I remember it vividly, although it was, I think, around about 44 years ago now, something like that.
I was like 10 or 11, and I was on my first school excursion.
We were away for something like four days.
We had travelled about 400 kilometres from home.
We were just north of here near Newcastle.
And each of our grade were billeted out.
We were distributed to families from the school that we were connecting with.
This is before there were things like child protection laws and things like that.
And I remember staying with this family, and it was the end of a very long day.
It was the first night.
There were so many things that were familiar with this family to my own,
but there was a whole bunch of stuff that was different as well.
And I remember we had dinner, and the mum said,
do you want to call home and just tell your parents that, you know, you're okay?
And so I rang home to tell them that I was okay,
and as soon as my mum answered the phone, I just burst into tears.
I didn't know what happened, where it came from.
I just started blubbering.
And I was told that it was called homesickness.
And it's like, and I mean, these people may be sick.
You know, like, what is this homesickness?
In case you're not sure what it is, it's an emotional distress.
It's the feeling of emotional distress when you're away from home
and in a new and unfamiliar environment,
even though there were many things that were familiar to that environment for me.
Maybe some of us here feel that experience on a regular basis,
given the fact that Australia is not your first home.
But it is the Christian life according to the Bible.
It's what we touched on last week in 1 Peter,
as Peter describes the life of the Christian as resident aliens.
We are exiles, foreigners.
That is, the Christian is not a tourist in this world.
We live, in fact, to serve our neighbours for the good of society.
And in that sense, we are resident aliens.
This is not our home.
We are homesick for our true home.
We live as homesick people longing for our true home.
This was true for the first residents,
sorry, the first recipients of this letter from Peter,
as they themselves were struggling under the oppression of a Roman society,
standing against their trust in Jesus Christ.
And it's true for the Christian today in our society,
and for Christians everywhere, from every culture and society,
from the time that Jesus ascended,
and until we reach home, we are homesick.
When you become a Christian,
you don't just turn over and you leave,
or simply become a little bit more spiritual.
In the Bible, 1 Peter says that, as we just read, we are reborn.
Reborn.
A whole entire new life has begun.
The old is gone, and new has come.
The resurrection power of Jesus Christ,
the same power that saw him go from death to life,
comes into our lives.
And so what does the pilgrim resident alien life look like?
That's the journey we're on here in 1 Peter,
as we look at this new life.
But one way that Peter answers that,
is as he who called you is holy,
so be holy in all you do.
For it is written, be holy, because I am holy.
So that's what we're looking at this morning.
We've got three things.
If you've got the St. Paul's app, you can download it.
If you want to just take notes, feel free to do that as well.
But what is holiness?
How does holiness grow?
And who makes the holiness possible?
So what is holiness?
That's the first thing.
We start to answer that question by looking again at verses 15 and 16.
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.
Now, when we hear the word holiness,
which is not a word that's generally used in society much at all,
unless somehow it's a slight,
but we automatically think in terms of morality.
It's morality.
It's moral things.
It's ethics.
And we think of things like the Ten Commandments
or the Golden Rule, the Great Commandment,
that sort of stuff.
Holiness, according to the Bible,
doesn't mean less than morality,
but it does mean something fundamentally more
than just morality.
The clue to that is Peter's quote in verse 16.
Be holy because I am holy.
What Peter's doing there is he's quoting from Leviticus
in the Old Testament.
And there are at least five times in Leviticus
that God says to his people Israel,
words to the effect of,
be holy because I am holy.
Now, but the interesting thing about the book of Leviticus
is that it's talking,
Leviticus talks about holy things,
not so much holy people.
That is, Leviticus does not include
a list of the Ten Commandments
or the moral codes.
You've got to go to Deuteronomy,
you've got to go to Exodus for that.
Leviticus talks about holy tables
and holy pots and holy utensils.
That is, holiness is much more
than just morality and ethics.
You know, what after all is a holy pot?
More curiously, what is a unholy pot?
I googled unholy pot
and up comes marijuana.
The word holy in the Bible
means separate or set apart.
This is why God can easily call himself holy.
He is set apart from everything
and every being.
That is, he stands outside of creation.
He creates creation,
but he's not part of creation.
He is unique.
That is, God himself,
by himself, exists in his own category.
There is none like him.
And when God says, I am holy,
he is saying,
there is nothing,
no one like me at all.
And so, to look at Leviticus,
to understand what holiness is,
a holy item,
like a pot or a table
or a spoon,
is set apart
for God's exclusive use.
It's used for God
and worshipping God.
So, when Peter quotes Leviticus here
to tell people
that they should be holy
in living the pilgrim life,
the implication is
that he's going beyond
and deeper
than ethics and morality.
Holiness is
fundamentally
belonging to God.
That's what it is.
Not simply
a moral code.
The core of holiness
is very personal.
Very personal.
A very, very personal God.
Not law codes.
Not moral rules.
They're not at the core of holiness.
Belonging
to a personal God
is at the core of holiness.
So, that means
it is actually possible
to be moral
out of a sense of duty
or self-worth
or meeting expectations
of others
or just simple pragmatism
and yet still not belong to God.
You can be moral
for selfish reasons.
It's possible
to be moral
but not long to God.
It's possible
to do good things
and to live
a good life
and still not belong
to God.
You see,
belonging to God
is primarily
a heart issue.
It's not an activity
first and foremost.
There are only
a few people
in my life
where I can say
that their claims
of love
on my life
are so great
that I belong
to them.
That's my wife
and my children.
There are things
that I do now
that I would
most likely
not do
if it wasn't
because of those
love relationships.
If it wasn't
because of those
love relationships
there was things
that I currently do
that I would not
choose to do.
To belong to God
means to live
on his terms,
delighting in him,
reserving ourselves
for him,
obeying him,
honouring him.
Belonging to God
means
duty becomes
delight.
It is not
enough to be
moral.
To be holy
we must
belong
to God.
Imagine a scenario
where you have
a single
poor woman
who has
one child.
This woman
teaches her child
good ethics,
good things
to
care for the poor,
to always tell
the truth,
to have a great
work ethic,
work hard.
And she does
everything for her
child as she's
growing up.
She works long
hours in hard
conditions and
sacrifices much to
provide for her
child.
And so,
such a point where
she works and
works and works
and is able to
send this child
into a university
and as soon as
this child gets
their university
degree and
then from there
they do well,
they get into a
great job,
the child calls
her up with the
great news,
I've got this
fantastic job,
getting paid
well,
I can afford
some great
rent.
So,
from here on
in,
I'll be in
touch occasionally.
Christmas time,
birthdays,
I'll send a
card.
But from here
on in,
I'm living life
my way
because I don't
actually need you
anymore.
because I'm
doing what you
told me to do,
I'm taking care
of the poor,
I tell the
truth and I
work hard,
thank you for
that.
Mother starts
to cry,
it's confused,
they're really
upset.
And the
child,
what's your
problem?
I'm doing the
things that you've
told me to do,
I am loving
the poor,
caring for them,
I'm telling the
truth,
I'm working
hard,
what is your
problem?
Why are you
upset with me?
Now if you've
got any emotional
intelligence at all,
you would understand
that child doesn't
have emotional
intelligence.
It's unthinkable,
horrible for
someone to treat
their parent like
that,
and yet that's the
way we often
think about
morality,
it's often the
way we think
about holiness,
we just do
things,
live a certain
way,
but without
a relationship.
For anyone
to say that
it's really
important that
I am moral,
but I don't
need God,
you're not
holy.
Holiness means
you belong to
God,
and so the
core of
holiness is
intentionally,
intensely
relational.
This leads to
another very
important discovery.
We now have
the key
principle in
which to
apply holiness
to every
single part
of our
lives.
The opposite
of belonging
to God is
to live for
yourself.
The opposite
of belonging
to God is
to live for
yourself,
you,
what you want
in life,
your preferences.
And so the
principle of
holy living
is to
live for
yourself,
sorry,
is to not
live for
yourself,
but to
live for
God.
1 Corinthians
6,
19 puts it
like this,
you are
not your
own,
you are
bought at
a price,
therefore
honour God
with your
bodies.
The Christian
has been
bought at
a price,
they are
owned by
another.
That means
that there
is not a
single
situation
in life,
not a
single
situation
in life
where we
make a
decision
based on
personal
preference,
not a
single
decision,
nothing in
life,
anywhere
where I
think about
what is
my need
first.
you live
for God
and others.
It's
really
interesting,
I find
that Peter
in the
first place
quotes from
Leviticus.
In the
book of
Acts,
we read
that God
really had
to push
home to
Peter that
it wasn't
necessary for
him to
keep the
entire
Levitical
code.
As a
Jew,
Peter was
committed to
the rules
about food,
clothing,
ceremonies.
He even
was insisting
that new
Christians,
Gentile
Christians,
needed to
submit to
this same
law code
as well
in certain
areas.
And then
God gives
Peter a
vision and
tells him,
in Acts
chapter 10,
and tells
him that
all these
laws have
now been
fulfilled by
Jesus.
Jesus has
perfectly
obeyed and
so you are
clean and
you are now
acceptable to
Jesus.
it took
Peter a
little while
to get
that.
But he
finally got
the principle
of holiness.
Every part
of your
life is
holy.
Every part
is to be
holy.
And to be
holy is to
belong to
God first
and foremost.
The
particulars of
Leviticus,
are fulfilled
by Jesus
but the
principle still
applies to
the Christian
now.
Every part
of your life
belongs to
God.
Every part.
the principle
of living for
God and
others and
not self
is to push
its way into
every corner
of our
lives.
So I
ask you
the last,
just think of
the last big
decision that
you've made.
I'm not
asking you,
did you pray
about it?
I'm asking
how have
other people
responded to
it?
What wisdom
and guidance
did you get
from God's
word about
it?
So,
second point
is how
does it
grow?
If that's
what holiness
is,
then how
does it
grow in
our lives
and in
this new
life we
have in
Jesus?
Jesus.
These
verses tell
us that
holiness
grows in
three ways.
The mind,
the will,
and the
heart.
So first
of all,
let's focus
on the
mind.
Notice
verse 13.
With
minds that
are alert
and fully
sober,
set your
hope on
the grace
to be
brought to
you when
Jesus
Christ is
revealed at
his coming.
it is
clear that
the mind,
with the
mind the
intellect is
engaged.
Minds that
are in
fact alert
as we're
told here
and fully
sober.
To be
fully sober
is not to
mean that
you don't
drink alcohol.
To be
fully sober
the word
means
judicious.
It means
to be
careful.
It means
to be
thoughtful.
It means
to be
sensible.
It means
to be
prudent.
It's
the,
if you
like,
in the
first century
it's the
mindset of
the scholar.
The other
statement is
for our
minds to
be alert.
In the
original
New Testament
language that
reads as
gird up
your minds.
I think
some of the
early English
translations have
the idea of
gird up your
minds.
It's quite a
vivid statement.
Back in those
days when this
was written,
everyone wore
dresses,
well technically
robes.
If you
need to
do something
active,
what you
did was
you got
your robe,
you pulled
it up and
you stuck
it in your
belt,
your girdle,
you stuck
it in your
belt in order
to be able
to do the
active thing.
So how
alert and
fully sober
work together
in this
passage is
that the
Christian needs
to be
thinking,
pouring over
God's
word,
his
requirements,
the gospel,
again thinking,
thinking,
thinking towards
action.
Not just
blowing our
brains out
more and more
with more and
more theology,
but towards
action.
Thinking very
carefully about
the implications
of faith in
Jesus in
every single
corner of
our lives
with the
purpose or
the goal of
doing it,
practicing it.
It tells us
here to set
our hope,
to set our
sights, if you
like, on the
grace that is
coming with
Jesus at the
end of all
things.
in other
words, be
alert and
fully sober,
engage,
engage your
brains, put
it into
practice, the
Christian life
into practice,
with the
end goal in
focus.
Fix your
mind on the
finish line and
all its
rewards and
keep thinking
about it and
all its
implications over
and over and
over again and
push all those
implications down.
into practice.
Put it like
this, are
you a
Christian?
Do you know
that the
Bible says that
God made this
world to be
perfect paradise,
a perfect place
of love and
glory?
And yet
everything is
broken in our
world because
humanity turned
away from its
creator.
life.
But God, at
infinite cost to
himself, entered
history, his
story, as
Jesus Christ and
died on a cross to
pay the debt of
humanity's sin.
He will one day
return and remake
everything so that
it all becomes
perfect once again.
everything.
What that means is
that whatever
happens to you in
life, whatever
happens to you in
life, it will end
up okay.
It will all be good
in the end.
Better, in fact, in
the end.
The best thing that
can ever happen and
the worst thing that
can ever happen to
you will live, is
that we will live
forever with him
in perfection and
glory.
That is the worst
thing that can
happen to you,
namely death, is
the best thing that
can happen to you
because of Jesus.
I want to ask you,
do you have peace
in that right now,
confidence in that
right now?
If you do not,
and if you are
constantly making
decisions to shore
up that peace and
to grow in that
confidence your way,
it's because you're
not thinking.
It's because you're
not thinking.
Don't believe the
self-serving narrative
of our time that
says Christians,
or more broadly
religious people,
well, they have
faith, but everyone
else thinks.
That is absolute
nonsense.
Absolute nonsense.
Think.
The Bible says that
you will not be
holy.
You will not have
peace.
You will not have
security and
certainty unless you
think.
And primarily
think.
Pour over God's
word to us.
Have the gospel
in front of you
again, day in
and day out.
I think we've
said this
multiple times
in the last
three to four
years.
If you are not
doing that a
minimum of four
times a week
in God's word,
you are not
thinking.
you are not
growing in
holiness.
You will not
have certainty.
Thinking,
however, is not
the only thing.
The will must
also be engaged
in order to
grow in holiness.
Have a look at
verse 14.
As obedient
children, do
not conform to
the evil desires
you had when
you lived in
ignorance.
obedience.
To be holy
does in the
end require
obedience.
As I said, it
requires a
movement from
thinking towards
action.
So it requires
obedience.
Peter here is
addressing Gentiles.
They didn't know
the Ten Commandments
or the rest of the
law, but now
they do.
And now that
they do, he
says they need
to conform to
it.
We should
note, though,
that even as
Peter says
obedience is
required, notice
he calls them
obedient children.
As obedient
children.
Again, it's
highly relational.
Not obedient
slaves, not
obedient workers,
not obedient
servants, obedient
children.
He's talking
about the kind
of trusting
obedience that
children give
to parents,
parents who
they rely
upon and
love.
Another great
example of
this in
terms of
obedience is
in 2 Samuel
23.
It's one of
these narratives
that you
potentially could
fly straight
over and not
notice the
beauty of it.
When David
became king,
the Philistines
were so worried
about David.
They were like,
this guy is
going to be a
formidable force
to reckon with.
As soon as he
was crowned
king, the
Philistines
decided we're
going to invade
his country
while he's still
celebrating or
while he's a
little bit unsure
of himself as
king, new in the
role as the
head man.
They came in
real strong.
David, in this
moment, responds
in the way that
they probably
predicted he
would.
with a few
hand-picked
men known as
David's mighty
men, he
escaped into
the wilderness.
He did a
runner with a
few choice
guys.
The Philistines
came in, they
took over the
key parts of
David's kingdom
including David's
hometown,
Bethlehem.
So Dave's out
there in the
wilderness, one
hot day, he
laments his
situation and
says with words
to effect, if
only I had
a Frank
Green full
of the water
from the
well that I
drank out of
as a kid in
Bethlehem, if
only I had
that.
It was a
hope, it was a
longing of things
to be reversed.
It wasn't a
command and
three of these
key dudes are
there going,
hmm, strap
their swords
on, grab the
water jug,
fought their
way through
the Philistines
to Bethlehem,
filled up the
water jug from
the well, came
running back,
fought their
way back through
the Philistines
and gave the
water jug from
Bethlehem to
Dave.
What did he
do?
Tipped it on
the ground.
Tipped it all
on the ground.
Why?
I am unworthy
of this kind
of devotion.
I am
unworthy of
this kind of
devotion.
That's his
point.
And the
point that I
want to say
in the call
to obedience
here in 1
Peter, when
you're really
devoted to
someone as
these three
men were to
their king,
belong, when
you really
belong to
someone as
these three
men were to
their king,
you will do
anything to
delight that
person.
You will do
anything to
honour that
person.
When we have
this kind of
relationship with
another, namely
Jesus, there is
no difference
between a
command or
a request
or even
simply a
sigh.
they heard
a sigh
from David
and they
risked their
lives for
him.
You don't
look at the
rules and the
regulations and
work out which
ones do I need
to keep
nowadays, God?
If we have
to ask
ourselves
questions like,
so, calculating
my giving,
should it be
pre-tax or
post-tax?
Or asking
questions, how
regular do I
need to be at
church in order
to be considered
regular?
Plus, can I
add to that,
the thousands,
the tens of
thousands of
questions that
are really hiding
behind the
deepest questions
of the human
heart, what is
the bare minimum
that God requires
of me before he
gets crossed
with me?
That's not
holiness
question at
all.
And it's a
million miles
away from
the devotion
of David's
men to their
king.
And he was
just a man.
To be holy
is to belong
to God, to
live for God,
and not just
obey the things
you do know,
but you look
in multiple ways
of how I
might increase,
how I might
increase my
obedience towards
him.
And in the
end, if you
delight in him,
it doesn't feel
like obedience
at all.
It is just
delight.
A delightful
duty.
To grow in
holiness, we
need to engage
the mind and
the will, and
lastly, the
heart.
Verse 17,
since you
call on a
father who
judges each
person's work
impartially, live
out your time as
foreigners here in
reverent fear.
Living in the fear
of God is how you
engage the heart.
that is, the
fear of God, the
biblical fear of
God, is crucial to
understanding the
Christian life.
This is the heart
of what will
motivate and
create a desire
for us to
please God, and
delight in God, and
give ourselves to
God.
The word fear
here does not
mean scared.
It means awe
and wonder.
It's an internal
sense of awe and
wonder.
not doing things
because you have
to do it out of a
sense of duty, but
awe and wonder at
the magnificence of
a God who has
captured my heart
through sacrificing
himself, giving
himself for me.
In other words,
fear of God
grows the more we
understand his love
for us.
and finally, and
really quickly, how
is, who makes
this possible?
What is it that
will capture our
hearts so that they
will grow in fear and
wonder?
What makes this new
life possible?
What's the engine
under it all, if you
like?
verse 18 and 19,
for you know that
it was not with
perishable things such
as silver or gold that
you were redeemed from
the empty way of life
handed down to you from
your ancestors, but with
the precious blood of
Christ, a lamb without
blemish or defect.
defect.
Again, Peter is
alluding to Leviticus.
To live the Christian
life, our hearts need
to be filled with the
fear and the awe and
the wonder of Jesus
Christ's blood being
shed for us, for you.
He has sacrificed
himself for you.
You cannot grow in
holiness unless your
mind, your will, and
your heart is fixed on
that, the gospel.
He wants us to know
the joy and the
freedom of not living
for ourselves anymore.
He wants us to know
the joy and the
freedom, the freedom
from the
claustrophobia, the
narrowness of living
for the self.
Jesus gives his life
away that we might
experience and grow in
the freedom of new
life.
And as we see him
living and dying for
us, we will die to
ourselves and we will
live for him.
You belong to him.