Being Holy In All Our Behavior2

02/17/2008

BEING HOLY IN ALL OUR BEHAVIOR

1 PETER 1:13-16

13 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

14 As obedient children, do not be conformed to the former lusts which were yours in your ignorance (of God)

15 But like the Holy One who called you, be holy yourselves also in all your behavior

16 Because it is written, “You shall be holy, for I AM holy”!

**One day, Jesus called to Peter and his friends and said, “Come, follow Me... and I will make you fishers of men” (Mark 1:17, niv). They responded by faith to His call, and this completely changed their lives.

**Perhaps this explains why Peter used the word “called” so often in this letter. Being a born again Christian means that we have been “called” by God.

**For example God’s Word says that we are called to be holy (1 Peter 1:15). We are called out of darkness into His marvelous light” (1 Peter 2:9). We are called to suffer and follow Christ’s example of meekness (1 Peter 2:21). In the midst of persecution, we are called to inherit a blessing (1 Peter 3:9).

**Best of all, we are called to His eternal glory (1 Peter 5:10). We must always remember that God called us before we called on Him for salvation. It is all wholly of grace.

**So as a result of this glorious salvation that we have received every Child of God has been giving a “living hope” and this living hope is simply another term for “the second coming of Jesus” and this living hope is based entirely upon the New Birth.

**This living hope and new birth should lead us to live a life of holiness!

**Notice what Peter said about it in our text today:

15 But like the Holy One who called you, be holy yourselves also in all your behavior! 16 Because it is written, “You shall be holy, for I AM holy”!

**The apostle John said the same thing another way in 1 John 3 when he said Every person who has “this hope” purifies or cleanses themselves!

**When we accepted Jesus Christ as our personal Lord and Savior it included a call to holy or sanctified living!

**Listen to what else the Lord says about holiness in His Word:

Eph 1:4 just as He chose us in Him before the foundation of the   world, that we would be holy and blameless before        Him. In love!

Heb 12:10  For they disciplined us for a short time as seemed best            to them, but He disciplines us for our good, so that we            may share His holiness.

2Co 7:1  Therefore, having these promises, beloved, let us cleanse ourselves from all defilement of flesh and spirit, perfecting holiness in the fear of God.

**Peter said that we are to be HOLY in ALL of our BEHAVIOR just like the One who called us is Holy!

**Paul said that God CHOSE us in CHRIST before the foundation of the world SO THAT we would be HOLY and BLAMELESS before HIM in LOVE!

**Paul told the Corinthians that because of the PROMISES that we have from God that we should be PERFECTING or MATURING in HOLINESS in the fear of God!

**How can we be Holy in all our Behavior? First of all:

I.                  OUR MIND MUST BE PREPARED!

1 Peter 1:13 Therefore, prepare your minds for action

The recipients of this letter are reminded by the apostle in 1:1 that they are strangers and pilgrims (2:11). This means that Christians are people who have temporarily settled down alongside of a pagan population and As such they should always be ready to move.

“Prepare your mind” simply means, “Pull your thoughts together! Have a disciplined mind!” The image is that of a robed man, tucking his skirts under the belt, so he can be free to run. When you center your thoughts on the return of Christ, and live accordingly, you escape the many worldly things that would encumber your mind and hinder your spiritual progress.

**Someone has said that outlook determines outcome; attitude determines action.

**Since that is true a Christian who is looking for the glory of God has a greater chance to live a life of obedience than a Christian who ignores the fact of the Lord’s return.

**This is really illustrated for us in the lives of Abraham and Lot (Gen. 12–13; Heb. 11:8–16). Abraham had his eyes of faith on that heavenly city, so he had no interest in the world’s real estate. But Lot, who had tasted the pleasures of the world in Egypt, gradually moved toward Sodom. Abraham brought blessing to his home, but Lot brought judgment. Outlook determined outcome.

**The word “Prepare” is in the aorist tense which refers to a past once-for-all act. In other words there must come a time in every Christian’s life when he or she “presents their mind” to the Lordship of Jesus Christ.

**Paul talked about this in Romans 12 when he said that we should not be conformed to this world but to be transformed by the RENEWING of our MIND!

**So if we are going to Be Holy In All Our Behavior then Our MINDS must be PREPARED but just exactly does our minds need to be Prepared for? Our minds need to be prepared for ACTION!

**We live in a day and time when there is an all out attack being made on our MINDS. Through television, the internet, magazines, music, shopping malls, etc. etc.

**So if we are going to be Holy In All Our Behavior then our Minds must be Prepared for Action but notice also that:

II.               OUR SPIRIT MUST BE SOBER!

1 Peter 1:13 . . . keep sober in spirit

**The word “sober” means: to be self controlled, clarity of mind, moral decisiveness, not intoxicated with the world’s allurements.

**“be sober” speaks of the proper exercise of the mind, that state of mind in which the individual is self-controlled, and is able to see things without the distortion caused by things like worry, fear, worldliness, lust etc.

**The fact that Christ is coming should encourage us to be calm and collected (1 Peter 4:7). The fact that Satan is on the prowl is another reason to be sober-minded (1 Peter 5:8).

III.           OUR HOPE MUST BE FIXED!

1 Peter 1:13 fix your hope completely on the grace to be brought to you at the revelation of Jesus Christ

**The result of this spiritual mind-set is that a believer experiences the grace of God in his life. To be sure, we will experience grace when we see Jesus Christ; but we can also experience grace today as we look for Him to return. We have been saved by grace and we depend moment by moment on God’s grace (1 Peter 1:10). Looking for Christ to return strengthens our faith and hope in difficult days, and this imparts to us more of the grace of God. Titus 2:10–13 is another passage that shows the relationship between grace and the coming of Jesus Christ.