Salvation Entails Duty, and Mature Believers Have A Ready Mind

HYMN

#310 - "Resurrection Hymn"

REVIEW

We then recited, in unison, 1 Peter 1:1-12.

STUDY & PROPOSITIONS

1 Peter 1:12

Salvation has an angelic audience.

  • Our culture generally believes in a naturalistic universe, but angels are all around us.

  • Angel = messenger - they are deliverers of God's word, as well as executors of God's will

  • Angels really desire to understand the salvation that we have in Christ

    • Ephesians 3:8-10, "…wisdom of God might now be made known…in the heavenly places."

    • Angels did know about God's wisdom (Rev 5:11-12, Rev 7:9-12), but they look at us, longing to understand the wisdom of God specifically in salvation

  • Angels are watching our lives (1 Cor 11:10, Heb 13:2)

  • Angelic beings are real - when we approach our world view with a purely naturalistic standpoint, we are approaching the world with foggy lenses

  • QUESTION: When were angels created?

    • Angels are not eternal, as they were created (Col 1:15, invisible things), but they were there before the foundation of the world

1 Peter 1:13

Salvation entails duty.

  • The first 2 phrases are preparatory participles for the 3rd phrase ("…fix your hope…")

  • We have all these blessings, and with these blessings comes duty and responsibility

  • We’re not to be smug, thinking to ourselves "we're so blessed!" and stop there - He's got actions for us!

Mature believers have a ready mind.

  • “prepare your minds for action”

    • It is vital to get this right in our minds

    • Aorist participle

    • In the Greek, there is a sense of girding up the loins of your mind

    • A Christian doesn't just let their mind go

    • We have to recognize that our life is God's, not our own

  • “keep sober in spirit”

    • Don't be sleepy or drunk, but have full control

    • We don't live in a neutral world - there is evil from our flesh, evil from the world, evil from Satan and his minions that want to conquer us (Eph. 5:16)