The danger of failing to understand that God’s commands are rooted in His grace is a failure that leads to our becoming mere “religious people.”
Our painful efforts to “obey the Lord” make us little more than tired legalists, slavishly endeavoring to “do better” at living the Christian life.
Perhaps you were raised in a church where biblical commands were preached at the exclusion of the grace in which they were couched. All you heard was “Do this!” and “Don’t do that!” and you felt you could never measure up to the expectations demanded from your obedience.
For this reason, many falsely regard Christianity as nothing more than a religious system of rules and commands one must perform in order to “get right with God.”
Thankfully, the gospel is nothing like a religious system of rules and commands! Christians are not accepted by God on the basis of their performance. Christians are accepted by God on the basis of Christ’s perfect record of righteousness–HIS performance, not ours.
And the commands for obedience are rooted in God’s grace. Put another way: believers do not have to “earn” their approval from God because, in Christ, they already have it!
So the duty of following God’s commands is that which flows from doctrine. Understand what you have in Christ, and you will gratefully live each day as a “thank you note” to God for His grace.
Doctrine before duty. Get the order wrong and you’re likely to fall into legalism, moralism, or worse.
Knowing that God’s commands are rooted in grace is helpful as we continue our verse-by-verse studies in the Book of 1 Peter.
We’ll soon be looking at verses 13 and following of the first chapter, verses that call for obedience and holiness. So it is wise for us to remember that before Peter issues this call for holiness, he first provides all that great doctrine in the verses preceding.
You’ll recall from previous posts that Peter has been describing the greatness of the Christian’s salvation. Verses 3-12 are one long, run-on sentence in the original. You look back at verses 3 and following and you recall all the wonderful things God has done. In fact, the doctrinal blessings really begin in verse 2 where Peter reminds Christians that God has chosen them, uniquely calling them to this great salvation: “elect according to the foreknowledge of God…” (1 Peter 1:2). The Christian is uniquely loved of God; elect, called to salvation.
Reading through the passage, we recall that our salvation is one of grace and mercy–verse 3–”according to His abundant mercy God has begotten us again.” God birthed us again. He gave us life. And Peter describes this new life in verse 3 as “a living hope.”
In verse 4 Peter writes that God has given Christians “an inheritance,” an “incorruptible and undefiled” inheritance, one “that does not fade away.” It is “reserved in heaven” for the Christian.
Then in verse 5, God sustains the Christian’s faith: “kept by the power of God thorough faith.” So while–verses 6-9–Christians may go through difficulties and trials, God is making their faith strong as they grow in salvation.
Then Peter says in verses 10-12 that this is a salvation “the prophets” of the Old Testament studied, a salvation so wonderful, says Peter at the end of verse 12, that these are “things which angels desire to look into.”
Then, Peter begins verse 13: “Therefore…” That is, in light of all the manifold blessings just listed in the preceding verses–all that wonderful doctrine–here’s how to live. And then Peter gives an imperative command: “Rest your hope fully upon the grace that is to be brought to you.”
So the logical flow of his thinking is:
“Since God has chosen you, given you a living hope, saved you, extended to you abundant mercy, given you an inheritance–and since God will see that you keep on trusting Him so that you will receive that inheritance–since God is strengthening your faith, giving you a wondrous kind of salvation the angels wish they were in on–since God has done all this for you who deserved nothing but His wrath; since God has done all this for you, I am now going to tell you how to live.”
Feel the weighty blessings of all that great Christian doctrine that is the foundation for Christian duty?!
Peter wants you and me to feel the immense weight of that rich theology before we start trying to do anything. He reminds Christians who they are and what they have before he tells them what to do.
Grammatically speaking, the indicatives–who you are in Christ–are the foundation of the imperatives–what you do in Christ.
God’s commands are always rooted in His grace. Peter reminds Christians first that God approves of them because of who they are in Christ. God accepts Christians not on the basis of their performance, but on the basis of Christ’s righteousness.
Since God has given this salvation, since God has begotten us to a living hope, and since God has given us an inheritance–then–here’s how to live. God’s commands are always rooted in His grace.
So–verse 13–“Therefore..gird up the loins of your mind, be sober, and rest your hope fully upon the grace that is to be brought to you.”
We’ll look further at verse 13 and following in the next post. For now:
What About You?
- What do you think happens when believers focus on duty apart from doctrine?
- Do you think of living the Christian life as your “thank you note” to God?
- How can you help an unbelieving co-worker or friend who believes Christianity is “just a bunch of religious rules?”
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