How in the world can we be holy? (almost done)

Monday, we discussed how being obedient to the Father would help us live a holy lifestyle, and one way to focus on obedience was to give up our former lifestyle....the way we were before we were believers. Today we'll continue ......

We need to be able to look back on our old habits, our old selfish ways; what should we see, looking forward? Well, we need to establish some good habits, habits of obedience.
Here are our verses again:

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.” (I Peter 1:14-16)

See where Peter says, "as obedient children"?  We can't really tell from the English here, but my commentary told me that it's a Hebrew expression that carries a thought of ongoing activity. It means more like, " habitual obedience" -- something that is a habit, part of our lives, an everyday thing. The long and the short of it is this: God is our heavenly Father, and we want to obey Him. His Word tells us how He wants us to live, speak, behave, etc.  Our obedience to Him, and to His Word, ought to be an automatic response. Now, I'm not talking about legalism here. And I'm not talking about believers acting like robots, either! I'm talking about the everyday habits of folks who are saved by His grace, and who are grateful for that salvation.

Peter quotes from the Old Testament here, specifically from the Law in Leviticus:

The Lord said to Moses, 2 “Speak to the entire assembly of Israeland say to them: ‘Be holy because I, the Lord your God, am holy." (Leviticus 19:1-2)

We are longer bound by the ceremonial or civil laws of Israel. We don't have all of the intricate rituals of sacrifice and penance that they had. But God's law and guidelines for our lives originate in His holy nature, and that is just as applicable under grace as it was under law. Paul addressed this for us, since he knew that believers would be asking:

To those not having the law I became like one not having the law (though I am not free from God’s law but am under Christ’s law), so as to win those not having the law. (I Corinthians 9:21)

To break it down into its most simple terms, we are God's children. We need to get in the habit of looking at a situation, and asking ourselves, "What does God's Word say about this?" And then we should obey.

There is another key to holy living that we should discuss.... Peter says to be holy "in all your behavior." That's another one of Peter's favorite words -- he uses it six times in I Peter, and twice more in II Peter....and there are only five other places it's found! We've said before that this word behavior means more than just the surface meaning here; it refers to our conduct, and how we live our lives. Today we'd use the word "lifestyle."
So Peter links "holiness" and "behavior," and he also inserts a very small word with a very big impact: "all."  This is significant for two reasons....first, there were some pagan religions of the time that separated their cult activities and worship from their everyday lives. Second, believers at this time were probably struggling with the same issue that we do nowadays -- we tend to make a distinction between sacred and secular.
Maybe we aren't doing what we talked about last week, and fighting in the car all the way to church, and then pasting on smiles and walking in to worship. Maybe we aren't carousing on Saturdays and going to church on Sundays.
But does our separation unto God (and our desire to live for Him) affect every area of our lives? Should there be any area of our lives that we do not open to His will, and our obedience?

Many people know the author, J. I. Packer, for his book, "Knowing God." He has written many others, but one that I found and enjoyed was "A Quest for Godliness." And it spoke to me as it paralleled our study, where we are exploring the desire for a holy life. I would encourage you to find a copy and read it; I feel you will be blessed, too. Packer contrasts the depth of Puritan spiritual life with the superficiality of modern (Western) Christianity.  He opens up their lives to us, their view of the Word, the Sabbath, social interactions, and the family. His conclusion? "There was for them no disjunction between sacred and secular; all creation, so far as they were concerned, was sacred, and all activities, of whatever kind, must be sanctified, that is, done to the glory of God." (pg 23)

Wow. What if we did as the Puritans, and as I believe Peter is guiding us to do, and take a big, pink eraser to the line we have drawn between sacred and secular?
One thing is for sure: that kind of dedicated living will eliminate hypocrisy!
There is nothing that turns people off more than to see someone who professes (sometimes loudly) to be a Christian, but whose lifestyle totally denies it. This doesn't mean, however, that we must be perfect -- it means that we should live with integrity, confessing our sins when we "blow it." If we make our Christianity practical, and bring it into every part of our lives, then we'll have no room for disobedience. We will obey Him in all of our lives.