Our Conduct Matter - We Must Love Others!

 Dear Saints, 

Yes, “Black Lives Matter,” in and outside the womb. “All Lives Matter,” in and outside the womb. And Our Conduct Matter, every time. Our conduct is the fruit of our salvation and not the basis. We must love others, period.

We are saved from the wrath of God by His “abundant mercy” and grace through faith in the death, burial and resurrection of Jesus Christ. Jesus paid for all our sins. We must confess, repent and ask God to forgive our sins. Then we are filled with the Holy Spirit and start living our new life of obedience in Christ and by His power. 

In our study today, Apostle Peter continues in his letter to the Pilgrims, saying because you are  “receiving the end of your faith—the salvation of your souls…

¹³ Therefore gird up the loins of your mind, be sober, and rest your hope fully upon the grace that is to be brought to you at the revelation of Jesus Christ; ¹⁴ as obedient children, not conforming yourselves to the former lusts, as in your ignorance; ¹⁵ but as He who called you is holy, you also be holy in all your conduct, ¹⁶ because it is written, “Be holy, for I am holy.”

¹⁷ And if you call on the Father, who without partiality judges according to each one’s work, conduct yourselves throughout the time of your stay here in fear; ¹⁸ knowing that you were not redeemed with corruptible things, like silver or gold, from your aimless conduct received by tradition from your fathers, ¹⁹ but with the precious blood of Christ, as of a lamb without blemish and without spot. 

²⁰ He indeed was foreordained before the foundation of the world, but was manifest in these last times for you ²¹ who through Him believe in God, who raised Him from the dead and gave Him glory, so that your faith and hope are in God. 1 Peter 1:9, 13-21.

Our conduct and way of living must start with our thinking. “Gird up the loins of your mind” for “As a man thinketh in his heart, so is he.” (Proverbs 23:7). We must also be "sober", an attitude of self-control and self-discipline.

Garbage in, garbage out. What are you taking in from the moment of waking up? Is it the word of God?

Peter is saying to the Pilgrims; that you must resolve in your mind/self to “rest your hope fully upon the grace that is to be brought to you at the revelation of Jesus Christ.”  In other words, your hope for living must come from the grace/comfort that is brought to you at the end when Christ returns for us. God's grace is sufficient for us now and forever.

Are you living with the end in mind? My friend often quotes C.S. Lewis, “If there is a heaven, then nothing else matters. If there is no heaven, then nothing matters.”

So we live “as obedient children, not conforming yourselves to the former lusts, as in your ignorance.” What were our “former lusts” and “aimless conduct received by tradition from your fathers.” These are uncontrolled desires for anything and everything that do not please God because we didn’t know any better and did not know God.

Our "aimless conduct" is our previous intent to think we can please God by obeying the laws. It is "aimless" because it will never work. We must trust Jesus Christ who lived a perfect life on our behalf and we are counted righteous in Christ. Please stop striving but believing and trusting God's finished/complete work through Christ for our salvation.

Now that God has made Himself known to us through the GOSPEL, Jesus Christ, we must live differently, “holy,” set apart as God is Holy and set apart from everything that exists. 

Yes, we can now forgive others because God has forgiven us through Christ. In the past, our passion and lust were constantly avenging those who hurt us. This new way of living affects everything we do and say; how we see others and treat them; what we buy, eat and drink.

We must live with the “fear” of God our Father, who will judge our actions and all things without partiality.

Are you still living “aimless conducts” and “former lusts?” As we aim to see Jesus Christ soon, there must be a transforming change from inside out. What thinking, mindset and behaviors need to change in you and me?

Here is Peter's conclusion on our conduct. "Love one another fervently with a pure heart, having been born again." 1 Peter1:22-23. Same as Jesus instructed us and added, "love your enemies" too. Loving others is the sum of our conduct because we can't go wrong loving others even when they do not love us back. In this, we become like our Heavenly Father who loved us even "while we were yet sinners".

Lord, please help us live as “obedient children” in honor and praise of your name. Thank you, Lord, for your Holy Spirit who enables us to do so. Amen.

Who will you forgive and love today especially in this atmosphere of bickering following U.S. Supreme Court reversal of Roe vs. Wade abortion law to stop/minimize the murder of babies in the womb? May we refrain from murdering others with our tongues on either side of this issue. Amen.