Scripture Reading: 1 Peter 3:13-17
Your Conduct
Intro.
1. Behavior reveals our heart, our motives, our goals, our values, our faith (and our unbelief), our treasure..., Prov. 4:23.
2. Our behavior in the house of God (the church) must be respectful of God and His truth, 1 Tim. 3:15.
a. "Ought" - Moral obligation (to be under necessity) is attached to our conduct, Rom. 14:7, 10.
b. Conduct that is based on and guided by truth, Jno. 17:17.
3. Our behavior in our own houses must be respectful of God, of His truth and of each other in the family, Psa. 101:2.
4. This is in sharp contrast to the behavior of the world, and how we behaved in the world before our conversion to Christ.
I. YOUR FORMER CONDUCT (before you were a Christian).
A. You Lived in the Flesh, Eph. 2:1-3; Gal. 5:16-17, 19-21.
1. This is the carnal man of Romans 7:13-25 (1 Cor. 3:3).
2. "Filthy" conduct (aselgeia): Sinful abandon of the wicked...lawless deeds, 2 Pet. 2:7-8.
B. Your "Old Man" was Driven by Darkness and Lust, Eph. 4:22 (17-19).
C. You Lived in Confusion and Evil, Jas. 3:13-16. (Tumult)
-Opposition to established authority, disorder, unruliness (2 Cor. 12:20)
D. Former Religious Zeal, Gal. 1:13. Without knowledge, Rom. 10:3.
E. Aimless (empty, vacuous, fruitless, worthless), 1 Pet. 1:18 (Jas. 1:26).
-Handed down from your fathers (ancestral traditions)
II. YOUR CONDUCT AS A CHRISTIAN.
A. Worthy of the Gospel, Phil. 1:27-30. (Faithful, moral, holy as a worthy citizen)
B. In Simplicity and Godly Sincerity, 2 Cor. 1:12. 1 Ths. 2:10
C. Be an Example to Other Christians, 1 Tim. 4:12.
D. Contentment, not Covetousness, Heb. 13:5.
E. Good Conduct of Heavenly Wisdom, Jas. 3:13; 1 Pet. 3:16.
F. Holiness and Godly Fear, 1 Pet. 1:15, 17; 2 Pet. 3:11.
G. Honorable, 1 Pet. 2:12.
-Beautiful, attractive...good, noble, praiseworthy (Matt. 5:16).
H. Purity, 1 Pet. 3:1-2. Pure of carnality, modest (Titus 2:5)
Conclusion
1. Our conduct is to have a righteous influence, Matt. 5:13; 1 Pet. 2:12.
2. "Let all that you do be done with love," 1 Cor. 16:14.
-Motive of love and the action of love
3. Love does not behave rudely (disgracefully, indecently, dishonestly), 1 Cor. 13:5.
By: Joe R. Price
Posted: April 15, 2016