1 Peter: What does it look like to be holy?
Therefore, with minds that are alert and fully sober, set your hope on the grace to be brought to you when Jesus Christ is revealed at his coming. As obedient children, do not conform to the evil desires you had when you lived in ignorance. But just as he who called you is holy, so be holy in all you do; 16 for it is written: “Be holy, because I am holy.”
Since you call on a Father who judges each person’s work impartially, live out your time as foreigners here in reverent fear. For you know that it was not with perishable things such as silver or gold that you were redeemed from the empty way of life handed down to you from your ancestors, but with the precious blood of Christ, a lamb without blemish or defect. He was chosen before the creation of the world, but was revealed in these last times for your sake. Through him you believe in God, who raised him from the dead and glorified him, and so your faith and hope are in God.
Now that you have purified yourselves by obeying the truth so that you have sincere love for each other, love one another deeply, from the heart. For you have been born again, not of perishable seed, but of imperishable, through the living and enduring word of God. For,
“All people are like grass,
and all their glory is like the flowers of the field;
the grass withers and the flowers fall,
but the word of the Lord endures forever.”And this is the word that was preached to you.
Therefore, rid yourselves of all malice and all deceit, hypocrisy, envy, and slander of every kind. Like newborn babies, crave pure spiritual milk, so that by it you may grow up in your salvation, now that you have tasted that the Lord is good. 1 Peter 1:13-2:3
Just as he who called you is holy, so be holy in all you do
This is the command in verse 15 of this passage. Be holy in all you do. Why? Because he who called you is holy. If you want to be known as one of his, you have to behave like him. If you call yourself a Christian, then you have to live as Christ, your role model, lived.
Just as he who called you is holy, so be holy in all you do
So we first have to understand what the world ‘holy’ actually means. The dictionary definition reads ‘dedicated or consecrated to God or a religious purpose’. That makes sense. To be a Christian, we become dedicated to God and commit to following His will for our lives, rather than our own. And so all that we do has to demonstrate that. People have to be able to see by how we act that we are dedicated to God. I was brought up to understand being holy as being set apart, different from everyone around me. It’s not acting differently for the sake of acting differently. Living a life dedicated to God will make you stand out from the crowd, whether you like it or not. You’re choosing to live by a different set of rules to everyone around you – following not the world’s way of looking at things but looking to live with the mind and attitude of Jesus.
Just as he who called you is holy, so be holy in all you do
‘With minds that are alert and fully sober’ – in other words, be woke. Have you heard that expression? I love it. Starting out as a political term of African American origin which referred to a perceived awareness of issues concerning social justice, it’s become broader than that. It means opening your eyes to all that is going on around you and inside you – to be fully aware of how people (all living beings including the planet) are being treated by others and by yourself. It’s time to wake up and see the world through the eyes of Jesus. Looking the other way is not an option.
Just as he who called you is holy, so be holy in all you do
The world will not always be this way. There is a time when Jesus’ kingdom will come on earth as in heaven. That is our hope for our future, which informs and inspires our lives right now. Glimpses of that future glory can break through into our lives today as we seek to live the holy lives we have been called to.
Just as he who called you is holy, so be holy in all you do
We are not what we were before we came face to face with the living Jesus. We can now see that the way we were living is not the way God intended for us to live. His way is the way he intended all humans to live, the way he created all humans to live. And so we are called to live as obedient children, like children who trust that their parents know best and are ready to learn from them and respect their teaching.
Just as he who called you is holy, so be holy in all you do
God has no favourites. There is nothing that will impress him at the end of the day other than how we lived our lives, how we demonstrated holiness. We are not called to fit in or be popular or even be liked. Peter likens it to living as a foreigner in our setting. The way we think and talk and act will at times be different to those around us.
Just as he who called you is holy, so be holy in all you do
Peter refers to the traditions and way of life before Jesus came down to earth as ’empty’. It is only in Jesus that we can find fullness of life. Things count for nothing. It is through Jesus that we find the way to God.
Just as he who called you is holy, so be holy in all you do
So what does it look like to be holy? Have sincere love for each other, love one another deeply, from the heart. That’s where it starts. Holiness comes down to how we love others. Which isn’t how it often looks in the world today: those who appear to consider themselves holy are the ones who seem to ostracise and denigrate and discriminate against others! Holiness is not about upholding standards and judging others. It is about showing love, as Jesus showed love.
Just as he who called you is holy, so be holy in all you do
To be holy is to love deeply. And to love deeply leads to this: rid yourselves of all malice and all deceit, hypocrisy, envy, and slander of every kind. Wow! It’s a high bar, isn’t it? This is how we are called to live – every day in every situation, with everyone we encounter.
Just as he who called you is holy, so be holy in all you do
And maybe like me, as you consider these truths and challenges, you realise how far you’ve got to go. You see you’re just starting out. Like a newborn baby, you’ve got a lot of growing and maturing to do! So while being holy means we will be set apart, it is never about distancing ourselves from others. Quite the opposite – it’s about loving deeply, moving closer, connecting more deeply…
What are we waiting for?
