Maturing in Holiness

The Foundation is the Lord

Through this entire book so far, Peter has been continually pointing us to the power, might and majesty of the Lord. Walk through the first chapter with me:

1 - We are the elect because of God’s choosing

2 - We are sanctified through the work of God

3. God’s majesty moves us to praise

3. Through the Lord, we have been given new birth and living hope

4. In Christ, we are coheirs of a great inheritance

5. Our faith results in the shielding with God’s power

6. We can rejoice in the midst of suffering through His sovereignty

7. Our faith results in praise through Christ

8-9. Through Christ, we recieve the goal of our faith, salvation

10. Through Christ, the words of the prophets hold meaning

12. Through Christ, we experience God’s grace

13. In Christ, Our Hope has a firm foundation

14. In Christ, we can find victory over our evil desires

15. In Christ, we can be holy.

17. Because of Christ, we have new citizenship

18. Because of Christ, our life holds eternal meaning

21. Because of Christ, we can truly believe in God.

22. Because of Christ, we have been purified.

23. Because of Christ, we are reborn out of an imperishable seed

2:1. Because of Christ, we can love one another fully

Peter has pointed our hearts to what God has already done in and through us. In other words, God has given us a new identity and that identity is rooted fully and completely in Christ. Because of who God is, our idenity will never change.

Because of Jesus

1 Peter 2:4–6 NIV

As you come to him, the living Stone—rejected by humans but chosen by God and precious to him—you also, like living stones, are being built into a spiritual house to be a holy priesthood, offering spiritual sacrifices acceptable to God through Jesus Christ. For in Scripture it says: “See, I lay a stone in Zion, a chosen and precious cornerstone, and the one who trusts in him will never be put to shame.”

After pointing the reader to all that the Lord is and has done, Peter now encourages the reader to readily face the suffering before them because of who God has made them (you and I) to be. Peter does this by pointing us back to the promises of old and showing us that these promises are fulfilled in us.

Peter opens with the phrase as you come to him speaking of drawing close to the Lord. The picture given here is of the priest coming before the Lord in the tabernacle.

As we draw closer to the Lord, our hearts begin to see what is happening through Christ. Jesus Jesus is the living stone upon which the true living tabernacle is built. Through Christ, you and I become the tabernacle, the dwelling place of God. Do you see what is happening here? Jesus is the very fulfillment of the Old Testament system. Not only is he the sacrificial lamb, He is the rebuilder of the temple built now upon His back.

Do you see what makes this work worthy and of value? It is the chosen designation of God that gives eternal worth and value. Let me speak about the brokenness that our country is facing today. Life matters not because of what we have gone through, what we contribute, or what we can do. Our value is inherent because our designer has deemed us as valuable.

Now we have something to offer the Lord that is worthy and acceptable, spiritual sacrifices, which is sacrificing self for the sake of Christ. This is what pleases the Lord.

Mature in Holiness

1 Peter 2:7–10 NIV

Now to you who believe, this stone is precious. But to those who do not believe, “The stone the builders rejected has become the cornerstone,” and, “A stone that causes people to stumble and a rock that makes them fall.” They stumble because they disobey the message—which is also what they were destined for. But you are a chosen people, a royal priesthood, a holy nation, God’s special possession, that you may declare the praises of him who called you out of darkness into his wonderful light. Once you were not a people, but now you are the people of God; once you had not received mercy, but now you have received mercy.

Now in seeing what Christ has done for us and through us, Peter calls us to respond in maturity. The first part of our response is to respond out of faith in God. To not believe in the face of what God has done is to stumble. The truth of the Christian life rests in this: we were made by God for the purpose of placing our trust in God and bringing Him glory. To pursue other aspirations in life is to folly and stumble.

We are destined for fulfilling the work of God. This is what we were made for. But, we are prone to leave what we were called for and pursue what our flesh desires. In this, we miss what Christ has offered us, an opportunity to mature in holiness.

Christ has made us a royal priesthood. He has made us one people, brothers and sisters int he family of God. He has made us God’s possession. All of this that we might fulfill our destined purpose.

Responding in Holiness

1 Peter 2:11–12 NIV

Dear friends, I urge you, as foreigners and exiles, to abstain from sinful desires, which wage war against your soul. Live such good lives among the pagans that, though they accuse you of doing wrong, they may see your good deeds and glorify God on the day he visits us.

In recognizing who Christ is and who God is moves our hearts to now recognize who we are in light of God. We are foreigners and exils in this world. So our response should be to abstain from the brokenness fo the world. Abstain from the sinful pusuits that the world tries to offer. These things will wage war against our very souls.

Live lives each day that point others to the one that you are glorifying. What would it take for your neighbor, family member, friend, coworker to start believing that there is a God? How can you be a part of the process of getting them there? What are you doing now that is slowing that response?