1 Peter 1: 1:13-25

¹³ Therefore, 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. ¹⁴ As obedient children, do not conform to the evil desires you had when you lived in ignorance. ¹⁵ But just as he who called you is holy, so be holy in all you do; ¹⁶ for it is written: “Be holy, because I am holy.” ¹⁷ Since you call on a Father who judges each person’s work impartially, live out your time as foreigners here in reverent fear.¹⁸ 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, ¹⁹ but with the precious blood of Christ, a lamb without blemish or defect. ²⁰ He was chosen before the creation of the world, but was revealed in these last times for your sake. ²¹ Through him you believe in God, who raised him from the dead and glorified him, and so your faith and hope are in God. ²² Now that you have purified yourselves by obeying the truth so that you have sincere love for each other, love one another deeply,from the heart.^[b] 23 For you have been born again, not of perishable seed, but of imperishable, through the living and enduring word of God. ²⁴ For, “All people are like grass, and all their glory is like the flowers of the field; the grass withers and the flowers fall, ²⁵  but the word of the Lord endures forever.” And this is the word that was preached to you.

Not only are we called to live confidently but second to:

1. Be Consecrated – Holy Vs 14-16

The second call is for us to live consecrated lives, which is not easy to do when so many Christians seem to be craving and caving to our carnal culture. When we set our hope fully on His future appearing it will have a purifying effect on how we live in the present. 1 John 3:3 says: “And everyone who has this hope in Him purifies himself, just as He is pure.” Our standard for living is the Savior not society. Unfortunately many think that it’s impossible to be holy and happy, many equate the word holy with being boring, seeing it more as a vice than a virtue. Not only do we view holiness as boring but we see sin as exciting. Yes sin maybe fun for a season, but seasons come to an end and we end up facing the cost and the consequences of carless living. Why do we crave carnal living over consecrated living because we have made it about fun instead fulfillment. We are catering to the flesh instead of the spirit. Here is an interesting thought, we tend to believe that we are bodies with a spirit, but in reality we are spirits with a body. The emphasis is not on the body it dies and fades. Are you catering to the temporal or the eternal? It’s hard to get our hands around holiness, what does it mean, it means to separate from the world and dedicate to God, simply put we are to reflect who God is. So how do we live holy lives? The first has to do with what is moving and motivating you to pursue purity. Peter challenges the church to:

1. Live to please God

Is your purpose for purity to please God, is the motive rules or relationship?  Let’s look at a relationship to see what this looks like as well as one area of purity I think we can all agree is a major problem today, sexual purity. What does holy living look like when it comes to sexual purity? The bible gives us a long list, don’t lustfully look, protect your eyes from porn, don’t have sex outside of marriage and we could go on. But notice that those are rules, but what is the motive, what should be moving us towards purity, relationship.  What should be propelling us is pleasing God. Lets put this into a practical application, when it comes to sexual purity what if I told my wife the reason I don’t cheat on you is because I’m not allowed to, how different is that than if I had said because I love you? Most of us have made it about the don’ts instead of the Deity. Purity pleases God, are you running after a relationship with the redeemer or just following the rules? Second we live consecrated lives by:

• Pursuing Purity

Holiness isn’t just a principle it’s a pursuit and in order to pursue purity Peter tells us to renounce the Past and remember the Price Jesus paid for our purity. Renouncing our putrid past means identifying our old sin patterns and choosing a new path. If you were an alcoholic don’t drive past the bar on the way home, find a different route. Becoming a holy person requires change. Holiness is a deliberate choice to seek wholeness in the world. We must remove old habits and develop new ones. It means taking the time to identify your triggers, the things that can set you off. Peter says don’t slip back into your old ways of living to satisfy your own desires. In other words don’t get comfortable and start catering to your flesh and your feelings. Remember the context of Peter’s letter, it is to believers going through struggles and suffering. When we are in pain we often look to pleasure, worldly pleasure. Because when we feel bad we look for a feel good. When you are hurting it’s easy to let your guard down. Also consider the cost, our salvation came through the suffering of the Savior. Peter tells us that God paid a ransom to save you from the empty life, that it was not paid with mere gold or silver, which lose their value. It was the precious blood of Christ, the sinless, spotless Lamb of God. You have been bought by the blood don’t bath in the bile. Your conversion was costly not cheap, Grace cost God greatly. God is much more concerned about our character than your career. Consecrated Christians don’t compromise with the culture.

1 Peter 1: 1:13-25

¹³ Therefore, 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. ¹⁴ As obedient children, do not conform to the evil desires you had when you lived in ignorance. ¹⁵ But just as he who called you is holy, so be holy in all you do; ¹⁶ for it is written: “Be holy, because I am holy.” ¹⁷ Since you call on a Father who judges each person’s work impartially, live out your time as foreigners here in reverent fear.¹⁸ 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, ¹⁹ but with the precious blood of Christ, a lamb without blemish or defect. ²⁰ He was chosen before the creation of the world, but was revealed in these last times for your sake. ²¹ Through him you believe in God, who raised him from the dead and glorified him, and so your faith and hope are in God. ²² Now that you have purified yourselves by obeying the truth so that you have sincere love for each other, love one another deeply,from the heart.^[b] 23 For you have been born again, not of perishable seed, but of imperishable, through the living and enduring word of God. ²⁴ For, “All people are like grass, and all their glory is like the flowers of the field; the grass withers and the flowers fall, ²⁵  but the word of the Lord endures forever.” And this is the word that was preached to you.

So how do we put this into practice because hope is not just a principle, how does hope become our homebase?

1. Gird your Mind / Prepare Mind

The NLT says prepare your minds for action, The King James says: “Gird up the loins of your mind” In bible times men wore long flowing robes and when it was time for work or war they would tuck their robe into their belts so it wouldn’t get in the way and cause them to trip. What about you are you tucking into the belt of truth those things that cause you trip? The idea is to be ready to respond with instant obedience. In Exodus 2:12, God’s people were told to be ready to move during the Passover: “This is how you are to eat it: with your cloak tucked into your belt, your sandals on your feet and your staff in your hand.” Nothing was to hold them back when it was time to move forward. In 1 Kings 18:46, Elijah “girded up his loins and ran ahead of Ahab…” Jesus told his followers to be ready for the master’s return in Luke 12:35: “Let your waist be girded and your lamps burning…” And in Ephesians 6:14 we’re told to tie everything together with the belt of truth, which is the Word of God, so that we can fight spiritual battles. Girding up our minds means tying up our loose thoughts. 2 Corinthians 10:5 tells us to take every thought captive; don’t let the rubbish run free in your mind, guard against the garbage. Mental laziness leads to moral laxity, loose thinking leads to loose living. Are you training your though life? Not only are we to gird up our minds but we must also:

• Guard our Heart 

Be prepared to practice. Why do we go through the drills because we are deployed, this is the real thing. Are you prepared for the persecution and the problems or will they catch you off guard? The NLT tells us to exercise self-control, practice patience. The KJV calls this sober living. Peter’s main concern here is that we don’t live under the influence of the world and become intoxicated by our emotions. We are to be clear headed, to keep all our faculties fully operational. While there are those who are controlled by alcohol there are others who are controlled by anger. For some drama is their drug. Their lives are always in a state of chaos because they are not letting Christ controlling them. They let their emotions control their lives, look we don’t have to be rash we can exercise restraint. Today there are many who want to debate drinking, whether it is right or wrong, what’s the rule, but its not about rules its about who or what is ruling. We spend more time focused on our rights than just living right. Here is my question is it controlling you, is it a crutch, is it contributing to the cure or is it the cause of the problem?  In short is what you are consuming, consuming you? Who is in charge the liquor or the Lord, what are you letting control you? Why do we need to be alert because we are living in enemy territory, 1 Peter 5:8: “Be sober, be vigilant; because your adversary the devil walks about like a roaring lion, seeking whom he may devour.” The world wants your worship, so let me ask you, are you living a sober life or a stupid life? What is controlling you is it Christ, your emotions, or the enemy?  Confidence Christians don’t have to cower to the culture. You can hold onto hope in this hostile world,  Gilbert Beenken said “where other men see only a hopeless end, the Christian rejoices in an endless hope.”