Be Holy for I am Holy - 1 Peter 1.15

In this next paragraph of chatper 1 of Peter's epistle (1.13-21) we enter a new thought.  Well, not an entirely new thought, but rather the working out of the Truth Peter just reminded his readers. We spent some time musing on what that inheritance is referring to in a post last week

Once he has reminded his readers of the importance of KNOWING THEIR INHERITANCE, he now begins to tell them it is important to KNOW THEIR MISSION.  In other words, so what?  What impact does the reality of this inheritance have on my daily living?  That is precisely what Peter means to do by starting this paragraph with “Therefore.”  Based on what I just said, now let me tell you what to do about this.

This paragraph contains three direct imperative verbs – three commands – which serve as the outline for this paragraph.

1.13 “set your hope fully”

1.15 “be holy”

1.17  “conduct yourself with fear”

There is much here and I cannot take time to review our 4 weeks of study so far in verse 13-16. But I do want to ask a couple of questions and recommend a couple resources.

What does it mean to “be holy for I am holy?”  How is God Holy, what does that mean?  And how am I to be holy like that?  It certainly is declarative and positional, but here in this passage, as well as in the Lev 11, Lev 19 and Lev 22 passages from where the quote is taken, it is an imperative verb.  It is a command to Be Holy.  What does that mean?

And next, why is Peter now bringing up this call to holiness?  What roles does our pursuit of holiness have to do with our ability to endure and honor God in trials?

For a more in depth look at this idea of God’s holiness and out call to be likewise holy, I recommend  tow resources

Listen to Dr D.A. Carson preach an amazing sermon on Isaiah 6 and the holiness of God

Get a copy of Dr. Jerry Bridges excellent little book The Pursuit of Holiness

What do you think?

Grace to you,

Our Inheritance - 1 Peter 1.3-12

This is such a rich passage and there is so much to say here.  But I want to keep current with where we are in our Sunday class.  So at some point in the near future I will return to this post and add some thoughts on this section of Peter’s epistle.

For now, let me point out the three main thoughts of this passage:

1.       He has caused us to be born again (1.3)  The object of our new birth, or what were we have been born again to, is described as a “living hope” and an “inheritance.”  Clearly the concepts of hope and inheritance would bring to mind the idea of the promisesmade to Abraham. The essence of this passage is Peter’s introduction to the real reason why his readers could endure suffering and difficulty. Namely, that God was fulfilling the promises he made to Abraham and his seed (which is Christ – Gal 3.16).  We are the children of promise if we are by faith connected to Christ.  Our new birth, that God sovereignly and monergistically brought about, was the means of fulfilling these promises.

2.       In this we rejoice (1.6)  In the face of trials and difficulties we rejoice because we know our inheritance is secured in heaven. Even though we do not now see Him, we believe and love Him and therefore rejoice in the certain outcome of our faith (1.9)

3.       Concerning this inheritance (1.10)  Even the prophets of old searched their own prophecies in a desire to better understand what would be revealed to us – on this side of the cross.  They understood to some degree that their message would be fulfilled not in a political nation or ethnic people, but for those in the New Covenant, those in Christ, the Children of Promise

In other words, Peter introduces this message of Hope by reminding his readers that God promised our victory long ago through Father Abraham and was in the processing of fulfilling that promise in them.  As he will soon elaborate on, they are a royal nation and a holy priesthood and belong to God Himself (2.4-5). The trials they are experiencing will pass and God will restore, confirm strengthen and establish them.  There was so much reason for them to Hope and Rejoice.

We too must remind ourselves that we have been called to suffer for the cause of Christ… to take up our cross.  When things get difficult, when trials come – even though we do not see Him – we have hope in the promise that our inheritance is eternal and established in heaven.  God is working out his eternal covenant by causing us to be born again.  Preach the gospel to yourself every day.  It keeps our focus on the big picture of building the Kingdom for His glory.

What to think?

Grace to you,

Be Hopeful - 1 Peter Overview and Outline

In times of trial and struggle, keeping our minds on the Big Picture serves as our hope and energizes us to endure, and even thrive, in the midst of difficult times.  Of course we need to ask, what is the Big Picture?  What is the purpose, what is the goal? That is what Peter is addressing in his first epistle.  Understanding that our Eternal Inheritance, – the promises that were made to Abraham, delivered to ancient Israel and fulfilled in Christ – which is ours through the new birth, will serve to strengthen our faith, our resolve to obey and  our love for each other.

So let’s take a high level look at Peter’s epistle.  We will briefly comment on the Author, the Audience, the Historical Setting and the Thesis of this letter.

THE AUTHOR

One the very exciting plot lines of the Scripture is the transformation we see in Peter.  From his calling in Mark 1.16-18 to the writing of the Epistles we see a dramatically different Peter.  The stereotype of Peter is a young, impetuous, short tempered zealot .  Let’s look at the Biblical record.  What do we KNOW about Peter?

-          Originally from Bethsaida (John 1.44), Peter was an entreprenuial business man that ran a successful (he had a large house shared with his brother and extended family  – Mark  1.29-31) fishing practice (Mark 1.16) in Capernum (Mark 1.21,29)  with his brother Andrew (Mark 1.16). 

-          Think of all the traits necessary to operate a successful fishing business: hard work, early riser, disciplined, manager of others, manager of assets such as boats and nets, salesmanship, aggressive.

-          These same skills are often observed in Peter during his three years with Christ.  He was almost always the first to speak up among the apostles.  His name is always the first one listed when the Apostles are named.  He was a recognized leader among the 12.

-          Peter was gradually and significantly transformed from a proud, self made man into a humble. Gentle servant of others.  God used such experiences as watching Christ crucified, Peter’s own denial, his racing to the empty tomb with John, and standing on the mountain watching Christ ascend to transform him into the Peter that we see leading the nescient church in the book of Acts.

-          In Acts we see Peter humbly preaching, yet with power, conviction and knowledge.  We see his response when jailed is very different than the Peter who cut off Malchus’ ear in Garden.

-          We know that Peter began an itinerant ministry along with his wife after James rose to prominence in the Jerusalem church. (1 Cor 9.5).

By the time Peter writes his Epistles he is a season Christian minister with a humble understanding of the sovereign work of God is the circumstances of life.  He rests in the certainty and confidence that God has instituted his New Covenant and secured out eternal inheritance in heaven. We see this certain hope all through both Epistles.

-           

THE AUDIENCE

Peter is writing this letter to the elect scattered around mountainous regions of what is today northern Turkey. He writes with a specific audience and with a sense of intimate relationship.  I think it is a safe assumption that his ministry travels along with his wife took him to this region.  He probably started many of the churches there.  Paul’s ministry trips were in the southern Turkey region and then he was directed by the Spirit to go to Macedonia.  Paul never traveled to the Northern regions that Peter is addressing in his letter.  There are probably many gentiles in the churches of that region, but the content of Peter’s letter indicate that there were a large population of Jews in the church as well.

THE HISTORICAL SETTING

It appears that Peter is writing this from Rome. (I won’t take this space to go into the usage of “Babylon” as a reference to Rome – but there is sufficient evidence.  Though admittedly not certain)  I draw this conclusion because tradition tell us that Peter and his wife are crucified upside down at the hands of Nero.  That would put Peter in Rome in the mid 60s.  He writes his letters before the persecution breaks out in full force, before Nero burns Rome.  But he has the foresight to tell his readers not be surprised when the fiery trial comes upon them (4.12).  Clearly the readers are experiencing some persecution and trials already, but the most intense is yet to come.

GENERAL THESIS

Peter wrote to these Christians, many of which we of Jewish background, but certainly not all were, to remind them that they, as New Covenant believers, were a Royal Priesthood, A Holy Nation, the fulfillment of the OT picture.  This was their Hope in times of trial and persecution.  Not a physical, political nation and certainly not in the Old Covenant.  This was increasingly obvious.  Their hope was in Christ, the New Covenant. The thesis of this letter is found in 5.10, “And after you have suffered a little while, the God of all grace, who has called you to His eternal glory in Christ, will himself, restore, confirm, strengthen and establish you.”

THE OUTLINE

As we progress in our study I will fill in more detail of the outline of 1 Peter.  As of this writing we are in 1 Peter 1.15.  Here is the outline so far in the study.

1.1-2                Greetings

1.3-2.10           Hope is anchored in our Great Salvation (1.3, 18-19)

1.3-1.12           Knowing Our Inheritance

                                    1.3-5                Inheritance Preserved

                                    1.6-9                Inheritance Proven

                                    1.10-12            Inheritance Prophesied

            1.13-1.25         Knowing Our Mission

                                    1.13                 Be Hopeful

                                    1.14-15            Be Holy

                                    1.16-21            Be Honorable

                                    1.22-25            Be Loving       

            2.1-2.10           Knowing Our Identity

2.11-4.6           Hope lives each day in Obedience (2.13-15)

4.7-5.11           Hope sees the victory coming (5.10-11)

5.12-14            Closing

Grace to you,

Hi Ho! Hi Ho! Back to the Blogosphere I Go

At the Assembly of Christians, the little Reformed Baptist Church of which I am a member, we have recently begun a verse by verse study of 1 Peter.  I have the immense privilege of leading our study.  I don’t say “teaching” necessarily, because, more than any other class I have ever “taught,”  this class is truly a venue for us to “encourage one another.”  I get the greatest joy from leading this group of believers in our fellowship in the Word.  So many people are engaging the Word and allowing the Holy Spirit to teach them.  People are experiencing the joy of personal discovery in the Word.  So our brief times together on Sunday mornings serve less as a unidirectional lesson and more as a venue for mutual teaching, admonition and education. 

We often find ourselves wanting to carry the discussion further than time will allow, so I have decided to reenter the blogosphere and utilize this space primarily as a forum for us to continue our discussions from our Sunday classes. 

At some point I will post a brief summary of what has transpired in my life and in my family since the last time I posted here (November 2005).  But we will save that for another day.  I will probably post other thoughts and articles as well.  I will likely even repost some of the older articles from back in 2005 to restart the conversation in the comment threads.  But the primary purpose of this space will be to discuss 1 Peter. 

So if you are part of the class with us on Sunday, please, please join in the discussions in the comment threads. If you are not, please feel free to still chime in.  We welcome all, and look forward to the conversations.

We are into Chapter 1, already at verses 13-21.  So I will post my outline of 1 Peter and few background and overview thoughts in the next post.  Then I will do a high level overview of verses 3-12.  At that time, we will begin to dig into the nuances of the current passage – the language, cross references, typology, grammar and theology of the verses.

If you are a first time visitor, feel free to take a look around the archives.  Perhaps you’ll find something challenging, encouraging or just little entertaining.  Glad you have come by.

Grace to you,