OUR GOD IS HOLY AND IS WITHIN US THEREFORE WE SHOULD BE HOLY

PROCLAMATION

“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.’ ”  1 Peter 1:15-16 (NIV)

 

EXPLANATION

These words were written by the apostle Peter, under the influence of The Holy Spirit of God, to the believers who scattered after the crucifixion of Christ. (1 Peter 1:1-2)  After introducing himself and greeting them, Peter offered praise to God for giving them a new living hope through the resurrection of Jesus, The Christ. (1 Peter 1:3-5)  He told them that they may suffer for a little while, but their joy was coming. (1 Peter 1:6-7)  Then he told them to be holy and keep their minds on things which are good.  He also told them to keep their hope in Christ Jesus. (1 Peter 1:13-14)  He told them, as it is written in The Old Testament, that God is holy so they should be holy. (Leviticus 11:44 and 1 Peter 1:16)  He told them to live out their time on the earth as foreigners in reverent fear of God because they were not of this world and their Father was in heaven. (1 Peter 1:17)  Then Peter reminded them of all that Christ had done for them. (1 Peter 1:18-21)  He told them that they were to love one another because they had been born again. (1 Peter 122-23)  He then again quoted the Scriptures said that people are like grass and their glory is like flowers.  The grass withers and the flowers fall, but The Word of The Lord endures forever. (Isaiah 40:6-8 and 1 Peter 1:24-25)

 

APPLICATION

Peter quoted from The Old Testament Scriptures when he told them, and believers today, to “be holy” because our God is holy. (Leviticus 11:44, 11:45, 19:2, 20:7, and 20:26)  Today we need to be careful with our thoughts, our words, and our actions.  We should keep our minds on things which are holy, good, and Christ-like, and not on the evil desires that we had before we were saved. (1 Peter 1:13-14)  If we think right, there is a good chance that we will talk right and act right.  We need to be holy because He is within us and He is holy.  We ought to exhibit Christ-like behavior in good and bad times.  Weeping may endure for a night, but joy is coming in the morning. (Psalm 30:5)  We may be going through stormy times now, but we need to keep the faith because our day of rejoicing is coming. (1 Peter 1:6 and Revelation 21:4) 

 

OUR GOD IS HOLY AND WITHIN US THEREFORE WE SHOULD BE HOLY

Proclamation:

“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.”  1 Peter 1:15-16 (NIV)

Explanation:

These words were written by the apostle Peter, under the influence of The Holy Spirit of God, to the believers who scattered after the crucifixion of Christ. (1 Peter 1:1-2)  After introducing himself and greeting them, Peter offered praise to God for giving them a new living hope through the resurrection of Jesus, The Christ. (1 Peter 1:3-5)  He told them that they may suffer for a little while but their joy was coming. (1 Peter 1:6-7)  Then he told them to be holy, and keep their minds on things which are good and on Christ Jesus. (1 Peter 1:13-16)  God is holy so they should be holy.

Application:

Here Peter quoted from The Old Testament Scriptures when he told them, and believers today, to “be holy” because our God is holy. (Leviticus 11:45, 19:2, 20:7, and 20:26)  We need to be careful with our thoughts.  We should keep our minds on things which are holy, good, and Christ-like, and not on the evil desires that we had before we were saved. (1 Peter 1:13-14)  We may suffer for a while during this life but our day of rejoicing is coming. (Psalm 30:5, 1 Peter 1:6, and Revelation 21:4) 

WE SHOULD BE AND LIVE AS HOLY AS WE CAN

Proclamation:

“Make every effort to live in peace with everyone and to be holy; without holiness no one will see The Lord.”  Hebrews 12:14 (NIV)

Explanation:

These words were written by an unknown human author under the influence of The Holy Spirit of God.  In this chapter of The Bible Book of Hebrews, the author begins by telling them to throw off sin and everything which hinders them as the run their Christian race and to focus on Christ. (Hebrews 12:1-2)  Then he tells them that in their struggle against sin that they have not yet experienced the worst of things. (Hebrews 12:4)  He reminds them, as he quotes Proverbs 3:11-12 to them that no matter what they are going through or what is to come, that God disciplines His children because He disciplines those that He loves. (Hebrews 12:5-6)  The author then goes on to encourage them to live as holy as they can. (Hebrews 12:14)

Application:

Some people will not let you live in peace with them because they are not at peace with themselves.  It is better for us to avoid those people. (Proverbs 21:9 and 21:19)  While none of us is perfect, we should strive to be as Christ-like and as holy as we can.  We should all strive to be holy because The Christ which is within us is holy. (1 Peter 1:16)  We should treat people as we would like to be treated (Matthew 7:12) and not as they treat us. (Romans 12:17)  When we know better, we should do better. (2 Peter 2:21)  Striving for peaceful living is a good thing, however striving to live holy is even better and much more important.