A CALL TO HOLINESS 1PET 1:14-16 As obedient children, do not be conformed to the former lusts which were yours in your ignorance, 15 but like the Holy One who called you, be holy yourselves also in all your behavior; 16 because it is written, “You shall be holy, for I am holy.” The belief and behavior of holiness of which Peter speaks comes neither naturally (through our flesh) nor easily. Peter did not find it natural or easy either. While the concept of holiness is frequently taught in the Old Testament, Judaism (especially the scribes and Pharisees) distorted it until it became something entirely different. To many, the scribes and Pharisees, who saw themselves as holy, were the epitome of holiness. How shocking Jesus’ words must have been to those who first heard them: “For I say to you, that unless your righteousness surpasses that of the scribes and Pharisees, you shall not enter the kingdom of heaven” (Matthew 5:20). True holiness was not what the scribes and Pharisees or Peter thought it was. The message Peter shares with us in his first epistle came to him with great difficulty. In fact, only after the death, burial, and resurrection of our Lord did Peter understand true holiness. Our lesson begins by tracing the theme of holiness through the Bible, from the time of Israel’s exodus from Egypt until the time Peter wrote this call to holiness in his first epistle. With this background, we will try to understand what Peter requires of us if we would be holy like the One who called us. Holiness According to Jesus Jesus’ definition of holiness was one of the bones of contention between Jesus and the Jewish religious leaders of His day. In His famous “sermon on the mount” (Matthew 5-7), Jesus drew the lines which distinguished His teaching from that of contemporary Judaism. He shocked the smugly self-righteous Jews by calling those “blessed” whom they regarded as accursed (5:3-12). He told the people that the righteousness of the scribes and Pharisees would never get them to heaven (5:20). He distinguished their teaching of the law from His own, showing that they had a very legalistic view of the law, rather than an appreciation for its underlying principles (5:21-48). He warned of external religion which is big on appearances but lacking in heart (6:1-34). He spoke of wolves and false teachers, who claimed to know and serve Him but whom He had never known (7:13-23). How then are we to be holy? Peter gives us several directives. (1) We are to be holy in all our conduct. We are to be holy in every aspect of our conduct. Holiness is not to be compartmentalized into certain “religious” areas of our life. Holiness is a way of life that affects everything we do. Holiness is a lifestyle, rather than mere conformity to a list of rules. (2) We are to be holy by not being conformed to our former lusts. Holiness is a lifestyle which differs dramatically from our manner of life before we were saved. When God brought the Israelite out of Egypt, He called them to live in a way which would set them apart from the Egyptians among whom they had lived and the Canaanites among whom they would live (see Leviticus 18:1-5). (3) We are to be holy by imitating God. We are to be holy because God is holy (see above). We are also to be holy as God is holy. As Jesus once put it, “Therefore you are to be perfect, as your heavenly Father is perfect” (Matthew 5:48). This means we must first come to know God, and then, by His grace, seek to conduct ourselves in a manner that imitates Him. We must love what He loves and hate what He hates. We, like Him, are to be merciful, just, and kind. We become holy as we are conformed to His image. This is what sanctification is all about: (4) We are to be holy by obeying God’s Word. Peter instructs us to be holy “as obedient children” (1 Peter 1:14). The standards of holiness are set down by God in His Word. That is why Peter quotes from the Old Testament Law. We are to be obedient, and that obedience is directed toward His commands and standards as set down in His Word. In the days of our unbelief, we were ignorant, but now God’s Spirit dwells within us to enlighten our minds to understand His Word (1 Corinthians 2:6-16) and to empower us to obey it (Romans 8:1-4). Holiness is accomplished in our lives as the Spirit of God enables us to know God and to obey His commands, through His Word. Conclusion The call is a clear one. It is not a popular appeal. It is a call God has made of His people since the exodus. Those who attempt to market the gospel and appeal to the masses would say God has called us to be happy. But those who read the Scriptures more carefully must acknowledge that God has called us to be holy in an ungodly world. It is holiness which sets us apart from the world and to God. It is holiness we are called to pursue and to practice, to the glory of God and for our good:
Posted on: Mon, 19 Aug 2013 09:51:24 +0000
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