The Vigor of Hope & Holiness
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Therefore, with your minds ready for action, be serious and set your hope completely on the grace to be brought to you at the revelation of Jesus Christ. As obedient children, do not be conformed to the desires of your former ignorance. But as the One who called you is holy, you also are to be holy in all your conduct; for it is written, Be holy, because I am holy.
And if you address as Father the One who judges impartially based on each one’s work, you are to conduct yourselves in fear during the time of your temporary residence. For you know that you were redeemed from your empty way of life inherited from the fathers, not with perishable things like silver or gold,
but with the precious blood of Christ, like that of a lamb without defect or blemish. He was chosen before the foundation of the world but was revealed at the end of the times for you 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.
By obedience to the truth, having purified yourselves for sincere love of the brothers, love one another earnestly from a pure heart, since you have been born again —not of perishable seed but of imperishable—through the living and enduring word of God.
Be holy, for He is holy! (v.13-16)
The foundation of one’s hope is in the physical return of Jesus Christ.
The Israelites looked forward to the coming Messiah to return Israel to it’s former glory. Ruled by the Romans, run over by the Greeks, invaded by the Persians and taken into the humiliation of captivity, Israel longed for their Messiah in repentence.
But as man is apt to do with the ebb and flo of wandering desires and a long time coming, man falls into the gutter. Society and culture begin to unravel a fresh commitment once again. And man chastises himself for falling once again, and again, and again. Each new revival is reset by the desires of our heart and the enticement of our environments.
God says be holy as I am holy. That’s a tall order like making the NHL if you cannot skate or making a layer cake without the forms. Is it possible to be holy as God is holy? The problem is with our interpretation, our reading. God says, “Be holy, for I Am holy” (1 Peter 1:16), He does not say ‘as I Am holy’. We cannot achieve God’s holiness or else we would be God. Moses could not stand on the same ground as God, man cannot look upon the face of God and live (Ex. 3:5; 33:20).
God commands, “Be holy, for I Am holy”, meaning “be devoted, for I am devoted”. Devoted to what? To Himself. The popular notion of holiness is to be “seperate” or “distinct”. But what draws one out to be seperate or distinct? Why? What leads one to want to be seperate or distinct? Devotion. What leads one to want to be pure or righteous? God, but not just God, devotion to Him and His nature and way.
Jesus would only do that which the Father desired/s because He was thoroughly devoted to the Father. Jesus says, “My food is to do the will of My Father” (John 4:34). Jesus also said, “For I have come down from heaven, not to do My will, but the will of Him who sent Me” (John 6:38). Jesus also said, “The Son is not able to do anything on His won, but only what He sees the Father doing. For whatever the Father does, the Son also does these things in the same way. For the Father loves the Son…and all the people will honor the Son just as they honor the Father. Anyone who does not honor the Son does not honor the Father who sent Him.” (John 5:19-20a, 23).
The Son is just as devoted to the Father as the Father is devoted to the Son. Just as the Father is honored, so will be the Son. Equal ground, equal footing. The Spirit is devoted to both the Father and the Son, and is no less God, than either (1 Thess. 4:8; Mt. 28:19; John 1:1; Gen 1:2). Scripture says the Holy Spirit proceeds from both the Father and the Son (John 14:26; 15:26) speaking of their relationship to one another. The Spirit willingly goes and is given at the request of the Father and the Son. He is not subservient, but fulfills His role in His devotion.
So God does not possess holiness, God is holiness - He is purity, He is righteous, He is devoted, thus seperate and distinct. Therefore it is impossible for God to act inconsistent to His character because He is devoted to Himself, to devotion, to purity, to righteousness, justice, sinlessness, goodness, kindness, love, etc...
When Peter writes to believers of 1 Peter He is encouraging them to live devoted lives to God, just as God is devoted to Himself. This is how one answers the call to live a holy life.
Get Your Minds Ready for Action! (v.13)
In order to live a holy life I have to be devoted to God and part of that process is renewing our minds. The Apostle Paul calls us to renew our minds, our thinking, so that we may be able to “discern what is the good, pleasing and perfect will of God. (Romans 12:2). Without devotion to God in renewal of my thinking, thoughts, reading, viewing, I am not able to know God’s good, pleasing and perfect will.
This call is to “gird up” the mind to constant preparation. Taken from the eastern custom of binding up long-flowing garments by a girdle or belt (1 Kgs. 18:46; 2 Kgs. 4:29; 9:1) when an occassion of exertion presented itself (ie. Running, journeying, etc). We are called to have our minds in constant state of prep for action. Firefighters prepare to fight fires by making sure their equipment is always in a state of readiness. Hoses are checked, the engine and pump is maintained, oxygen tanks full and their clothing and helmets are clean and ready to put on at a moments notice in one place. Exercises are emplemented so that the proper and right thinking, responses and behavior is engrained when they hear the alarm and call and everything becomes natural. The mind is as important a piece of the equipment to fight fires as the physical equipment. A firefighter devotes everything that he has and is to fighting fires.
If I want my marriage to be great, I need to a) Determine to be devoted to God, like God; b) Be devoted to my wife, as Jesus is devoted to the Church - love; c) Renew my thinking as to what God says marriage is to be, why it is, how it is to function, and between whom; d) Cast aside the worlds view and ideas of what marriage is, should be and how it is to funtion and it’s purpose. If I want any of my relationships to be great, and specifically a marriage, I should look upon Christ’s devotion to the Father and to the Church. Israel wandered in the desert for 40 years because it took that long for them to realize that their whole being, community, was to be devoted to God. Those that would not, died. Those that would, lived. Sometimes a whole generation has to be lost in order for devotion to God to be remembered, redeemed and realized. Is our marriage wandering in the desert? Then we need to check our devotion to God. Re-install the devotion to God and we will re-install our devotion to one another. To be holy is to be devoted.
A Practical Checklist of Devotion:
How much time do I give to God?
How worn is my Bible?
Do people know me at Church?
Do I know my neighbors? Do they know me?
Am I thought well of by my family, friends, the familiar and the foreigner?
In order to make change, you have to be determined in your mind to make a change. Right thinking leads to right behavior; or wise thinking leads to wise behavior and choice.
A believer who’s mind is not in a state of attention on Christ, “girded up”, will soon drift and be shackled in sin and the old ways of ignorance and empty way of life which Peter reminds us (1 Peter 1:14, 18). To remain in a state of attention is an act of self-discipline requiring constant attention and maintenence. The Greek word nepho may be translated as “be serious”, “sober-minded” or “watchful” so that one does not fall into a state of intoxication with sin, the world and it’s ways, including it’s thinking. What leads to being intoxicated? Abuse. I can abuse any good or bad thing and become intoxicated or drunk with it or obsessed with it so much so that nothing else matters, just that one thing. We are not talking about just alchohol or drugs, but money, power, prestiege, nice things, cars, online, Facebook, video games, my portfolio, looks, even fears.
These last 16 months the world has been intoxicated with the fear of Covid. Everyday the first thing on the news, whether television or radio, is the Covid Update. Number of infected, hospitalized, recovered and deaths. The world has become so obsessed with the fear of Covid that people are afraid to go outside, or anywhere, or be around anyone for fear of contracting Covid. In our fear with Covid, though, have we dropped our sobriety? The Christians Peter is writing to were becoming intoxicated with the society and culture around them. Being influenced by it’s ways, thoughts, practices, joys and fears. Being influenced by their old traditions, rituals and practices of their forefathers. Peter is calling them to not forget themselves of who they have become in Christ, who Christ is and how that it to work out in a world that does not love them because of Christ. Peter is calling them back to sobriety in Christ. Have we forgotten our sobriety in Christ? Have we forgotten our call to devotion?
God’s Word says,
Trust in the Lord with all your heart, and do not rely on your own understanding; think about Him in all your ways, and He will guide you on the right paths.
2 Corinthians 5:7a, 9 (HCSB)
For we walk by faith, not by sight,…Therefore, whether we are at home or away, we make it our aim to be pleasing to Him.
“Peace I leave with you. My peace I give to you. I do not give to you as the world gives. Your heart must not be troubled or fearful.
Be Enlightened by the Living Hope! (v.13)
Peter says we can either be enlightened by the Living Hope to be reveled in the last days (v.13), or live in ignorance (v.14). His preference, inspired by the Holy Spirit, is that we will set our hope completely on Christ, the Living Hope (v.13).
When I was placed in the social services system of our country, all the hope I had was that my mom would be released some day soon from prison. I did not know what day that would be. I ended up being in the system for close to a year in Ontario. The only reason I got through that was because of God’s divine care and will. He placed me with an East Indian foster family that were Christians. They were devote. They took me to church and introduced me to Christ. They enrolled me in Pioneers, a boys and girls Christian church club that taught about Jesus, the Bible and what being a disciple or follower of Jesus was all about. After family dinner, we would remain at the table and dad would led us in a family devotion time. We would read the Bible and then dad would ask us questions from the reading and what it meant? Even though I was living in the wilderness, God introduced Himself to me by placing me in a family that would introduce me to Him, and give me hope, His Living Hope, Jesus, to rely upon in those difficult days of being seperated from my mom.
I had a choice to make during that time, as I continually do to this day, everyday: I can choose to fill my life with ignorance or with hope (enlightenment). What I have found with ignorance towards God and His ways is that my heart becomes hard, critical and bitter. Ignorance leads to mistaken conduct and a lack of knowledge or knowing. Ignorance, according to the Apostle Paul, who was pretty ignorant before He met Christ, persecuting and killing Jewish believers as the deceived, is what keeps us from devotion to God; it is the characteristic of the lost. He says in Ephesians 4:18,
Therefore, I say this and testify in the Lord: You should no longer walk as the Gentiles walk, in the futility of their thoughts. They are darkened in their understanding, excluded from the life of God, because of the ignorance that is in them and because of the hardness of their hearts. They became callous and gave themselves over to promiscuity for the practice of every kind of impurity with a desire for more and more.
If it was not for God putting me in this Christian family, and their devotion to God and His instruction, and ways, I would still be living an ignorant life to this day. Because God drew me into the wilderness, I became willing to listen to His Hope. I was willing to allow my mind to become renewed by His truth, by His Hope, Jesus. I started reading the Bible, not consistently, but at age 12, how many kids are reading a Bible, much less consistently, not having grown up in the church or had parents that were believers? I would not call myself a committed Christian then, but I became familiar with God, with Jesus.
I believe, because of my introduction to Jesus, I choose not to leave my mom in Ontario. My aunt and uncle offered to my mom that they would take me to live with them and be their son. My mom offered this option to me during one of my weekly visits with her. I said no. Why? Because I thought that I would never see her again. When she did get out, what reason would she have to continue to live if I abandoned her? I realized that she needed me, more than I needed her at that time. So I said no to her offer and continued to live with my Christian family until she was released. I was being renewed in my mind to think about things the way Jesus may think about things; to handle things the way He may have choosen to. I loved my mom and I was not going to abandon her. She made a bad choice, and I was going to forgive her and wait for her.
The truth is it was not her last bad choice either. But the truth is this, when you put on the new nature of Christ, you live in the Living Hope, and live a new devotion. We can either choose to continue to live in ignorance of God and His good ways, or live enlightened by the Living Hope, Jesus Christ. We can harden our hearts and live in bitterness, critical of anyone and everyone, thinking everyone owes us and we are entitled. Or we can live free with lasting hope, realizing the wilderness is a God thing, designed to draw us to Him, releasing us of ignorance towards Him, and His ways. The choice is ours. One is the new life, one is the old.
But that is not how you learned about the Messiah, assuming you heard about Him and were taught by Him, because the truth is in Jesus. You took off your former way of life, the old self that is corrupted by deceitful desires; you are being renewed in the spirit of your minds; you put on the new self, the one created according to God’s likeness in righteousness and purity of the truth.
The New Nature is Found only in Christ (v.19-21)
The ability to think right and make the right choices, or wise thinking and choices, is part of our new nature established in Christ. By Christ’s shed blood, and the welcomed voice and work of the Spirit, in our lives, our devotion becomes reality. Sanctification, the process of become more devoted to God, is possible. Peter in his second letter to the Christians scattered and living amongest the pagan lost people of that world, says these words,
His divine power has given us everything required for life and godliness through the knowledge of Him who called us by His own glory and goodness. By these He has given us very great and precious promises, so that through them you may share in the divine nature, escaping the corruption that is in the world because of evil desires.
With a new nature comes the divine power of God to live life devoted to God through knowledge of Him. This knowledge is not just an acquiring of memory verses, stories and general knowledge about God. This is knowing that is realized through application, exercise. This is faith lived out. This is “because God said it, I do it, because He is true”. It is knowing that influences my whole being in choice, action and word. It is promises believed, acted upon and God experienced. It is faith conquering fear. It is sober minds melded with self-discipline, girded up by exercising our living hope in Christ, submitted to the Spirit’s leading. A sober mind loves to love and be fruitful. Active devotion keeps one from becoming useless or unfruitful. Peter again encourages the believers,
For this very reason, make every effort to supplement your faith with goodness, goodness with knowledge, knowledge with self-control, self-control with endurance, endurance with godliness, godliness with brotherly affection, and brotherly affection with love. For if these qualities are yours and are increasing, they will keep you from being useless or unfruitful in the knowledge of our Lord Jesus Christ.
The person who lacks these things is blind and shortsighted and has forgotten the cleansing from his past sins. Therefore, brothers, make every effort to confirm your calling and election, because if you do these things you will never stumble. For in this way, entry into the eternal kingdom of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ will be richly supplied to you.
How do you make sure of you entry into the Kingdom of God in these last days? Peter says, “confirm your calling” (v.10), meaning make certain your destination, your devotion by adding good practices, or disciplines to your devotion to Christ. Do good with knowing why, practice your faith with the goal of pleasing God, be self-controlled in all situations, good or bad, with the goal to endure, as the trial will not last and is God ordained, be devote in all things, especially in regards to affection with the your brothers and sisters in the Lord, love them sacrificially with the same love that the Lord Jesus loves you ( 2 Peter 1:5-11).
How is any of this possible unless we live devoted lives to God, by His divine power? We only participate with God, in His divine nature, if we commit to being devoted to Jesus, like God is holy devoted to Himself. Be devoted, for I Am devoted. Be sober-minded, for I Am sober-minded. Be self-disciplined, for Christ was self-disciplined. Set your mind upon the hope of the Living Hope, to come. This is the vigor of our hope and holiness. Amen.