One of the most serious yet ignored and/or misunderstood passages in all the Bible is when God says to us “You shall be holy, for I am holy.” God first said it in Leviticus 11, and Peter quotes it and elaborates on it in 1 Peter 1.

At our church, we are preaching through 1 Peter right now, and our Associate Pastor Troy Harrison preached on this passage (1 Peter 1:13-16) two weeks ago. You can listen to that sermon here.

Then this past Sunday I got to preach on the very next passage in 1 Peter (1 Peter 1:17-21). You can listen to that sermon here.

Here are the three main thoughts from my sermon.

Three thoughts on being holy (all of these thoughts taken from 1 Peter 1):

1. You have to know who you are NOT!
   -We are not perfect. We are often wrong, bad and sinful.
   -We are not God’s standard. Jesus is.
   -God will judge everyone. And He will judge impartially.
   -Therefore we should not be judgmental.
   -We should be mindful of our sins and need of God.
   -We should worry more about ourselves then we do others.
   -You have to know who you are NOT in order to really know who you are.
   -Our ability to be holy comes from knowing that we first & foremost are not holy.
   -As elect ransomed exiles, we become holy!
2. You have to know who you are!
   -You have been ransomed.
   -You are living in exile. Earth is not our home.
   -Since we are in exile, we factor every experience through this truth.
   -Heaven is our home. God is our focus. Everything else is in light of those facts.
   -In knowing who you are, you are always reminded who you are not. And who you used to be.
   -We are God’s ransomed children. We belong to God. We long for heaven.
   -Being loved and ransomed by God, we are now new and free and made and empowered to be holy!
3. You have to know whose you are!
   -We are God’s children because of Jesus.
   -The blood of Christ has ransomed us.
   -The pure and spotless Lamb of God has taken away the sins of the world!
   -It was God’s plan to kill Jesus for our saving.
   -Through Him we are believers in God.
   -God raised Jesus and gave Him glory so that our faith & hope are in God.
   -Since we know God and we know we are God’s, we desire to be holy like Him.

I encourage you to take time to read 1 Peter chapter 1. And see what I am trying to say. May God give us clarity and understanding on what He means when says “Be holy, for I am holy.”