Obeying the Truth Through the Spirit

1Pe 1:13 Wherefore gird up the loins of your mind, be sober, and hope to the end for the grace that is to be brought unto you at the revelation of Jesus Christ;
1Pe 1:14 As obedient children, not fashioning yourselves according to the former lusts in your ignorance:
1Pe 1:15 But as he which hath called you is holy, so be ye holy in all manner of conversation;
1Pe 1:16 Because it is written, Be ye holy; for I am holy.
1Pe 1:17 And if ye call on the Father, who without respect of persons judgeth according to every man's work, pass the time of your sojourning here in fear:
1Pe 1:18 Forasmuch as ye know that ye were not redeemed with corruptible things, as silver and gold, from your vain conversation received by tradition from your fathers;
1Pe 1:19 But with the precious blood of Christ, as of a lamb without blemish and without spot:
1Pe 1:20 Who verily was foreordained before the foundation of the world, but was manifest in these last times for you,
1Pe 1:21 Who by him do believe in God, that raised him up from the dead, and gave him glory; that your faith and hope might be in God.
1Pe 1:22 Seeing ye have purified your souls in obeying the truth through the Spirit unto unfeigned love of the brethren, see that ye love one another with a pure heart fervently:
1Pe 1:23 Being born again, not of corruptible seed, but of incorruptible, by the word of God, which liveth and abideth for ever.
1Pe 1:24 For all flesh is as grass, and all the glory of man as the flower of grass. The grass withereth, and the flower thereof falleth away:
1Pe 1:25 But the word of the Lord endureth for ever. And this is the word which by the gospel is preached unto you.

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1Pe 1:17 And if ye call on the Father, who without respect of persons judgeth according to every man's work, pass the time of your sojourning here in fear:
1Pe 1:18 Forasmuch as ye know that ye were not redeemed with corruptible things, as silver and gold, from your vain conversation received by tradition from your fathers;
1Pe 1:19 But with the precious blood of Christ, as of a lamb without blemish and without spot:


What is a man's work? Is it what he does as a job? Or is it the whole of his life's actions?


The word 'work' -

ergon
er'-gon
From ?????? ergo? (a primary but obsolete word; to work); toil (as an effort or occupation); by implication an act: - deed, doing, labour, work.


'by implication an act- deed, doing, labour.'


Our lives are judged, our actions are judged and that includes our jobs- our occupational work. Without any respect to who it is, God will judge all by the same criteria. All of us will be judged by our actions. The most important action being what? Believing in Jesus Christ our Lord and Savior and loving Him with all our hearts and minds. From there all the rest of our actions in life are judged. Do we live in accordance to God's will? Is it important to us to put God first? To worship God? People stomp their feet and cry out Jesus did away with all that stuff, we are only to love! But do we love? Even Jesus commended the rich young ruler when he said that he followed the law of God. Wouldn't have Jesus taken that prime opportunity to tell the young man that he no longer had to follow the laws if that's what He intended of us? Loving God and loving our fellowman this our duty.


Ecc 12:13 Let us hear the conclusion of the whole matter: Fear God, and keep his commandments: for this is the whole duty of man.


In those commandments our love is manifested, God's love is manifested.


Mar 12:29 And Jesus answered him, The first of all the commandments is, Hear, O Israel; The Lord our God is one Lord:
Mar 12:30 And thou shalt love the Lord thy God with all thy heart, and with all thy soul, and with all thy mind, and with all thy strength: this is the first commandment.
Mar 12:31 And the second is like, namely this, Thou shalt love thy neighbour as thyself. There is none other commandment greater than these.


Being judged by our actions is necessary because it is an action- a work- to believe, to have faith, to worship God first and foremost.


1Pe 1:17 And if ye call on the Father, who without respect of persons judgeth according to every man's work, pass the time of your sojourning here in fear:


We do sojourn here on earth don't we? This isn't our final home and it wasn't intended to be, not this sin-filled, corrupted world. Jesus said in His Father's house are many mansions. Jesus also spoke of coming again to bring us to Him incorruptible, immortal. There was talk of a new heaven and a new earth. This isn't our final home and truly we only sojourn here for however long our lives may be it is only temporary that we dwell on this earth this way. So being told 'pass the time of your sojourning here in fear' it is a wise saying isn't it? We need to have a healthy fear of losing our eternal life because we holdfast to things that are corruptible, because we worship things and each other more than God.


1Pe 1:17 And if ye call on the Father, who without respect of persons judgeth according to every man's work, pass the time of your sojourning here in fear:
1Pe 1:18 Forasmuch as ye know that ye were not redeemed with corruptible things, as silver and gold, from your vain conversation received by tradition from your fathers;
1Pe 1:19 But with the precious blood of Christ, as of a lamb without blemish and without spot


We're not redeemed from this life, from earth by things that are corruptible themselves. Money won't save us, traditions won't save us, only the precious blood of Christ- a pure, unblemished sacrifical lamb- saves us. Our lives, our works, our actions are to believe in the saving grace of Christ and the blood He shed for us and to love Him with all our hearts.


1Pe 1:20 Who verily was foreordained before the foundation of the world, but was manifest in these last times for you,
1Pe 1:21 Who by him do believe in God, that raised him up from the dead, and gave him glory; that your faith and hope might be in God.
1Pe 1:22 Seeing ye have purified your souls in obeying the truth through the Spirit unto unfeigned love of the brethren, see that ye love one another with a pure heart fervently:
1Pe 1:23 Being born again, not of corruptible seed, but of incorruptible, by the word of God, which liveth and abideth for ever.
1Pe 1:24 For all flesh is as grass, and all the glory of man as the flower of grass. The grass withereth, and the flower thereof falleth away:
1Pe 1:25 But the word of the Lord endureth for ever. And this is the word which by the gospel is preached unto you.


Purified your souls in OBEYING THE TRUTH THROUGH THE SPIRIT UNTO UNFEIGNED LOVE...
BORN AGAIN....BY THE WORD OF GOD


We have to believe and out of our beliefs we live, our actions are committed. We have to purify our souls by obeying the truth through the Spirit and in that we will have the unfeigned love for God and others that we need. We have to be born again through God, by the Word of God.


Living in a world that is so fully corrupted that everywhere we turn the corruption is widespread, it isn't easy to hold fast to the love of God, the truth of God. When so many things cry out to be worshipped by us over any worship of God, it's hard to truly believe the truth. Solomon talked of 'all' being vanity and he wasn't far off was He? We focus on ourselves first so much. Even in giving of ourselves we focus on the fact we give as if that is a gold star in our favor- vanity. By the grace and mercy of our Lord Jesus Christ, through the Holy Spirit may we find the truth in the Word of God and live in truth, in love now and forever.


Amen.