Title: Called to Be Ye Holy

Text: 1 Peter 1:13-16

Date: 1/29/2006.am

Introduction:

In our text this morning Peter writes about preparing ourselves to be holy; preparing ourselves to live separated lives because of the salvation we have received in Jesus Christ.

In verses 10-12 Peter made some statements about salvation and its significance.

He explained that the gospel message he preached was not a new message. In other words the message of the cross was not and is not some strange new teaching. He said the prophets themselves, beginning almost 1500 years before Christ, understood the truth of cross although they didn’t know the exact details or circumstances or time when this event would come about. Peter even referred to the Holy Spirit as the “Spirit of Christ” in them that caused them to earnestly seek to know the time and circumstances of what they were prophesying about.

The Spirit had even revealed that the things they were speaking of wasn’t something they would experience. They were not serving themselves, but the things they foretold were for those who were now hearing the gospel. He also said the message of salvation was so great even the angels longed to see their fulfillment yet they also did not know when these things would come about but they looked intently with anticipation for the coming of Messiah.

1 Pet 1:13-15

The charge to be holy, however, is a very serious one, and every believer should take seriously and strive to be holy.

I. The charge to be Holy

The logical question is what does it mean to be holy

The literal meaning of the word means to be set apart for, or dedicated to service to God.

Paul writes in Col 1:21-22 And although you were formerly alienated and hostile in mind, {engaged} in evil deeds, yet He has now reconciled you in His fleshly body through death, in order to present you before Him holy and blameless and beyond reproach--(NAS)

Our position in Him is that of being holy.

However, holiness is also something we must live out in out daily lives. It involves several things.

Holiness has to do with personal character.

         Inner qualities of moral disposition.

                  natural tendencies in our character –

Holy character is doing the right thing even when no one else knows/

Not doing the wrong thing even when you know you won’t get caught.

Holiness involves our relationships.

         Who we associate with

         How we treat others

If we are to be holy our relationships with one another and with non-believers must be characterized by love.

We don’t condone sin, but we should desire just as God that all men be saved and come to the knowledge of the truth (1 Tim 2:4).

Holiness involves how we deal with our humanity.

Humanness is not an excuse to sin. True humanness is seen in the life of Jesus who was the perfect human. Christians are to be human as Jesus was human.

Holiness is human life lived as the creator intended it.

Dr. J I Packer summarizes it this way: Holiness is both outward and inward. It is a matter of both action and motivation, conduct and character, divine grace and human effort, consecration to God and commitment to people, self-discipline and self-giving, righteousness and love. It is a demonstration of faith working by love. It is supernatural in the sense of God’s grace working within us. It is natural in the sense of being our own humanness, lost through sin, misconceived through ignorance and through listening to current culture - but now in the process of restoration through the redirecting energy of the Holy Spirit at work within us making us new creations in Christ.

II. How do I achieve holiness in my life?

In verse 13 Peter shares with us three things that we are to do to bring about holiness in our lives.

         1. Be mentally prepared.

Peter says gird your minds for action.

         Know what God wants and expects from you as a believer.

Peter says we are to be mentally ready to live the Christian life. The Bible says in Rom 8:6-7 . . .the mind set on the flesh is death, but the mind set on the Spirit is life and peace, because the mind set on the flesh is hostile toward God; for it does not subject itself to the law of God, for it is not even able {to do so} (NAS) We want our minds to be able to be subject to God and ready to lead us to act according to that knowledge. Again in Romans the Bible says, . . .do not be conformed to this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind, that you may prove what the will of God is, that which is good and acceptable and perfect.(NAS).

We are to be established in faith dependent on the Word of God as our authority so that we make right choices and take right actions when confronted with temptation. We must be mentally prepared because when Satan’s attacks come we may not have time to look it up and meditate on it and then make a decision about what to choose or what to do.

1 Pet 1:17 . . .conduct yourselves in fear during the time of your stay {upon earth} Fear reflects an attitude of dependence on and accountability to God for the actions we take which is even more reason to be mentally prepared for action.

         2. Keep Sober

There is a two-fold meaning in what Peter tells us with this phrase. First the literal meaning of the Greek word is abstinence from wine and the avoidance of drunkenness.

It came to have a broader usage indicating overall self-control and clarity of mind - To be in control of    your environment

                                              your relationships

                                              your thoughts and actions

         3. Be focused

We are to be focused not on the things of this world. In other words we are not to dwell on worldly issues. That’s not to say that the things of this world are not important to us, indeed they are and what we already talked about deals with the things of this world. Relationships and actions and living in this world are important and need to be dealt with in a Christian manner. But what Peter says to us is these things can be most correctly dealt with and experienced and lived out when the focus of our lives is on the grace of God.

Don’t get sidetracked by the allure of temporal distractions.

When we are focused on the prize at the end we will better run the race set before us. Like the marathon runner it doesn’t matter who can sprint the fastest off the start line or what the first hundred yards are like but the focus is on the entire race and the prize lies at the end.

Christian holiness is about living for Jesus, as our hymn of invitation says this morning a life that is true striving to please Him in all that we do, our relationships , our character and our humanness through being mentally prepared for spiritual warfare, being sober and keeping focused. Are you living for Jesus this morning? If not we invite you to give yourself completely to Him this morning and be holy because He s holy.