Based on I Peter 1:13-16 Peter is the Apostle of hope, and also the
Apostle of holiness. In the first half of this chapter his theme was hope.
Peter does not leave us perched on the high board of heavenly hope, however, but
plunges us immediately into the pool of the practical. The biblical
writers are almost always concerned with our present earthly life.
What good is hope that does not result in holiness? What good is
doctrine if it does not lead to duty? The Apostle Paul, after 11
chapters of doctrine begins the 12th chapter of Romans with these
words: “Therefore, I urge you, brothers, in view of God’s mercy, to
offer your bodies as living sacrifices, holy and pleasing to God-which
is your spiritual worship. Do not conform any longer to the pattern
of this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind.
Then you will be able to test and approve what God’s will is-His
good, pleasing and perfect will.” All of those 11 chapters of doctrine
are worthless if it does not lead to a holy life. It is interesting to
notice that Peter and Paul used the same method. They first give the
basis for the Christian life and hope, and then they enter into the
practical.
Peter begins verse 13 with wherefore, which is the same as
Paul’s therefore. He is saying that since it is true that we have a
great hope, and that we are sure of an inheritance incorruptible and
undefiled that fades not away, let us live now as if what is to be
already is. Like Paul, he stresses two areas of our life that are to be
affected by our hope.
I. THE MENTAL LIFE. v. 13-14
Thought is important in the Christian life, for Scripture says,
“As a man thinks in his heart so is he.” We are what we think, and
if we think poorly we will live poorly, and we will communicate our
faith poorly. We are to be ready at all times to give a reason for the
hope that is within us. This calls for thinking, and for a mind that is
exercised by wrestling with the Word of God. Our experience is all
we need to save us, but experience needs to be expressed and
explained to others if they are to be saved. We must learn to
communicate our Christian experience in such a way that we
convince rather than confuse.
Let us suppose that I have just returned from Africa and want
to tell you of an exciting experience. When I was ready to get on the
ship coming back to America one of the native dock workers laid
down his load and said to me “kalunga baywana.” I was amazed
and hardly knew what to say, but I replied, “Buto hata nosook.”
The smile that came across his face revealed the truth of what he has
said. I sailed back to America with the hope that many could hear
of this experience. Does anyone know what that was all about? Of
course not. What good is an exciting experience if it is not put in
language that can be understood? What good is it to tell others of
our experience in Christ if we do not speak to them in a language
they can understand? The task of communicating the Gospel to our
world in a language they can understand is one of the greatest
challenges for the human mind. That is why we have so many new
versions of the Bible, and that is why loving God with all of our
mind is so essential.
In verse 13 he urges us to prepare our minds for action. Paul
urged us to be transformed by the renewing of our mind. The mind
is always the greatest battlefield in any age. The churches greatest
enemies have always come from the realm of ideas. Swords, fire and
lions never hindered the church from growing, but false ideas have.
Heresies have kept millions out of the kingdom, and cults today are
still doing that. Ideas are the great weapons of warfare, for ideas
captivate the mind, and to reach the minds of men is a far greater
objective than any other. Ronald Youngblood use to say, “The
weapons of our warfare are words and we must wield them well.”
This calls for dedicated minds.
Peter is saying that we must not be sloppy in our thinking. We
are not to let our minds be tossed and tangled by the winds of the
world’s thinking. Loose thinking leads to loose living. A person
who is slipshod in his thought life will stumble across the problems
of life like a drunkard stumbles across the tracks in a freight train
yard. The Christian needs to have a dedicated mind. Paul said,
“Let that mind be in you which was also in Christ Jesus.” “True
religion,” Spurgeon said, “is not unreasonable; it is common sense
set to heavenly music.” Sanctification includes the head as well as
the heart.
In verse 14 Peter contrasts the new life of obedience with the
old life of ignorance. The Bible says that to live on a low level where
you are being lead by your lust is not only evil but stupid. Sin and
ignorance go together. Nothing shuts out the light of God’s love like
ignorance and indifference. Nicolas Ling said, “Ignorance is
voluntary misfortune.” This is true for Christians. If they choose
not to grow in the knowledge of God by reading and studying His
Word, they must constantly face the risk of being guided by their
own desires rather than by the Spirit of God.
The hope of Christ coming is to motivate us to watch. Grace
came at the cross, and it continues through the ages and culminates
at the second coming. We serve Him with all we are, not because
that will save us, but because of His mercy and grace. At our best
we are unworthy, but when He comes again He will complete our
salvation by grace and will deliver us from the bondage of the flesh
and give us new bodies. By His grace we will enter into eternal
fellowship with the King of Kings. When Jesus came the first time
He brought His spiritual kingdom into the world, and by entering it
our souls are saved. When He comes again with power and great
might the material realm will also be redeemed, and our bodies will
be made incorruptible. It is because of this hope that we want our
whole mental nature dedicated to the task of fulfilling His will. The
second area of our life that Peter says is to be affected by our hope
is-
II. THE MORAL LIFE. v. 15-16
The Bible always has a balance in its teaching in order to keep
men from getting one sided. When it stresses faith, it also stresses
that faith without works is dead. When it stresses the right doctrine,
it also stresses the importance of duty. Peter had just stressed the
mental life, but lest anyone think that all Christianity is, is thinking
right, he immediately stresses the mental life. He exhorts, “Be yea
holy.” No where are we exhorted with the words be ye omnipotent,
or be ye omniscient, for we cannot be these things, but the fact that
we are commanded to be holy means that it is possible for us to be
such. God does not ask of us what is not possible, but He not only
commands, but demands holiness.
Heb. 12:14 says, “Follow peace with all men and holiness,
without which no man shall see the Lord.” That is saying that
holiness is not for a hand full of great saints, but it is for all who
hope to receive the grace of Christ. J. B. Chapman said of a certain
man, “Like many people, he seemed to think that religion is a good
thing as an insurance against future judgment, but that getting too
much of it is like over paying the premiums on a life insurance
policy.” We need to make it clear that Peter was not teaching sinless
perfection. If this was the case, we would not need to hope for more
grace to be brought at the coming of Christ. John said, “If we say
we have no sin we lie and do not the truth.” But as A. J. Gordon has
said, “If the doctrine of sinless perfection is a heresy, the doctrine of
contention with sinful imperfection is a greater heresy.
We need to examine the word holy. In the Old Testament it
means separated unto God. Vessels in the temple were holy because
they were set apart for service to God. In the New Testament the
word takes on the meaning of awe. Something holy is not only set
apart, but it is awe inspiring. The English word comes from the root
halig, which means whole or complete, and from which we get the
words holiness and health. Health we apply to the physical, and
holiness to the spiritual. When the body is whole and complete we
say it is healthy. When the soul is whole and complete we say it is
holy. If the body is right with the laws of nature, we say it is
healthy. We do not mean it is free from all germs, or that it cannot
get sick, but we mean that sickness is an outsider that may invade
and strike a blow, but on the whole health reigns.
In the realm of the spiritual for a man to be holy does not mean
he is without sin, but it does mean that sin rarely defeats him. To be
holy is to be basically righteous. It is to be guided by the will of
Christ. As God acts always out of righteousness, so the motivation
of the believer is to be from the righteousness of Christ that dwells
within. The Bible teaches that we can be all that God wants us to be
at any point in our life. We will not be perfect, but we can be
completely dedicated. We cannot reach perfection, but we dare not
aim any lower than perfection.
Peter says that our method is to imitate Christ as our example.
He is the model and pattern of our perfection. We will never be like
Him completely until He comes, but if we do not imitate Him now we
may never see Him. A butterfly cannot follow the eagle and soar to
the mountain heights, but he can fly. The minnow cannot follow the
shark as he dives the ocean depths, but he can swim. The Christian
cannot follow the Lord in the perfection of his mental and moral life,
but he can commit his thought and conduct to be guided by the Holy
Spirit. A Christian can be as holy as God expects him to be. We
need to let these two exhortations be guiding rules in our lives as we
roll up our sleeves and get busy using our bodies and minds in
practical holiness.
