The Hope of Future Grace • 07.23.23
Nick Lees   -   July 23, 2023

The Hope of Future Grace

1 Peter 1:13-2:3

Living now in light of what is to come

  1. Set your hope on the right object
  2. Conform your life around this hope

 

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Good morning church family! Welcome to our visitors. My name is Pastor Nick and I have the privilege of studying God’s Word with you this morning. I’m thankful you are here and what a blessing that we have our kids with us this month too! This a great opportunity to set an example for the next generation in the way we worship and dig into God’s Word.

Kid’s Sermon Notes (in back)

Why do you think we study the Bible each Sunday? Is it so we can have a better life? Is it meant to be a self-help book that guides us to our best life now? NO!

We study the Bible so we can know and worship God, our Creator, and understand his plan and purpose for our lives. Peter and the rest of the disciples gave up their lives for this truth and it has been carefully preserved and passed down through the ages for our benefit. This is not simply a self-help book or a guide to having a better life here and now. These are the very words of God written down for us so that we might know him and make him known.

2 Timothy 3:16–17 (ESV)

16 All Scripture is breathed out by God and profitable for teaching, for reproof, for correction, and for training in righteousness, 17 that the man of God may be complete, equipped for every good work.

As we’ve been studying the book of 1 Peter over the last couple of weeks, we have heard some incredible truths about our identity in Christ and the great mercy that he has lavished upon his people. Last week we were encouraged to rejoice in the great salvation that God has provided to us, a salvation that is protected in heaven for us and that no one can take from us. We were reminded that the things we are learning about and experiencing through Christ were predicted long ago by the Old Testament prophets and that even the angels are fascinated by them.

It is not an overstatement to say that we are discussing realities that are exciting and life-changing to everyone who truly understands them. My hope is that you would grasp them and respond in worship and awe of God. Even in the face of the opposition and suffering that inevitably comes from living for Christ in a world that opposes him! We have been reminded that even suffering is under the sovereignty (absolute power/authority) of God and is forced by him to do eternal good to his people. These studies in the Word every Sunday are far from little pep talks or motivational speeches, they are the life-changing Word of God that are intended to give us a deep and abiding peace with him and a clear sense of identity and purpose in this life.

If your faith is in Christ, you are an elect exile. You have been chosen by God from before the foundation of the world to know and follow him. You have been made holy by the Holy Spirit through faith in Jesus Christ and you are increasingly being made holy through that day-by-day faith and obedience to him. These are incredible realities that we heard from 1 Peter 1:1-12 last week. And they ought to provoke a sense of awe and rejoicing in us. But our response doesn’t end with a sense of awe and rejoicing.

In our text for today, Peter continues to lift our perspective higher by pointing us to an eternal hope. As we’ll see, this eternal hope has direct and immediate implications for our daily lives. By setting our hope on this eternal reality, we are challenged and driven to live in a way that glorifies the Lord every day, even in the face of great opposition or suffering. This was the case for Peter’s original audience, and it is still true for Christians today.

Now we know, there are many distractions in life, things that clamor for your attention and temptations that invite you to forget who you are and why you are here. Please allow our study to be a reminder of eternal realities that must shape your daily life. With that in mind, let’s dive into God’s Word.

Ushers + Bibles (1 Peter 1; page 1202)

Peter is going to start this next section of his letter by building on all that came before. Notice how it starts…

1 Peter 1:13–2:3 (ESV)

13 Therefore, preparing your minds for action, and being sober-minded, set your hope fully on the grace that will be brought to you at the revelation of Jesus Christ. 14 As obedient children, do not be conformed to the passions of your former ignorance, 15 but as he who called you is holy, you also be holy in all your conduct, 16 since it is written, “You shall be holy, for I am holy.” 17 And if you call on him as Father who judges impartially according to each one’s deeds, conduct yourselves with fear throughout the time of your exile, 18 knowing that you were ransomed from the futile ways inherited from your forefathers, not with perishable things such as silver or gold, 19 but with the precious blood of Christ, like that of a lamb without blemish or spot. 20 He was foreknown before the foundation of the world but was made manifest in the last times for the sake of you 21 who through him are believers in God, who raised him from the dead and gave him glory, so that your faith and hope are in God.

22 Having purified your souls by your obedience to the truth for a sincere brotherly love, love one another earnestly from a pure heart, 23 since you have been born again, not of perishable seed but of imperishable, through the living and abiding word of God; 24 for

       “All flesh is like grass

and all its glory like the flower of grass.

       The grass withers,

and the flower falls,

25    but the word of the Lord remains forever.”

And this word is the good news that was preached to you.

So put away all malice and all deceit and hypocrisy and envy and all slander. 2 Like newborn infants, long for the pure spiritual milk, that by it you may grow up into salvation— 3 if indeed you have tasted that the Lord is good.

Peter lays out some very clear responses that stem from the eternal hope they have in future grace. In the time we have together, we’re going to discuss…

Living now in light of what is to come

The way that we’re going to do this is by first examining the object of our hope and then asking, “How should I then live in light of this hope?” So, let’s begin with…

  1. Set your hope on the right object

Verse 13 reveals the right object of our hope. It doesn’t come at the beginning of the verse but about halfway through. Can anyone find it? “Set your hope fully…” On what? “Set your hope fully on the grace that will be brought to you at the revelation of Jesus Christ.”

What does Peter mean by “the grace that will be brought to you at the revelation of Jesus Christ?”

He has provided clues to the answer earlier in his letter. Look back with me at verses 3-5 and 9.

1 Peter 1:3–5 (ESV)

3 Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ! According to his great mercy, he has caused us to be born again to a living hope through the resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead, 4 to an inheritance that is imperishable, undefiled, and unfading, kept in heaven for you, 5 who by God’s power are being guarded through faith for a salvation ready to be revealed in the last time.

1 Peter 1:9 (ESV)

9 obtaining the outcome of your faith, the salvation of your souls.

The grace that will be brought to you at the revelation of Jesus Christ is referring to the outcome of your faith, the salvation of your souls. It is the fulfillment of God’s promise to rescue and redeem you through faith in Christ. To receive the inheritance of eternal life.

When we talk about setting your hope on the right object, we mean set your hope on the future grace that will be yours – the ultimate salvation of your soul. Though you already have salvation, this is the final outworking of it. If you recall this graphic I shared last week, it is the last step in the Order of Salvation (graphic) commonly known as glorification. It means you will be made perfectly holy as he is holy and have the privilege of being with him for eternity.

Why would we set our hope here? Because, for Christians, it is the ultimate outcome of our lives. It is a glorious hope that is stored up and protected for us in heaven. It cannot be taken from us because it is a hope that is found in God himself. It does not fade like the passing promises of this world…

  • Your health will fail you
  • Your looks will change with age
  • Your athleticism or cognitive abilities will decline
  • Relationships will pass away or let you down…
  • Money will not carry over from this life to the next…

I think you get the point. These other possible objects of hope are finite and inevitably fail you. They do not offer true, eternal hope. In fact, setting your hope on these comes at a great cost, for they rob you of the eternal hope of living for Christ and experiencing his future grace!

Christ’s future grace is a secure hope. It is an everlasting hope. It promises and delivers. It sustains and purifies. It never disappoints. Which is why Peter counsels you to set your hope FULLY on this future grace! *pause*

Is your hope set on this future grace in Christ? When did you last spend any time considering or reflecting on this reality? “I KNOW that I will be made fully righteous and get to dwell forever with my Creator and King! I will know life without end in a place that is perfect in every way. Without sin or temptation!”

It’s so easy for us to be busy thinking about our day or our interactions with friends/family or our plans for the evening and weekend. It comes naturally to agonize over a decision we’ve made or how to respond to a hard interaction with another person, but how often are we giving any time or thought to this eternal hope of salvation in Christ? And how would our lives and these very situations change if we did give repeated, meaningful time to considering this hope!?

Peter clearly believes it will greatly impact our lives. After all, this is how he starts his letter before getting into some very challenging teaching about how they are to relate to suffering and opposition from their governing authorities, family members, and friends. He expects that if they would set their hope fully on this future grace that it would radically change their lives. That they would conduct themselves differently as Christians living in a world that opposes Christ.

How do we set our hope here? What does Peter tell us? Look again with me at verse 13… How does he start?

1 Peter 1:13 (ESV)

13 Therefore, preparing your minds for action, and being sober-minded, set your hope fully on the grace that will be brought to you at the revelation of Jesus Christ.

“Preparing your mind for action and being sober-minded.” These are two participles modifying the verb “set your hope,” explaining how it can be done. They work together to emphasize a type of self-controlled thinking that is ready for action. Peter is telling his audience that they first must have right thoughts and attitudes about God to be able to choose the right responses that would please and glorify him! (repeat)

The phrase “preparing your mind for action” is translated literally as “gird up your loins,” which is a very obscure phrase for modern readers like us. In those days it meant to tuck your long flowing garments into your belt to be able to run or do serious work. Peter is telling them that the way to have your hope set in the right place is to have your mind disciplined and ready for action. This is important, so don’t miss it!

Peter knows that life is busy and full of distractions. He knows that as they suffer, they will be tempted to focus on their pains and sorrows and forget their hope. Even without suffering, the daily grind of life, work, family, and the pleasures/treasures of this life often distract us from this future grace that we are called to set our hopes fully on! You all know this to be true!

As we mentioned earlier, it is so easy for us to be lost in our thinking about our day or our relationships or our plans for life. Our world is full of things that scream for attention. Social media, the news cycle, apps on your phone, let alone if you’re a parent or a spouse or responsible for making ends meet (paying the bills, having food on the table, etc.,). It is far too easy to be busy and distracted and lose sight of future grace!

So, how do we practically protect and keep our hope set on the right thing? This busyness of life and our propensity to forget our eternal hope is a good case for the necessity of the spiritual disciplines to set our hope on the right thing. By spiritual disciplines, I am speaking of things like:

  • Bible Study – regular study of God’s Word, not simply reading but digging into it
  • Journaling – writing down your response to God’s Word or aspects of life related to it
  • Meditation – not removing things from your mind, but focusing on a particular truth from the Word
  • Prayer
  • Scripture memorization
  • Worship
  • Fasting
  • Fellowship

And so on… These habits of grace, as David Mathis calls them in his book by the same name, are means ordained by God to help us keep the main thing the main thing. They remind us of our eternal hope in Jesus that transforms our lives here and now!

When I returned from my sabbatical at the beginning of May, I mentioned to you how incredible it has been to resume the discipline of Scripture memory in my life. That practice has been instrumental for me in keeping my hope set in the right place. I have had much greater success in defeating temptation and staying focused on pleasing Christ as a result of memorizing Scripture. Which is why I want to keep talking about it and encouraging you to pursue it. There is an app called Fighter Verses that costs $3.99 but is so helpful in growing in this discipline. It can remind you of the verse you’re working on each day as well as quiz you on it. Or, if you’d like to save some $$$, you can download and print out the Fighter Verses that our church is memorizing together from our website (/resources). *Pause*

If you’re serious about wanting to grow in your faith and live a life worthy of the Gospel, then you need to be engaged in these spiritual disciplines. They are not man-made; these are given by God in the Scriptures. Do what is necessary to have your minds prepared for action and to be sober-minded. Your own growth in holiness hangs in the balance, as well as your preparedness to be ambassadors of Christ in this world!

Consider the place of this teaching in Peter’s letter. It is at the beginning. He is putting this first to prepare them for what is to come. He is educating them and calling them to live differently because of their identity and purpose. These passages are Peter’s equipping of the first-century church to be Christ’s ambassadors in a world that opposes him! They can be the same for the church today! All of that, and we haven’t even made it past verse 13!! Don’t worry, our second takeaway of living now in light of what is to come encompasses the rest of our text for today. It is to…

  1. Conform your life around this hope

We’ve spoken extensively about our hope, now we arrive at Peter’s teachings about what it looks like to live in light of it. This section is informed by the verbs Peter uses in his writing. In verse 15, Peter tells his audience to “be holy” in all your conduct. This is, of course, surrounded by teaching about what it means to “be holy”.

1 Peter 1:14–16 (ESV)

14 As obedient children, do not be conformed to the passions of your former ignorance, 15 but as he who called you is holy, you also be holy in all your conduct, 16 since it is written, “You shall be holy, for I am holy.”

What instructions do you hear about being holy in this text?

  • Do not be conformed to the passions of your former ignorance

Peter doesn’t mince words, does he?! He has no problem saying that the ways they used to live before they knew Christ were ignorant and misinformed. These passions cannot define them any longer. He gives some examples of what these likely were in 1 Peter 4:3, when he says:

1 Peter 4:3 (ESV)

3 For the time that is past suffices for doing what the Gentiles want to do, living in sensuality, passions, drunkenness, orgies, drinking parties, and lawless idolatry.

They were handling sexuality, intimacy, and other desires very poorly. This was what they were like before believing in Christ, but now they must put those passions away and replace them with holiness. “You also be holy in…” SOME of your conduct? No, “ALL” of your conduct. God sets the bar for his people at holiness in every area of life and he calls us to strive for it. This is a high calling, and we are only going to be able to do it with the grace of God empowering us! Day by day, moment by moment, desire by desire, Christians are called to say “NO” to ungodly desires and to instead please Christ.

Another way we often talk about this is that the ruling desire of our heart must be “pleasing Jesus.” This desire must guide all that we say/do. A great question to memorize and ask yourself is – What would please Christ in this situation? That question and its answer will help you be holy. Memorize it, repeat it often, and then obey the answer!

So, “be holy” is one part of conforming your life to this hope. What is another? Verses 17-21 give us a second component.

1 Peter 1:17–21 (ESV)

17 And if you call on him as Father who judges impartially according to each one’s deeds, conduct yourselves with fear throughout the time of your exile, 18 knowing that you were ransomed from the futile ways inherited from your forefathers, not with perishable things such as silver or gold, 19 but with the precious blood of Christ, like that of a lamb without blemish or spot.

20 He was foreknown before the foundation of the world but was made manifest in the last times for the sake of you 21 who through him are believers in God, who raised him from the dead and gave him glory, so that your faith and hope are in God.

The verb here is “conduct yourselves” and Peter tells them to that they are to conduct themselves with a holy fear of God because God is their impartial judge! God does not play favorites. We can’t hope that he’ll grade on a curve and overlook our unrepentant sin. God is just and he will judge justly. The answer for our sin is to confess it, ask forgiveness through Christ, and to repent (turn away) from continuing in it! How long are they supposed to live this way? “Throughout the time of your exile” When does that time end? When Christ returns or calls them home to heaven! So, for the rest of their lives on earth, they are to live this way, having a holy reverence of God that leads them to take sin seriously and handle it biblically rather than minimize it.

Let’s stop and talk about that for a moment. Minimizing sin and failing to take it seriously. That’s a real challenge, isn’t it? Especially if you’ve been raised as these people had in a home and culture that does not value God’s word or holiness! Some of us have been taught by our own family or friends how to take sin lightly and to minimize it. Others of us have figured it out on our own. Frankly, we don’t need any help to get there… it’s our sinful nature to pretend our sin isn’t that big of a deal, all the while pointing the finger at others’ sin! Look no further than the child who loves to tell on others while overlooking their own part in the matter. Or the adult who keeps going back to the same sin pattern without bringing it into the light of accountability with others or confession with God. Or perhaps it shows up in our arguments with our spouse when it’s never MY fault, it’s what THEY’VE said or done. We are experts at failing to take our sin seriously in part because we’ve forgotten whom we serve. We’ve forgotten that he is the impartial Judge before whom we will all give an account.

2 Corinthians 5:9–10 (ESV)

9 So whether we are at home or away, we make it our aim to please him. 10 For we must all appear before the judgment seat of Christ, so that each one may receive what is due for what he has done in the body, whether good or evil.

Allow the reality of judgment, the pure evilness of sin, and the hope of future grace to motivate you to conduct yourselves with holy fear before God!

Peter goes on to remind them that a great price was paid to secure their redemption! They weren’t saved from their sin and the futile ways of their forefathers by silver or gold, but by the precious blood of Christ! He is the spotless lamb of God who died in our place on the Cross. The only perfect sacrifice who could rescue and redeem an entire people to God. He is the eternal Son of God who came down to earth for the sake of saving those who believe in him.

Peter clearly expected that as they considered who God was and the great price that was paid by Jesus Christ for their salvation, they would respond in a holy fear that led them to take sin seriously and live a godly life. Rather than be caught up in the temptations and sins of this world, they would live in a manner that glorified God, as those who had been set apart for him. *pause*

Will you cooperate with God to do the same work in you? To cultivate a holy fear of Him that leads you to forsake sin and pursue righteousness? Remember a great price was paid to secure your hope. Allow this to conform you to God’s holy image. After all, you are on earth to glorify God!

So, we conform our lives to our hope of future grace by being holy, by conducting ourselves with holy fear of God in this life, and as we see in verses 1:22-2:1 by “loving one another earnestly from a pure heart.”

1 Peter 1:22–2:1 (ESV)

22 Having purified your souls by your obedience to the truth for a sincere brotherly love, love one another earnestly from a pure heart, 23 since you have been born again, not of perishable seed but of imperishable, through the living and abiding word of God; 24 for

       “All flesh is like grass

and all its glory like the flower of grass.

       The grass withers,

and the flower falls,

25    but the word of the Lord remains forever.”

And this word is the good news that was preached to you.

So put away all malice and all deceit and hypocrisy and envy and all slander.

Peter’s point is that God’s Word has transformed their lives. They are no longer dead in sin but alive in Christ, which has happened as a result of hearing the Word of God in the Gospel. If you’re here this morning and you’ve never recognized that God is holy and you are a sinner and you need salvation through faith in his Son, Jesus Christ, then I want to invite you to consider what you are hearing from Peter. He is very clear that outside of faith in Christ people are dead in sin, living in futility, and without the hope of future grace. How much sweeter to have the hope of eternal life through faith in Jesus Christ! I would invite you to confess your rebellion against God and ask him to forgive you this morning. Place your faith in Jesus Christ for the forgiveness of your sins and salvation of your soul so that you can have this hope of future grace that we are learning about! This message of salvation is the very same good news that was preached to the people of Asia Minor in Peter’s day and it transformed their lives! Let it do the same in you.

If your faith is in Christ, then you ought to be known for your love for other Christians. It is to be an earnest or eager love from your heart (meaning you’re not faking it). There ought to be something different about Christians gathered together as the church – there is to be a real compelling community in our midst. Just as it is one of our six pillars for our church based on the teaching of Jesus:

John 13:35 (ESV)

35 By this all people will know that you are my disciples, if you have love for one another.”

Church, let us love one another, whether on Sundays or in small groups or informal gatherings throughout the week. As we scatter abroad and are in our workplaces or neighborhoods with other believers, let us also seek to love them well too. And, though it hasn’t been mentioned here, we also know that Christ called us to love not only our brothers or those who treat us well, but also those who persecute or slander us, those who are “our enemies.”

Let’s discuss aloud together. What are some ways we could love one another earnestly/eagerly?

Give time for discussion/examples

At the very least, it looks like putting off the heart attitudes found in 2:1 – “malice, deceit, hypocrisy, envy, and slander.” We are not to do evil towards one another, take advantage of each other through lies, to live a dual life where we put on one persona in public and another in private, to desire what others have, or to accuse/speak against one another in an ill-manner. It is our privilege and duty as Christians to operate in a way that is markedly different than those around us. When the rest of the world is tearing each other apart with their speech, whether in the workplace, in the political realm, in your extended family, or, God-forbid, even within the church, we are not to stoop to that level. We must choose to use our words and actions to edify and build up and give grace because we have the hope of future grace, and that changes everything about how we live in the present!

Finally, we are to conform our life around this future hope by longing for the Word so you can grow up into salvation. This is found in 2:2-3:

1 Peter 2:2–3 (ESV)

2 Like newborn infants, long for the pure spiritual milk, that by it you may grow up into salvation— 3 if indeed you have tasted that the Lord is good.

By spiritual milk Peter means the teachings of God, which are found in his Word. When you are given new life by the Holy Spirit, your desires change. Now you desire to read God’s Word to know Him and to learn how to live for him. Now you desire to pursue this hope of future grace by maturing in the faith day-by-day, week-by-week, month-by-month, year-by-year.

If you’ve tasted that the Lord is good, then you will desire to know him through his Word. If you do not desire to know him through his Word, you either haven’t tasted that the Lord is good through salvation, or you’ve allowed your heart to be hardened by sin’s deceitfulness and you’ve forgotten how good he is. If you are here this morning and you do not desire to draw near to God through his Word, you should be very alarmed by that reality. I would counsel you to run, not walk, to your SG leader or the nearest pastor after the service to ask for their help in overcoming your spiritual apathy. Your soul is in danger, and you must act. Do not minimize this sin and continue in it. It will not end well for you. If it sounds like I’m passionate about this, it is because I am. I have seen too many wrecked lives that comes, in part, from forsaking the study of God’s Word. I don’t want that for any of you.

If you are hungry for the Word, then rejoice that God is doing a work in your life! Continue to dig into it with increasing excitement to fuel the desire to know God and make him known. If you’re struggling with where to study next, I would highly recommend going deeper into 1 Peter or joining up with one of our annual Bible reading plans on the website to have community while you study. And, as always, there are a tremendous amount of great resources in our library in the foyer. Feel free to peruse those and check out any that will help you set your hope fully on the grace that is to be revealed!

Let’s pray.

Pray