Be Ye Holy for I Am Holy

I Peter 1:13-19

Warmest greetings to you, my friend. Welcome to our Bible study program In Search of the Lord's Way to become and to be a Christian. We are here, as always, with no appeals for money because of the generosity of members of churches of Christ in the area of this station. You have our invitation to worship and study with them soon. We hope you will. Thanks for the invitation to be in your home today for this study. We pray we will all be blessed.

It is certainly appropriate, even expected I think to follow last week's message about Holy Is the Lord with one today about His admonition to Christians to be holy as He is holy. In our former lesson we learned, though, that among other things, His holiness includes absolute perfection. Well, can Christians actually attain absolute holiness in that sense, perfection in life? Well, that deserves some study, doesn't it?

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We are reading today from 1 Peter, chapter 1, beginning at verse 13. “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. And if you call on the Father, who is without partiality judges according to each one’s work, conduct yourselves throughout the time of your stay here in fear; knowing that you were not redeemed with corruptible things, like silver and gold, from your aimless conduct received by tradition from your fathers, but with the precious blood of Jesus Christ, as a lamb without spot.” And I read through verse 19. Now let us go to God in prayer. Holy Father, righteous God, we bow our heads and our hearts in thoughtful reverence and respect to You. We seek your presence in all our lives, but especially in this study today, at this time. Through your appointed High Priest, Jesus Christ, we pray You. Amen.

It is rather easy for us to accept the idea of "holiness" when we are talking about God, isn't it? We expect our God to be absolutely holy. Oh, modern secularists tell us that there are no absolutes; but our God Is One. He is absolutely holy. In our language "Holy" is the word that most adequately describes God's nature, His character, uniqueness, goodness, purity and justice. All that we studied last week. But, when we think about applying "holy" or "holiness" to man and to woman, well, most of us have a problem with that, don’t we? "What? Me holy? Why, certainly not! I am no saint!" We certainly don't want to set ourselves up as being "holier than thou," so we resist the idea. As far as I am able to tell, there may be two exceptions to that. One is the fellow who thinks he has reached perfection-- and that by his own cleverness and labor. The other is the person who thinks the Holy Spirit came upon him and perfected him-- with positively no effort or invitation on his part.

Today's text very clearly says to Christians, "as He who has called you is holy, you also be holy in all your conduct, because it is written, be holy, for I am holy." God commands the Christian to be holy. When God commands anything, it is man's to do it, to act, to obey. Although it takes diligence on our part, God provides the guidance and He tells us how in His word. And by faith in Him and in His word, the Christian finds strength to be holy.

The passage we chose and read for our text today provides some teaching. It says among other things: "Therefore gird up the loins of your mind..." Although the statement sounds a bit strange to our modern ear, its illustrative words convey a meaning that is very understandable. In the times of the New Testament men wore long robes. (Well, some do even yet-- and even on the hottest days they do. On my last visit to that part of the world, I guess it was probably in summertime. And I visited with some of those men about wearing those long robes. They looked so hot to me.) Anyway, in their normal life, that long robe didn't create a problem, but when they needed to run, move fast, or perform any kind of labor, it was necessary to make preparation for such activity. They did so by securing the flowing part of their robe so it wouldn't hinder their movement. The phrase, "Therefore gird up the loins of your mind..." simply means to "make appropriate preparation." Well, we will not find the kind of holiness taught in Scripture until we give some effort to making preparation. Basic preparation is done by obeying the gospel (Romans 10:16). I mean, by obeying those teachings that relate to becoming a Christian. Hearing the gospel destroys ignorance. It creates faith in Christ Jesus; and Christ removes the love of sin. That faith in Him does. Repentance removes the practice of sin, of course. And confession of faith in Christ as God's only begotten Son changes our commitment from a sinful master to Christ the Master. Then, in baptism our sins are washed away by the blood of Jesus Christ (Revelations1:5; Acts 22:16), and puts us into the saved condition or relationship with God. It is the beginning of what Paul wrote about in Romans 6:3 and 4 as "newness of life". Even though the person is actively responsive in being saved, it is God who forgives through the blood of Christ and by doing so He shares His holiness with us. Our obedience to the gospel prepares us for living and enjoying the "newness of life" in Christ" (Romans 6:3 and 4).

Our text also says: "be sober." In our times and society, being "sober" is usually contrasted with being drunk on alcoholic beverage. The drunken person has lost control of his thinking as well as his actions. To "be sober" literally means to be in control of yourself. Well, we can never appropriate or approach the holiness of life that is demanded in our text and in other passages until we take control of our own thinking and assume responsibility for our actions. God uses Moses as an example of what He is saying here. He says, "By faith Moses, when he became of age, refused to be called the son of Pharaoh's daughter, choosing rather to suffer affliction with the people of God than to enjoy the passing pleasures of sin, esteeming the reproach of Christ greater riches than the treasures in Egypt; for he looked to the reward." And that is in Hebrews, chapter 11, verses 24, 25 and 26. In order to make the right decisions, Moses carefully and responsibly thought through the choices before him. Like Moses, we need to be sober and realistic in our view of who we are and how we can-- and we must "conduct" our lives in holiness.

Alright then: according to our text, to be holy as our God is holy we need: number 1: to gird up the loins of our mind; number 2: to be sober; number 3 now: to "rest your hope fully upon the grace that is to be brought to you at the revelation of Jesus Christ." You see friend, hope looks beyond the moment, even beyond the physical joys and the sufferings. The Bible says, "We were saved by hope, but hope that is seen is not hope; for why does one still hope for what he sees? But if we hope for what we do not see, we eagerly wait for it with perseverance." That is the reading of Romans 8:24 and 25. Friend, everything is not visible. It isn't all physical, to be observed with the physical senses. The apostle John wrote something that sounds very similar to what the apostle Peter is saying here. He supports the truth that hope encourages the practice of holiness. He also wrote of hope that it centered on the second coming of Christ. Then he says, "And everyone who has this hope in Him purifies himself, just as He (meaning God) is pure" (1 John 3 and 3). Oh yes! A clear hope encourages proper "conduct" or behavior. Remember? Jesus promised or pronounced a blessing on "the pure in heart." “Blessed are the pure in heart for they shall see God.”

Then, verse 14 of our text begins with the words, "as obedient children..." This is the last phrase used here to encourage holy living. It's considered by some to be the most important part of it; because it gives the Christian a very active role in the development of his holiness. There are two distinct and very important actions here. The first one emphasizes obedience. Christians are to be "obedient children." The idea that Christians are the children of God appears in many places in the New Testament; and it is always refreshing to know that we are the children of God. Of course you know children often resemble their parents in appearance. And very often they do so in their behavior. You heard it said, haven't you; maybe you have said it yourself to your children, "You act like your father." Or, "You act like your mother." Sometimes it is said as a compliment. And still other times, well you know about that, don’t you? If Christians are going to lay claim to being children of God, they need to be like Him who is in heaven. And since He is holy, Christians must strive to be holy in our attitudes and in our actions.

There is a very interesting thought that comes from the Lord's masterful Sermon on the Mount recorded in Matthew, chapters five, six and seven. In chapter 5, verse 48 Jesus said, "Therefore you shall be perfect, just as your Father is in heaven is perfect." Now, that is the New King James version. The Old King James says. "Be ye therefore perfect..." Well, we read that and cry out, "That's impossible! There is no way a person like me can be holy, as perfect as God! God commands the impossible!” And so they turn away in disbelief. You see, that is the danger of just falling on one verse in the Bible for proof of anything. We need to see the statement in its context. So let's go back to verse 43. Jesus there is saying, "You have heard that it was said, you shall love your neighbor and hate your enemy. But I say to you, love your enemies, bless those who curse you, do good to those who hate you, and pray for those who spitefully use you and persecute you, that you may be sons of your Father in heaven; for He makes the sun to rise on the evil and on the good, and sends rain on the just and on the unjust. For if you love those who love you, what reward have you? Do not even the tax collectors (who were the chief among the sinners) don’t they do the same? And if you greet your brethren only, what do you more than others? Do not even the tax collectors (these evil and wicked men) do so?” Well He goes on to say, “Therefore you shall be perfect, just as your Father in heaven is perfect." That, my friend, is a simple call to being like God. It is a call to follow His example. Of course we can't be perfect in the sense of being without sin, but by obedience to God's will, we can be perfect, or holy, in the specific action of showing impartial love. And we will have reflected God's holiness in our lives by obeying Him.

Now we come to the last required action in our text in the process of being holy. It is "...not conforming ourselves to the former lusts, as in your ignorance." I sometimes use the expression "the old life" as a reference to a person's life before his conversion to Christ. Notice! It's here called "ignorance," that in contrast to "knowledge," or enlightenment. Holiness can never grow where there is "ignorance" of God's will and word," but it can grow and it does grow when a person sees and studies and comes to a knowledge of God's truth. Holiness is being set apart for special use of God or for His service. Let’s go to Him in prayer. Holy Father, we pray that You will be with us today in our strive to being holy like You are holy. We want to be like You. Help us, Lord, not only through your word to lead us in the right direction and doing the right, but also strengthen us with your presence in our lives through Your spirit. Amen.

The words "Be holy, for I am holy" in our text today are a quote from the Old Testament book of Leviticus, where they appear five times. In some passages they are addressed to priests, but in others to the whole nation of Israel. You see, Israel was God's chosen people in those days -- chosen of God to be a holy nation and a peculiar people among the nations of worshipers of pagan gods. It's characteristic of people to imitate the god they worship. Since God had called Israel to that peculiar status-- and since God is holy, the children of Israel were required and expected to be holy, too. When they ceased to be that-- when they became permissive in their thinking, when they became pluralistic in their faith, when they accepted foreign gods, I mean of the nations around them, when their moral order had collapsed-- God permitted them to be overrun and enslaved to other nations. Read the book of Judges and the other historical prophetical books of the Old Testament and see if I am not right about that.

In chapter two of the epistle from which we have taken our text today (as a matter of fact, only a few verses from our reading, and remember that man divided the Bible into chapters and verses), well anyway in this continuation of this same thought, our writer went on to say, "...you (meaning, you Christians) are a chosen generation, a royal priesthood, a holy nation, His own people, special people, that you may proclaim the praises of Him who called you out of darkness into His marvelous light." That is chapter 2, verse 9. So, Christians are God's chosen people today, not Israel, but Christians. The church of our Lord Jesus Christ, as you read about it in the New Testament, is to God what Israel was to Him in the Old Testament. May God have mercy on the preachers and others today who devalue and mock the church. Since God has called Christians to be His people, we are to be holy as He is holy. God help us to respect who we are.

Should we need additional motivation, beyond the direct command from God to-- "Be holy, as I am holy,"-- In verses 17-19, the Holy Spirit provides two more. He says (in the same text now) "...if you call on the Father, who without partiality judges according to each one's work, conduct yourselves throughout the time of your stay here in fear; knowing that you were not redeemed with corruptible things, like silver and gold, from your aimless conduct received by tradition from your fathers, but with the precious blood of Jesus Christ, as of a lamb without blemish and without spot." So, note first: God the Holy Father-- I mean God, who is the only "Holy Father" you and I will ever have, God our Holy Father, "without partiality judges us according to each one's work." Oh, you may have never heard that before-- that God is our judge. That isn't preached-- or believed much anymore. Hireling preachers won't tell you that. But it is biblical. And His judgment is to be feared because He judges us impartially by what we really are-- whether we are holy and just or how holy and just we are. So, He says, "Be holy as I am holy." Now the second motivation to living a holy life given in these verses is this: "you were not redeemed with corruptible things, like silver or gold......but with the precious blood of Christ as of a lamb without blemish and without spot." What more can I say? If you are not a Christian, you ought to be, my friend. And if you started out to be a Christian, but you're not living a Christian life, He Who is holy says, you need to get right-- right away.

If you would like a free copy of this message for further study, or one that you may share with someone else you love, mail your request to In Search of the Lord's Way, P.O. Box 371, Edmond, OK 73083. Our e-mail address is searchtv@searchtv.org. Or you may visit our website at wwwsearchtv.org. Or you may use our toll-free telephone number, 1-800-321-8633. The title for this program in making your request is Be Holy for I Am Holy. And, it is just as I said, it's free. We're not making merchandise of the gospel. We won't put your name on a mailing list to send you a series of letters soliciting money. We hope you will be back with us next week. God bless you. We love you.