1 Pet 1:13–25 Called to Be Holy in Exile

 Do people change? I remember debating with a friend years ago. His claim was that people could not change. I had just become a Christian and so my life was like a huge roller coaster of changes, so I had to passionately disagree. If we cannot change, discipleship is in vain. Perhaps, lack of discipleship in the church is an argument that people do not change. When we think about loved ones with bad habits, bad tempers, toxic behaviors, or people with addictions, we can easily become pessimistic about change in ourselves and others. Change is hard and often slow, but how can we be intentional about changing? How can I free myself from sinful habits? How can I change the way I interact with people I disagree with? How can I learn to extend mercy to the worst of sinners? How can I become more like Jesus? These questions lie behind the main theme and command of 1 Pet 1:13–25: “Be Holy.” Being Holy is being like God. If we want to obey this commandment we need to change. How do we do that? Being taught the truth does not change hearts. People who know smoking kills still smoke. People can believe Jesus died for them and still live with hatred in their hearts. Peter gives us two clues for change in 1 Pet 1:13–14, “prepare your minds for action,” and “do not be conformed to the passions of your former ignorance.” We prepare our minds and transform our passions by committing ourselves to apply and live by the truth so that our deepest feelings, longings, and passions are affected and change how we live. We will look at three truths Peter gives us to be holy. Knowing these truths will not make us holy until they affect how we understand our identity, how we feel, and how we live. The practice of digesting such truths for transformation is done through spiritual disciples, which require time, and energy, but lead to growth in intimacy with God and the fruit of the Spirit. These disciplines are prayer, meditation, study, fasting, solitude, worship, simplicity, service, and confession. Busy people do not have time for change. When we set time aside for God and practice the disciples, we become available for the work that God wants to do in us, to make us Holy as he is holy. In the rest of our time, we will focus on the three truths God wants us to make our own for our growth in holiness. Become Holy by focusing on (1) Jesus’ second coming, (2) the Father’s impartial judgment of every work, (3) our salvation through the precious blood of Christ.

First, we pursue holiness by hoping in the future, in Jesus’ second coming (1 Pet 1:13)

The study of the end-times for knowledge’s sake leads to debates and division in the church. Peter wants us to meditate on the future so that our minds would be transformed and we would hope in the appearing of Jesus Christ. Worldviews that guarantee a positive future are rare. Naturalists believe that after death, there is nothing. Muslims have such a high view of the sovereignty of God that they believe they can only go to Heaven if it is God’s will. But God is so distant, they cannot know for themselves. Peter wants Christians to be hopeful in the future. We can know that we will spend eternity in God’s presence. When we allow this truth to fully affect us, we become hopeful people. Paul wrote in Rom 8:18, “For I consider that the sufferings of this present time are not worth comparing with the glory that is to be revealed to us.” If you could measure the suffering of this life and the glory that is to come with a unit of intensity, the suffering of this life, whether persecution, cancer, or bereavement would be insignificant compared to the future glory. In order to be holy, Peter urges his readers to focus on the grace that Jesus will bring at his second coming. Because Jesus has already paid for the punishment for our sin, we can long for salvation when he returns to judge the world.

I want to apply future hope to being holy by looking at some of the 10 commandments. Murder flows from an angry and hateful heart. If we truly do believe that the sufferings of this present time are not worth comparing with the glory that is to be revealed, we are filled with joy, not hatred. Adultery and lust focus entirely on the present. There is no concern for a spouse or the feelings of the person we are be lusting after. We lie for different reasons: fear, convenience, or shame. When we lie to get ahead, we are so focused on avoiding uncomfortable present realities, when all along focusing on the future glory allows us to endure all things in the present. Some steal for thrills. In general, when we lie on our taxes or take something that does not belong to us, we forget that where we are going, we cannot take money. Theft is short-sighted. Jealousy is also short-sighted. God has already provided for our future. I need to spend more time focusing on Jesus’ second coming and the grace that I will receive. We tend to worry about the unknown future. God has given us a gift. He has revealed a future that will be greater beyond our wildest dreams. Let us live in the present with our hope set on the future reward that awaits us that includes being declared righteous at the final judgment, the crown of life, an eternity of bliss in God’s presence, with no death, illnesses, or any form of suffering. May these truths change us.

Second, we pursue holiness By Worshiping our Father in Heaven is Holy and a Just Judge (1 Pet 1:14–17)

The concept of continuing the family business does not exist much in the west anymore. With my last name, Bacon, I assume my family sold bacon on the market. Rachel’s maiden name is “Brouwer,” which means brewer, so her family brewed beer in the Netherlands. Bessie’s former last name, Shoemaker, implies her family made shoes. In a family business, children learn the profession of the parents. This concept is found in the Bible. Adam and Eve were made in the image of God, so they were his children. They were told to go about their Father’s business, rule the earth, and subdue it in the same way God rules over the universe. The people of Israel are called, Son of God in Exod 4:23, and are told in Lev 19:2 “You shall be holy, for I the LORD your God am holy.” Gentile Christians are also children of God, so we must be like God. Peter repeats Lev 19:2 to Christians, “Be Holy, for I am holy,” in 1 Pet 1:16. Transformed lives flow out of a transformed mind. The mind is responsible for how we think, how we love, how we feel, how we relate, how we react, how we worship! When we love God intimately and spend time with him, God renews our minds and makes us more like him (Ps 115:8). We become like the people around us. This is how peer-pressure works. The first time a child comes home with a swear word they never heard at home, you know they are spending time with the wrong crowd. The wrong crowd influences our thoughts, and feelings, and affections. The ultimate crowd we are to spend time with is the Trinity. 5 minutes a day in prayer will do little to impact your thoughts and emotions to be holy. For a meaningful, intimate relationship with the God of the Universe, we must be intentional about setting time aside. This is not in a legalistic statement implying you need to pray/read the Bible/go to church, to earn points. But rather out of love, we long to spend time with our maker, savior, and sustainer, and want to see him conform us to the image of his son!

Because God is Holy, he will judge each one fairly according to their work. If you are Christian, you will be judged according to the work of Christ and declared justified. However, we should not become careless. If we believe God is judge we must “fear him.” This means we must care about what he thinks. When we fear for our reputation, we fear the judgment of men, when we fear God, we live to please him, despite what others think. We know that God hates sin and will judge the world, and yet, often, this knowledge fails to change us. No one becomes good by memorizing laws. Everyone already knows that murder, lying, and theft are wrong. We must prepare our minds and transform our passions. Worship is a powerful activity that changes us. Worship ascribes worth to God. It includes statements that we pronounce. We must understand those statements and allow the truths about God to sink into our hearts. The truths about God’s power, his justice, his mercy, his wisdom move us and lead us to joy, love, and desire to fear him, to be like him.

Third, we Pursue Holiness by Focusing on the Gospel (1 Pet 1:18–25).

1 Pet 1:3–12 was entirely focused on the gospel. The gospel is the good news that Jesus, the King of creation, arrived to bring salvation to the world by laying down his life for the sins of the world so that all who trust in him would have eternal life! Flowing out of the theme of the gospel, 1 Pet 1:13–25 says, therefore, live holy lives. We do not try to earn our way to heaven by being holy. We have eternal life today because Jesus was holy on our behalf. Eternal life is a life of submission to Jesus as king. Peter writes that we live holy lives by hoping in the future grace at Christ’s coming, we contemplate on God’s just and holy character, but also, we are holy because God saved us to live as a saved people. 1 Pet 1:18 says we were ransomed out of the futile ways of our forefathers. The concept of a ransom with gold and silver alludes to one purchasing the freedom for a slave. Our Christian salvation is God purchasing our lives from the slavery of sin, paying with the invaluable blood of Christ. Peter goes on to specify that those who are saved are those who trusted in Jesus, who God raised from the dead and gave glory to. When we think about what it requires to be a Christian, the New Testament is clear that it is belief/trust/faith. However, we know that the devil believes, and he is not saved. Saving faith is trust in our hearts that Christ’s work on the cross was for us personally. Being a Christian is not just intellectually accepting that Jesus died for sins, but entering into a personal relationship with God, based on his sacrifice for us. The result of the gospel is our new reality. 1 Pet 1:22 says our souls have been purified. We pursue holiness in our lives because God calls us pure. Our holiness is already a reality in God’s eyes because we benefit from Jesus’ perfect record. As a result of meditating on the gospel and the reality that we are forgiven, clean, adopted as daughters and sons, we desire to love everyone around us. Peter writes in 1 Pet 1:22–23, “out of cleansed hearts, love one another eagerly.” The gospel is that we were enemies of God, yet, he loved us. He sent his son to die for us, while we were his enemies. A person transformed from this reality, loves. We are called to love sacrificially, even our enemies because God loved us when we were his enemy. What does it look like to be holy like that and love our enemy?

Illustration: In The Grace of Giving, Stephen Olford tells of a Baptist pastor during the American Revolution, Peter Miller, who lived in Ephrata, Pennsylvania, and enjoyed the friendship of George Washington. In Ephrata also lived Michael Wittman, an evil-minded sort who did all he could to oppose and humiliate the pastor. One day Michael Wittman was arrested for treason and sentenced to die. Peter Miller traveled seventy miles on foot to Philadelphia to plead for the life of the traitor. "No, Peter," General Washington said. "I cannot grant you the life of your friend." "My friend!" exclaimed the old preacher. "He's the bitterest enemy I have." "What?" cried Washington. "You've walked seventy miles to save the life of an enemy? That puts the matter in different light. I'll grant your pardon." And he did. Peter Miller took Michael Wittman back home to Ephrata--no longer an enemy but a friend.

Conclusion. Our call in 1 Pet 1:13–25 is to be like God. Peter presents three glorious truths that we need to meditate upon to grow in the likeness of Christ: Jesus’ second coming and our final justification, the just and holy character of God, and focusing on the gospel. Our faith is to be reasonable, but a mature Christian believes these truths with all their heart. This takes time. It takes discipline. We need Christian fellowship, private prayer, fasting, serving other people, the sacraments, worship, study, and confession of sin. The more time we spend growing in intimacy with the LORD, the more we make ourselves available to the work of the Spirit. The more we will be Holy as our Father in heaven is holy.