LIVING IN GODLY FEAR

1 Peter 1:17-21   And if you call on him as Father who judges impartially according to each one's deeds, conduct yourselves with fear throughout the time of your exile, ¹⁸ knowing that you were ransomed from the futile ways inherited from your forefathers, not with perishable things such as silver or gold, ¹⁹ but with the precious blood of Christ, like that of a lamb without blemish or spot. ²⁰ He was foreknown before the foundation of the world but was made manifest in the last times for the sake of you ²¹ 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.

            Peter says we Christians call on a Father “who judges impartially according to each one’s deeds” (v. 17).  In this one sentence we see that God is both a father and a judge.  Many people love to think of God as the Heavenly Father but there are few who like to think of him as a judge!  God is our Father because he made himself our Father.  In 1:3 Peter wrote, “According to his great mercy, he has caused us to be born again…”  It is most important for us to remember that God made himself our Father.  We did not make ourselves his children!  The fact that we belong to God’s family is a matter of grace alone!  But God is also the judge of all men.  He is judge because he is the creator of all that exists and because he is holy and just.  I know many people do not like to think of God as a judge but we cannot ignore the truth that God is both holy judge and loving Father at the same time.  There is danger in emphasizing one over the other and there is danger in ignoring one in favor of the other.  What if we think of God only as a loving Father?  Then we will encounter the temptation to think that it really doesn’t matter how we live because our loving Father will always forgive us because he would never do anything that hurts us.  What if we only think of God as a judge?  Then we lose out on the intimacy, comfort, and security that we receive from a loving Father!  There is great danger in thinking only of a loving Father who never judges and there is danger in thinking of a judgmental God whose judgment surpasses his love!  What role does a loving Father play in our lives?  He is the one upon whom we are always calling for strength, comfort, and guidance. 

            But our Father is also the judge of the universe and Peter says he judges each man’s deeds without partiality, without playing favorites.  In other words, Peter is saying that each person will stand before God individually!  There are no group judgments!  This was the mistake that was far too common among the ancient Jews.  They tended to think they would receive God’s blessing simply because they were Jews!  Many of them mistakenly believed in a national Jewish blessing!  We know that each person has a personal and individual accountability to God.  We baptize our children into the covenant and into the visible church.  At the same time, even though our parents might bring us before the Lord for baptism, there is nothing they can do to contribute to the salvation of our souls!  We do not believe that the baptism they give us can save us!  We each must trust in Christ and make our own profession of faith!  No priest can go to God on our behalf.  Each of us stands before God to be judged individually.  Think of this:  Peter wrote in verse 15, “You shall be holy because I am holy.”  This holy God is our judge and he judges without partiality.  Peter wants us to stop in our tracks and think about how weighty this truth is!  How do we stand before God?  This is why Peter writes, “…Conduct yourselves with fear throughout the time of your exile” (v. 17).  We are to live with an appropriate fear of a Heavenly Father who is infinitely holy and who will discipline his children whom he loves.  

 

            God has taken us out of the empty way of life in which we lived before he gave us new birth and he has taken us into his family.  We are now merely pilgrims, sojourners, strangers in this world.  This world is not our home.  We are not of this world and we do not fit in here!  Satan is the father of those who are of this world and if we grow too comfortable here or if we begin to resemble the children of Satan then we can expect our Father to lovingly administer judgment and discipline.  The fact that we are sojourners in this world reminds us that our time here is temporary.  The grief and pain of this world are only temporary so it is worth it to live for this short time in godly fear!  We are also reminded that when our sojourn is over we will be in the house of the Lord where we will be home at last, never to wander again, and no longer strangers or aliens!  We live in godly fear because our Father is the holy judge who calls upon us to be holy as he is holy and he loves us so much that he won’t let us fall short!