The Holiness of God P2

Recap

Last week we talked about what it means that God is holy. We discussed that holiness does not only mean moral purity, but that the primary meaning of holiness is separate. Something that is holy is to be regarded as separate, distinct from everything else.

And we showed from Scripture that God is not only holy, and not even holy, holy, but that He is holy, holy, holy. This means that anything that is common, profane would pretty much burn up in His presence. In fact, His presence renders the place surrounding Him holy.

He protected Moses from His own holiness by instructing him to keep his distance, and even at that distance, to take off his shoes.

But something else happened to Moses. During the course of his life he got to stand right next to God. Why, because God made him holy. He did the same thing with Isaiah.

God has done the same thing with His people. And his people’s responsibility is to live-out that holiness which has been given by His holiness. How do we do that as a church is what we will be examining today We will be using as our main passage 1Peter 1:13-25 and pinning these truth against the backdrop of what we studied last week. Peter makes argument that His holiness (pray).

The beginning of this letter seems to indicate that Peter is addressing a group of either new believers or a group that is being discipled in some of the basic matters of being a Christ follower. He actually addresses them as as elect or selected aliens. Then he gets to our passage where he says,

1 Peter 1:13–16 (NASB95)

Therefore, prepare your minds for action, keep sober in spirit, fix your hope completely on the grace to be brought to you at the revelation of Jesus Christ. As obedient children, do not be conformed to the former lusts which were yours in your ignorance, but like the Holy One who called you, be holy yourselves also in all your behavior; because it is written, “You shall be holy, for I am holy.”

In the Greek that what he saying is “therefore having girded up the loins of you mind for action.” The apostle is using imagery that would have been common in his day… The ancient practice of gathering one’s robe and tucking it in for the purpose of work or mobility is applied here to one’s thought process… several ways to see this all meaning the same thing

bind up the loins of your mind

gird up the loins of your understanding

gird up yourself for action

get your mind ready for work

prepare your mind for action

The idea here is having a spiritual mental alertness and preparedness of immediate obedience.

No more foolishness, keep yourself spiritually sober which includes steadfastness, self-control, clarity of mind and moral decisiveness being correctly in charge of your Christian priorities and not being intoxicated with the allurements of the world you must FOCUS

https://youtu.be/NT_3HUp3ZlU?si=hfeB-SG-6hiUDGmI

This is mental discipline to fix your hope completely on the grace to be brought to you at the revelation of Jesus Christ.

Here he is referring to the anticipation of the consummation of your salvation at the second coming of Christ.

This must be ever increasing, from the time you are first saved, called out, set apart, pronounced holy. Look at the passage:

1 Peter 1:14 (NASB95)

As obedient children, do not be conformed to the former lusts which were yours in your ignorance,

Your evil desires will begin to change overtime as the Spirit works within your heart.. in the meantime do not behave as if you do not know better.

Do not conform to, or fashion yourself to, or do not let your life be controlled by, or do not let your character be shaped by, or your behavior be ruled by those old desires which are passing away by putting them to death every day.

The phrase ‘not conforming to your former lusts is formally translated into ‘slip back into your old ways of doing evil… like you did when you were ignorant.

Those of you who are going through discipleship, the whole idea is that once you have been informed, you have been informed by the Lord. It may have come through the pages of Scripture or through the lips of your pastor, or group leader, or some other brother or sister in the Lord, but the fact that it has entered as a conviction into your being is a demonstration that it was in fact the LORD who has informed your spirit.

So you are no longer ignorant. So do not behave as one who is……

1 Peter 1:15–16 (NASB95)

but like the Holy One who called you, be holy yourselves also in all your behavior; because it is written, “You shall be holy, for I am holy.”

What was the primary meaning of the word holy? it means separate, distinct, set apart. (read the Scripture again).

The Bible Knowledge Commentary (1:13–16)

First Peter 1:15–16 do not speak of legal requirements but are a reminder of a Christian’s responsibility in his inner life and outer walk. Though absolute holiness can never be achieved in this life, all areas of life should be in the process of becoming completely conformed to God’s perfect and holy will.

- BKC

Holy will, or separate

Peter wants his readers/listeners to understand that God has set them apart for God’s great work. They must learn to do life with the knowledge that they are in a transformation process. It won’t be easy, but it will be worth it. To be set apart means that God has taken what they were and has made them new for a specific purpose: to honor him with their lives.

1 Peter 1:17 (NASB95)

If you address as Father the One who impartially judges according to each one’s work, conduct yourselves in fear during the time of your stay on earth;

In other words, if you are Christians, if you are believers. You must conduct yourself accordingly.

Fear does not refer here to dread. it is more like reverence, worshipful respect. Not only for His holiness but to your call to be holy.

Leviticus 19:1–2 (NASB95)

Then the Lord spoke to Moses, saying: “Speak to all the congregation of the sons of Israel and say to them, ‘You shall be holy, for I the Lord your God am holy.

In essence, I am holy and I have set you apart so you are holy.

You cannot be holy and common or worst yet profane at the same time.

When I was growing up my mother had a china cabinet where she kept what we all called the good dishes. They were set aside from the daily dishes. They had a special function and they only came out when they were to be used for special occasions and my mother was the determining voice concerning what was a special occasion. They were washed separately, they were dried separately, polished meticulously and separately and put away separately in high places.

This means holiness, you are different, set aside.

N. T. Wright upon reflection on this notion tellx a story about a man who was looking for a dish in a thrift store and finds one that had been previously used to pot a plant. However, the man buys the dish, cleans it up, and begins to use it for a completely different purpose. The bowl must be used for these purposes now, because the man purchased it and gave it a new function. It cannot be used for something else.

Let me put this in biblical terms

1 Peter 2:9–10 (NASB95)

But you are a chosen race, a royal priesthood, a holy nation, a people for God’s own possession, so that you may proclaim the excellencies of Him who has called you out of darkness into His marvelous light; for you once were not a people, but now you are the people of God; you had not received mercy, but now you have received mercy.

We cannot live the full life Christ intended for us if we have not yet been convinced that we have been set apart to be used by Christ. Beyond that acknowledgment comes the intentionality. Peter emphasizes this importance when he tells the believer that they are to live out their lives as if they were foreigners and in reverent fear of the Lord while they wait for the return of Christ (1:17).

1 Peter 1:18–19 (NASB95)

knowing that you were not redeemed with perishable things like silver or gold from your futile way of life inherited from your forefathers, but with precious blood, as of a lamb unblemished and spotless, the blood of Christ.

This is no small matter, the price of our sanctification or election into the holiness of God was costly, it was not as simple as US dollars or some other form of currency. As such, our working our our salvation in fear and in trembling as the apostle Paul would put it means working outward that which God has and continues to do inward.

We all need to pursue holiness, but we must begin somewhere. Josh Moody suggests the start is with Jesus, not ourselves. Josh Moody says, “We don’t start with doing; we start with the work Christ has done in our lives by his Spirit.” We need to spend more time focusing our thoughts and time on holiness. “Our behavior follows the orientation of our affections, emotions, and reason. There’s a correlation between decreasing Christlikeness and decreasing time spent in God’s Word, study, and prayer. In other words, I can’t expect to grow in holiness if I spend most of my time focused on things that aren’t holy”

Peter emphasizes for the believers that they can know with confidence that the holiness of God has set them apart. Their tasks and calling are rooted in Jesus’s resurrection and the faith we place in him because of it. They are called to be attentive in the world because their presence matters—both in daily situations and for eternal purposes as well.

1 Peter 1:20–25 (NASB95)

For He was foreknown before the foundation of the world, but has appeared in these last times for the sake of you 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. Since you have in obedience to the truth purified your souls for a sincere love of the brethren, fervently love one another from the heart, for you have been born again not of seed which is perishable but imperishable, that is, through the living and enduring word of God. For, “All flesh is like grass, And all its glory like the flower of grass. The grass withers, And the flower falls off, But the word of the Lord endures forever.” And this is the word which was preached to you.

Everything could wither and die tomorrow but the Word of God is for ever, and it says for you to be what you have been called to be.. Holy.