Life, liberty and the pursuit of holiness (1 Peter 1:17-21)

We all have the responsibility to be holy because God Himself is holy. He would never require something of us that He did not first embody. We receive every man just as God has accepted us. We will be judged according to our works and not our sins.

There are two types of the judgments: the judgment of the damned and the judgment of the just. We will be required to give an account to God about how we lived our life (our sojourn here).

1. We must have faith that God is our Father, but also have fear that He is our Judge. We are saved by faith; we are not saved by works. We can only gain access to the Father by faith. We should respect and reverence Him. Future judgment ought to be a great motivator for us. We will not be judged for our sin because Jesus has already taken our judgment upon Himself. We have a Savior who will one day be our Judge. If you die without the gospel you will die penniless.

Sometimes we hold on to religious tradition that is passed down from generation to generation, but none of that will save us. Only the blood of Jesus can save us. If you take the blood out of the Bible you take away its divinity. He was the perfect Lamb who provided the perfect sacrifice.

2. Jesus provided for us the ultimate sacrifice so that we may give to Him ultimate surrender. When we live in rebellion to the clear teachings of the Bible, Christian or non-Christian, you are spitting on the Cross of Jesus Christ. He died for us so we could live for Him. We WILL surrender to Him at one time or another. Jesus was foreordained before creation but was manifest in these last times for us. We don’t believe in God without Jesus. If we die in our sin we will eternally live in separation from God.

3. Our hope does not rest in ourselves or in others but totally in who God is. If you want to live a miserable life, put your trust in people instead of God. If you trust in man, you’ll get what a man can do. But if you trust in God, you’ll get what God can do.

Reasons why we trust not in man but in God:

• Man will change but God never will.
• Man will lie but God cannot lie.
• Man will fail but God cannot fail.
• Man is not always faithful but God always is.
• Man will quit on you but God is a finisher.
• Man has limited knowledge but God is omniscient.
• Man forgets his promises but God always fulfills.