“Be Holy” 1 Peter 1:13-21

“Living Hope”

A Sermon Series Through 1 Peter

“Be Holy”

1 Peter 1:13-21

Introduction

The Christians that Peter is writing to are scattered because of what he calls the Dispersion. Their being pushed out seems to be because of their following Jesus’ teachings. They are described as “elect” and in v. 3 “born again to a living hope.” Chosen or set apart to be changed and have a relationship with God. When a person becomes a Christian, they begin to break away from societal norms, they become citizens of another country. The traditions they once held, they no longer conform to – they become strangers to the world.

In today’s text Peter is directing Christians to be holy (set apart). Which will cause them to become ever further separated and dispersed from the world’s culture.

Exodus 3:1-2 “Now Moses was keeping the flock of his father-in-law, Jethro, the priest of Midian, and he led his flock to the west side of the wilderness and came to Horeb, the mountain of God. 2 And the angel of the Lord appeared to him in a flame of fire out of the midst of a bush . . . (v. 5 ) “Do not come near; take your sandals off your feet, for the place on which you are standing is holy ground.” What made this ground holy, and the surrounding ground not holy? It is the manifested presence of God in that place that made it holy – God chose to have his presence manifest there (in the burning bush). Within the heart of the believer is a plot of land where God wants to manifest His presence.  But there has to a “removing of the sandals,” on that plot of land.

The Command For Holiness In the Believer’s Life (vv. 13-16)

Therefore, preparing your minds for action, and being sober-minded, set your hope fully on the grace that will be brought to you at the revelation of Jesus Christ.

 In the previous verses (vv. 3-12) Peter has explained to us that we have a salvation and inheritance waiting for us in eternity, therefore . . . there is a conclusion that we should reach as a result of Peter’s words. We are not to just have hope, but that hope should lead to action (a living hope) – show that hope has been given to you. (v. 13) we are to set our hope on grace.

“preparing your minds for action,” literally to gird up one’s loins in the mind.[1] This was a first century practice where you would gather the loose material of your clothing and free it from your feet, by tying it around your waster, so that your feet would free to fight.[2] In Exodus when Moses gives the people God’s instructions for the Passover, they were to eat the Passover meal with their clothing girded up, a staff in their hand, and shoes on their feet – all actions steps of being ready to move at a moments notice (Ex. 12:11).

Peter is saying take action, in preparation of a fight, specifically in your mind – get your mind ready for some deep thinking. Mind meaning “the faculty of understanding, of seeing through a thing.”[3] For the Christian, the mind is fighting against worry, doubt, hate, unforgiveness, jealousy, impurity – all these things that enter into our mind. The Holy Spirit doing His work of sanctification (1 Peter 1:2); if our minds hold on to these things, it keeps our minds distracted from God’s purpose and intent.

“being sober-minded,” Don’t do anything that will distract you from, or cause you to lose clarity of the grace that we have through Jesus. The believer is able to see the world and its situations without the crippling affects of worry, fear, or sinful thoughts that cloud God’s revealed truth.

Hope is faith looking to the future believing that God will do what He said He would do. It is what Hebrews 6:19 calls this hope, “an anchor for our soul.” Our hope finds its anchor in the mercy and grace of God. When Christ returns or we meet Him in eternity, our hope in His grace if secure because God always keeps His Word, Romans 10:9 “if you confess with your mouth that Jesus is Lord and believe in your heart that God raised him from the dead, you will be saved.”

Our thoughts are to be focused and prepared on how it is only by God’s grace that we are saved. Grace is where “salvation is freely given by God to underserving sinners.” Think about God’s grace (the freely given forgiveness of your sin).

Drunk people staggering around in long robes around their feet are not good at fighting or doing hard labor. What do Christians do that cause them to fail to prepare their minds? How are they drunk-minded? Why would they not think about God’s grace? V. 14 helps us understand – we revert to the thoughts and actions of when we were not saved by God’s grace.

14 As obedient children, do not be conformed to the passions of your former ignorance, 15 but as he who called you is holy, you also be holy in all your conduct, 16 since it is written, “You shall be holy, for I am holy.”

In 1 Peter 1:21 was learn that believers have a living hope, and “that hope is nurtured through deliberate action.”[4] Peter was saying that the Christian’s mind and how we understand the world around us, and what is truth, does not conform to the world’s mold. The world is trying to fit you into a mold, Peter says, your old passions will try to pull you back into a mold. That breaking away from the mold takes effort.

Paul says something very similar is Romans 12:1-2 “I appeal to you therefore, brothers, by the mercies of God, to present your bodies as a living sacrifice, holy and acceptable to God, which is your spiritual worship. Do not be conformed to this world, but be transformed by the renewal of your mind, that by testing you may discern what is the will of God, what is good and acceptable and perfect.”

Being Holy Begins With Your Mind.

 Obedience to God begins with the mind, a proper understanding of God’s will – then it moves to our bodies; action taking place. The right actions resulting from a mindset change is holiness. He quotes Leviticus 11:44, “You shall be holy, for I am holy.”[5]

God is described as being holy, and there is an expectation that His followers would also be holy. “Just as God is different from the world, so are we as His children and heirs of the inheritance set before us in heaven, to be different from the world.”[6] For God, holy means separateness; He is separate from all of creation. It also means His moral perfection. His ways are morally pure and right. When His people violate the truth of Scripture God’s moral character cannot refrain from expressing His displeasure in judgement.

God has revealed certain attributes about Himself. Because we are his children there is an expectation that we mirror/emulate Him (to be like Him). For example, these would be things like holiness, love, patience, merciful, forgiving, etc. and then there are attributes that we will never be able to duplicate; eternality, omniscience, omnipresence, etc.

In the beginning God created all that exists and after each day of creation He said, “it is good.” The creation and its’ order is good because it flows from God’s moral character. Genesis 3 describes the fall of mankind, when sin came into the world. With that fall God’s created order was corrupted and mankind sins against God. But what makes it sin? Because it violates God’s moral order, His character.

Whereas God created Adam and Eve’s marriage perfect, now there is shame and hiding themselves from each other. Where siblings love each other, now brothers kill each other. Whereas mankind knew God personally and have a close relationship with Him, after the fall they worship the creation instead of the Creator. Etc. All of creation was corrupted – so now there has to a pulling away from that corruption, a mind re-set, an re-aligning ourselves with God and His moral character.

Marriage is good, family is good – adultery is bad because it perverts God’ creation and violates God’s moral character. When we don’t separate from the world and live in it’s fallen state we are rebelling against God’s order of creation and His moral character.

Because we are fallen and sinful, our heart’s desire this world and its fallen state, we are conformed, to those passions, and we are ignorant of how those things are wrong, evil, bad, and destructive (because it’s all we have ever known), Peter says, don’t be “conformed to the passions of your former ignorance.” The fallen world doesn’t know its’ fallen – so God steps in and reveals Himself and the truth of His ways to the world. We must separate ourselves from our previous sinful lives by following God’s revelation of Himself to us (His Word).

Another word for conform is fashion, “the act of assuming an outward appearance patterned after some certain thing, an appearance or expression which does not come from and is not representative of one’s inmost and true nature.”[7]

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=q8xJ13pAZNw mimicking something on the outside, that you are not truly on the inside. The Christian must stop putting on the costume of their old self in order to blend in – it is a caricature of how you used to be.

One approach is to focus on the exterior – The Amish approach to avoid the appearance of the world. All their clothes are distinctively different than the outside world (no buttons, zippers, and identical colors). They avoid electricity, cars, and farm with animals only because those things represent the world. The men wear their facial hair and women wear their hair a particular way all in an effort to avoid a worldy appearance. But Peter’s focus begins on the inside; your mind being renewed, and how you think, your understanding of the will of God, that then leads to outward change in behavior.

Many Christians fall into the trap of simply adding or taking something away from their wardrobe, or putting a sticker on their car, or posting a picture of some religious activity – but not doing the hard work of “preparing their minds,” “setting their minds,” #quiet time, #alone with Jesus, #coffee and the Word – mind renewal is not an aesthetic. Don’t focus on how the cup is arranged in the picture, or making sure to show your highlighted pages, but gird up your loins of your mind and get serious about getting sin out of your life. (from ignorance to enlightenment).

The Reason For Holiness In the Believer’s Life (vv. 17-21)

17 And if (since) you call on him as Father who judges impartially according to each one’s deeds, conduct yourselves with fear throughout the time of your exile, 18 knowing that you were ransomed from the futile ways inherited from your forefathers, not with perishable things such as silver or gold, 19 but with the precious blood of Christ, like that of a lamb without blemish or spot. 20 He was foreknown before the foundation of the world but was made manifest in the last times for the sake of you 21 who through him are believers in God, who raised him from the dead and gave him glory, so that your faith and hope are in God.

 (v. 17) “And if (since) you call on him as Father,” – It is not just to call God our Father, but it is to invoke His name, “to call on” as in to ask Him something, as in prayer.[8] A foundational requirement of a follower of God is Exodus 20:7 “You shall not take the name of the Lord your God in vain, for the Lord will not hold him guiltless who takes his name in vain.”

We are His children; we represent Him and carry the responsibility of representing Him in this world. It is only right that we seek to please Him with our lives, and represent him is such a way that gives Him glory. It is not right to ask God to answer our prayers, while not seeking to know His will (or to be out of His will in sin).[9] John 14:13 “Whatever you ask in my name, this I will do, that the Father may be glorified in the Son. 14 If you ask me anything in my name, I will do it.”

The story of the prodigal son says, “And the younger of them said to his father, ‘Father, give me the share of property that is coming to me.’ And he divided his property between them. 13 Not many days later, the younger son gathered all he had and took a journey into a far country, and there he squandered his property in reckless living.” Anyone who heard Jesus’ story would be aghast at the son’s rude and disrespectful behavior. Is it right to approach God (who is a good Father), ask for something being His child, and then live in such a way to bring discredit to His name and live outside of His will and plan for your life?

(v. 18) Because you know that you have been “ransomed from the futile ways inherited from your forefathers,” – to be ransomed is to be bought back, usually in the context of slavery. We were slaves to sin, chained with no way to free ourselves. God sent His Only Son, Jesus to pay what was required in order to free us. The ransom Jesus paid was His own blood (not gold or silver).

The “futile ways” is our sin nature that we inherit from Adam. This sin nature is passed generation to generation – but the slavery to sin has been broken. You can still sin (if you choose), but now it is a choice. Life before Christ is a life living for something that doesn’t match how you were created. We were created to have a relationship God, and to bring Him glory – when we live for ourselves and try to live in this world’s ways it is pointless, never satisfying, and empty (futile).

(v. 17) But we have been bought back with “the precious blood of Christ,” – Is there any amount of gold and silver that can ransom a human soul? No, something more precious is needed. Is animal’s blood enough, or their life an equal exchange? No, that only covers a season, then another animal is needed, and then another, will be required – and that only covers the sin over, it does not remove it. The animals blood covers the sin, they are still separated from God because of their sin. Something more precious, of more worth is needed. In fact, we can’t find it on earth, it had to be brought to us from heaven.

As the old hymn says, “What can wash away my sin? Nothing but the blood of Jesus. What can make me whole again? Nothing but the blood of Jesus. O precious is the flow that makes me white as snow; no other fount I know; nothing but the blood of Jesus.”

(v. 20) Knowing that sin would enter the world, the plan has always been for Jesus’ blood to be shed for our redemption, “foreknown before the foundation of the world.” God’s plan for the redemption of the world was finished, accomplished in Jesus’ appearance.

So, as we understand the great price that was paid for our freedom, we then “conduct ourselves with fear,” better reverential fear. Hebrews 4:16 says, “Let us then with confidence draw near to the throne of grace, that we may receive mercy and find grace to help in time of need.” Our mind is focused on the grace of God, our habits are holy, and our faith is anchored in grace as we reverently walk before God carrying his name and anticipating our inheritance.

Holiness is not just separation from the world but it is also a devotion and love of God that then drives us away from the world (to willfully abandon what the world offers.) God does what is consistent with His nature, we grow in holiness as we align our actions with His nature (truthfulness, love, grace, mercy, etc.)

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[1] R. C. Sproul, An Expositional Commentary, 1 Peter (Sanford, Florida; Ligonier Ministries, 2019) 26.

[2] Similar to a woman handing another person her ear rings, or guy rolling up his sleeves.

[3] Archibald Thomas Robertson, Word Pictures In The New Testament (Nashville, Tennessee; Broadman Press, 1933) 87. See also Matthew 22:37.

[4] Dennis R. Edwards, The Story of God Bible Commentary, 1 Peter (Grand Rapids, Michigan; Zondervan Publishing, 2017) 55.

[5] See also Matthew 5:48.

[6] Sproul, 30.

[7] Kenneth S. Wuest, First Peter in the Greek New Testament (Grand Rapids, Michigan; WM. B. Eerdmans Publishing Company, 1960) 37.

[8] Greg W. Forbes, Exegetical Guide to the New Testament, 1 Peter (Nashville, Tennessee; Broadman & Holman Publishers, 2014)

[9] See Prodigal Son