1 Peter 1:16. 

“Be Holy for I am Holy”. 

Leviticus 11:44. 

“For I am the Lord your God. You shall therefore consecrate yourselves, and you shall be holy; for I am holy.” 

Adonai expects us to be “holy”. Therefore, we need to define “holiness” as completely and precisely as we can. We will examine this concept by reference to the first letter of Peter chapters1and 2.  

We will look at a life characterised by holiness as a life lived as follows: 

A life of obedience. – 1 Peter 1:2 

A life of praising. – 1 Peter 1:6,7 

A life guarded by the right attitude of mind. – 1 Peter 1:13

A life conducted in the right manner. – 1 Peter1: 14,15                                    

A special life. – 1 Peter 2:9 

A life shaped by mercy. – 1 Peter 2:10 

A life of self-control. – 1 Peter 2: 11 

An exemplary life. – 1 Peter 2:12. 

A Life of Obedience. 

1 Peter 1: 2. 

“To the pilgrims … elect according to the foreknowledge of God the Father, in sanctification of the Spirit, for obedience and sprinkling of the blood of Jesus Christ.” 

Adonai has provided “sanctification of the Spirit” i.e., the on-going process whereby the Holy Spirit works in believers, making lives holy, separating us from our old ways to make us more like the Lord Yeshua; the absolute epitome of obedience to Adonai. 

Adonai chose His elect that they may be obedient and serve Him and His purposes. 

Romans 1: 5. 

“Through Him we have received grace and apostleship for obedience to the faith among all nations for His name …” 

The “sprinkling of the blood” is figurative, indicating blessing on those who are obedient to His commands. In the New Covenant, faith in Messiah’s shed blood on the cross, not only activates Adonai’s promise to give the believer perfect atonement but also brings the believer into the covenant of the promise of obedience to the Lord and His Word. 

Jeremiah 31: 33. 

“… I will put My law in their minds, and write it on their hearts; and I will be their God, and they shall be My people.” 

A person acts on what is on the mind and in their heart. Thus, the New Covenant provides the possibility for a life of obedience. 

John 14: 15. 

“If you love Me, keep my commandments.” 

A Praising Life. 

1 Peter 1: 6,7. 

“… the genuineness of your faith …. though it is tested with fire, be found to praise, honour and glory at the revelation of Jesus Christ.” 

Holiness is seen in a life spent giving “praise, glory and honour” to the Lord Yeshua; even in the most trying of circumstances. 

The joy which produces such praise comes from knowledge of the unchanging, eternal relationship we have with the Lord. Adonai may allow trial to come our way, but the benefit of such a testing “by fire” is for the believer, when he comes through it trusting in the Lord, that he is assured that his faith is genuine (Cf. Abraham and Isaac Genesis 22:1 – 12). 

Job 1: 21. 

“Naked I came from my mother’s womb, and naked shall I return there. The Lord gave and the Lord has taken away; blessed be the name of the Lord.” 

Genuine faith, an unshakable faith in the promises of the Lord Yeshua, can only result in praise and worship. 

A life guarded by the right attitude of mind. 

1 Peter 1: 13. 

“Therefore gird up the loins of your mind, be sober, and rest your hope fully upon the grace that is to be brought to you at the revelation of Jesus Christ …” 

The image here of the action of girding up “the loins”, refers to gathering up long robes around the waist, so that a person could move around freely and not trip themselves up. 

For the mind this means pulling all one’s thoughts together so that nothing trips us up in our thinking. By rejecting the hindrances of this world, we can focus on our future, governed by the grace of Adonai. 

The call to “be sober”, indicated the need to use sound mental and spiritual judgment. Spiritual soundness includes such ideas as steadfastness, self-control, clarity of mind and moral decisiveness. We must have the correct priorities and avoid the various allurements of the world. 

We can only rest our “hope fully”, when we have confidence that Adonai will accomplish all He has promised He will do. Then we can live unreservedly for the future, anticipating the consummation of our salvation and the Second Coming of the Lord Yeshua. Then we are prepared for opposition, distractions, temptations and unexpected setbacks. 

Hebrews 12: 1. 

“Therefore we also, since we are surrounded by so great a cloud of witnesses, let us lay aside every weight, and the sin that so easily ensnares us, and let us run with endurance the race which is set before us, looking to Jesus, the author and finisher of our faith …” 

A life conducted in the right manner. 

1 Peter 1: 14, 15. 

“…. as obedient children, not conforming yourselves to the former lusts, as in your ignorance, but as He who called you is holy, you also be holy in all your conduct …” 

Being “holy” refers to being set apart or separated. Therefore, our conduct, instead of imitating the unsaved with their fads and fashions, should reflect the character of the Lord Yeshua. 

We should wash away all evil from the flesh and the spirit. Our actions and attitudes should not reflect these but reflect total dedication to the Lord. 

Our conduct should totally reflect our new, born-again nature and contrast significantly with our pre-salvation lifestyle. A holy manner of living comes from the believer’s association with a Holy God and on his trust, respect and reverence for Him and His word. 

2 Corinthians 7: 1. 

“… let us cleanse ourselves from all filthiness of the flesh and spirit, perfecting holiness in the fear of God.” 

Ephesians 5:  1,2. 

“Therefore be imitators of God as dear children. And walk in love, as Christ also loved us and gave Himself for us …” 

A special life. 

1 Peter 2:  9. 

“But you are a chosen generation, a royal priesthood, a holy nation, His own special people, that you may proclaim the praise of Him who called you out of darkness into His marvellous light.” 

Believers today are a “chosen generation”; chosen before the foundation of the world to belong to the Lord Yeshua. 

Ephesians 1: 4. 

“… just as He chose us in Him before the foundation of the world, that we should be holy and without blame before Him in love.” 

The true church is a “holy nation”, a people set apart for the Lord to possess. But the church does not supersede Israel. But we are joined to Israel by faith in the same God and in the Jewish Messiah. 

Concerning Israel, Deuteronomy 7: 6. 

“For you are a holy people to the Lord your God; the Lord your God has chosen you to be a people for Himself, a special treasure above all peoples on the face of the earth.” 

All believers are to be “His own special people”. 

Exodus 19: 5,6. 

“Now therefore, if you will indeed obey My voice and keep My covenant, then you shall be a special treasure to Me above all people; for all the earth is Mine. And you shall be to Me a kingdom of priests and a holy nation.” 

Peter took this idea from Exodus and applied it to all believers in the Lord Yeshua. Believers form a royal priesthood, united with a royal priest, the Lord Yeshua. This priesthood will ultimately be fulfilled in the messianic kingdom. 

There will be a new song sung to the Lord Yeshua in heaven. 

Revelation 5: 9,10. 

“You are worthy to take the scroll and to open its seals; for You were slain, and have redeemed us to God by Your blood, out of every tribe and tongue and people and nation, and have made us kings and priests to our God and we shall reign on the earth.” 

We are to be a special people to proclaim the works of the Lord. Adonai has chosen His special people to lead special lives; a unique body of people set apart to serve Him, adopted into His family. We are to be a “royal priesthood” to go out into the world to witness. 

A life shaped by mercy. 

1 Peter 2: 10. 

“…    (a special people) who once were not a people but are now the people of God, who had not obtained mercy but have now obtained mercy.” 

All believers are aware that although we deserve condemnation because of past unbelief and sin, we have now received mercy and forgiveness from Adonai. 

Hosea 2: 23. 

“And I will have mercy on her who had not obtained mercy; then I will say to those who were not My people, “You are My people!” And they shall say,” You are My God!” 

All the believers around the world are His people. We are not of course a people in the sense of belonging to one nation state, or having joint ancestry, or sharing a language or social customs. But we are all Adonai’s children. 

And the mercy we have been granted is our salvation. We are no longer under the sentence of judgment. 

John 3: 18,36. 

“He who believes in Him is not condemned; but he who does not believe is condemned already because he has not believed in the name of the only begotten Son of God … He who believes in the Son has everlasting life; and he who does not believe the Son shall not see life, but the wrath of God abides in Him.” 

Our acknowledgement of Adonai’s mercy towards us shapes our lives as we live in the knowledge of His great love.  

Ephesians 2: 4 – 7. 

“But God, who is rich in mercy, because of His great love with which He loved us, even when we were dead in trespasses, made us alive together with Christ and raised us up together, and made us sit together in the heavenly places in Christ Jesus …” 

Our lives are shaped by the knowledge that Adonai, in His mercy, has forgiven us our sin and eliminated judgment. 

A life of self-control. 

1 Peter 2: 11. 

“Beloved, I beg you as sojourners and pilgrims, abstain from fleshly lusts which war against the soul.” 

Peter refers to us as “sojourner and pilgrims”, because this earth for us is a foreign country. We are passing through. Our real citizenship is in heaven. We are obliged to live in this place which is not our intended permanent home. 

But while we live as foreigners in this hostile, secular world, we need to exercise great self-control over our lower nature which once dominated us. Peter is talking about any strong desire which is inconsistent with the will of Adonai for us. 

Peter presents the temptations of this world as an army of rebels who incessantly search out and try to destroy the believer’s joy, peace and usefulness. Life on earth is not a game; it is a war to be waged; it is a matter of eternal life against death. 

Romans 7: 22,23. 

“For I delight in the law of God, according to the inward man. But I see another law in my members, warring against the law of my mind, and bringing me into captivity to the law of sin which is in my members.” 

Galatians 5: 17. 

“For the flesh lusts against the Spirit, and the Spirit against the flesh; and these are contrary to one another…”  

We should never forget who is behind our old sinful nature. 

Ephesians 6: 12. 

“For we do not wrestle against flesh and blood but against principalities, against powers, against the rulers of the darkness of this age, against spiritual hosts of wickedness in the heavenly places.” 

Thus, there can only be holiness of life when believers exercise the greatest self-control. 

An exemplary life. 

1 Peter 2: 12. 

“… having your conduct honourable among the Gentiles, that when they speak against you as evildoers, they may, by your good works which they observe, glorify God in the day of visitation.”  

Where Peter refers to “Gentiles”, we should be thinking “the unsaved”. Our good conduct and “good works” should be so evident that those consciously examining us for hypocrisy will have to admit Adonai’s influence as we live outwardly in a manner that reflects our inner discipleship. 

Criticism of believers is inevitable in a fallen world. The early church was blamed for terrorism, cannibalism, immorality, for damaging trade and for slave rebellions. 

We should exercise discipline not only in fleshly indulgence, but also to exemplify humble conduct among the unsaved. Therefore, we should not pattern our conduct after the fads of the world. Let our deeds be our testimony. 

Philippians 2: 14 – 16. 

“Do all things without complaining and disputing, that you may become blameless and harmless, children of God without fault in the midst of a crooked and perverse generation, among whom you shine as lights in the world …” 

Matthew 5: 16. 

“Let your light so shine before men, that they may see your good works and glorify your Father in heaven.” 

Conclusion. 

Hopefully, we have moved closer to a working definition of “holiness”. 

Our challenge is to live a life of obedience, a praising life; a life guarded by right attitudes; a well-conducted life; a special life; a life shaped by mercy; a life of self-control and an exemplary life. 

Whilst this is a tall order, we have the supreme example to try to follow in the Lord Yeshua who sacrificed Himself for us. We have the enabling power of the Holy Spirit. We have the word of Adonai “who is wonderful in counsel and excellent in guidance.” 

AMEN.