me the hardest.
Love demands that judgment take place. A judgment is an opinion on the worthiness/unworthiness of an action/motive. A father who does not pass judgment, is falling far below the vision of Biblical fatherhood. Judgment shapes life. #1 problem today: absent fathers. God will not be absent in your life. Jesus: “I will not leave you as orphans.” Orphan - one who is brought to birth/then abandoned
#2 judgment does not lead to condemnation
Romans 8:1 There is no condemnation, but there is judgment. Not all judgment is condemnation.
Judgment isn’t meant to lead to condemnation, but to praise. … if anyone competes as an athlete, he does not receive the victor’s crown unless he competes according to the rules. 2 Timothy 2:5 These rewards fall into 3 categories:
1. Praise, or Exaltation 1 Cor. 4:5
2. Prosperity, or Heavenly Riches Matt. 6:19–21; 1 Tim. 6:17–19
3. Position, or Rank Matt. 25:14–25 1
#3 god is judging according to our works, not our sin
The Lord is not going to repay according to our sin, but our works. If the Lord repaid according to sin, we’d all be doomed. Think of it as judging at the Olympics.
What works is God judging? A work is something you’re supposed to do. – work out your salvation. These are works all of us have been given.
1:22 Love one another from the heart
2:9 Proclaim His excellencies
2:11-12 Abstain from fleshly lusts/keep behavior excellent
2:13 Submit to every human institution
3:1ff Wives, be submissive to husbands
3:7 Husbands, live w/ wives in an understanding way
4:7 Be of sound judgment/sober spirit for purpose of prayer
4:8 Keep fervent in love for one another
4:9 Be hospitable w/o complaint
#4 the judgment is now
The present tense verb is used here. This is not a future judgment, but a present one. The consequences may be future, but the judgment is now. Today, God is recording your works. 2 Cor. 5:10; Matthew 16:24-27. The reality of a police officer behind you on the road leads to obedience. He is judging you.
Please note that it is not sin being judged, but self. The cross has dealt w/ sin – the indwelling of the Holy Spirit deals w/ self. When you come to the cross, sin is forgiven. When you take up the cross, self is slain. Will self reign or will Christ reign? Will you deny yourself and follow Christ or follow self and deny Christ?
Because love does not do away w/ judgment/judgment does not lead to condemnation/judgment is according to our works, not our sin/judgment is now: Conduct yourself in fear during the time of your stay upon earth
The reality of judgment is meant to lead to the beauty of Christ being progressively developed in you. This takes place as you take each step in the fear of the Lord – and as you look to God in each step you take, you become holy in each step you take.
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