“as obedient children, not conforming yourselves to the former lusts, as in your ignorance; but as He who called you is holy, you also be holy in all your conduct, because it is written, ‘Be holy, for I am holy.’” (1 Pet.1:14-16)
Believers are already holy positionally—that’s who we are in Christ. Peter spoke of that previously. “elect according to the foreknowledge of God the Father, in sanctification of the Spirit, for obedience and sprinkling of the blood of Jesus Christ: Grace to you and peace be multiplied. Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, who according to His abundant mercy has begotten us again to a living hope through the resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead,” (v.2-3).
We will be holy perfectly—that’s what we become when we see Jesus. Again, not the Apostle’s words, “to an inheritance incorruptible and undefiled and that does not fade away, reserved in heaven for you, who are kept by the power of God through faith for salvation ready to be revealed in the last time.”(1:4-5).
What Peter is calling us to in v.14-16 is to be holy progressively—that’s our response to the grace that saves us and the glory that secures us—the godliness that sanctifies us. We are not to live as we once did, for we are not what we once were! The Holy Spirit indwells us to purify us. Peter speaks of “obedient children” who take on the Father’s likeness. We are not to be conformed—our conduct shaped from the pressure of our peers, but be transformed—by a renewed mind (see Rom.12:2, as contrasted to “your ignorance.”)
We have discovered the liberating power of truth! The Psalmist said, “Your Word I have hidden in my heart, That I might not sin against You. ” (Ps.119:11). The more we get the Word into us, the more it will get the world out of us.
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