A Wedding dress is not for everyday use; its not even for use on special occasions save your Wedding Day. Wearing it any other time would be a little strange because it is made for one particular event. It has been set apart from all the other dresses and outfits as unique and special. Believers in Jesus Christ are set apart, referred to in Scripture as “made holy.” In a day and age when holiness isn’t talked about much, not even in many churches, is being holy passé?
Time To Be Holy
Please begin by reading 1
Peter 1:1-21. As believers we are commanded to be holy in
According to 1 Peter 1:17 part of our motivation for
holiness is fear. This is the Holy Spirit’s command through Peter, “And if you
call on the Father, who without partiality judges according to each one’s
work, conduct yourselves throughout the time of your stay here in fear” (1
Peter 1:17). I know the idea of fearing God is nearly rejected these days
because it doesn’t fit our societal norms, but we cannot interpret Scripture by
what society has to say. The main verb of this verse is the command, “conduct
yourselves,” or in other words “live a certain way.” What way? Well, during the
rest of our lives here on Earth we are to conduct ourselves in fear.
Fear of what? The question is better asked, “fear of who?” because the answer
is clearly given: fear of God.
Perhaps you can understand if
you read Leviticus 26; I challenge you to stop and read it now.
“Well, that’s Old Testament,
Pastor. That’s not the way it is now,” you might say. Then how do you explain
away Hebrews 12:3-8, 11? That is New Testament. How do you write-off Jesus’
instruction to His disciples in Matthew 10:28
where He tells them, “And do not fear those who kill the body but cannot kill
the soul. But rather fear Him who is able to destroy both soul and body in
hell.” Actually, Jesus’ makes a similar statement on another occasion which
is worded more strongly than Matthew 10:28; it is in Luke 12:4-5 which is again
spoken to His disciples, “And I say to you, My friends, do not be afraid of
those who kill the body, and after that have no more that they can do. But I
will show you whom you should fear: Fear Him who, after He has killed, has
power to cast into hell; yes, I say to you, fear Him!”
Fear is not a command most
Christians in our culture or churches expect or want to hear. “Live in fear?”
they say, “No, God loves me.” After all, the Bible says, “perfect love casts
out fear.” Yes it does, that’s 1
John 4:18 . Now we know that
the Bible has no contradictions in it so let’s turn there and see what’s going
on because Peter tells us to conduct ourselves in fear, but John says perfect
love casts our fear. In 1
John 4:12-16 the Spirit tells us through the Apostle that our love
for each other bears witness to our unity with God. If I say I love Him and you
say you love Him, we better have some Godly love for each other! I mean, He
tells us to love our enemies (Matthew
5:44 ) so as
believers we surely better love each other. Now, let’s read 1 John 4:17-19 , “Love has
been perfected among us in this: that we may have boldness in the day of
judgment; because as He is, so are we in this world. There is no fear in love;
but perfect love casts out fear, because fear involves torment. But he who
fears has not been made perfect in love. 19 We love Him because He first loved
us.” We have no fear because it is obvious by our lives in this world that we
have close communion with Him. We don’t just know about Him, but we know Him
because we cling to Him and we do, say, and think like Him. Verse 17 says, “as
He is, so are we in this world.” God’s love has been perfected in us through
that intimacy with Him and thus we can have boldness WHEN? – in the Day of
Judgment. In Christ, we are made perfect, in that we are declared righteous
through the Blood of Christ. That is our legal standing before God according to
the Holy Spirit through Paul in Romans. Romans 5:18 says, “For as by one man’s (Adam) disobedience
many were made sinners, so also by one Man’s (Jesus) obedience many will be
made righteous.” Romans 8:3-4
adds, “For what the law could not do in that it was weak through the flesh,
God did by sending His own Son in the likeness of sinful flesh, on account of
sin: He condemned sin in the flesh, that the righteous requirement of the law
might be fulfilled in us who do not walk according to the flesh but according
to the Spirit.” That is absolutely the truth; as believers in Jesus Christ,
washed by Blood and filled with the Spirit and communing with Him, we have no
need to fear. His perfect love, which provided forgiveness and unites us to
Him, casts out that fear. It’s not because we are better than anyone else, the
only difference is that we recognize and confess our sin, ask God to forgive us
by the sacrifice of His Son Jesus, and give our lives for Him; we conduct
ourselves in holiness. Back in 1
Peter 1:17 , however, we’re not talking about fearing future
judgment, it is talking about fearing God’s intervention now when we rebel
against Him through sin.
Referring back to the command
to “be holy,” the Spirit tells believers to conduct themselves in fear of the Sovereign
God who oversees all that is said, done, and desired by every human being and who
judges according to each one’s work (1:17). That’s what Hebrews 12:8-11 is about,
God chastising His children when they neglect their love for Him and do what is
sinful. As a loving Father, He disciplines His children for their own good. Sin,
rebellion, and hardness of heart cause hurt and division. It is us separating
from God and in the process hurting each other and ourselves. Look around, sin
caused the division we see in cities across America
God is the righteous (and
patient) Judge. He rebukes sin and holds us accountable. Look, we all expect
the man who killed Mr. Floyd to be held accountable, right? Yes, we can all
agree that that man needs to pay for his crime. We tend to want everyone else
to be held accountable when they sin, but when we are the ones who are guilty
of some sin, “give me grace, have mercy on me!” The fact is, everyone who
rejects the forgiveness available through the Blood of Christ will be held
accountable on the Day of Judgment for the sin they committed.
The idea of Christians
fearing God is all through the NT. Look
up these passages: 2 Corinthians
7:1 ; Ephesians 5:21 ;
Philippians 2:12 ; 1 Peter 2:17 ; and Acts
5:1-11 . The
context of 1 Peter 1:17
is a command to be holy, to live holy, putting away the former sins, because
the One we call Father judges each man’s works. If I am in communion with Him I
have nothing to fear, but if I am ignoring or rebelling against Him I can
expect some discipline. God told the Israelites that punishment would come if
they disregarded Him and entered back into their sin. Great fear came upon the church in Acts 5 due to the sudden and severe
discipline brought upon two members for lying to the Holy Spirit.
Conduct
yourselves while here in fear because you have not been redeemed with
corruptible things (1:18 ).
Look at the contrast, conduct yourselves in fear, not in the worthless way of
life you used to have. Rather, conduct yourselves in fear because you have been
redeemed with the precious Blood of Christ (1:19 ). How pleased with you do you suppose God is when you
bring disgrace upon His Son Jesus Christ, which is exactly what you do when you
sin? The Son who was sacrificed in your
place and who the Father then glorified, you disgrace by returning to your
sinful conduct. You think He says, “Oh, that’s okay because I love you?” Perhaps
we need reminded of what the precious Blood of Christ has done for us:
·
Colossians
·
Hebrews · Hebrews
· 1 John 1:7 it cleanses us from sin
We are
also motivated to holiness through awe of Him and what He has done. Jesus was preordained for His atoning
work, removing the enmity we created between us an God. It is also because of
Jesus that any of us have faith. It
is God who determined your salvation, accomplished it, and in Him is all our
future hope. That is awe inspiring. And He is the One that says, “Be holy.”
Pastor Mark
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