1 Peter: Be Holy
Notes
Transcript
What do I believe God wants them to know? We are to be Holy as God is Holy
Why? We are resident aliens, it brings life to us and others
What do I believe God wants them to do? Be Holy in their MIND/THINKING, CHARACTER, WORK, CONDUCT
Why? it brings life to them and others
ME/WE
One of the questions we have in life as believers is what is our role in this world? How are we to approach life? How does God want me to live?
Are we to be as culture says....our religion, our faith is to be private…this is to be kept to yourself???
No
So how are we to live our faith out today?
This is the question that we see addressed at various points of scripture…Jesus talks about this alot.... and we see it is one of the huge themes of 1 Peter especially as they are living out their faith in a foreign land…you are in foreign land where YOUR GOD is not their god…their ways are not our ways....which is much like us today…how are we supposed to live in our world today? As foreigners in this land?
What Peter says to the Christians of the Diaspora and us in 1 Peter 2:11 is we are to be πάροικος, -ου, ὁ par-oikos
Anybody know what that means? resident aliens
The place you are living is not your home…this is not your perminate residence
This means as the way they live is not the way you live.
The way they talk is not the way you talk
They way they work is not the way you work
What they call good is not always good for us
There might be some commonalities but there are a lot of HUGE DIFFERENCES....differences so big that they are noticable....you are not called to FIT IN but STAND OUT…not in such a way to say LOOK AT ME BUT LOOK AT HIM
1 Peter 2:12…says they will say your good deeds and glorify your Father
We are to be different, stand out
I have given them your word, and the world has hated them because they are not of the world, just as I am not of the world.
This is what we see Peter address in 1 Peter 1:13-16
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.”
Peter writes as obedient children....do not be conformed to the passions of your former ignorane (you didn’t know the correct way to live....don’t be conformed or go back to your old way of living.
But instead you are to be HOLY as God is HOLY
What does it mean to “be holy”?: Reverant? Sober It means to be set apart
God says my call on you is to be “set apart” you are not meant to fit in…you are to be “par-oikos” to be “resident aliens”
What are we to be set apart in? Peter addresses 1 area right away…he writes we are to be set apart in our set apart in our CONDUCT and also I want cover 3 other ways or you could say areas of life that we are to be set apart in.
We are to be “set apart” in our mind our thinking....our thinking....we are not to think like world thinks.
We read this in 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.
The world wants you to think like it thinks and there are some areas of the way the world thinks that is correct, we aline with but there are other ways we do not aline.
I will cover a couple of those ways
We are people who called to value, treat, and love all life as valuable from the womb to the tomb…we say a baby in the womb is as important as the mother carrying the baby
All races, ages, and physical conditions
We called to love our neighbor our enemies
Do nothing from selfish ambition or conceit, but in humility count others more significant than yourselves.
Let each of you look not only to his own interests, but also to the interests of others.
Have this mind among yourselves, which is yours in Christ Jesus,
This is different today and back then…there were people who were treated more important than others.
love our enemies
We see with this with gender and relationally ethic today…the way the people of God think and the way the world thinks are different.
God says there is two genders and marriage intimacy is to be for marriage
WE CAN SEE RIGHT NOW THAT
We are not to be set apart in meaness, it is for life
Jesus said to him, “I am the way, and the truth, and the life. No one comes to the Father except through me.
You are beaning mean!!
Woe to those who call evil good and good evil, who put darkness for light and light for darkness, who put bitter for sweet and sweet for bitter!
WHY WOE?
“Enter by the narrow gate. For the gate is wide and the way is easy that leads to destruction, and those who enter by it are many.
For the gate is narrow and the way is hard that leads to life, and those who find it are few.
2. WE ARE SET APART IN OUR CHARACTER (review)
Our character is to be different than there character. Our character is to exude Christ. This is a review our character is to be the fruit of the spirit
the world we live in values, compantancy over character
But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness,
gentleness, self-control; against such things there is no law.
Let’s pick a couple of these out that set’s your apart...
Joy…How do you have joy?I know who my God the Father is. He works all things for good.I have a church family that loves me as I am
peace…How? Because like joy God my Father works for my good.
Also, I get it from being with Him…anyone have a friend they can hang around and get peace from? Being with them is so peaceful?
Jesus is the same way
You keep him in perfect peace whose mind is stayed on you, because he trusts in you.
patience…how are you so patient
Everything happens in God’s timing.
Also, do you know how patience He’s been with me???
- do good
- mess up
- do good
- mess up
And He walks with me, and He talks with me,
And He tells me I am His own,
3. Set apart in our work…we are to be known as the best workers
For some of us one of the best places we can stand out is at work
This is one of your missions call
Whatever you do, work heartily, as for the Lord and not for men,
knowing that from the Lord you will receive the inheritance as your reward. You are serving the Lord Christ.
Martin Luther cobbler
Make a good shoe and sell it at a fair price
“The Christian shoemaker does his duty not by putting little crosses on the shoes, but by making good shoes, because God is interested in good craftsmanship.”
- Exodus spiritual gift
One of the biggest turn off for companies and bosses is when they have employee a faithful Christian who goes to church, talks about God, but who is lazy at work or on their phone..
Now here me out if you are working too much over 50ish hours for a long time you need to find a new job.
4. CONDUCT: both in word and deed
Words: this is huge today we live in a culture that
Let no corrupting talk come out of your mouths, but only such as is good for building up, as fits the occasion, that it may give grace to those who hear.
Do all things without grumbling or disputing,
that you may be blameless and innocent, children of God without blemish in the midst of a crooked and twisted generation, among whom you shine as lights in the world,
so we can shine as lights be set
DEED: action
We don’t just say love we show love
Beloved, I urge you as sojourners and exiles to abstain from the passions of the flesh, which wage war against your soul.
Keep your conduct among the Gentiles honorable, so that when they speak against you as evildoers, they may see your good deeds and glorify God on the day of visitation.
Why?
Why are we set apart for God’s glory, and our good and our neighbors good.
PRAISE GOD that JESUS LIVED THE MOST SET APART LIFE