What It Means To Be A Christian: Pursuing Holiness. Part 1
Notes
Transcript
The Pursuit of Holiness: A Call to Be Set Apart
The Pursuit of Holiness: A Call to Be Set Apart
Bible Passage: 1 Peter 1:13-2:3
Summary: In this passage, Peter encourages believers to prepare their minds for action, be sober-minded, and set their hope fully on the grace that will be brought to them at the revelation of Jesus Christ. He calls them to live in holiness, reflecting the holiness of God, as they navigate a world marked by sin and distraction.
Application: This sermon can help Christians understand that pursuing holiness is not merely a personal endeavor but a vital aspect of their identity in Christ. It encourages them to reject worldly influences and embrace a life that glorifies God, while offering practical steps for daily living in obedience and faith.
Teaching: The teaching focuses on the importance of holiness in the believer's life, emphasizing that true holiness is a response to God's grace and should be evident in all aspects of life. It also discusses how the desire to grow in holiness should come from an understanding of one’s new identity in Christ.
How this passage could point to Christ: This theme points to Christ as the ultimate fulfillment of our call to holiness. Jesus embodies perfect holiness and calls His followers to reflect His character. His life serves as the model for holiness, and His sacrifice empowers believers to live set apart for God’s purposes.
Big Idea: Christians are called to pursue holiness in every area of their lives, rooted in their identity as children of God and empowered by His grace, which transforms them into the likeness of Christ.
Recommended Study: As you prepare your sermon, consider exploring the historical context of 1 Peter, particularly the challenges faced by the early Christians in a pagan society. Utilize Logos to delve into commentaries that discuss the concept of holiness in the Old and New Testaments and the implications of Peter's exhortation for contemporary believers. Pay attention to the original Greek terms for 'holy' and 'pure' to uncover deeper meanings that can enhance your teaching.
Intro
Intro
Holiness.
It is a word that often feels out of place in our world—a world that prizes comfort over conviction, and authenticity over obedience.
To many, holiness sounds like moral perfectionism, or worse, self-righteousness.
Holiness is not a spiritual standard reserved for monks or missionaries.
It is not an outdated or joyless concept.
Holiness, according to Scripture, is not an optional add-on for the “super spiritual.”
It is the normal Christian life.
It is the daily expression of our new identity in Christ.
Holiness is not a list of rules—it is a relationship.
Jerry Bridges begins The Pursuit of Holiness with a line that captures this beautifully:
“The holiness of God is the foundation for our pursuit of holiness, and our motivation is to please God who saved us.”
It is the call to live set apart for God because we belong to Him.
That is exactly what Peter is saying in the passage we have for today.
When Peter wrote this letter, his audience was living as scattered exiles throughout a pagan culture.
They were surrounded by idolatry, immorality, and pressure to conform.
Yet in that environment, Peter does not tell them to hide.
He calls them to shine.
He urges them to live as God’s holy people in the midst of an unholy world.
And that same call echoes to us today:
Christians are called to pursue holiness in every area of their lives, rooted in their identity as children of God and empowered by His grace, which transforms them into the likeness of Christ.
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.
1. Prepare and Hope for Holiness
1. Prepare and Hope for Holiness
Let’s read these first lines together slowly.
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.”
What impact does that have on you as you read these words?
Structurally there are a few thins we need to notice.
“Therefore” (οὖν) ties what follows to the doctrinal truths found in vv. 3–12:
election, new birth, living hope, great cost of redemption, and the prophets’ witness.
From there, Peter moves from doctrine to duty.
Theological truth produces ethical urgency.
The imperative or command that Peter writes is to set your hope fully on the grace that will brought to you at the revelation of Jesus Christ.
Set your hope.
How that is done is found in the phrases listed prior.
Preparing your minds for action, being sober minded.
These are inner dispositions that shape our outward conduct.
Preparing your mind for action is a picture of preparing for battle.
The word calls believers to “gird up” or “ready” the mind.
This is not a casual mental tweak.
It is an active, anticipatory posture.
The image implies removing obstacles, making one’s thinking swift and uncluttered for spiritual movement.
Peter calls for mental preparedness—a mind disciplined to respond, resist, and pursue.
The word translated “sober-minded” connotes self-control, clear intellect, absence of clouding passions.
It is the opposite of being driven by appetite, impulse, or cultural noise.
Together, these two commands make holiness a cognitive and volitional discipline: think straight; control your passions.
That is how we are to set our hope fully on the grace that will be brought to us at the revelation of Jesus Christ.
This is an eschatological anchor.
The hope is not vague optimism.
It is a firm expectation of future, consummating grace when Christ is revealed.
The qualifier “fully” or “completely” means no divided hope—do not hedge your bets between present comforts and future grace.
Align your orientation toward Christ’s coming and the final gift He brings.
We are to pursue holiness not primarily out of fear of loss or desire for status, but out of hope in grace already given and finally revealed.
Pete uses some identity language in this verse.
As obedient children.
If we follow Jesus, if we trust in Him as our Lord and savior, that is our identity.
Who we are ought to be the motive for how we live.
“Obedient children” moves the motive from duty to family.
Obedience here is born of relationship.
The prohibition—do not be conformed to former passions—references the believer’s prior life (“former ignorance”).
Holiness therefore is conversion-shaped: what once dominated now must be refused.
The command given is to “Be holy in all your conduct”
This is language of totality.
Not be holy in this area but not that.
Holiness is not to be compartmentalized.
It is not weekend piety or a private virtue; holiness should impact every part of our lives—affecting speech, work, relationships, recreation, reputation.
What does holy mean here?
What does holy mean here?
Root meaning: In biblical usage holy fundamentally means “set apart.” In the Old Testament Hebrew (qadosh) and in the New Testament Greek (hagios, ἅγιος),
the primary idea is separation to God’s use—things, persons, or time that belong to God and therefore bear His character.
Two inseparable dimensions:
Relational/positional: To be holy is to belong to God (we are God’s people, set apart by Him).
This is the “positional” status established in salvation.
Moral/ethical: Because God is holy in character—pure, morally perfect, utterly other—the people who belong to Him must reflect that character.
Holiness therefore becomes ethical conformity to God’s nature.
Not merely withdrawal: Holiness does not primarily mean escape from the world.
It means being set apart for God’s purposes within the world—reflecting God’s character where He places us.
The command “Be holy, for I am holy” links ethical demand directly to God’s character.
The source and model of holiness is God himself—therefore holiness is both a divine gift and an imitation of divine character.
do not be conformed to former passions → but be holy, because God is holy.
The ethical command flows from the character of God; imitation of God is the pattern of sanctified living.
There is a distinction that we must make here though.
Positional sanctification ≠ complete moral perfection.
What this means is that though we are made holy through our faith in Christ, we will not attain sinless perfection, we will not receive that until we are united with Christ.
But as Peter is telling us, that doesn’t mean we give up and don’t try.
Positional sanctification means that when a person becomes a Christian, God sets them apart as holy in His sight—not because of what they have done, but because of what Jesus has done.
Here’s a simple way to explain it:
When you put your faith in Jesus, God gives you a new position—you move from being a sinner separated from God to being a saint accepted by Him.
You are now “in Christ,” and because Christ is holy, God sees you as holy too.
Before salvation, you were in Adam—marked by sin and death.
After salvation, you are in Christ—marked by forgiveness and holiness.
This change happens instantly when you are saved.
It is not something you earn or grow into; it is a gift of grace.
So even though you may still struggle with sin (that’s where progressive sanctification comes in), your position before God never changes.
You are permanently set apart for Him, fully accepted, and declared holy because you belong to Jesus.
Positional sanctification means you are holy because of your position in Christ, not because of your performance in life.
That position is the truth that we rely upon as we continue in life because we are also being made holy.
It is what gives us hope when we fail.
It is what gives us the strength to move forward in progressive sanctification, which is the Spirit’s work conforming us to Christ’s image across a lifetime.
Holiness is not legalism.
Legalism treats holiness as a checklist; do this, don’t do that.
Biblical holiness is inward transformation that produces outward obedience.
The pursuit of holiness does not end when we come to Christ.
In fact, it just begins!
Hope reshapes habits; doctrine recasts devotion.
Our minds are the training ground of holiness.
Jerry Bridges in His book the Pursuit of Holiness speaks of the partnership of grace and responsibility.
Bridges insists that Christian holiness is “both 100% dependent on God and 100% the responsibility of the believer.”
In exegetical terms, this aligns with Peter’s sequence: hope in grace (divine provision) becomes the motive for disciplined preparation (human response).
As such we must cultivate practical disciplines in our lives.
Bridges urges concrete habits—Scripture intake, prayer, confession, accountability, mortification of sin, putting on Christlike virtues.
Mortification is not a word we often use anymore
13 For if ye live after the flesh, ye shall die: but if ye through the Spirit do mortify the deeds of the body, ye shall live.
to destroy the strength, vitality, or functioning of
2: to subdue or deaden (as the body or bodily appetites) especially by abstinence or self-inflicted pain or discomfort
Spiritual disciplines are the ways our minds are prepared and hopes are kept fixed.
Bridges also emphasizes gratitude for what Christ has done as the primary engine of persistent obedience.
This mirrors Peter’s motif of remembrance of redemption which we will get to in (vv. 18–21).
Holiness as a neglected priority.
DeYoung diagnoses modern Christianity as often comfortable with spiritual decline because holiness is not pursued intentionally.
Peter’s call to prepare the mind directly addresses that complacency.
The truth is that holiness matters for worship, witness, and public life.
A sober, prepared mind affects not just private piety but corporate worship and public witness—exactly the “all your conduct” emphasis in 1 Peter 1:15.
Growing in holiness is one of the most important lessons that we can learn as Christians.
God’s ultimate desire for His people is that we be holy—conformed into the image of His Son, Jesus (Romans 8:29; 1 Thessalonians 4:3-4).
Holiness is the will of God for our lives.
Of course, the flesh is weak (Mark 14:38).
None of us will reach sinless perfection in this world, but God has made provision for our sin.
“If we confess our sins, he is faithful and just and will forgive us our sins and purify us from all unrighteousness” (1 John 1:9).
Our pursuit of holiness in this world includes daily confessing and forsaking sin (see Hebrews 12:1-3).
God helps us in our weakness by giving us His Holy Spirit who reveals the mind of Christ to us and enables us to carry out His will (1 Corinthians 2:14-16; Philippians 2:13).
When we yield to the Spirit, we become fruit-bearing Christians, yielding a harvest with which God is well pleased (Galatians 5:22-23).
On the other hand, when we suppress the work of the Holy Spirit by rebelling against His will for us,
we stifle the design of God, sabotage our own spiritual growth, and grieve the Holy Spirit (Ephesians 4:30).
If God was gracious enough to redeem us from sin and death and give us new life in Christ, the very least we can do is offer our lives back to Him in complete surrender and holiness, which is for our benefit (cf. Deuteronomy 10:13).
Because of God’s mercies, we should be living sacrifices, “holy and pleasing to God” (Romans 12:1; cf. Deuteronomy 10:13).
One day, in heaven, we will be free from sin and all its effects.
Until then, we “fix our eyes on Jesus, the author and perfecter of our faith” and keep running our race (Hebrews 12:2).
“When I think about holiness, one of the biggest areas where I feel the gap between who I am and who God calls me to be is with my body.
I don’t share this for pity, for seeking advice, or a cry for help, but as an example of vulnerability and honest.
As I share this I want you be thinking about your own personal struggle to grow in holiness because I know you have one, if you think you don’t, dig deeper because I guarantee you do.
I have struggled with my weight for as long as I can remember.
It is an area that brings me shame, frustration, and weariness.
I long to be at a healthier weight—not just to feel better physically, but to better reflect the kind of disciplined, Spirit-led life I want to model for my family and for those I lead.
I wish I could say that I respond to this struggle with grace, but honestly, I often respond with guilt.
I do not feel like I need grace—I feel like I need reprimand.
I sometimes think God has shown me too much grace, or that I have taken advantage of it.
When stress builds, I eat.
When I am busy, I grab what is quick instead of what is wise.
I tend to overeat because food becomes a place of comfort and pleasure, a way of escaping the pressure of life.
I believe the lie that if I just try harder, I can fix this.
And when I fail again, I feel like God must be disappointed in how I am stewarding my body.
One of the things God has helped me to see as I have been preparing this sermon is week is —this very place of struggle—is exactly where the gospel meets me.
The truth is, I cannot change in my own strength.
Holiness does not begin with trying harder; it begins with grace.
God is helping me to see that every time I look in the mirror and feel the weight of conviction, I am reminded that the answer is not in performance but in surrender.
I am learning that preparing my mind for action means starting there—with surrender, not shame.
It means truly believing that God’s grace is not an excuse to stay where I am, but the power that enables me to change.
I do not have it all figured out.
But maybe progress in holiness, for me, begins with small steps—acknowledging my limits, listening to my body, and remembering that God’s Spirit is still at work in me, even when I cannot see it.
And I believe that is what holiness really looks like: not perfection, but dependence.”
Now, my struggle may not be your struggle.
For you, the battle for holiness might take an entirely different form.
Maybe it shows up in the way anger rises too quickly when things do not go your way, or in how comparison quietly steals your joy when you look at someone else’s success.
For some, it is pride—the belief that you can manage life on your own strength.
For others, it is fear or anxiety that drowns out the peace God promises.
Some may wrestle with the pull of lust or the lure of comfort—seeking satisfaction in food, entertainment, or pleasure that fades as soon as it is over.
Others might find themselves numbed by bitterness, unforgiveness, or apathy toward God.
Still others struggle not with outright rebellion, but with neglect—a slow drift from prayer, Scripture, or fellowship because life simply feels too busy.
Whatever it looks like, every one of us has an area where the call to holiness feels costly.
And right there, in that specific place of weakness, is where the gospel meets us.
God does not expose our sin to shame us, but to invite us into freedom.
The same grace that saves us is the grace that trains us to live differently—
to prepare our minds for action and to set our hope fully on the grace that will be brought to us at the revelation of Jesus Christ.
Holiness is not a demand to perform better; it is an invitation to trust deeper.
Holiness is a partnership: God will supply the power; we must supply the pursuit.
We will not and the church as a whole will not grow holy by default—we must desire holiness, fight for it, and practice it together.
Will you today to prepare your mind for action?
Will you practice sober thinking, cultivate an undivided hope in Christ, and allow that hope to shape one concrete choice this week?
If so, your life will begin—quietly but surely—to reflect the holiness of the One who called you.
