"There is nothing new under the sun..." All of the ideas in this sermon are my own that have been arrived at from studying the text as well as consulting several commentaries and other resources including SermonCentral. PLEASE let me know if I owe you credit!!!
“Redemption’s Result” – becoming more Christ-like
Text: I Peter 2:1-3
Objective: Every true born-again believer must naturally become more Christ-Like by following three steps found in our text.
1 Therefore, rid yourselves of all malice and all deceit, hypocrisy, envy, and slander of every kind. 2 Like newborn babies, crave pure spiritual milk, so that by it you may grow up in your salvation, 3 now that you have tasted that the Lord is good.
Introduction:
You may remember that last week we read trough I Peter 1:22-25 and illustrated that passage with scripture from Song of Solomon chapter 5.
We saw that Peter had commanded all followers of Christ who have been purified by Christ’s redemptive work on the cross to LOVE one another deeply.
We saw that the deep love that Peter was talking about is only possible as a person falls deeply in love with the savior FIRST. Then, and only then, can a true and deep love flow out to others.
Through our study in Song of Solomon, we realized that many of us ignore the gentle knocking of Jesus on our hearts’ doors, and we simply go on with our lives as if He didn’t even exsist.
Well, today, I’d like to give you practical steps that every believer must follow if he desires a deep abiding love with the savior and toward others.
So, last week, we saw the “what” of Peter’s command – the “thou shalt love one another”, and today we will look at the “how”.
Read Text.
Note 1: Peter was clearly writing to true believers in Christ which we know from reading the first two verses of this book.
READ chapter1:1,2
Remember, these were Jewish people from all over upper Asia Minor who were assembled in Jeruselem on the Day of Pentecost and were converted through the preaching of Peter.
Note 2: Why then, would Peter command true believers in Christ to 1. Rid themselves of malice, deceit, hypocrisy, envy, and slander?
2. To crave pure spiritual milk?
3. To taste and see that the Lord is good?
I submit, that, Peter was trying to follow all of the Great Commission.
Peter had preached repentance to these people some time in the past, and they got saved and baptized.
Now, he is trying to fulfill the part of the commission that tells us to “make disciples.”
After all Jesus said in John 8
31 To the Jews who had believed him, Jesus said, "If you hold to my teaching, you are really my disciples.
And 2 John 9 tells us:
9 Anyone who runs ahead and does not continue in the teaching of Christ does not have God; whoever continues in the teaching has both the Father and the Son.
Remember that Peter is not merely offering his sage advice in this passage.
Peter, who was writing under the inspiration of the H.S. understood how important it is for people to not just repeat the sinner’s prayer but to become true disciples of Christ by experiencing a TRUE REBIRTH!
That is why Peter tells us that there are going to be some changes that will have to be made in our lives if we are truly a born-again child of God.
Let me tell you first hand: CHANGE IS NOT EASY!
In fact, change often hurts.
But, the result when a person truly repents of his sin and accepts Jesus as Lord, he will be changed!
Well, what are the steps that happen in a true believer’s life that bring about this change, anyway?
I. The command to Deal With Sin
Verse 1: Therefore rid yourselves of all malice and all deceit, hypocrisy, envy, and slander of every kind.
The Bible is absolutely CLEAR when it deals with sin.
Remember the words that we studied at length from Ephesians 4:20 – 24:
“But that isn’t the way Christ taught you! 21 If you have really heard His voice and learned from Him the truths concerning Himself, 22 then throw off your old evil nature – the old you that was a partner in your evil ways – rotten through and through, full of lust and shame. 23 Now, your attitudes and thoughts must all be constantly CHANGING for the better. 24 Yes, you must be a new and different person, holy and good. Clothe yourselves with this new nature.”
The Bible does not make exceptions or excuses when it comes to sin.
God hates sin and tells us that we should hate it too!
And God is showing us His plan for our lives in I Peter 2.
So many so-called Christians live a life that cries out for excuses and exceptions.
The happy couple that we see week after week is struggling with infidelity.
The spiritual leader is silently battling an addiction.
The preacher fights anger and depression.
Many so-called Christians, who have be commanded to put off the sin in their lives, simply refuse to deal with it.
They hope against hope that one day, God will wave his magic wand or sprinkle some fairy dust on the train wreck of their life, and all will be o.k.
Friends, in order to be more Christ-like, you’ll have to first: DEAL with you sin.
Peter lists some pretty heinous sins at the outset of chapter 2 for us.
I do not believe that these are the only sins that we are commanded to deal with, but a sampling.
Peter is giving us an example of some of the things that were probably going on in the places that he sent his letter to.
We should not look at this list and say, well, I don’t have malice, or, I never envy and so on, so I’m alright.
Keep in mind that all sin is an affront to God, but Praise GOD, the Bible says that were there is a lot of sin, there is even more grace.
Let me tell you the good news, some of you are struggling with sin.
Some of you have some pretty weighty decisions to make – soon.
Friends, Jesus already defeated you sin.
He already paid for it at Calvary.
When Peter commands us to deal with our sin, he is not telling us to do it alone, or even in our strength.
Jesus defeated death, hell, sin, and the grave – not YOU!
Jesus will fight the battle for you!
Listen to some key passages of scripture that really describe what the power of Christ did for YOU if you are truly a child of God:
Romans 3:24 – You are declared NOT GUILTY of your sin
Romans 8:1- No condemnation is waiting for you
Romans 8:2 – You are free from the vicious circle of sin and death
I Corin 1:2 – You are acceptable to God through Christ
I Corin 1:30 – You are Pure and Holy!
I Corin 15:22 – You will rise again after your body dies
2 Corin 3:17 – We are free from trying to be saved by being good enough
2 Corin 5:17 – We are brand new people inside
Epesians 1:3 – You are blessed with EVERY spiritual blessing in heaven
Eph 1:5,6 – YOU belong to Jesus Christ!
Col 2:11 – We are set free from our evil desires
2 Timothy 2:10 – You will have eternal glory
But friends, NONE of that is true because of what we have done!!!
Jesus makes all of that true because HE is PERFECT, HE IS HOLY, HE IS GOD!
Even so, God still leaves our choices up to us.
We have to give up our sin.
We have to resist it.
We have to stay on our knees before a Holy God to allow him to change our hearts.
But it will never happen if you continue to refuse to first – DEAL with it.
Won’t you deal with your sin TODAY!?
What do I mean?
I mean, take a long honest look at some of your actions, some of your attitudes and be ashamed.
Allow the Holy Spirit to reveal in you anything that is displeasing to God.
I thought about spending a lot of time describing what malice, deceit, envy, hypocrisy, and slander are, but the truth is that I don’t have to.
The Holy Spirit of God is not calling us to focus on those specific 5 sins, but to allow him full access into our hearts.
He will convict you of what needs to be given up if you’ll honestly ask Him to.
What’s keeping you from living in the Joy that Christ bough for you?
Won’t you deal with it today and give it up?
Let me bring you to the second step that Christians must take I order to be more Christ-like.
II. The Command to Crave God’s Word
. 2 Like newborn babies, crave pure spiritual milk, so that by it you may grow up in your salvation,
Peter not only commanded us to deal with our sin, but he gives us the method of dealing with it in this verse.
You see, there are many books, and videos, and DVD’s out there.
All sorts of positive thinking approaches to life.
All kinds of men who will psychologize you and analyze you, and send you a huge bill when he’s all done.
But, friends, all of the counseling in the world, All of the self-help tapes, all of the lifestyle coaches, and gurus of health cannot compare to God’s Holy Word!
Notice that Peter commands his readers to crave the PURE Spiritual milk –
God’s word is the only truth that is pure in this sin infested world!
God’s word is complete and perfect and able to change hearts!
Listen to Hebrews 4
12 For the word of God is and active. Sharper than any double-edged sword, it penetrates even to dividing soul and spirit, joints and marrow; it judges the thoughts and attitudes of the heart.
God’s Word will change your life:
1Th 2:13
1 Thessalonians 2
13 And we also thank God continually because, when you received the word of God, which you heard from us, you accepted it not as the word of men, but as it actually is, the word of God, which is at work in you who believe.
Peter not only tells us about the pure spiritual milk of God’s word, but commands us to CRAVE it!
I have seen at least three little babies in my lifetime who were definitely craving their mama’s milk!
My daughters have all cried and screamed when they were hungry.
I’ve seen them latch onto a bottle with the suction of a Hoover!
Craving is something that cannot be stopped until the need is met.
Do you crave God’s word?
Peter tells us that if we ever want to understand the result of our redemption we must crave God’s word!
God’s word will convict us of our sin, but also give us the peace to know that Christ has already paid the price for it!
God’s word will comfort us through the trials of this life!
Many of you are going through some things in your families that I would not wish on my worst enemy if I had one!
Oh, crave God’s word and devour it!
Let His pure truth fill your life even in the worst situations possible!
Peter mentions that by craving and devouring the Word of God, that we will grow up in our salvation.
How will we know what God is like?
How will we understand His standards and His grace, and His love, and His purpose if we never read His Word?
In order to grow spiritually and become more Christ-like you must not only deal with your sin, but you must crave his word.
Paul was a man who understood the desire to be like Christ when he wrote:
Philippians 3:10 Paul said, “I want to know Christ and the power of his resurrection and the fellowship of sharing in his sufferings, becoming like him in his death.”
For us to know Christ, and all the power of his resurrection, and the fellowship of sharing in his sufferings, we must crave His word and eat God’s truth and let it become the reality in our lives.
III. The Command to Acknowledge His Goodness
3 now that you have tasted that the Lord is good.
The whole motivation for dealing with your sin and then craving God’s word is the fact that one day you tasted the goodness of the Lord.
You have at some point in your life experienced Ps.34:8:
Oh, put God to the test and see how kind He is. See for yourself the way His mercies shower down on all who trust Him!
You have at some point in your history understood how gracious and loving our God is.
Most of you have repented of your sin and asked Jesus to save you from the wrath of God that is coming.
Won’t you remember how great He is? Acknowledge how good He truly is.
I always go back to Sept 11, 1994 on the floor of the Vines Center Stadium at Liberty University.
Evangelist Randy Hogue was preaching a message that the Holy Spirit used to convict my heart.
I do believe that I had accepted Jesus as my savior when I was a young boy, but as I got older, I started to run from Him.
I started to live my life for pleasure instead of service.
The lord had every right to let me continue down that path of destruction.
He had given me opportunity after opportunity to turn from my sinful lifestyle, and I had ignored His gentle knocking.
Finally, I believe He gave me one last chance.
Although I believe that if I had died on that night, I would have been saved from hell because the Lord had saved my soul many years before that night,
I don’t think that God would have allowed me to make a mockery of His grace, love, and mercy much longer.
I am convinced that I had chosen a path that was leading me to an untimely death because of how I was mocking the salvation of God.
But that night, I truly tasted the goodness of the Lord.
In spite of my rebellious heart.
In spite of my attitude of ungratefulness.
In spite of my sin!
God gave me another chance to feel His forgiveness; to experience His presence.
Since that night, whenever I face trails or problems, I remember how Good my God Really Is.
Like Paul and Silas singing praises to God in the Jail cell, I
sing a song of praise to God through the financial difficulties,
I praise His goodness in spite of bad relationships,
I thank Him for His mercy after I sin.
Friend, acknowledging the GREATNESS of God will certainly give you the desire to
Deal with Your Sin and the desire to
Crave His Pure Word.
But, some of you may never have tasted the goodness of God.
You might still be on the road that leads to destruction.
Oh, friend – test Him today and see how kind He is.
He will accept you just as you are.
You don’t have to change a thing.
He will take care of that after He pours out his love and saves your soul from the wrath to come.
Others of you may have tasted his goodness – but its been a while since you’ve lived in it.
You’ve gone back to trying to solve your problems through counselors or gossipy friends and have forgotten how sweet the pure milk of God’s word is.
Won’t you deal with your sin this morning and come and ask God to remind you of Just how awesome he truly is!
I have all powerpoint notes and an appropriate video clip if you’d like them - email to revgbb@hotmail.com
