Understanding the Call to Holiness - An Article by Pastor K
Understanding the Call Holiness
1 Peter 1:14-16
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.”
Due to significant time constraints I will not be able to do this passage justice. For me to explain the Biblical concept of holiness in less than eternity seems impossible to me, but then again, maybe it’s not. I found a workable definition of the New Testament concept of holiness in Richards Expository Dictionary of Bible Words on page 340. It states that the “essence of New Testament holiness is a dynamic expression of the divine within the normal processes of daily life.” The article stressed that the Old Testament understanding of holiness is best expressed by the word “separate.” In the Old Testament holy artifacts, objects and people were kept and maintained separate from everything and everyone else. We see this in the laws laid out by God, through Moses, that dealt with food choices and preparation. We see this in the clothing requirements of the priests. We also see this in the fact that Israelite men were not allowed to choose wives from among the people that populated the territories in which the Israelites lived. The Old Testament concept of holiness required that God’s chosen people be distinguished by their separateness from the peoples and cultures that surrounded them.
The New Testament concept of holiness differs only in the fact that we are not to pull away from society at large to maintain our holiness, but that we are to permeate the surrounding society with our holiness. We are to incorporate our holiness into the every day activities of life. Old Testament holiness was separation. New Testament holiness is integration. The Old Testament Jews pulled away from the surrounding society as an ethnic group, as a nation and as a religious body. They took the Biblical passage that reads, “Come out from among them and be ye separate and touch no unclean thing.” literally. On the other hand New Testament Christians blended into the society but did not get lost in the society. They lived in the world but did not conform to the image of the world. They were surrounded by and interacted with unholy people but did not become unholy in the process.
Let me tell you the most interesting thing about both concepts of holiness. They were designed by God to make His people stick out like sore thumbs. Holiness in both the Old and New Testaments made Jews and Christians alike distinct and different. So much so that in 1 Peter 2 of the King James Version of the scriptures, Christians are called “peculiar people.” Holiness is designed to make us look different, because it makes us act different. The key purpose of holiness is to distinguish those who have answered God’s awesome call to a real relationship with Him from those who have not. Peter tells us that those who have a real relationship with the Most-high God should demonstrate that relationship in their daily living. He says in the verse chosen as our focus scripture, “be holy in all you do.”
Note first and foremost that this is an imperative command. Peter writes that “just as He who called you is holy, so be holy.” My second or third grade English teacher taught me that when there is no visible subject in a phrase, the implied subject was me, or the person reading the phrase. The phrase “so be holy” is without an identifiable subject. Therefore, the subject is the person reading the phrase or you. Allow me to use some horrifying grammar to make this point if you will, “you” is always the you that the scripture is talking to. When reading this passage, or any Bible passage for that matter, feel free to change every “you” to “I” or “me” as the passage dictates. So, this passage becomes “But just as He who called me is holy, so I {must} be holy in all that I do.” Sometimes the grammar goes south, but the point is clear.
The next thing you need to notice is the word “but.” The word “but” is a conjunction. It joins or holds in relationship two independent phrases or sentences. Whenever you run across a “but”, realize that it makes a non-issue of whatever came before it. In other words, what comes after the “but” is always, always, always more important than what came before the “but.” Let me give you some examples. “Girl I just love your new haircut, but.” “Honey, you know I love you, but.” “That outfit makes you look ten pounds thinner, but.” I know that you have experienced the power of the “but” before. The Spirit of God led Peter to start this sentence with the word “but,” because God understands that some of the actions of our past were done in ignorance. How many of us have thought, “if I only knew then, what I know now.”?
The Spirit of God says to us that before we came into a real relationship with the Most High God we often times acted in ignorance. Before He called us His kids and we called Him our Father, we followed the dictates of our evil desires in ignorance. In some cases we were ignorant of the fact that we were actually doing wrong. In some cases we were ignorant of the fact that we were hurting ourselves and or someone else. In some cases were ignorant of the fact that our battle was not against flesh and blood. In all cases, we were ignorant of God’s call to holiness on our lives. There is nothing wrong with ignorance in and of itself. Ignorance is simply a lack of information or knowledge. The “but” at the beginning of the sentence says that God understands ignorance and has a cure for it. God’s cure for ignorance is instruction. Peter says, in case you did not know, the one who called you and the one to whom you have answered is holy. Before now, you conformed to your evil desires because you did not know or understand that they were evil or just how evil they were. You had no knowledge or understanding of holiness and God’s call to holiness on your life because you did not have a right relationship with Him. As obedient children, you be holy, just as He who called you is holy.
We must now deal with a working definition of holiness that is operable in today’s society. Remember that definition I gave you earlier. Let’s look at that again. Holiness is the “dynamic expression of the divine within the normal processes of daily life.” Holiness is the productive communication of God’s character or attributes within the ordinary, everyday activities of life. Remember, the Old Testament concept of holiness was total separation from the common. The New Testament concept of holiness is total integration with the common while remaining uncommon. The best example I can give you is actually from the Old Testament. Remember Moses and the burning bush. The bush was on fire, but it was not consumed. That means that the fire did not have its usual effect on the plant. It was burning, but it was not being burned up. It was poised for destruction, but was not destroyed. It should have been. It could have been. But it wasn’t. That is holiness.
Holiness is really God’s nature or God’s character on display in us. Beloved, you are called by a holy God to let His character be seen in you. What does that mean in the every day processes of life? That means that we are called to be what we know God is. If we know God is faithful, we should keep our promises. Since we know God is true, we should not lie or choose to believe lies. Since we know God is impartial, we should not show favoritism. Since we know that God does right, we should not intentionally do wrong. Since we know that God is just, we should not practice or celebrate injustice. Since we know God keeps our confidence, we should be trustworthy. Since we know God is pure, we should not have ulterior motives or hidden agendas. Since we know that God accepts us the way we are, and loves us enough not to leave us that way, we should work to always leave others better than we found them.
The Spirit of God through Peter says that we are to be holy in all that we do. We are to be holy because the holy God has called us. The standard that God sets for us is the one He keeps toward us. God is holy in all that He does. He expects no less of His children. Let me use earthly fathers to explain this point because the passage calls us children of the one who called us. Men, if you are not liar, you expect your children to tell the truth. If you are not a cheater, you expect your children to follow the rules. If you are not a speed demon, you expect your children to drive the speed limit. It is only reasonable to expect your children to follow the example that you give them. If you do not expect your children to do what they see you doing, you are crazy. Beloved, we are the adults our children will become. This is the reason Peter says that we are to be holy in all that we do. There is no duplicity with God. God is always faithful. God is always true. God is always impartial. God always does right. God is always just. God is always dependable. God is always pure. God’s character is never determined by circumstance, situational ethics, popularity or majority rule. God is always God. He is always holy and He expects no less of His children.
Saints, as a People Called to Holiness, we are required by the God who called us and to whom we have answered to demonstrate His character in all that we do. That means every area and aspect of our lives is to be yielded to the Lordship of Christ. That’s rough. Every aspect; every area; yielded. Every body knows what it means to yield, right? We most often deal with the word yield when we are driving. You know you merge onto a major street and there is this red triangular sign that says in large letters Y-I-E-L-D. That means to recognize the other driver’s right of way. A right is something that is due someone by law, custom or nature. Therefore to yield in the since of driving means to recognize the other driver’s legal due to go before you. What happens if you don’t yield and there is an accident? You will be declared 100% at fault, because you did not honor the legal requirement that you recognize the other driver’s legal right to go first. Now how upset do we get when someone does not yield to us while we are driving? I have yelled, “You can’t read?” and I know he can’t hear me. I have made comments that ought not be repeated by my children, how about you? How do you react when you know you have rights and those rights are totally ignored? Now think about how the Father feels when we ignore His right to our lives, our thoughts, our emotions and our actions.
Remember God called, we answered. By answering God’s call, we gave Him the right to make demands on us and expect obedience in return.We gave God the right to expect us to yield to His leading when a choice in directions needs to be made. We gave God the right to run our show.We are to yield, we are to recognize God’s right of way in our lives.We have choices to make everyday, the requirement is that those choices reveal God’s nature in our lives.The requirement is that we yield to God’s authority to make the decisions for us.That’s hard because it means that we can not do what we want to do when we want to do it.That’s right, we are no longer sovereign.The truth is we never were.Our lives and actions have always been circumscribed by God’s thoughts and ways.Having answered His call, we simply recognize what has always been the fact of reality.The truth is, in times past we were simply ignorant of God’s right of ownership over humanity as a whole and over us as individuals.We simply ignored God’s call.Now that we have answered the call we are obligated to the requirements of the call.Be Holy, allow the character of the One who called and the One to whom you said yes to be evident in your life and in all that you do.