Around AD 65, Peter wrote to
believers who were facing persecutions and challenges. He called the scattered,
persecuted church to live in hope in 1 Peter 1:1-12. In verses 13-25, he
emphasized living in holiness. Hope and holiness go together.
If we conducted a poll in the
parking lot as people came to church asking, “What is holiness?” we would get
at least a dozen answers. One decent response to the question is that holiness
is spiritual purity.
“In a hospital, cleanliness is critical. In fact, the closer you get to the
operating room, the more important it is. Doctors in an operating room are very
concerned that the scalpel not only is not rusty
but that it’s not even blemished with any foreign substance. The slightest
impurity contaminates the procedure. Great effort is made to sterilize the
equipment so that all contamination is removed and no infection sets in.”
“If human doctors go through great
detail in an operating room to make sure that the environment is entirely free from contamination, then ought it shock us that God Himself demands
holiness? Human doctors recognize you can’t do surgery with contaminated instruments; then it ought not to make us too upset that God doesn’t do
the surgery on our lives that He wants to do with sterilizing our lives.”[1]
The root meaning of the word “holy”
is “different.” A person who is holy is not necessarily “weird,” but different.
A holy person has a quality that causes
him or her to stand apart from the crowd. A holy
person lives differently now than he did in the past. A person’s holiness may
seem strange to those who are not believers in Jesus Christ, but should not be strange to other Christians.
Out of the gate, let me give you an
example. A Christian sexual ethic is that intimacy outside of marriage is not
honoring to Jesus Christ and not an option for a believer. This includes sex outside of marriage, sexting, viewing pornography, homosexual or
heterosexual behavior, and lust of all kinds. These aren’t traditional values; these are biblical values. Cultures or
politicians cannot claim these as their own original ideas; they belong to
Jesus Christ.
Those who do not regard the Bible
as authoritative in their lives believe that such restrictive views are
scandalous. Many think that Christians are
preoccupied with keeping people from pleasure and that the church should
soften its views on sex. Some believe that these views keep people from coming
to church.
For some who call themselves
believers, they want to water down or reinterpret the plain teaching of the
Bible to fit the culture. What does this do for the church and believers? It
only undermines credibility. Anyone can pick up the Bible and read that God and
much of culture do not see eye-to-eye on these issues. To pretend that they do
is ridiculous.
We should take care that we do not
cast stones. Believers and non-believers alike are tempted by those things that
the Bible calls sin. We have to be careful not
to look down our noses at anyone who struggles with temptation. However,
we do no one any good by deviating from the teachings of the Bible and
condoning what separates us from God.
The truth is that many of the
denominations and churches that have turned away from holiness and the primary teaching of the Bible have not
attracted large crowds. I haven’t noticed any Unitarian or mainline
denominational churches that are overflowing. I am certainly not gloating about
this. I just believe it proves my point:
People are not attracted to or transformed by a Christianity that ceases to be
Christian.
People are too busy for an empty religion that exists for show. They would rather skip church and go to
brunch than hear an anemic Christian message that does not call for holiness.
When Peter and Jesus had an
important discussion in a little town called Caesarea Philippi, Peter stepped
across the line and affirmed Jesus’ uniqueness in the universe. Jesus asked
Peter, “Who do people say I am?” The disciples answered, “Some say John the
Baptist; others say Elijah; and still others, Jeremiah or one of the prophets.”
Simon Peter answered, “You are the Christ, the Son of the Living God” (cf.
Matthew 16:13-16).
Peter knew that Jesus’ identity
demands an appropriate response from every living soul, especially those who
claim to be “Christian.” What does it mean to be “set apart” and “holy”?
1. Holiness is rooted in a prepared mind.
Peter told the struggling
Christians to prepare their minds for the trials they will face.
1 Peter 1:13-16 Therefore,
preparing your minds for action, and
being sober-minded, set your hope
fully on the grace that will be brought
to you at the revelation of Jesus Christ. 14 As
obedient children, do not be conformed to the passions of your former
ignorance, 15 but
as he who called you is holy, you also be holy in all your conduct, 16 since it is written, “You shall be holy, for I am
holy.”
Because of the reality of Jesus
Christ’s return for us and the glory that
will be revealed, we must live a prepared
life; this begins with the way we think. The image Peter uses in the original
Greek is of a robed man tucking his
garment around his belt so that he can run freely. Our minds are prepared by thinking biblically,
critically, and optimistically. Paul said it this way:
Romans 12:2 Do not be conformed to
this world, but be transformed by the
renewal of your mind, that by testing you may discern what is the will of
God, what is good and acceptable and perfect.
The reality of Jesus’ return to
earth as Righteous Judge shapes our thoughts, behaviors, and actions. Peter
said we must set our hope “fully on the grace that will be brought” at the
return of Jesus Christ. Our hope must rest entirely
on the grace of Jesus Christ—not on anything else. Our mindset is that we are recipients of God’s grace. Thinking about
God’s grace inspires gratitude; gratitude inspires hope and optimism.
Don’t you find it interesting that
Peter put emphasis on “preparing the mind” and “being sober-minded.” I believe
that Christians have always had trouble thinking clearly. In Peter’s day,
believers could get off track; the disciples were often slow to understand
Jesus’ teachings. In our own time,
Christians have trouble knowing how to bring the faith of the church pew to
their living room or desk at work. Being a faithful follower of Christ does not
involve checking our minds at the church door.
Why aren’t believers engaged in
saving marriages, caring for orphans, stewarding the environment, stopping
human trafficking, promoting racial justice, and alleviating poverty? For most
in the church, people are overcommitted and too busy working or carting kids
around to activities. It takes a lot of thought and collaboration for the church to address systemic problems.
Most people simply don’t want to take the time to prepare their minds to engage
on the deeper levels of addressing human problems and sin.
For many of us, sin in our lives
obstructs our view of God’s mission. Let me illustrate my point:
“Many of the old stadiums are being
torn down, and new ones are being built in their place. The older ones were
okay, but they had architectural features that were not functional. One of the
problems is that certain seating had obstructed views of the playing area. The
fans were somewhat disconnected from the
game. A beam or a post would block full participation.”
“Often, if you were seated in one of these seats behind a
column, a fan would ask another person what happened. They would have to get secondhand information because they could not
see for themselves. They could hear the action. They see the fans responding
around them, but the column kept them from experiencing the game.”
“Many in the church today are here
with an obstructed view because of sin. We hear the noise. We see people
engaging in their spiritual activities. However, we are getting it all
secondhand. We are sitting in a seat with an obstructed view. Sin will keep you
from full participation. Sin will keep you from experiencing the reality of God
working in your life.”[2]
Sin will block your mind and heart
from seeing God at work around you. Sin can even hinder our prayers.
Psalm 66:18 If I
had cherished iniquity in my heart,
the Lord would not have listened.
the Lord would not have listened.
2. Holiness recognizes a Higher Authority.
1 Peter
1:17-19 And if you call on him as Father who judges impartially according to each
one's deeds, conduct yourselves with fear throughout the time of your exile,
18 knowing that you were ransomed from the
futile ways inherited from your forefathers, not with perishable things such as
silver or gold, 19 but with the
precious blood of Christ, like that of a lamb without blemish or spot.
Peter mentioned
that we are to conduct ourselves with fear during our time of exile in this
broken world. The reverent fear of God is the right attitude for Christians who
will one day stand before God. We express this reverence before God when
we “call on him as Father” through prayer. Prayer is an awesome responsibility
that we should not take lightly. We come
before God, repentant of our sin, seeking him.
In the Crain house, we have a basic philosophy about snakes: The only good
snake is a dead snake or snake that is one-hundred miles away from our
house. I took Jackson on a hike last year. We were walking through the woods
and in the corner of his eye, Jackson saw a snake slither beside him and then
run away. I have never seen Jackson jump so high
in his life as he did when he saw that lethal predator. It was at the moment that I knew Jackson shared
our family philosophy about snakes.
There is no such thing as a good sin. If we could only run from sin the way Jackson ran from that snake! Regarding
sexual immorality, Paul wrote:
1 Corinthians 6:18 Flee from sexual immorality. Every other sin a person commits is outside the body, but the sexually immoral
person sins against his own body.
Peter wrote that we are to “call on
the Father, who judges . . . our deeds.” We communicate with reverence in
prayer with our Father, who will judge
our actions. Standing before God, the
Perfect Judge is a serious thought! Our
sins nailed Jesus to the cross, and we
will have to stand before him! Paul mentioned this reality:
2 Corinthians 5:10 For we must all
appear before the judgment seat of Christ, so that each one may receive what is
due for what he has done in the body, whether good or evil.
The reality of standing before God
reminds us of how blessed we are that our sins were judged on the cross when
Jesus died for us. Jesus Christ bought our salvation. He did not purchase our
salvation with gold or silver or anything
else this world considers valuable. Money cannot buy salvation. Good deeds
cannot obtain salvation. Our salvation
cost Jesus, the innocent Lamb of God, his life on the cross.
Most of us talk about sin in terms of consequences to be avoided. However, we should think and speak of sin and judgment with more
seriousness. We need to talk to one
another as believers with a prophetic voice, knowing that God doesn’t take our
sins lightly. Our sin is the reason that God sent his only Son, Jesus, to this
world to restore us to a proper relationship with him.
Since our sins were judged on the cross, what will God, the
Righteous Judge, be judging? He will judge our works! God will search
our motives and examine our hearts. We will give an account for what we have
done for Him. God blesses us with many gifts and opportunities in life; but, he
holds us accountable for these blessings.
Luke 12:48 Everyone to whom much
was given, of him much will be required, and from him to whom they entrusted
much, they will demand the more.
Jesus’ death on the cross was a divine appointment, not an accident.
It is great to know that God has a
plan for us. This plan included the
sacrifice of Jesus on the cross. Jesus shed his precious blood to purchase us
out of the slavery of sin and set us free forever.
3. Holiness acknowledges a divine plan.
“Providence is the
hand of God in the glove of history. It is the work of God whereby He
integrates and blends events in the universe to
fulfill His original design for which it was
created. It is God sitting behind the steering wheel of time. Providence
refers to God’s governance of all events so as to direct them toward an end. It
is God taking what you and I would call luck, chance, mistakes, happenstance,
and stitching them into achieving His plan.” [3]
In God’s
providence and plan, he purposed to send Jesus to the cross for our sins.
1 Peter 1:20-21 He
was foreknown before the foundation of the world but was made manifest in the
last times for the sake of you 21 who
through him are believers in God, who raised him from the dead and gave him
glory, so that your faith and hope are in God.
Before God created the universe,
God chose Jesus as the complete revelation of God to all people and the Messiah who would be revealed at the right time.
Galatians 4:4 But
when the fullness of time had come, God sent forth his Son, born of woman, born
under the law.
Only the blood of
Jesus Christ can cleanse a person from sin and provide eternal salvation. Many
religions believe that religious acts or ceremonies cleanse us. These rites and rituals do not cleanse a person of sin;
they only remind us of the futility of religion without Jesus Christ. Only the
grace of Jesus Christ can save.
The salvation that
Jesus brings to us is more than a future in Heaven; he provides each believer
with the opportunity to live obediently in the here and now. Obedience is demonstrated when we love our Christian
family with a pure heart. When we live in obedience, we are giving evidence of
a heart that is being transformed by Jesus Christ.
James 1:22 But be
doers of the word, and not hearers only, deceiving yourselves.
I find it humbling
that God, before the foundation of the world, loved me enough to plan to send
Jesus to redeem me from my sin. Just think! In 100 years, no one will remember
my name—even the people carrying my genes within themselves. But, thousands of
years ago—even millions—God thought about me. He wanted to make me an heir in
his Kingdom! In the next trillion years, I will be able to look back to the
cross and empty tomb, knowing that it was there that my destiny was transformed.
4. Holiness yields a transformed life.
1 Peter 1:22-25
Having purified your souls by your obedience to the truth for a sincere
brotherly love, love one another earnestly from a pure heart, 23 since you have been born again, not of perishable
seed but of imperishable, through the
living and abiding word of God; 24 for
“All
flesh is like grass
and all its glory like the flower of grass.
The grass withers,
and the flower falls,
25 but the word of the Lord remains forever.”
and all its glory like the flower of grass.
The grass withers,
and the flower falls,
25 but the word of the Lord remains forever.”
And this word is the good news that was
preached to you.
The world is made of
things that will not last. However, the truth revealed by God in his Word and Jesus Christ will endure without
destruction. Not only will the Word of God last,
but it also has life-giving properties. When at work in a person’s life,
the Word of God brings new birth and transformation.
Jeremy Howard wrote in his book After Easter: “All of us are born spiritually dead. Infants don’t
understand right from wrong, but the fallen-ness is in them from the start, an
automatic inheritance coming down through the generations. Give it a short
while and it proves itself, for without
exception we make sinful choices as we grow in our moral comprehension.
Some hypothesize that we become sinful
because we make sinful choices, as if we
mark up our pure souls with each wrong act, but the Bible puts it the other way
around: we
sin because we have a sin nature.”[4]
The sin nature is real!
David confessed:
Psalm 51:5 Behold, I was brought forth in
iniquity,
and in sin did my mother conceive me.
and in sin did my mother conceive me.
Howard continued: “Sometimes we think we
can outweigh our sin if we pile up more good things than bad. We strive to tip
the scales and win God’s approval. This is
what almost all religions inspire people to do. The problem is that sin is so
abhorrent to God, so counter to his divine nature, that even one sin deserves
eternal punishment. Shall the finite creature strike against the infinite
Creator and incur no penalty? The standard required by God is perfection, not a
majority of good actions. If you stop at every stop sign except one, you still
deserve the punishment for running the one. Sin is the same but with infinitely
worse consequences.”[5]
Do you think your sins as high treason
against God, or do you feel they are simple mistakes and that God will overlook
them in the end? If you believe that God does not take sin seriously, then why
would he send his Son, Jesus Christ, to the cross? The Bible is clear that that
our sins separate us from God and that only faith in Jesus Christ can save us.
Only his grace can transform our lives.
The Bible is full of strange things like talking snakes, a
seven-headed dragon, parting seas, and blind men who see. To me, the strangest thing in the Bible is the truth that
the sexually immoral, murderers, gossips, and thieves can experience a change in their eternal address and receive new life in an instant. People who have
been hiding under the veneer of religion can find reality and authenticity.
Faith in a Nazarene carpenter-king can take out a heart of stone and replace it
with a heart that beats with life.
Just think about it! The next Billy Graham may be strung out
on drugs right now. The next Mother Theresa may be leaving an abortion clinic. Life change is the visible power of the good news of Jesus Christ!
We, a changed people,
must take the Gospel of Jesus Christ who changes lives to a world in desperate
need of change.