Radical Respect For God 1 Peter 1:13-17

We Cannot Be Indifferent To God We live in a secular society Most people feel that religion simply does not matter Even Christians are sometimes guilty of this At best it is keeping God on the fringe of our lives, but not actively involved However, God is a “consuming fire” (Heb. 12:29) He expects us to obey His will (Rev. 1:3) We need to take these words seriously (Mk. 12:30)

We Cannot Accommodate God To Ourselves Do we try to adjust God’s will to fit our lifestyle? (Cf. Mk. 8:34-38) Or do we adjust our lifestyle to fit God’s will? (Col. 3:17) Look at Romans 1:21, 25 4

We Dare Not Mock God Mock = “to treat with ridicule or contempt; deride” (AHD) We can ill afford to take this disrespectful approach with God (Gal. 6:7-8) “The fool has said in his heart, ‘There is no God’” (Psa. 14:1) 5

We Must Show Respect For God Jesus was plain about serious involvement with Him (Cf. Lk. 9:57-62) We need to be near to God with our words and with our hearts (Matt. 15:8) It takes a serious, diligent approach in order to go to heaven (Heb. 3:14) 6

We Need To: Think about God more seriously Obey His commands more completely Be more involved in His work Give ourselves more to Him Really and radically respect God! 7

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