For many the word
passion connects with the word lust.. However in 1 Peter 1.14 ‘passion’ seems
to refer to the ardent, fervent attempt to keep Moses law without knowing the
Lord Jesus Christ. It is a tragedy that still continues today among Orthodox
Jews – passionate zeal for reading and keeping the Torah, yet rejecting Jesus
Christ as the Lord from heaven.
This also happens in
other religions. The sincerity and passion of many is admirable but zeal
without knowledge is dangerous. Even so among Christians. Some people develop a
passion for the correctness of their own group.. Others have an extreme
unbalanced emphasis about a particular doctrine or practice. The apostle Peter
quickly turns the minds of the believers to God who is HOLY. He calls on the
disciples to obey Him and be conformed to Him in thought, belief, behaviour and
conduct.
Peter goes on to
show the holiness which is complete in God is the foundation of God’s dealings
with humanity.
1 Peter 1:16 – God
is the Father who judges impartially – holy
Verse 18,19 –He is
the redeemer who understands the lostness of humanity (holy assessment), and He
is the one who stepped in to pay the ransom price – the precious blood of
Christ. Such an expression is meaningless apart from the holiness of God.
Verse 20 – The
extreme value of the ‘Lamb’ is referred to – His pre-existant perfection and
purpose. After the death of the Lamb (Jesus Christ dying on the cross), God in
His holiness raised Him from the dead and has given Him the greatest glory, the
highest place.
By this God has
established for us a hope beyond law keeping and ceremony – in the living Lamb
of God.
John writes of the heavenly vision "I saw in the midst of the throne a Lamb" Revelation 5
The theme of the Lamb runs through scripture and would be good for you to study.
John McKee
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