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The reason for the holiness of Christians:
v. 17. And if ye call on the Father, who without respect of persons judgeth according to every man's work, pass the time of your sojourning here in fear,
v. 18. forasmuch as ye know that ye were not redeemed with corruptible things, as silver and gold, from your vain conversation received by tradition from your fathers,
v. 19. but with the precious blood of Christ, as of a lamb without blemish and without spot;
v. 20. who verily was foreordained before the foundation of the world, but was manifest in these last times for you,
v. 21. who by Him do believe in God, that raised Him up from the dead, and gave Him glory, that your faith and hope might be in God.
That is a characteristic of the Christians: they invoke God as their Father, they bring all their requests to His attention because He is their Father for the sake of Christ. But of this Father and God it is and remains true, at the same time: If you invoke the Father, who without favor or partiality judges according to the work of each. In God there is no respect of persons; He renders judgment in an altogether impartial way, He will not be influenced in His judgment by the fact that anyone bore the name of Christian. The works of every individual, as the fruits of the condition of the heart, will be the standard according to which God will decide on the last day, Rom_2:6. In the works of a man it is shown whether faith and the sonship of God is a mere pretense, or whether it is true and genuine. This being true, it follows: In fear pass the time of your life here. The apostle does not speak, of course, of the fear of a slave, but of the holy reverence before the righteousness of the Judge of all men, which should urge the Christians to show all diligence in good works out of a pure heart. This must be kept in mind for the entire time of our sojourning here on earth. Day after day, year after year, the Christians should be mindful of the word, I am the almighty God; walk before Me and be thou perfect, and work out their own salvation, accordingly, with fear and trembling, Php_2:12.
The apostle now names the basic motive for a life of sanctification: Knowing that not with corruptible things, with silver or gold, you were ransomed out of your vain conduct transmitted to you by tradition, but with the precious blood of Christ, as a lamb unblemished and unstained. Here is a reminder of the great, decisive fact of salvation, which is the strongest individual influence in the life of the Christians. Ever since the fall of Adam one generation of men after the other conducted itself, led its life, in the vain, sinful manner which was bound to flow from inherited sin. The entire life of all unbelievers, of all men by nature, is a life of shameful, terrible slavery in the power of sin, all the thoughts, words, and deeds of such people being vain, useless, so far as spiritual life is concerned. From this slavery the believers are redeemed because they have accepted the fact of the payment of the ransom through the blood of Christ. It was indeed no small matter, the price of ransom did not consist in corruptible things, such as gold or silver, no matter how highly these may be valued by the children of this world. It was the precious, the holy, innocent blood of Christ, which was placed into the balances in paying for the guilt of the world, in ransoming all men from the slavery of sin and of the devil. The immense, immeasurable value of this ransom was due to the fact that the Lamb which was slain on Calvary's altar was not a sacrificial lamb of the Old Testament, whose offering had no atoning value in itself, but it was Christ, the Lamb of God, truly without a single blemish and spot, Heb_7:26, holy, sinless, undefiled, separate from sinners. Truly, the wonderful assurance contained in these words cannot be proclaimed and repeated too often, since it is the one fact which opens to all men the doors of everlasting happiness.
How seriously God was concerned about the salvation of mankind is brought out in the next words: Who, indeed, was destined before the foundation of the world, but manifested at the end of the times for your sakes. As the sacrificial Lamb, whose blood should serve for a ransom, as the Savior of the world, Christ was destined by God from eternity. Our salvation, the redemption through the blood of Christ, was not brought about by chance, is not due to some sudden caprice of God, but is based upon a counsel of love which was resolved upon by God before the beginning of time, before the foundations of this earth were laid, Joh_17:24; Eph_1:4; Act_2:23. And now the Son of God, the Savior of the world, was in these last times, at the beginning of the last world period, in the fullness of time, manifested. He who, as the eternal Son of God, had existed from eternity and had taken part in the counsel of God for the salvation of mankind, was made man for our sakes, in order to earn the redemption for us, in order to pay the price, or ransom, which was required in this unusual case. This fact, that the blood of Christ, with its incomparable, priceless value, was paid as the price of our ransom from the power of sin and of Satan, that is the comfort of the Christians at all times, a comfort with which they may calmly defy the accusations of the devil and the terrors of the Judgment, and boldly look forward to the enjoyment of everlasting bliss before the throne of the Lamb.
The apostle not only applies the salvation of Christ to his readers in the words "for your sakes," but also explains how this application takes place: Who through Him are believers in God, who raised Him from the dead and gave Him glory, in order that your faith and your hope be directed toward God. Faith is not the result of a man's own effort, of his own reason and sense. Through Christ, through His manifestation in the flesh, through His blood, through His redemption we have been placed into the right relation toward God, we have become believers, we have become sure of our sonship. Our faith thus rests in God, who, by raising Christ from the dead, has testified to the sufficiency of the ransom which was paid for our sins. Thus we rest our confidence in the reconciled Father, who has accepted and is accepting the intercessory prayer of Christ, our Advocate. Therefore our hope and our faith are directed toward God; we have the certain conviction that God will make us partakers of the glory of Christ.