An Exposition of 1 Peter, part 5: Be Ye Holy for I Am Holy

1 Peter 1:13-16 “Therefore gird up the loins of your mind, be sober, and rest your hope fully upon the grace that is to be brought to you at the revelation of Jesus Christ; as obedient children, not conforming yourselves to the former lusts, as in your ignorance; but as He who called you is holy, you also be holy in all your conduct, because it is written, “Be holy, for I am holy.””

Introduction

In the last lesson, we saw that our hope is grounded in the Scripture of the Old Testament, in particular, the prophecies contained concerning Christ. In addition to this is the content of the Gospel which had been preached to the believers Peter is addressing. Today, we have the sufficient content of these teachings in the New Testament, which with the Old Testament is the rule of faith for the church. The third element is the work of the Holy Spirit in interpreting and applying the Scripture to the believer’s heart. All this is so that the believer is able to stand firm in times of persecution.

Exposition of the Text

Wherefore, gird up the loins of your mind and be sober minded — Christian teaching in the Bible is a mixture of doctrine and praxis (putting doctrine into practice). The truth of God’s word has implications. This passage tells the believer to gird up the loins of his mind. A more modern understanding of this is “Let the truth that was just learned undergird the way one lives the Christian life.” In Peter’s day. especially in the Near East where Peter was from, men wore long flowing robes. But these robes could get in the way when hard work or running was necessary. So the man would tuck the robe up into his belt so that he could move more easily. It was preparation for work. So what Peter is saying is for the believer to prepare his mind for work. The Christian is not to leave his mind at the door. Christianity is not just an emotional experience. It involves thinking. It involves sober thinking. there is a seriousness to the Christian life. The brain is the biggest muscle in the body and needs to be exercised just like any other muscle. This is hard work. The believer is to put his mind to the study and hearing of God’s word.

Completely set your hope in the grace which has been brought to you by the revelation of Jesus Christ — This is open to several interpretations. The first revolves around the word “completely.” The Greek word is an adverbial form of the word “telos” which can be translated “perfectly”, “completely”, or “to the end.” If placed with the previous phrase, it gives the idea of being completely or perfectly sober-minded. Some translations say “unto the end” with the idea that the believer is to continue in hope to the end when Christ is revealed (come again). The third and I think the best option is to modify the verb “hope” which comes immediately afterwards in the Greek text. This gives the rendering “completely hope.” The reason this is the best is that “hope” is the main verb in the sentence. This makes “gird”, which is a participle subordinate to hope, even though it is translated by the imperative in English. The same thing happens in the Great Commission of Matthew 28:19-20. The “go” is often emphasized in the English text, but it is a participle, just as baptizing and teaching are. The main verb is “make disciples.” the “go” just tells one where the commission is to be carried out. “Baptizing” and “teaching” tell us how making disciples is to be done. The important thing is to make disciples. Here, the important thing is to “completely set your hope.”

Grace is the object of our hope that we are to seriously consider. Grace is a “comfort” word. It warms our emotions. However, “grace” is by itself an abstract noun. It must be defined in concrete terms. “Love” is another emotional word. In the Christian context, love is not a state of being. It is demonstrated by one’s actions. Grace is defined by its object. Here, Peter says that grace is demonstrated by God in His revelation of Jesus Christ. John 3:16 is the demonstration of God’s grace as much as it is of God’s love for humanity. Although this revelation can refer to Jesus’ return, it seems that we should take the broader context of Jesus’ incarnation, life among us, His sacrificial death for our sins, His resurrection, His ascension, His heavenly intercession, in addition to His return. All of this is the demonstration of God’s grace in Jesus Christ which has been revealed to us. In this we set our hope.

As obedient children, not conforming to your former ignorant lusts — Peter has already introduced us to the fact that God has ordained the sanctification of the believers. This is the work of the Holy Spirit, and the fruit of sanctification is obedience (1 Peter 1:2). The believer is then set apart from their previous life which was characterized by living a sinful life. They were acting in ignorance, often willful ignorance, of the truth. Romans 1:19 and other Scripture informs us that God has implanted the knowledge of Him into the hearts of every believer. Incorporated in this is the knowledge of right and wrong. They also know they stand condemned before God. This they know and suppress. The Law gives even clearer knowledge of the sinner’s predicament. What they are ignorant of is the Good News of the Gospel of Jesus Christ. They need to know there is hope for them. They need to know that this hope goes far beyond simply wiping the slate of offenses against God clean. What lies ahead for the believer is everlasting life and joy. But now the believers have been enlightened to God’s grace in Jesus Christ. The believer is to stop living a life of ignorance. As Paul puts it “Do not be conformed to this world, but be ye transformed” (Romans 12:1-2). We are transformed to do God’s will. Peter uses the same Greek word for “conformity” here that Paul uses.

But because the One who calls you is holy — Holiness is part of God’s being. He is set apart from creation because His is the Creator of Heaven and Earth. The phrase is introduced by the strong Greek word for “but” (alla). This conjunction tells us that we are to discard the previous idea and replace it with this one. Conformity to the former ignorant and sinful life is to be replaced by a life that is set apart unto God which is based upon the true knowledge.

Be ye holy in all of your conduct — Peter adds an additional pronoun in Greek to add force to the pronoun “ye” (you all). As “holy in all your conduct also precedes the verb “be”, the command to be holy is very strong. The plural “you all” refers to the church body as a whole as well as individually. The Children of Israel in the wilderness were called out by God as a whole as well as individually. The church and the believers are to set their minds to conduct themselves according to the new reality. the children of Israel were no longer slaves. They were redeemed from Egyptian bondage. when one looks at Exodus 20:1, one notices that this truth is set before the ten commandments were given. This is the basis for their new conduct which was based upon their having been redeemed. They were free by God’s grace for a purpose. Although the Ten Commandments rightly express God’s will for all of humanity, we as Christians live by even a higher standard. It is regulated by what we think as well as what we do. This requires us to soberly assess where we stand in relation to the new man. We need to always gird the loins of our mind.

Even as it is written: “Be ye holy, for I am Holy.” — We have already discovered that Peter has upheld the authority of the Scripture, here the Old Testament. So he now quotes Leviticus 11:44 which was originally spoken to the Children of Israel in the wilderness. But these words were not merely spoken to Israel nearly 3500 years ago. These words spoke directly to Peter’s congregations as well as to us today. The expression of holiness appears different on the surface. We no longer do ritual washings or offer daily animal sacrifices to remind us that we have been set apart unto God. Rather we remember that Christ has washed us clean and has offered Himself as our only and sufficient sacrifice. This is what is to guide our conduct.

Application

I have been around Christians for several decades now. When outside the church building, we all seem to be preoccupied by earthly matters. We talk about politics. We talk about sports. We talk about conflicts and wars. We brag a lot. We talk about all sorts of mundane things. To be honest, we all speak about the same things the heathens do. We do not demonstrate being set apart unto God very well at all. We give short time to God on Sunday morning at church. Even here, when Christians gather, they are basically recapping the week. Until the prelude warns us that we must now shift gears and put our holy faces on, our thoughts are elsewhere. Only rarely is the talk before church service giving God praise. we spend as much time murmuring with each other as the Children of Israel did in the wilderness. This is expressly what this passage tells us not to do.

Certainly there is a lot of trouble and uncertainty in the world. But how are we to respond to it? Should we grumble and murmur? The reason that the churches, at least here in America, are struggling and dying is simply that the church no longer fixes its gaze upon God. We take salvation in Jesus Christ and God’s other great works for granted. We concentrate upon receiving material blessings instead and see God as the means of attaining them. What is sorely needed in the church is repentance. The word for repentance in Hebrew means to turn towards. We need to turn away from worldly affairs and unto God and His agenda. The word in Greek means “to rethink” or “reconsider.” This is a word for the church today. We call on others to repent and believe the Gospel, but we do not realize how sorely we need to repent. We previously looked at Romans 12:1-2 earlier in this sermon. We are not to be conformed. Paul then adds “be ye transformed by the renewing of your mind.” Even though the word “repent” i not used in this passage, this is a good definition of it. The Greek work for “transformed” is the word we get “metamorphosis” from. This is the term scientist use for the translation of a Caterpillar to a beautiful butterfly. We need transformation, and not merely an emotional catharsis. We need to set our mind upon the task that is set before us. We need to be constantly looking unto Jesus, the author and finisher of our faith. We need to set our minds to be what we are called to be. We have a far greater future ahead of us if we faint not. We are pilgrims here, let us act like pilgrims.