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.

Every person is born with a deep spiritual problem called sin.  We inherited this problem from the first man and woman, Adam and Eve, when they willfully chose to rebel against God their Creator.  They disobeyed His Word.

Sin is a serious offense against God’s holiness.  It is a “heart” problem that separates us from our God.  We cannot overcome it through our own strength and willpower.  We need God’s help.

God wants to restore relationship with us – the relationship that was lost when Adam and Eve sinned.  He wants to make us holy as He is holy.  Out of love for us, God sent His own Son, Jesus Christ, to be the remedy for our sin problem.  Christ paid the penalty for our sins on the cross.

God has provided help for us, but we must recognize that we have a sin problem and that we need His help.  We must humble ourselves, turn from our sin, and accept Christ as our Lord and Savior.  Only then can God make us holy and restore our relationship with Him.

When you turn to Christ, God will give you real help to live a holy life.  He will do a miraculous work in you by His Spirit.  You will have a new identity in Christ.  Scripture describes you as a “new creation” (2 Corinthians 5:17).

God will forgive you and wash away your sins (Acts 2:38). He will make you righteous by the shedding of Jesus’ blood and His resurrection.

The Holy Spirit will do a miraculous, regenerating work in your heart so that you have a desire to live according to God’s ways.  You will be “born again” by God’s Spirit.

Titus 3:5 says, “He saved us, not on the basis of deeds which we have done in righteousness, but according to His mercy, by the washing of regeneration and renewing by the Holy Spirit.”

God will adopt you into His family and make you His child.  You will have a personal relationship with God through His Son.

God will make you holy.  He will set you apart to be His ambassador on the earth and to live a life that honors Him.

You can live a pure and holy life because God has changed your heart.  He gives you His Spirit to live in you.  The Holy Spirit will be your Teacher and your divine Helper.

The Corinthian believers were struggling with sin.  They had forgotten the miraculous work God had done in their lives.  They were focused on their old identity and their old sins.

Paul reminded these Christians that God had washed them, sanctified them, and justified them “in the name of the Lord Jesus Christ and in the Spirit of our God” (1 Corinthians 6:11).

He reminded them that God had put His Holy Spirit in them to help them live righteously, according to God’s ways.

God gives every one of His children the power to live a pure and holy life.

If you are God’s child, He is saying to you, “Be holy, for I am holy.”

What Do You Think?

What has God washed away in your life?

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