“As obedient children, do not be conformed to the passions of your former ignorance.”
-1 Peter 1:14
You hear this often but it’s important to see that obedience is a feature of the Christian life. You are born again in this life by the Spirit to worship God with your obedience. This is not dependent on someone’s age, or where someone lives or who their parents are. God calls on everyone everywhere to repent and believe, but the Christian obeys because they are God’s children as the Spirit cries out in us Abba Father.
Peter is grabbing people by the Spirit and calling them to obey. He is saying, your old way of life.. the one filled with selfish passions and evil thoughts and unwilling hearts… that isn’t you anymore. You were born again to a living hope and from this hope springs forth your obedience.
Here’s a couple of ways this helps us.
As you seek the mission to disciple people around you especially your children, there needs to be an understanding of a taking off of the old and putting on the new. There needs to be a gospel that changes a person from the inside out. A change that can’t be brought by human methods. This can be challenging in Christian communities where obedience comes with rewards from man. You need to ask the question, what would happen if those rewards were gone, would there still be obedience if God’s glory alone was the incentive? Is HE enough or is there always a need for something else? This is a key tool in discerning the hearts of our children. What does sin do to them, or maybe its better to ask what do they do with their sin? Where is their hope?
Being born again means that a new life has begun. If anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation. The old has passed away; behold, the new has come. This means that a new life has truly begun. The beginning of that life looks different from the end of that life. There is progress in the fight against sin over time.
Christians are called to observe. You are to identify the fruit of others and you are called to examine your own. This isn’t a call to pass out condemnation, but it is a true call to discern. Is there growth in your fight against sin? Are there things you are returning to? Does your personal holiness make its way into your prayers? It is not too pious to care about your own holiness.
One thing Peter makes clear is that going back to our old passions is a temptation. A Christian may find themselves in the middle of a mess because they have given into their old ways. If this is you, be warned. There is no joy there. There is nothing there for you but misery.
Make today the day to run to Christ, to confess your sins. That is always the goal of the exhortations. Be warned, and turn and trust in Christ for you.
For in Him are silos stacked up of grace to meet your every need. In Him is the living hope of everlasting life and in Him is the righteousness you don’t have.
Church remember, you have died and your life is now by faith hidden with Christ in God.