New Testament Reading Plan: 1 Peter 3-5
SCRIPTURE READING
1 John 1:8-9 If we say we have no sin, we deceive ourselves, and the truth is not in us. 9
If we confess our sins, he is faithful and just to forgive us our sins and to cleanse us from all
unrighteousness. (ESV)
After reading yesterday’s devotional, if you feel like your life is more label than power or if
you’re worried that you have got Christian religion but that you are not a new creation, there
is hope! God is calling you today to grow and mature and He wants to show you a few
simple steps. The first step is to recognize that being saved without being a new creation is a
contradiction. This is a really important first step because right now hundreds of thousands of
Christians in the West have been duped into thinking that you can be saved without actually
ever being radically changed and born-again in your lifestyle and behaviour. And as long
as people have that false belief in their heads, they’ll have a correspondingly false sense of
security about their salvation which breeds spiritual sloth and stupor and apathy towards sin,
which keeps people from step two, which is repent of your sins and become radical about
holiness. Once you realize that it’s not okay to be saved and steeped in sin and that in fact,
you may not be saved if you are unrepentantly steeped in sin, the resulting uncomfortable
feeling and fear that results in your life should move you to confession and repentance. That’s
a good thing! That’s the hope and beauty of the gospel – getting right with God is as easy as
saying you’re sorry and repenting of your sins. Getting right with God is not complicated or
difficult; there are no hoops to jump through, there are no skill-testing questions to answer,
and you don’t have to earn His forgiveness – all you have to do is say you’re sorry and turn
from your wicked ways.
PRAYER and MEDITATION
1. Praise the Lord that there is hope for all, that God will forgive the repentant and that they
can be made new! Thank Him that getting right with God is not complicated or difficult,
that you don’t have to earn His forgiveness, that all you have to do is turn from your sin
and say you’re sorry.
2. Ask God to reveal to you any sins that you have been apathetic towards. Confess as
necessary.
3. Pray that you would continue to live a life of repentance!
