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

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. God has called His children to be His ambassadors on the earth and to bring Him glory.

The word “holy” means separated, set apart. God your Father has set you apart for His glory. He has made you righteous by the shedding of Jesus’ blood and His resurrection.

Holiness is inward and outward. It includes attitudes and motives, not just actions. God sees our hearts. He knows our motives and our thoughts.

We tend to think of our outward actions as being most important, but God is very interested in the condition of our heart and mind. Our actions are a reflection of what is in our heart.

These two sides of holiness – outward and inward – are reflected in Peter’s instructions to God’s people in 1 Peter 1:13-2:3. He tells them how to act in a holy manner. He also reminds them of important truths that should produce in them the attitudes God desires.

These truths will transform us if we reflect on them and respond to them as God instructs.

1 Peter 1:17-2:3

Transforming Truth: Christ’s blood is precious. With His blood, He has redeemed us [bought us back] from our previous sinful and futile life. This was God’s plan “before the foundation of the world”.

What should our response be? “17… conduct yourselves in fear* during the time of your stay on earth; 18 knowing that you were not redeemed with perishable things like silver or gold from your futile way of life inherited from your forefathers, 19 but with precious blood, as of a lamb unblemished and spotless, the blood of Christ. 20 For He was foreknown before the foundation of the world, but has appeared in these last times for the sake of you 21 who through Him are believers in God, who raised Him from the dead and gave Him glory, so that your faith and hope are in God.

*Fear means reverential awe; respect; a desire to please God. “The fear of the Lord is to hate evil” (Proverbs 8:13); “The fear of the Lord is the beginning of wisdom” (Proverbs 9:10).

Transforming Truth: God’s Word is truth. We are born again through the living and enduring Word of God. God’s Word enables us to grow spiritually.

What should our response be?   “22 Since you have in obedience to the truth purified your souls for a sincere love of the brethren, fervently love one another from the heart, 23 for you have been born again not of seed which is perishable but imperishable, that is, through the living and enduring word of God. 24 For, “All flesh is like grass, and all its glory like the flower of grass. The grass withers, and the flower falls off, 25 but the word of the Lord endures forever.” And this is the word which was preached to you.

1Therefore, putting aside all malice and all deceit and hypocrisy and envy and all slander, 2 like newborn babies, long for the pure milk of the word, so that by it you may grow in respect to salvation, 3 if you have tasted the kindness of the Lord.”

What Do You Think?

Is God the center of your focus? What do you desire and long for?

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