Scripture:
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; for it is written: “Be holy, because I am holy.”
Observation:
Now that Peter has laid the foundation of our “living hope through the resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead” and the future inheritance that we have in Him, he’s ready to talk about who we are called to be today.
Most if not all of the New Testament letters are generally structured this way: beliefs, therefore behaviors. First, Peter, Paul, James, John, and others establish what it is that Christians believe about God, about Christ, about the cross and resurrection, about human nature, and about realities of our salvation and future hope. Second, they assert or reassert how we are to live based on those beliefs being true.
Christian living is not a matter of earning God’s salvation by following God’s rules. Rather, it is about knowing we’ve been saved by the gracious action of God in Christ that have brought us into God’s family, the Church. Knowing who we belong to tells us how we are to live, and those who have the hope of Christ belong to God.
Incidentally, this is why the local church matters so much, flawed though it is due to being populated by imperfect people. We’re not individuals who are each saved separately. We are people who have been saved into the family of God. Part of our salvation is into community. That’s why John Wesley, the founder of Methodism, said that there is no holiness without social holiness. He was saying that we don’t grow spiritually (holiness) without a community in which we both receive and contribute strength, support, and spurring-on (social).
Given the family dynamic, Peter tells us to see ourselves as obedient children who are called to reflect the character of our Heavenly Father. This goes back to God’s calling the people of Israel in Leviticus 19:2, which Peter quotes: “Be holy, because I am holy.”
Holy, of course, means set apart, distinct, or different. God is distinct and different from the world. So, who should children resemble? God, of course. After all, they belong to Him.
Application:
What else might the Holy Spirit be speaking with you about in the text today?
Prayer: Lord, work in me what is pleasing to you. Help me grow more holy—like you—and support others in doing the same. Amen.
“But the seed falling on good soil refers to someone who hears the word and understands it. This is the one who produces a crop, yielding a hundred, sixty or thirty times what was sown.” (Matthew 13:23)
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Why do we faithfully attend church? This resonates……”That’s why John Wesley, the founder of Methodism, said that there is no holiness without social holiness. He was saying that we don’t grow spiritually (holiness) without a community in which we both receive and contribute strength, support, and spurring-on (social).”