Title: The Value of Saints
Contents
saint's worth
1 Peter 1:1-2
Dayamond and Cubic are similar in appearance. However, their values vary greatly. Why is there such a difference? They look similar, but their value is different. Dayamond will not scratch no matter how long you use it. It is the only thing that can scratch a diamond. So, the reason people put diamonds on their wedding rings when they get married is that they prefer diamond rings in the hope of living a long and happy life without blemish.
Also, not all items are of the same value. Kopi luwak, also known as civet coffee, is the most expensive coffee in the world. It costs as much as $150 for a quarter pound (about 113 grams). The manufacturing method is also unique. A cat named Luwak, who lives on the Indonesian island of Sumatra, eats only coffee beans, but goes through an enzyme decomposition process in the body to boast a unique scent. However, this coffee is produced by the cat eating and excreting coffee beans, and people treat the coffee as a luxury item and trade it at a very high price.
So what is the value of a person? Depending on how you value people, people can be noble or lowly. If you place a high value on a person, you have no choice but to be careful with your words and actions when dealing with that person. However, if you place a low value on the other person, you will be free to do what you say or do.
In 1 Peter 1:1 and 2, which we read today, we are talking about the value of the existence of God's people.
1 Peter is Peter's message in the form of letters, and the recipients are expressed as strangers scattered across Pontus, Galatia, Cappadocia, Asia and Bithynia.
The meaning of the stranger here has both a practical and a spiritual meaning.
In reality, they were strangers scattered across Pontus, Galatia, Cappadocia, Asia, and Bithynia. Their circumstances were poor and they were suffering. They suffered only because they believed in Jesus Christ. And it seems that they had no choice but to leave their homeland and scattered everywhere. In this sense, Christian worth should never be judged by their present outward condition.
In reality, someone who lives life like a stranger can be a Christian. But in a spiritual sense, we are children of God.
In God's eyes, that's what we mean
Our Christian homeland is the kingdom of God. Toward that hometown, we are walking toward nature, step by step, by faith today.
Then, what will be the value of saints in a spiritual sense?
First, Peter calls the saints 'the elect according to the foreknowledge of God the Father.' Election may be about office, or it may be about enjoying special privileges or eternal salvation. Let's take a look at the choices we're talking about here. ① This selection appears to have been made 'according to God's foreknowledge'. 'Foreknowledge' can be described in two ways.
Mere foreknowledge, insight, or understanding is the discernment of knowing that something will happen before it happens. It is like a mathematician who knows for sure when there will be a solar eclipse. But such foreknowledge is by no means a motivator for something to happen.
'Foreknowledge' sometimes means planning, decree, or consent. Christ's death was not only foretold, but foreordained as it appears in verse 20. If we apply this same content to the text, it means "the elect according to God's plan, decree, and free grace." ② The word father is added to the word 'according to the foreknowledge of God'. In the one who saves men, the choice is the Father's, the Son's reconciliation, and the Holy Spirit's sanctification.
The predestination of God the Father is that man's salvation is not in man's will or ability, but by the choice of God's grace. In Genesis, God chose Jacob before Jacob and Esau were born. God's choice was not because Isaac was superior to Esau. He was chosen by the total grace of God.
God's predestined election is eternal. immutable. That is why human life and death are in the hands of God.
Second, the saints were 'those who were chosen to have the sprinkling of the blood of Jesus Christ'.
Biologically, blood is an important red, opaque, viscous liquid that flows through the heart and blood vessels and circulates throughout the body. But the blood in the bible
It goes beyond the meaning of biological blood.
In the Bible, blood is the life (Genesis 9:4, Deuteronomy 12:23), and the life (soul) is in the blood (Lev 17:11, 14). And since it is the blood that inhabits the life created by God, and therefore this blood is sacred, the blood of the slain Abel is said to be seeking vengeance from God on earth (Genesis 4:10). Immediately after the Flood, eating the blood of lower animals was forbidden. Only slaughter for food was permitted (Genesis 9:3,4; Acts 15:20,29), and the law was stipulated that [whoever sheds human blood, by whom his blood shall be shed] (Genesis 9:6) was stipulated. . Loss of life was a penalty for sin, and that reason required vicarious atonement (Hebrews 9:22). So, according to the Mosaic Law, animal blood was offered only as a sacrifice for all sins, that is, atonement. Thus, the blood of animals obtained by hunting or of animals caught for food was completely removed and covered with earth (Leviticus 17:14; Deuteronomy 12:15-16).
What is particularly significant in the New Testament is the blood of Jesus shed for the atonement of mankind, which is expressed through the cross, the highest embodiment of atonement, with the idea of sacrifice in the Old Testament as the background (Acts 20:28, 1 Corinthians 10:16) , Ephesians 2:13, Hebrews 9:14, 10:19, 13:12, 1 Peter 1:2,19, I John 1:7, Revelation 7:14, 12:11).
Why are saints valuable? They are precious because they are God's own people who have been saved by the precious blood of Jesus Christ, God's only begotten Son.
Third, believers are to obey by the sanctification of the Holy Spirit.
In the Bible, obedience refers to hearing God's Word, following it, or obeying it.
God clearly showed that he was very pleased with this through the work of King Saul (1 Samuel 16:22). Because of what God had done to [Amalek] [what Amalek had done to Israel, which he resisted on the road when he came out of Egypt (1 Samuel 15:2)] Kill the children that eat them, the cattle, the camels, and the donkeys] (1 Samuel 15:2-3).
But Saul did not do so, [Saul and the people took the best of Agag and his sheep and cattle… They did not enjoy their true name and did not enjoy themselves, and destroyed all that were worthless and lowly (1 Samuel 15:9-). And when Saul was rebuked by Saul, the man of God, for his disobedience, [the people brought them from the Amalekites, and the people left behind the best of sheep and cattle to sacrifice to the LORD your God; did it] (1 Samuel 15:15). Samulel's answer to this clearly shows that God is pleased with obedience above all else. [Samuel said to him, "Does the Lord like burnt offerings and other sacrifices as he does to obey his voice? Obedience is better than sacrifice, and listening is Better than the fat of rams, for rebellion is as the sin of witchcraft, and stubbornness is as the sin of worshiping idols, because you have rejected the word of the LORD, and the LORD also rejected you from being king.” (1 Samuel 15:22- 23) was. Therefore, we must understand how important obedience is in the covenant relationship between God and man.
What pleases God is marked by obedience and trust in responding to His Word. Therefore, obedience and faith are inextricably linked.
In the New Testament, obedience is emphasized in relation to the obedience of Christ. Believers see faith in sharing in the perfect obedience of Christ. The close relationship between faith and obedience is evident in the case of Abraham.
When God asked Abraham to sacrifice his only son, Isaac, it was difficult for him to obey, but Abraham obeyed. This is also an event that foreshadows the heart of God the Father, who will sacrifice his only begotten Son, Jesus Christ, on the cross for all mankind in the future.
God's people are the chosen people to hear the word of God and to obey it. However, in the Old Testament, the Israelites, whether they were God's people, were not obedient to God's word, but rather fell into idolatry to foreign gods. Disobedience led to Israel's defeat.
Dear saints,
All elect must be sanctified by the Holy Spirit and justified by the blood of Jesus. Sanctification is to be understood as living in the presence of God in fulfilling all the duties of the Christian life, which can be summarized in one word: obedience. It is the Holy Spirit who sanctifies.
It is not easy for us to obey God's word by our own efforts. That is why the Bible tells us to obey according to the sanctification of the Holy Spirit. We must be filled with the Holy Spirit to obey God's Word. When we follow the guidance of God the Holy Spirit, we can walk in the path of righteousness and do the things that please God.