Adult Bible Class: Ransomed! 1Peter 1:13-25 | October 14, 2026

A great class with those comments.

So thank you for your attention to that.

So we are continuing our class on 1 and 2 Peter.

And so I'd like to do a short recap of kind of where we've been to this point.

Mainly because this is really a part two, kind of a continuation of what we talked about on Sunday, which really makes sense because as we're following the text, we're following this letter that Peter has written.

So the next class will be to part three, and then so on and so on.

But here we see a lot of the same thoughts and a lot of the same topics that we introduced in this first section of text.

And so just as a short recap, these letters are written to Christians who are suffering.

This is a slide that we've seen a couple times already.

But as we covered, and at this point in time, the persecution of Christians was really not all that different than what we feel or might experience today in our country.

I understand that all parts of the world are different, but specifically to us in this room right now, these aren't going to feel all that different to what we might experience today.

And then history tells us that only a few very short years after these writings, the persecution of Christians that was led by the Roman Emperor Nero really started to intensify.

So it wasn't just these pressures of this the verbal abuse or the slander or this rejection or this alienation and harsh treatment of Christians.

It really intensifies into imprisonments, tortures, murders, things of that nature towards Christians.

And so we talked about in 1 Peter chapter 4, verse 12, Peter gives a very direct warning, which is the same for us today.

1 Peter 4:12

Now we don't know what this fire or this trial that is also mentioned in this book might mean.

But the preparation doesn't really look in that that different.

Our faith will be tested.

We know it's coming.

We're not supposed to be surprised that that's coming.

We're told that the testing of our faith will help make us stronger.

James chapter 1 tells us that it builds perseverance.

James 1 · chapter mention

And so we aim as Christians to have a genuine faith that is built on true love and true devotion to God and nothing else.

A genuine faith, we are told, is more precious than gold and it obtains salvation.

So that's the reason for the test.

That's what the outcome is supposed to be is to build a faith that brings praise and glory and honor to our God.

So that really kind of wraps up to where we get to our point tonight.

And as we continue to think about this illustration that we've been talking about, this test, this test that is coming that's already happened, thinking about the test itself, if you think in how we think about tests today, the test itself doesn't really teach you anything.

The test itself, so when you when you sit down to take that test, do you learn anything in that test?

Learning doesn't really come from taking the test itself.

Let me let me explain what I'm trying to get at with this point.

If I were to sit down and take a calculus test today, the only thing I'm gonna learn is that that teacher knows how to write a big zero on that paper because that's what I'm getting on that calculus test.

Sitting for the test doesn't teach me calculus.

And Kim Winston brought a point up to me after class on Sunday that I that I really liked.

The teacher's not teaching during that test.

The teacher goes silent for the test to see how you've prepared.

The test is to measure how well you have prepared.

So while I walk away with my failing grade on this calculus test, there's somebody beside me who spent hours prepping, prepping, studying.

And they get an A because they've spent time learning, putting in the hard work.

So when the test starts, they were ready.

He wasn't surprised that the test had started.

He applied everything that he had learned from the teacher to become a better student, to become a better calculus person or a better calculator, I guess you could say.

Obviously, I would fail an English test too at this point.

But that's beside the point.

So looking at the section of test of text, test, text, I can't, I guess I can't speak tonight either.

But as we look into the next section of text, we are told to prepare our minds for action, to be sober-minded, to set your hope fully on the grace that will be brought to you at the revelation of Jesus Christ.

So that's 1 Peter chapter 13.

So this is the English Standard Version.

But looking at the same scripture from the um American Standard Version, I really like the illustration that some of these older translations have with this older English.

While the message here is the same from the two translations, the the call to prepare our minds, the ASV contains language that at first really might not make a whole lot of sense to us.

But when you break it apart apart, it's really a cool illustration.

So wherefore, girding up the loins of your mind, be sober and set your hope perfectly on the grace that is to be brought unto you at the revelation of Jesus Christ.

So what does this mean to gird up the loins of our mind?

So to put some context behind what this is saying, so back in those days it was common for men to wear long robes that would hang down or drape down, more kind of like a dress that we might picture today.

So as you can imagine, for lounging around the house or just day-to-day activities might not really be a problem.

But if you're doing any type of physical activity, anything that might be difficult or going on a long journey, it was common for them to pull it up or roll it up into some sort of belt or um something around their waist that would get that out of the way.

So it would make that task or that journey that they're trying to accomplish a lot easier because the robe is out of the way.

You know, in modern day terms, maybe think of it as rolling up your sleeves when it gets hot or when you're trying to focus on doing something.

It's easier to do these things when we don't have the unnecessary things getting in our way.

So as we break this down, to gird up the loins of our mind means that we need to clear out our mind from things that get in the way.

So going back to the ESV, because the ASV can be scary, and I don't really understand old English all that well sometimes.

I want to focus on the second part of this verse for a minute.

We are to set our hope on the grace that will be brought.

There's this promise of this wonderful gift that is coming.

We hang on to this hope.

There's a really cool Old Testament connection to this thought of being prepared and being ready for this deliverance that is coming from God, this gift that is coming from God, this protection that is coming from God.

So flip over with me uh to Exodus chapter twelve.

So here we're looking at the words that the Lord um is speaking to Moses and Aaron with some instructions as they are in Egypt.

So let's read um Exodus chapter twelve, uh starting actually back in verse seven.

Then they shall take some of the blood and put it on the two doorposts and the lintel of the houses in which they eat it.

They shall eat the flesh at night roasted on the fire, with unleavened bread and bitter herbs, they shall eat it.

Do not eat any of it raw or bold in water, but roast it its head with its legs, and its inner parts, and you shall let none of it remain until morning, anything that remains until the morning you shall burn.

In this manner you shall eat it, with your belt fastened, your sandals on your feet, and your staff in your hand, and you shall eat it in haste.

It is the Lord's Passover.

For I will pass through the land of Egypt that night, and I will strike all the firstborn in the land of Egypt, both man and beast, and on the gods of Egypt I will execute judgments.

I am the Lord.

The blood shall be a sign for you on the houses where you are, and when I see the blood I will pass over you, and no plague will befall you to destroy you when I strike the land of Egypt.

So God warns the people of what's coming.

He tells them how to prepare for what's coming, how to be protected from what's coming.

Not only is there deliverance coming from those that coming for those that obey, he also tells them to eat in a way in which they are prepared for action, to have their belt on, their sandals on, and their staff ready to go.

Protection is coming.

That gift, that promise is coming.

But it's not for everyone.

We get to choose what side we're on.

Verse 13 the Lord says, the blood will be a sign.

It is the difference maker in those who are protected versus those who are not protected.

So seeing from that our seeing that from our perspective to today, we have that same promise given to us.

So let's flip back over to our text in 1 Peter.

So chapter 1, looking at verse uh starting in verse 18.

1 Peter chapter 1, verse 18.

1 Peter 1:18

Knowing that you were ransomed from the feudal ways inherited from your forefathers, not with perishable things such as silver or gold, but with the precious blood of Christ, like a lamb without blend it blemish or spot.

He was foreknown before the foundation of the world, but was made manifest in the last times for the sake of you, who through him are believers in God, who raised him from the dead and gave him glory so that your faith and hope are in God.

Having this mindset, this remembrance keeps our minds focused, keeps our hearts strong in the times of trials that come.

Having that mindset that no matter what I've gone through, no matter what I will go through, no matter what I'm going through right now, I'm saved by the blood of Christ.

And if we can keep this mindset and keep that genuine faith during the times of pain, during times of suffering, of persecution, God will be glorified in our lives.

And it sounds simple.

It sounds easy enough, right?

So why do we make it so hard?

But the fact is, this fire, these trials, they're hard.

The flames are hot, the flames burn, it has an effect on us.

It's easy to say from the outside looking in, I'll just toughen up, quit whining, and move on.

Even when our mindset is right, the things that we go through are hard.

And we don't discount that.

There are things that we have to do as Christians to rely on our God, to rely on our brethren to help us.

You know, the fact of the matter is, the things that we're going through, at the end of the day, there are things that could kill us.

We might not make it out alive.

Not every story on earth has a happy ending.

There's terminal illnesses that do end in death.

There are innocent people that are severely injured because someone got behind the wheel of a car intoxicated.

There are relationships that are never mended because of disagreements.

There are loved ones that have served the Lord effectively for many years, that lose their mind, that lose their ability to communicate because of a disease.

These trials are real.

These trials are difficult.

And some of us have experienced unfathomable things.

Things that we can never really prepare our lives for without the power and the grace of God.

So the next few verses, um, so starting in uh verse 13, we're given a list of things that help us prepare our minds to prepare our lives for these trials in a biblical and a Christ-like way.

So I know that's a small text, but hopefully we can we can see it.

And if you can't see it that well, um, it's just listed out from uh verse 13 through verse 25.

But we have these instructions on how to prepare for the best of our ability.

And I'm a I'm a big list guy.

It's hard for me to pull all these things out when it's written in the text like this.

So I so I like this graphic where it just lists them out so I can quickly see them and think about them.

But I want to read starting in verse 13 of 1 Peter chapter one.

Therefore, preparing your minds for action and being sober minded, set your hope fully on the grace that will be brought to you at the revelation of Jesus Christ.

As obedient children, do not be conformed to the passions of your former ignorance, but as he who called you is holy, you also be holy.

In all your conduct, since it is written, You shall be holy, for I am holy.

And if you call on him as the Father who judges impartially according to each one's deeds, conduct yourselves with fear throughout the time of your exile, knowing that you were ransomed from the feudal ways inherited from your forefathers, not with perishable things such as silver or gold, but with the precious blood of Christ like a lamb without blemish or spot.

He was foreknown before the foundation of the world, but was made manifest in the last times for the sake of you, who through him are believers in God, who raised him from the dead and gave him glory, so that your faith and hope are in God.

Having purified your souls by your obedience to the truth for a sincere brotherly brotherly love, love one another earnestly from a pure heart, since you have been born again, not of uh not of perishable seed, but of imperishable through the living and abiding word of God.

For all flesh is like grass, and all its glory like the flower of grass.

The grass withers and the flower falls, but the word of the Lord remains forever.

And this word is the good news that was preached to you.

So there's obviously a lot more that we can unpack from the list that is shown up here versus what's in the text.

Um, but these are some of the things that I've pulled out for our discussion this evening.

So I'd like to open it up for comments here.

Is there anything that you notice here?

Um maybe you would like to share an experience that relates to the things that are shown up here.

Um I think it's it's really um interesting some of the things that we can pull um from the things on this list, or even the things from this text that aren't listed.

So is there anything that you notice here?

So, something interesting that I noticed for the first time from this passage while I was studying from this class, thinking about these topics as a whole, there is not a single relationship that is excluded from this passage.

So let me explain.

For the first, there are things in this list that I need to work on in myself.

So my mindset, my actions, on how to put away my own fleshly desires.

And the second thing is things that I need to work on with my brethren, how I treat them, specifically how I love them.

And number three, most importantly, there are things that relate to work on in my relationship with God, my dependence on him, my desire to obey him.

So, referencing back to this passage that we mentioned from James on Sunday, James chapter 1, verse 2, we'll quickly flip back over there.

James 1:2

Count it all joy, my brothers, when you meet trials of various kinds.

For you know that the testing of your faith produces steadfastness, and let steadfastness have its full effect that you may be perfect and complete, lacking in nothing.

So I bring this passage back up because I love the connection that we can make here.

So, as we just mentioned, our text here in 1 Peter gives us the three areas that as a Christian I need to work on.

I need to strive to strengthen in my life to prepare for these trials.

Our preparation for these trials and our display of our preparation through these trials allows us to be complete, like James talks about, lacking in nothing.

And so I think it's interesting that the connection, the sense of being complete in the three areas that are important as Christians for us to work on.

Can we ever truly become complete?

The scripture tells us to be holy, for God is holy.

How hard is that?

How obtainable is that?

I think sometimes in life we can feel like we're playing a game of don't let the balloon touch the floor.

And it's really fun, especially for a two-year-old.

Especially if your dad's playing with a two-year-old.

But what's not as fun is when there's a severe consequence that happens as a result from letting one of those balloons hit the floor.

Let's say each balloon represents an area in your life that you're having to manage.

Not only is it just one balloon, you add three, four, five, six, seven more balloons, and then on top of that, some are filled with rocks, and no matter how hard you try, you just can't keep them all up at the same time.

So maybe this sounds like your life.

You know, maybe nothing in life is really going that bad.

Job is good, family is healthy, uh, you feel decently happy.

Money's not really abundant, but uh you get by okay.

Your health isn't terrible, but you know you're not treating your body like you should.

You're not eating as healthy as you should.

You don't spend enough time with your family, and you really want to spend more time with them, and you try to be spiritual, but sometimes you don't even remember to say a prayer in that day.

You get to a point, you wonder how you even got here.

All of a sudden, all these balloons that you're trying to juggle, that you're trying to keep off the ground, every single one of them is on the ground.

And from this point, you're left with a choice.

Do I give up?

I mean, all the balloons hit the ground.

I've failed in pretty much every way possible.

Do I go ahead and just pop them?

They're already on the ground, does it matter?

I know this is a simple illustration.

But you might be at a point in your life where the pressures of this world, from all the trials, all the hardships that have come your way, and you look up, and every single period.

Of your life is on the ground.

And it's at this point that we must remember that we were ransomed.

1 Peter 1, verses 18 and 19, we've already read it.

1 Peter 1:18

But knowing that you were ransomed from the feudal ways of uh inherited from your forefathers, not with perishable things such as silver or gold, but with the precious blood of Christ, like that of a lamb without blemish or spot.

Yes, ma'am.

You know, in looking at the traits that you had up there, a lot of it makes me think about orientation.

Where am I oriented in my mind, in my heart, and my direction?

So when I was a kid, I grew up by the ocean, and my grandma liked to take us to the beach, and she would let us go swim out in the water.

Well, if you ever swam in swam in the ocean, those waves are beating on you the whole time.

Sometimes there's a rip tide, sometimes there's a heavy current, and so you're getting batted about quite a bit.

It's a lot of fun, but it can be really dangerous if you're not careful.

And so she would always have this big garish umbrella above her, and she would say, I need you to look back every so often and make sure that you're lined up with me.

And so you'd go out and you swim, and you'd turn around and be like, you'd be like 20 feet to the left or 20 feet to the right, and you'd have to bring yourself back to that garish umbrella, if you will.

But you were reorienting yourself, right?

And in the world, we're getting beat about and battered about all the time.

But how often are we turning around?

How often are we orienting ourselves to the center, which would be God, who's holy, recentering our mind, recentering our heart, which could be a regular daily, sometimes minute-by-minute thing when we start getting distracted.

So a lot of this, I feel like the preparation is reorientation, making sure that we're keeping our orientation on God and not allowing ourselves to be tossed around.

Absolutely.

Thank you for the comment.

You know, thinking back to the ways Christians have been persecuted historically, no matter what that looks like.

Maybe it was just the social injustice that we've kind of talked about, or the looking down upon that we've talked about, or maybe even thinking about the the murders of Christians or the imprisonments of Christians.

Maybe our trials don't look like that in our lives today.

That's not to say that they never will.

We don't know exactly what those trials will look like in the future.

But here's a way to test this do you spend more time today in worship worrying about the government, busting down the doors, to come and take us all off to prison because of what we're doing?

Or do you spend more time in worship thinking about what restaurant I'm going to eat at today?

Do you spend more time thinking about how busy is that restaurant gonna be?

Well, what about my busy schedule?

We've got we've got three sports games this afternoon.

I've got to pay this bill, I've got to do this thing.

I would say our trials look different today in our country, in our region, here in Lubbock.

But there's still trials, there's still things that we have to fight.

There's still mental preparedness that we have to go through.

I think this is a great way for Satan to get a hold of us.

Is just little by little, each and every day, moving us further and further away from where we need to be.

Yes, sir.

Um, I don't know if you're going here with this or not.

I loved your analogy of don't let the balloon hit the ground.

Uh it's genius.

Because it's an impossibility if you're doing it by yourself with all the balloons that you have there.

But if you can keep in your mind, or if you've ever seen the balloon or the beach ball in the concert, I'll I'll never or I'll always sell our brethren.

Our brethren are invaluable.

And that's what they're gonna be doing is keeping that balloon off the ground, helping you out, helping each other out.

We've that's our calling.

We've got to do that.

And so, yes, it's gonna be impossible by ourselves.

Absolutely impossible.

A mountain that we cannot climb.

And so that is it's I can't articulate how important our brethren are and how important we are supposed to be involved with each other as well to keep that balloon from touching the ground.

Love that analogy.

Good stuff.

Thank you.

Yeah, and it's it's hard to know what your brethren are going through if you never see them other than right here.

You never talk to them other than maybe a comment in Baba class, a hi, hello.

Um, yeah, I love that.

That's it's important.

You gotta get to know your brethren.

God didn't create the church on accident, he knew exactly why that purpose was for, what that purpose was for.

So, going off of that, the good news is we serve a God who loves us and who is ready to help us pick all of those balloons back up.

He may look at you and say, We gotta pop this one.

This is not worth your time, it's not worth your energy.

It has to pop.

There's ones that distract us from the important ones.

We also have a church family that's ready to help us pick those balloons back up as well.

So this is why it's so important for us as Christians to try so hard to keep those three types of relationships that we mentioned earlier: our relationship with God, our relationship with others, and our relationship with ourselves in the best possible condition that we can.

That requires strength, it requires courage because we want to be a warrior for the kingdom of God.

We have to remember that in the midst of these trials, we have value because God says we have value.

He's purchased us, and we've been ransomed from sin.

We've been ransomed from that death.

So I want to look at a couple of uh different um instances that we have in Scripture to kind of show how this mindset can affect the outcome of a situation.

So turn with me over to John chapter 21.

John 21 · chapter mention

John chapter 21.

John 21 · chapter mention

So let's look at a story of a person who's very familiar to our study who remembered the power of God's grace even in the times of failure.

John chapter 21, starting in verse 15.

John 21 · chapter mention

When they had finished breakfast, Jesus said to him, Simon Peter, Simon son of John, do you love me more than these?

He said to him, Yes, Lord, you know that I love you.

He said to him, Feed my lambs.

He said to him a second time, Simon, son of John, do you love me?

He said to him, Yes, Lord, you know that I love you.

He said to him, Tin my sheep.

And he said to him the third time, Simon, son of John, do you love me?

Peter was grieved because he had said to him the third time, Do you love me?

And he said to him, Lord, you know everything.

You know that I love you.

Jesus said to him, Feed my sheep.

Truly, truly I say to you, when you were young, you used to dress yourself and walk wherever you wanted.

But when you were old, you will stretch out your hands, and another will dress you and carry you where do you do not want to go?

This he said to show by what kind of death he was he was to glorify God.

And after saying this, he said to him, Follow me.

So if you've studied the Bible, you know what has led up to this point.

So Peter has denied Jesus, not once, not twice, but three times.

And in this text, Peter gets a chance to reconcile this relationship.

We've already seen the effects that Peter has on the uh on our lives today as Christians.

Even after some harsh warnings of Jesus, that doesn't sound pleasant.

When you're old, you will stretch out your hands and another will dress you and carry you to where you do not want to go.

Peter knew what he had signed up for.

He knew the trials that would come.

I don't know if he knew exactly what those would look like, how those would feel.

But they weren't gonna surprise him when those came.

What a beautiful image that we have of this reconciliation and to see the things that Peter has gone on to do after this reconciliation.

I think it's safe to say that Peter remembers who he is serving even after he failed that test.

He had thick skin to jump back up and press on for God's glory.

He remembered what his mission was.

So on the opposite side, what does it look like when we forget the power of forgiveness, the power of the hope that we have in God?

So Matthew chapter 27.

Matthew 27 · chapter mention

Starting in verse three.

So it says, Then when Judas, his betrayer, saw that Jesus was condemned, he changed his mind and brought back the thirty pieces of silver to the chief priests and to the elders, saying, I have sinned by betraying innocent blood.

They said, What is that to us?

See it yourself.

And throwing down the pieces of silver into the temple, he departed and went and hanged himself.

But the chief priest, taking the pieces of silver, said, It is not lawful to put them into the treasury, since it is blood money.

So they took counsel and bought with them the potter's field as a burial place for strangers.

What an incredibly different outcome.

A terrible outcome.

This is not an easy story for us to hear, to think about.

But the the blunt truth is these are our two options in times of trial, in times of failure.

Life is hard.

There's pain, there's loss, there's suffering.

That is real.

You may have something going on in your life right now.

Maybe it's something from your past that's causing severe suffering.

Maybe you're dealing with the results of your own sin.

Maybe it's someone else's sin, like we talked about, that has direct directly affected you.

Or maybe it's because of your strong faith and doing the right thing that's causing you to be persecuted or rejected by people that you love.

No matter what that is that's going on in your life, this book, these writings are for you.

This promise is for you today.

We have that living hope.

We have that promise of an inheritance that will never go away.

We have forgiveness, we have salvation, and we have a true home waiting for us.

And if we can endure a trial and realize in the middle of that trial that this is happening in some crazy way that I might not understand right now, that it's happening for God's glory, and we can use whatever it is that we've gone through or are going through to help others and to point towards God and to point others towards God.

Our faith can and will withstand that fire.

We must prepare.

This type of mindset, this type of mental toughness to remain focused on God, it doesn't happen on accident.

It doesn't happen overnight.

It takes hard work, it takes hours of preparation, it takes hours of learning.

We know the test, we know it's scheduled, it's not going to surprise us.

And we know how to study, but the hard part is doing it.

The hard part is getting through that preparation.

So let's use these trials to glorify God and help others to endure that same thing that you might be going through.

So that's that's the material that I've prepared for tonight.

I'd love to hear any comments or um anything like that.

So one of the things I'm I'm noticing here, and you touched on it, but uh I think it deserves a little more, a little more light shed on it, is is there in verse 13.

First he says, prepare.

If you think you're gonna make it through this life without dying, it's not gonna happen.

And if you're gonna make it, if you think if a person thinks they're gonna make it through this life without suffering, that's not gonna happen.

So he tells us right up front, we have to prepare ourselves for that, right?

Like we know that that's gonna be part of our life at different levels, sometimes really hard, like you said.

Sometimes it's it's just too much stuff at one time, and it's like keeping up those balloons, like you were talking about, you know.

Uh the second thing that he says, though, is that in your sober-mindedness, the the one thing you need more than anything else, at least uh from the perspective he's writing here, is to set your hope fully on grace.

Set your hope fully on the fact that you have what you do not deserve in Jesus Christ.

And that means more to us than anything else.

Everything else can fall away.

But this one thing is where we land.

Like no matter how hard life gets, this is where we come back to when we don't know what else to do.

We come back to where Jesus is, we come back to the security that we have in him, we come back to the to the strength that he gives us to uh to endure through this kind of stuff.

Uh whether it's whether it's major stuff like a parent passing, or or whether it's like, well, um, you know, they didn't have my loaf of bread in the store today.

But but we always come back to where Christ is and and the fact that we have this security in him that we cannot find out in the world.

So I connected that, and maybe you did it as well, but I connected that to where he says, knowing that you were ransomed from your feudal ways inherited by your forefathers, not with perishable things as silver and gold, but as the precious blood of Christ, like that of a lamb without blemish or spot.

It comes right back to this point again.

Remember what is number one important, and that will help you to persist and pursue him through all these other things that sometimes get, you know, they sometimes make it harder for us to survive in life.

We can go back to the way we used to live, or we can live the way God has created us to live now.

And one has all kind of heavy stuff that maybe we need it, maybe we don't need some of it, but uh the other one has great things uh that that will help us uh to end up.