against the soul.” The word “ stranger” means “ one who has his house alongside a citizen's, but is not a citizen himself.” In other words, he is a temporary resident in a foreign country. The Christian Jews to whom Peter wrote would understand this concept very well because they physically were residing in, but not citizens of, Asia Minor (I Peter 1:1). Our spiritual home is not here in this world. We are like travelers or temporary residents. Therefore we are not to live like the world, making ourselves at home in it and adjusting ourselves to its standards. 3. We should be holy because we are freed slaves. We have been redeemed (set free) with the blood of Christ (I Peter 1:18, 19). Slaves in the Roman Em pire could be set free by the payment of silver and gold. But the price for our spiritual redemption to free us from sin is much higher and far more precious — the very blood of Christ Himself. The purpose of our redemption is that we might have faith and hope (I Peter 1:21). We are to lead holy lives because as freed slaves we are to be look ing for the coming of our Lord. Holy living and the return of our Lord are linked together in many pas sages of Scripture (e.g., Titus 2:11-13; II Peter 3:11- 14; I John 3:2, 3). 4. We should be holy because we are priests. As a “ holy priesthood” we are “ to offer up spiritual sacrifices, acceptable to God by Jesus Christ” (I Peter 2:5). The first requirement of a priest was that he be holy. In the Old Testament the Levitical priests were to cleanse themselves before going into the tabernacle to worship the Lord. If they did not do so, they were disqualified from entering. In addition, Aaron the high priest was to wear holy garments and a holy turban with the words “ Holiness to the Lord” (Exod. 28) inscribed upon it. In the Old Testament, a person could not be both a priest and a king. But believers today are both priests and kings as suggested by the words “ a royal priesthood” (I Peter 2:9) and the statement in Reve- lation 1:6 that we are “ a kingdom of priests.” There fore we are to be spiritually clean. Here, then, are four reasons for a holy life: We are God’s children, foreigners, freed slaves, and priests. In the midst of our crooked and perverse genera- tion, we are to follow Paul's terse command to Timo thy, “ Keep thyself pure” (I Tim. 5:22). What you look at, what you think about, what you do, and what you say— all need to be measured by that standard. The believer has been sanctified positionally at. salvation by the blood of Christ (Heb. 10:10) and by the Spirit of Christ (I Cor. 6:11). Now we can be sanctified experientially by the Holy Spirit and by the Word
nature is something else. Kenneth Wuest paraphrase of I Peter 1:14 states that we are not to “ masquerade in the costume of the world.” Many Christians today seem inclined to ask, “ How far can I go in worldly practices without harming my testimony?” To me, this is like asking, “ How close can I get to the fire without getting burned?" When Christians ask, “ How much like the world can I be?” or “ What’s wrong with this or that?” that is the wrong approach! They ought to ask, "How much can I be like the Lord?" Christians, however, find it easy to masquerade in the costume of the world. It is easy to be influ enced subtly by sin and Satan. We lower our stand ards a little bit here and then a little bit there. We think it is all right to walk a little way in the counsel of the ungodly. Then soon we are standing with sin ners, and then it is much easier for us to sit down with scorners. We forget that the psalmist states that the man who is happy (“ blessed” ) is the one who does not do these things (Psa. 1:1). According to Romans 12:2, we are commanded not to be conformed to this world. The well-known Phillips paraphrase of this verse is still apropos: “ Don't let the world squeeze you into its mold.” But, some may argue, isn’t that a negative ap proach? I agree that it is. Because Christianity is negative! Of course it is true that Christianity is posi tive and that the Christian life does not consist of merely living by a list of man-made “ don’t.” On the other hand, we are to live by God’s list of “ don’ts ” and “ do's.” Christianity is both negative and positive. Negative and positive commands frequently go to gether as is evident in the first ten verses of Colos- sians 3, and many other passages as well. The Lord, not our lust, is to be our standard. The Greek and Hebrew words for “ holy” mean to be “ set apart.” This idea also suggests the concept of being “ different.” The Old Testament temple was called holy because it was set apart and was different from all other buildings. The Sabbath was called holy because it was set apart and was different from other days. Christians today are called holy because we are set apart for God and are to be different from other people. “ God has not called us unto uncleanness but unto holiness” (I Thess. 4:7). 2. We should be holy because we are foreigners. I Peter 1:17 states that we are to “ pass the time of [our] sojourning here in fear.” The word “ sojourn ing” means pilgrimage, and suggests that we are foreigners in this life. I Peter 2:11 underscores the same idea. “ Dearly beloved, I beseech you as strang ers and pilgrims, abstain from fleshly lusts which war 38
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THE KING’S BUSINESS
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