Living In Holiness
Text: 1 Peter 1:13-16
Introduction
1. Illustration: A man flew into Chicago & hired a taxi to take him downtown. As he was riding along they came to a red light & the driver went right on through the red light. The man said, "Hey, the light was red. You’re supposed to stop." The driver said, "Yeah, I know, but my brother does it all the time." Soon they came to a second red light & again he went right straight through. The passenger said, "You’re going to get us killed. That light was red. Why didn’t you stop?" The driver said, "Don’t worry about it. My brother does it all the time." Then they came to a green light & he stopped. The man said, "The light is green. Now is the time to go. Why don’t you go on through?" The driver answered, "I know it’s green. But you never know when my brother may be coming through." Sometimes it seems as if all the world is going through on red & stopping on green. We’re constantly trying things that don’t work. But the Gospel works. Folks, the Gospel works.
2. The world we live in constantly says, "do your own thing!"
a. Do what feels good.
b. Do what works for you.
c. Do what you think is best.
3. However, Peter tells us the exact opposite. He says, "do what God wants you to do."
a. Don't follow the crowd.
b. Don't follow the desires of your selfish nature.
c. Be different.
d. Be separate.
4. According to Peter, this will be...
a. A matter of the will
b. A matter of difference
c. A matter of submission
5. Let's stand together as we read 1 Peter 1:13-16
Proposition: God calls us to become like Him more and more everyday.
Transition: Living in holiness requires making a decision. It is...
I. A Matter of The Will (13).
A. Prepare Your Minds For Action
1. Living in holiness requires making a decision to change.
2. Peter begins by saying, "Therefore, prepare your minds for action..."
a. The word, "therefore," ties what Peter has just said with what he is about to say.
b. Because we are living a strangers and aliens, because he has an inheritance that he is keeping and protecting for us, we should prepare are minds for action.
c. "Prepare your minds for action" translates an ancient image that literally reads, "gird up the loins of your mind."
d. This image is drawn from the ancient (and still modern for some in the Middle East) form of dress in which a man's long outer "shirt" draped down to his ankles, obviously preventing agile and quick motions and strenuous work.
e. As a result, when such actions were needed, a man tucked his shirt into his belt and thus "girded himself for action."
f. Peter applies the metaphor to mental behavior with the added word "of your minds."
g. Prepare your minds for action, refers to spiritual and mental attitudes.
h. To lead holy lives in an evil world, the believers would need a new mind-set.
i. They also needed to monitor and restrain their sexual and material desires, anger, and words.
j. Peter wanted the believers to remember that as they lived in the world, they needed to keep full possession of their minds and bodies so as not to be enticed away from God (Barton. Life Application New Testament Commentary, 1106).
k. Preparing your minds for action means making a decision that you are going to be different.
l. You are going to be different than the culture around you. You are no longer going to live to please yourself, but you are going to live to please God.
3. In addition, Peter says, "...be self-controlled..."
a. This image is drawn from the all-too-realistic world of drunkenness; drunks have no control over themselves or their body.
b. It connotes the entire realm of spiritual steadfastness or self-control: having clarity of mind and discipline of heart, being in charge of one's priorities and balancing one's life so as not to be subject to the controlling and corrupting influence of our sinful desires or the world around us (MacArthur, MacArthur New Testament Commentary – 1 Peter, 65).
c. Peter's expression is metaphorical in that believers are to be totally in tune with God's plan in history, so much so that they set their hope on the future and live in light of that day.
d. People who look into the future and want to live completely in light of God's will do not want their eyes blurred by sin or other distractions (McKnight, The NIV Application Commentary – 1 Peter, 85).
4. After telling us to prepare our minds for action, and to make sure we are not out of control, he says, "...set your hope fully on the grace to be given you when Jesus Christ is revealed."
a. Living for the future is fundamental for Peter, and a brief sketch of his theology here provides the most important context.
b. Even if believers have begun to share in the salvation of God, that salvation is presented as only complete in the future.
c. There will be a penetrating evaluation by God when Jesus is fully revealed. After the judgment, the faithful followers of Jesus will share his glory and receive the full compensation of grace.
d. Peter urges his readers to see history the way God has planned it. Though now they may suffer unjustly at the hands of evil people, someday Christ will return and justice will be fully established.
e. As a result, Christians are to live in light of that day of manifested grace.
f. If they think fellowship in the family of God and tasting of Jesus are good now, they need to think even more about the future when better things await them.
g. What they can only praise God for now they will then know personally in all its glory (McKnight, The NIV Application Commentary – 1 Peter, 86).
B. Making A Decision
1. Illustration: "Most of us don’t mind Jesus making some minor change in our lives but Jesus wants to turn our lives upside down. Fans don’t mind him doing a little touch up work, but Jesus wants complete renovation. Fans come to Jesus thinking tune up, but Jesus is thinking overhaul. Fans think a little makeup is fine, but Jesus is thinking makeover. Fans think a little decorating is required, but Jesus wants a complete remodel. Fans want Jesus to inspire them, but Jesus wants to interfere with their lives" (Kyle Idleman, Not a Fan, 31).
2. Holiness is about letting God change the way we think.
a. Romans 12:2 (NLT)
Don’t copy the behavior and customs of this world, but let God transform you into a new person by changing the way you think. Then you will learn to know God’s will for you, which is good and pleasing and perfect.
b. In essence, we need to let God reprogram our minds.
c. Our minds our set on our own pleasure, but wants to change our minds to be set on his pleasure.
d. Our minds are centered on doing what we think is right, but God wants to change us so that we desire to do what he thinks is right.
e. Doing what we think is good leads to death, heartache, and destruction.
f. Doing what God says is right leads to joy, peace, and a clear conscience.
g. Let God transform the way you think by opening up your heart and mind to the Word of God.
h. Let God replace all of the junk, selfishness, and evil thoughts with the pure wisdom found in Scripture.
Transition: Holiness also requires being a non-conformist. It is...
II. A Matter Of Difference (14)
A. Do Not Conform
1. A common theme woven throughout Scripture is God as our Father and us as his children.
a. Romans 8:15 (NLT)
So you have not received a spirit that makes you fearful slaves. Instead, you received God’s Spirit when he adopted you as his own children. Now we call him, “Abba, Father.”
b. This is an analogy that most of us can relate to as we all have parents and most of us at one point in our lives become parents.
c. However, there is another correlation in this theme. As children are expected to obey their parents, we are expected to obey God.
2. Notice how Peter begins v. 14, "As obedient children..."
a. “Obedient children” picks up the image of 1 Peter 1:3: born anew, they were no longer what they had been before, and they should obey God as children obeyed their fathers.
b. The obedience of minors to their parents was highly valued, and Roman and Jewish law required it (Craig S. Keener, The IVP Bible Background Commentary – New Testament).
c. The phrase "obedient children" means that obedience characterizes every true child of God and distinguishes Christians from non-Christians, called the “sons of disobedience.”
d. They are opposites; the basic character of a believer is obedience to God, whereas the basic character of an unbeliever is disobedience.
3. Peter them indicates that our response as obedient children is, "...do not conform to the evil desires you had when you lived in ignorance."
a. The exhortation to holiness begins with a negative statement ("do not conform to the evil desires you had when you lived in ignorance") that is subordinate to a positive one that follows (McKnight, 87).
b. Conformed means “to be shaped by” or “fashioned after.”
c. The evil desires that characterized that former life include sinful desires and thoughts, evil longings, uncontrolled appetites, sensual impulses, and all other unrighteous motivations (MacArthur, MacArthur New Testament Commentary – 1 Peter, 66).
d. Believers ought not live in the same manner that they lived before they were saved.
e. At that time, they didn’t know any better, but now they should not slip back into their old ways of doing evil.
f. The evil desires still exist, but believers have a new goal for their lives.
g. They must break with the past and depend on the power of the Holy Spirit to help them overcome evil desires and obey God (Barton, 1106).
h. Now as God's children, we have no excuse to live in ignorance or conform to the pattern of the world (Marshall, IVPNT: 1 Peter, 52).
B. Do Not Love The World
1. Illustration: Charles Colson writes in his book, How Shall We Live, the solution to the modern day identity crisis of the American Christian. "How do we redeem a culture? How do we rise to the opportunity before us at the start of a new millennium? The answer is simple: from the inside out. From the individual to the family to the community, and then outward in ever widening ripples. We must begin by understanding what it means to live by Christian worldview principles in our own behavior and choices. Unless we do, we will interpret the biblical commands according to the spirit of the age and will therefore be conformed to the world rather than to God's Word" (307).
2. As obedient children we should love God more than the world.
a. 1 John 2:15-16 (NIV)
Do not love the world or anything in the world. If anyone loves the world, the love of the Father is not in him. 16 For everything in the world--the cravings of sinful man, the lust of his eyes and the boasting of what he has and does--comes not from the Father but from the world.
b. We cannot love both God and the world; they in opposition.
c. The world tells us to go for the gusto; to push the envelope; to give in to your every desire, just don't get caught.
d. However, God tells us to do what is right, just because it is right.
e. God tells us to love our neighbor as our self.
f. God tells us to look out for the interest of others.
g. We cannot have it both ways; we can either love God or love the world.
h. But we cannot have both; we cannot ride the fence.
i. We have to choose!
Transition: Holiness requires surrender. It is...
III. A Matter Of Submission (15-16).
A. Be Holy
1. We all know that we are not perfect; that is why we became Christians in the first place. We recognized the fact that we are sinners and lost without the saving work of Jesus on the cross.
2. Then we hear Peter say, "But just as he who called you is holy, so be holy in all you do..."
a. How do we deal with that? How do we reconcile being totally imperfect, and yet told to be holy just like God?
b. First we have to understand what it means to "be holy."
c. Holy; to be set apart or separated to Christ; to belong to God (Practical Word Studies in The New Testament, 1048).
d. God’s holiness means that he is completely separated from sin and evil. Holiness pervades his character—he is holy. He is the opposite of anything profane.
e. Believers must be holy in everything they do—that is, totally devoted or dedicated to God, set aside for his special use and set apart from sin and its influence.
f. Our holy God expects us to imitate him by following his high moral standards. Believers should be set apart and different because of God’s qualities in their lives.
g. Our focus and priorities must be his. We have already been declared holy because of our faith in Christ, but we must work out that divine family likeness in our day-by-day walk, behavior, and conduct.
h. We cannot become holy on our own, but God gives us his Holy Spirit to help us.
i. We will not achieve perfect holiness in this life; Peter’s words mean that all parts of our lives and character should be in the process of becoming conformed, both inwardly and outwardly, to God’s holy standards (Barton, 1106).
3. Peter bases this concept on Scripture. He says, "for it is written: "Be holy, because I am holy."
a. As Paul urged the Romans not to be conformed to this world (Rom. 12:2), so Peter urges his readers not to be conformed to their former passions, which dominated their lives prior to their entrance into God's family.
b. Since they are now children of obedience (1:14a), they are to be holy, just as God is holy.
c. We can assume that Peter has in mind here the similarity children are to have to their parents. God, who is different and unlike anything the Israelites had ever seen or would see, is altogether holy.
d. Because he had drawn Israel into a special relationship with himself, he expected his people to reflect his nature, including his holiness.
e. Those who lived according to God's commandments and will were considered holy because they were morally excellent.
f. The fundamental connection made here is twofold: Christians should be holy both because they have been converted and because they are children of a God who is himself altogether holy.
g. In fact, Peter prefaces and concludes the exhortation to holiness with a description of God as holy (McKnight, 87).
h. The point is this: Peter is not telling us to be perfect, he is telling us to be set apart and dedicated to God. We achieve this by daily submitting ourselves to the guidance of the Holy Spirit in our lives.
i. It is a process, and as long as we are making progress in the process we are okay.
B. Separated To God
1. Illustration: To worship is to quicken the conscience by the holiness of God, to feed the mind with the truth of God, to purge the imagination by the beauty of God, to open the heart to the love of God, to devote the will to the purpose of God." — William Temple
2. The key to holiness is submission.
a. James 4:7-8 (NLT)
So humble yourselves before God. Resist the devil, and he will flee from you. 8 Come close to God, and God will come close to you. Wash your hands, you sinners; purify your hearts, for your loyalty is divided between God and the world.
b. Notice that it does not say merely "resist the devil."
c. We cannot be holy or hope to do holy on our own strength.
d. We have to humble ourselves before God and admit that we cannot do it without his help.
e. By submitting ourselves to God we recognize that He is holy and we are not.
f. By submitting ourselves to God we recognize that without Him we can do nothing.
g. By submitting to God we put ourselves in position to be strengthened by Him.
h. By submitting to God we put ourselves in position to be changed by Him.
i. By submitting to God we put ourselves in position to become more like Christ everyday.
Conclusion
1. According to Peter, holiness is...
a. A matter of the will
b. A matter of difference
c. A matter of submission
2. Whose will are you submitting to?
3. Are you willing to be different?
4. Are you daily humbling yourself before God?
5. Are you making progress in the process?
