Good morning. Open your Bibles to 1 Peter. We're going to be looking at 1 Peter 1 verses 13-16. 1 Peter 1 verses 13-16. I told Mrs. Bell at the beginning of the week that I was planning to go through 2 chapter 2 verse 3, but I only got as far as verse 16. So that's what we'll be going today The title of My sermon this morning is the call to holiness the call to holiness, you know It was a blessing to hear the Word of God read and the songs sung this morning and play that talked about it that spoke to the holiness of God and this passage tells us be holy For I am holy God's holiness, what an incredible thing, what an incredible calling for us. Let's read 1 Peter 1 verses 13-16. It says, Wherefore, gird up the loins of your mind, be sober, and hope to the end, for the grace that is to be brought unto you at the revelation of Jesus Christ. As obedient children, not fashioning yourselves according to the former lusts in your ignorance, but as he which hath called you is holy, so be ye holy in all manner of conversation, because it is written, Be ye holy, for I am holy. In the first 12 verses of this epistle, the Apostle Peter laid the foundation of who we are in Christ and the riches that we have in salvation. These are 12 rich, rich verses full of precious truth about the Gospel. That's the foundation. It's the most important part. It must be right. But no one builds just a foundation. You lay a foundation so you can build on top of it. And Peter, now under the inspiration of the Holy Spirit, he's laid the doctrinal foundation, and now he begins to build upon it. From this passage we'll see that as the children of the Holy God, We are called to live holy lives. Before we begin, let's pray. Dear Lord, we thank you for your goodness to us. Lord, your grace and your mercy is so real in our lives and so abundant. Lord, we thank you for your word that we can have to study. Lord, I pray that we would be good stewards of all the blessings you've given us, that we would be faithful. with all that you have put before us, that we would live lives that bring you honor and glory. Lord, I pray that our hearts would be soft as we look at this passage this morning, that we would be challenged. And when we consider your holiness and our position as your children, that we would lead lives that are holy. In Jesus' name we pray. Amen. Peter begins this passage by exhorting Christians to gird up the loins of your mind. Look at verse 13. Peter says, Wherefore, gird up the loins of your mind, be sober, and hope to the end for the grace that is to be brought unto you at the revelation of Jesus Christ. This is a powerful biblical illustration. In Bible times, men would gather at the ends of their robes and they would tuck them into their belts. And that's what this phrase, gird up your loins, means. This makes movement easier. You're less likely to trip. You're ready to move fast. You do that when you're preparing for battle, so you're ready to fight. It's used several times in the Bible. In Exodus 2, verse 11, the Israelites were commanded to eat their first Passover meal with your loins girded, your shoes on your feet, and your staff in your hand. Another example of this language can be found in 1 Kings 18, verse 46. And the hand of the Lord is on Elijah, and he girded up his loins and ran before Ahab to the entrance of Jezreel. In Job 40 verse 7, God said to Job, Gird up your loins now like a man. I will demand of thee and declare thou unto me. The Christian must prepare his mind for action. Gird up the loins of your mind. Why must we prepare our minds? The Christian life is not passive. Christian life is not passive. The gospel is a call to action. We've received the gospel and now we are to go, we are to teach, we are to baptize, we are to make disciples, the great commission. Three different times in the book of James, this phrase is repeated, faith without works is dead. A faith that doesn't lead to action in your life is a dead, worthless faith. A faith that believes in God and fears Him, but a faith that doesn't move you to obey Him, is only as good as the devil's faith. James 2 verse 19, Thou believest there is one God, thou doest well. The devils also believe and tremble. True faith will lead us to action as we seek to obey God and honor Him with our lives. Paul points to the reality that true faith will be active faith. In Titus 1 verse 16, while speaking about false teachers, Paul says this, They profess to know God, but in works they deny Him, being abominable and disobedient unto every good work reprobate. Then twice in Titus chapter 3, Paul speaks about the necessity and the value of good works. All this points to the reality that the Christian life is not passive. We're called to action. And we face active opposition. In the Christian life, we face active opposition. This sin-filled world opposes the cause of Christ. The natural man opposes the cause of Christ. Satan opposes the cause of Christ. We're called to live out an active faith, and we face active opposition. Therefore, we must prepare our minds. We understand the need to prepare. And now we must understand the method. How are we to prepare our minds? This verse tells us. First it says, be sober. Be sober. We're to be serious. We're to be watchful. We have many foes that try to derail our walk with God. Peter repeats this command two more times in his epistle. We must be sober. We must be alert to present danger. The verse goes on and says, hope. Hope to the end for the grace that is to be brought unto you at the revelation of Jesus Christ. We are to look forward to the grace that is to come. Jesus Christ will return. Jesus Christ will return. And when He returns, we'll experience the totality of our salvation. Is your Christianity faltering because of hopelessness? Falter no more. Ground your hope in the promises of Jesus Christ. Read back over the first 12 verses of 1 Peter. If you are a Christian, your future is bright. Secured in the finished work of Jesus Christ, the future is bright for the Christian. We have great hope in Christ. Hope. Peter begins this passage by telling us to prepare our minds for the task at hand with soberness in the present and hope for the future. Next, Peter points to our identity. Look at the first part of verse 14. Peter says, as obedient children. As Christians, we are the children of God. Peter has already talked about our position in Christ as children. In verse 3, Peter said that we have been begotten again. In Christ, we have been born again. When, by the abundant mercy of God, we entered into salvation, we were born in righteousness. Not our own righteousness, but the righteousness of Jesus Christ. We're no longer separated from God. The sin that was a barrier between us and God is gone. It's covered by the blood of Jesus Christ. We have been redeemed from sin and brought into the family of God. That's the reality of our second birth. In verse 4, Peter told us that we have an inheritance reserved in heaven. That's a reality of our salvation, an unshakable reality. When we are born again, we become children of God, adopted sons and daughters. As adopted children, we have an inheritance. We are joint heirs with Christ. Romans 8, verses 16 and 17 reinforce this truth. There Paul writes, "...the Spirit itself beareth witness with our spirit, that we are the children of God. And if children, then heirs, heirs of God, and joint heirs with Christ. If so be that we suffer with Him, that we may also be glorified together." Now in verse 14, Peter references this reality of our position as children of God once again. As Christians, we are the children of God. But back in verses 3 and 4, Peter was talking about our position while he was referencing what God has done for us. He talked about our position while referencing what God has done for us. Now Peter is speaking about our responsibility as children of God. Our responsibility as children of God. Notice this verse says, as obedient children. Obedience to God as a result of what God has done for us in salvation. Look back at 1 Peter 1 verse 2. It says, We haven't been brought by the grace of God into the family of God to continue to fulfill the lusts of our flesh. We have not been brought by the grace of God into the family of God to continue to fulfill the lust of our flesh. We have been brought by the grace of God into the family of God to live in obedience to God's commands. To live in obedience to God's commands. Peter begins this passage by telling us to prepare our minds. Next, Peter points to our identity as children of God. Before, when Peter talked about our position as God's children, he was talking about what God has done for us. And now he points to our responsibility. Next, Peter speaks about our calling to live holy lives. We are called to holiness. Look at verses 14-16. As obedient children, not fashioning yourselves according to the former lusts in your ignorance, but as he which hath called you is holy, so be ye holy in all manner of conversation. Because it is written, be ye holy, for I am holy. First, this passage tells us what not to do. Verse 14, not fastening yourselves according to the former lusts in your ignorance. People say you are what you eat. That's true for my physical body. What I eat is the material that becomes my physical body. The natural man, the unsaved man's unregenerate spirit is what he lusts after. People all around the world fashion themselves. They conform themselves to their lusts. Whatever an individual is given to lust after, they conform themselves to that lust. And they do so in ignorance. The world truly believes, truly believes that happiness can be found in satisfying the lusts of the flesh. And sometimes as Christians, we're misled. And we believe that we too can find satisfaction fulfilling the lusts of our flesh. And on and on and on. They press, hoping to find fulfillment in lusts. It's a hopeless pursuit. It's a hopeless pursuit. James 4, verse 2, it says this. You lust and have not. You kill and desire to have and cannot obtain. You fight and you war, yet you have not, because you ask not. In that passage, James is speaking to Christians, but the nature of lust is still the same. The end of lust is lust. Lust will never be self-fulfilling. Lust will never fulfill itself. Trying to fulfill lust will only lead to more lust. And Peter here, he says, no more. Fulfill the lust of your flesh, no more. In the past we were defined by our lusts that we pursued in ignorance. Peter now tells us what we should be defined by. He goes on to tell us what we should be defined by. Holiness. Holiness. I think first we need to define the term holy because we have a lot of different ways that we use the term. A standard dictionary definition for holy is dedicated or consecrated to God for religious purpose, sacred. That definition doesn't really work in this passage. Are we to be dedicated, consecrated to God, sacred as God is? It's not the same idea. Now this word that's translated as holy, I looked it up in Strong's Concordance and it gave me sacred, or holy, or saint as a definition. And that's helpful, but it's also kind of vague. What exactly does it mean to be holy? Listen to Noah Webster's definition of holy in his dictionary, his original dictionary. It defines holy as this, properly, whole, entire, or perfect, in a moral sense. Hence, pure in heart, temper, or dispositions. Free from sin and sinful affections. Applied to the supreme being, holy signifies perfectly pure, immaculate, and complete in moral character." Now that seems to really capture what the Bible calls holy. Webster goes on in his definition. He says, is more or less holy as his heart is more or less sanctified or purified from evil dispositions. We call a man holy when his heart is conformed in some degree to the image of God and his life is regulated by divine precepts. Hence, holy is used nearly synonymous with good, pious, godly. And that seems to really encapsulate how we use the word holy. This issue of holiness has been a great struggle for Christians. Is this command to be holy a command we can fulfill? Is it a command we can fulfill? Are we capable of living a holy life? The standard for holiness is God Himself. The standard for holiness is God Himself. Can we live up to that standard? No. God perfectly represents holiness. We can never live up to that perfect standard. If we approach this issue, if we approach this issue with the idea that holiness is something that we achieve by our actions, We'll develop the mindset that we become holy by doing what God tells us to do. We believe that we can achieve, we will end up believing that we can achieve a state of holiness by living or performing a certain way. Now is that what the Bible teaches? I want to be very careful here. I want to be very careful. This command to be holy is a command for us to do. It's a command for us to do. It's a call to action. Everything Peter has said so far in this passage points to that. However, I believe that to properly grasp His command, we first must come from a foundation of understanding our position in Christ, who we are in Christ. In Christ, we are identified as holy. We're identified as holy. 1 Corinthians 3 verse 17, If any man defile the temple of God, him shall God destroy. For the temple of God is holy, which temple ye are. Which temple ye are. Colossians 1 21 through 22 and You that were sometimes alienated and enemies in your mind by wicked works Yet now hath he reconciled speaking of Jesus Christ. He reconciled in the body of his flesh through death To present you holy and unblameable and unreprovable in his sight Jesus has reconciled you and he presents you holy Colossians 3 12 The first part of that verse says, put on therefore, as the elect of God, holy and beloved. As the elect of God, holy and beloved. Later on, in 1 Peter, in chapter 2, Peter refers to Christians as holy. In 1 Peter 2, verse 5, Peter says, you are a holy priesthood. And in verse 9, Peter says, you are a holy nation. In our text, in all these verses I've just mentioned, I looked it up, it's the same word. It's translated as holy. Because of our position in Christ, we are holy. We're not told to achieve holiness for ourselves. We're not told to achieve holiness for ourselves. That's impossible. What we are called to is to live in the holiness that we have received from Jesus Christ. That makes all the difference in the world when it comes to living out this command. If we try to be holy on our own, if we try to achieve holiness for ourselves, we're trying to get for ourselves. what has already been given to us in Christ. In direct contrast, when we live in the holiness that we have received in Christ, we're not striving for something in our own strength, but rather, we're resting in faith on the finished work of Jesus Christ. I'm going to repeat myself because I want to try to do my best to communicate this idea clearly. Holiness is not something we achieve by something that we do. We are declared holy because of what Christ has done for us. These verses command us to be holy as God is holy. This isn't a command to do or to become something new. This isn't a command to strive for a goal that we can never reach. This is a command to live out our identity in Christ. To live out our identity as holy in Christ. Look at this command for holiness in life from this perspective. Look at this command for holiness in life from this perspective. Look at the command again. But as He which hath called you is holy, so be ye holy in all manner of conversation, because it is written, Be ye holy, for I am holy. God who has called us is holy. Remember here, Peter is talking about our responsibility as the children of God. As the holy children of the holy God, we are called to lead holy lives. This is a quote from Matthew Henry's commentary. It says, we must be holy as God is holy. We must imitate him, though we can never equal him. He is perfectly, unchangeably, and eternally holy, and we should aspire after such a state. The consideration of the holiness of God should oblige as to the highest degree of holiness we can attain unto. We are called to live out holiness in every aspect of our lives, not our own holiness, Not our own holiness, but the holiness we have received from Jesus Christ. This command to live holy is universal. It affects every part of our lives. Verse 15 says, in all manner of conversation, conversation as it's used here, it means behavior or lifestyle. True holiness is not like a coat that we put on when we come to church. And then when we go home, we take it off and we leave it in the closet until we go to church again the next week. Now, true holiness will affect, it must affect every area of our lives. We're called to be holy in every area of our lives, in every circumstance. In all work we do, whether it's religious or carnal, we must strive to be holy. Whatever condition we find ourselves in, whether rich or poor, whether sick or healthy, whether we are humbled or exalted, whether we are surrounded by witnesses or alone with God, we are to strive for holiness. Toward all people, whether friends or enemies, or total strangers, we are to strive to be holy. We are to strive to reflect the perfect moral character of God. In light of the holiness of our God, we should seek the highest degree of holiness we can attain unto. But as he which hath called you is holy, so be ye holy in all manner of conversation. Because it is written, be holy, for I am holy. It's not an impossible command. It's a command to live out our identity in Christ. And it's easy to get discouraged. It's easy to get discouraged. It can seem so hard, like such a struggle. Look back up to verse 13. Look back up to verse 13. It says, and hope to the end for the grace that is to be brought unto you at the revelation of Jesus Christ. One day Jesus Christ will come back. We're to strive to live holy lives, but Jesus Christ will come back and the grace, our salvation, we'll experience salvation of totality when Jesus Christ comes back. And that is to be our source of hope as we look towards the future. Jesus Christ is coming back and all this will be fulfilled perfectly. In this passage, Peter lays out in no uncertain terms that we are to be holy. We are to be holy. We have been declared holy in salvation. Holiness is part of our identity in Christ. We must take that reality and live it out in our lives. As children of a holy God, we are called to live holy lives. Peter began in verse 13. by telling us to prepare our minds, prepare our minds for action. Christianity is not passive. Christianity calls us to live active lives. In verse 14, Peter referenced once again our identity, but now he's speaking about our responsibility. As obedient children, as the holy children of the holy God, you're called to be obedient. And then he calls us to holiness. holiness. We are to strive after holiness. Be holy as God is holy. It's our calling as Christians. It's a challenge. That's what we're called to do. Let's pray. Dear Lord, we thank you for your grace in our lives. Lord, we pray that we would look at this passage. Lord, realize that this is not a command that we can keep on our own strength. We can't do it. The Lord Jesus Christ came and He fulfilled it. He was perfectly holy and righteous without flaw. And in salvation, His holiness has been imparted to us. Lord, help us not to strive after something that we can't achieve, but to rest on the finished work of Jesus Christ. To walk in holiness as You are holy, resting on Your strength and Your ability, the Holy Spirit within us to enable us to complete the task You set before us. but help us strive to be holy. In Jesus' name we pray, amen.