God gives this command in 1 Peter 1:16: “Be holy, for I am holy.”

Who is God speaking to?  Without His divine help, no one can live a holy life.

He is speaking to those who are His children, those who have accepted Jesus as their Lord and Savior and who have a personal relationship with Him.

If you are God’s child, He is saying to you, “Be holy, for I am holy.” Titus 2:11-14 helps us understand what this means.

Titus 2:11-14
“For the grace of God has appeared, bringing salvation to all men, instructing us to deny ungodliness and worldly desires and to live sensibly, righteously and godly in the present age, looking for the blessed hope and the appearing of the glory of our great God and Savior, Christ Jesus, who gave Himself for us to redeem us from every lawless deed, and to purify for Himself a people for His own possession, zealous for good deeds.”

God has called His children to be His ambassadors on the earth and to bring Him glory.  He gives every one of His children the power to live a pure and holy life.

In our last blog, we looked at the miraculous changes God makes in us when we turn from sin and accept His Son Jesus Christ as our Lord and Savior.

The apostle Paul told Christians who were struggling with sin to remember what God had done for them: He had washed them, sanctified them, and justified them in the name of Christ and in the Holy Spirit (1 Corinthians 6:11).  He had changed their hearts to desire to live righteously, according to God’s ways.

In 1 Corinthians 6:19-20, Paul reminded these believers that God had put His Holy Spirit in them to help them live righteously every day.

1 Corinthians 6:19-20
“Or do you not know that your body is a temple of the Holy Spirit who is in you, whom you have from God, and that you are not your own? For you have been bought with a price: therefore glorify God in your body.”

If you are God’s child, God has put His Holy Spirit in you. The Holy Spirit is your divine Teacher and your Helper.  Romans 12:2 helps us understand how the Holy Spirit helps us live a holy life.

Romans 12:2
“And do not be conformed to this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind…”

God’s will is that your character be transformed to be like Christ’s character.  This is a radical change, a metamorphosis.

To be transformed, you must renew your mind.  Your mind is renewed when you internalize Scripture by reading it, studying it, speaking it, thinking on it, and praying about it.

As you renew your mind with God’s Word, the Holy Spirit will help you understand what God is saying (1 Corinthians 2:10-12).  He will “teach you all things, and bring to your remembrance all that [Jesus] said to you” (John 14:26).  He will “guide you into all the truth” (John 16:13).

The Holy Spirit will show you how to apply God’s Word to your life.  He will prompt you to obey.  If you submit to His guidance and yield to Him, He will give you the strength to resist temptation and obey God’s Word.  He will help you “[put] to death the deeds of the body” (Romans 8:13).

Romans 8:13
“for if you are living according to the flesh, you must die; but if by the Spirit you are putting to death the deeds of the body, you will live.”

Renew your mind with Scripture and obey the Holy Spirit.  Then He will transform you to become more like Jesus in character, as 2 Corinthians 3:18 says.

2 Corinthians 3:18
“But we all, with unveiled face, beholding as in a mirror the glory of the Lord, are being transformed into the same image from glory to glory, just as from the Lord, the Spirit.”

What Do You Think?

Do you believe that we need to be transformed?

Have you experienced mind renewal through studying Scripture?

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