Our Call to Holiness (Afternoon)
Download MP3Well, good afternoon. If we haven't met before, my name is Cole Schifflett, and I serve here at Redeemer as our global missions director. I'm really excited to be with you all this afternoon and open up God's word. So if you have a bible with you, go ahead and open to first Peter one verses 13 through 21. And I should probably go ahead and warn you all from the beginning that this is my first sermon at Redeemer, so you may have chosen the wrong service.
Cole Shiflet:But let's go ahead and begin our time with a reading from God's word. First Peter one verses 13 through 21. Well, therefore, preparing your minds for action and being sober minded, set your hope fully on the grace that will be brought to you at the revelation of Jesus Christ. As obedient children, do not be conformed to the passions of your former ignorance, but as he who called you is holy, you also be holy in all your conduct. Since it is written, you shall be holy for I am holy.
Cole Shiflet:And if you call on him as father who judges impartially according to each one's deeds, conduct yourselves with fear throughout the time of your exile, knowing that you were ransomed from the feudal ways inherited from your forefathers, not with perishable things such as silver or gold, but with the precious blood of Christ, like that of a lamb without blemish or spot. Well, he was a foreknown before the foundation of the world, but was made manifest in the last times for the sake of you, who through him are believers in God, who raised him from the dead and gave him glory so that your faith and hope are in God. This is the word of the Lord. Let's pray. Oh, Lord, we thank you that because of your great mercy and through Jesus Christ, you have ransomed us from our past, and you have welcomed us into your family.
Cole Shiflet:Lord, we pray that you would help us to live in such a way that reflects this reality to the world around us. We pray all of this in the name of the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit. Amen. Well, when I graduated college, I lived in a moldy six bedroom house where I had to wear socks at all times because no one swept the floor and dishes overflowed out of the sink. For the first few months, I felt so motivated to keep this house clean.
Cole Shiflet:I mean, we had a shed in the backyard and I had big plans. I Ask any of my roommates. Several several of them are here tonight. I was full of ideas of how we could turn this, you know, dump of a house into something special. But after Courtney and I got engaged, my attention shifted to the future that awaited me.
Cole Shiflet:Suddenly, it didn't really bother me that this house was falling apart. My attention and affection had shifted towards the future. And that's what a new future does. It makes you live differently. In this passage, Peter is going to call us to set our hope on a new future.
Cole Shiflet:Well, over the past few weeks, we've been walking through the opening verses of first Peter and reflecting on God's mercy. God has accomplished our salvation because of his mercy and through Jesus Christ's resurrection from the dead. And so far in the first 12 verses, Peter has focused exclusively on what God has done for us. You read through these verses, there's not one command in the first 12 verses. Peter has focused entirely on what God has done.
Cole Shiflet:We see that God has caused us to be born again to a living hope, and this living hope, it will never spoil, it will never fade, it will never perish. But here in verse 13, we see a shift taking place. Peter shifts from describing God's work in salvation to actually calling the Christians to live differently in light of this new reality. He's calling them to set their hope fully on the grace that's coming to them from Christ. And guys, this matters because every one of us knows what like to belong to Christ and yet still feel pulled back towards the old life.
Cole Shiflet:We all know what it's like to believe the gospel and yet to struggle to actually overcome temptation in our life. So Peter is not giving us an abstract call here just to be better Christians. He doesn't begin with a call to try harder, but with a call to focus our eyes on Jesus, to look at what God has done. And it's only then that Peter calls us to holiness. So if you're taking notes this afternoon, here are three main points.
Cole Shiflet:First, the gospel gives us a new future. In verse 13, we see that the gospel gives us a new future. Second, we see that the gospel gives us a new family. Verse 14 through 16 shows us that the gospel gives us a new family. And third, the gospel gives us a new way to live.
Cole Shiflet:Verses 17 through 21, we see that the gospel gives us a new way to live. So let's walk through these verses in light of everything that Peter has already said. Let's take a look at verse 13. Therefore, preparing your minds for action and being sober minded, set your hope fully on the grace that will be brought to you at the revelation of Jesus Christ. So it's because of what God has done for us that God has been incredibly merciful to save us into his family.
Cole Shiflet:It's in light of that that we live differently. And Peter describes this as he says, we prepare our minds for action and stay sober minded. So if everything that Peter has said so far is true, then the only rational way to live is to set our hope fully on the grace that's coming to us from Jesus Christ. So this hope here is just it's faith looking toward the future. And this means that we fix our eyes on the grace that Christ will bring when he returns.
Cole Shiflet:And guys, if you're anything like me, then it can be incredibly easy to focus our attention and affection on those things that are visible and yet temporary. I mean, how many times do we check our phones and look at that investment account and just to see, do we have we hit that number yet? Or when's that next vacation to the resort in Punta Cana? Like, what's the promotion to the dream job? When is that happening?
Cole Shiflet:Peter is calling us to focus our attention and affection on the grace that's coming to us through Christ. God wants our undivided hope. So God's call to holiness, it begins with a call to set our eyes on Christ. This means that when trials or temptations come, we can fix our eyes on Jesus. And in light of eternity, these trials and temptations, they have less power over us.
Cole Shiflet:Well, after I got engaged, I no longer lived in that old house as if it was permanent. I stopped making these long term plans for what I would do with the house because my mind was fixed on the future that awaited me. My future home reshaped the way that I lived there. Peter's saying something similar here. I mean, how often do we forget to look forward to the precious gift that awaits us?
Cole Shiflet:Instead, let us be men and women who set our attention and affection fully on the grace that's coming to us through Jesus Christ. You might be thinking, what what does it mean to actually set your hope on this grace that's coming? I think one of the things that it means is to fill your minds with the wonderful and glorious truths of God's word, to take time to meditate on heaven, and to think about what it will be like when you see the Lord face to face. Because if you don't set your hope on your new future, you'll be tempted to believe that this world is all that there is. You'll be caught up in the chaos of this world, always anxious.
Cole Shiflet:But God is inviting us into something better. God doesn't want us just to be caught up in worldly pursuits. So remember that the gospel gives you a new future. Let's keep going. Going to verse 14.
Cole Shiflet:The gospel gives us a new family. As obedient children, do not be conformed to the passions of your former ignorance, but as he who called you is holy, you also be holy in all of your conduct. Since it is written, you shall be holy for I am holy. Peter reminds us here of our new identity as God's children. When we get three words into this verse, we see that as obedient children.
Cole Shiflet:Before he calls us to holiness, God reminds us that we belong to his family. And if we're obedient children of the king, then we shouldn't live like those outside of God's royal family. The gospel has given us a new family. And so don't live like you're still stuck in your former sin. God wants more for you than to just slip back in your old ways of living.
Cole Shiflet:And God's call to holiness isn't about keeping you from the things that will truly make you happy. No. God's call to holiness is about you truly experiencing the freedom that he's already purchased for you through Christ. So brothers and sisters, we're called to live holy lives because God is holy. As mentioned repeatedly in Leviticus, we see that to be holy is to be set apart or to be distinct.
Cole Shiflet:As I was preparing this message, I was reading through Leviticus, and I came across Leviticus 20 verse 26. Here we see God commanding the people of Israel, and he says, you shall be holy to me, for I, the Lord, am holy and have separated you from the peoples, that you should be mine. So if you're wondering, like, what does holiness actually look like in the life of a Christian? Leviticus is saying here that it's to be separated from the world around you and to belong to the Lord. And in this letter, we see something similar.
Cole Shiflet:In this letter, Peter frames holiness in the life of an exile. He says, to be holy is to live as an exile. And this means that you don't like, this means that you live like you belong to the Lord even when the world around you lives for something else. So a few weeks ago, I sat in the living room of a small Moroccan house church just on the tip of North Africa, and one of the men shared about the hardships of following Jesus in his context. His Muslim wife had abandoned him because he had decided to start following Jesus.
Cole Shiflet:People that hated him had burned down his shop. And yet, this man endured. Why? Because he knew that Jesus was worth it. And this, I think, is part of what it means to live a holy life.
Cole Shiflet:This man isn't some super Christian, but his life was distinct. His life was set apart. The world around him looked at his life and said, there's something different about it. And in his Muslim country, they didn't like it. But this is part of what it means to live a holy life, is to be set apart or distinct within the culture that you're in.
Cole Shiflet:But we see here that Peter doesn't only frame holiness as just separation from the world. It's not just about going out and being different than the world around you. That's not what holy that's not entirely what holiness means. He also describes it as a resemblance to our father. So notice here how the emphasis is on pursuing holiness is because reflecting the character of our father.
Cole Shiflet:Verse we see here in in verse 14, it starts with as obedient children, but then in verse 15, the reason why we're supposed to seek after holiness or to be holy is because our heavenly father is holy. So when a child is adopted, they're welcomed into their home day one. Like day one, they belong to this family. They're not adopted because they understand all the rules and rhythms and habits of the family, but from day one, they truly belong to this family. And yet, over time, they learn how to live like the rest of that family.
Cole Shiflet:And I think Peter is saying something similar here. He's saying that God has brought us into his family, not because of what we have done, but because of his great mercy. But now that we belong to God's family, we're called to live in a way that resembles our father. So I think Ephesians four is really helpful here to help us just imagine what this looks like in our everyday lives. Right?
Cole Shiflet:We don't just want to just read this and just say, okay. I'm gonna go be holy in my life. What does this actually look like in our lives? Well, Paul tells us in Ephesians four that as Christians, we're called to put away all bitterness, wrath, anger, slander, and malice. Instead, we're supposed to pursue kindness, tenderheartedness, forgiveness.
Cole Shiflet:I mean, this isn't dramatic or overly impressive. It's the ordinary, everyday obedience of someone who knows that they belong to God's family. So holiness means choosing to bring your bitterness to the Lord instead of lashing out on someone. It means that you refuse to gossip when the whole room is turning towards slander. It means forgiving others as Christ has forgiven you.
Cole Shiflet:This is what holiness looks like on an everyday basis. But again, remember that the call to holiness, it doesn't start with new rules, but with a new identity. Like brothers and sisters, you have been transferred to a new family, and God is inviting you to live like you really belong in that family. So I wanna encourage us, like, we can try harder and harder to overcome our sin, but if we do so without embracing Jesus Christ, we're gonna fail over and over again. So God's call to holiness here, it leads us to fight our sin with confidence because we belong to his family.
Cole Shiflet:Temptation will come, but with our hope set fully on the grace that's coming from Christ, we're called to fight for personal holiness. And this means to pattern our lives after Jesus and be marked by confession. But can I be honest? I think sometimes we read passages like this, and we just think about it as if Peter is writing this directly to us as individuals, as if he's calling us to pursue personal holiness on our own. But throughout verses 14 through 15, Peter's usage of the word here you is plural.
Cole Shiflet:And as I was listening to George Strait while writing this sermon, as any good Texan does, I realized that Peter is saying, as obedient children, y'all don't be conformed to the passion of y'all's former ignorance, but as he who called y'all as holy, y'all also be holy in all y'all's conduct. I mean, wouldn't it be so so much easier if people in the South translated the ESV? We wouldn't have to miss these kind of things. Wouldn't even need the Greek. But seriously, guys, seriously, Peter is writing to a community of believers.
Cole Shiflet:Remember, this isn't just a letter written to scattered individuals, but to scattered churches who are all across modern day Turkey. Peter is exhorting these little churches that probably met in homes to fight for personal holiness together. So brothers and sisters, there will be plenty of moments where we fall short of God's perfect standard, but the good news is that God has not left us on our own. He has sent us Jesus Christ, but he's also sent us one another to help us hope to embrace Jesus. So this is why it's so important for us to find trusted brothers sisters to confess our sins so that we may be healed.
Cole Shiflet:Like, let's not pretend like we have it all together, but seek to regularly confess our sins to one another. Let me say it loud and clear. God has not designed for you to fight for personal holiness on your own. So the application point from this passage is not just to go and try harder or just to go and to to try to be holy on your own. God has given you a family to help you embrace Jesus Christ.
Cole Shiflet:And I think if you miss this, then you're at risk at staying stuck in your sin and shame. There's only life and light on the other side of confession. So the gospel gives us a new family. And, yeah, you belong to his global church, people made up of every tribe, tongue, and nation. But you also belong to a family right here in this church, and God's plan for your personal holiness involves the brothers and sisters who are sitting in this room.
Cole Shiflet:So seriously, take a moment. Look around. God's plan for your personal holiness includes the men and women in this room. So confess your sin with confidence, whether it's in your home group, maybe it's the back corner of the Chick fil A with a few of your best friends, knowing that the gospel gives you a new family. And let me just say, I've been a member here at Redeemer for seven and a half years, and I've seen the spirit of God work through confession in this church to allow people who are stuck in addiction to break chains through the spirit's power.
Cole Shiflet:We see lives restored because the power of the spirit works when confession is done in community. So I want to just exhort you to find someone in your life that you can be totally honest with. Like, don't let this week pass by without finding that person in your life who you can be honest with, you can confess your sins, you can encourage them as they confess their sins as well. Like, why would we do this? Because the gospel gives us a new family.
Cole Shiflet:So let's keep going. Verse 17. The gospel gives us a new way to live. And if you call on him as father who judges impartially according to each one's deeds, conduct yourselves with fear throughout the time of your exile, knowing that you were ransomed from the feudal ways inherited from your forefathers, not with perishable things such as silver or gold, but with the precious blood of Christ, like that of a lamb without blemish or spot. So guys, God has been exceedingly gracious to choose us and to save us.
Cole Shiflet:We didn't do anything to deserve it, and yet he has brought us into his family. We learn from this passage that God is our father, and he will judge impartially according to each one's deeds. And yet, at the same time, we know that every one of us has fallen short of God's perfect standard. So this means we have a big problem here. But the good news is that the judgment of God, it doesn't fall on us because it already fell on Jesus, and this changes everything.
Cole Shiflet:So God has not accomplished this salvation through perishable things such as silver or gold, but with the precious blood of Christ. Like, don't forget this, brothers and sisters. The Son of God has laid down his life for you. And this reality, it reshapes the way that we live our lives. Because of what God has done for us, we are now to conduct ourselves with fear throughout the time of our exile.
Cole Shiflet:Again, notice here, God's call to holiness is a call to live as exiles. We are called to be set apart and distinct from the world around us. But because God is our father, this fear that's mentioned here isn't characterized by anxiety or terror. This is reverence. This is the and this isn't the fear of punishment.
Cole Shiflet:This is the fear reverence of a child who wants to please their father, wants to honor their father. And so Peter is calling us to live reverently. Why? Because we remember that we've been ransomed from our past through Christ. Christ.
Cole Shiflet:These early Christians here, they were likely Gentile background believers who've been brought up in paganism, and God has ransomed them out of these feudal ways that they inherited from their ancestors. Ancestors. And Peter is reminding them. He's saying, hey, God has brought you out of these old traditions, and he has welcomed you into his family. Well, a few weeks ago, I was in Turkey hearing stories of brothers and sisters who are now followers of Jesus who grew up as Muslims.
Cole Shiflet:God ransomed them out of their past and brought them into his family. But that doesn't mean that it's always easy to live as a part of God's family in this kind of context. I mean, there's constant temptations to backslide or to return to their old life. Following Jesus and living a holy life gets pretty messy when your family disowns you and you lose your job over it. Like, you don't fit in the world anymore, and you face loneliness, financial stress, and even danger because of your commitment to following Jesus.
Cole Shiflet:And as I talked with these brothers and sisters, they just shared about how they have to regularly remind themselves that God has purchased them, to regularly remind themselves of what God has done in their lives. So don't miss what's happening here. Like, we have been ransomed, purchased, and redeemed by God. Every one of us was caught up in a lifestyle that was a spiritual dead end. Like our sinful habits, they were empty and lifeless.
Cole Shiflet:I mean, just a few weeks ago, in this church, we came up here and we testified about the ways in which God has caused us to be born again to a living hope. We were those who were stuck in our sin that reflected our old family. But through Christ, God has redeemed us, not through temporary things like gold or silver, but through the precious blood of Christ. And so, brothers and sisters, when you're tempted to drift back into the sins of your old life, set your hope on the grace that's coming to you through Christ. Remember what God has done to ransom you.
Cole Shiflet:The gospel gives you a new future and a new family, but it also gives you a new way to live, and this new way to live is meant for your good. And in those moments when choosing to obey Jesus, it just seems impossibly difficult, Cling to Jesus, remind yourself of what he has done, and allow God's kindness in your life to help you to live differently than the world around you. So let's look at verse 20. We see here that Jesus was foreknown before the foundation of the world, but was made manifest in the last times for the sake of you, who through him are believers in God, who raised him from the dead and gave him glory, so that your faith and hope are in God. So God did not provide Christ as an afterthought.
Cole Shiflet:Instead, Christ was foreknown before the foundation of the world. In other words, this was God's plan all along, that God has chosen to rescue us from our sin and shame through Christ, and that he has chosen to reveal this through his death, burial, and resurrection. And it's only through faith in Christ that we can share in the victory that Christ has over death. And Peter tells us here in verse 21 that it's the result of God's gracious work is that our faith and hope are in God rather than worthless idols. So Christian, in light of everything that Peter has said and in light of God's mercy in your life, set your hope fully on the grace that is coming to you, the revelation of Jesus Christ, because the gospel gives you a new future.
Cole Shiflet:Don't be conformed to the passions of your former ignorance, but reflect God's holiness in your life because the gospel gives you a new family. Remembering that God has ransomed you from your past through Jesus Christ, conduct yourselves with reverence because the gospel gives you a new way to live. Well, if you're here today and you're not a follower of Jesus, I just wanna say, like, we're so glad that you're here. If you feel stuck in your sin and shame, God has made a way for you to experience freedom through that in Jesus Christ. This doesn't come when we clean ourselves up or we just try harder.
Cole Shiflet:It doesn't come through silver or gold, but God has chosen to reveal this salvation through the precious blood of Jesus. So come to him. Call out to him, for he hears you. And when you trust in Christ's work on the cross, God gives you a new future, a new family, and a new way to live. If you have any questions, we'd love to talk to you.
Cole Shiflet:Let's pray. Lord, we thank you that because of your great mercy and through Jesus Christ, you have accomplished our salvation. Lord, help us to be men and women who seek to honor you in our lives. Lord, would you help us to live in light of this new future? Help us not to neglect this new family that you've given us, but rather, Lord, as we seek to live in a way that's pleasing to you, Lord, would you help us to remember that you have ransomed us out of our past, and you have brought us into your family.
Cole Shiflet:Lord, we pray this in the name of the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit. Amen.
