Participants: Tom Shepherd & Deyvy Rodriguez
Series Code: PBOTB
Program Code: PBOTB00005B
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00:01 And welcome back friends to "Books of the Book"
00:03 with me is Dr. Shepherd. 00:04 He is joining us in this study of first and second period. 00:08 Dr. Shepherd quick question. 00:10 What does obedience have to do with holiness? 00:13 All right. Well, we were looking here in verse 14. 00:16 It says, "As obedient children, do not be conformed 00:20 to the passions of your former ignorance." 00:21 We notice that he stresses that they are children, 00:24 they are--God is their father, they are his children. 00:27 He says, household of faith. 00:28 So he reminds them of that covenant 00:30 that they have made with God, 00:31 that linkage that they have to God. 00:33 And then he bolsters this whole concept of linkage 00:38 to God of the idea of-- the covenants of idea 00:43 with a reference to that which is holy. 00:45 So in verse 15, he says 00:48 "But as he who called you is holy, 00:50 you also be holy in all your conduct." 00:55 Since it is written verse 16, 00:57 "You shall be holy for I am holy." 01:00 He is quoting from Leviticus 19:2 01:04 part of the holiness code of the Old Testament. 01:07 And you look at this and you see that there is this concept 01:12 of emulation or following the pattern. 01:16 God is holy so that's what you have to do. 01:20 It's like carpenter building something 01:23 and showing his apprentice and the apprentice look at it 01:26 and measures it and takes in, 01:28 tries to make his just like the master carpenter did. 01:31 He tries to do things just the same way. 01:34 Or like a child walking on the beach 01:37 and his father footsteps are big and far apart 01:40 and he tries to reach his foot and reach his next foot, 01:43 so that he can walk in the footsteps of his father. 01:46 So because you are in covenant with God, 01:50 because He is your father, because you are His children 01:53 and you remember you agreed to obey. 01:55 All right, because you are His obedient child, 01:58 then you are to live a holy life just like He did, okay. 02:02 Of course, he is not really done. 02:04 That's not the only thing that he mentions, 02:07 his this idea of holiness, okay. 02:09 So why don't you read for us verse 17. 02:13 "And if you call on the Father, who without partiality judges 02:17 according to each one's work, conduct yourselves 02:20 throughout the time of your stay here in fear, 02:24 knowing that you were not redeemed 02:26 with corruptible things like silver or gold 02:29 from your aimless conduct recede by tradition from your fathers, 02:33 but with the precious blood of Christ, 02:36 as of a lamb without blemish and without spot." 02:41 Okay, that was a little more than verse 16 02:43 but that's of 17, but that's okay. 02:45 That's all right we went forward just a little bit 02:47 and we'll fill all that in, okay. 02:49 So, he starts of-- so how has he argued already. 02:53 He has argued that because of-- he starts verse 13 02:58 with therefore that is in light of all the things 03:02 that we've talked about before. 03:04 Now, you must be totally ready for action, 03:09 your obedient children and so you are 03:11 not to conform you self to old way. 03:13 But you are supposed to be holy 03:15 because the God you serve is holy, all right. 03:19 Then in verse 17, he says "And if you call on him 03:23 as father" well, that's what Jesus taught us to do as a man. 03:29 He said when you pray say, our Father, 03:33 which art in heaven, all right. 03:36 Now often when we say the Lord's prayer 03:38 and I have to say, I don't think we say the Lord's prayer enough 03:41 in the Seventh-day Adventist church. 03:43 I think we need to say the Lord's prayer 03:44 more often than we do. 03:47 But when we say the Lords prayer, 03:51 it sort of just rolls off of our tongue little you know, 03:53 Our Father, which art in heaven, hallowed be the name. 03:56 You know, and we say it almost in rote fashion 04:01 where in actuality to call Him Father is very meaningful. 04:06 Which is exactly what Peter means here. 04:09 He says "What does it mean to call God your Father." 04:14 Well here's what that means. 04:16 "If you call on Him as Father who judges impartially 04:21 according to each one's deeds, conduct yourselves 04:23 with fear throughout the time of your exile." 04:28 Now, God is the judge of the world, you see, 04:32 and you cannot just leave the God out of things 04:37 and not take Him into account, all right. 04:39 So he says, "He judges the world impartially." 04:43 This term impartial is very interesting. 04:46 It's the concept of not-- it's an Old Testament idiom. 04:53 Not receiving the face. Not receiving the face? 04:57 The face, yeah. Which is--? 04:59 Is it one of those of other idioms? 05:01 Yeah, it's a strange kind of idiom we think that, 05:03 not receiving the face? Okay. 05:05 But it goes like this, if a judge was sitting 05:08 in the gate, you know, that's where 05:10 they have their judge, the judges there. 05:12 And somebody came up to him and said look there's going 05:16 to be a court case here in front of you in just a few hours. 05:20 And I want you to rule in my favor 05:22 and he gifts the judge some money. 05:25 He bribes him. Okay. 05:27 Then when they come before him turned off 05:30 it's this very guy who gave him money 05:32 and there is another man. 05:34 And the judge smiles at the guy who gave him the money. 05:38 Its just I am sure that your position is the right one, 05:43 he has received his face, he took a bribe, you see. 05:47 He wasn't impartial between the two, all right. 05:50 So Peter says, God is not like that. 05:54 You cannot bribe God. 05:56 He does not receive the face. 05:58 And if you think by calling him Father 06:02 that somehow you have curried favor with Him 06:05 and you don't have to really be obedient, 06:07 you can kind of play fast and loose with this whole thing. 06:12 Peter says, that's not going to work with God. 06:15 See, He judges every one impartially 06:19 according to his deeds. 06:22 Now this gets some people upset and they say, what? 06:26 I thought we were saved by faith. 06:28 Aren't we saved by faith? That's right. 06:30 Yes. Then why are we judged? 06:32 Why does Peter say that we are judge by our deeds? 06:35 Well, he is not the only one that says it. 06:37 Turn to 2 Corinthians 5:10. 2 Corinthians 5:10. 06:43 This is a very important idea. 2 Corinthians 5:10. 06:50 The Apostle Paul is talking about our heavenly home 06:55 and our bodies that we'll have in resurrection. 06:58 And then he talks about when that will all takes place. 07:00 Read it. Okay. 07:02 "For we must all appear before the judgment seat of Christ 07:05 that each one may receive the things done in the body 07:08 according to what he has done whether good or bad." 07:12 Right, this is talking about judgment, isn't it? 07:14 It is. The judgment seat of Christ 07:16 and how we will be judged? 07:18 According to what we have done. What we have done. 07:22 What we have done or what we have not done. 07:24 Okay. So we are judge by deeds. 07:26 Somebody says, I don't understand. 07:28 How can you be saved by faith but judged by your deed? 07:33 Well this actually has more to do 07:35 with the biblical teaching about anthropology. 07:39 What is human being is like then it does with the in essence, 07:42 but then it does with the doctrine of salvation. 07:45 That is to say the Bible concept 07:48 of a human being is that we are a whole. 07:53 You--as we sometime say, you do not have a soul. 07:56 What you are a soul. All right. 07:59 The combination of the dust of the earth and the breath 08:02 of life from God creates a living soul. 08:05 Now we tend to think of this in terms 08:07 of what happens when you die, 08:09 that you rest in the grave till Jesus comes. 08:11 But it has many more implications than that. 08:14 And one of the important implications is that 08:18 your faith in your life, in your heart, 08:21 will and must show itself in action, 08:24 it must display itself in deeds. 08:28 If you have faith on the inside, it will show itself 08:32 on the outside by loving acts of kindness towards others. 08:36 When Jesus comes back, He is not gonna say to you, 08:38 did you believe in the Sabbath. 08:40 Did you believe in the righteousness by faith? 08:43 Did you believe in the trinity? 08:46 Did you--He's not going to ask you what you believed. 08:49 He's gonna ask you what you did. 08:52 He said, I was hungry and you gave me something to eat. 08:56 I was thirsty, you gave me something to drink. 09:00 I was in prison you came and visited me. 09:02 I was sick and you ministered to me. 09:05 Because our actions are an expression 09:08 of our faith or lack thereof. 09:12 So God judges us by our deeds. 09:14 Now, we better press on here to get some more 09:17 of the message here that listed so. 09:20 He says, "You are supposed to conduct yourself 09:22 with fear throughout the time of your exile." 09:26 Does he mean that we're supposed to be afraid of God? 09:31 Well, if you have questions about the fear of God, 09:34 let me give you a text that gives you 20-20 vision. 09:37 Okay. Exodus 20:20. Exodus 20:20. 09:43 This is 20-20 vision on the fear of God. 09:47 Okay, we'll never forget that one. 09:50 "And Moses said to the people, 'Do not fear, 09:52 for God has come to test you, and that is fear 09:56 may be before you, so that you may not sin." 10:01 Now that sounds like double talk, doesn't it? 10:03 It sounds like he is saying, don't de afraid, just be afraid. 10:09 And then he goes there, yeah, 10:10 and then he says "And that his fear may be before you." 10:14 Now there are two kinds of fear. Okay. 10:17 There is a fear that draws you away from God, 10:21 because He is so powerful, and He is so holy, okay. 10:25 And then there is a fear that draws you to God, 10:28 draws you close to God, draws you next to Him, 10:31 all right. This is the fear of the Lord. 10:35 Now, is there someone they are trembling in there, yes. 10:37 You know, He is God. 10:39 He is your Father, He is not some sugar daddy 10:42 or some thing you know. 10:45 And so, you must respect Him. 10:48 You must have deep reference for Him. 10:50 This is best illustrated perhaps by the story of Joseph. 10:56 In Genesis Chapter 39, Joseph was tempted by Potiphar's wife. 11:04 She said, come to bed with me. 11:06 Now for our Hollywood movie, the next scene would be 11:08 in the bedroom, but not in the case of Joseph. 11:12 And he gives her little speech. 11:14 He says to her, you know, I respect my master 11:18 he's given--he's put all things into my power and my control 11:22 and there is no one greater in this house 11:24 than I am except for him. 11:26 And he has not withheld anything from the except you 11:30 because you are his wife. 11:31 He reminds her who she is, and he then says, 11:37 how could I do this great sin-- Against God. 11:42 Against God. So he speaks of his master. 11:46 He speaks of his masters' wife. 11:48 He speaks of his relationship to his master and her. 11:53 But then he places it all within his relationship to God, 11:57 he lived in the presence of God. 12:01 That was the fear the Lord. 12:03 He said I, I cannot do this, because it would be, 12:08 you know, it would not be right, it would be so wrong. 12:10 So that's what he says here that you are supposed 12:14 to live your life in fear and notice 12:18 what he calls your life here in verse 17. 12:23 "The time of your exile." 12:27 It's the time of your pilgrimage. 12:28 He harks right to that words 12:30 that he had at the beginning of the book 12:32 when he called you a pilgrim, right. 12:34 That exile time that goes back. 12:37 You're to remember that you are not home yet, you are in exile. 12:41 You've to live in the fear of God. 12:44 So he is putting together, he is not finished yet. 12:46 We are not done with the entire passage 12:48 and we'll link this up with our next section 12:51 as we go into it, because verses 18 to 21 actually link 12:55 in to the following sections as well. 12:57 So we're going to talk about those verses. 12:59 But we will talk about them in our next time together. 13:02 And we will see how they all tie this up together 13:06 and making a very tight argument 13:09 about how we are supposed to live as Christians. 13:12 Well, Dr. Shepherd, thanks again for your insights 13:14 on this very interesting book First and Second Peter. 13:18 We often though study or read this book 13:20 as much as perhaps the gospels. 13:22 We need to do this much more. 13:23 But I invite everybody and I encourage 13:25 you to pickup the Bible, read the words that God has 13:29 for you and for me, God bless you. |
Revised 2014-12-17