Growing Toward Holiness
1 Peter • Sermon • Submitted • Presented
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· 9 viewsBelievers are called to live a life of holiness, knowing our identity is in Christ and our hope sets us apart.
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13 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.” 17 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. 20 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. 22 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 this word is the good news that was preached to you. 1 So put away all malice and all deceit and hypocrisy and envy and all slander. 2 Like newborn infants, long for the pure spiritual milk, that by it you may grow up into salvation— 3 if indeed you have tasted that the Lord is good.
What comes to mind when you think of holiness?
Where does your mind go?
That’s crazy church talk
“only God is holy…so I don’t even want to pretend I can be.”
What is this, a holiness church?
“If you start restricting my freedom, THAT’S LEGALISM!”
HOLINESS DEFINED:
Adrian Rogers Sermon Archive Introduction
Now, when you talk about holiness, Baptists get a little nervous. I mean, we don’t mind being saved; we’re just not all that keen on holiness. We’re interested in Heaven, not holiness. We’re interested in health, not holiness. We’re interested in happiness, not holiness. We may even be interested in helpfulness. But, how many of us are interested in holiness? How many of us say, “Lord Jesus, I long to be perfectly whole”?
HOLY “to be separate, to be distinct, to be separated for a special cause”—that’s what the word holy means.
In its purest form holiness is ascribed to God - He alone is completely separate, distinct, and pure.
In an EARTHLY sense: we’re to be separated unto God.
11 So you also must consider yourselves dead to sin and alive to God in Christ Jesus.
Now, not JUST saying no to the things that defile us, but YES to God!
When someone gets married, in a way, they are “holy to their spouse”.
Fellas, you stop thinking about other women as potential partners and you give yourself completely, totally TO YOUR WIFE.
Do you have it?
The world cannot have and hold a place in our hearts!
When you see it this way, you can long for Holiness as a part of knowing Jesus…loving Jesus…and obeying Him as an act of worship.
It’s interesting how much our passage has to tell us today.
Peter is writing to churches that are experiencing a cost to their Christianity. They were NEVER mainstream, but they are easily identifiable - no t-shirts, no buttons, no hashtags…
…but lives MARKED by a LIVING HOPE that CHRIST WAS REAL
- THAT HE REALLY DID RISE FROM THE DEAD
- THAT HE REALLY DOES SAVE TO THE UTTERMOST
…and LIVES lived in such a way that they were in stark contrast to the PLEASURE-OBSESSED, KNOWLEDGE-ADDICTED culture of the age.
MAKE NO MISTAKE
THERE IS A BATTLE RAGING…AND IT IS FOR OUR MINDS.
Imagine a sailor perched high above a ship’s decks—the one charged with keeping his eyes on the horizon—
looking for some land to shout down to the crew about.
to bring them a sense of renewed purpose…as they continue with the mundane labors on deck.
Peter sees the distant land…and he calls out to the beleaguered ones below, “Get your head up! Your future goal is real. From where I sit, your hope is alive.”
Look at verse 13
13 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.
What was Peter pointing everyone toward with that opening cry? Remember, so you can be prepared!
Remember The Living Hope we have in Christ.
He not only GIVES hope, HE IS OUR HOPE!
Remember, the JOY infused into our lives because of Jesus - to such a degree that we are joyful in the suffering that comes our way
Peter now invites us to continue pressing toward that eternal hope - where faith becomes sight…but he will show us some of the realities that we will experience along the way…
WHEN WE ARE SAVED, God is not just calling us toward Heaven…He is calling us toward HOLINESS!
1. WE HAVE A HOLY CALLING (1:13-21)
1. WE HAVE A HOLY CALLING (1:13-21)
>> while you’re writing down that first point, let me bring your attention to verses 15-16
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.”
Holy Conduct is a marker for those whose hope is set on Christ!
WHEN GOD IS LEADING US TOWARD THAT ETERNAL INHERITANCE
…WHEN HE IS OUR MASTER,
we will value the things that God values more and more.
we will grasp for the pleasures of this world less and less.
This is MORE than being moral, upright, truthful…it is a call to HOLINESS - only the HOLY SPIRIT can work that from within us to being seen on the outside.
There are quite a few things here that the Bible records in this letter that are NORMAL for believers.
There are some parts that are IMPLICIT and some that are EXPLICIT
(13) Implicit: being sober-minded
Explicit: set your hope fully…
(14) Implicit: as obedient children
Explicit: do not be conformed to the passions/lusts of your life before Christ - when you did not know Him as the lover of your souls
(15) Explicit: be Holy
(17) “IF”: If you call God your Father
“THEN”: conduct yourselves with reverence while you’re here!
What makes the call easier…what keeps this from being a drudge of rule-keeping?
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. 20 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.
Some of you are in workplace situations where negativity flourishes instead of righteousness.
Some of you are in work OR school settings where you are tempted to fit in with the crowd - especially when social media glorifies unholy behavior.
FIND SOME BELIEVERS…SOME FOLKS WHO HAVE SET THEIR FAITH AND HOPE IN GOD. BE THE CHANGE.
Normalize being positive.
Normalize posting about lessons learned from God’s Word, or Church…
this encourages others to do the same
Not only do we have a call from GOD that is a holy call…
2. WE HAVE A HOLY HUNGER
2. WE HAVE A HOLY HUNGER
(1:22—2:3)
Look at the next couple verses, please.
22 Having purified your souls by your obedience to the truth for a sincere brotherly love, love one another earnestly from a pure heart,
NOTICE OUR NEW NORMAL, OUR NEW APPETITE AS we possess this LIVING HOPE and it CONSUMES US!
One of the first things we see as evidence that we are OBEYING THE TRUTH:
A SINCERE BROTHERLY LOVE!
Today we hear a lot of professing Christian saying that they love Jesus, but not the church.
They might allege that the church has become an unrecognizable institution influenced more by pagan practices than by the New Testament.
They might feel that the church is filled with hypocrites who are even worse than those who deny Christ.
They might have been hurt by a church member or congregation.
This “I love Jesus, but NOT the Church” view can make the church irrelevant to reaching our world with the gospel…it actually makes the church an obstacle to doing so.
In our current culture, the INDIVIDUAL IS KING AND AUTONOMY IS THE HIGHEST GOAL.
- I’m me.
- I don’t need anybody else.
Because of this more and more people prefer “spirituality” to any “religion” that is organized—and so opt for more privatized expressions of “Christianity.”
Not only is this OUT OF STEP with the Scriptures, but it bypasses so much BEAUTY…
…BEAUTY THAT WE HAVE BEEN GIVEN WHILE FOLLOWING JESUS!
(I like this summary from the book, “Belong: Loving Your Church by Reflecting Christ to One Another.)
THE CHURCH IS A FAMILY, AND YOU HAVE BEEN ADOPTED INTO IT
THE CHURCH IS A BODY AND YOU NEED IT - AND IT NEEDS YOU
THE CHURCH IS A BUILDING AND YOU ARE A BRICK IN THE WALL
19 So then you are no longer strangers and aliens, but you are fellow citizens with the saints and members of the household of God, 20 built on the foundation of the apostles and prophets, Christ Jesus himself being the cornerstone, 21 in whom the whole structure, being joined together, grows into a holy temple in the Lord. 22 In him you also are being built together into a dwelling place for God by the Spirit.
THE CHURCH IS GOD’S PLAN, AND YOU ARE A PART OF IT
HOW DO WE KNOW WE’RE GROWING IN THIS KIND OF HUNGER - THIS LOVE FOR GOD’S FAMILY?
It’s more than sentimentality / we easily fall in and out of love if this is the case
It’s a treasuring - involving the will and the mind - not just the heart
it’s loving the people who are harder to love…and doing it with JOY and without side conversations about how hard they are to love.
it’s a genuine desire to do all that we can for our church family to thrive…it’s seeing folks on Sunday, not just as GREETERS, SOUND TECHS, PREACHERS, ELDERS, SINGERS…but as “closer-than-blood-family” family members!
it’s taking the initiative to connect during the week with one another - not waiting on a church event to happen. YOU’RE ALL WORTH THE DRIVE…!
OUR FOLLOWING JESUS, OUR GROWING IN CHRIST, OUR HEADED TO HEAVEN, OUR LIVING HOPE stokes a hunger for God’s People AND FOR GOD’S WORD!
LOOK AT THE TEXT
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 this word is the good news that was preached to you.
Peter’s quoting of Isaiah here confirms 2 things:
God’s word is imperishable, in contrast with human beings.
Peter highlights that when Isaiah spoke about the Word of God, he was referring to the gospel that was proclaimed to the readers. In other words, he confirms that the gospel will bring the readers everlasting life.
The Word of God - the Bible - is Jesus’s autobiography.
God wrote a book. This book is His book!
Genesis to Revelation are 66 mirrors, held up by the Holy Spirit so that we might see Jesus in His glory and honor and excellence.
‘God has revealed everything He wants to reveal, and everything that is good for me to know is in the Bible. If it is not in the Bible, I am content not to know it.
David Martyn Lloyd-Jones (Welsh Preacher and Writer)
THE LOVER OF OUR SOULS AUTHORED A TEXT!
12 For the word of God is living and active, sharper than any two-edged sword, piercing to the division of soul and of spirit, of joints and of marrow, and discerning the thoughts and intentions of the heart.
As we GROW, we will hold onto the things of this world less and less…and we will grip God’s Word more and more!
HEAR IT
17 So faith comes from hearing, and hearing through the word of Christ.
READ IT
19 And it shall be with him, and he shall read in it all the days of his life, that he may learn to fear the Lord his God by keeping all the words of this law and these statutes, and doing them,
STUDY IT
15 Do your best to present yourself to God as one approved, a worker who has no need to be ashamed, rightly handling the word of truth.
1 My son, if you receive my words and treasure up my commandments with you, 2 making your ear attentive to wisdom and inclining your heart to understanding; 3 yes, if you call out for insight and raise your voice for understanding, 4 if you seek it like silver and search for it as for hidden treasures, 5 then you will understand the fear of the Lord and find the knowledge of God. 6 For the Lord gives wisdom; from his mouth come knowledge and understanding;
MEMORIZE IT
9 How can a young man keep his way pure? By guarding it according to your word. 10 With my whole heart I seek you; let me not wander from your commandments! 11 I have stored up your word in my heart, that I might not sin against you.
MEDITATE ON IT
8 This Book of the Law shall not depart from your mouth, but you shall meditate on it day and night, so that you may be careful to do according to all that is written in it. For then you will make your way prosperous, and then you will have good success.
PUT IT INTO PRACTICE!
22 But be doers of the word, and not hearers only, deceiving yourselves. 23 For if anyone is a hearer of the word and not a doer, he is like a man who looks intently at his natural face in a mirror. 24 For he looks at himself and goes away and at once forgets what he was like. 25 But the one who looks into the perfect law, the law of liberty, and perseveres, being no hearer who forgets but a doer who acts, he will be blessed in his doing.
3. WE HAVE A HOPE-FUELED HOLINESS!
3. WE HAVE A HOPE-FUELED HOLINESS!
Let’s close with these last few verses…
1 So put away all malice and all deceit and hypocrisy and envy and all slander. 2 Like newborn infants, long for the pure spiritual milk, that by it you may grow up into salvation— 3 if indeed you have tasted that the Lord is good.
IF YOU HAVE TASTED THE GOODNESS OF THE LORD…
this is NOT talking about common graces like
beautiful sunsets
walks on the beach
crisp mountain air
Ashlie’s handmade corn tortillas.
RATHER - THIS IS THE GIFT OF SALVATION (what’s been described before)
8 Oh, taste and see that the Lord is good! Blessed is the man who takes refuge in him!
5 and have tasted the goodness of the word of God and the powers of the age to come,
IF YOU HAVE TASTED THIS…THEN AVOID THESE HAZARDS.
HOPE HAZARDS:
MALICE - (hostility, troublemaking, desiring to do harm)
DECEIT - (trickery, falsehood, cunning)
HYPOCRISY - (pretending, acting while being something else)
ENVY - (jealousy, ill-will toward someone because they have something you feel entitled to)
SLANDER - (backbiting, evil speaking, spreading gossip)
HOLINESS HELPS:
craving God’s Word like a new believer needs it (like an infant needs pure milk)
grow “in respect” to your salvation
CONCLUSION
CONCLUSION
If you feel like you are struggling to grow in healthy ways, you have a couple of options to change that.
Try harder…do better…by trying to summon up a desire to love and obey? (this isn’t the best place to start. YES, you can discipline yourself in lots of ways…but I think Peter is pointing us somewhere else…)
LET HOPE FUEL YOUR HOLINESS. How?
REMEMBER AND ENJOY THE GOSPEL!
FIX YOUR EYES ON THE AUTHOR AND FINISHER OF OUR FAITH
Give yourself COMPLETELY, WHOLLY TO HIM…
Satisfy those HOLY HUNGER PAINS
6 “Blessed are those who hunger and thirst for righteousness, for they shall be satisfied.
In the early church, believers would often gather in homes, sharing meals and testimonies of God’s work in their lives.
This kind of open vulnerability and warm encouragement led many to grow in their faith.
As you think about the way you think about church gatherings, its good to ask the question:
Am I simply going through the motions, or are we actively engaging in each other’s spiritual growth?
Let's strive to BE THAT KIND OF FAMILY - where growth in Christ is celebrated and nurtured and NORMAL!
LET’S PRAY!
