The Church’s Calling 1 Peter 1:13-16

13 Therefore, with minds that are alert and fully sober, set your hope on the grace to be brought to you when Jesus Christ is revealed at his coming. 14 As obedient children, do not conform to the evil desires you had when you lived in ignorance. 15 But just as he who called you is holy, so be holy in all you do; 16 for it is written: “Be holy, because I am holy.

God’s Grace

Today, we're going to talk about grace and holiness. We see that both grace and holiness are mentioned here in 1 Peter 1. Grace is mentioned specifically in verse 13, and holiness comes up as a result of grace.

Your car needs fuel. to go. It's not optional. It's a must-have. For us in the church, God's grace is the fuel of the Christian life. God's grace is what starts our Christian life. It's God's grace to us in Christ Jesus' life, death, and resurrection, and faith in God through grace. For it is by grace through faith you have been saved. It's by grace that grace is the fuel in the tank of the Christian life. Grace is what starts our life. He gives to us His grace, not because we've done something, but because God has chosen to give to us something which we could not have earned.

Sometimes we think of God's grace in justification as a one-time event. God's grace saves us, and then after we're saved, it's on me the rest of the way. But that's not what we're told in the Scriptures. What we're told throughout the Scriptures is that it's God's grace that starts the engine, that justifies us, that saves us, but that it's also God's grace that sustains us. It's what keeps us going. Imagine you siphon out all the rest of your gas, and think, I got it started, I don't need the gas anymore. Wouldn't work, would it? What would happen once your engine tank got on E again? Your car would shut down. God's grace is not only the fuel that starts us on our Christian journey, but it is the thing that sustains us in our Christian journey. It's God's grace that fuels the Christian life.

Each of us has different vehicles. We all have our unique vehicles. Some may include specialized license plates, car seats, and stickers. They are each unique. The same is true about us in the story of God working in our lives. All of us have different points in time at which God's grace came to us and we were saved. All of us have different points in time and different mentors in our Christian faith, who have discipled us, taught us, led us, instructed us, and rebuked us. All of us have different stories in our faith, just like all of us have different models of cars. But guess what? If we don't have the fuel, the car won't go. Even though we've all got different walks and journeys in our Christian life, it is still God's grace that fuels all of us, no matter how old, how young, or where we're at in that Christian walk. Grace is the fuel, and it's the hope of the Christian.

Grace is not only the starter of our lives in the Christian walk. Grace is not only the sustainer, but grace is also the thing that we look forward to. The full revelation of Christ Jesus, the second coming of Christ Jesus, or our eternal dwelling with Christ Jesus. The Christian life is all about grace, it's the sustainer, and it's our eternal hope. It's not an exaggeration that God gives us something, not that we've earned, but that He's given to us out of His mercy. That's the fuel for serving in the Church.

The Church’s Calling

In light of God's grace, notice that Peter calls the Church to be holy, to be set apart, to live differently, to live uniquely. God's grace is the fuel for our living, and our living is to look a particular way. In 1 Peter 1:16, Peter quotes from everybody's favorite Old Testament book, Leviticus, saying, “for It is written ‘be holy because I am holy’”. There are two observations we ought to take away.

First, we should recognize that if the New Testament writers thought the Old Testament was important, we should too. The New Testament pulls from all over the Old Testament. For the New Testament writers, inspired under the Holy Spirit, they looked back to the Old Testament and saw God at work there as well.

Live Differently

The second thing that we see from him quoting Leviticus is that it's a reference. Peter gives us a tweetable quote. If we don't know what the New Testament is referencing when it references the Old Testament, the New Testament will be confusing. He references Leviticus and calls his audience towards holiness in their living. That section of Leviticus is called the Holiness Code, or outlines how the ancient people of God were called to live differently than the people around them. We are a chosen people, set aside by God. The holiness code in Leviticus is a bit of this. It's God calling his people to live differently, with explicit examples. Peter is referencing something that calls God's people to live differently.

Our Minds

Christians are genuinely different. We're called to be different. In 1 Peter 1:13, we see that we are called to prepare our minds. Sometimes we believe that whether we're coming into the church or going out of the church, there's an on-off switch in our brains. Okay, we're talking about faith now, so now we're going to turn off our brains. That's not how Peter sees it. Peter sees our minds as a very involved part of our faith. Our ability to reason. Our ability to think. Our ability to communicate rationally. That our minds are a big part of who we are and who God has made us to be. And having a reason, which Peter states later, to always be ready to give a reason for the hope that you have. Not just to share your conviction. Not just to share your testimony, but he says to share a reason.

He says to prepare your minds for action. This is a part of our call to holiness. Be self-controlled, so our minds are not to be obsessed, absorbed, or overcome by the things of this world. That our minds and the things that we think about, the things that we put in front of our eyes to read and consume, and then think on. We have to be careful. Just like the children's song, ‘Be careful little eyes what you see’. We need to be careful what we're doing with our minds. We don't want to let our minds just run amok. How we think and what we think is a part of, like, our spiritual Christian lives. What we value and what we invite into our minds, that's also, like, a part of our Christian faith.

Our Obedience

In verse 14, “As obedient children, do not conform to the evil desires you had when you lived in ignorance, “ Peter talks about our obedience. He's talking to God's people here, as obedient children. Peter brings up ignorance, which is the absence of knowing something. Before you knew the things of God, you lived this way.

But now you know the things of God. The standard of the Christian life is what Peter says in verse 15. Just as he who called you is holy, so be holy in all that you do. It might overwhelm us when we hear that, so I want to encourage us to remember God's grace. God knows that it is a high and holy thing that He is called to, and so what does He do? He gives us grace. God calls us to be holy. He tells us where we're going, what direction we're headed in, how we are to think, and how we are to live out our faith. The standard is holiness.

Serving in the Church

What does grace and holiness have to do with serving the church? Grace is the fuel for serving in the church. Grace is the motivator for serving the church, not guilt-tripping people. You shouldn't serve in the church because you're guilty. You should serve in the church because when you look to Christ Jesus, his life, his death, his resurrection, and his ascension, you think that's what God did for me. I can come help with a funeral dinner, a prayer meeting, or Bible study. Not to earn his favor, but as a way to say thank you. That God's grace has come to us, and we live lives of service, of thanks to him.

God's grace is limitless, and it does not run out. If we are a church that serves and is fueled by God's grace, then our service will always be God-centered and pleasing to God. Let's be fueled by God's grace, and then let's not get distracted by other standards. Let's keep our standards, like those horse binders, fixed on what God's standards are. Our standard for this church is not the church up the road. Not our standard.

Our standard for this church is not the church you used to go to. Or the church I used to go to. That's not our standard. It's not even the best version or iteration, or era of this church. That's not our standard. Our standard is what God has called us to, as God's holy people. Are we going to fall short of that standard a lot of the time? Yep, but we have a gracious God who loves His people, who delights in His people, and who empowers us. He's the one who's fueling us, by His grace, to continue to pursue healing, even in light of His standard.