A Call to Holy Living
Open Your Bible
1 Peter 1:13-25, Isaiah 53:7-9, Ephesians 1:3-10
BY Erin Davis
The list of things I know for certain is short, but I know this: I am not holy.
I hear Peter’s charge to “be holy in all your conduct” (1 Peter 1:15) as he echoes the Lord’s words to “be holy, because I am holy” (Leviticus 11:44), and I feel the gravitational pull of defeat. Because it doesn’t seem to matter how much I want to be holy. (And trust me—I really, really want to be holy). There aren’t twelve steps I can take to become holy. There aren’t bootstraps big enough to pull me up toward the perfection of God. There’s no self-help guide to blamelessness. If personal holiness is up to me, it begins to feel like an impossible equation.
There are times when I get fed up with chronically missing the mark. I want to be holy because God is holy, but instead find myself broken because the world is broken. I was having one of these fed-up moments while driving down the highway recently. In my frustration I cried out to the Lord, praying, “How long, Lord, until I become like you?!”
This phrase came to mind; “In a moment.”
For a nanosecond I worried I was about to hit a semi head on, because I know I will not fully become like Christ this side of heaven. But no collision came. My heart was simply recalling the gospel hope I cling to. Scripture tells us that when Christ returns, we will be changed “in a moment, in the twinkling of an eye” (1 Corinthians 15:52).
Peter isn’t tasking us with a moral standard our broken selves can never attain. He’s preaching the gospel. We can’t hear it too often. He reminds us of what’s truest about us as Christ-followers:
For you know that you were redeemed from your empty way of life inherited from your fathers,
not with perishable things like silver or gold, but with the precious blood of Christ,
like that of an unblemished and spotless lamb (1 Peter 1:18–19).
Yes, I am broken as my parents were broken.
My children are broken, as I am broken.
You are broken, as all people are broken.
But that is not our story, and it’s not our identity.
Our brokenness and Christ’s holiness are two sides of the same gospel coin. And so we need to stop staring at our failed attempts at holiness. We need to flip the coin over, and instead gaze with wonder anew at the gospel of grace. Again, we cannot do it too often.
My power over sin rests not in me, but in the one who burst forth from the grave (v.21), the “holy, holy, holy” One (Revelation 4:8). I am holy, because Christ is holy, and I am hidden in Him (Colossians 3:3). Yes, my flesh is broken. But praise be to God, “All flesh is like grass and its glory like the flower of grass” (1 Peter 1:24).
But the holiness of God is mine forever.
72 thoughts on "A Call to Holy Living"
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In Hebrew ‘holy’ means ‘set apart for God.’ If we are being told to ‘ Be holy as He is holy’ then we can and should be holy. It’s a command. How are you set apart for God? Abide in Messiah. Abide means obey him and his Word. How does one do that? Well, since I believe Jesus is the visible image of the invisible God, then all of what is written in the Scriptures -all of it – is for reproof and training in righteousness. Am I holy? Yes. Why? Because I am set apart for God by keeping and obeying His commandments like the Sabbath, celebrating the Lord’s holy days like Passover and Tabernacle, and not eating unclean foods. Of course all of those things have been taught by men that they are done away with, but that’s not what Jesus says in Matthew 5. So, we put aside the commandments of God for traditions of men and remain stuck in sin and unholiness. Oh, and I trust in Jesus for my eternal life! Sin according to 1 John 3:4 is breaking God’s commands. Since the only Scriptures Jesus had to teach from was the Old Testament, Torah and Prophets, sin would be breaking those commands found in those books. Sure I sin, but that doesn’t mean I’m no longer holy because I confess my sin, am forgiven and move forward in righteousness. In addition, holiness and sanctification are the same thing. Jesus says, “Sanctify them by your Word; your Word is truth.” Only when we begin to see that much of what we do isn’t in line with the commandments will we truly be holy AND stop sinning and John says that IS possible. So, ‘Be sanctified as He is sanctified” through the power given you in the Spirit that raised Christ from the dead.
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I fail God daily. But, that’s not my story and it’s not my identity! How refreshing is that? Lord you don’t need me and somehow you want me! Try as we might to be holy perfection like God we fail. But we fail to the flesh. In Gods return we will become holy and we will rid ourselves of this flesh! Oh to be like you, Lord.. to be like you.
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So true of a statement…I want to be holy because our God is Holy but instead I find myself broken because the world is broken. That is when I am looking at the world instead of the Lord. So I stand on the truth….I am Holy, because Christ is holy. PTL I am hidden in HIM…. But the Holiness of God is mine forever…
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Yes, thank you God that we are hidden in Christ!
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Just need a few prayers today. Struggling with finding boundaries and staying to true to my spirit and not giving into my flesh. It’s so easy to step back into your old habits. And you think you can do it alone but you can’t. You need accountability and prayers from strong women in Christ.
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Praying with you Chelsea.
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Thank you God for relieving that burden of trying to be perfect for you! You know my imperfections and that I fail, yet to still give me boundless mercy and love! I pray to share this with others through your words and actions every day!
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Such good news that the holiest of holies calls us his own
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We are all broken, “but that’s not our story, it’s not our identity.” Wow. I know I am so guilty of focusing on my brokenness like it is my identity. I need to remember I have been saved, I am forgiven, and all will be washed away. Thank you God for loving me!
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I am broken. I can never glue all my pieces back together to make myself perfect and whole. But God. He is holy. Holy. Perfect. Blameless. But He is merciful. And He gives grace. He draws me. And changes me. To be more like Him as I depend on Him
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