Thank you to Mark R for this message
Over the next 3 weeks, we’re looking at 1 Peter1:13-22, and the words: “Be holy, because I am holy”. These words come from Leviticus 19, where the LORD gives the Israelites the 10 commandments.
“Holy” is not a word we use much today. We might hear a sarcastic comment such as ‘Holier than thou’ implying someone is self righteous or judgmental.
So I wonder what comes to mind when we hear the word “Holy”?
Perhaps angels with halos, or someone in a church on their knees in prayer?
The word for “Holy” in the Bible is “Kadash” which means ‘to cut, or to separate’. It means ‘set apart’, ‘different’
And this difference begins and ends with God. He is Holy, and His people are to reflect this holiness through their union with Him in Christ Jesus. “Be holy, because I am holy”
As always with Bible passages, it’s important to look at the context in which these verses are set.
Peter begins by addressing Christians and reminding them they are ‘God’s elect’ (v1), and they have been ‘chosen according to the foreknowledge of God the Father through their union with sanctifying work of the Spirit’. It is this same Spirit that lives inside us and any holiness in us is the result of His work in our lives.
This is so important to grasp because when we come to the command to be holy we immediately think it’s all up to us to live perfect lives. A short reading of Romans 7 immediately reminds of the struggle to do this when Paul says in Romans 7:15: “What I want to do I do not do, but what I hate I do”
But Paul then goes on to say in Romans 8:1: “There is no condemnation for those who are in Christ Jesus”
The moment we are united to Christ a struggle begins between the flesh and the Holy Spirit who comes to live in us. And His work is to point us day by day to the reality that we have been chosen by God, and United to His Son Jesus and His work on the Cross for us. His righteousness has been imputed to us. He is the Vine, we are the branches; what is true of Him is true of us.
As someone has said: “The fruit of the tree comes from the root of the tree”
“Be holy because I am holy” Being holy comes from our union with Christ and the work of the Holy Spirit in our lives.
So Peter tells us in 1 Peter 1:13 “Therefore, with minds that are alert…set your hope on the grace to be brought to you when Jesus Christ is revealed at His coming”
Therefore it is the word “Grace”, that is the motivator for living holy lives. It is Jesus and His grace, His love, His mercy that is the engine for being holy.
