A New Life Of Holiness

As we open up God's Word today, I'd like you to turn with me to the 17th chapter of Acts, before we do anything. The 17th chapter of Acts, Paul and Silas at Berea. And one of the things that is mentioned at Berea is beginning in verse 10 of 17 of Acts.

I'll wait just a moment so you can find it there. Everybody there? It says, And the brethren immediately sent away Paul and Silas by night unto Berea, who coming there went into the synagogue of the Jews, These were more noble than those at Thessalonica in that they received the word with all readiness of mind. and searched the scriptures daily whether they were so. I would like to, in reminding you of that text, emphasize that what I say today is your responsibility as much as mine. Check it out. Go to God's Word like the men and women of Berea to see whether these things that are mentioned today are true, okay?

I say that because in going through the passage today, I came across, in looking at what it says, something that's totally different from the way it's translated. And every version I can find, except the men that worked on the text, behind the translations, they have it right. Consistently. But it's not translated that way.

So, let's go to the text in 1 Peter, and where we're going today is starting at verse 13. By the way, this is not heretical, this is just, it's different, okay? And it struck me in such a way, I thought, I'm going to exhort you to check it out, okay? Because I learned from you just as much as you would learn from any teacher, okay? Let's see if I can work this. We're dealing with verses 13 through 16 today in 1 Peter.

And it begins with these words, using the text that you have here. Wherefore, gird up the loins of your mind and be sober, and hope to the end for the grace that is to be brought unto you at the revelation of Jesus Christ. As obedient children, not fashioning yourselves according to the former lusts in your ignorance, but as he which has called you is holy, so be ye holy in all manner of conversation. because it is written, be holy for I am holy. We're going to take a look at the word wherefore. It's a connecting word that asks you to consider that based on everything you've had up to this verse, I'm going to give you something now upon that foundation to build.

It marks from doctrine to application, from truth to practice, and from information into life. I'm not sure exactly whether these things will be needed for you, but I'm going to take you to the text first, okay? Then we'll go to like an outline of the text, and then we'll go to an application of the text. So this is technical, hang with me, okay? The word there is a word, dia, is a conjunction from dia, for the relative pronoun that means therefore, based on what's preceding. Gird up, this word has the idea of, it's applied to the mind being held in constant preparation. It only occurs here in this verse 13. And I want you to understand something that sort of really hit me between the eyes when I was looking at this. This is a transition verse.

Everything 1 through 12 is in the indicative mode in the Greek. It means everything in those verses, emphasis wise, is factual. Fact, fact, fact, fact. Therefore, based on those facts, we shift here from verse 13 through 20, actually chapter 2 and a little bit further, the imperative mode is used, which is the mode of command. And those commands are based on everything that's been taught up through verse 12. So Peter, who's writing this to scattered believers that are being tested, that are being tried, begins with a foundation of facts. Then he goes to this section, and the very first one here is Gird Up. Applied here is that the mind is being held in constant preparation, and this preparation is a transition from facts to life, from facts to the application of the facts. Does that make sense? Okay. I'm open to questions at any point. Okay.

So just raise your hands. In the Eastern culture, they wore robes and those robes went down to the ground. And so if they were getting prepared to do something that involved activity, they would actually gather up that robe and tuck it into a belt around their waist so that their legs were free and they could move. That's what this verse actually says. Gird up. And instead of being focused now on a robe that you physically go to, it's a simple fact, mental voice, so that the actor has some benefit in the results. I'm not a real good teacher, I apologize. I may or may not be in sync with what's on the screen, okay? But I'm trying here.

It is in the middle voice, the actor actually participates in the action in such a way that he gets benefit from that action. We don't have that in English, do we? You know, I'm doing it, or I did it. Well, in the middle, there's something in between that. I shouldn't say it that way. I did it, or it was done to me. You know, it's passive, right? Somebody did it to me. The focus being on myself doing it, or somebody else doing it to me.

Middle voice means I do it, but I participate in the results of the action as if somebody else had done it as well. Does that make sense? That's the middle voice and that's what's used here. So this is in being readiness for anything so that you would participate in the benefit of what happens if you're being ready.

Here's one of the verses in Exodus 12 I've given you several there to look up, but this is when the Lord spoke through Moses to the children of Israel. He said, here is how you must eat it. You must be dressed to travel, your sandals on your feet, your staff in your hand. You are to eat it in a hurry. It's the Lord's Passover. What happened the next day? They got up and moved, okay? And that's why the Passover is so significant here.

Peter, of all of them, would know about this, being in a Jewish background, and so he would draw upon that. In fact, you'll find in Peter's book here, in his epistles, references to the Old Testament that are heavier than any other of the epistles in the New Testament. It's really interesting that he draws very heavily on the Old Testament.

Next word, the loins of your mind. Interesting that that phrase is used. It's the lower region of the back, the lumbar region, the hips, as opposed to the shoulders and thighs, the five lower vertebrae of the back, so called perhaps because of the labor that you can do and sustain when a man exerts his strength. A couple of references there you can follow up on. The expression has this meaning, to have the loins girded means to be in readiness for anything. Ephesians has a passage in there that we are girded with the belt, I think, of truth, if I remember right.

I'm going by memory here. But that's the idea. Of your mind is the focus in this text. Peter says you've got a mind girded up as far as the belt of your mind, okay? What is it that you can bring up and tuck in that will enable you to be ready for the future in your mind? Well, this is what it is. And so he's going to go on there. Okay, there we go.

It's from dia, which means separation, and noeto, which means to think over. It means not just understanding intellect, intellectual, faculty, or thought. It means the process of your thinking. Tuck it up around the belt. Be ready to use the faculties that your mind has, is where he's going here.

Be sober, another interesting word here. Be sober means it's a present active participle. Being sober mind is a serious, watchful, circumstance. Used in a lot of passages, the word does not mean to abstain from the use of alcohol. It is rather to refrain from the abuse of it, which leads to intoxication. And here the emphasis is not even on alcohol at all, but on being thinking seriously, soberly, not wildly or out of control. Okay?

The focus is on the mind being used as God designed it to be used. And hope, another wonderful word. This word is to expect with desire and confidence. It isn't, I wish for. It's a, I know this is going to happen in your minds. It's a firm conviction of confidence. It's an aorist imperative, and this is one of those imperatives that we've shifted into now in these verses. Verse 13 on through 25. There's a big, long series of imperatives. This is one of them, okay? That's a command in case you don't understand what imperative means. Indicative, mood of reality, up through verse 12, the foundation, imperatives, commands from then on for a long ways here in the text. I think it's interesting the Holy Spirit has put into the text of Scripture not just words and phrases, but moods. He has put into the Scriptures not just facts, and how to apply those facts. But he's also put into us a facility to be so reminded about it. To think of these things constantly with what?

Hope, wish, or confidence? Confidence. That's the emphasis here. to the end. And this is another interesting phrase that actually builds upon that. It has the idea of, it's an adverb, it adds to the verb in other words. And it means perfection or completion or unwavering, unchangingness. It means entirely, steadfastly, as it is used here. So when we put that together, If you read up to the red there, wherefore, gird up the loins of your mind, be sober, and be confident, steadfastly, continuously, for the grace is next.

So this is what your mind is going to be focused on if you follow this text. It is the preposition here that is upon this, that we're, it's Not just the mood, but the prepositions. I can't help but be amazed at how the Holy Spirit has given us this information about what he wants us to know. Even the prepositions here shift for not just information now, but here's something upon the information, and that's what this preposition. And here it is, The Grace, Chorus.

It is a noun, it is kindness without expectation of return, the absolute free expression of the loving kindness of God to men, finding its only motive in the bounty and benevolence of the giver. Boy, that's a big word. That's a bunch, isn't it? I think that it has been used consistently in the New Testament by the Holy Spirit in opposition to erga, works. They are mutually exclusive. They're the opposite.

Grace is the benefit. Works is the expression of the benefit. We express grace with works by what we do, but we receive grace bountifully from the Father. Chet McCulley has put it this way, God's grace is the unlimited, unmerited blessings of God based on the complete and finished work of Christ. I tell you, that's an awful good definition from scripture. I think that he spent a lot of years listening to the Holy Spirit to come up with that. I get a little bit emotional, I'm sorry.

That is, to be brought to you, in the translation that you have in front of you, is next. So we're focusing now on the grace, this unlimited, unmerited blessing of God, based on the work of Christ on the cross, that is to be brought unto you, And here we get into the why didn't they translate it correctly question I have. Because this is a present passive participle that is being brought unto you. Isn't that interesting? Not to be brought to you, but is being brought to you is the correct translation.

So what you would want to say, we've got it right now. We don't have to wait for it. Right. Exactly. It's present. And it's passive. It means not something you're doing, but somebody's doing it for you. To you is just the personal pronoun and it has the form that this is the actual object. Someone else is bringing that to us, isn't he?

At the revelation of Jesus Christ is the next phrase. The at is the preposition n. Prepositions are interesting. Almost everywhere in the New Testament, n is used for location, a place. However, it is used with the dative And it can mean not just at or in, but it can be on, or it can be instrumental. It can be by means of. So I've given you those three, but the primary meaning is location.

It is the grace that is to be or being brought unto you I highlighted at because that's what it is in the original, but you see by on the end there? I really believe that that's the way this will be taken in my process of learning this text, okay? The revelation is apocalupus. I mean, it is a noun which means uncovering, unveiling, or disclosure. And the focus that we have here is that the grace that is being brought to you, is it at the revelation, which would be perhaps like time in the future, or is it by the revolution, or is it in the preposition here, the form, on the revelation. I mean it could be any one of those three. Most of the translations take this revelation to be future, at the revealing of Jesus Christ. I don't. I'm sorry. I don't because of the context of this text. He is talking to believers who are enduring persecution. And what is their hope fixed on? Something way in the future? Or something happening right now to them?

That is according to the tense of this phrase, that is being brought unto you? not to be brought, but is being brought unto you. That changes it, doesn't it? It makes the focus not on the future, but on the now. I'm going to wait until you go to the door, or you can end up on it right now.

So this is pretty cool stuff. I agree. And it's interesting too, I've read several commentators, it's almost like they are arguing that Peter is in opposition to Paul. I'm saying, no, everything I'm reading here is right from the Holy Spirit the same way as the Holy Spirit through Paul. They're in parallel with each other. Same source.

Now, I've taken a little bit of time here with the word, by the revelation here, the uncovering, to just give a literal rendering. By the uncovering of Christ to us right now and on into eternity, done by the Spirit of God right now. He's taking the things of Christ and giving them to us.

And the verses that came to me are in John 17, where it says, I tell you the truth, it's expedient for you that I go away. And if I go away, the Comforter will come. And if I go not away, the Comforter will not come unto you. But if I depart, I will send him unto you. How personal that is.

And when He's come, He will reprove the world of sin and of righteousness and of judgment. When He, the Spirit of Truth, is come, He will guide you into all truth, for He shall not speak of Himself. Whatsoever He shall hear, that shall He speak. And He will show you things to come. He shall glorify me. He shall receive of mine and show it unto you. All things that the Father hath are mine. Therefore said I that he shall take of mine and shall show it unto you."

Man, if you didn't believe in the Trinity, this verse would blow you away, because all three of the members of the Trinity are here in action. Do you see that? Do you notice the little phrase, he will not speak of himself? I think that's significant. Throughout scripture you will find unnamed servants doing things, and they become types of the Holy Spirit in action. I won't go into detail, but I spent a lot of time thinking about this, how the Holy Spirit never glorifies himself.

Everywhere that he is active, it is the Lord Jesus that is being revealed and magnified and glorified and detailed for us to understand. I think when we quench or grieve the Holy Spirit, the two words that are used in the New Testament, by the Holy Spirit himself, What are we doing? We are not taking in and believing the things of Christ that He is taking and giving to us. Now, let's go back to the passage. The grace that is being brought unto you by the revelation of Jesus Christ, doesn't that make a lot of sense?

It fits the passage perfectly from the standpoint of here are people being tested in their faith, and in that testing, their confidence in their mind is that the Holy Spirit is showing them Jesus Christ. That's what their focus is, on Him. As obedient children. Interesting word. He builds now. He takes what he's laid down as the command that your mind is focused on what is being brought to you, this magnificent blessing of God, not deserved. As obedient children.

What is that? The as there is a relative adverb, which means it adds information to the verb. And obedient is hupakuo, remember that word? Upon hearing, basically, is what that means. And it is a response of trust. It's the obedience that we can do when we hear the truth presented to us by the Holy Spirit of trusting it. Well, I like the phrase, for obedience, that we're to listen under. And that somehow fits better with the graciousness of God. We listen under. It's not like He's having a rod and saying, be obedient. We're to listen under. We're to have sharp ears. It goes along with what we're studying right now.

That's a great word picture, isn't it? It is wonderful. Children here is, these are, the Holy Spirit, every detail that the Holy Spirit uses in the words is important. Children here has a, it opens up the panoria of, these are members of a family. There's a relationship here. So if you think about the word children being used, think of it, one who is parented, born to another. Because that's what Peter was thinking about, that's what the Holy Spirit wants us to take in here.

Not fashioning yourselves according to, well let's go to that phrase, not fashioning yourselves. It's a simple particle negative here. Fashioning is this word, sustis madsi, oh boy that's hard to say. Anyway, soon in the beginning of it there is a preposition together with and schematical or schematic or the design or the pattern is the idea, with the pattern of, in other words, to fashion alike or conform to the same pattern outwardly. Same thing we got in Romans 12 too, if you remember, to not be forced into the mold, to be fashioned into the mold of the world, okay? It's not conforming yourselves to the same pattern.

I notice it's a present middle participle again. Remember I told you about the middle? It's not somebody doing it to you and it's not you doing it. It's you doing it, somebody else doing it to you, but you're benefiting in the results of it. Okay, so it's in between those two. The former lusts in your ignorance has the idea of from before and it's used in the literal adverb form here to mean that it is something that happened in the past. This is the way it used to be. Lusts is the idea of epithumia. Epi is a preposition. Thumia is another one. And it is strong desires. In other words, desires upon desires. And that's where lust comes in. Frequently in the bad sense, irregular and inordinate desires and appetites.

It's in that form here because it's what was true before. former desires upon desires. And this is a negative form here, in your ignorance. And so he adds just a little bit more that illustrates the meaning here. Again, in is that preposition again, which can mean location or, oh boy, of means or of place and so here it primarily means in place because it was in that environment, okay, that you had these things your, because it's personal, ignorance which means not to know it's the negative of knowledge, noia not knowing the truth in other words, this is who they used to be they were ignorant of the truth.

So that's the former basis. Bob, did you have a question? Yeah, let's put shoes on this in terms of our day-to-day walk. You know, the command here is not to fashion yourselves according to those things that we were ignorant of, but it returns to the previous verse, doesn't it?

The grace, I mean, the obedience is to the faith. Absolutely. Because this world system, the passive nature of that And then the flesh very responsive to the world's way of doing things. I mean it's easy to fall into that trap. But yet it's the obedience to the great grace in fact which he's brought us unto. And the application of that. The harder you try not to do things, the more you're sucked in by it. I mean in the flesh.

It just doesn't work. So in context, I mean your teaching today just reflects where Peter has grown in God's accounts and the man who is writing the scripture. To think that Paul and Peter in contrast, they are perfectly complementary. Anyway, I just want to point this out. The more you struggle to get rid of these lustful desires for fashioning yourselves after the world system, the harder it gets. The obedience is to the faith. And building on that just a little bit and thinking of Peter, what was his experience that you know about? Do you remember what he went through as a disciple?

Wasn't he the guy that said, OK, let's go do it, before he even thought about what the Lord was talking about? He says, I'll do it. In fact, his declaration to the Lord was, I'll stay with you into prison and unto death. And Jesus came back to him, he says, before the cock crows, you'll deny me three times. But he didn't leave him there. What did the Lord say next? He said, but I have prayed for you that your faith would not fail. That's the man whom God is using through the Spirit to teach us this. What I find amazing in the context of Peter's life is, what else did the Lord do?

How did he handle Peter when he said, I'm going fishing. And they went fishing. And they caught nothing. And the next morning, don't forget they fish at night. You don't fish in the daytime. The next morning, somebody's standing on the shore and he yells at him, how's it going? We haven't caught anything. Throw your net on the other side of the boat. Okay, so they throw it.

John says to Peter, when they pull in the fish, that's the Lord. And what does the Lord say to Peter on the shore after he's already fixed a breakfast for them? There's no words in the scripture by the Holy Spirit's teaching as to where the breakfast came from. But here he is, he's fixed a breakfast for them and he's talking to Peter and he says, do you love me? How many times did he say that? Three times. How many times did he deny him? Three times. And his exhortation was, feed my sheep. Did he condemn him? No. He just said, here you are. Don't be conformed, but be conformed.

Isn't that neat? Peter, of all the disciples, knew what he was talking about, didn't he? about facing temptations head-on and being ministered to by the Holy Spirit. I may not get through this, I don't know. But as, and here we have now something that is not as, as in verse 14, but as, it's in contrast to that, and it's Allah. It marks an opposition or an antithesis here. and the kata here is this preposition is from or upon in it's used here to bring out and intensify a distinction this is different and it is according to It's not just different. It's not this, but this standard. Not this standard, but this standard. That's the idea of these two prepositions.

Everything the Holy Spirit does, every detail, is important, okay? He which hath called you In other words, in contrast to the former lusts of ignorance, but in this form, he which hath called you, and the he which, here is the little article, the one, hath called, kaleo, to call someone in order that you may come and do something, is an aorist active participle. The emphasis here is he has done it, not just in time, but that he did it as a fact.

OK? This is punctuality. He called you, OK? And he called you to do something. You is the object. This is very personal. He wouldn't use you unless he was focusing on them, he wanted them to know that God calls each of us personally, doesn't he? And that's why he said that.

Is holy, as he which has called you is holy. And now we get into this word, is a supplied, it's not there, because the intensity is on the object holy, set apart as clean. It's fundamentally an idea of being separate from what is evil or unholy or unpure. unto what is separate, what is pure, what is clean, as he himself, characteristically, is set apart as clean. Going on, so be ye holy in all manner of conversation. Now here we have this copulated conjunction, so, which means also, which means you too, like him.

Okay? Be he, and he could have used all kinds of words here to give the command, but he used the word Gidomai. And Gidomai has the idea, begin to be. Factually, again, aorist tense, this is a factual thing. Middle voice, it's not It was done unto you, it's not what you're doing, but you're participating in it, in the process, factually, with benefits to yourself. That's the idea here. Factually, come to be, it has the idea of, ginomai means to come to be, or to come to be born, or to come to be generated. Well, if you put that together with Aristotle's imperative here as a command, factually, you come to be with benefits to yourself.

Isn't that neat? Holy, set apart, sanctified, fundamentally the idea again, separation or morally clean, same word as before that we just went over, in all manner of conversation, there's no room here for excluding things in all manner of conversation the preposition in again means again position or means primarily it's the idea here of all things in rest so that it isn't just a manner of living that is action, action, action, action. It's in a position of or in a state of being, according to this, in all things.

Okay? I can't emphasize that enough because we talk about it sort of flippantly sometimes going down the freeway. Well, I'm doing 75 miles an hour in a 65 mile an hour zone. God will understand. No. Do you understand? That's not rest. Right? That's the former lusts of the flesh. Okay?

And so just using that simple illustration, when you use the word all, it includes the idea of oneness, a totality of the whole. Not just part of the manner that we live, but every detail. of the manner that we live. And the manner of conversation here is that word Anastropophe. It's the mode of life or conduct, behavior, deportment. I'm not going to spend a lot of time on that, but it is every step we take. Okay? Any step. Okay? any and every. And then he goes on in verse 16, finally, because, so we've had as, but as, and now here's the reason. It is written, and this is the, let me get to it here, it's grapho.

In the ancient Greek language, they carved figures with meaning on wooden tablets. Later, they replaced those with letters when they were developed. Isn't that interesting? So they took pictures, and they drew a picture on wood, and that was their way of communicating. Well, that wasn't good enough, so they made letters, and then they put the letters on the wood.

So they carved, that's what that graph means here. They actually wrote, it's written in the past with abiding results again. Notice that it is written as perfect, means it really happened in the past. But in the thinking of the person listening to this, he would say, oh, that applies today. That's perfect. That means it happened with abiding results today. That's what that means. It's indicative, the mode of reality again, okay? This is a fact. It's still a fact today. And be ye holy, again, we use that same word, the word holy here, and it is, notice the be is ginomai, It is come to be, okay?

It isn't like he's commanding you to do something out of your own strength. No, he's commanding you to become, to be made, in which you involve yourself in such a way that, wow, he's doing it, I'm doing it, and I get the benefit. Passive active and middle, right?

I'm involved in this. I get some benefit from it. For I am holy. Notice that little preposition for again. It is because. So we have because it's written. Another because. For I am. Ego It's one of those phrases that every time I see it, I get emotional. I am thy me. It's a present indicative. It's a fact. It's an ongoing into the future. I always will be. I have been. I am. I always will be. Holy. Set apart. Sanctified. morally clean and perfect in every detail.

Ye shall therefore be holy for I am holy in Leviticus 11.45 Notice that in the Hebrew rendering into English they put in the word shall and it carries that idea of the middle voice. You shall be. You don't have that in Hebrew. but they have the idea of you will be holy because I'm holy. You voluntarily enter into this separation but I'm the one that makes you holy and you participate in the actions.

Boy, isn't that great? It's Christ in me. Yeah. It's not us being holy. He's being holy in us and we cannot be holy. How are we doing it this way? We're not holy. He is holy. It's only when he is in us that we allow him to live his life that we can be holy. I would go back to the text in just a moment, okay? And add to that just a little, okay? Just a little. Because if you do that, then you'd have, here's holiness over here in God and here I am. I'm unholy. No. That's not what Peter is saying.

He is saying, you are to become holy. You are to be made holy. You are to enter into that in such a way that you are personally benefited. Why? Because the reason is, I am holy. You will be in the Old Testament, is the way it is expressed. Notice it says it again in 19 too. Ye shall be holy, for I, the Lord your God, am holy."

Now, what's the context here? Where are these people when he's mentioning this? They're on the road to Israel, the land that's promised. And so in the next verse 20, "...Ye shall be holy unto me, for I, the Lord, am holy, and have severed you from other people, that ye should be mine." He severed them to draw them to himself. so that they're his people now.

Isn't that something? That's what Peter was thinking. That's what the Holy Spirit used him to write about our relationship. Right? Here's the literal ending of this verse. Therefore, with your minds ready for action, be serious and set your confidence completely on the grace, that unmerited blessing favor. being brought to you by the unveiling of Jesus Christ. As faithful children, do not be conformed to the strong desires of your former ignorance, but as the one who has called you is holy, you are to become holy in all your conduct. For it has been truly written You are to become holy because I myself am holy." That's as faithful as I can be to the text and translating it into the vernacular today.

What is the main emphasis in 1 Peter? I'm going to give you a little Not just what does it say, but what does it mean now, okay? What is the main emphasis in 1 Peter? The main emphasis of 1 Peter is look at now, time-wise, in light of eternity. Consider where you are, wherever you're scattered about, in persecution, suffering, And consider that in light of eternity. And here's the way that the Holy Spirit outlined Peter.

He dealt with salvation up through chapter 2 verse 12. And boy, I'll tell you, you just can't escape that here's the facts, here's the commands about salvation. Here's the facts and here's the result of those facts in salvation. Chapter 2 verse 13 through 3.12, it's submission based upon that salvation. So here's the layer of the facts, here's the layer of the commands, and here's the practical application, submission. And then third, the sufferings. So in that suffering, there is a purpose.

He's already given it to us in the facts area. I won't review that. But ultimately the suffering will result in one of two things. Primarily, Jesus Christ will be exhibited to all, and everyone will glorify Him. and magnify Him. Why? Because He took us through the suffering, which is the testing of our faith to prove what is real, to reveal His glory, what is real. And that's the result here of the suffering. That's where Peter and the Holy Spirit, who wrote through Peter, is leading us. So, that's what this text is part of. We are in the middle of salvation, aren't we? that area.

So don't lose sight of that. There's a big picture as well. Okay. One of the things that I really liked when we went through the study of faith, what is it, with Hal Malloy. Isn't that something? Your mind. Don't feel bad, Roy. We've all been there. He, in this, just hit me as I was studying it. The command here that's based on these facts is that gird up your mind, take the robes that are hanging loose around you of things and tuck them into that belt of truth around your waist so that you're ready to action and put your hope, your confidence in the one who is bringing you this grace. Right? I think he did an absolutely wonderful job of detailing, being focused on his glorious presence. Christ's life is my life. Remember that? Christ's life is my life. Christ's desires are my desires. Christ's glory is my glory. Christ's will is my will. Christ's mind is my mind.

Fits this area pretty close, doesn't it? Christ's obedience is my obedience. Again, fits this area pretty closely as children of obedience. Christ's righteousness is my righteousness. Another word for holiness, isn't it? Christ's abode is my abode. Christ's rest is my rest. Christ's sufficiency is my sufficiency. Christ's image is my image. Christ's things are my things. We had a lot of time on that one, didn't we? Christ's love is my love. Christ's compassion is my compassion. Christ's suffering is my suffering.

When you get to that area here in Peter, that'll be true, isn't it? But Christ's hope or confidence is my hope. Whose hope do we have? His. Christ's good is my good, and that has to do with that holiness, I believe, in this passage. Christ's victory is my victory. What is our victory? Our faith, our confidence in Christ.

Christ's riches are my riches. And what are those riches? His grace, which we're focusing on. His unmerited, unlimited blessings based on the work of Christ. Christ's wisdom is my wisdom. The correct application of what you know is what we're dealing with. Get your mind correctly on the things of God. Commandments are my commandments, and what are those commandments? Set your mind on these things. That's one of them. Actually, there are two commands mentioned in John. Believe on him whom he has sent. Okay, and what's the second one?

Oh boy, it's escaping me at the moment. Oh, love one another. And he doesn't use the Old Testament form. He uses the new form of love, as I have loved you, not love one another on the basis of the law. but on the basis of grace, unmerited favor. His peace is my peace. That's something we can't really describe. There's nothing in the unbeliever that is peaceful. But in the believer, it is Christ's peace. Total rest.

Christ's thoughts are my thoughts again. Those are the things that we've been dealing with today. Christ's ways are my ways. One of the declarations our Lord makes about humanity is, you haven't known me and my ways. Christ's inheritance is my inheritance. What is our inheritance? It's his inheritance, and we share it. Everything that he gets, we get. Wow!

And finally, Christ's liberty is my liberty. What is that liberty? Freedom from the domination of sin, to the willing submission and obedience to the Holy Spirit, showing us Christ. And that obedience takes its form in believing faith in those facts.

Isn't that wonderful? I'm going to leave it there. I'm sorry that it took so long. We ran over just a bit. Heavenly Father, thank you for your word. How marvelous it is to think on these things. Thank you so much for being so clear that even in just a few verses we can glimpse into your work in us and through us in this world. In Christ's name, Amen.