1 Peter 1:15

1 Peter 1:15 ‘but like the Holy One who called you, be holy yourselves also in all your behavior'

‘but like the Holy One who called you' -A Holy God deserves our conformity and obedience, not the world. 1. God is Holy, and those who profess to be His people must also manifest purity (Leviticus 11:44; Leviticus 9:2; Leviticus 20:7; Leviticus 20:26). 2. God cannot have fellowship with those who engage in evil (1 John 1:6). 3. Despite modern religious claims to the contrary, the Christian needs to live. morally pure life (Romans 6:1 ff; 2 Corinthians 7:1; Ephesians 4:22; Ephesians 5:1).

‘the Holy One' -Before we move on, this statement does tell us many valuable truths about God. Truths that should encourage us give Him our best possible effort and loyalty. 1. God is always up front and never misrepresents or overstates the truth. 2. Every motive in God is completely pure. There is no sinister or evil reason why God wants us to serve Him. 3. God is consistent. 4. God will never lie to us (Titus 1:2), therefore we can place all our confidence in Him.. was reminded of the importance of these truths just this week, when. read the following, ‘The Beatles became disenchanted with the Maharishi Mahesh Yogi when they learned that he was much more interested in the body of one of the ladies in their party than with the spirits of any of them, and they admitted, “We made. mistake.”' (When Skeptics Ask, Geisler and Brooks, p. 133) Along the same lines we could point out that Mohammed had more wives that even he had prescribed for his religion, the abuses and polygamy in which Joseph Smith participated, the countless abuses among the Catholic Popes, etc…It is refreshing and encouraging to find out that God is Holy.

‘be holy' -i.e. become. 1. In ancient times in non-Christian and non-Jewish circles the word translated ‘holy' meant, ‘devoted to the gods', and therefore ‘sacred'. 2. Thayer says, ‘set apart, pure, upright' (p. 7). The words sanctify, sanctification, saint, holy, and holiness all come from the same root word. Thus. Christian is to be separated from the sinful attitudes and actions of the world, and dedicated to serving God (Matthew 6:33). 3. Notice that ‘holiness' isn't something mysterious wrought upon the individual. We are commanded to ‘be' holy. (2 Corinthians 7:1). And ‘holiness' isn't the result of. long mystical or intellectual journey. There are no steps or levels to ‘holiness', and there are no degrees of holiness among men. The Christian must be ‘holy' right now! Holiness is very practical, i.e. get rid of the sin in your life and put on godly qualities (Colossians 3:5 ff).

‘in all your behavior' -‘in every department of your lives' (Phi). 1. Before God, the Christian has no privacy or part of their life that they can keep from God. Every part must be pure. 2.. cannot divorce my personal life from my relationship with God. 3.. cannot divorce my marriage or my business life from my relationship with God (Ephesians 5:22; Ephesians 6:1). 3. Holiness can be seen! If the heart is pure, then the conduct will be pure (Mark 7:20). What we ‘do' says everything about whether we are serious about being ‘holy', whether we have dedicated ourselves to God or not (Titus 1:15).