Introduction
One of the
gifts I’m most thankful for out of all the gifts given to me by God is the gift
of grace. It is a great comfort knowing that I am not condemned for my sins
(there’s lots of them) because I have made the decision to believe in Jesus
Christ who made the gift of grace possible through his death on the cross and
resurrection from the dead. I don’t know of any believers who do not find
comfort in that reality. However, it is an uneasy comfort; an uncomfortable
comfort (don’t try too hard to figure that out, I’ll explain what I mean).
When I close my eyes, I sometimes
picture myself at a celebration; a great feast with other believers and Jesus at
the head of the table telling story after story with everyone laughing and
singing. I can see Jesus breaking bread and passing it around as he talks. I
feel like I’m part of a big family as I step to the table and reach between two
people to take a piece of bread from His hand. He hands me a piece of bread and
looks right at me. As I take the bread from his hand, I can see the nail scar
in his hand. As soon as He realizes that I notice His scarred hand, He smiles
at me and goes back to telling his story as everyone listens intently to what
he’s saying. I step back and try to listen but an image is forming in the back
of my mind; it’s the image of a cross standing empty and rotting on the side of
a hill. I begin to feel uncomfortable as the image becomes clearer and clearer
in my mind. I’m suddenly jarred back to the celebration when someone standing
next to me elbows me in the ribs laughing about something Jesus just said. The
image disappears from my mind and I’m relaxed and comfortable once again. There’s
something about the cross and the scars on Jesus’ hands that makes me
uncomfortable; they remind me about the cost of the grace that I love; the
grace that gives me comfort. What do you see when you picture the cross and the
nail scarred hands? Pain; suffering; sacrifice; death? Forgiveness; redemption;
salvation; love; grace? Probably all of these things but there’s one other
thing I envision and I believe it’s the thing that often makes me uncomfortable—Holy. It’s that nagging little quality
that is expected of all of us as followers of Jesus Christ. We love to talk
about salvation by grace as our precious gift from God and we are correct to
celebrate that gift. However, our relationship with Christ doesn’t end when we
are saved by that grace; that’s when the relationship begins! The objective,
then, is to continue in an ever maturing and growing relationship with Christ
until we achieve God’s desired outcome for us—to be Holy as Christ is Holy.
Subject Text
1 Peter 1:13-16
13Therefore, prepare your minds
for action; be self-controlled; set your hope fully
on the grace to be given you when Jesus Christ is revealed. 14As obedient children, do not conform to the evil desires you had when you lived in ignorance. 15But just as he who called you is holy, so be holy in
all you do; 16for it is written: “Be holy,
because I am holy.”
Context
Peter’s letter is written generally
to Christians who were driven out of Jerusalem and had been scattered
throughout the region but its message applies to all Christians at all times. Peter
is most likely writing this letter from Rome in the early 60’s during the start
of Rome’s brutal persecution of Christians under the rule of Emperor Nero. In
64 AD fire broke out in Rome and raged for nine days. The fire damaged a
significant portion of the city. It was widely believed that Nero began the
inferno and was criticized incessantly for whatever role he may have played in
it. Consequently, in order to deflect from his involvement, he embarked on a
campaign to blame Christians for the fire. Christians were already generally
disliked and disparaged so the groundwork had already been laid and the fire
that devastated the city was the tipping point for many Romans. What ensued was
the well-documented, official, brutalization of Christians by Nero and his
officials. Christians were regularly rounded up, tortured and killed. Some were
sown alive into the skins of wild animals and then forced into an arena of wild
dogs who torn them to pieces for sport and Roman entertainment. Others were
fitted with shirts made of heavy wax, tied to poles and set on fire as human
candles to light the path leading to Nero’s residence and to light his gardens.
It was under the rule of Nero that both Peter and Paul would be martyred. Keep
this in mind when you consider Peter’s teaching in our subject text.
Text Analysis
When Peter begins v. 13 with “Therefore,”
we have no choice but to go back and first see what he is referring to as the
preamble to our subject text. In vv. 1-12 Peter restates the message of the
Gospel reminding his readers that they are heirs to an eternal inheritance that
is yet to be fully revealed to them. Peter further acknowledges their persecution,
suffering and grief although he understands and explains it as God’s means to
refine, strengthen and prove their faith. Peter is encouraging them that they
can endure their persecutions with joy in the knowledge that they have achieved
and continue to achieve their goal of salvation. Dr. Larry Crabb writes as
though God is speaking, “The life I want you to live now is a life both to
endure and enjoy. At times, such strong endurance will be required that joy
will seem a far-off hope, a lost experience. But without endurance, you will
know little of the very real joy I provide. With endurance, a joy will develop
that frees you to appreciate the pleasures of life’s blessings without
requiring from them a satisfaction they cannot provide. And that same joy, more
deeply felt as a longing whose complete satisfaction is guaranteed, frees you
to endure whatever hardships lie ahead without indulging your still-alive
spirit of entitlement by justifying illegitimate relief.”[1]
Peter reminded them that the
prophets of old “searched intently” for the time and the circumstances that
would reveal the coming of Jesus. Peter tells them that the prophets provided
the important signposts that serve to guide those who are now preaching the
gospel to them. Having this very clear picture of their salvation and the
redemptive value of their suffering in their minds, Peter leads into our
subject text with “Therefore.”
What do you notice when you read v. 13a?
Don’t be tempted to jump ahead to v. 13b as the critical section of the verse. V.
13b is, no doubt, a critical component of the verse because it speaks
specifically about the thing that we all hold most near and dear—the grace we
receive from and through Jesus Christ. We are always prepared to proclaim that
we are saved by God’s grace which is given freely and cannot be earned in any
way. However, there is another component to our salvation which is the result
of that salvation—action! Here’s another way to understand v. 13a: ‘You have
been saved by grace through Jesus Christ and have set your hope on that grace. Therefore, prepare yourselves and act
accordingly.’ Herein Peter is referring to Christian ethics. “Ethics refers to
the action side of paraenesis [advice or exhortation]. Theology informs,
paraenesis persuades and ethics puts it into practice…the NT cannot be
understood apart from recognizing its moral dimension. The new life that Christ
made possible through his sacrificial death demands a new set of principles for
living.”[2]
What does Peter mean when he says that we are to prepare our minds for action? Unfortunately,
the NIV translation does not do a very good job of capturing an ancient Greek
idiom used in this case. “It is the ancient equivalent of ‘Roll up your sleeves
and get down to hard work!’ The language can in fact be traced back to Exodus
12:11 where the Israelites, about to leave Egypt, are told to eat the Passover,
dressed and equipped to start out on the long and tough journey without delay. So
too Peter’s readers are to set out on their journey to the ‘Promised Land’ and
must be ready for action. To go out as Christians on pilgrimage through the
world demands vigor.”[3]
Peter continues with his paraenesis
of action in v. 14. Peter assumes their obedience but warns them against
conformity to their old way of life. Here is the old trap the devil sets before
believers. We are saved by grace alone not through any works. We rationalize
that as long as we shroud ourselves in grace then we are absolved from the
sinful actions of our lives—before, during and after we make a profession of
faith. Think about that for a moment and see if I’m not right. There has been
an ebb and flow throughout the history of the Church that has gone through
stages of balance with faith built on a firm foundation of grace reinforced by
a life of obedience and service in response to that grace. Unfortunately, she
has also experienced her days of grotesque imbalance when centuries ago, the
most important things were outward morality, religious acts and actions with
very little emphasis on the faith that supported them. To the Church today that
knows little of obedience, service and morality that should be the natural
response to the free gift of grace (see lesson titled Bootstraps and Rabbit’s Foot at: http://seredinski.blogspot.com/2012/01/boot-straps-and-rabbits-foot.html).
Peter makes it very clear that once we have made a decision to accept Christ,
our lives must change; we can no longer live the same way we lived before we
agreed to become followers of Jesus Christ. I hate to state the obvious be we
can’t be followers of Christ and then insist on our own way of life and our own
way of doing things. We can’t live lives of selfish indulgence, become
followers of Jesus Christ and then go back to living lives of selfish
indulgence! When Peter refers to “evil desires,” the Greek usage in this
context “Denotes a vice universally decried in Greco-Roman, Israelite, and
Christian circles, with various shades of overlapping meanings: insatiable
craving, selfish yearning, sexual lust, uncontrolled passion (in contrast to
reason), coveting, compulsive ambition, self-indulgence. In 1 Peter, epithymia [Gk. ‘evil desire’] is
presented as a typical vice of nonbelievers identified as ‘Gentiles.’ Here it
describes the control that insatiable craving and self-indulgence had over
believers prior to their conversion.”[4]
Vv. 15-16 are
the culmination of everything Peter has been trying to say to this point. Instead
of going through a long list of “don’ts,” Peter uses one word to describe what
believers should be and do—Holy. This
is the point where being a believer becomes uncomfortable; especially since
Peter leaves us no room to understand the level of holiness expected when he
refers to the Levitical call of God to be Holy
just as God is Holy (Leviticus
11:44-45). If that doesn’t make you a little uncomfortable then you’re not
paying attention. If you’re not feeling uncomfortable quite yet then let me see
if I can help out a little—if you were to stand before God and He surveyed your
life, would He be able to define it as Holy
in the same way that He is Holy? Now
are your palms starting to sweat a little? If so, then you know how I feel when
I talk about my salvation as an uncomfortable comfort. This, therefore, leads
us to the inevitable question: How can we be something we cannot possibly be? What,
exactly, does it mean to be Holy in
the way that God is Holy? Countless
many have sought to water down the meaning of this verse. Because it seems like
an unattainable objective, they assume it must mean something different than
what Peter clearly intended. Nevertheless, Peter is clear in what he meant
which he confirmed with his reference to God’s own command for His chosen
people to be Holy in v. 16.
“To be holy means that Christians must
conform their thinking and behavior to God’s character. The charter of God was
first revealed through the covenant God made with the people he had chosen for
himself. The moral aspect of that covenant was summarized in what we commonly
call the Ten Commandments. Living in right relationship to God demanded
obedience to these commandments. By living in covenant with God, ancient Israel
would be set apart from the ways of the world. For God’s ways are distinct from
the ways of a fallen world, and he does not deal with the world on its own
terms. Therefore, his people are to identify with him by being set apart and by
relating to the world on the terms that God prescribes. God’s revelation of his
character in the old covenant paled in comparison with the revelation of his
character as a living human being in Jesus Christ. Therefore, Peter’s command
in 1:15 that his Christian readers be holy was a call to live in obedient
relationship with Christ that by definition would set them apart from the
customs and values of unbelieving, pagan society. The Christian’s morality
would be defined by, and derived from, the character of God their Father as
first revealed in Scripture and then ultimately in the life of Jesus Christ…In
other words, to be holy requires a change in one’s way of life from before,
when one’s behavior was determined by unrestrained impulses to sin, even in
ways acceptable by society. God’s call that has brought Christians to Christ is
also a call to deny those sinful impulses and abstain from certain social
customs and practices, making one a stranger within one’s own society.”[5]
Application
I wish I
could find a way to sugar-coat this lesson but there is simply no other way to
interpret Peter’s instructions. Therefore, we must deal with them on their
face. I can, however, tell you that nothing in Peter’s instruction suggests
that the holiness he commands is a one-time event. Instead, Peter’s paranaesis
of holiness is intended to be an enduring lifestyle; a commitment in a definitive
direction; the opposite direction of the way things used to be, according to
the old you, and toward the way things are intended to be, according to the new
you. Peter has in view here a Holy life
that is a journey; a life journey marked by something you have often heard me
speak of; the life of the ‘already/not yet,’ this time, of holiness. “We have
already been declared holy because of our faith in Christ, but we must work out
that divine family likeness in our day-to-day walk, behavior, and conduct.”[6] As is true of any journey,
there is a portion of the road that lies behind us, a portion of the road on
which we currently travel and a portion of the road that lies before us. However,
the objective of our life journey is to always continue moving along the road toward
the goal to be Holy.
The life
marked by holiness is not something that occurs by accident or by wishful
thinking. It is a journey along a narrow road that I have found grows ever more
narrow as I grow older and along a path that does not seem to be very well
worn. Within each of us as believers resides the Holy Spirit as promised to us
by Jesus and is our guide to all truth. If we allow the Holy Spirit to guide
our lives, we are destined to travel always toward our goal of holiness even if
we don’t reach our intended goal in this life because that is His goal for us
as well. “We cannot become holy on our own, but God gives us his Holy Spirit to
help us. We will not achieve perfect holiness in this life; Peter’s words mean
that all parts of our lives and character should be in the process of becoming
conformed, both inwardly and outwardly, to God’s holy standards.”[7]
Yes but how do we do that you might
be asking? Well, there are a few things that you can commit yourself to for
starters to assist you along your journey. As I have said so many times in
other lessons, I hate lists for a number of reasons: They are necessarily
limiting by what they fail to include in all cases; they turn what is intended
to be an intimate relationship into a business relationship of checklists which
is cold and calculating not relational; and finally, lists provide a built-in
excuse for sin when something is neglected from the list and thereby assumed to
be permissive. Nevertheless, I would like to offer a starting point for you to
use as a companion on your journey.
- Prayer—If we sincerely seek a life of holiness, then we can pray that God would show us the path to holiness because that is His objective as well.
- Silence & Solitude—We can pray fervently and through many tears but in our hectic and fast-paced lives we can still lose our way because we fail to hear the answers to our prayers. A regular discipline of silence and solitude will provide the needed space in our lives where we can hear God’s voice more clearly as he seeks to guide us and answer our prayers (see lesson titled Silence and Solitude at http://seredinski.blogspot.com/2012/01/silence-and-solitude-pt-1.html and http://seredinski.blogspot.com/2012/02/silence-and-solitude-pt-2-conclusion.html).
- Scripture Reading—Paul tells Timothy that “All
Scripture is God-breathed and is useful for teaching, rebuking, correcting
and training in righteousness, so that the man [and woman] of God may be thoroughly
equipped for every good work” 2 Tim 3:16-17. However, the Bible still
remains the most purchased and least read book of all time. God has given
us his Word if we would simply take the time to read it, meditate on it
and apply its timeless principles to our lives.
- Self-reflection & Confession—There are some
things about our lives that are only visible to us and to God; things we
want no one else to see; things we are too ashamed to reveal. Some of
these things are new to our lives but many are remnants from our lives as
unbelievers; remnants we still cherish; remnants we are afraid to release.
Self-reflection and confession will reveal new sins as well as these dark
remnants and begin the long hard process of overcoming them.
- Community—Although none of our callings are the
same, we all travel toward the same goal of holiness. Therefore, we must
seek to travel the path together in whatever form we can in order to
encourage each other when the road becomes difficult, to mend each other’s
wounds as we stumble and fall along the road, and to protect each other
when the road becomes treacherous.
- Biblical Teaching—Too many have fallen prey to the
lure of the world’s call, the desire to be entertained at church, and to false
teachers largely because they neglected the need to continue to learn and
mature in their faith. The Bible is replete with this instruction to grow
in knowledge and maturity: Col 4:12; Eph 4:14-15; Heb 5:12-13; 2 Pet 3:18.
- Fasting—Unfortunately, fasting is almost always
associated with giving up eating. Although that is certainly a type of
fasting, fasting is really just technically giving up something in our
lives so we can commit that time to one or more of the other items I have
outlined above. There is a sacrificial element to fasting but it’s what we
do or don’t do in place of what we fast from that matters. For example,
what good does it do if we say we are fasting from playing golf so we can
play more tennis? Compared to fasting from playing golf so we can spend
that time in an organized Bible study or some other biblical discipline?
“The grace of God is unearned and unearnable, but if
we ever expect to grow in grace, we must pay the price of a consciously chosen
course of action which involves both individual and group life. Spiritual growth
is the purpose of the Disciplines.”[8]
Please accept this list of instructions in the spirit it is given—not as a
checklist to follow and brag about but as a basic guide that points toward the
goal that is set before each of us as believers; the goal which God has
instructed us to pursue; the goal to be Holy.
[1] Larry
Crabb, 66 Love Letters: A Conversation
with God That Invites You into His Story, (Nashville, TN: Thomas Nelson,
2009), p. 297.
[2] Ralph
P. Martin & Peter H. Davids, Dictionary
of the Later New Testament & Its Developments, (Downers Grove, IL:
InterVarsity Press, 1997), p. 479.
[3] I.
Howard Marshall, 1 Peter—The IVP New
Testament Commentary Series, (Downers Grove, IL: InterVarsity Press, 1991),
pp. 50-51.
[4] John
H. Elliott, 1 Peter—The Anchor Bible,
(New Haven, CT: Yale University Press, 2000), p. 358.
[5] Karen
H. Jobes, 1 Peter—Baker Exegetical
Commentary on the New Testament, (Grand Rapids, MI: Baker Academic, 2005),
pp. 112-113.
[6] Bruce
Barton, Philip Comfort, Grant Osborne, Linda K. Taylor, Dave Veerman, Life Application New Testament Commentary,
(Wheaton, IL: Tyndale House Publishers, 2001), p. 1106.
[7] Ibid.
[8] Richard
J. Foster, Celebration of Discipline,
(New York, NY: HarperCollins Publishers, 1998), p. 8.
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