Road Map To Holiness

Scripture: 1 Peter 2:1-3

Therefore, rid yourselves of all malice and all deceit, hypocrisy, envy, and slander of every kind. 2 Like newborn babies, crave pure spiritual milk, so that by it you may grow up in your salvation, 3 now that you have tasted that the Lord is good.

Introduction:

Imagine if you would. I have not seen you for many years and I invited you to stay at my home. When you arrived I invited you in. I showed you to your room and told you to make yourself at home. I told you that supper would be in half an hour and left you there to get comfortable. Before supper you decided to unpack your things. You opened the drawer to put a few things in, only to find it full of stuff. So you decide to hang some clothes in the closet. When you open the closet door you realize that the closet is jam packed with items. So you decide to leave your clothes in a bag. When a half an hour is up you come down for supper. However, you find that I am not there. There is a note saying that some friends called and I would be home in about three hours. I also said in the note that there is food in the fridge, just help yourself.

What would you think of me as a friend? Especially after I had not seen you for many years?

When Christ came into my life this is how my life was. Sadly, it was like this for many years. I believe this is how He finds many lives when individuals accept Him as Lord. The drawers are full. The closet is packed. Often Christ takes second place in our lives.

Let’s read 1 Peter 2:1-3

Therefore, rid yourselves of all malice and all deceit, hypocrisy, envy, and slander of every kind. 2 Like newborn babies, crave pure spiritual milk, so that by it you may grow up in your salvation, 3 now that you have tasted that the Lord is good.

When we see the word “therefore” what is the question we should ask? What is the therefore, there for? To find the answer to that, we need to look at the previous chapter. In 1 Peter 1:3-12 we find the Apostle praising God for the living Hope that they have in Christ and His Salvation and 1 Peter 1:13-25 emphasizes living a holy life and turning from worldliness. The passage also focuses on the infinite cost that Christ paid for our Salvation and the hope we now have in light of this. We were chosen before the creation of this world and have been purified and regenerated through eternal truth. Let’s read 1 Peter 1:13-25 to get a better understanding of this call to living a holy life before we look at chapter two.

Read 1 Peter 1:13-25

Be Holy

13 Therefore, prepare your minds for action; be self-controlled; set your hope fully on the grace to be given you when Jesus Christ is revealed. 14 As obedient children, do not conform to the evil desires you had when you lived in ignorance. 15 But just as he who called you is holy, so be holy in all you do; 16 for it is written: “Be holy, because I am holy.”

17 Since you call on a Father who judges each man’s work impartially, live your lives as strangers here in reverent fear. 18 For you know that it was not with perishable things such as silver or gold that you were redeemed from the empty way of life handed down to you from your forefathers, 19 but with the precious blood of Christ, a lamb without blemish or defect. 20 He was chosen before the creation of the world, but was revealed in these last times for your sake. 21 Through him you believe in God, who raised him from the dead and glorified him, and so your faith and hope are in God.

22 Now that you have purified yourselves by obeying the truth so that you have sincere love for your brothers, love one another deeply, from the heart. 23 For you have been born again, not of perishable seed, but of imperishable, through the living and enduring word of God. 24 For, “All men are like grass, and all their glory is like the flowers of the field; the grass withers and the flowers fall, 25 but the word of the Lord stands forever.”

Now we come back to our passage for today. 1 Peter 2:1-3. In light of the call to living a holy life in the previous chapter, the apostle is giving us a more specific detailed map to strive for Christ-filled life. Let’s read the passage one more time.