1 Peter 1: Be Holy
Notes
Transcript
Called to Be Holy
Called to Be Holy
Intro
Scripture
1 Peter 1:13–25 (ESV)
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. As obedient children, do not be conformed to the passions of your former ignorance, but as he who called you is holy, you also be holy in all your conduct, since it is written, “You shall be holy, for I am holy.” 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, knowing that you were ransomed from the futile ways inherited from your forefathers, not with perishable things such as silver or gold, but with the precious blood of Christ, like that of a lamb without blemish or spot. He was foreknown before the foundation of the world but was made manifest in the last times for the sake of you 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.
Having purified your souls by your obedience to the truth for a sincere brotherly love, love one another earnestly from a pure heart, since you have been born again, not of perishable seed but of imperishable, through the living and abiding word of God; for
“All flesh is like grass
and all its glory like the flower of grass.
The grass withers,
and the flower falls,
but the word of the Lord remains forever.”
And this word is the good news that was preached to you.
Point 1: Start with the mind
Prepare your minds for action
The Christian life starts way before the rubber meets the road. Do you want to love the lost better? You need to prepare your minds. Do you want to love other Christians better? You need to prepare your minds. Do you want to fight sin? You need to prepare you minds. Do you want to grow in a certain area? you need to prepare your minds.
If you ask any professional athlete what the key to being an elite athlete, almost all will say that it starts with your mindset. When you wake up each day, are you going to choose to work out, eat, practice, study, to be the best athlete? Guess what, the Christian walk is the same. When you wake up, are you going to choose to live for Christ? Or are you hoping you will drift into becoming more like Jesus?
Guess what, you will never drift into being like Jesus. We have a sinful flesh fighting for us to NOT be like Jesus. The things in this world are pulling for our minds and affections. You are not going to drift into being like Jesus.
So how do we prepare our minds?
Be sober-minded
Another way to say “Be sober-minded” is to say “be self controlled”. Be self controlled. Some of you are thinking “You sound like my parents”. Self control is key to be like Jesus.
And this is not optional. Self control is part of the fruit of the Spirit. If you are a Christian, you need to work on being self controlled. Self control means having control over yourself.
Have you ever been to the store, and see a kid rolling around on the ground throwing a tantrum? That is someone who does not have control over their emotions. Their emotions control them.
Being self controlled means to being able to say no to your flesh and your emotions and saying yes to God.
1 Timothy 3:1–2 “The saying is trustworthy: If anyone aspires to the office of overseer, he desires a noble task. Therefore an overseer must be above reproach, the husband of one wife, sober-minded, self-controlled, respectable, hospitable, able to teach,”
You might have caught it. If sober-minded means to be self-controlled, why did Paul list it twice.
Because there is more to being sober-minded. Think about what it means to be sober. It means to not under the influence of something.
Now think about all the things that can influence your thinking. Social media, friends, TV, YouTubers, anything and everything is trying to influence you!
Don’t hear what I’m not saying. Is it wrong to have social media? No. Watch TV? No. Friends? No.
But, just like alcohol, you can have a little bit. Drinking in moderation is fine. When does it become sinful? When it starts influencing the way you think.
So we need to be doing checks on ourselves. We need to ask ourselves “Is this influencing the way I think? Is this making me think more like Jesus?” If the answer is no, we need to be willing to put limits on things.
Another way to put it, is being Sober Minded is being singularly focused. Having a heavenly mindset. Having an eternal perspective. So everything I do is filtered through it.
So how much I watch YouTube is filtered through this mindset. Who I choose my close friends are is filtered by this focus. What I say yes to and what I say no to is filtered by this perspective.
SET your hope FULLY on the grace…
So what should we be influenced by? God’s grace. It says SET (Which means you have to choose to do it) SET your hope FULLY on the grace… You need to set your hope fully, not partially, not add this on. Set your hope fully on the grace that will be brought to you at the revelation of Jesus Christ.
Point 2: Don’t be conformed, but be Holy
1 Peter 1:14–15 “As obedient children, do not be conformed to the passions of your former ignorance, but as he who called you is holy, you also be holy in all your conduct,”
As obedient CHILDREN
Do not be CONFORMED to the passions of your FORMER ignorance
But AS He who CALLED you is holy, you also be holy in all your conduct
Romans 12:2 “Do not be conformed to this world, but be transformed by the renewal of your mind, that by testing you may discern what is the will of God, what is good and acceptable and perfect.”
Point 3: We are Holy through Christ
1 Peter 1:16–19 “since it is written, “You shall be holy, for I am holy.” 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, knowing that you were ransomed from the futile ways inherited from your forefathers, not with perishable things such as silver or gold, but with the precious blood of Christ, like that of a lamb without blemish or spot.”
The knowledge that we were ransomed.
Through the precious blood of Christ.
And the power of the resurrection.
You are walking down a street and come to a fork in the road, and there are two men there, one is dead, one is alive, who are you asking for directions?
Point 4: How to be Holy
First, what is holiness?
It means Pure, set apart.
So how do we become Holy.
There are two things Peter points out.
1 Peter 1:22 “Having purified your souls by your obedience to the truth for a sincere brotherly love, love one another earnestly from a pure heart,”
Purify your souls through obedience
Loving others
And we accomplish this by God’s Word.
1 Peter 1:23–25 “since you have been born again, not of perishable seed but of imperishable, through the living and abiding word of God; for “All flesh is like grass and all its glory like the flower of grass. The grass withers, and the flower falls, but the word of the Lord remains forever.” And this word is the good news that was preached to you.”
Conclusion
