Like obedient children, do not comply with the evil urges you used to follow in your ignorance, but, like the Holy One who called you, become holy yourselves in all of your conduct, for it is written, “You shall be holy, because I am holy.”
1 Peter 1:14-16
Holy sounds so, well, holy! How can God call us as sinners, whom he accepted only by his grace, to be holy?
The theme of holiness in this letter begins in 1 Peter 1:2 when Peter refers to the recipients of the letter as “chosen according to the foreknowledge of God the Father by being set apart by the Spirit for obedience and for sprinkling with Jesus Christ’s blood.” The word translated “set apart” in the NET Bible (hagiasmos)1 is often translated with a form of the word sanctify, which is a separation or consecration unto God. It is a cousin of the word for holy (haggio).2 The main sense of the word holy is “separation, consecration, devotion to the service of Deity, sharing in God’s purity and abstaining from earth’s defilement.”3
This concept of being holy or sanctified refers to both our initial setting apart as God’s people to obey and serve him (1 Peter 1:2) and also the continuous setting apart in character that changes believers to become more like Jesus, acting out the obedience for which we are purposed.
Karen Jobes comments: “The two components of consecration and sanctification cannot truly be separated: the transformation of character away from conformity to the world is constitutive of consecration.”4
I find the last paragraph in this passage (vv.10-12) to be so interesting. Throughout the Old Testament, God sent prophets to speak to his people, calling them back to fidelity to him through repentance and faith. Their messages included predictions of future events and of a coming king who would lead Israel into prosperity and peace. He was referred to as the Messiah (Hebrew) or Christ (Greek). These terms translated into English would be Anointed One, suggesting that he is God’s anointed king.
When we read the prophetic books of the Old Testament, we often wonder what many prophecies mean. Well, apparently the prophets themselves wondered about the timing and circumstances of their own predictions, particularly those about Messiah’s coming, his suffering and the glories to follow. Peter says that even angels wanted to understand these words. Today, we as God’s children are privileged to be on the back side of Jesus’ coming and can thus understand the prophecies about Jesus and his suffering for us according to the gospel.
What is the gospel? It is the good news of salvation in Jesus Christ. It is the truth that Jesus is God himself who came to earth and became man to grow up to suffer and die, freeing us from sin and the power of the forces of evil. Because of his death, we become God’s children and citizens of his kingdom by responding in faith to Jesus. We can’t earn this salvation; we can only receive it as a gift. Because of what Jesus has done for us, we are called to follow him and allow God’s Spirit to change us more and more into his likeness. This is sanctification, the process of being set apart in character. Our purpose is to serve him on earth, sharing this gospel message and giving people glimpses of the kingdom that is to come in full when Jesus returns by speaking of and showing God’s love.
*** Read more about the salvation Jesus brings in Romans 3:10-18, 21-23; 5:6-11; 6:23. Write down your insights.
Often the Bible calls us to do something and yet also describes it as God’s work. How are we to understand that? He calls us to obey, but all the while it’s the Spirit within us providing the power.
*** Read these other verses about God’s work through his people, and comment in your journal: John 15:1-5, 26; Acts 4:5-12, 31. If time permits, also look at Acts 12:25-13:3; Romans 8:14-17 and 2 Peter 1:19-21.
In 1 Peter 1:17 we see the Greek word paroikias5 meaning a time of residence in a foreign land, a time of exile, living as an alien. It refers not to the alien, as the word in 1:1 does, but to the period of time lived in an area that isn’t really home.
*** If you have ever lived in a foreign land as a temporary resident, how does that experience help you understand Peter’s use of these words? Does it suggest to you ways that you may need to adjust your attitude toward your permanent home?
Take time to pray, asking God to continue to show you what it means to be a foreigner on this earth.
1 Strong’s Exhaustive Concordance: 38, accessed at netbible.org.