Called to Be Holy

Big Idea: Those redeemed by Christ are called to live transformed lives.

Peter has spent the opening section of this letter reminding these Christians of what God has done for them.

They have been chosen by God, caused to be born again, given a living hope through the resurrection of Christ, promised an eternal inheritance, and are being guarded by the power of God.

Even their trials are not outside of God's purposes. God is using them to test and refine their faith as they await the final revelation of their salvation.

Now in verse 13 we get an important word: “Therefore.” This marks a transition in Peter's argument. In verses 1–12, Peter has not given his readers a direct command. He has primarily told them what God has done for them. Now Peter begins telling them how they should live because of what God has done.

The order here is important. Peter does not say, “Live this way so that God will save you.” He says, “God has saved you; therefore, live this way.”

Our obedience does not earn God's grace. Our obedience is a response to God's grace. Because God has changed who we are, there should now be a change in how we live.

Prepare your minds for holy living (v13–16)

Peter's first command is to prepare our minds for action, be sober-minded, and set our hope fully on the grace that will be brought to us when Jesus returns.

The imagery behind “preparing your minds for action” is the idea of gathering up loose clothing so that you are ready to move. We might say something like rolling up your sleeves and getting ready to work.

Peter is telling Christians to be mentally and spiritually prepared.

The Christian life is not something that we are supposed to drift through. We are supposed to think clearly about what we believe, what we desire, and where our hope is placed.

This is also what Peter means when he tells us to be sober-minded. We need spiritual alertness and disciplined thinking.

Peter then tells us that our minds must be fixed on our hope. Once again, Peter points these exiles toward the future.

Their ultimate hope is not that their present circumstances will improve.

Their ultimate hope is not that they will become more comfortable in this world.

Their hope is in the grace that will be completely revealed when Christ returns.

This connects directly with what Peter has already told us. We have an inheritance waiting for us and a salvation ready to be revealed.

So Peter says to set your hope fully on it. Christian hope is not Jesus plus everything else that we hope will make our lives work out the way we want. Our hope is ultimately and fully in Christ.

Peter then moves from the way we think to the way we live. “As obedient children, do not be conformed to the passions of your former ignorance.”

There is supposed to be a difference between who we were before Christ and who we are now. Because we have been given new life, we should no longer live according to our old desires.

Instead Peter says: “As he who called you is holy, you also be holy in all your conduct.” Then he quotes the Old Testament: “You shall be holy, for I am holy.” The reason Christians pursue holiness is because the God who called us is holy.

Holiness does not simply mean avoiding a list of sins. It means that our lives are increasingly being shaped by the character and will of God.

Peter says that this holiness should be seen “in all your conduct.”

Following Jesus is not supposed to transform one small part of our lives while everything else stays the same.

It should change the way we speak, the things we desire, our relationships, how we use our time, what we do when nobody is watching, and ultimately what we live for.

If God has given us new life, that new life should produce a new way of living.

Application

One of the questions we should ask ourselves is: What is shaping the way that I think and live?

There are constantly things around us trying to shape our thinking. The world tells us what we should value. Social media tells us what we should desire. Our friends can tell us what is normal. Our own sinful desires tell us what will make us happy.

If we are not careful, we can simply absorb these things without ever stopping to ask whether they are consistent with following Christ.

Peter says to prepare your mind, be sober-minded, and set your hope fully on Christ.

There may also be things that belonged to our life before Christ that we are still trying to carry with us.

Peter says not to be conformed to those former desires.

The question the Christian should have is “Does this reflect the character of the God who called me?”

We do not pursue holiness so that God will save us. We pursue holiness because God has saved us.

Live in reverent fear before God (v17–21)

Peter then gives us another reason to live transformed lives: “Conduct yourselves with fear throughout the time of your exile.” Notice again the language of exile.

This connects directly to the beginning of the letter. Peter's audience are elect exiles. They belong to God, but they are not home yet.

While we live as exiles in this world, Peter says we should live in the fear of God.

Peter brings two realities about God together in verse 17. He is Father, but he is also the impartial Judge.

We call upon God as our Father. We have been brought into his family and have a relationship with him through Christ. But this does not mean that we should treat God casually.

The fear Peter is describing is not a terror that causes the Christian to run away from God. After all, the God we fear is the God we call Father. Instead, the fear of God means that we take God seriously.

We live with an awareness of his holiness, his authority, his presence, and his judgment.

Peter then gives us an even greater reason that we should live this way. Remember what your redemption cost.

Peter says that we were ransomed from the futile ways inherited from our forefathers. We were in bondage to sin and needed to be redeemed.

But our redemption could not be purchased with silver or gold. Those things might be valuable in this world, but they are still perishable. No amount of earthly wealth could purchase our freedom from sin.

Instead, we were redeemed: “with the precious blood of Christ, like that of a lamb without blemish or spot.”

Peter is drawing from the Old Testament sacrificial system. The sacrifice offered to God was to be without blemish. Jesus is the spotless Lamb. He was without sin, yet he gave his life for sinners.

Earlier Peter told us that our faith is more precious than gold. Now he tells us that our redemption was purchased with something infinitely more precious than gold: the blood of Christ.

Peter then tells us that this was not God's backup plan. Christ “was foreknown before the foundation of the world but was made manifest in the last times for the sake of you.”

Before the world was created, the redemption accomplished through Christ was part of God's eternal saving purpose.

Christ came, shed his blood, was raised from the dead, and was given glory. Because of this Peter says that our “faith and hope are in God.”

This brings us back to verse 13. We can set our hope fully upon God because the God in whom we hope is the God who raised Jesus Christ from the dead.

Application

If you want to understand how seriously God takes sin, look at what it cost to redeem us from it.

It did not cost silver.

It did not cost gold.

It cost the precious blood of Christ.

We can sometimes treat casually the very things that Jesus died to redeem us from.

We excuse our sin. We hide it. We laugh about it. We convince ourselves that it really isn't that serious.

But then we look at the cross.

The cross shows us the seriousness of our sin, but it also shows us the greatness of God's love.

Christ shed his precious blood to redeem us from our former way of life. Why would we want to continually return to the things from which Christ died to free us?

There should be a reverence in the way Christians live because we understand the price that was paid for us.

Take God seriously.

Take sin seriously.

Take holiness seriously.

Take obedience seriously.

Not because you are trying to purchase salvation from God. Christ has already purchased your redemption with his blood.

Love one another deeply (v22–25)

Peter then moves from our relationship with God to our relationships with one another. “Love one another earnestly from a pure heart.” This is important because we can sometimes think about holiness only in terms of private morality.

We think holiness means avoiding certain sins. Peter shows us that holiness is also visible in how we treat other people.

A life transformed by the gospel should produce transformed relationships.

Peter does not merely tell Christians to tolerate one another. He tells them to love one another earnestly. There should be a sincere and deep love among God's people.

John 13.34-35

Jesus said that one of the things that should distinguish his disciples is their love for one another. Peter gives us the same idea here.

But once again, Peter grounds the command in something that God has already done.

Why should we love one another? Because we have been born again.

This takes us back to verse 3, where Peter told us that according to God's great mercy he “has caused us to be born again.”

Now Peter says that because we have been born again, we should love one another. Christians can live differently because God has made us different.

New birth should produce new life, and new life should produce new relationships.

Peter then tells us that we have been born again, “not of perishable seed but of imperishable, through the living and abiding word of God.”

Isaiah 40.7-8

There is another contrast here between what is temporary and what is eternal.

Human life is temporary.

Human glory is temporary.

Silver and gold are perishable.

But the Word of God remains forever.

This connects with what Peter has been saying throughout this chapter. The Christian's life is rooted in things that last.

Peter then says: “And this word is the good news that was preached to you.” The gospel came to them. They heard the good news about Jesus Christ, and through that living and abiding Word, God brought them to new life. Because they have received new life, Peter calls them to live out that new life by loving one another.

Application

It is easy to say that we love people in general. It is harder to love actual people.

People annoy us. People hurt us. People disappoint us. People can be difficult.

And the reality is that we are all of those things to other people too.

Yet Peter says: “Love one another earnestly.”

Our love for one another cannot simply depend upon how easy someone is to love. Our love is rooted in what God has done for us.

If God has shown us mercy, we should show mercy.

If God has forgiven us, we should forgive.

If Christ has sacrificially loved us, then we should learn to sacrificially love one another.

So we should ask whether the people around us can actually see the transforming power of the gospel in the way that we love.

Do I only love people who are like me?

Do I only love people when they are useful to me?

Do I only love people when they treat me the way that I want?

Or am I learning to love God's people earnestly from a pure heart?

Conclusion

The first twelve verses of 1 Peter have been almost entirely about what God has done for us.

God chose us.

God caused us to be born again.

God gave us a living hope.

God secured our inheritance.

God guards us by his power.

God uses trials to refine our faith.

God is bringing us toward the final salvation that will be revealed when Jesus returns.

Then Peter says: “Therefore.”

Because God has done all of these things, our lives should look different.

This is the order of the Christian life: Grace comes first. Transformation follows.

We do not obey so that God will redeem us.

We obey because Christ has redeemed us.

We do not pursue holiness so that God will make us his people.

We pursue holiness because God has made us his people.

We do not love one another so that we can earn a place in God's family.

We love one another because God has caused us to be born again and brought us into his family.

So prepare your mind for holy living. Set your hope fully on Christ and refuse to return to the desires of your former life. Live in reverent fear before God. Remember that you have not been redeemed with silver or gold, but with the precious blood of Christ. And love one another deeply. The God who has given us new life calls us to live that new life together.

Those redeemed by Christ are called to live transformed lives.