PETER’S EPISTLES: PREPARING FOR ETERNITY

VI. Living Reverently

(1 Peter 1:17-21)

I. Introduction

A. Before the Apostle Peter began to minister for the Lord in the Church, his outlook was impacted by Christ’s prophecy in John 21:18-19 that he would be crucified for Christ. Eternity was thus often on Peter’s mind.

B. We view Peter’s epistles that highlight preparing for eternity, and in 1 Peter 1:17-21, Peter taught us to live reverently, explaining why we should do so. We view this passage for our insight, application and edification:

II. Living Reverently, 1 Peter 1:17-21.

A. Peter wrote in 1 Peter 1:17c that we believers in Christ should pass the “time” (chronos in the Greek New Testament text, Arndt & Gingrich, A Grk.-Eng. Lex. of the N. T., 1967, p. 896) of our spiritual “sojourn” (paroikia, op. cit., p. 634), our “stay here in a strange land” of this earth (Ibid.), in “fear” (phobos), a Greek term that in this context means “reverently” (op. cit., p. 871).

B. Just why we should live in this life in reverent fear is explained in 1 Peter 1:17a,b and 18-21 (as follows):

1. First, we should live this life in reverent fear because we look to God the Father when we petition Him for our comprehensive needs for living in this world, 1 Peter 1:17a:

a. Peter noted that we call on God the Father in prayer, and from the Lord’s Prayer in Matthew 6:11 we know that we are to pray regarding our necessary food needs in sustaining our physical lives.

b. By way of application, we can include other needs of physical welfare such as prayer requests for healing from injuries or illnesses, for legal protection in court cases others might bring against us or our needs for protection from harm to our physical lives by criminals, by war, by social unrest, etc.

c. We also have emotional, mental and spiritual needs that must be addressed in prayer for our capacity to function in this life, and we pray to God the Father to request the meeting of these needs also.

2. Second, we should live life on earth in reverent fear because God the Father impartially judges the service each of us believers are responsible to perform for Him, 1 Peter 1:17b:

a. God “passes judgment” (krinonta, present active participle of krino; U. B. S. Grk. N. T., 1966, p. 792; The Analyt. Grk. Lex., 1972, p. 241) on us believers as an ongoing activity (present participle).

b. He does so without showing any favoritism (aprosopolemptos, “impartially;” U. B. S. Grk. N. T., loc. cit.; Arndt & Gingrich, A Grk.-Eng. Lex. of the N. T., 1967, p. 102) towards any single believer.

c. God impartially judges “each” (hekastos, U. B. S. Grk. N. T., loc. cit.; Arndt & Gingrich, op. cit., p. 236) believer’s work, that “work” implying the believer’s divinely assigned service to the Lord in this life.

d. Since each of us believers in Christ is under God the Father’s oversight, and He is constantly judging us relative to our work for Him, and that without partiality, we must live and serve the Lord with reverence due to our great accountability to Him that is our ongoing responsibility in this life!

3. Third, we should live this life in reverent fear because of God’s infinite cost to save us, 1 Peter 1:18-21:

a. Our salvation from futile religious works handed down to us by our human ancestors was not obtained by perishable things such as silver and gold that mankind mines from the earth, but with the precious blood of the Messiah, the Lamb of God without blemish and defect, 1 Peter 1:18-19 NIV with John 1:29.

b. So important was the work of Christ to produce our redemption by His death on the cross in our behalf that God the Father chose Him before the creation of the world itself to be our Savior, and Christ was revealed in time for our sake that we might be saved from eternal death unto eternal life, 1 Peter 1:20.

c. Through the Messiah we believe in God the Father, Who raised Him from the dead and glorified Him so that our faith and hope of eternal life are in God, 1 Peter 1:21.

d. Thus, the infinite value of our salvation that was so highly valued by God the Father to Whom we give an account requires that as recipients of that salvation, we are obliged to live reverently before the Lord throughout our sojourn in this earthly life!

Lesson: We believers in Christ must live reverently throughout our earthly sojourn in this life because we look to God the Father for our survival needs on earth, because the Father impartially judges the service we each are to perform for Him and because of the infinite cost of our salvation that God planned from eternity past.

Application: May we live reverent lives since we look to God the Father for every livelihood need, since He judges each of us impartially for our service for Him and since He so highly values and paid for our salvation in Christ.