Called to Be Holy
Text: 1 Peter 1:13-16
Introduction: It was the late 1920’s when a woman and her new husband moved into the man’s old family home. It was a clapboard house with a hall down the middle. It wasn’t much of a home, but it was all they had. Ten years later, however, the two had managed to save just enough money to tear down the old house and build another next to it which was to be their home for the rest of their lives. To cut back on the expense of the new place the husband, without informing his wife, decided to reuse many of the materials from the old house in the construction. He used old facings and doors, and many other pieces of the finishing lumber. When it was completed, the woman was finally permitted to inspect her "new home." As her husband walked her through it tears streamed down her cheeks. Unfortunately they were not tears of joy, however, but sadness. For as she looked around she saw the same old doors that wouldn’t shut properly; the same crown molding that was split and riddled with nail holes, the same unfinished window trimming. There wasn’t much in fact that was really very "new" about it. So on what should have been one of the better days of her life; she eventually sat down and had herself a good cry. Her husband was confused at her response. "But I’ve built you a new home," he objected. "No, you didn’t," his wife responded. "You just rearranged the old one."
It seems to me like a lot of people in our churches today have approached the Christian life in much the same way as this man approached the construction of his "new" home. Rather than allow God to completely remake us in His image, we have asked only that He remodel us so that we are nothing more than a little better version of what we were before. God is not interested in reforming our fallen, sinful nature. He is in the business of making us new creations (See 2 Corinthians 5:17 & Romans 6:4) that are the visible representation of Jesus Christ in this world. This process by which the lives of men and women are conformed to the very likeness of Christ is called sanctification. The word means "to make something holy." In the Bible it refers to the ongoing work of God and man that makes us increasingly free of sin and like Christ.
Today we are beginning a new series here at CLCBC called "In the World, But Not of It." Obviously, this is taken from John 17 where Jesus, in what has become known as His "High Priestly Prayer," makes a request of the Father on behalf of all believers: "My prayer," He says, "is not that you take them out of the world but that you protect them from the evil one. They are not of the world, even as I am not of it. Sanctify them by the truth; your word is truth."
For the next 10 weeks we’re going to be looking at what the Bible has to say about the subject of holiness. It is my prayer that every person in our church would see significant change in our moral conduct as a result of sitting under God’s instruction on this important subject. I invite you now to open your Bibles and look with me at this wonderful work of sanctification. A work, we are told, that begins at conversion, increases throughout life and is completed at death.
I. Sanctification begins at conversion. The concept of saints, though regularly abused and distorted by some who wrongly interpret the Word to apply only to those who are especially spiritual among us, is a very biblical idea. Christians are commonly referred to as "saints" in the Bible (See Romans 1:7). The word actually means "holy ones." In fact, the exact same word is used in 1 Corinthians 1:2, but there it is translated "holy." How do we become holy ones/saints? 1 Corinthians 6:9-11 tells us that this is what happens to us when we are washed in the blood of Christ. The Apostle Paul in defending himself in Jerusalem said that this is what happened when he became a follower of Christ (See Acts 22:16). His sins were washed away and he was born again. When we turn from sin to Christ and place our trust in Him we are cleansed of our sin (See Titus 3:5), and equally important, liberated from its power. This is John the Apostle’s claim in 1 John 3:7-10. To understand his point, you must understand how our relationship to sin changed when we became Christians.
A. We were slaves to sin (See Romans 6:17). When a person receives Christ, a choice is made to follow a new master. By virtue of this decision we acknowledge that we have been under the rule of a different master which Paul identifies here as "sin." He uses the word "slave" to drive the point home. A slave is never free to do what he wants. He is obligated to perform the will of the one to whom he submits. Those in sin, according to the Apostle, are compelled to obey it. Application: Try explaining this to an unbeliever sometime. It probably will not go well. Everyone values freedom and no one wants to be told they’re living in bondage to anything, but living in bondage they are! This is not to say that an unbeliever is incapable of doing something good. It is to say, however, that their inclination is always going to be toward sin and rebellion.
B. We have become slaves of righteousness (See Romans 6:18). When did this happen? When we offered ourselves to a new master (i.e. Christ) and agreed to submit to His authority (See Romans 6:16). We have been set free from sin to be the people God created us to be. Application: That’s why any believer who says, "I cannot let go of this sin" is of course self-deceived. That’s the whole point of Paul’s writings in Romans 6. Illustration: On September 22, 1862, Abraham Lincoln signed and presented the Emancipation Proclamation. (Read excerpt) Next to the Declaration of Independence and the Constitution, this might be the most important document ever signed by an American president. It would change the course of history leading us into the Civil War. More importantly though the Emancipation Proclamation meant, that for thousands of slaves in this country, their legal status would be changing. Although slavery wasn’t officially done away with in America until the ratification of the 13th amendment to the Constitution in December 1865, Lincoln let it be known the freedom that was available and attainable. That’s what Paul is doing here. If we wanted to we could call this passage the "Christian Emancipation Proclamation." For in Christ, we are no longer slaves to sin.
II. Sanctification increases throughout life. Even though the New Testament speaks of a definite beginning to sanctification, it also sees it as a process that continues throughout our lives. As a matter of fact, this is the primary sense of the word as it is used in Christian circles. As we have seen in Romans 6, Paul explains that we have been set free from sin and are dead to it and alive to God. Yet he still feels compelled to warn us to be careful and "not let sin reign in our mortal bodies that we may obey its evil desires (See Romans 6:12)." Why would he say this unless it was still a distinct possibility? Paul understood that while believers are set free from sin, the possibility exists that we might resubmit ourselves to its reign. That’s why the writer of Hebrews makes the appeal that we "throw off everything that hinders and the sin that so easily entangles (which in this context seems to be the sin of unbelief -- See Hebrews 12:1)." In the text that was read this morning, Peter exhorts, "Be holy yourselves in all you do (See 1 Peter 1:15). Application: Conformity to the image of Christ is a cooperative and lifelong process between God and man. God provides the power and we walk in it (See Galatians 5:16). The verb here "walk" means to "tread all around," or in other words, to conduct our lives (that’s our responsibility) by the Spirit (referring to the Holy Spirit which obviously emphasizes God’s responsibility). When we do this, we do not carry out the desires of our flesh. There is a holy battle between the flesh and the Spirit being waged in each of us (See 1 Peter 2:11). The one that prevails is the one we feed more. Illustration: The cuckoo is a common bird in England. The first sign of spring is that bird’s call. The cuckoo never builds its own nest. When it feels an egg coming on, it finds another nest with eggs and no parent bird, often times a much smaller Thrush. The cuckoo lands, hurriedly lays its egg, and takes off again. That’s all the cuckoo does in terms of parenting. (We have a lot of cuckoos in our society today!) The thrush, whose nest has now been invaded, comes back, circles, and comes into the wind to land. Not being very good at arithmetic, it doesn’t notice the extra egg but immediately goes to work hatching it along with the others. Eventually, several little thrushes and one large cuckoo hatch. The cuckoo is two or three times the size of the thrushes. Mrs. Thrush, having hatched the birds, goes off early in the morning to get the worm. She comes back, circles the nest to see the petite thrush mouths and one cavernous cuckoo mouth. Who gets the worm? Who do you think...The cuckoo! As a result it gets bigger and bigger; while the little thrushes get smaller and smaller. All you need to do to find a baby cuckoo in a nest, is simply walk along a hedge row until you find little dead thrushes that the cuckoo has thrown out of the nest one at a time. This conflict not only takes place in nature, but also in the spiritual realm. Some people feed their souls and grow in holiness. Others, unfortunately, feed their lusts and grow in sin.
III. Sanctification is completed at death. Though some might teach otherwise...that it is possible to attain to moral perfection in this life (They use verses like 2 Corinthians 7:1 - "Let us purify ourselves from everything that contaminates body and spirit, perfecting holiness out of reverence for God.") the Bible does not affirm this. It says that we will not be like (i.e. resemble) Him until He comes (See 1 John 3:2). As a matter of fact, John tells us earlier in his letter that anyone who says they have no struggle with sin is deceiving himself (See 1 John 1:8). It is only at that time when Christ returns and when we have not only a perfected moral nature but also a new incorruptable body, as opposed to a corrupt one that struggles with sin (Note: Paul uses this phrase not in speaking about life as we know it, but about life after death--See 1 Corinthians 15:42). IN THE MEANTIME, WHILE WE WALK IN THIS WORLD, WE MUST MAKE EVERY EFFORT TO DO WHAT GOD SAYS, "BE HOLY AS I AM HOLY!"
Conclusion: On September 6, 1995, Cal Ripken Jr. broke the baseball record that many believed would never be broken: Lou Gehrig’s iron-man feat of playing in 2,131 consecutive games. He actually played in 2,632 games before sitting one out. To put this in perspective, it is the equivalent of playing 16 1/4 seasons of major league baseball without taking a day off. Ripken gives much of the credit for his accomplishments to the example and teaching of his father, Cal Ripken Sr. who played minor league baseball and coached and managed for the Baltimore Orioles. During the 1996 season Ripken Sr. was inducted into the Orioles Hall of Fame. After he gave his acceptance speech, the son came to the microphone, an emotional moment as recalled in his book The Only Way I Know: It was difficult. I wasn’t certain I could say what I wanted about my father and what he means to me. So I told a little story about my two children, Rachel, six at the time, and Ryan, then three. They’d been bickering for weeks, and I explained how one day I heard Rachel taunt Ryan, "You’re just trying to be like Daddy." After a few moments of indecision, I asked Rachel, "What’s wrong with trying to be like Dad?" When I finished telling the story, I looked at my father and added, "That’s what I’ve always tried to do." What’s wrong with trying to be like dad? Most of us would say, "Not much." The Bible says, "Nothing." We’re commanded to be like our Father. "Be holy as I am holy,
