If You Are Saved, Act Like It

In one paragraph

This message from the pastor worked through 1 Peter 1:10-22, tracing the move from what God has already done in salvation to what that demands of the people He has saved. The service also included the Lord's Supper, which fell naturally alongside that theme. The core idea was simple: if you have tasted the kindness of the Lord, act like it. the pastor opened with two pictures of what happens when...

Read together

1. Isaiah 6:1-7 quoted at length to show Isaiah's vision of God's holiness and his own sinfulness, and the seraph touching his lips with a coal
2. Luke 5:1-11 quoted at length describing Peter's miraculous catch of fish and his falling at Jesus' feet saying he is a sinful man
3. 1 Peter 1:1-2 quoted to establish Peter's greeting to scattered believers chosen by the foreknowledge of God
4. 1 Peter 1:3-5 quoted as a doxology on salvation, being born again to a living hope through the resurrection, and an inheritance kept in heaven
5. 1 Peter 1:6-9 quoted on rejoicing through trials and loving Christ without having seen him, obtaining the salvation of souls
6. 1 Peter 1:10-12 quoted on the prophets searching out the grace that would come, the spirit of Christ in them, and things angels long to look into
7. 1 Peter 1:13-16 quoted giving the imperatives to prepare minds, keep sober, fix hope on grace, and be holy as God is holy
8. Leviticus 11 and 19 cited as the source of the command 'you shall be holy for I am holy,' noted as appearing three times in Leviticus 11 and once in Leviticus 19
9. Romans 12:2 quoted as a parallel to Peter's call not to conform to the world but be transformed by the renewing of the mind
10. 1 Peter 1:17-21 quoted on conducting oneself with reverence before God and being redeemed not with silver or gold but with the precious blood of Christ
11. 1 Peter 1:22-23 quoted giving the command to fervently love one another from the heart, having been born again through the living and enduring word of God
12. Isaiah 40:6-8 quoted as Peter's citation that all flesh is like grass but the word of the Lord endures forever
13. Isaiah 46:8 referenced as a parallel statement that the word of God stands forever
14. 1 Peter 2:1-3 quoted listing sins to put aside and commanding believers to crave the pure milk of the word, closing with 'if you have tasted the kindness of the Lord'
15. Ephesians 3:2-3 cited on the church's role to proclaim the mysteries of God to the spiritual realms
16. Isaiah 53 referenced as the suffering servant passage predicting Christ's death, pierced for our transgressions

Talk about it

1. Pastor Nathan read from both Isaiah 6 and Luke 5, where Isaiah and Simon Peter each responded to God's holiness by recognizing their own sinfulness. When have you had a moment, big or small, where a clearer sense of who God is changed how you saw yourself?
2. Pastor Nathan described the difference between the indicative mood, what God has already done, and the imperative mood, what God calls us to do in response. How does understanding what God has already done for you change the way you feel about the commands that follow from it?
3. The sermon walked through the list in 1 Peter 1 that includes malice, deceit, hypocrisy, envy, and slander. Which of those do you find easiest to excuse or overlook in yourself, and why do you think that is?
4. Pastor Nathan said that if two believers who are in a dispute with each other both stop and recognize how merciful God has been toward them, it should move them toward love rather than resistance. Has that ever actually worked that way for you in a real conflict? What made it hard or easier?
5. The sermon closed with the idea that it is the kindness of God, not anyone's anger or pressure, that brings people to repentance. How does that shape the way you think about how you talk to people in your life who don't yet know Christ?