There are preachers who
quote 1 Peter 1:15-16 (ESV), “...Be holy in all your conduct, since
it is written, ‘You shall be holy, for I am holy,’” as a basis
for works righteousness. God is holy so He wants us to live holy
lives, or so the argument goes. However, that little word “since”
makes a big difference in these two verses, meaning that verse 16 is
the reason for verse 15. The Greek word translated “You shall be”
in 16 is not a command, but future indicative tense. In essence Peter
is saying, “Because you will have the holiness of God, therefore
you can live holy lives now.
We also can’t ignore
the greater context of Peter’s letters, as well as the rest of the
New Testament. Peter started his first letter by stating who we are
in Christ. “According to His great mercy, He has caused us to be
born again to a living hope through the resurrection of Jesus Christ
from the dead... who by God’s power are being guarded through faith
for a salvation ready to be revealed in the last time” (1:3b, 5).
On the basis of our identity, “Therefore, preparing your minds for
action, and being sober-minded... As obedient children, do not be
conformed to the passions of your former ignorance” (13-14). Peter
uses a similar format in his second letter, “His divine power has
granted to us all things that pertain to life and godliness, through
the knowledge of Him who called us to His own glory and excellence...
For this very reason make every effort to supplement your faith with
virtue...” (2 Pet. 1:3, 5). Only because of who we are in Christ
and all the blessings we have received from Him can we then pursue
holy living.
Paul’s letters are also
full of reminders of who we are in Christ. “But you were washed,
you were sanctified, you were justified in the name of the Lord Jesus
Christ and by the Spirit of our God... [He] who is joined to the Lord
becomes one spirit with Him... Or do you not know that your body is a
temple of the Holy Spirit within you, whom you have from God? You are
not your own, for you were bought with a price. So glorify God in
your body” (1 Corinthians 6:11b, 17, 19-20). Because of who you are
in Christ you can glorify God. “Therefore, if anyone is in Christ,
he is a new creation. The old has passed away; behold, the new has
come... Therefore, we are ambassadors for Christ” (1 Cor. 5:17,
20a). As a new creation you can represent Christ to the world.
It’s so easy to get it
all backward and think that we have to live holy lives in order to be
made right with God, that we must behave a certain way so that we can
one day be accepted into His kingdom. But Scripture says that being
precedes doing. We are made able to obey because of who God
says we already are. This is a truth that I never knew until was an
adult. The preachers and teachers I heard in many different churches
while growing up never bothered to tell me who I was in Christ. All
they seemed to care about was how people acted, and for many of us it
was truly an act. We tried to look good so that people would believe
we were saved. It created a lot of fear, wondering “How good is
good enough?”
This world we live in
today is even more confused. Identity gets tied to education, career,
sexuality, family role, economic status, etc. Christians need to
remind one another of who we are in Christ, because that is the only
thing that will last. Everything else will pass away. In the Kingdom,
we won’t be known as doctor, lawyer, gay, married, wealthy, or
anything else like that. We will be—and already are—children of
God, loved, accepted, new creations, righteous, redeemed, free,
heirs, brothers and sisters, made alive, faithful, reconciled with
God, saints and overcomers. That alone is our motivation for how we
should live. If we are living out of any other identity, we have to
constantly perform a certain way in order to maintain it.
Sam Allberry said,
“I’m defined by who I am before God the Father in Jesus Christ... Who I most truly, ultimately, and fundamentally am is someone who is in Christ. And therefore when I’m striving to be holy, when I’m striving to be Christlike, I’m not going against the grain of who I really am, I’m going with it. As someone who is in Christ I am most being me when I am pursuing godliness, not when I am pursuing sin.”
For the person who is in Christ, sin is no longer “natural,”
regardless of how it may feel. Instead, righteousness is our new
nature and the life we are meant to pursue. Yes, it takes effort, but
it is an effort that is guaranteed to pay off as we become more and
more like God made us to be.
“For we are His
workmanship, created in Christ Jesus for good works, which God
prepared beforehand, that we should walk in them” (Ephesians 2:10).
©
2017 Dawn Rutan. Unless otherwise indicated all images are copyright
free from pixabay.com.
