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):
- 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! - 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! - 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.”