Be Holy

1 Peter 1:13-2:3, Key Verse: 1:15 (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."

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Last time we learned that we are God’s elect and strangers in this world. In a word, we are God’s chosen strangers. So, we have a living hope, not dying or dead hope. What is the living hope? We have a living hope to receive an inheritance that can never perish, spoil or fade, kept in heaven for you. What is the inheritance? It is the kingdom of God! So we greatly rejoice even in the midst of all kinds of trials. Although we get bad score in our final, we greatly rejoice. Although we have a disease, we greatly rejoice. Although we don’t have money, we are so joyful.

With inexpressible and glorious joy(shining joy), we are receiving the goal of our faith, the salvation of our souls. Even angels long to look into these things.

So are you joyful inexpressibly and gloriously?

Therefore, how do we have to live in this world as God’s chosen strangers who have a living hope? Today’s passage teaches us how to live. “Be Holy!” Do you think you are holy? Who looks most holy? These days Heesung looks very holy because she has been coming to center early morning to do something.

Today’s passage teaches us several ways to be holy. Do you really want to be holy? Did you give up already to be holy because it is so hard? Don’t give up! It is so easy. Today, we can learn many things to be holy, but it is summarized into one thing. To be holy, you should be a healthy newborn baby. Who? “Like newborn babies, crave pure spiritual milk, so that by it you may grow up in you salvation.”(1Pe 2:2) When we crave the word of God like newborn babies such as Margarette, Jaeha, Hope Perry, Jacob and Paul, you can grow holy quickly by the help of the Holy Spirit.

I pray that all of us may be healthy babies who are craving pure spiritual milk, even be crazy about God’s word so that we may grow holy, and even become a holy nation.

Part I. Be Holy!

Before we learn other things, let’s learn about holiness. Let’s read verse 15 first. “But just as he who called you is holy, so be holy in all you do;” Do you know what the word ‘holy’ means? The word ‘Holy’ means ‘apartness’ or ‘being separate’. It means to be separate from all unclean and sinful things and separate for God. God is holy. One of God’s characteristics is holiness. God is holy, so sinners cannot go to Holy God directly. If a sinner goes before God as he or she has sins, they are killed immediately. Nobody can stand before God as sinners.

Also, everything that belongs to God is holy. This center is holy place because it is separated from other houses for God. So, this house is called ‘The house of prayer for all nations!’ This center should not be used for our sinful desires such as watching soccer game, dramas, etc.

Next, Sunday is holy because God made it holy. Genesis 2:3, “And God blessed the seventh day and made it holy because on it he rested from all the work of creating that he had done.” Sunday is holy. God rested this day from all the work of creating, so we also need to rest from all the work. It is not easy. Jesus said, “The Sabbath was made for man, not man for the Sabbath. So the Son of Man is Lord even of the Sabbath.” We should use the Sabbath day to take a deep rest in Jesus and help other people. It should be separate from other days. I pray that all of us may keep Sunday holy in Jesus who is the Lord of the Sabbath.

Furthermore, God’s chosen people who belong to God are called ‘Holy Nation’. The famous UBF key verse is “A kingdom of priest and a holy nation!” In the age of the New Testament, those who believe in Jesus are holy people. They believe that the blood of Jesus has saved them and has power to cleanse all their dirty sins.

“But just as he who called you is holy, so be holy in all you do;” It is necessary for us to be holy because God who called us is holy. God called us to be a holy nation. If we are God’s children, we ought to be holy and want to be holy. Those who like sinning is not God’s holy people. I hope that among us nobody likes to sin. I believe that all of you earnestly want to be holy by any means.

So, how can we be holy? Just live as you want? No! How can we be separate from dirty sins and corrupted world? Today’s passage teaches us that the blood of Jesus purifies us in our sincere repentance. And craving the pure spiritual milk like a newborn baby makes us holy and separates us from dirty sins and desires.

May God help us to be holy through Jesus’ blood and God’s living and enduring words.

Part II. The blood of Jesus makes you holy

Let’s read verse 13. “Therefore, prepare your minds for action; be self-controlled; set your hope fully on the grace to be given you when Jesus Christ is revealed.”

We should prepare our minds for action. In other words, we need to be self-controlled. We are living in America. I think we do not suffer persecution due to we are Christians. However, we are suffering a different kind of persecution which is many temptations. We should face so many temptations every day at every place. How often do you visit Youtube or Cyworld a day? How much do you see movies and dramas? How much do you listen to pop music? We are wide open to be tempted by Satan through these things. More than these things, our selfish, proud, indifferent, envious, lustful and lazy hearts do not let us to live a holy life.

Our minds become loose, lazy and sloppy instead of being prepared for action and self-controlled.

So we should prepare our minds for action. How do you prepare your homework? With what kind of attitude? With that kind of attitude, we should prepare our minds for action. Hannah Kwak is a woman of action. Here ‘action’ can mean serving, loving, fighting a spiritual battle against Satan, etc. If we do not prepare our minds for action, Satan will control your hearts and minds.

Also, we should be self-controlled. Can you control your mind as you want? No! It’s impossible. So we need to ask the Holy Spirit to control our minds and guide our minds. Romans 8:6 says, “The mind of sinful man is death, but the mind controlled by the Spirit is life and peace.” Those who are led by the Spirit are God’s children.

Here we can learn that our minds are very important. It is a spiritual battle field. Your holy life starts from your mind. What you have in your mind decides your life.

Instead of setting your minds on dirty things, set your hope fully on the grace to be given you when Jesus Christ is revealed. Set your hope fully on the salvation grace you will receive.

What is the first thing for you to be holy? Prepare your minds for action, especially be self-controlled and set your hope fully on the salvation grace.

To be holy, we should not conform to the evil desires. Let’s read verse 14. “As obedient children, do not conform to the evil desires you had when you lived in ignorance.” Not only our minds, but also our hearts is so important to be holy.

Jeremiah 17:7 says, “The heart is deceitful above all things and beyond cure.” It means our hearts are cureless. Where is the dirtiest place in the world? Your room? It’s your heart. We like to conform to the evil desires: malice, all deceit, hypocrisy, envy, and slander of every kind.(1Pe 2:1b) If you conform to these desires, you are ignorant of God. As obedient children, do not conform any longer to the pattern of this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind.(Romans 12:1)

Let’s read verse 17. “Since you call on a Father who judges each man's work impartially, live your lives as strangers here in reverent fear.” God our Father judges each man’s work impartially. God is just God. When you go to the kingdom of God, you will stand before God. In the kingdom of God, there is the book of life. All people will be judged according to what they had done as recorded in the books.(Revelation 20:12) Aren’t you scary? What you have done will be recorded in the book. That’s why we should live our lives as strangers here in reverent fear. “Do not be afraid of those who kill the body but cannot kill the soul. Rather, be afraid of the One who can destroy both soul and body in hell.”(Matthew 10:28) When you have reverent fear in your heart, you cannot conform to the evil desires. In reverent fear, we can live a holy life.

Let’s read verse 18 and 19. “For you know that it was not with perishable things such as silver or gold that you were redeemed from the empty way of life handed down to you from your forefathers, but with the precious blood of Christ, a lamb without blemish or defect.”

You were redeemed from the empty way of life. The word ‘redeemed’ means Jesus bought you out of slavery status. We were slaves to sin and death. We were slave to Satan. However, Jesus paid the price with his life and precious blood fully and bought us and made us God’s children. So, now we belong to Jesus, not Satan and ourselves. Who is your owner? Jesus!

Hebrew 9:14 shows the power of Jesus’ blood. “How much more, then, will the blood of Christ, who through the eternal Spirit offered himself unblemished to God, cleanse our consciences from acts that lead to death, so that we may serve the living God!” The precious blood of Christ has power to cleanse our dirty hearts and minds. The blood of Jesus enables us to serve the living God.

When you look at the cross where Jesus is shedding His precious blood, your dirty hearts, minds and acts can be cleansed. So, fix your eyes on the cross to be holy, then the blood of Jesus will cleanse you and set you free from the empty way of life. Jesus is the Lamb of God without blemish or defect. His blood has power to make anyone holy. “Nothing but the blood of Jesus!” Do you believe this?

Part III. Love one another deeply from the heart

Let’s read verse 22. “Now that you have purified yourselves by obeying the truth so that you have sincere love for your brothers, love one another deeply, from the heart.

When you obey the truth, you are purified. Being purified is the way to be holy. The word of God purifies our dirty heats. Especially, the word “Love each other as I have loved you.” purifies your selfish and unforgiving hearts. If you remain in this one word and keep it in your heart, God will purify our selfish and unforgiving hearts and enable us to love our brothers sincerely, not fake love. Here ‘love one another deeply, from the heart’ means to love fervently with all your heart, not cold or lukewarm heart. What is the fervent love? It is sacrificial love. It is not just saying, ‘I love you!’ with our mouth. It is not just playing with your friends. Those who have fervent love serve others practically as they serve themselves.

As I said, when you live together, many problems arise. It’s hard to bear other’s weakness and sin. We would judge others. We come to hate our roommate when they do wrong. Jesus said, “Anyone who is angry with his brother will be subject to judgment.”(Mt 5:22) They will be in danger of the fire of hell.

When your friend is sick, praying for him or her and making a soup is fervent and practical love. Loving is not just saying, “Get better!”, but it is to serve until they are completely restored.

When your friend goes astray, encouraging them with the word of God and praying for them is to love fervently. When you live together, you can love fervently, yielding your life style such as sleeping early, understanding and covering each other’s weaknesses, etc.

I pray that as holy children of God, we may love one another fervently from our hearts. We can prove that we are holy nation through loving others fervently from the heart.

Part IV. Crave pure spiritual milk like a newborn baby

To be God’s children, we should be born again. How can we be born again? Let’s read verse 23. “For you have been born again, not of perishable seed, but of imperishable, through the living and enduring word of God.”

We are born again, through the living and enduring word of God. God’s word is living and active. God’s word is sharper than any double-edged sword, it penetrates even to dividing soul and spirit, joints and marrow. It judges the thoughts and attitudes of the heart.(Hebrew 4:12) God’s word is enduring. Jesus says, “Heaven and earth will pass away, but my words will never pass away.”(Mk 13:31)

Everything in this world will pass away. All men are like grass, and all their glory is like the flowers of the field. The grass withers and the flowers fall. Because of this, Solomon expressed about this world. “Meaningless! Meaningless! Utterly meaningless! Everything is meaningless!”

However, God’s word is imperishable. Only God’s word is meaningful. God’s word never dies! God’s word never changes. God’s word gets rid of all dirty and sinful desires. God’s word changes our sinful life into holy life.

So, King David loved the word of God. David praised God’s word. “How sweet are your words to my taste, sweeter than honey to my mouth!” Have you ever tasted the word of God sweeter than honey to your mouth? God’s word is more delicious than bubble tea. What else? God’s word is….

To become a holy nation, we should love the word of God.

Let’s read 2:2. “Like newborn babies, crave pure spiritual milk, so that by it you may grow up in your salvation” Have you ever seen a newborn baby drinking milk? Every Friday you can see all babies drink milk in Msn. Matthew and Angela’s house. They crave for milk when they are hungry. Healthy babies cry out when they are hungry. They almost die to drink milk. They drink milk panting for breath. They take the milk bottle from their parents and feed themselves holding a milk bottle.

However, unhealthy babies don’t cry even though they are hungry. They don’t drink milk joyfully, but forced to drink. They have no appetite. So they starve to death.

Are you a healthy baby or sick baby? Do you crave for God’s word or don’t care? It is a way to diagnose whether you are a healthy baby or a sick one?

God’s word is pure spiritual milk. It contains all nutrients that make a baby grow healthy. Just like mommy’s milk immunizes a baby from all diseases, God’s word immunizes us from all dirty desires.

These days, some JBF and college newborn babies began to do daily bread and early morning prayer voluntarily while old babies were enjoying sleep. It is the evidence that they are healthy spiritually. Some meditate on the word of God day and night and grow healthier and healthier. However, some eat God’s word untastily just as they eat tasteless food. They like to eat worldly food such as drama, movie, pop music trying to satisfy their sinful desires.

Example!!!

Healthy baby crave pure spiritual milk so badly so that they can grow up in their salvation. They grow in the image of Jesus. They grow holier and holier. Their minds are fully prepared for action. They set their hope fully on the salvation grace. They only depend on the power of Jesus’ blood to be cleansed. They purify themselves by obeying the truth. They can have sincere love for other brother babies and sister babies fervently from the heart. Because they know and believe that God’s word is living and enduring forever. They get rid of all dirty sins.

I pray that all of us may crave the word of God so that we may be holy as God is holy. I pray that our JBF members may be separate from all dirty and sinful things and be strong and healthy children of God. May God bless you to grow up in your salvation by the living and enduring word of God.