Wednesday, March 13, 2019

Sober and Holy Obedience in Grace

1 Peter 1:13-16 
13 Therefore gird up the loins of your mind, be sober, and rest your hope fully upon the grace that is to be brought to you at the revelation of Jesus Christ; 14 as obedient children, not conforming yourselves to the former lusts, as in your ignorance; 15 but as He who called you is holy, you also be holy in all your conduct, 16 because it is written, “Be holy, for I am holy.”

We are to dress our thoughts to keep them covered in righteousness and holiness, not exposed to the spiritual nakedness of sin.  This means putting on holiness as clothing, but not our own holiness or goodness apart from Christ.  Our hope is in His goodness of grace given which is not by our work without His working in us to obedience.  This grace will be consummated when He comes and we stand before Him at last; therefore we learn to do as He says out of a freed heart, able to love and follow willingly and not under compulsion.  We stop going along with our previous sinful desires of what feels good or what we want in life, and instead live more and more as we are called to do.  We are to be holy because He is, and as He demonstrated and told us He is.  This walk of our living is conformity to Christ, our sanctification.  Though we cannot earn nor maintain our salvation by obedience to the rules of the Law without grace (Galatians 3:11-13, Romans 8:3, 10:4).  He makes holiness possible, so we pursue it as we put off the old man and put on the new each day. 

[ Read this on the holiness of God and sinfulness of man: https://www.ligonier.org/blog/holiness-god-and-sinfulness-man/

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