BiblicalInsights.net

Recently, I uploaded a new book review on my Book Reviews page.  The book was written by Lance Mosher and is titled, Conformed, Reborn, Transformed.  The book is an autobiographical look at Lance’s own spiritual journey.  Lance is led by his study of God’s word to reject man-made doctrines.  He is influenced in his early years by family, friends and culture to take paths that do not lead  him to the truth.  Only God’s word provides the guidance that helps him reject sin and religious error and come fully to the light.  Every person is on a spiritual journey.  Every person would benefit from reading Lance’s own story.  Perhaps you, too, will find the Light.

Holiness is a necessary aspect of relationship with God. I will be your God and ye shall be my people.  “Be ye holy for I am holy” saith the LORD (I Pet. 1:13-16).  The people of God are defined by holiness.  Those who belong to God by virtue of redemption (I Cor. 6:19-20) are called to holiness.  Paul states, “For God hath not called us unto uncleanness, but unto holiness” (I Thess. 4:7).  Without holiness, no man shall see God (Heb. 12:14).
In I Pet. 1:13-16, Peter gives several imperatival participles that direct us in living the Christian life.  An imperatival participle has the force of a command.  There are four given in these passages:  be decisive, be sober, be setting your hope on the heavenly inheritance and be holy.
Be Decisive
In v. 13, Peter says, “Gird up the loins of your mind.”  We often say, “Get a grip on yourself.”  We mean the same thing that Peter states.  Instead of falling apart, stay focused and determined.  Be decisive.  Decisiveness precedes action.
Be Sober
Soberness is a steady state of mind which weighs things aright and enables us to make right decisions.  The opposite of sobermindedness is impaired judgment.  When faced with making important decisions about life and following God, we must make good and correct decisions.  We need knowledge of the truth and sound judgment in order to make good decisions.
Be Setting Your hope
Peter says, “…hope to the end for the grace that is to be brought unto you at the revelation of Jesus Christ” (v. 13).  Set your hope with finality on the heavenly inheritance.  Peter mentions this inheritance in I Pet. 1:4, “To an inheritance incorruptible, and undefiled, and that fadeth not away, reserved in heaven for you.” Hope and grace are tied together just like faith and hope are tied together.  If we have no faith, then there is no hope.  If we have no grace, then there is no hope.  Consequently, hope and holiness are tied together. If there is no holiness, then there is no hope.
Be Holy
If we have hope, then we purify our hearts before God and pursue godliness and righteousness (I John 3:3).  As obedient children…we are begotten by God through His Word (I Pet 1:22-23).  We are redeemed by the blood of Christ (I Pet. 1:18-19).  Since we have been bought with a price, we belong to God and must glorify God in our body and in our spirit which are God’s.  We pursue God and imitate Him (Eph. 5:1).  We imitate His holiness.  Peter expresses this both negatively and positively.  He states, “…not fashioning yourselves according to the former lusts in your ignorance” (v. 14).  To fashion refers to the design of life.  Former refers to life before becoming a Christian.  Ignorance indicates a lack of knowledge of the truth. In the former life, before becoming a Christian, they had lived in ignorance of God and the truth and so pursued the lusts of the flesh.  Now that they have been redeemed, they have a new focus and a new purpose.  They live to glorify God in the pursuit of holiness.  Paul declares, “Having therefore these promises, dearly beloved, let us cleanse ourselves from all filthiness of the flesh and spirit, perfecting holiness in the fear of God” (II Cor. 7:1).  Positively, Peter commands, “Be holy.”  The contrast is with the former life.  The comparison is with God.  “Be ye holy, for I am holy” is a quotation from Leviticus 11:44-45.  God loves everything that is good and right and hates evil.  In imitation of God, we must hate evil and love good.
The pure in heart shall see God (Matt. 5:8).  The pure in heart eliminate lying, murder, the entire process of drunkenness, indiscriminate divorce, fornication, adultery, cursing and taking God’s name in vain, lasciviousness and all manner of evil.  Christians must strive to maintain the distinctiveness between themselves and the world.  They must maintain holiness or they will never see God.  No holiness, no hope!

John declares, “Behold what manner of love the Father hath bestowed upon us, that we should be called the sons of God: therefore the world knoweth us not, because it knew him not” (I John 3:1).  There is a vital connection between God’s love and our sonship.  John marvels at the love of God that makes it possible for us to be His children.  If we are the children of God, then we are heirs of God and joint-heirs with Christ (Rom. 8:16-17).
Divine Love Is A Spiritual Reality That Is Perceptible in Its Effect.
The word “behold” means to note, discern, or understand.  This word refers to the astonished and joyful contemplation which penetrates deep into the revelation of the mystery of God (Spicq, Agape in the New Testament,vol. III, p. 109). It discerns the divine love in the present and concrete fact that the believer is begotten of God and is a child of God.  God’s love produces wonder and delight in us.
The Nature of Divine Love.Divine love is a manifest, active, expressed love, having its own reality, existing in itself and communicable to mankind.  The divine love exists as a part of the nature of God (God is love-I John 4:8,16).  This love is expressed in the unspeakable gift of His Son-Jesus Christ.  “In this was manifested the love of God toward us, because that God sent his only begotten Son into the world, that we might live through him” (I John 4:9).  Consequently, we can learn God’s love through God’s acts.  God’s love is made known by providing us everything essential to our physical lives through His creative acts and everything essential to our spiritual lives through His redemptive acts. The bestowal of the divine love in the gift of Jesus Christ is a once and for all act (unrepeatable).  Ultimately, Jesus’ death upon the cross makes it possible for us to become the children of God.  He purchases us to Himself by His blood and redeems to Himself a special people who comprise His church.  The divine love pursues us as God seeks our highest good and acts for our greatest benefit.  If we respond to this love by loving God back, then we can enter into His grace and become His children.
Divine Love is Active in Securing Our Sonship.
Divine love impacts us and leaves its imprint upon us.  God’s love can transform sinners into saints by the power of the gospel of Jesus Christ (Rom. 1:16).  The begettal to new spiritual life is brought about by God’s love (I John 3:1); by God’s Word (I Peter 1:21-23); by our love (John 14:15, I John 4:19); by our faith (Gal. 3:26, 27); and our new birth (John 3:3-5) –baptism in water and regeneration by the Holy Spirit (Titus 3:5).  The new birth produces a new creature, i.e. a child of God.  We are called (because we actually are) the children of God and we stand to inherit all that God has (Rom. 8:16-17).  God’s love makes union with Him and communion with Him possible.  This communion with God makes communion with the world  an impossibility (I John 2:15). You cannot love God and, at the same time, say that you love the world (worldliness). John was filled with wonder as he contemplated what God’s love had done for him. It can do the same thing for you!