“You shall be holy, for I am holy.”

1 Peter 1:13-2:10 from the daily reading in the One Year Bible

Therefore, prepare your minds for action, keep sober in spirit, fix your hope completely on the grace to be brought to you at the revelation of Jesus Christ. ¹⁴ As obedient children, do not be conformed to the former lusts which were yours in your ignorance, ¹⁵ but like the Holy One who called you, be holy yourselves also in all your behavior; ¹⁶ because it is written, “You shall be holy, for I am holy.”

¹⁷ If you address as Father the One who impartially judges according to each one’s work, conduct yourselves in fear during the time of your stay on earth; ¹⁸ knowing that you were not redeemed with perishable things like silver or gold from your futile way of life inherited from your forefathers, ¹⁹ but with precious blood, as of a lamb unblemished and spotless, the blood of Christ. ²⁰ For He was foreknown before the foundation of the world, but has appeared in these 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.

²² Since you have in obedience to the truth purified your souls for a sincere love of the brethren, fervently love one another from the heart, ²³ for you have been born again not of seed which is perishable but imperishable, that is, through the living and enduring word of God. ²⁴ For,

“All flesh is like grass, And all its glory like the flower of grass. The grass withers, And the flower falls off, ²⁵ But the word of the Lord endures forever.”

And this is the word which was preached to you.

2 Therefore, putting aside all malice and all deceit and hypocrisy and envy and all slander, ² like newborn babies, long for the pure milk of the word, so that by it you may grow in respect to salvation, ³ if you have tasted the kindness of the Lord.

⁴ And coming to Him as to a living stone which has been rejected by men, but is choice and precious in the sight of God, ⁵ you also, as living stones, are being built up as a spiritual house for a holy priesthood, to offer up spiritual sacrifices acceptable to God through Jesus Christ. ⁶ For this is contained in Scripture:

“Behold, I lay in Zion a choice stone, a precious corner stone,
And he who believes in Him will not be disappointed.”

⁷ This precious value, then, is for you who believe; but for those who disbelieve,

“The stone which the builders rejected, This became the very corner stone,”

⁸ and, “A stone of stumbling and a rock of offense”;

for they stumble because they are disobedient to the word, and to this doom they were also appointed.

⁹ But you are a chosen race, a royal priesthood, a holy nation, a people for God’s own possession, so that you may proclaim the excellencies of Him who has called you out of darkness into His marvelous light; ¹⁰ for you once were not a people, but now you are the people of God; you had not received mercy, but now you have received mercy.

Today’s text says:  As obedient children, do not be conformed to the former lusts which were yours in your ignorance, but like the Holy One who called you, be holy yourselves also in all your behavior; because it is written, “You shall be holy, for I am holy.”   If you address as Father the One who impartially judges according to each one’s work, conduct yourselves in fear during the time of your stay on earth; knowing that you were not redeemed with perishable things like silver or gold from your futile way of life inherited from your forefathers, but with precious blood, as of a lamb unblemished and spotless, the blood of Christ.  There are many today who believe that because of grace, holiness is no longer necessary; that because Jesus died once for all sin, our present and future sin no longer matters. They believe it is already forgiven.  God’s grace does not embrace sin. He does not tolerate sin because of grace. Sin has not been redeemed so that it is now acceptable to God. We have been redeemed from sin and by grace we have been given the holiness of Christ, so that we are acceptable to God. We are redeemed from sin through the precious blood of Christ. How then could we go on sinning and disregard and disdain His sacrifice? In John 14:15 Jesus says: “If you love Me, you will keep My commandments.”  Obedience, to walk in holiness must be our response to His love and grace; not that we would continue in self-satisfying lust and ignorance. Ignorance is not just that we don’t know the truth, it is choosing to ignore what we know. James 4:17 says:  For one who knows the right thing to do and does not do it, for him it is sin.  For those who know Jesus died on the cross to redeem us from sin, yet choose to embrace the immorality and unholiness of the world, it is sin that they choose rather than obedience.

The text says:  Coming to Him as to a living stone which has been rejected by men, but is choice and precious in the sight of God, you also, as living stones, are being built up as a spiritual house for a holy priesthood, to offer up spiritual sacrifices acceptable to God through Jesus Christ… You are a chosen race, a royal priesthood, a holy nation, a people for God’s own possession, so that you may proclaim the excellencies of Him who has called you out of darkness into His marvelous light; for you once were not a people, but now you are the people of God; you had not received mercy, but now you have received mercy.  Jesus didn’t change the government when He died and was resurrected. He didn’t change all that was wrong with the culture and society either then or now. Jesus sacrifice was to redeem sinners, so that they would be changed. In John 18:36, when Jesus stood before Pilate, facing execution, He said:  “My kingdom is not of this world. If My kingdom were of this world, then My servants would be fighting so that I would not be handed over to the Jews; but as it is, My kingdom is not of this realm.”  Jesus died so that we could enter into the heavenly kingdom; a kingdom in which there is no sin or disobedience.  He chose us and died so that we could become a chosen race, a royal priesthood, a holy nation, a people for God’s own possession; and  so that we may proclaim the excellencies of Him who has called us out of darkness into His marvelous light; for we once were not a people, but now we are the people of God; we had not received mercy, but now we have received mercy.   God’s grace does not embrace or tolerate sin, neither though did His grace or Christ’s sacrifice eliminate sin. Through the cross and the resurrection, we have been given a choice, whether to be holy as He is holy, or to continue in ignorance, ignoring what we know is right. Jesus sacrifice did not redeem the government, the culture or our society. He redeemed sinners from sin. It is up to the redeemed to change the world around them.  In Luke 17:21 Jesus says:  “Behold, the kingdom of God is within you.” In Matthew 5:14-16 He says:  “You are the light of the world. A city set on a hill cannot be hidden; nor does anyone light a lamp and put it under a basket, but on the lampstand, and it gives light to all who are in the house. Let your light shine before men in such a way that they may see your good works, and glorify your Father who is in heaven.”  We are to bring the kingdom of heaven to earth, shining the light of Christ everywhere we go.

Jesus taught us to pray saying: ‘Our Father who is in heaven, Hallowed be Your name. Your kingdom come. Your will be done, On earth as it is in heaven. Give us this day our daily bread. And forgive us our debts, as we also have forgiven our debtors. And do not lead us into temptation, but deliver us from evil. For Yours is the kingdom and the power and the glory forever. Amen.’   Amen. Thank You heavenly Father, Lord Jesus Christ and precious Holy Spirit because I am redeemed by the precious blood of the lamb, may I walk in Your holiness. In obedience may I choose to turn from ignorance to doing what is right. May I shine Your light in the darkness of the world, so that in my life and through my life, Your kingdom would come and Your will would be done, on earth as it is in heaven. Amen.