Even If i Walk Alone

Instructing and encouraging you to live your life as a disciple of Jesus

I Peter

Fear God

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Why do you fear God? Perhaps a better first question to ask is, do you fear God? Scripture commands us many times to live in the fear of God (Deuteronomy 6:13; 1 Samuel 12:24; Proverbs 9:10; 2 Corinthians 5:11; Philippians 2:12-13; 1 Peter 2:17; Revelation 14:7). So, it’s not a question of whether we should, but imperative that we must. With all the sermons teaching God is love these days, it may seem a bit out of step to be talking about fearing God. Humans do not typically fear those we love.

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But God is not just someone else we love. He is the holy, righteous, and glorious Creator of the Universe, the Lord of lords, and the King of kings. God is indeed the highest expression of love. John told us this plainly in his epistle to the Church (1 John 4:8). However, we do not serve a one-dimensional God. Every emotion is magnified and perfected in Him. Thus, jealous, zealous, and righteous anger are also part of who He is. To quote Jonathan Edwards, “… it is a fearful thing to fall into the hands of the living God”.

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Anxiety

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It seems anxiety is inescapable in our modern culture. Even the most stoic cannot avoid the onslaught of fear, despair, and uncertainty being directed at us from every direction. I struggle to comprehend how anyone can survive these times without having faith in Christ. I would expect those who reject Christ to struggle to deal with their anxiety. They have no anchor. They have no hope.

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But for those of us who have accepted and choose to follow Jesus as Lord, He has not left us defenseless against this vicious attack on our mental stability. We not only have the power within us to defeat anxiety, but we also have the great hope of eternal peace and deliverance. God’s Word provides us with all we need to know, and His Holy Spirit gives us the power to put that knowledge into action.

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Sound Doctrine

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Sound doctrine is hard to come by these days. The largest churches and loudest voices are espousing a different gospel than the only true gospel found in the scriptures. A “new revelation” is the frequent and heretical term often used to excuse false teaching or make God’s Word more palatable for the masses. Remember, the masses will never accept Jesus.

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It was the masses who rejected Him in His time on earth, and they continue to reject Him today. Jesus said, “How narrow is the gate and difficult the road that leads to life, and few find it” (Matthew 7:13-14). While Christ wills for all to be saved (2 Peter 3:9), the reality is that relatively few will accept His offer of salvation.

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Aliens and Strangers

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We’re aliens and strangers in this world (1 Peter 2:11). When we turned our lives over to Jesus, we became homeless in this world and began longing for our true home with Christ (1 Corinthians 5:1-3). The closer we draw to Jesus, the more we recognize how out of place we are in this world. Our desires do not match those of society. Our actions often fly in the face of earthly logic and common sensibilities.

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There is a constant sense of being different, of not fitting in here. We don’t feel at home because this world is not our home. We only find peace in the presence of Jesus because He is our home. Having our eyes awakened to spiritual reality, the physical and temporal world can never again captivate us. Indeed, we have become a new creation (2 Corinthians 5:17).

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The Practice of Sin

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You can’t be a disciple of Jesus and willfully continue to live in sin. Sin will repulse a regenerated heart. The apostle John had much to say about this in his first epistle. He defined sin as practicing lawlessness (1 John 3:4). Another way to say this might be that we sin whenever we rebel against God’s laws. Continuing on a few verses later, John makes it clear if we are born again (born of God), we will not make a practice of sinning (1 John 3:9).

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We can’t do that because God abides in us and sin is abhorrent to Him. As human beings, we will sin. We’re not perfect. But as followers of Jesus, we won’t make a habit of sinning. When we sin, we will immediately be horrified by our failure and repent of it.

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