The Clarion Call to the Pursuit of Holiness

Introduction: The Despised Minority and Peter's Pastoral Concern

0:03 Let us pray.

0:09 Our Father, we confess once more that it is not in man who walks to direct his steps. Left to ourselves, we stumble and feel our way either in blindness or in partial darkness, and it is only in your light that we see light. And we therefore cry to you that you would send your Holy Spirit upon preacher and listener alike that we together may be conscious that the author of the Scriptures is present as our teacher in the Scriptures. Come, blessed Spirit, sent from the ascended Christ, and take of the very words of Christ given to us in this portion of the Scriptures and help us to understand them, to believe them, and to obey them. And, O God, we pray for those who at this very moment have no love for that word, no love for you, the author of it, that you would take that very word and make it the instrument of your grace to bring them to repentance and faith. We ask through our Lord Jesus Christ. Amen.

1:38 Now, if we know even a meager amount of what is taught, what is taught in the Bible and unfolds in the history of the Christian Church, we know that the true people of God, that is, the Church of the Lord Jesus Christ, has been, in all of the periods of its history, a relatively despised minority. In the language of Jesus, they are the little flock to whom the Father has been pleased to give the kingdom. However, though they are a despised minority, their influence is disproportionate to their number. While they are the despised minority, yet Jesus calls them the light of the world and the salt of the earth. And no little part of their influence, far disproportionate to their numerical number, is that they exert an influence among those among whom they live that reflects, reflects the transforming power of the grace of God in their lives. However, when that light begins to shine in the darkness, according to John chapter 3, men love darkness rather than light. And when the salt that is checking the putrefaction of society begins to burn

3:05 into the very tissue of that society, there is often a very negative and hostile reaction to those who are not those whom the Lord has made the light of the world and the salt of the earth. And as a result of that, the people of God must live out their lives in a context where they feel the opposition from those among whom they once lived when they themselves were the sons and daughters of darkness. Well, this is what happened to the believers there in Asia Minor in these five Roman provinces in the Middle East. in these five Roman provinces in the Middle East.

3:44 in these five Roman provinces in the Middle East. in these five Roman provinces to whom Peter directs his letter. And he is concerned with pastoral passion so to encourage and instruct these believers that they will remain steadfast in the midst of that opposition and that the light of their influence will be brighter and the pungency of their saltiness even more effectual. And as Peter sets out upon that task, he begins by setting before these distressed believers in verses 3 to 12 of the first chapter that wonderful display of the great salvation that is theirs in Jesus Christ.

Steadfast Hope as the Foundation for Christian Living

4:27 If they are to remain stable and steadfast and faithful in the midst of a growing groundswell of opposition against them, they must know who and what they are in Christ. And so Peter begins by blessing God for this great salvation that is the possession of all of the people of God. Then in verse 13 he begins to direct specific pastoral concerns with these believers telling them the kind of life that they ought to live in the light of the kind of salvation they presently possess and the salvation that has such glorious glory. And he makes it clear that it is to be a life marked by steadfast hope. No sooner does he make the transition into the practical application of this great salvation with the word wherefore, wherefore, but that he directs them to gird up the loins of their mind, that is, have concentrated mental focus to be sober and to set their hope perfectly on the grace

5:57 to be brought to them at the revelation of Jesus Christ. So their life is to be at its most foundational level a life marked by steadfast hope, confident expectation of all the things that will come to them at the coming of Christ is to be as it were the very atmosphere within which they live. As they feel the pressure of a hostile society, as they feel the struggles with their own remaining sin, as they seek to carry out their calling in an environment that is not at all sympathetic to their deepest longings, they are to ever keep in the crosshairs of their mental health and spiritual vision that a moment is coming when the heavens will be opened and Christ himself will return and in his return bring with him and confer upon them the consummate blessings of his grace. Now this morning we begin to take up verses 14 to 16 in which Peter goes on to give a second pastoral concern regarding the basis and basic lifestyle of these distressed believers. They are not only to live a life marked by steadfast hope, but secondly, they are to live a life

The Foundation for Universal Holiness: Children of Obedience

7:25 marked by the pursuit of universal holiness. Now, whether Peter begins a new sentence with verse 14 or continues what he had already begun to develop in verse 13 is debated by grammarians by translators and also by commentators. However, whether we have a semicolon and there is a continuation of thought or whether Peter begins a separate sentence, it is clear that verses 14 to 16 have one basic unifying thought and that thought is Peter's clarion call to the pursuit of universal holiness. Note how clearly this call comes through in these verses. As children of obedience, not fashioning yourselves according to your former lust in the time of your ignorance, but like as he who called you is holy, be yourselves also holy in all manner of living. Because it is written, you shall be holy for I am holy.

8:43 Here is Peter's clarion call to the pursuit of universal holiness. And in seeking to unpack the text, I want you to notice with me first of all the foundation for the pursuit of universal holiness.

9:02 The foundation for the pursuit of universal holiness. As Peter begins to open up this second major directive to the people of God, in what precise way does he view his readers? And in what way does he want them to view themselves as they receive this directive? Well, the answer is found in the opening words of verse 14.

9:30 As children of obedience. Now, you may have a translation that renders it as obedient children. But the more literal and accurate rendering is as children of obedience. Now, what does that phrase mean?

9:50 Well, as one commentator has very helpfully distilled the essence of Peter's emphasis, the ancient Hebrews sometimes expressed character not by an adjective as we are accustomed to do. We speak of a cursed man. We speak of a bitter man. Or we may speak of an enlightened or a brilliant man.

10:12 But what the Hebrews would say is that is to take a noun and connect it with another noun meaning the child or the son. And so you find in Isaiah 57 in verse 4 children of transgression. Rather than saying a transgressing person, transgression so characterizes that person that the prophet says he is a child of transgression. He is so committed to a license style of transgression it's as though transgression is his parent and he's reflecting likeness to his parent.

10:51 Children of transgression. Or you have children of iniquity in Hosea 10 in verse 9. Iniquity is so much the pattern of their life that it is though iniquity has birthed them and they are bearing the family likeness. You see, it's a very powerful way of expressing a description of character.

11:16 It is not a comment on a single characteristic but it is a display of character. And we find that Hebraism, that way of expressing thought that was peculiar to the Hebrews carried over into the New Testament. We find the term children of the light in Luke chapter 16. We find also in Ephesians chapter 2 and verse 3 children of wrath and children of darkness.

11:54 Children of disobedience. And so when we come to this passage and Peter begins to lay out the second strand of his concern for these distressed believers and is about to issue to them a clarion call to universal obedience the foundation for that pursuit of universal obedience is what they are in their transformed Christian character. And what they are is summarized in these words they are children of obedience. So before He says to them you yourselves be holy in all manner of living because you are because it is written you shall be holy for I am holy He addresses them as children of obedience. He knows that they once were just the opposite but by the grace of God they have now become what they are. They were once as Paul describes the Ephesians in Ephesians 2.2 and were children of disobedience even as the rest of us the rest.

13:13 Romans 8.7 was descriptive of all of these believers in their former state. The carnal mind is enmity against God. It is not subject to the law of God neither indeed can it be.

13:27 So then they that are in the flesh cannot please God. But notice in chapter 1 in verse 2 that when Peter addresses these believers in his initial greeting he says that they have become elect sojourners of the dispersion in keeping with the foreknowledge of God the Father in sanctification of the Spirit unto obedience the same word in the original unto obedience and sprinkling of the blood of Jesus Christ. He knows they are a people who have come within the orbit of the sanctifying work of the Spirit the sprinkling of the blood of Christ and by the opportunity of the operations of grace they have been brought into the orbit of a life of obedience not only to the call of the gospel but to the authority of their gracious Savior who has redeemed them by his own precious blood. Now why is it important for Peter to bring that forward at the outset? Why not plunge right in to this clarion call to universal holiness? Well Peter wanted his way readers to know and he wants us to know that when he gives this call to universal holiness he can give it in the confidence that this summons to universal holiness

14:55 will not be rejected as oppressive and legalistic.

15:02 You see when anyone begins to give a call to universal holiness the immediate knee-jerk reaction of many is oh that's oppressive that's legalistic. But Peter knows that in writing to children of obedience those who are no longer rebels against God those who no longer cry out in the language of Pharaoh Exodus 5 to who is Jehovah that I should serve him. No longer do they say in the language of the citizens recorded in Luke 19 14 we will not have this man to reign over us. Peter knows that this call to holiness is falling upon the ears of those who have been birthed as it were by obedience as their spiritual parents. They are children of obedience. They have been given by the mighty transforming work of God's grace. A heart that is fundamentally and joyfully submissive to the living God.

Self-Examination: Are You a Child of Obedience?

16:13 A heart that is a heart that delights in the ways of God and in the will of God. And so Peter prefaces his summons to universal holiness by this foundational issue of their true identity by the grace of God. And before we pass on to our second major head may I ask you could Peter in addressing this letter to you address you as children of obedience? To make it more personal could he address you as a child of obedience?

16:56 Sitting here this morning can you say that the native disposition of your heart and this was the native disposition of all of our hearts a clenched fist in the face of God the carnal mind is enmity itself against God. It is not subject to the law of God neither indeed can it be. That's what you are and I am by nature. Now has that been changed so that the disposition of your heart this morning is that expressed by Saul of Tarsus when God conquered it by his grace and he cried out Lord what will you have me to do?

17:36 And then he gladly identified himself as Paul bond slave of Jesus Christ. While reveling in his liberty as a child of God. You see only the child of God can glory in his identity as a bond slave of Christ and yet know all the blessed of an adopted son or daughter who renders joyful obedience to all that his heavenly father requires of him and demands of him. So as we come to consider this clarion call to universal holiness if you do not have the disposition that can be described as a child of obedience you are going to find this very irksome. In a sense the proclamation of this gospel privilege will be the preaching of the law to your heart. It will stir up your enmity. Who in the world is God to mess around with all the details of my life and say to me be holy in all manner of conversation in all manner of life so there's not a thought I'm free to think a word I'm free to speak a relationship I'm free to establish a dime I'm free to spend without regard to whether or not it is a reflection of the holiness of God.

19:06 Who in the world is God to impose that on me? That will be your disposition. But if you are a child of obedience your response will be in the presence of God. In the light of this amazing salvation described in verses three to twelve and in the light of my hope that at the coming of Christ all of the residual dimensions of God's purposes of grace will be realized in me.

19:33 What a privilege to seek to be holy in all manner of life even as the God who has graciously saved me is holy. So Peter begins with the foundation for the privilege of God. For the privilege of God. For the privilege of God.

The Clarion Call: Rejecting Former Lusts (Negative)

19:46 For the privilege of God. For the privilege of God. For the pursuit of universal holiness. But then secondly and this is the heart of the text we have the clarion call to the pursuit of universal holiness and note that it's broken down into two categories.

20:01 The first is negative and the second is positive. As children of obedience not. As children of obedience not. Peter don't you know you don't make progress with people being negative.

20:19 No Peter didn't know it. Nor does the Holy Ghost know it. As children of obedience not. Now what's your reaction at God's nots?

20:32 Do you have a knee jerk reaction? Or do you welcome God's nots?

20:39 Well if you love him you welcome anything he says to you. It's a mercy that he would speak to us. And he's speaking to us here as he spoke to those first century Christians. And he's issuing this clarion call to the pursuit of holiness and to the pursuit of holiness beginning with the negative not.

20:56 Fashioning yourselves according to your former lust in the time of your ignorance. And then there's a strong adversative Allah. But. Then the positive like as he who called you is holy be yourselves holy in all manner of living.

21:11 So let's seek to unpack then this clarion call first of all with its negative. Now this word as children of obedience not. Fashioning yourselves. This word is found only one other time in the New Testament.

21:26 Perhaps you've already thought of it. Romans 12 in verse 2. Be not conformed to this world but be transformed by the renewing of your mind. Do not be conformed.

21:38 Do not be fashioned according to this world. It means to form together. And it's in a particular voice which means with respect to yourself. Do not form together with respect to yourself.

21:53 Not forming yourself together according to your former lusts in the time of your ignorance. To get an idea of what it means to form after a pattern think of the sculptor who sits with his lump of clay and there a few feet to one side of him is the man whose head he's seeking to reproduce. And he glances at the individual whom he is sculpting and then back to him and back to his lump of clay fashioning all the contours according to the standard of the shape the size and the contours of the face and the neck of the man whom he's seeking to reproduce. Now this is what Peter says to these believers. All of you are in a sense spiritual sculptors. You're fashioning yourself. You are forming your life together by the way by some pattern or some model.

22:56 Now he says in issuing this call to universal holiness you must not be fashioning yourself according to and what's the model that he says we must reject. It is the model described to these words your former lusts in the time of your ignorance. What they are not to do is to take the lusts of the lusts of their pre-converted days as the standard by which to fashion their lives. In their pre-converted days used using the word former they were governed and molded and shaped by their lust and their passions. Now this particular word lust is morally neutral in itself. It's found several times in the New Testament in a way that is not sinful. But in Peter's usage four times here in 1 Peter and I think it's 2 in 2 Peter it is always negative in its connotation.

24:03 It is always lust in terms of desires and appetites and passions that are finding an expression contrary to the will of God. And Peter says the dominant characteristic of your lust in your unconverted days look at the text is the word ignorance. They are your ignorant lusts. They are your ignorant lusts.

24:25 They are lusts that partook of and reflected your state of spiritual ignorance. Now when this term ignorance is used it has nothing to do with IQ. It has nothing to do with the numbers on their SAT tests. It has nothing to do with book learning.

24:46 It has to do with spiritual realities. It has to do with such things as the knowledge of God as He is. The knowledge of His law in its breadth and in its extent as it is. It has to do with the knowledge of God's amazing provisions of grace and mercy in the gospel.

25:07 And Peter can describe all of these believers regardless of their varying differences in background as having a past that was marked by fashioning, shaping, forming life according to the contours of lust lust that were suffused with and reflective of spiritual ignorance.

25:35 Now that's not a way to win friends and influence people by describing them in those terms.

25:42 But you see Peter wasn't in the business of winning friends and influencing people. He was in the business of conveying truth. And the truth is that these people in Asia Minor who have no reason to believe Peter ever saw in the flesh never knew much about their specific individual history. Peter knowing his Bible and knowing what human nature is in the light of the Bible and common observation could say that their pre-converted pattern of life was one marked by ignorance and ignorance finding its conduit of expression in the fulfilling of their sinful lusts and passions.

26:27 Paul gives a similar description of the Ephesians in chapter 4 verses 17 and 18 of the book of Ephesians. He exhorts these believers not to walk as the Gentiles walk in the vanity of their mind being darkened in their understanding alienated from the life of God and here's our word because of the ignorance that is in them. Because of the hardening of their heart. Paul says the Gentiles walk as they walk fundamentally because of the darkness of the understanding the ignorance that is in them.

27:12 While they boast themselves in superior knowledge that puts them above the standards of God's law and causes them to distance themselves from the claims and privileges of the gospel the spirit of God God says all of this is not a manifestation of superior intellect it's a manifestation of abysmal and pathetic and culpable ignorance. So as Peter is going to call these believers to a life of universal holiness he begins by the negative and says you are not to fashion yourself according to your former lust in the time of your ignorance and in so doing do you see the truth that Peter is bringing forward before he gets to the positive statement of calling them to universal holiness explicitly. Peter is underscoring the truth taught everywhere in the scriptures a truth that we must grasp if we are to make any progress in the Christian life that though the dominion of sin is broken in every true believer every true believer is fundamentally a child of obedience yet he is not a perfect child of obedience. Though our former lusts no longer reign

28:40 they do remain and like a usurper king who's been dethroned but is determined to take back the throne from which he was yanked off so this usurper like a usurper king the lust of our ignorance which took the ascendancy and the throne of our hearts and became the fashioning influence of our lifestyle Peter says that's no longer true of you you are children of obedience you are a people who have been begotten again and in the power of God's grace sin no longer reigns it's been dethroned but he wants these people to know that sin remains and if allowed to it will seek to regain ascendancy and therefore he starts with the negative not fashioning yourselves according to the former lusts in the time of your ignorance he is conscious that the people of God need to reckon upon this tension yes I am a child of obedience I want to render pleasing submission to my heaven but there is another power at work within me they are my former lusts but they have not so died and been buried

The Clarion Call: Pursuing Universal Holiness (Positive)

30:08 that they will not seek to exert a fashioning influence upon me therefore my calling from my gracious father is not fashioning myself according to the former lusts in the time of my ignorance but then he goes to the positive and it begins with a word in the original that is a strong adversity in contrast to fashioning yourself according to your former lusts in your ignorance here now is the very heart of the clarion call to the pursuit of universal holiness let's look at it under three subheads first the essence of the call to universal holiness look at it in your Bibles but like as he who called you is holy be yourselves holy in all manner of living because it is written you shall be holy for I am holy what I tried to do vocally was to highlight what the heart the essence of this call is the words like as he who called you is holy are preparatory the words that follow because it is written are confirmatory but the essence of the call to universal holiness is in these words

31:34 be yourselves holy in all manner of living that's the heart of the apostolic directive all else is clustered around it and either gives amplification qualification or explanation this is the central imperative the words not fashioned in yourselves are a participle they have a flavor of an imperative but they are not a strict imperative Peter wants us to know in weighing his words that whatever place not fashioning ourselves according to the former lust of our ignorance may have the central concern is with this imperative be yourselves holy in all manner of living now you've been told many times from this book that the heart of the idea of holy in the bible is separateness it means to be separated unto God dedicated to God consecrated to God withdrawn from common use unto God's special and sacred use now in this context when the contrast is given with the negative set apart from all those things which were produced by your former ignorant lust you are to be holy utterly thoroughly

33:03 dedicated consecrated to God withdrawn from common use unto his sacred use and this call is a call I keep using the words universal holiness and I use them to try to capture the essence of this word anastrophe in the original it is passe anastrophe all manner of living and that word anastrophe is one of Peter's favorite words it's found I believe 13 times in the new testament eight of them are in Peter's letters and the best equivalent in modern Americanese is lifestyle anastrophe means not an act here or a deed here or a thought here but it means the totality of your life as it forms a pattern in its visible expression in its visible expression before men that's the essence of the meaning of the word anastrophe it's used in Galatians 1.13 where Paul says you know my manner of life before I was converted you know the overall patterns and structures of my life as a zealous Jew in opposition to Christ and to the gospel you have heard of my manner of life in time

34:31 and past in the Jews religion you've heard of how I went after Christians and persecuted them you know of my great zeal you know my lifestyle as a bigoted Pharisee it's used in Ephesians 4.22 with respect to the lifestyle of the Ephesians before they were converted put away as concerning your former manner of life the old man your former manner of life your former manner of life your whole lifestyle when you were yet in Adam old man severed from Christ so that when these believers up there in Asia Minor would have heard one of their elders stand on the Lord's day and read this epistle be yourselves holy separated dedicated consecrated unto God in all anastrophe they would have known immediately that this call to holiness was a call to nothing less than universal holiness holiness that would touch the deepest springs of the inner life and would touch every spring of the outer life there was to be nothing that constituted their lifestyle that could not be called consecrated

35:59 unto God dedicated unto God no compartments of secular and sacred no hours of the day to be separated unto God and other hours to be separated unto their former lost and then some so-called neutral hours to be separated unto nothing or no one no the call is by this imperative be yourselves holy and he adds a word to underscore he's addressing everything every one of them be yourselves not a simple imperative but he adds a word be you yourselves holy in all manner of living and in trying to simply expound the text we need to note first of all that in the essence of this call to universal holiness Peter has set before us this non-negotiable standard of the word of God but then notice the lofty standard in connection with this call to holiness note the lofty standard in connection with this call to universal holiness verse 15 but like as he who called you is holy be yourselves also holy now some would argue that we ought to render the passage but according

37:28 as the holy one who called you be yourselves holy now and others say no the proper rendering is but like according to the pattern of the one who called you who is himself holy be ye holy which is it well really it makes no difference at the end of the day if it's the holy one who called us God himself is being set before us as the pattern or if the proper rendering is but like as he who called you is holy so be ye holy so at the end of the day we don't need to sort out the debate and I don't need to take you into any deeper into that debate the truth is on the surface of the text that the standard in connection with the call to universal holiness is nothing less than the spotless pure unsullied holiness of God himself think of it the one who has as one of his dominant names the holy one of Israel the one is he a God of infinite unspeakable love and mercy yes but he never takes to himself the title the loving one of Israel his love to Israel is spoken of many times affirmed by deed

38:57 and word but he does take to himself the name the holy one of Israel thus saith the lofty one the high and the lofty one whose name is I dwell in the high and holy place or in the language of first John this then is the message we've heard of him heard of whom heard of Christ the incarnate word John says we've touched him we've handled we've heard him this is the message we've heard of him and declare unto you and what is the first message John says he heard from Christ in first John 4 8 he says God is love but in first John 1 5 he says God is light God is light and in him is no darkness at all God is pure unsullied undiminished unblemished light all moral purity in the very core of his being outward into all of his ways so that the theologians speak of God's holiness as the conditioning attribute of all of his other attributes he is love but he is holy love he is love he is mercy but he is holy mercy he is justice but he is holy justice he is righteousness but holy righteousness and so is Peter is writing to these distressed relatively new converts in Asia Minor telling them that in the outworking

40:26 of the Christian life their hearts must be set upon that marvelous hope of the coming of Christ he now says is surely a steadfast hope is the climate of the of your Christian life a commitment to universal holiness holiness in all manner of living with nothing less than God himself in his burning holiness as your standard that's to be the commitment of your walk before God but then he underscores the gracious context of this call to universal holiness look again at the text the distilled essence be yourselves holy in all manner of living the lofty standard as he who called you is holy but look at the gracious context but like as he who called you like as he who called you is holy why does Peter add that term he who called you well this holy God is none other than the God who in grace and mercy came to these people when they were held in the grip and bondage of their former lusts in their ignorance dead in their trespasses and sins and he brought the gospel

41:56 to them remember verse 12 these things that are preached in the gospel with the Holy Spirit sent down from heaven and what happened the God who brought the gospel to them the God who secured the facts of the gospel who so loved the world that he sent his only begotten son who handed him over to his own righteous fury and wrath until he made full atonement for the sins of his people that God brought the gospel to these people and not only in the gospel announced that there was a way of pardon and acceptance and not only graciously and sovereignly invited them into the privileges of the gospel but he sovereignly and powerfully brought them into the possession of the very blessings promised in the gospel that's calling in the New Testament it never means God just sending out a message and inviting I'm sorry there are a couple of instances where calling simply means to summons or invite but it's use in all of the epistles and it's use here in Peter five times in first Peter it's one of his favorite terms it refers to nothing less than what the ologians have called God's effectual call it actually effects what it frames it says the sinners come and you will be welcome God's calling

43:24 causes them to come and they are received we sing of it every time we sing hymn 271 why was I made to hear thy voice and enter while there's room when thousands make a wretched choice and rather starve than come it was the same love that spread the feast that sweetly drew us in else we had still refused to taste and perished in our sin and you see what Peter is doing he is reminding these believers that there is a gracious context of this call to universal holiness the God who says be yourselves holy as I am holy Peter says remember believers he's the God who calls hold you you stand in grace today because almighty God in grace laid hold of you and drew you into the possession of the blessings of the gospel that's why in chapter 2 in verse 9 he describes God in the same way the God who called you out of darkness into his marvelous light when he's giving instruction to slaves as to how they're to respond to unkind and difficult masters verse 21 for here unto were you called remember your masters may cuss you but almighty

44:54 God has called you and brought you into the orbit of his gracious salvation chapter 3 in verse 9 not rendering evil for evil reviling for reviling but contrary wise blessing for here unto were you called you are a called people in chapter 5 in verse 10 again the God of all grace who called you unto his eternal glory in Christ he wants them to know who they are yes he wants them to know that with their hearts set steadfastly on the hope of the Lord's return committed to a lifestyle in which they will not fashion themselves after the former lust of their ignorance their hearts committed to a life of universalness after the pattern of God himself all of this is within the orbit and the dynamics of God's calling grace he calls them to this lifestyle of universal holiness but he wants them to know that it is a call that comes within the orbit of the grace of God and the grace that summons them to so high and noble a standard is the grace that will meet them in the pursuit of the same well we've looked at the foundation for the pursuit of

The Rationale for Holiness: God's Command and Grace's Goal

46:22 universal holiness children of obedience the summons to the pursuit of universal holiness its essence its standard its gracious conduct but now someone asks the question what's the rationale for all of this why should I be holy in all manner of living and the reason so we come thirdly to the basic rationale for the pursuit of universal holiness verse 16 the basic rationale the reasons the fundamental reasons when someone says give me the rationale for that what he means is give me the basic the heart the core the nuts and bolts reasons for what you're doing what you're saying well what is the basic rationale for the pursuit of universal holiness look at verse 16 because and the word in the original because is the very word you would use when you want to draw a deduction when you want to give a reason because a mother may say to her child take your umbrella and your raincoat because there's a 95% chance of rain before you get out of school today do this because here's the rationale I'm not just being a meanie mama I'm not just wanting you to get your umbrella and your raincoat out so to be sure that I remember what they look like no I'm not giving you an irrational command do this and do this because now that's what Peter is doing now it should be enough if God

47:51 says it he doesn't need to give a rationale to us but he does he deals with us graciously as reasoning creatures made in his image and renewed unto that image in grace and all that Peter then says by way of the rationale rests down upon these words because it is ' written you shall be holy for I am holy now he doesn't cite the reference so don't get upset when preachers quote texts and don't cite the references many times scripture doesn't quote its references where is it written you shall be holy for I am holy well there are three explicit statements of this nature in the book of Leviticus and I'm personally convinced that Peter was thinking particularly of the first and most full reference in Leviticus 11 and I want you to turn there for just a few moments whenever you see an Old Testament passage quoted in the New Testament go back to that passage and read the context and often it will be profoundly helpful and it is so in this instance in Leviticus chapter 11 God is giving all of these rules and regulations regarding matters that will be matters of cleanness or uncleanness in the corporate life of the nation

49:20 of Israel and after speaking about not having dealings with creeping things etc. verse 44 of Leviticus 11 we read as follows for I am the Lord your God sanctify yourselves therefore and be ye holy for I am holy neither shall you defile yourselves with any manner of creeping thing that moves upon the earth for I am the Lord that brought you up out of the land of Egypt to be your God you shall therefore be holy for I am holy now a distilled version of this is repeated in Leviticus 19 2 and Leviticus 20 in verse 7 and if you have a Bible that has marginal references you will most likely find next to first Peter 1 16 these three references from Leviticus Leviticus 11 Leviticus 19 and Leviticus 20 now using this passage Peter is stating that the rationale for this summons to pursue universal holiness is two fold two fold number one it is the explicit command of scripture and secondly it is the inevitable obligation and goal of the grace of God first of all because it is the explicit command of scripture

50:49 when Peter says you shall be holy for I am holy because it is written that's the standard formula it stands written it's always in a perfect tense something that happened and the effect of which remains to the present God's word was given and all the plenitude of its authority stands and abides to the present moment and Peter has no scruples about taking a command embedded in the midst of ceremonial law to the nation of Israel and say look you scattered sojourners up there in Asia minor in all the privileges of new covenant grace and salvation which I just expounded verses 3 to 12 you are to pursue universal holiness because God has said and it is written you shall be holy for I am holy Peter didn't anyone ever teach you dispensational truth that was to Israel you see Peter didn't know any such nonsense he was not imposing the ceremonial laws but he imposes as the abiding word of God to his covenant people in the new covenant the precise standard set for his covenant people in the old covenant you shall be holy

52:19 for I am holy and there the foundation the rationale for the pursuit of universal holiness is the explicit command of scripture and as children of obedience we should need no other reason than that our gracious God who called us commands us to universal holiness but embedded in that original passage in Exodus is not only the explicit command of God but it's clear that it is the inevitable obligation and goal of the grace of God look back at the Leviticus passage when God says you shall be holy for I am holy he goes on to say in verse 45 for I am the Lord that brought you up out of the land of Egypt to be your God you shall therefore be holy for I am holy what does God say he is saying I came to you in your state of slavery in your state of desperate bondage and because I set my love upon you and I purpose to take you of all the families of the earth to be my people to enter into a covenant of love what God says he married himself to Israel and became

53:48 her husband and God says because of my grace and because I have made myself your God you are to be holy for I am holy what is involved in all of that well simply stated it's this man was made in the image of God Genesis chapter 1 chapter 2 let us make man in our image after our likeness man was to reflect in the concreteness of his psychosomatic entity the character of the God who made him he was made the image of God and before sin entered Adam and Eve reflected in their creaturely limitations they reflected perfectly the character of the God who made him you looked at Adam and Eve and you know what God was like made in the image of God and what did sin do all have sinned and fall short of what the glory of God the image is marred the image is defaced the image is distorted it's grotesque but God said I have purposes to take a people out for myself and to do what to restore my image and when God laid hold of the nation of Israel he says to the prophet Isaiah I did so

55:17 that you would be the instrument of my praise and of my glory to all the nations of the world they were to reflect the likeness of the God who in grace laid hold of them and in new covenant salvation what is the great end of God according to Romans 8 29 whom he did foreknow he did predestinate to be what conformed to the image of his son Ephesians 4 24 says the new man has been created after God in righteousness and holiness of the truth God is committed to the restoration of that image so when he takes people into covenant gracious relations to himself that grace obligates them to be like the God who called them I'm the Lord he says I'm the Lord who redeemed you out of Egypt to be your God you shall be holy you shall reflect my character now he's redeemed us from something far worse than Egyptian bondage the bondage of our sin and the tyranny of the devil and he has brought us to himself and made him himself to be our God and we to be our people to what end that we might be like him that's why he can say in chapter 2 9 he said that you have been called out of darkness into marvelous light to do what to show forth the virtues

56:45 of him who called you out of darkness and into his marvelous light and so Peter wants these first century Christians to understand that the rationale for the pursuit of universal holiness is two fold it is the explicit command of God and it is the inevitable obligation and goal of the grace of God what does that tell us that says to have anything less than a fundamental heart commitment to a life of universal holiness is to fly into the face of the authority of God in his explicit command and is to treat lightly the very goal and purpose of the grace of God that's serious business serious business now having sought to open up the text in the few moments that remain let me bring just two very pointed applications to your consciences and to your understanding and the first is this and I've had to pass over so many things to just settle upon these two I want you to notice the inseparable relationship between hope and holiness here you're sitting in the congregation for the first time you hear Peter's words wherefore your heart is soared as he's opened up this magnificent panorama of salvation and then

Application: The Inseparable Link Between Hope and Holiness

58:15 perhaps the reader I trust had the wisdom to pause and to say wherefore and all the ears perk up and they come back down to earth and the first words that come out is girding up the loins of your mind being sober set your hope completely irreversibly resolutely upon the coming grace that will be manifested at the revelation of Jesus Christ yes yes I must I must amidst all that we are facing in the light of so great a salvation the best is yet to come I must with regular discipline of mental sobriety gather up all of the loose folds of my thinking be in touch with reality and keep in my eye that blessed moment of the revelation of Jesus Christ and then the reader would go on to say not fashioning yourselves according to the former lust in the time of your ignorance but like as he who called you is holy so be ye holy in all manner of living because it is written you shall be holy for I am holy and unless someone was to show himself to be a rebel against God his heart would have to run out and say oh God you call me to steadfast hope but you also call me to universal holiness hope and holiness are inseparable

59:44 and they're not only inseparable in Peter's letter according to first John three two and three they are inseparable in the heart of every true Christian beloved now are we the sons of God it does not yet appear what we shall be but we know that when he shall appear we shall be like him for we shall see him as he is and every man that hath this hope in him goes on purifying himself even as he is pure every man that hath this hope is purifying himself hope and holiness are inseparable not only in the word of God but in the experience of every true child of God and if you are not pursuing holiness as your basic lifestyle you have no grounds to believe your hope is a valid hope hope and holiness are inseparable they're inseparable in this text they are inseparable in the confirming word of John the apostle they are inseparable in all valid Christian experience and each one beautifully and wonderfully feeds the other in the experience of the true child of God as he has his hope set perfectly on the grace to be brought to him he longs to please that Lord who will bring that grace and he

Application: The Necessity of Regeneration for Holiness

61:13 grows in holiness and as he grows in holiness he yearns for the consummation of holiness so the pursuit of holiness genders hope and hope feeds the pursuit of holiness and the second observation is this this passage shows the absolute necessity of regeneration before you can ever make any progress in sanctification to whom does Peter call or who is he calling to this life of universal holiness when he writes be holy it's according to the pattern of the one who called him he's assuming they are called people he opens up the whole passage by this fundamental perspective as children of obedience be holy he knows that for those who are not children of obedience such a command is impossible you have neither desire nor power and for you to say well I'm going to try to get my act together here and stop this lost and stop no no you've missed the whole point my friend your lifestyle needs to be radically altered at its very foundation and at its very tap roots and its very springs out of the abundance of the heart the mouth speaks make the tree good and the fruit good Jesus said you've got to start with the heart and until you can say yes

62:43 I bless God who has begotten me again to a living hope I bless God that I have known the sanctifying work of the spirit and the sprinkling of the blood of Christ God has indeed called me by his grace my friend until you can say that you cannot you cannot make any progress in the pursuit of holiness and therefore I plead with you to remember the words of Jesus who said without me you can do nothing and what you need is to come to the prior concern that is bound up in the call of the gospel and that is to repent and to believe upon the Lord Jesus Christ to acknowledge that right now the former times of the ignorance of these people are the present times of your life this is the description of you you are fashioning your life every one of us is a personal fashioner every one of us your life is being fashioned by some pattern it is it's the pattern of the world's thinking the world's standards the world's goals what it considers important unimportant or it is the pattern of a holy God and you sit here this morning fashioned not by former lust in your ignorance but by present lust shaped by your

64:12 ignorance of God willful ignorance ignorance of the strictness of his law ignorance of the wonders and the glories of gospel joy and peace and pardon and life my unconverted friend man or woman I plead with you this day to hear that word that comes from the risen Christ bidding you to come unto him to find in him the promised rest to all who burdened with the tyranny of being battered and molded and fashioned by things that will only eventually damn you want to know the glorious liberty of the sons of God and join the ranks of the children of obedience and I pray for you God's people that if you find the slightest internal irritation at what you've heard this morning what I believe is far from an infallible exposition far from a perfect exposition but I believe a fair and honest treatment of the text of the word of God you need to ask yourself if you name the name of Christ if you feel the slightest discomfort in a sermon that has as its title and the thrust of its exposition

65:41 a clarion call to universal holiness let us pray our father we thank you for the clarity of your word we thank you for the wisdom given to your servant Peter and we pray that the spirit of God would write these words upon each of our hearts that we would not be content with a mere surface token holiness of life but that there would be born in our breast a holy passion to be holy in all manner of living because you the gracious God who has called us are holy and not only have you commanded us to be like you but you have in grace made yourself to be our God seal then your word to the prophet of each one of us and dismiss us with the blessing of your gracious presence resting upon us through Christ our Lord Amen