God’s purpose for His people in this age is that as His church they would be built up together as a spiritual house of worship.

We were born to grow. God’s purpose for regeneration is maturity. Between spiritual birth and heaven is a long process of maturation in which we eagerly long and so drink of the pure milk of the Word so that we are nourished and sustained and matured and prepared to meet the Lord face to face.

We were saved to love. God’s word converted our souls (purified and regenerated by it) so that we would exercise God’s divine love toward His people.

Redemption through Christ the ransom is God’s eternal plan. Before creation, God forged a plan to redeem sinners through the atoning sacrifice of Jesus Christ.

Contrary to the common antinomian idea that sin has no consequences for the believer, the true converted person takes to heart the warnings/threats of Scripture and earnestly strives after the holiness of God. We fear God and we are genuinely afraid of sinning against Him.

The redeemed in Christ are children of obedience before God. As converted people, our aim in this life is to reflect God’s holiness. This has always been the purpose of God for His people. Peter appeals to the authority of OT Scripture to point out this serious duty in the sight of our holy God.