Called Out Into Separation B..

Well, good evening, everyone. Welcome once again to church. If you have your Bibles, please open them up to the first letter of Peter. The first letter of Peter. And by the grace that God extends to us, we have the opportunity to come and study together once again this letter.

we're going to be focusing our attention again this evening, this afternoon in verses 14 through 19 as we did I think a month ago but we're going to be reading from verse 10 in chapter 1 and we're going to go through chapter 2 into verse 12 so that's going to be a long section of reading that's going to help us to have the context of what we're going to be addressing this evening so as I said we're going to be focusing on verse 14 to 19, but we're going to be reading from verse 10 in chapter 1, going through chapter 2 in verse 12. So this is the words of God. Let's pay attention with reverent hearts to each one of the words that God has given us through His Spirit. Verse 10. Concerning this salvation, The prophets who prophesied about the grace that was to be yours searched and inquired carefully, inquiring what person or time the Spirit of Christ in them was indicating when He predicted the sufferings of Christ and the subsequent glories.

It was revealed to them that they were serving not themselves, but you in the things that have now been announced to you through those who preach the good news to you by the Holy Spirit sent from heaven, things into which angels long to look. Therefore, preparing your minds for action and being sober minded, set Set your hope fully on the grace that will be brought to you at the revelation of Jesus Christ. As obedient children, do not be conformed to the passions of your former ignorance. But as he who called you is holy, you also be holy in all your conduct, since it is written, you shall be holy, for I am holy. And if you call on Him as Father, who judges impartially according to each one's deeds, conduct yourself with fear throughout the time of your exile, knowing that you were ransomed from the futile ways inherited from your forefathers, not with perishable things such as silver or gold, but with the precious blood of Christ, like that of a lamb without blemish or spot.

He was foreknown before the foundation of the world, but was made manifest in the last time for the sake of you, who through him are believers in God, who raised him from the dead and gave him glory, so that your faith and hope are in God. Having purified your souls by your obedience to the truth for a sincere brotherly love, Love one another earnestly from a pure heart, since you have been born again, not of perishable seed, but of imperishable through the living and abiding word of God. For all flesh is like grass and all its glory like the flower of grass. The grass withers and the flower falls, but the word of the Lord remains forever. And this word is the good news that was preached to you.

So put away all malice, and all deceit, and hypocrisy, and envy, and all slander. Like newborn infants, long for the pure spiritual milk, that by it you may grow up into salvation, if indeed you have tasted that the Lord is good. As you come to Him, a living stone rejected by men, but in the sight of God chosen and precious, you yourselves, like living stones, are being built up as a spiritual house to be a holy priesthood, to offer spiritual sacrifices acceptable to God through Jesus Christ. For it stands in Scripture, Behold, I am laying in Zion a stone, a cornerstone chosen and precious, and whoever believes in him will not be put to shame. So the honor is for you who believe, but for those who do not believe, the stone that the builders rejected has become their cornerstone, and a stone of stumbling and a rock of offense.

They stumbled because they disobeyed the word and they were destined to do. But you are a chosen race, a royal priesthood, a holy nation, a people for his own possession, that you may proclaim the excellences of him who called you out of darkness into his marvelous light. Once you were not a people, but now you are God's people. Once you had not received mercy, but now you have received mercy. Beloved, I urge you, as sojourners and exiles, to abstain from the passions of the flesh, which wage war against your soul.

Keep your conduct among the Gentiles honorable, so that when they speak against you as evildoers, they may see your good deeds and glorify God on the day of visitation. Amen. This is the words of God. It's really a blessing to see everyone with their heads down reading the scripture. It's a blessing.

and this evening beloved we are going to be addressing coming back to this letter of first peter and i feel that is important that i just give you this little bit of remembering the things that we've said so far and if there is only one thing that i would like you to remember every time that you come to the first letter of pita beloved brothers and sisters and friends Every time that you come to this first letter of Peter is that the message that the Apostle or the Holy Spirit through the Apostle Peter is giving to the church is a message of encouragement. We've said that many times. The immediate audience of this book is an audience that has been persecuted, that is going through trials, through difficulties, 30 years after the Lord has been ascended. And what the Spirit of God is trying to do for that church, Pontius Galatia, Cappadocia, Asia, and Bithynia, and of course us, through this letter of the Apostle Peter, is give encouragement. They are going through difficulties.

So the apostle offers that encouragement. And if I can summarize the whole book in a simple sentence, it's something like this. Because you are children of God through the work of Jesus Christ, you are called to endure through trials and tribulations and to be holy. Because you are children of God through the work of Christ, you are to be holy and to endure through tribulations and through trials. This is the whole message of the letter.

This is the five chapters put in a single sentence. This is what the spirit of God is trying to do for the church, bringing that encouragement that is based on the gospel of Jesus Christ and brothers and sisters. These churches needed that encouragement. They were being persecuted. Many of them were killed.

They were believing in a Christ that probably they had not seen. This is what Apostle Peter says. This is 30 years after the Lord was ascended. Many of them, the young people in those churches, probably were born after the Lord was ascended. So they were putting their faith and they were betting their lives in someone that they had not seen.

in a person that lived in a foreign land, because these are Gentile churches, that is, churches that are not in Jewish land or Jews' churches. These are Gentile, so they needed that encouragement. And how does the Apostle give that encouragement? How does the Apostle Peter, or the Spirit of Christ, or the Spirit of God, how does He give that encouragement to the church through the Apostle Peter? He does it through the gospel of Jesus Christ, the message of salvation.

But this gospel of Jesus Christ, brothers and sisters and friends, pay attention to this. This gospel of Jesus Christ, the Apostle presented it in three different stages or in three different categories. It's a message of salvation that was prophesied in scriptures that is sufficient for their lives. So the encouragement that Peter is offering to the churches that because you are children of God through the work of Jesus Christ, you are to be holy and to endure trials and tribulations. This is founded in a message of salvation that is a message of salvation that has been promised in a scripture that is sufficient for their lives.

So this message of salvation that is in Christ Jesus is everything that they need for their lives in holiness and tribulations and difficulties. This is the whole letter. And I want you to see how the Apostle does it because the book is indeed divided in these three different sections. A message of salvation that was promised in a scripture that is sufficient for life. And why is this useful?

And why is this of benefit for these Gentiles? Beloved, because the oracles of God were given to the Jews. The oracles of God were given to the people of Israel. So the apostle Peter is going to say, this salvation that was promised from ages ago to the people of Israel was including you. they were prophesying, they were speaking of a grace that was to be yours.

And I want you to put your eyes in the text, because, bear with me with this, because I want you to see these three divisions of the book, so you will understand what I'm going to address this evening. From verse 1 to verse 9, the apostle has presented This message of salvation from verse 1 to verse 9, he presents the message of salvation through the work of Jesus Christ, that we are children of God through the work of Jesus Christ. And then there is a very important transition in verse 10. He says, concerning this salvation, the prophets who prophesied about the grace that was to be yours search and inquire carefully. Peter says to the Gentiles that this salvation that was explained from verse 1 to verse 9 concerning this salvation, the prophets of the Old Testament said that this grace was to be yours, Gentiles.

So here we have the message of salvation that was promised in Scripture. And then if you jump all to chapter 2 in verse 12, From verse 13, which is the verse after when we finished our reading in verse 13, here the apostle is going to start applying that message that was promised in the scriptures. He starts saying, be subject for the Lord's sake to every human authority. Be subject to the authority. Then jump to verse 18.

He says, servants be subject to your masters. Then go to chapter three in verse one. He says, likewise, wives be subject to your own husbands. And then go to verse seven in chapter three. He says, likewise, husbands, live with your wives in an understanding way.

And then he's going to finish the letter. Applying that to our union with Christ, he says, finally, from in verse 8 in chapter 3 finally all of you have unity of mind and from verse 8 all the way to the end of the letter he is going to speak of the practical application of this message of salvation now beloved come back with me again please it's a message of salvation that he speaks in one who explains from verse 1 to 9 that is prophesied by the prophets of the old testament It was not only for the people of Israel, but it's also for you Gentiles. From verse 10, going through chapter 2, verse 12, and then in verse 13 from chapter 2, it starts applying that to the life. Now, this is very important because how are we going to be Christ-like in the midst of tribulations? We cannot do it in our own strength, in our own power.

This is based on the gospel of Jesus Christ. Now, I'm saying all of this, beloved, because the section that we're addressing is everything that we read from chapter... from verse 10 in chapter 1 concerning this salvation, the prophets who prophesied about the grace that was to be yours, all the way to verse 12. This is a section in which Peter is going to demonstrate to the Gentiles that that which was said in the Old Testament is applied to the Gentile Church, to the New Testament Church. Concerning this salvation, the prophets prophesied of the grace that was to be yours.

He said that with his mouth. But now He is going to start showing the church that indeed, that truly, the promises of the Old Testament do apply to New Testament believers. It does not matter that they live in Gentile lands. It does not matter that they have not seen Jesus Christ. It does not matter that they have not touched Him or that they are Jews in the flesh.

It does not matter. God promised a salvation that was to be theirs from the very beginning of time. And the apostle has said that the prophets prophesied about that. And then from verse 13 onwards, he starts, as I said last time that we came together, perhaps with one of the best applications of taking Old Testament realities, bringing them into New Testament realities and making them through by the power of the Spirit for the New Testament church. Verse 13 says, therefore, therefore, concerning this salvation, these prophets of the Old Testament spoke of this grace that was to be yours.

And then he says, therefore, in verse 13, guard your loins, the loins of your mind, or the ESV will say something like preparing your minds for action. This is actually guard the loins of your mind taken from Job, literally from Job. And then he will come to the section that we are addressing this evening from verse 14 to verse 19, in which he is going to take quotations or citations from the Holiness Code, from Leviticus, from Exodus, from the Prophet Isaiah, from Psalm 32, from again back to Exodus. This portion of scripture that we have in front of us, beloved, speak of the promises of the Old Testament applied to New Testament believers. And the Apostle is going to demonstrate that the way that Old Testament saints were saved is exactly the same way the New Testament saints are saved.

Why? Because the promise was given in Genesis 3.15, as the brother said. And then it started to spread. It started to give more light of that promise.

And the portion that we have says, verse 14, "...as obedient children, Do not be conformed to the passions of your former ignorance. But as he who called you is holy, you also be holy in all your conduct. Since it is written, you shall be holy, for I am holy. And if you call on him as father who judges impartially according to each one's deeds, conduct yourself with fear.

throughout the time of your exile, knowing that you were ransomed from the futile ways inherited from your forefathers, not with perishable things such as silver or gold, but with the precious blood of Christ, like that of a lamb, without blemish or spot. Now, everything that I've done so far is giving myself permission to take other portions of this book to explain what the Apostle is saying in this portion of the Scripture. Because in the end of this section, in verse 9, or chapter 2, verse 9, the Apostle is going to give us a parallel passage that is going to help us to understand the message of this evening. What is the apostle saying here? Last time, when we come together, I tried to focus your attention to this word that it was focused on, that we find in verse 18 that says, knowing that you were ransomed.

I, to the best of my ability and by the grace of God, I was trying to point to that we are to live our lives in the way that we are called to live our lives, knowing the value of our salvation. That the more that we know the value of our salvation, the easier that we will live the lives that we have called to live. And explaining the value of that salvation, I try and attempt to explain to you that which we have been saved from, that which we have been saved with, and that which we have been saved unto. If we know the value of our salvation, then that is going to be easier for us to live the life as we're going to live it. But this evening, beloved, I want to focus on an aspect of the nature of our redemption that is found primarily in verse 14.

The apostle says, as obedient children, do not be conformed to your former passions or the passions of your former disobedience. Do not be conformed to the passions of your former disobedience, but just as God is holy, or just as He is holy, the One who called you, you also be holy, since it is written, you shall be holy, for I am holy." So, beloved, let me just put it in a sentence, and then I'm going to try to explain to you from the text how that sentence makes sense. I, a redeemed Christian, or a saved Christian, or a person who has been truly born again, is a person who has been saved to be called out or into separation, to be separated, to be removed. He has been called into separation.

A person who has been born again truly by the Spirit of God, by the proclamation of the gospel, when the gospel has been applied in reality to the heart of that person, that person has been called out into separation. That person has been called, has been removed, has been taken. The apostle uses, and I'm taking this sentence that a person that is redeemed has been called out into separation from the word that is found here in verse 15. But as he who called you is holy, you also be holy. The one who called us is holy.

And then if you go to verse 18, he says, knowing that you were ransomed from, that we were redeemed from, that we were taken out of. So, beloved, I'm saying that the true believer, that the true Christian, that the person who has been born again of the Spirit has been called out into separation. And when I say called, I'm referring to the same word that the apostle Paul uses in Romans 8 when he says that the purpose of our salvation is to be conformed to the image of the Son, Jesus Christ, and those who have been predestined, they have been called, and those who have been called, they have been justified, and those who have been justified, they have been glorified. Actually, the word called is exactly the same word that the Apostle Peter uses here. So I'm saying that the redeemed Christian has been called into separation, has been taken, has been removed from something.

It is a calling that is performed by God. The Apostle Paul will say that we have been called into fellowship with Jesus Christ in 1 Corinthians, that we have been removed from something into fellowship with the Lord Jesus Christ. And I want you to see it that way, because if you are truly in Jesus Christ, brothers and sisters, if you are truly in Jesus Christ, Your relationship with Him is one of calling you out into separation. And what I'm going to try to do this evening is to prove to you that the outward calling of separation, which here is holiness, to be holy, corresponds to an inward calling of separation which is that we have been removed from the dominating power of sin into the marvelous light of the gospel and therefore we have the ability to be outwardly called into separation the apostle gives light and a little bit more understanding of course better words than the ones that I can't explain in verse 9 in chapter 2 read what he says he says You are a chosen race, a royal priesthood, a holy nation, a people for his own possession, that you might proclaim the excellences of him. And then he's going to use exactly the same word that he uses in verse 14.

Him who called you out of darkness into his marvelous light. Once you were not a people, but now you are God's people. Once you had not received mercy, but now you have received mercy. The Apostle, brothers and sisters, says that the true Christian has been called out from darkness into light. the calling out of the Christian into separation.

So now the question that we need to ask ourselves is, what do we have been or what have we been called out from? The apostle gives us the answer in verse 14. He says, as obedient children, do not be conformed to the passions of your former ignorance. But as He who called you is holy, you also be holy in all your conduct." Beloved, he says, as obedient children of God today, do not be conformed to your former passions.

But rather today, as children of God, Be holy because the one who called you from these former passions, he is holy. So the apostle here is presenting to us in comparing our previous life with our present life if we are truly in Jesus Christ. And he is saying that the outward calling to holiness corresponds to an inward calling of holiness or separation. He says that we are or that we have been removed, beloved. from the passions of our former ignorance.

The same Apostle Peter is going to call these passions that we have in our former ignorance, he's going to call them passions of the flesh. Very interestingly, he's also going to call these passions in chapter 4, human passions. Go to chapter 4 and see with yourself. In chapter 4, which is a section of this book in which he is going to actually expand on this. He is going to call these passions exactly the same word that we were struggling with in our former disobedience.

In chapter 4 he says, since therefore, in verse 1, Christ suffering the flesh, arm yourselves with the same way of thinking for whoever has suffered in the flesh has ceased from sin. And as so live for the rest of the time in the flesh, no longer for human passions. This is very interesting. He calls, beloved, the passions that we once had outside of Christ as passions, not only of the flesh, but human passions. human passions that were attached to our flesh.

Last time when we came together, we read a parallel passage that is found in Ephesians chapter 2. The apostle Paul, speaking of these fleshly desires, he explains that when we were dead in our trespasses, not as Christians, but in our former life, when we were dead in our trespasses, We were walking according the passions or the desires of the flesh. And we were under the power of the Prince of the Earth. And we were children of disobedience. And then he calls us children of wrath.

These passions, these former passions that the Apostle Peter speaks about here, are passions that were inserted into the nature that we once had. But he does not only say that these are passions. He says that these are passions of your former ignorance. He connects the idea of passions that are rooted inside of us, in our flesh, in who we are, in our nature, and then he connects that with our ability to understand or to comprehend something. Beloved, this is very important.

The apostle is saying that the nature that we once had It was so sinful and apart from God that affected not only our state before God, but also our ability to understand God Himself and His Word. And this is what the Apostle Paul says in Romans 1, that we suppress the truth in our unrighteousness, that our moral state suppresses a state of knowledge. Beloved, I don't know if you remember, but when the Lord Jesus Christ is speaking to the audience, to the Jews, He says, If you were sons of God, or better, if God were your Father, you would love Me. But you do not understand the things that I say because you don't want to be exposed to the word. Let's just read it together.

Go, please, to John 8. Go to John 8, and I want to show you how the Lord Jesus Christ is going to connect sinful passions of our nature with our ability to understand God. In John chapter 8, verse 42, and this can be very heart. Chapter 8, verse 42. Please, beloved, pay attention to what the Lord Jesus Christ says.

Jesus said to them, If God were your Father, you would love me. For I came from God, and I am here. I came not of my own accord, but He sent me. Why? Do you not understand what I say?

Or in other words, why are you in ignorance? Why you are not able to understand these things that I'm saying? And then he gives the answer. It is because you cannot bear to hear my word. You are of your father, the devil, and your will is to do your father's desires or your father's passions.

You do not understand because you are your father is actually the devil. Then he continues. He was a murderer from the beginning and does not stand in the truth because there is no truth in him. When he lies, he speaks out of his own character for he's a liar and the father of lives. Beloved, he's saying.

You do not understand, you are in ignorance of these words of life. because your father is the devil, because your father is Satan. What the Apostle Paul will say in Ephesians 2, children of disobedience, or children of wrath, that we were dead in our trespasses, walking according to the passions of our flesh, that we were walking according to the prince of the power of the air, that is Satan. So, the Apostle says, Do not be conformed to the passions of your former ignorance. Not only that, but the same apostle is going to give us a little bit more light.

And there in verse 19, he says, knowing that you were ransomed, going back to first Peter, knowing that you were ransomed from the futile ways inherited from your forefathers. These passions of the flesh that belong to our nature, that were connected to our inability to understand the words of life of Christ, produce in us ways or actions that are futile, that are profitless, that have not benefit at all. I want you to see how everything from the inside is connected to the outside. The passions of the flesh in which we once walked, dominated our ability to understand the light of God, and therefore we inherited these futile ways from our forefathers. Now, beloved, I said, if you are truly a Christian, if you have been saved by Christ, by grace through faith, this salvation that you have is a separation from that.

You see, we were slaves of our passions and our desires. We were walking in them. We were a slave to those things. We were in ignorance of God. We inherit these futile ways from our forefathers, and we were slaves to that.

But salvation is a taking, is a removing, is a calling out in separation from that. This is the nature of salvation from the very beginning. From the very beginning of time, the nature of salvation or the nature of redemption, beloved, was once of separation, of taking, of removing. When God created everything in holiness and in righteousness and in perfection, and when sin entered the world through the disobedience of one man, then this man was not holy anymore, and this man was not righteous anymore, but rather Adam was unholy and unrighteous. And the action that God took upon that is to eject that person from his immediate holy presence.

So that which is holy, or better, that which is profane, and which is unrighteous, is separated, it is taken and removed from that which is holy. Once in the world, when corruption and sin has entered into the world, the plan of salvation, beloved, is a plan of calling people in separation from not only the scheme of the devil, but the nature of the devil himself. Think about the things that we have studied of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob. Their calling in the way that the gospel was presented to them, according to what Paul says in Galatians 3 and 4. The gospel was presented or preached to Abraham, for instance, in ways of shadows and types.

And that gospel that was presented to him was a gospel of separation. You are living in this land. I'm going to give you a land. I'm going to make you a great nation. And I'm going to bless you.

He called Abraham out of this land. Then in Joshua, we will know that the land where Abraham lived was a land of idolatry. But, beloved, the author of Hebrews, in Hebrews 11 verse 8, will say to us that Abraham, by faith, was called out from the land where he lived, and he traveled or he went to the land that he was promised, not knowing where he was going, but knowing that the land that he was going to was beyond a physical land, but was a celestial land. It was a promise that was given by God himself of eternal separation. It was a promise, it was a calling, beloved, of separation.

Think about Isaac. We have studied Isaac also. The calling of Isaac is one of separation. Ishmael was born of the flesh. And then Isaac was born of the promise.

And then Zarah comes to Abraham and said, cast out this slave woman because Ishmael is making fun, we know that in Galatians, he's making fun of Isaac. And then what would the Apostle Paul say in Galatians? That just as it was with Isaac in the Old Testament, just as it was with Isaac, that the offspring of the flesh, Ishmael, was persecuted him, it will be exactly the same with us in the New Testament and with the Church. For that reason, God, through Sarah, kicked out or removed the son of the flesh The Son of the Promise will inherit, but the Son of the Flesh will not inherit that promise that was given. Beloved, from the very beginning, the promise of redemption or the promise of salvation was one of an inward calling of separation that will correspond to an outward calling of separation.

As we saw today with our brother, with Jacob, it was exactly the same. It was not because someone was better than the other, but the oldest will serve the younger, or the younger will be served by the oldest. It's not according to the works of men, but it's according to the one who calls, the Apostle Paul will say in Romans chapter 9. Beloved, Redemption is always a calling, a calling of separation. And what the Apostle Peter is saying here is showing us an inward calling that is attached to an outward calling, an effective calling into life with Jesus Christ.

Do not be conformed to the passions of your former ignorance, but as the one who called you, inwardly, the one who called you in the spirit, the one who removed you in the spirit from darkness, then be holy, an outward calling. Now, beloved, my words are not sufficient to explain this, but this is the power of the gospel. Pay attention to this. The gospel is the power of God unto salvation for everyone who believes, to the Jews first and also to the Greeks. In it, we see the righteousness of God.

It is the power of God from faith to faith. From saving faith, from the moment that saving faith is given by the Spirit to the soul, to the moment that saving faith is lived out in the life, until the moment that this faith is brought to consummation and faith is needed no more. Because Christ comes and we are taken up to glory. But beloved, the Gospel is a message that has power to transform lives. Now, this is not an intellectual message.

The calling of the gospel is an inward spiritual calling that removes us, that separates us from the previous nature, the previous sinful nature in which we once lived. And for that reason, beloved, the apostle has the ability or the authority to say that we should be holy as God is holy. Why? Because apart of the inward calling of separation, the outward calling of holiness is impossible. We cannot be holy as God is holy if we are not truly in Jesus Christ.

Beloved, the gospel is the power of God unto salvation, not only to justify us, but it's also the power of God unto salvation to sanctify us. Why are we going to live lives defeated in sin? when the transformation that we have had in our heart is a cosmic transformation. God himself gave his life for us to give us life. And the life that we have, we don't live in our own strength, but Christ lives in us by faith.

Why would I, Christian, be contempt living under the sin or struggling with sin, beloved? This gospel is powerful, not only to justify us, but also to make us like Jesus Christ, to be holy, because God is holy. God is the one who called us. God is the one who redeemed us. He is the one that separates us.

So then the Apostle says, do not be conformed to those passions. Why? Because those passions are still within us. The passions of the flesh that Apostle Peter says, or these passions of the human race are still within us. Beloved, if I can summarize the gospel in something very simple from this perspective, I would say that we have been saved from the Adamic race.

into a Christian race. We have been saved from an Adamic nature into a Christian nature. We have now the Spirit of Christ dwelling in us, and by that Spirit we have the power to live lives of holiness as obedient children. Beloved, the promises that the Lord gives to holiness and to purity go throughout the Old Testament into the New Testament. Why?

Because now in Christ, and by the power of the Spirit, we have the ability to be conformed to His image. The more that we are like Christ, the more that we are like our Savior, the more that we will be Christ for others and for the church. So then Peter has the authority in the scripture to say, beloved brothers and sisters, I know that you are going through trials and tribulations and difficulties. But what happened inside of you is of such power and is of such transformation that it does not matter that you're going through tribulations and trials. You still have the ability to be like the one who saved you because what happened inside of you cannot be accomplished by the power of men.

Now, beloved, If we are in Christ, the same thing happens inside of each one of you if you are truly in Jesus Christ. And my burden with my soul and with the souls of my brothers and my sisters is Why would we be contempt with the sin that we have inside of us? And why would we be fighting against that sin in our own strength, when we have the promise of the Spirit of Christ, not only inserting us into the Church and saving us, but also we have that Spirit dwelling in us, conforming us to the image of Jesus Christ. Why would I be contempt with my sin? I know that I have received the power in Christ to fight it.

And then to pay attention to the words of Peter that says to me, Do not be conformed to the passions of your former ignorance, but as the one who called you effectually with the power of the Spirit, the one who removed you, the one who took you out into separation to be holy, Just as he is holy, you can also be holy. And then he says, because you have been redeemed, not with things that are priceless, but with the precious blood of Jesus Christ. And if the blood of Jesus Christ is sufficient to justify you, The blood of Jesus Christ is also sufficient to conform you to the image of Jesus Christ, to make you more like Him. Now, the words that Christ says to the Jews are very important. If God was your Father, you would love Me.

My removing, or my taking out from my previous nature, is a change of Lord. Satan and my sinful nature were Lord of my life by the spirit and by faith. Now, Christ is Lord of my life. And in the same way that my nature has changed, also my affections have changed because salvation is not only a new relationship with Christ, but it's also a new relationship with the sin that I was a slave to. How are we not going to or how are we going to stop loving the things of the world?

How are we going to stop being attached to the things of the world? Not by fighting the things of the world, but rather putting our eyes in Christ. Because the more that we love Jesus Christ, the more or the less that we love the things of the world. Christ is sufficient not only to justify us, beloved, but also to save us. And I want to finish with some words of the same Lord Jesus Christ.

Please go to John chapter 17. John chapter 17. Because, brothers and sisters, beyond of a message being preached or something being communicated to people. There's more than the exercise of what we're doing. And when we're coming to this place, it's not that we're just coming to hear about God.

We're coming to meet with God through His Word, independently of the person who is speaking from the pulpit. We're coming to meet God. If you're not coming to meet God through His Word, you're wasting your time. You are wasting your time. So the purpose of everything that we do is to impact for eternity.

It's not to impact only for the next five minutes or something that you're going to forget once we finish and we do the things that we do. But it is to be impacted for eternity. So beloved, We have been called to be holy because there is an inward called by the Holy Spirit that has separated us from our previous nature and that now we can be holy as God is holy. And then the Bible is going to call us to renounce and to reject the things of the world. to renounce and take away the things of the world.

But there's always a danger, because we are in the world, and we are supposed to live in the world, and we are going to be in this world. So the way, beloved, that we are holy, as Peter calls us to be holy, is not putting our eyes in holiness or in reverential fear to God, but rather is putting our eyes in Christ and emulate Christ as he is holy and as he lives a reverential life or as he lives a reverential life of fear. That's why he says in chapter 17 in verse 13, but now I am coming to you and these things I speak in the world that they might have my joy fulfilled in themselves. I have given them your word And the world has hated them because they are not of the world, just as I am not of the world. I do not ask that you take them out of the world, but that you keep them from the evil one.

The Lord Jesus Christ is not praying that we would be removed from this world so that we, in a box, will grow into conformity to Him. But He is leaving us in this world, living in this world, in the midst of all of this present tibial age, that by looking to Him, we might grow in holiness, even though we are still in the middle or in the midst of this world. Beloved, and then He continues, sanctify them. Verse 16, they are not of the world, just I am not of the world. Sanctify them in the truth.

Your word is truth. Just as the Jews did not hear, did not understand the words of Jesus Christ, because they were not the sons of God, but they were the sons of Satan, so they lacked understanding of the words of life. Once a person has been inserted in union with Christ by the power of the Spirit, the words of the Savior become sweet honey to our mouth, and we want to keep them and store them and to place them in our hearts so that we might not sin against the God who saved us. So those who had been inserted in Christ, they are in the world, but the Savior prays that we might be sanctified by the Word through which we once received saving faith. So now the faith that we live may be empowered and we can live in conformity to the Lord Jesus Christ beloved.

We are not to live lives of comfort with the sin that we have. We have in and of ourselves, as I was speaking to someone this week, we have in and of ourselves the power of the Spirit to put that sin to death. And growing in conformity to Christ is not for our own glory, but it's for the glory of the one who saved us. Because the sanctifying work in our lives cannot be accomplished with our morality, cannot be accomplished with our own principles. It can only be accomplished by the power of Jesus Christ living in us.

That every word that comes out of our mouths, that every thought that we have in our minds, that every meditation of our heart, that every intention of our soul might be so carefully taken, that we purposefully decide to live lives that honor our Savior, not because we have to, not because we have to gain righteousness, but rather because of what He did, He has empowers to love Him and to be sanctified by His work. Amen.