1 Peter 1:13-16

1 Peter 1:13-16  Therefore, prepare your minds for action; be self-controlled; set your hope fully on the grace to be given you when Jesus Christ is revealed. 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” (NIV).
    This is the second time that Peter has said that Jesus Christ is going to be revealed, having said it recently in 1 Peter 1:7. Has not Jesus already been revealed? For starters, many celebrate His birthday every December 24th. He was a baby born in a manger. He was a Jewish carpenter. What is Peter talking about? Peter was thinking of us when he wrote this. Peter was an eyewitness of the glory of Jesus. Being inspired, he realized that his future readers were not eyewitnesses, yet all of us have the full revelation of Jesus to look forward to.
    For example, Peter was an eyewitness of the transfiguration. As Jesus had light beaming from his face, Peter saw it. And Peter saw the resurrected Jesus. Peter knew the glory of Jesus. I personally have not seen Jesus in the flesh. I follow someone I have never seen. On the surface, that does not seem to make sense. Yet I follow someone who people like Peter did see. And Peter is encouraging you and me that Jesus Christ is going to be revealed to even a fuller extent than when His glory was shown on the mountainside with Moses and Elijah.
    Regarding his warning about conformity, I can reflect personally. Before I was a Christian, I did things that did not seem bad by the community’s standards, but I look back and realize they were wrong, and thus hurtful. I had much anger, and it was hurting me first and foremost. I consider other evils that I have known people to struggle with. Sometimes they learned such behavior from their earthly dad or mom. Followers of Jesus have a Father in heaven who is holy. I assure you, it is a whole different way of life than I knew before I was a Christian even though I considered myself to have good parents, and even though many considered me to be a goody two shoes.
    “Be holy, because I am holy.” I love that. Admiring the ministry of John Wesley, I am in disagreement with him that perfection can be reached in this world before the return of Christ. However, perfection in Christ should be the daily desire of any Christian. Of all of the countless times I have gone to church in the last twenty years, I have heard few sermons specifically on holiness. I think that is sad.  Peter was telling about salvation, and then he naturally moved into telling of holiness. Justification and sanctification; the latter always follows the former. Every day, the call of God is to be more like Jesus. What do we need to do to be holy? Be obedient to Jesus.
    Going back to justification for a moment, Jesus said in Matthew 5:20 that in order to be saved, a person needed to be righteous in a manner that surpassed the Pharisees and the teachers of the law. Yet the Pharisees were the “religious guys.” What were they doing wrong? My answer may surprise you, since it is one that is so often missed. The wrong doing of the Pharisees was their acts of creating their own legislation rather than submitting to the Mosaic Law. This is the reason that the woman who was caught in adultery was brought to Jesus. It was a trick situation. The reason is that the Jewish people were no longer adhering to the Mosaic Law, which called for the punishment of death by stoning for a couple caught in adultery. “The law of Moses is explicit in the mention of those crimes to which the punishment of death was to be awarded, but the Rabbinical statutes limited its execution in various ways. In fact, every legal device was employed to avoid this unpleasant necessity…” (1) Note also how the teachers of the Law and the Pharisees only brought the woman, whereas both were supposed to be stoned. If Jesus would have said to stone the woman, there probably would have been a public outcry against such a barbaric act in that culture. Yet Jesus, who fulfilled the Law, and who also furthered the Law, furthered the Law right on the spot at that time, shifting the privilege of judging from people, who had a poor record of properly judging in Israel under the Mosaic Covenant, to God, who is the perfect Judge.
    Back to the subject of legislation, Pharisees were playing legislator. They should have been acting in obedience to the Mosaic Law instead. Now the Mosaic Law was only for the people under the Covenant between God and the Israelites, as given by Moses. No one else was under that Law. Yet moving ahead, as I said, Jesus furthered the Mosaic Law, and now all people are under the Law of God, and now all people are eligible to be in a covenant with God, thanks to Jesus, what is referred to as the New Covenant. What is coined the “Sermon on the Mount” contains the Law being furthered by Jesus. First of all, the “Sermon on the Mount” convicts me that I cannot obey the Law without help from Jesus!  If a person has not been justified, there is no opportunity for sanctification. Read the “Sermon on the Mount” and then ponder the question of whether you think this teaching by Jesus logically leads to a conviction that a human being has a need for a Savior. Secondly, we can learn that holiness starts in the heart, rather than emanating from good deeds. Thirdly, with enablement from Jesus, I desire my heart to be changed so that I live for being obedient to His commands. And doing so leads to holiness.
    Holiness includes living without anger, without lust, without greed, and without fibbing, as Jesus taught. Read Matthew 5:21 through Matthew 5:48, the “Sermon on the Mount.” Jesus knew holiness! Jesus knows holiness still. And we can also by learning from Jesus. Holiness is caring about everyone.
    When I was a young Christian, one day on a subway coming home from work, I read Matthew 5:48: “Be perfect, therefore, as your heavenly Father is perfect” (NIV). This verse gained my attention. I thought to myself, “That is impossible.” But then as I looked out the window thinking, I considered the fact, “If it was impossible, why would Jesus command it?” As a baby Christian, I was intrigued. Over time in following Jesus, I learned the only way to begin and continue on in the perfection process is to allow Jesus to change your heart. Jesus is the One who perfects; the One who is Holy. That is the secret of the pursuit of holiness: get help daily from Jesus. It is as straightforward as that. The path to holiness comes by relying on Jesus every single day. Every single day that I have been following Jesus, I have needed His help to be the person He wants me to be. That fact remains.
    Writing about holiness is easy. Living it is tough. I have written in my journal many times, “The perfection process is a painful process, yet the perfection process leads to goodness.” Holiness does not come from a “second blessing” of the Holy Spirit. Holiness does not come from doing more a few more good works than anyone in your average helpful non-profit organization. (Not knocking non-profit organizations, considering I have been an employee of several non-profit organizations, including some churches.) Holiness does not come from giving more money away than your neighbor gives to her or his favorite non-profit organization. Holiness does not come from being genuinely emotional for one hour at a church worship service. Holiness comes from having a heart willing to love Jesus, willing to submit to Jesus; to be obedient to the Holy One. The mark of a child of God is someone who is willing to undergo the drastic change of being made holy. For those who have been obedient to Jesus in history, there we have had loving lights in utter darkness. And for those who are doing so now, here we have the true love of Jesus in this very day and age.
Hunter Irvine

(1) Alfred Edersheim, History of The Jewish Nation: After the Destruction of Jerusalem Under Titus (Grand Rapids: Baker Book House, 1954), 373.