Monday, June 8, 2009

A Command to be Holy

"Therefore, preparing your minds for action, and being sober-minded, set your hope fully on the grace that will be brought to you at the revelation of Jesus Christ. As obedient children, do not be conformed to the passions of your former ignorance, but as he who called you is holy, you also be holy in all your conduct, since it is written, 'You shall be holy, for I am holy'" (1 Peter 1:13-16)

We, as followers of Jesus, need to be holy in our conduct. We are COMMANDED to be holy. It's not a choice. We must strive for the holiness that mirrors our Lord Jesus Christ. The desire to do this must be embedded in our hearts, and if the Holy Spirit is working in your soul, it is. 

Do not avoid this command. Do not keep on sinning for the sake of sinning. The satisfaction of sin is immediate, not eternal. And what are we striving for? Immediate or eternal treasures? 

"And if you call on him as Father who judges impartially according to each one's deeds, conduct yourselves with fear throughout the time of your exile, knowing that you were ransomed from the futile ways inherited from your forefathers, not with perishable things such as silver and gold, but with the precious blood of Christ, like that of a lamb without blemish or spot. He was foreknown before the foundation of the world but was made manifest in the last times for your sake, who through him are believers in God, who raised him from the dead and gave him glory, so that your faith and hope are in God. 
"Having purified your souls by your obedience to the truth for a sincere brotherly love, love one another earnestly from a pure heart, since you have been born again, not of perishable seed but of imperishable, through the living and abiding word of God; for 
'All flesh is like grass
and all its glory like the flower of
 grass.
The grass withers,
and the flower falls,
but the word of the Lord remains
forever.'

"And this word is the good news that was preached to you" (1 Peter 1:17-25)