The "Why?" of Holiness

Intro

When you were younger, maybe a teenager, did your parents ever leave you at home alone?

Maybe for a few hours or even overnight if they were away for some reason.

And while they were away what did you do? Did you let the house go uncleaned, make a mess everywhere? Perhaps you had friends over even though you knew you weren’t allowed to do so?

And if your actions were to be discovered when your parents got home, perhaps you got into some trouble.

So to avoid trouble, you would have to keep your parents return in mind. And if you did that you were more likely to keep your behavior in line because you knew that at some point they would be walking through the door.

You didn’t let things get out of hand, or have a bunch of people over. You cleaned up after yourself and made sure that everything was how they expected it to be when they returned.

I can remember when I was younger and my mom would go to work in the summer and I was home she would sometimes leave me a list on the counter for when I woke up.

This list was usually comprised of a few reminders or tasks she wanted me to complete before she got home

And if I was wise, I would have those things done; I would be prepared for her return.

And if I was being foolish I would ignore those things and when she returned I would have to answer for my ignorance.

You know, the same is true of our spiritual lives.

The Bible tells us about all the things that God has done for us through Christ and that one day Jesus will come back.

And while we wait for the day of his return, he has left for us some things to remember and tasks to complete. He has given us this calling to live holy or set apart lives.

And he does this so that when he returns we are prepared.

So the question that we need to be asking ourselves is, are we living our lives with the anticipation or expectation that Jesus could return at any moment?

Or, maybe we should be asking the question, what does it look like to be prepared? How do we live in such a way that demonstrates our expectation of his return?

In 1 Peter we see an answer to this question. 1 Peter was written by the apostle Peter to persecuted Christians living throughout the 5 regions of Asia Minor.

As a reference that would be modern-day Turkey for us.

And it was in this letter that we see Peter encouraging these believers to do one thing more than anything else, and that was to be set apart.

He actually uses the term be holy. But the term itself means to be set apart.

And many of you know this because I have talked about it before. But the truth is, this calling to holiness is one that can never be over-stated.

The idea of being set apart today is a hard sell. For many, the idea of holiness brings to mind thoughts of moral superiority, a judgmental spirit, and a boring life that void of fun and pleasure.

It’s a hard sell because of a lack of understanding of what true holiness is, combined with a lack of understanding of why being set apart matters.

So for the next couple of weeks we are going to be looking to this first letter that Peter wrote in order to better understand what it means to be set apart and why it matters.

Are you ready?

When you and I read the Bible, we are reading it with our 21st century hats on. We see it through the lens of our own culture and experiences.

The problem is that when we only see it that way, we miss some of the meaning or intention behind what the original author was saying. We miss some things that a 1st century believer wouldn’t have.

In the first 12 verses of 1 Peter we see Peter writing in the indicative mood. In other words, he is simply stating facts or asking questions.

He talks about the mercy of God and the resurrection of Jesus.

He describes our salvation though this act and the eternal inheritance that awaits all of us who have trusted in Christ for that salvation.

He also talks about how this salvation was something that the prophets of the OT were waiting for, even the angels in heaven watch with anticipation over how this salvation will be brought into its fullest expression.

And then when we get to verse 13 we see Peter shift from the indicative mood to the imperative mood; rather than just being facts, we now see commands that we are to follow in light of these facts.

1 Peter 1:13 NLT 13 So prepare your minds for action and exercise self-control. Put all your hope in the gracious salvation that will come to you when Jesus Christ is revealed to the world.

Some translations say, “Therefore”. Peter is saying that in light of all these facts, here is what you must do as followers of Jesus.

Prepare you minds for action.

The Greek literally says to gird up the loins of your mind. What does that mean?

It is actually pointing back to the passover in exodus where Moses told the people that when they were eating the passover meal that they needed to tie up the loins of their outer robes as if in a girdle so that they would be prepared at a moments notice to flee Egypt.

A person can’t move quickly with a robe tripping them up. So they would tie it up and could run or move quickly.

What Peter is saying here is that our minds must be prepared and ready at a moment’s notice, but for what?

For Jesus to return and be revealed to the whole world.

We have lost this sense of preparedness. Like teenagers throwing a party while their parents are way, we have forgotten the need to be prepared for their return at any moment.

The 1st century Church was motived to live their lives in a way that like the Israelites who needed to be ready to leave at a moments notice, they too need to be prepared at any moment for the return of Christ.

The thought of not being prepared wasn’t an option for them.

Being Prepared

So what did it look like to be prepared? What did Peter expect them to do in order to be ready?

1 Peter 1:14-16 NLT 14 So you must live as God’s obedient children. Don’t slip back into your old ways of living to satisfy your own desires. You didn’t know any better then. 15 But now you must be holy in everything you do, just as God who chose you is holy. 16 For the Scriptures say, “You must be holy because I am holy.”

Peter tells them that we have a hope that is different from the rest of the world.

Our hope in verse 13 isn’t just wishful thinking. Rather it is grounded in the reality of our salvation.

Not something we hope will happen, but something we know and believe in faith will happen.

And as a result, because of this hope, we are called to live differently.

Peter makes it clear that who we were before we came to faith in Christ cannot be who we are after we come to Christ.

He says there was a time when you and I didn’t know any better. That we were living in spiritual darkness, blind to the reality of sin and its reward.

Paul says in Romans 6:23a NLT 23 For the wages of sin is death..

Peter in his letter says that is who you and I used to be, and we didn’t know any better then.

But now, things are different.

We have been set free,

made alive in Christ,

had our spiritual eyes opened,

and made aware of sin and its destructive nature.

More than that we have been set free from it and are now the recipients an eternal inheritance through the salvation made possible by the death and resurrection of the only and only son of God.

How dare we think that we can simply keep living as if we didn’t know any better.

Peter reminds us that Jesus is coming back. This salvation we have received will be fully realized upon his return and we need to be prepared.

And in order to be prepared, we have to throw off the old life we once lived in disobedience and darkness and now we must live holy set apart lives.

Why? Because God is holy and as people made in his image we too must be holy.

Proper Motivation

Unfortunately, there have been whole Church movements who have taken this call to be holy and have twisted it to mean things that it never meant.

Some have used it to justify legalism in the body of Christ that says you must follow these rules in order to prove your worthiness for salvation.

Or we want to be so set apart from the world that we will avoid any and everything the world has to offer, even the good things.

Rather than influencing the the culture, the Church rejected it and hid from it.

And as a result, rather than making disciples we created walls that kept the lost out.

Peter shows us why holiness matters. He gives us the proper motivation.

1 Peter 1: 17-20 NLT 17 And remember that the heavenly Father to whom you pray has no favorites. He will judge or reward you according to what you do. So you must live in reverent fear of him during your time here as “temporary residents.”

18 For you know that God paid a ransom to save you from the empty life you inherited from your ancestors. And it was not paid with mere gold or silver, which lose their value. 19 It was the precious blood of Christ, the sinless, spotless Lamb of God.

20 God chose him as your ransom long before the world began, but now in these last days he has been revealed for your sake.

First our motivation for being set apart comes from the reality that God will judge this world and all who live in it.

His judgement will be final and it will be just. He will show no favorites.

Peter is reminding us that we are temporary residents in this life. That we are passing through as a travelling tourist.

We are not to assimilate to the ways of this world, rather, through our reverent fear of God we remain set apart in the way we conduct ourselves.

Second our motivation for being set apart is grounded in the fact that we are ourselves were incapable of purchasing our salvation.

God paid a price to buy us back from sin.

The key word here is ransomed.

It means that we have been ‘bought back,’ like a dirty, old, used up object in a scrap yard.

We had, all of us, been used for all kinds of purposes other than those for which we were made, which is what made this life empty.

God has come up to that pile of junk, and has paid the ultimate price for us: the precious blood of Jesus, God’s own son.

And this wasn’t a spontaneous decision or an afterthought. No, Peter says that this was always Gods plan.

Before the world was even created God knew that we would reject him and that one day he would make a way to rescue us from the destruction of our own decisions.

Application/Closing

This why we live holy lives. This is why we choose to be set apart. Not so we can earn God’s favor and forgiveness, but because we already have it.

1 Peter 1:21-23 NLT 21 Through Christ you have come to trust in God. And you have placed your faith and hope in God because he raised Christ from the dead and gave him great glory.

22 You were cleansed from your sins when you obeyed the truth, so now you must show sincere love to each other as brothers and sisters. Love each other deeply with all your heart.

23 For you have been born again, but not to a life that will quickly end. Your new life will last forever because it comes from the eternal, living word of God.

If you or your family ever celebrated a birthday or Christmas when you were going through a financial crisis, you know how much it means for someone to give you a gift when they didn't have the money.

You will cherish that gift and the memory of it for the rest of your life. It will impact the way you think of that person and how you interact with them, because the gift demonstrated their love for you.

Peter tells his audience to recognize the gift they have received (redemption) was bought with the "precious blood of Christ."

That gift from God transforms us and empowers us to live holy lives.

In the same way, Peter tells his audience that God has redeemed them, but they must remember that he is an impartial judge.

Consequently, they should lead holy lives that reflect God’s righteousness because they don’t just represent themselves, but the body of Christ and the Lord as well.

What are you living for this morning? Who are you living for?

Yourself and your own pleasure and desires?

Or have you decided to leave that life behind and to live a new one.

One that points others to Jesus

One that is demonstrated in the love we have for one another

One that says it isn’t about me anymore, but its all about him

One that is holy, one that is set apart.