Be holy because I am holy
Introduction
In the last lesson, you saw that our hope is based on the Old Testament Scripture, in particular, the prophecies it contains about Christ. In addition to this, there is the content of the Gospel that had been preached to the believers to whom Peter is addressing. Today we have 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 Scriptures to the heart of the believer. All this is so that the believer can stand firm in times of persecution.
Text Exposure
Therefore gird up the loins of your understanding and be sober — 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 that he girds the loins of his mind. A more modern understanding of this is “Let the truth you have just learned sustain the way one lives the Christian life.” In Peter’s time. 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 his tunic into his belt so he could move more easily. It was preparation for work. So what Peter is saying is for the believer to prepare his mind for the work. The Christian must not leave his mind at the door. Christianity is not just an emotional experience. It involves thinking. It involves sober thinking. there is a seriousness in the Christian life. The brain is the largest muscle in the body and should be exercised like any other muscle. This is hard work. The believer must put his mind on the study and listening to the word of God.
Put your hope entirely in the grace that has been brought to you by the revelation of Jesus Christ — This is open to various 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. Some translations say “until the end” with the idea that the believer must continue in hope until the end when Christ appears (comes again). The third and I think the best option is to modify the verb “wait” that comes immediately after in the Greek text. This gives the translation “fully hopeful.” The reason this is best is that “wait” is the main verb of the sentence. This makes “gird”, which is a subordinate participle of hope, although 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, as are baptize and teach. The main verb is “to make disciples”. the “go” only tells one where the commission will be made. “Baptize” and “teach” tell us how to make disciples. The important thing is to make disciples. Here, the important thing is to “fully fix your hope.”
Grace is the object of our hope that we must seriously consider. Grace is a “comfort” word. It warms our emotions. However, “grace” is 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 well as God’s love for humanity. Although this revelation may refer to the return of Jesus, it seems that we must take the larger context of Jesus’ incarnation, life among us, His atoning death for our sins, His resurrection, His ascension, His heavenly intercession, in addition to His return . . All this is the demonstration of the grace of God in Jesus Christ that has been revealed to us. In this we put our hope.
As obedient children, not conforming to your former ignorant lusts: Peter has already presented to us the fact that God has ordained the sanctification of believers. This is the work of the Holy Spirit, and the fruit of sanctification is obedience (1 Peter 1:2). Then the believer is separated from his former 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 Scriptures inform us that God has implanted the knowledge of Himself in the heart of every believer. Incorporated in this is the knowledge of good and evil. They also know that they are condemned before God. They know this and repress it. The Law gives an even clearer knowledge of the situation of the sinner. What they ignore is the Good News of the Gospel of Jesus Christ. They need to know that there is hope for them. They need to know that this hope goes far beyond simply erasing the slate of offenses against God. What awaits the believer is eternal life and joy. But now believers have been enlightened to the grace of God in Jesus Christ. The believer must stop living a life of ignorance. As Paul says: “Do not be conformed to this world, but be transformed” (Romans 12:1-2). We are transformed to do the will of God. Peter here uses the same Greek word for “conformity” that Paul uses.
But because He who calls you is holy, holiness is part of God’s being. He is separated from the 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 should discard the previous idea and replace it with this one. Conformity to the former ignorant and sinful life must be replaced by a life set apart for God based on true knowledge.
Be holy in all your conduct: Peter adds an additional pronoun in Greek to add force to the pronoun “you” (all of you). Since “holy in all your conduct also precedes the verb “thirst”, the command to be holy is very strong. The plural “all of you” refers to the church body as a whole, as well as individually. The Children of Israel in the desert were called by God as a whole, as well as individually. The church and believers must decide to behave according to the new reality. the children of Israel were no longer slaves. They were redeemed from Egyptian slavery. when one looks at Exodus 20:1, one notices that this truth is established before the ten commandments were given. This is the basis of their new conduct which was based on having been redeemed. They were free by the grace of God for a purpose. Although the Ten Commandments correctly express God’s will for all mankind, we as Christians live by an even higher standard. It is regulated as much by what we think as by what we do. This requires that we take a serious look at where we stand in relation to the new man. We always need to gird up the loins of our mind.
Just as it is written: “Be holy, because I am holy.” — We have already discovered that Peter has defended the authority of Scripture, here the Old Testament. So now he quotes Leviticus 11:44 which was originally spoken to the Children of Israel in the wilderness. But these words were not simply spoken to Israel nearly 3,500 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 for God. Rather we remember that Christ has washed us clean and offered himself as our only and sufficient sacrifice. This is what should guide our conduct.
App
I have been among Christians for several decades. When we are outside the church building, we all seem to be preoccupied with 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 worldly things. To be honest, we all talk about the same things that pagans do. We do not show very well being set apart for God. We give little time to God on Sunday morning at church. Even here, when Christians get together, they are basically recapping the week. Until the prelude warns us that we must now shift gears and put on our holy faces, our thoughts are elsewhere. Only rarely does the speech before the church service praise God. we spend as much time murmuring with each other as the Children of Israel did in the desert. This is expressly what this passage tells us not to do.
Certainly there are many problems and uncertainty in the world. But how are we going to respond to it? Should we complain and murmur? The reason churches, at least here in America, are struggling and dying is simply that the church no longer fixes its eyes on God. We take salvation in Jesus Christ and the other great works of God for granted. Instead, we focus on receiving material blessings and see God as the means to achieve them. What is most needed in the church is repentance. The word repentance in Hebrew means to turn towards. We need to get away from worldly affairs and closer to God and his agenda. The word in Greek means “to rethink” or “to reconsider.” This is a word for the church today. We call on others to repent and believe the gospel, but we don’t realize how urgently we need to repent. We previously looked at Romans 12:1-2 earlier in this sermon. We must not be conformed. Paul then adds “be transformed by the renewing of your mind.” Although the word “repent” is not used in this passage, this is a good definition. The Greek word for “transformed” is the word from which we get “metamorphosis.” This is the term scientists use to translate a caterpillar into a beautiful butterfly. We need transformation, and not just emotional catharsis. We need to put our mind on the task before us. We need to constantly look to 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 much better future ahead of us if we don’t lose heart. Here we are pilgrims, let us act as pilgrims.