1 Peter 1:13-25--Called to Be Holy

​Read:  1 Peter 1:13-25 English Standard Version (ESV)
Listen:  https://www.biblegateway.com/audio/mclean/esv/1Pet.1.13-1Pet.1.25​
Called to Be Holy
13 Therefore, preparing your minds for action, and being sober-minded, set your hope fully on the grace that will be brought to you at the revelation of Jesus Christ. 14 As obedient children, do not be conformed to the passions of your former ignorance, 15 but as he who called you is holy, you also be holy in all your conduct, 16 since it is written, “You shall be holy, for I am holy.” 17 And if you call on him as Father who judges impartially according to each one's deeds, conduct yourselves with fear throughout the time of your exile, 18 knowing that you were ransomed from the futile ways inherited from your forefathers, not with perishable things such as silver or gold, 19 but with the precious blood of Christ, like that of a lamb without blemish or spot. 20 He was foreknown before the foundation of the world but was made manifest in the last times for the sake of you 21 who through him are believers in God, who raised him from the dead and gave him glory, so that your faith and hope are in God.
22 Having purified your souls by your obedience to the truth for a sincere brotherly love, love one another earnestly from a pure heart, 23 since you have been born again, not of perishable seed but of imperishable, through the living and abiding word of God; 24 for
“All flesh is like grass
    and all its glory like the flower of grass.
The grass withers,
    and the flower falls,
25 but the word of the Lord remains forever.”
And this word is the good news that was preached to you.

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Peter now addresses his main theme for this epistle...holiness. He uses language of a soldier preparing for a mission or battle.  We are to be preparing our minds for action and sober-minded, but we are also to stay focused on Christ and His completed work that has made us who and what we are.

We are no longer to look and act like our old nature before we were saved.  As we've been saying our desires and passions change when we are given our new life in Christ and we desire to be obedient to the things of God instead of rebelling against them.

We have been set apart not only in our mission and our destiny, but also in the way we are to live....it is counter-cultural to the code that the world lives by.  Since we are children of God that should resemble Him and He is holy, then we too must therefore be holy.  Holiness is arguably God's primary characteristic as everything about Him is set apart and special and uncommon.  His love, wrath, mercy, grace...all of it.  The same should be true for us.  Everything about us should be different...so much so that people should be able to recognize us for who we are and should be able to recognize us as children of God and recognize His invisible attributes in us and at work in us.

Just because we now get to call God our Father and no longer have to fear eternal condemnation and damnation to hell doesn't mean that we shouldn't still have a holy fear of the Lord.  He is still the one who judges the living and the dead and he still chastises those He loves.  This cost God the Father and Jesus a great deal....something more precious than all the silver, gold and precious stones that this earth has to offer--the blood of Jesus!

Finally, we are reminded to let the work that Christ has done compel us to love one another.  to be obedient to God and to server Him and each other with a pure heart.  Our life here on this earth is short, but God and His Word are eternal as is the gospel that we have received and that we need to pass on.

We are called for everything about us to be different and we'll see more specifics of this as we continue through the epistle of 1 Peter.