Smeagol is Free!
A hermitudinal view of...stuff...


5.16.2007  

Word

1 Peter 1:13 - 16
Therefore, prepare your minds for action, keep sober in spirit, fix your hope completely on the grace to be brought to you at the revelation of Jesus Christ. As obedient children, do not be conformed to the former lusts which were yours in your ignorance, but like the Holy One who called you, be holy yourselves in all your behavior; because it is written, "You shall be holy, for I am holy."

Several weeks ago, Rob and Lance and I were in the cafeteria, talking about the various things the LORD had been showing us in the Word. Rob took us to 1 Peter 1, and shared some encouraging thoughts from this letter. As I listened, I was reminded of how God's calling to us is not merely a calling to be different, but a calling to be holy, which is a calling to be like Him. This is, truth be told, an impossible calling.

In Leviticus, when God tells His covenant people to be holy as He is holy, His reasoning is centered not on anything other than His very character. He is holy; that is reason enough! Yet, even God's covenant people failed in this. Over and over and over, the Israelite's failed to be holy. God's anger burned against their infidelity, and His hand did not falter in executing judgment. This was, rightly so, a reflection of God's holy nature, for He could not abide sin, especially such rampant sin by those who knew better. Yet, God's command remained: I am holy, so you, too, be holy.

It is not until Christ that we see how this impossible calling is brought near to us. The very same LORD who calls sinful wretches to be holy makes us holy! He calls us to life after we were already dead, imputes the very righteousness of His Son to us, and now sees His Son alive and living in us after having punished our sin on the cross. He is, in short, pleased with the holiness of His Son within us. Does this mean that we do not sin in this world? No, for we still have sin that must be constantly put to death despite its loss of power over us. This does mean, however, that we now can be holy, as the impossible call has been fulfilled. Christ is in us, and we are alive in Him. Therefore, the commandment to be holy becomes a joy, an exercising of the spiritual muscles we are granted in Christ rather than the pointless rote of the dead works of the Law. We can be holy because we are holy...in Christ.

posted by Bolo | 2:21 PM
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