Pursuing Holiness. Part 2
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.
We began our journey through 1 Peter 1:13–2:3 two weeks ago, exploring what it means to live as God’s holy people in an unholy world.
We learned that holiness is not a pursuit of perfection—it is the pursuit of God Himself.
It is not about earning His favor, but living in response to the grace that has already made us His children.
Theologically, we saw that holiness flows from our identity in Christ.
Peter calls us “obedient children” because holiness begins with belonging.
We are not holy because of what we do, but because of whose we are.
Through faith in Christ, God has already set us apart—this is what is called positional sanctification.
We stand holy before God because we are “in Christ.”
But that position becomes the foundation for a lifelong process—the Spirit’s work of making us more like Jesus, which is called progressive sanctification.
Holiness is not simply self-improvement—it is Spirit-empowered transformation.
It is the outworking of God’s grace in every area of life.
We wrestled with what this looks like in the real world—how the battle for holiness touches the most personal parts of our lives.
We talked about the gap we all feel between who we are and who God calls us to be.
For some, that battle shows up in the body, or in the appetites we struggle to control.
For others, it may be anger, pride, anxiety, lust, or apathy.
But the message was this: Holiness does not begin with trying harder—it begins with surrender.
God does not expose our sin to shame us, but to invite us into freedom.
His grace is not an excuse to stay where we are—it is the power that enables us to change.
We ended with this challenge:
Holiness is a partnership—God supplies the power, but we must supply the pursuit.
We were called to prepare our minds for action, to be sober-minded, and to set our hope fully on the grace that is ours in Jesus Christ.
And that brings us to where Peter goes next.
Holiness begins with hope—a mind fixed on the grace of Christ—
this week we will see that holiness is sustained by remembrance and love.
Peter reminds us that we have been ransomed—bought at a price—and that new life in Christ always expresses itself through love for one another.
In other words, holiness is not just vertical—it is horizontal.
It shows up in how we live with and love others.
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.
2. Reverent Fear and Redemption
2. Reverent Fear and Redemption
1 Peter 1:17-21
As we continue on on verse 17 we see once again in scripture the familial aspect of our relationship with Christ.
Verse 14 brought in - as obedient children - obedience is born out of relationship.
Peter says specifically, IF you call on God as father, the term of tender endearment, something needs to happen.
At our last conference we learned some phrases that we have begun using with our boys that help to reshape theirs and our focus.
One is - what is dad and moms job? Their response is - to take care of me and teach me. Who gave us that job? God did. Why? Because he loves us.
God is the ultimate example of this.
What does God do in our lives? He takes care of us and teaches us, He gave himself that job when He called us to follow Him, we submit to that authority when we believe.
As such, God is a father who judges impartially according to each one’s deeds.
God is not a father who plays favorites.
As Christians, we have access to God that is very real, very true.
We can run to Him as a two year old runs to their father.
God’s justice is equally as real, just as a two year old needs clear instructions, don’t touch that wood stove, it is hot!
The response we are to have is to conduct ourselves with fear throughout the time of our exile.
A child needs to have a healthy fear of a wood stove, to know not to touch it or they may get seriously injured, not to be terrified of it, but to know to be careful.
As Christians, we ought to have a healthy fear or reverence for God, knowing that He is calling us to what is best for us.
He takes care of us and teaches us!
Pete adds in this phrase, throughout the time of your exile which is quite interesting.
The Greek word translated “exile” (παροικία, paroikia) refers to a temporary residence or sojourning in a foreign land.
It conveys the image of a traveler who lives in a place that is not their true home.
Peter uses this term intentionally—believers are described as “elect exiles” already in 1:1.
In first-century Greco-Roman society, an exile or resident alien had limited rights and no permanent citizenship.
This cultural reality mirrors the believer’s spiritual status: though we live within earthly nations, our ultimate citizenship is in heaven (Phil. 3:20).
20 But our citizenship is in heaven, and from it we await a Savior, the Lord Jesus Christ,
This phrase “throughout the time of your exile” situates a believer’s conduct (conduct yourselves with fear) in time — the span between conversion and Christ’s return.
It defines the present Christian life as a pilgrimage season rather than a settled existence.
Peter’s language fits perfectly within the New Testament’s broader “already but not yet” tension:
Already: We have been ransomed and redeemed.
If you look ahead to verse 18
18 knowing that you were ransomed from the futile ways inherited from your forefathers,
This declares that believers have been ransomed—a completed act.
We are already God’s children, already holy in Christ (1:15–16), already recipients of new birth (1:3).
This means our identity and hope are secure.
Holiness is not a way to earn belonging, but to express it.
That is where the tension comes in.
The Not Yet: We await the full revelation of Christ’s glory.
Peter points forward to “the revelation of Jesus Christ” (v. 13). Salvation is certain, but not yet brought to completion.
We live in an age where redemption has been accomplished, but not yet fully realized in creation or in ourselves.
Imagine you start a big Lego set.
You open the box, pour out the pieces, and begin building.
It looks like something halfway through — you can see what it is supposed to be, but it is not finished yet.
When you finally put in the last piece and step back to see the full car or spaceship, it has been consummated — it is complete.
This “in-between” status requires endurance, vigilance, and hope.
Peter uses exile in this verse to describe this in-between tension.
As Christians, we live between two homes — redeemed but not yet glorified; belonging to heaven but dwelling on earth.
The world’s values, pleasures, and priorities often conflict with our true citizenship.
As such, “the time of your exile” names both a theological reality and a daily challenge.
In this time between redemption and completion, the Christian’s calling is holiness.
Holiness becomes the distinctive mark of the pilgrim people.
We are meant to live visibly different lives that reflect the coming kingdom in the midst of the present one.
To be an exile means we do not fit perfectly anywhere.
As Christians, we should expect to feel out of step with the culture around them.
Our values, ethics, and hope point toward a different kingdom.
Kevin DeYoung captures this when he says: “The pursuit of holiness always puts us at odds with the world. You will be out of place here, but that is the point—you are not home yet.”
The real danger is not feeling out of place; it is becoming too comfortable in a land that is not our home.
Jerry Bridges emphasizes in The Pursuit of Holiness that holiness “requires diligent effort,” not passive drifting.
Exiles must stay alert because the pull of the surrounding culture is strong.
Peter’s phrase implies temporariness — “the time of your exile.”
This time will end.
The Christian lives with a forward-facing hope.
Every act of holiness becomes a foretaste of the coming kingdom, a preview of what will one day be normal when sin and death are gone.
Exile is not isolation.
To live as exiles does not mean withdrawal or hostility toward the world.
Jeremiah 29:7 gives the exile paradigm: “Seek the welfare of the city where I have sent you.”
We live as a faithful presence — loving neighbors, working for good, but always remembering this world is not ultimate.
The church is a community of pilgrims who remind each other who we are and where we are headed.
The call to conduct ourselves “with fear” is Peter’s antidote to spiritual complacency.
Reverent awe keeps us distinct.
Bridges writes, “We are to pursue holiness because God commands it, but also because it is the only life fitting for those who have been redeemed.”
In exile, holiness is resistance — it refuses to blend into sin’s patterns or lose sight of eternity.
The ultimate motive of this is gospel centered.
There is a crucial theological balance: the gospel produces reverent fear.
The cross and resurrection are not merely tickets to forgiveness; they recalibrate our entire lives!
Because of the price Christ, there was not greater price that could be paid.
We owe nothing short of a holy response.
How can we cultivate a reverent fear daily in our lives?
Remember the price — cultivate gospel memory
If you are here today and you have never trusted Christ for yourself, this passage is not first telling you to try to live a holy life —
it is telling you to come to the Holy One who gave His life for you.
You cannot clean yourself up enough for God.
You need to be cleansed by the blood of Jesus.
Only He can make you holy.
f you are trying to earn your way to God, stop striving.
Jesus already paid the full price. You were not redeemed with gold or silver, but with His own blood.
Today, you can turn from your sin and trust in Him — and begin a new life, set apart for God.
When you trust in Jesus, the same grace that forgives your past empowers your present.
The Spirit of God takes up residence in you, changing your desires from the inside out.
You will not be perfect, but you will be pursuing holiness — because you now belong to the Holy One.
Reverent fear is not the enemy of joy; it is the guardian of true joy.
It keeps grace from becoming cheap, and it keeps faith from becoming flabby.
When you stand before the God who is both Father and Judge, you will be humbled—and you will be freed to live differently.”
The gospel is not the reward for the holy, but the power that makes sinners holy.
How can we cultivate reverent fear of the Lord in our daily lives?
It begins with keeping in mind verses like we see here.
Knowing that
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.
Keeping the gospel at the center of our daily lives and reminding ourselves of how much God gave for our redemption.
Let the tangible cost of redemption shape resolve and gratitude.
When sin tempts, recall the weight of the ransom.
Have you ever taken time to examine your day?
It can be helpful for a season to examine ourselves daily.
This is what Paul was calling the Corinthians to do when he wrote
5 Examine yourselves, to see whether you are in the faith. Test yourselves. Or do you not realize this about yourselves, that Jesus Christ is in you?—unless indeed you fail to meet the test!
You might for a season aske yourself regularly “Where did I behave as if God were a casual friend rather than a holy Judge?”
Rather than cross-examining others, believers are to stick to examining their own lives:
4 But let each one test his own work, and then his reason to boast will be in himself alone and not in his neighbor.
Believers are to examine their motives, their actions, and the current condition of their hearts to make sure they don’t bring God’s discipline on themselves.
Paul’s primary concern was to bring spiritual health and wholeness to the Christian community in Corinth.
If the individuals were genuinely in the faith, then they would know that Jesus Christ lived inside them.
His Holy Spirit would be at work within them, promoting sanctification and moral living.
But if their lives showed no evidence of the Spirit’s activity, then Jesus Christ was not indwelling them.
And if Christ was not in them, they failed the test.
We need to pray as David did
23 Search me, O God, and know my heart! Try me and know my thoughts! 24 And see if there be any grievous way in me, and lead me in the way everlasting!
This includes our speech and witness
Do you ever consider for yourself before speaking - “Will these words honor the God who ransomed me?”
Choose grace-saturated, truthful speech.
True righteous fear of the Lord shapes not only secret sin but public conduct, witness, and reputation.
When we do find things that are not lining up with how God is calling us to live, what do we do with that?
This is where confession and accountability come in.
First of all with the Lord, we need to confess vertically to the Lord.
But there is also a horizontal nature of confession that can be helpful for accountability.
That is why we need a few people in our lives who we can trust fully and trust us.
Relationships where we can have accountability focused on sights and habits—confess specific patterns of compromise and ask for prayer and concrete accountability steps.
Reverent fear thrives in community where love and truth meet.
Another way we cultivate a reverent fear of the Lord is when we serve sacrificially.
This is an individual act, but also an act you take as a family if you have a family.
As parents, we have a responsibility to model sacrificial service for our children.
We must show our children that “I live this way because I was bought at a price.”
If you have tasted the ransom Christ secured, you cannot treat sin as trivial.
Not because God is harsh, but because the cost of our rescue was so high.
Reverent fear is the grateful response of those who have been bought.
Imagine receiving a life-changing gift—you are adopted by a family who changes your name, your home, and your inheritance.
You love them, you laugh with them, you celebrate.
But imagine if you treated their home carelessly, broke their furniture, and spoke poorly of them in public.
The adoption would still be true, but your behavior would be scandalous and painful to them.
That is the point of reverent fear: we live as adopted children who understand how costly our adoption was.
We act accordingly.
As we have seen these past two weeks, Peter’s call to holiness is not a call to religious perfectionism.
It is a call to remember who you are — and whose you are.
Holiness begins with hope — setting our minds fully on the grace that will be revealed in Jesus Christ.
It is sustained by remembrance — remembering the high price of our redemption.
It is expressed in love — love for God and love for others.
Peter wants us to see that holy living flows out of gospel remembering.
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.
As a church we need to clearly understand-
Holiness is not about rule-keeping.
It is about relationship-keeping.
It is not about trying to earn God’s love, but living in light of the love that already found you.
Holiness is not what saves you — but it is what saved people do.
We live in the “time of our exile,” in that tension between the already and the not yet.
Already redeemed, but not yet perfected.
Already justified, but still crucifying our flesh daily.
Already citizens of heaven, but still walking this earth.
And that means every day is a day to live as a preview of the kingdom to come.
Every act of integrity,
every word of truth,
every moment of grace toward someone who wronged you —
it all whispers, “I belong to a holy God.”
When the world looks at your life, can they see your Father’s likeness?
Do your words, your habits, your relationships, reflect the One who ransomed you?
Maybe today you feel the weight of how far short you fall.
Maybe the word “holy” feels out of reach.
But the good news of the gospel is this — Jesus did not come for the holy.
He came for sinners, to make them holy by His blood.
If you have never trusted Christ, this is your invitation.
Stop trying to clean yourself up.
You cannot make yourself holy — but Jesus can.
He already paid the ransom.
Come to Him.
Confess your sin.
And receive the grace that not only forgives but transforms.
And for those who are His — let this be your resolve today:
To live in reverent fear.
To walk in grace-filled holiness.
To fix your hope fully on the day when faith will become sight and the exile will end.
Because on that day, the holiness we now pursue will be consummated — completed — as we stand in the presence of our Holy God, fully like His Son.
Until then, live as children of the Father.
Walk in the fear of the Lord.
And let the world see the beauty of holiness — not perfection, but grace on display.
