First Peter One Seventeen
Words Of Truth

Words Of Truth


"That I might make thee know the certainty of the words of truth..." (Proverbs 22:21).

First Peter 1:17
Calling On The Father Who Judges Righteously

I. Introduction: Remember, the primary recipients of this letter were Gentiles (I Peter 2:10).

A. If you were a first century Christian and not a Jew, there were challenges you were going to face (i.e. Acts 16:1-3).

  1. With Jewish Christians clinging so hard to things of old, think about the challenges even Paul faced because of teaching among the Gentiles (Acts 21:17-26).
  2. Just the idea that a Greek would enter into the Jewish temple was enough to cause a violent response (Acts 21:27-36).
  3. The unbelieving Jews were vicious (Acts 17:1-14).
B. For a people who are unfairly judged, how important is it that one equal standard be used in judging all men and women (John 12:48)?

  1. As a Jew, you had this already (Isaiah 33:22).
  2. As a Gentile, you had long been viewed as a sinner (Galatians 2:15).

II. Body: I Peter 1:17

A. Calling on the Father here is about addressing Him (Genesis 4:25-26).

  1. There is calling on the Lord in regard to initially hearing the Gospel and responding (Romans 10:8-17; cf. Acts 2:21-41 and Acts 22:1-16).
  1. This is not that. Those addressed in this letter are already Christians (I Peter 1:1-2, I Peter 1:18-19, I Peter 1:22-23, I Peter 2:9, and I Peter 5:10).
  2. There is a sense of this word that applies to Christians (Acts 9:13-14 and II Timothy 2:22).
  3. Calling upon in the sense of how Stephen looked up and saw Jesus “calling upon” (Acts 7:59).
  1. If you do a word study (Strong’s # 1941) along with the context, you find this is about making an appeal unto God in this context. See how the word was used as in appealing to Caesar (Acts 25:11; 25:21; 25:25).
  2. There is calling upon the name of Jesus (I Corinthians 1:2), so what is the difference? The difference is this, worship is to be to the Father (Matthew 4:9-10).
  1. Jesus taught worship is to the Father (John 4:20-24).
  2. Prayer is to the Father (Matthew 6:6, Matthew 6:9, Ephesians 5:19-20, Colossians 1:3, and Colossians 3:16-17).
  3. This language was used in regard to prayer (Psalms 86:5-7).
B. The Judge who does not respect persons (Romans 2:1-11).

  1. The Father’s will is the standard (John 6:38 and John 12:44-50).
  2. The Father has committed judgment to Christ (John 5:22-30).
  3. Those of the Father are of the Son and vice versa (John 17:10).
  4. Think about what Jesus said to the Apostles (John 14:23-26 and John 16:12-15).
C. Judgment according to every man’s work (Matthew 16:24-27).

  1. God’s way of judging man is fair because His judgment is based upon the actions of man. This was the case even under the Old Law (Psalms 62:12, Isaiah 3:10-11, Jeremiah 17:9-10, and Jeremiah 32:17-19).
  2. Though the Judgment is from the Father, the man in the Judgment seat will be Christ using your deeds to judge you (II Corinthians 5:10).
D. Passing the time of your sojourning is put well into perspective by considering David’s words (I Chronicles 29:15).

  1. The Greek term translated “sojourning” [παροικία] is used in Acts 13:17 and is translated there as “strangers.”
  2. However, not strangers or sojourners in relation to God and kingdom citizenship (Ephesians 2:19).
E. They are NOT being taught to fear the Judgment Day (I John 4:17-18).

  1. Let’s think about the fear one is to have towards God and why (Psalms 119:53, Psalms 119:119-120, Proverbs 13:13, Nahum 1:2-3, Acts 10:35, Acts 13:26, and Philippians 2:12)?
  1. There are those that continue in evil because they have no fear of God (Psalms 36:1-4).
  2. Fear of consequences causes one to leave evil (Proverbs 14:16, Proverbs 16:6, and I Timothy 5:20).
  3. The type of fear that brings about obedience (Ecclesiastes 12:13-14) is not debilitating (Proverbs 28:14).
  1. This is not supposed to be fear like there was under the Law of Moses for the children of Israel (Hebrews 2:14-15; cf. Psalms 55:4).
  2. Think about different types of fear and the results of such (Proverbs 29:25, Hebrews 12:28-29, and Revelation 21:8)?
  3. Faithful Christians have no reason to be shaking in our boots about the Judgment Day (Romans 8:15 and II Peter 3:15).
  4. So, the fear instructed in this verse applies to fear of what would come if they were to be disobedient to God (Hebrews 10:26-31).
  5. If they/we come before God as obedient children living holy (I Peter 1:14-16), there is nothing to fear (John 5:24, Romans 8:1, II Timothy 1:7-12, and I John 2:28).
  6. We know from within whether there is something to fear or not (I John 3:20-21).
  7. If disobedient the wrath of God is coming (Colossians 3:6).
  8. Just remember, the context is one of hope rather than fear of being judged (I Peter 1:1-12).

III. Conclusion: Our next study: I Peter 1:18-20