The motivation for sanctification, 1 Peter 1: 17-25

Last week, we ended our study in the preceding verses by expounding the text found in vs 16, “YOU SHALL BE HOLY, FOR I AM HOLY.”  This is God’s command to the church, as it was His command to the Israelites.  God first said it in Leviticus 11:44.  Then Peter updates it under the new covenant to the church, so that it becomes the commandment for our sanctification.  We are made holy and righteous positionally due to our justification. We are credited with the righteousness of Jesus Christ to our account.  But then we are becoming holy practically through the process of sanctification.  Sanctification is the practice of becoming who you were created to be.  It is the process of becoming conformed to the image of Jesus Christ as we walk in His footsteps, according to the pattern which he laid for us.

Peter speaks about this pattern of sanctification in chapter 2:21 saying, “For you have been called for this purpose, since Christ also suffered for you, leaving you an example for you to follow in His steps.” The word in the Greek translated as example is “hypogrammos”, which means a writing copy of the letters of the alphabet, which was given to children as an aid in learning to draw them.  We still give school children such things today, letting them trace over the letters so that they may learn to write.  In the same manner,  we are to live in such a way that we follow the example laid down by Jesus, so that we might be conformed to His image.  In this way, as we are obedient to His word,  we become like Him. That is the process of sanctification that Peter is referring to here; that we may become holy in all our behavior, even as He is holy.

So in preparation for the rest of the epistle’s emphasis on holy living, he gives us a list of reasons by which we should find motivation to become sanctified. 

Now his whole epistle is really teaching us and instructing us how we are to live now that we are Christians, how we are to become like Christ. And in these last verses of the first chapter, he is presenting this list of reasons to us in order to motivate us to be sanctified.  Because the process of sanctification is not something achieved on autopilot.  Peter has already alluded in vs 6 to the fact that suffering trials is often part and parcel of the process of sanctification.  So Peter wants to motivate us to persevere in sanctification.

It’s kind of like working out.  We all know the benefits of working out.  We know that it’s the means of staying healthy and fit and being energetic and having a productive life.  But we also know it’s something that takes discipline, it’s hard work.  It’s not always fun.  But the end goal makes it worth it.  That same mindset is applicable to our sanctification as well, when we work out our salvation with fear and trembling.  As Paul said in Phil. 2:12-13 “So then, my beloved, just as you have always obeyed, not as in my presence only, but now much more in my absence, work out your salvation with fear and trembling;  for it is God who is at work in you, both to will and to work for [His] good pleasure.”

I don’t know about you, but I find that I need motivation in order to stick with my work out regime.  I sometimes find that motivation in reading certain books, or watching videos or something on you tube in order to motivate myself to keep going.  And I suppose that Peter adds this list for the same effect; hoping to motivate us in this process of sanctification, and remind us of the benefits in store, that we might not fall short of our purpose.

So the first motivation for our sanctification he gives is because God is our Father.  He says in vs 17, “If you address as Father the One who impartially judges according to each one’s work, conduct yourselves in fear during the time of your stay on earth.”  Our primary motivation to become holy should be because we are the children of God. We have been born again of the Spirit of God. Our Father is holy, and as His children our desire should be to please our Father and be like our Father.  And even as our earthly fathers are wont to do, our Heavenly Father will bring discipline to bear in order to correct us when our behavior does not meet His expectations.  

There is a lot of push in evangelical circles today to make the fear of God into something less onerous, something more in the way of awe or respect.  And awe and respect  certainly are a part of the fear of God.  But when you look at the way the word fear is used in the vast majority of cases in the New Testament,  it means more than that.  The Greek word is phobos, which is the word we get phobia from.  And it means terror, dread, reverence.  For instance, when the disciples were on the sea in the storm and the waves terrified them, the word used is phobos.  So there is a real fear that should come from realizing the holiness of God, and that He is our Father who will discipline us for our good, according to Hebrews 12:10, that we might share in His holiness.

You know, when I was a kid, nothing struck fear into my heart and kept me in line more than my mother saying, “Wait until your father gets home. I’m going to tell him what you’ve done.”  I knew that my Dad would give me a spanking.  But contrary to all the psycho babble that you hear from parenting gurus today, that discipline did not make me love my Dad less. Nor did I ever believe after I had been on the receiving end of discipline that my Dad did not love me. Proper discipline is an expression of love.  In fact, Hebrews tells us that whom God loves He disciplines, and if you are without discipline, you are not really His child.  So a healthy fear of God produces sanctification in His children.

There is another type of fear though that should be mentioned.  And that is a fear of bringing shame upon Him.  If you have a holy reverence for your Father, you would be careful not to ever do anything by which you might bring shame upon the family name.  I remember my Dad telling me when I was a young boy, that the Harrell’s may not have much, but they did have a good name, and I should never do anything to bring shame upon that name. That kind of attitude is the attitude we should have towards our Lord.  So our first motivation for sanctification should be because God is our Father.

The second reason for motivation Peter says is because our citizenship is in heaven.  He says, “conduct yourselves in fear during the time of your stay on earth.”  What he’s saying, in reality, is that we don’t live here, we are just resident aliens.  Some of the other translations may say it differently than the NASB, such as the KJV which says “the time of your sojourning.”  NIV says, “as foreigners.”  The RSV says the “time of your exile.”  

I remember a movie I saw many years ago, in which the main character was referred to by someone as being like a “prince in exile.”  That phrase always stuck with me for some reason. That’s what we are to live like.  Paul said in Phil. 3:20 “For our citizenship is in heaven.”  He expands on that idea in Col. 3:2 “Set your mind on the things above, not on the things that are on earth.”  Because heaven is our home.  We’re just passing through here. We are born of a royal lineage, we belong to a different kingdom, we live by a superior constitution, we have a better heritage.

The third reason for our motivation for sanctification Peter gives is because of the price of our redemption.  The priceless cost of our ransom should motivate us to be sanctified.  If you have ever purchased something extremely valuable, or been given something extremely valuable, then you should recognize that because of how much it cost you are very careful in the way that you handle it. I used to sometimes have that experience in the antiques field in which I used to work.  I had a problem with damaging things soon after I got them.  Something could have survived in perfect condition for a hundred years, but an hour after I got it I broke it.  

But if I bought something that was extremely valuable, that had taken all my money and then some, I handled it very carefully.  I would put it where it would not be touched, where it would be safe, because I knew how valuable it was.

In a similar respect, when we come to know the supreme cost which Jesus paid to effect our redemption, the price that He paid to pay our ransom, then how careful should we be to handle our salvation. We certainly shouldn’t  want it stained and soiled by the world. Paul said in 1Cor. 6:19-20 “Or do you not know that your body is the temple of the Holy Spirit [who is] in you, whom you have from God, and you are not your own?  For you were bought at a price; therefore glorify God in your body and in your spirit, which are God’s.” 

Notice how Peter describes our redemption as from the futile way of life inherited from our forefathers.  What he is saying there is that our life before our redemption was empty, it was meaningless.  Like Solomon says in Ecclesiastes, our lives were vanity, chasing after the wind. Our lives were purposeless.  There is nothing more unfulfilling than chasing after the lusts of the world.  They never satisfy you.  You never get enough.  Whether it’s money, or sex or alcohol or fame or whatever this world has to offer, it’s never enough.  Only God satisfies.  Only God is able to fill the hole in your soul.  

Notice also the price of our redemption.  What kind of price can you put on a life?  When someone is killed in an accident, and it’s someone else’s fault, the relatives may find themselves in front of a court that will determine the monetary compensation for the loss of life.  And usually it is in the millions of dollars when someone has lost a life. 

But the price of our redemption is even harder to fathom.  Peter says it was “with precious blood, as of a lamb unblemished and spotless, the blood of Christ.”  The word precious there was commonly used in reference to precious stones, things of great value.  The price of our redemption required first of all that the substitute would be holy, blameless and spotless.  The price required a human life.  But it also required  Deity.  If there can scarcely be a value determined for a man, how can you put a value on the very God Himself who took on flesh? How can you put a value on the supreme righteousness of a Holy God?

Think of it! The only Son of God died for sinners.  The innocent suffered for the guilty. The King of Kings offered His life for peasants.  The perfect for the imperfect.  The spotless for the stained. How can we consider such a cost paid for our penalty and not be motivated to live for Him?

The next motivation for our sanctification is because it is the eternal plan of God. Vs 20, “For He was foreknown before the foundation of the world, but has appeared in these last times for the sake of you.”  At some unknown time long before the creation of the universe, the Godhead agreed together on the plan of salvation.  God did not convene a meeting several hundred years after Noah and say “hey, we need to come up with some way to fix this mess.”  But in the omnipotence and sovereignty of God the Trinity designed a plan long before the world was even formed.  The word world there is kosmos, which indicates all the stars and planets.  

Now the idea of foreknowledge there in relation to Christ may be better understood as predestined.  It was determined beforehand which of the Deity would become flesh and offer themselves as a substitional sacrifice for man’s sin.  Jesus Christ volunteered to leave His glory in heaven, and forever take on human flesh. 

And notice that Peter says this was done for us.  For you. For your sakes, he says.  God made this grand plan to bring about your salvation, in His foreknowledge electing those who would be saved.  And knowing that we are a part and the purpose of this grand design should motivate us to be all that God has designed us to be.

Another reason Peter gives for our sanctification is that we might love one another.  Vs 22, “Since you have in obedience to the truth purified your souls for a sincere love of the brethren, fervently love one another from the heart.”   Jesus said that a new commandment He gave to us, which was to love one another. But our sanctification enables us to love one another as we ought, and that is because sanctification purifies your heart.  

Some of the other versions include the word pure in the last phrase, so that it would read; “love one another fervently with a pure heart.”  See, love that does not come from a pure heart is hypocritical love.  It’s love for show. It’s love for an ulterior motive.  But love from a pure heart is one in which there is no guile.  It’s love in which there is no jealousy, no selfish motives, no strife. 

Paul said this is pure love of the brethren; “Love is patient and kind; love does not envy or boast; it is not arrogant  or rude. It does not insist on its own way; it is not irritable or resentful;  it does not rejoice at wrongdoing, but rejoices with the truth.  Love bears all things, believes all things, hopes all things, endures all things.  Love never ends. (1 Cor. 13:4)

Only by sanctification can we love like that.  That’s why Peter says in vs 22, that we must in obedience to the truth purify our souls so that we might have a sincere love of the brethren. Sanctification is the sacrifice of self for the sake of Christ.  And only in that way can we be sincere in our love for one another, with a pure heart, without selfish motives.

There is another reason Peter gives that should motivate us in our sanctification, and that is because you have been born again. Vs 23, “for you have been born again not of seed which is perishable but imperishable, that is, through the living and enduring word of God.”  Born again means that we are a new creation, old things are passed away, and all things have become new.  Born again means we have a new nature, a new spirit, a new hope, a new perspective, a new reason to live, a new life in Christ.

This present body was born of perishable seed.  My father died, as his father died, and his father before him.  One day this body of mine will die. But when I became born again, I received eternal life immediately, and the promise of a new, glorified body at the resurrection when Jesus returns.  I received this eternal life by promise.  It is written in the Bible, God’s word.  It was proclaimed by Jesus, that whosoever believes in Me will never die. 

What Peter indicates here is that the word of God is the imperishable seed by which man is born again.  Paul said in 1Cor. 1:21 “For after that in the wisdom of God the world by wisdom knew not God, it pleased God by the foolishness of preaching to save them that believe.”  

I’m sure you all are familiar with the parable of the soils that Jesus gave.  He spoke of man sowing seed, and some fell on rocky ground, some fell beside the road and were eaten by the birds, some sprouted up but were choked out by weeds, some fell on good soil.  And when the disciples asked Him to explain the parable He said that the seed was the word of God. Peter must have been thinking of that parable when he wrote this verse.  The imperishable seed is the word of God which endures forever.  

There is another reason for our sanctification that bears mentioning, and that is because this life is soon past.  Peter quoting from Isaiah 40 says, “ALL FLESH IS LIKE GRASS, AND ALL ITS GLORY LIKE THE FLOWER OF GRASS. THE GRASS WITHERS, AND THE FLOWER FALLS OFF.   James said something similar in James 4:14 “whereas you do not know what [will happen] tomorrow. For what [is] your life? It is even a vapor that appears for a little time and then vanishes away.”  

There was a saying that I heard my mother repeat many times growing up.  I don’t know who the original author was, but she used to say, “Only one life will soon be past, only what’s done for Christ will last.”   Why would we waste this life, purchased at such a great cost, chasing after the things of this world which will soon be over? I’m just amazed at how quickly life is passing by.  Each year goes more swiftly than the last.  More and more friends and loved ones have passed over to the other side.

Only one life will soon be past, only what’s done for Christ will last.  I want to use whatever time I have left to serve the Lord, to do those things which are pleasing to Him. I’m going to see Him one day soon.  I hope that I will be found faithful when that day comes. On that day, my time of sanctification will be complete, and God will complete that which He began in me.  1John 3:2 says, “Beloved, we are God's children now, and what we will be has not yet appeared; but we know that when he appears we shall be like him, because we shall see him as he is.”

There is one final motivation for our sanctification, and that is because the word of the Lord endures forever.  The word of God is given to be our rule and guide for this life.  But it will also be the rule and guide for eternity.  How much then should we even now be living in obedience to the word of God?  Remember what Peter said back in vs 22?  In obedience to the truth purify your souls.  Sanctification comes through obedience to the word of God.  Sanctification doesn’t happen through some sort of ecstatic experience.  It’s not through ritual, or ceremony or keeping the Sabbath or observing some other religious holiday.  But it’s through obedience to the truth.  Because the truth is the word of God, and it endures forever.  It is the imperishable seed by which we live by faith.   It’s the means by which we walk by faith. 

Listen, sanctification is simply living by faith in the word of God. Day by day, moment by moment.  We are saved by faith, and so we live by faith.  We trust and obey every day, relying on the truth of God’s word for every word and deed.  Man shall not live by bread alone, but by every word that proceeds from the mouth of God.  His word will sustain you and strengthen you, and equip you to do His will. 

Heb 12:12-14  Therefore, strengthen the hands that are weak and the knees that are feeble,  and make straight paths for your feet, so that [the limb] which is lame may not be put out of joint, but rather be healed. Pursue peace with all men, and the sanctification without which no one will see the Lord.

The Sanctity of our Salvation, 1 Peter 1:10 - 16

As we began our study of 1 Peter a couple of weeks ago we first looked at the surety of our salvation in vs1-5, as Peter tells us we are chosen according to the foreknowledge of God the Father, by the sanctifying work of the Spirit, to obey Jesus Christ and be sprinkled with His blood, who according to His great mercy has caused us to be born again to a living hope through the resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead, to obtain an inheritance which is imperishable and undefiled and will not fade away, reserved in heaven, and protected by the power of God through faith for a salvation ready to be revealed in the last time.  What a tremendous salvation has been granted to us by faith in Christ, that is promised by the Father, sealed by the Holy Spirit, and signed with the blood of Jesus Christ.   That is the surety of our salvation.

Then in vs 6-9 we looked at the sanctification of our salvation, brought about by the proving of our faith, even through sufferings, as we are tested by fire, that our faith might be refined like pure gold.  Now today, we look at the sanctity of our salvation, in which the Spirit of Christ working in us, through the scriptures, we become holy even as He is Holy.

So Peter continues by expounding the sanctity of our salvation in vs 10 saying, “As to this salvation…” Though it may seem superfluous when preaching to the choir, I should make sure that everyone understands what salvation is.  The word salvation in both natural and spiritual applications means very simply deliverance from peril.  In human terms, if you were at the beach, wading in the water and suddenly a great wave came and knocked you off your feet, and then the undertow from that wave caused a rip current to pull you out to sea, and you could not swim, you would be in very grave danger of drowning unless someone came to save you. A rescuer who was capable of not only swimming against the current, and contending with the waves, but someone who was able to also carry you back to safety. 

I’m sure you have heard of people who had some sort of escape from death, perhaps they even went so far as to have a near death experience, and afterwards they believed that they had a new purpose in life.  They certainly had a new perspective on life and from that day on they lived differently.  

I suppose in many respects you could say spiritual salvation is like that.  But in the spiritual realm, the Bible teaches that all men are lost, swept up in the current of the world and held captive by sin, and in imminent danger of eternal death.  Our salvation comes about by calling upon the name of Jesus, who is able to save, who has overcome the world and sin and death, and so He is able to save us as well.  But His purpose in saving us is not to just deliver us from death, but to give us new life.  And like the person who had the near death experience, our experience of salvation gives us a new perspective on life, which causes us to live differently from that day forward.

Theologians tell us that salvation has a three fold purpose; to deliver us from the penalty of sin, to deliver us from the power of sin, and to deliver us from the presence of sin. And make no mistake, sin is the antithesis of life.  Sin causes death.  Sin destroys life. So salvation delivers us from the penalty, the power and the presence of sin so that we might have life and have it more abundantly. 

 Now those three phases are often spoken of in theological terms as justification, sanctification, and glorification.  In justification, when we by faith believe in Jesus Christ and trust Him as our Savior and Lord, we are delivered from the penalty of sin, and given new life.  In sanctification, we are delivered from the power of sin. Sin no longer has dominion over us, but the Lord is our new master.  Paul speaking of this in Romans 6:18-19 says, “and having been freed from sin, you became slaves of righteousness.  For just as you presented your members as slaves to impurity and to lawlessness, resulting in [further] lawlessness, so now present your members as slaves to righteousness, resulting in sanctification.”

And then the final phase is glorification, when we are delivered at Christ’s second coming from the presence of sin.  We will be given a new, glorified body without a sin nature, to live in a new world without sin. That aspect of our salvation is still to come, as Peter mentions in vs 13 saying, “fix your hope completely on the grace to be brought to you at the revelation of Jesus Christ.”  As you can see, there is a past, present and future tense to grace as well. Grace is God’s gift of salvation in all it’s effects. As the scripture says, He gives us “grace upon grace.”

Now this grace was made manifest by proclamation.  Peter says, it was proclaimed to you by the prophets of old. Vs 10, “As to this salvation, the prophets who prophesied of the grace that would come to you made careful searches and inquiries, seeking to know what person or time the Spirit of Christ within them was indicating as He predicted the sufferings of Christ and the glories to follow.”  He is speaking of the Old Testament prophets.  And he is saying that their proclamation came by inspiration of the Spirit of Christ.   What’s interesting is that Peter says that the Spirit of Christ prophesied of His own sufferings and the glories to follow.  And another point he makes is that they did not fully comprehend all that the Spirit was saying through them, but they came to understand that they were speaking to us in the future who would understand.  

It’s almost as if they were adding pieces to a puzzle that they could not see finished.  But generation after generation, the prophets were given inspiration in a continuous progression of truth, so that the picture began to be filled in more and more.  I think he’s indicating that they looked at and studied previously written scriptures in order to try to understand what the Spirit was saying. 

Peter expands on the same idea in vs 12 saying,  “It was revealed to them that they were not serving themselves, but you, in these things which now have been announced to you through those who preached the gospel to you by the Holy Spirit sent from heaven--things into which angels long to look.”

That last phrase indicates that the angels also are seeking to understand the prophecies of the gospel.  Salvation is not a grace that is given to angels.  And so it speaks of our better position than that of the angels.  Hebrews chapter 2 says we were made lower than the angels for a little while, but at the consummation of all things, Jesus said we will one day judge angels.  And so it would seem that our salvation is of great interest to the angels and they are observing the prophecies come to fulfillment even as we are.

You know, Peter said something to Jesus one day in response to His question if they were going to leave Him too, and Peter said, “Lord, to whom shall we go? You have words of eternal life.”  And that understanding is fundamental to our salvation, and to this life we have been given.  That’s why it’s so important to recognize what Peter says about the inspiration of the scriptures, it comes by the Spirit of Christ.  I think he uses that title intentionally to signify the unity of scripture.  That the same Spirit of Christ that spoke through the prophets in the Old Testament also spoke as the Word made flesh in His earthly ministry, and still speaks to us today through the epistles of the apostles which are the scriptures.  

Please understand that the gospel of salvation was foreordained before creation.  The gospel of salvation was manifested by typology and allegory and metaphor from Adam to Noah, from Abraham to Moses and so on through the prophets.  It’s the same gospel that Jesus preached.  And it’s a gospel of salvation from death to life.  The word of Christ is life.  Jesus quoting from Deuteronomy said, “Man shall not live by bread alone but by every word that proceeds from the mouth of God.”  If you want to have the abundant life that Jesus spoke of, then you need to live by the word, you need to obey the word.  That’s the sanctifying work of the Holy Spirit which Peter referred to in vs2, when he said, according to the sanctifying work of the Holy Spirit that you may obey Jesus Christ.   

This is the Word of Life.  Eat it and live.  Aren’t you glad that the prophets of old wrote it down?  Aren’t you glad we don’t depend upon oral tradition?  Every word, every syllable has been meted out by the Holy Spirit and tried and tested and is true.  Psalm 12:6, “The words of the LORD are pure words: as silver tried in a furnace of earth, purified seven times.”  Some of us are anemic, weak Christians because of a lack of spiritual food. Peter is going to say in the beginning of the next chapter, 1Peter 2:2 that we should, “like newborn babies, long for the pure milk of the word, so that by it you may grow in respect to salvation.”  Because the new life of salvation is intended to grow from infancy to maturity, as a continuing process of sanctification and we grow through a healthy diet of the word of God.

Now this necessity of our sanctification is what Peter really wants to drive home here.  He has laid down the foundations of our faith, the calling of God, the sanctifying work of the Spirit, that we might obey Jesus Christ who has sprinkled us with His blood.  He has established the authority of scripture as the guiding light of our life.  And now he wants to tell us what our responsibility is as we live this life which has been given to us.  

And he indicates that first of all it starts in our minds.  He says “Gird your minds for action.” The word “gird” references an old phrase which was to gird up your loins.  What that is speaking of is the robes that were worn in those days were very long and somewhat cumbersome.  And so if you were going to work, or going to run, then you would tuck the robe under your belt to free up your legs so you wouldn’t trip or be hampered from moving.  

Now he uses that analogy in regards to our minds.  Our spirit has been born again, but in this new life our minds have to now become subject to the Spirit instead of the flesh.  And that’s why the scripture is so important to us.  It is the means of renewing our minds. It changes the way we think.  By meditating on the word of Christ, we gain the mind of Christ.  We can’t be conformed to the image of Christ until we have the mind of Christ.

Paul speaks of this need for renewing our minds in Romans 12:1,2, “Therefore I urge you, brethren, by the mercies of God, to present your bodies a living and holy sacrifice, acceptable to God, [which is] your spiritual service of worship.  And do not be conformed to this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind, so that you may prove what the will of God is, that which is good and acceptable and perfect.”

What this indicates is that what we put in our minds has a spiritual impact on our life. It’s actually harmful to feed your mind on a steady diet of the culture of the world.   The movies, the music, the television shows, the pop stars we follow on social media, all of that leads to a mind fettered by the world.  Peter says we need to clear that out of the way so we won’t be hindered, so we don’t fall, so we don’t get tripped up.   Prov. 23:7 says, “As a man thinks in his heart, so is he.”  If you are constantly putting the world’s perspective and morals and mannerisms in your mind, then it shouldn’t be surprising when your spiritual life is practically nonexistent.  It’s not surprising that you have no appetite for spiritual things.

Peter emphasizes what should be obvious, that the Christian life requires action.  Faith requires action. The Christian life is not just some sort of intellectual exercise that we do once a week.  But we apply the word of God to our lives. Peter says in chapter 2 vs 2, “We work out our salvation with fear and trembling.”  We exercise our faith daily, in every situation of life.

Then Peter says, we are to keep sober in spirit.  To be sober is not talking about alcohol or drugs necessarily, though it may certainly include that.  But it’s referring to an attitude, a perspective of watchfulness, of seriousness, of carefulness. Peter refers to this again later on in his epistle in chapter 5 vs 8, “Be of sober [spirit,] be on the alert. Your adversary, the devil, prowls around like a roaring lion, seeking someone to devour.”  

Maybe now we understand perhaps better what he is getting at.  The devil takes opportunity through your mind, especially a mind that is undisciplined.  A mind that is not renewed by the word, but is conformed to the world, or more interested in entertainment or amusement. There is nothing wrong with having fun or being entertained.  But we need to gird up our minds, be disciplined, what Paul calls “taking every thought captive to obedience of Christ.” (2Cor. 10:5) The battleground of our souls is in our mind. 

Peter refers to this need for mental focus in the next phrase, “fix your hope completely on the grace to be brought to you at the revelation of Jesus Christ.”  The past grace was when we first believed and our sins were forgiven.  The present grace is by which we now stand.  But the grace to come is the grace that will be given to us at the appearing of our Lord Jesus Christ. Jesus is coming soon.  Or we will go to Him soon.  But one way or another, there is soon coming a day when we will be face to face with the King of Kings and Lord of Lords.  We should live our lives in anticipation of that day, looking forward to it, and making each day count for Him until that grace appears.

Next, Peter likens the church to obedient children.  I don’t know if he is being deliberately sarcastic there or not.  I’m not sure I would characterize most Christians today as obedient children.  Perhaps he’s using reverse psychology there.  Kind of the way the Lord named him the Rock.  He wasn’t really a rock, but God wanted him to become one.  Maybe that’s what Peter is trying to do here.  Calling us what he hopes we will become.  

But the point is that if we are saved then we are children of God. And if God is your Father, then it is expedient that you are an obedient child of God.  If we as imperfect parents discipline our children, then how much more will the perfect Father in Heaven discipline His children so that they may share in His holiness?  Hebrews 12:9-11 says, “Furthermore, we had earthly fathers to discipline us, and we respected them; shall we not much rather be subject to the Father of spirits, and live?  For they disciplined us for a short time as seemed best to them, but He [disciplines us] for [our] good, so that we may share His holiness.  All discipline for the moment seems not to be joyful, but sorrowful; yet to those who have been trained by it, afterwards it yields the peaceful fruit of righteousness.”

That’s why suffering and trials are such an essential part of sanctification.  It’s the way God trains us and teaches us and produces in us the fruit of holiness.  So Peter says, in obedience to God do not be conformed to the former lusts which were yours in ignorance. In other words, you should know better than that now.  Don’t go back to the former things.  Remember Romans 12:2 which we quoted a few minutes ago, “Do not be conformed to this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind.” 

We got a new dog a few years ago. A husky, named Jackson. One of the many duties we have is to train Jackson, and keep the him clean and brushed. He’s a house dog, and so he needs to smell decent and not bring mud and dirt and who knows what into the house.  Turns out we could brush him everyday and he still would shed fur everywhere.  And when he goes outside it seems all he wants to do is stick his face into every smelly, stinky, dirty thing that he can.  It’s his nature.  But we have to train him out of his nature.

And we Christians have an old nature as well.  When we were saved we got a new nature, but the old nature is still there.  We just aren’t supposed to listen to it anymore.  We are supposed to obey our new nature. And the starvation of the old nature and the obedience to the new nature should cause the old to pass quietly away.  But unfortunately I seem to see a lot of Christians still living according to the old nature.  

Peter speaks of this old nature in chapter 4 vs 3, “For the time already past is sufficient [for you] to have carried out the desire of the Gentiles, having pursued a course of sensuality, lusts, drunkenness, carousing, drinking parties and abominable idolatries.”  He said, be sober, remember? Don’t go back to that stuff anymore, it only leads to destruction. It’s not the new way of life which we’ve been given.  In fact, he says in the previous verse, “so as to live the rest of the time in the flesh no longer for the lusts of men, but for the will of God.”

So now we know how not to live, how then the logical question is how are we supposed to live?  The answer is in vs15 “but like the Holy One who called you, be holy yourselves also in all [your] behavior;  because it is written, "YOU SHALL BE HOLY, FOR I AM HOLY.”  

What does holy mean?  I think that’s a reasonable question. The word holy is overused today in contemporary Christian music so much that I think the real meaning is in danger of being lost.  But holy means consecrated, set apart, righteous, pure, undefiled, perfect.  God is all those things. The hymn we sing, “Holy, Holy, Holy” says the eye of sinful man cannot see God because of His holiness.

Isaiah saw a vision of the Holy God in Isaiah 6 and it says this: In the year of King Uzziah's death I saw the Lord sitting on a throne, lofty and exalted, with the train of His robe filling the temple.  Seraphim stood above Him, each having six wings: with two he covered his face, and with two he covered his feet, and with two he flew.  And one called out to another and said, "Holy, Holy, Holy, is the LORD of hosts, The whole earth is full of His glory."  And the foundations of the thresholds trembled at the voice of him who called out, while the temple was filling with smoke.  Then I said, "Woe is me, for I am ruined! Because I am a man of unclean lips, And I live among a people of unclean lips; For my eyes have seen the King, the LORD of hosts."  Then one of the seraphim flew to me with a burning coal in his hand, which he had taken from the altar with tongs.  He touched my mouth [with it] and said, "Behold, this has touched your lips; and your iniquity is taken away and your sin is forgiven.”

Listen, a proper view of God’s holiness results in living a holy life.  We must be holy because God is holy.  We are in our new creation made holy, set apart, and so we should be holy and live not conformed to this world, but be conformed rather to Jesus Christ.  I’m going to deal with these next verses more next week but in the context of the holiness of God and our responsibility to Him I would read them now:  vs17 “If you address as Father (that is if you are a child of God) the One who impartially judges according to each one's work, conduct yourselves in fear during the time of your stay [on earth;]  knowing that you were not redeemed with perishable things like silver or gold from your futile way of life inherited from your forefathers,  but with precious blood, as of a lamb unblemished and spotless, [the blood] of Christ.”  

Jesus was holy, blameless, the spotless Lamb of God who died to make you holy and blameless.  Our standard of holiness then is to walk like He walked, talk like He talked, act like He acted.  He was obedient to the Father in all that He did.  And by the Spirit of Christ that lives in us, we can live like Christ.  We are to be like Christ.  Paul said it well in Phil. 2:5, 12-13 “Have this attitude in yourselves which was also in Christ Jesus, ... 12 So then, my beloved, just as you have always obeyed, not as in my presence only, but now much more in my absence, work out your salvation with fear and trembling;  for it is God who is at work in you, both to will and to work for [His] good pleasure.”

May God grant you His grace to live by the Spirit and not be conformed to this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your minds, so that you may prove what the will of God is, that which is good and acceptable and perfect.