"Be holy, for I am holy."

1 Peter 1:13-16

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.”

For the past few weeks, we have been looking at the apostle Peter's first epistle. We have seen that Peter is writing to the “elect exiles” in Northern Asia Minor; he is writing to believers who are living as aliens in a foreign land. We have seen, and join with, Peter in rejoicing over the great truths of God's mercy that He has caused us to be born again, to a living hope that is in Jesus, to an inheritance that is kept for us in heaven, and that no matter what trials we go through, in the end, our faith will be proven genuine, and more precious than gold, resulting in praise and glory and honor being given to God through us.

This week, I would like to skip a few verses, not because I think they are unimportant, or do not have great truths for our lives within them, but I do this in order to move on to Peter's main message: to live holy lives. We have seen the doctrines Peter has presented, and how he rejoiced and worshipped because of them, but how do those doctrines impact our lives? How do we apply this truth to our actions? This is what I want to look at tonight.

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.

What does it mean to “prepare your mind for action?” In the Greek, it literally says, “gird up the loins of your mind.” What in the world does it mean to gird up your loins, and what does that have to do with my mind?

In the first century, clothing styles weren't quite what they are now. People wore long flowing garments, robes, tunics, and such to protect from the sun and many other things. If someone were to run, they would trip all over themselves because of this robe. So the idea of “girding up your loins” meant to pull up your robe, or tuck it into you belt, so that you legs are free to move. This expression was used in military aspects, for messengers, and for anyone that needed to run without tripping. The idea here is that you prepare yourself for the task at hand. If you have to deliver a message to another commander in the military, you will prepare to run the distance by pulling up your robe, to free your legs so you can perform your task to the best of your ability with the most precision possible.

So if we are to “prepare our minds” for action, we must do all we can to purify our minds, bringing us closer to God. We must be “sober-minded” or “self-controlled.” This means we must be in control of our mind, and not let our worldly desires, the desires of the flesh, take over and cause us to sin. This is translated “sober-minded” because the Greek word implies (and is the root of other words pertaining to) alcohol use. If you have ever seen someone who is drunk try to walk, or do anything else, you know right off that they are not in control of their mind, or their “faculties.” They stumble around, get their words mixed up, and do things they wouldn't normally do (if they were sober). Likewise, when we allow sin to control our “minds” we are just like a drunk, stumbling around speaking and acting in ways we shouldn't, and maybe wouldn't if we had “prepared our minds” for action by following God's word.

How do we prepare our minds for action? By “[setting our] hope fully on the grace that will be brought to [us] at the revelation of Jesus Christ.” When we set our hope on that grace, the things of the world seem less appealing to us, and we begin to see God as to One who brings us more satisfaction than anything else. No worldly vice can bring us more pleasure than God. We begin to prepare our minds for action, to live in this sinful world and be His light in the darkness, by first recognizing the grace of God in the truth that we have that hope and inheritance we talked about a few weeks ago. We see that nothing this world offers compares to the glorious riches we have in Christ. So as we begin to prepare our minds for right living, living holy lives, we first set our hope in the grace of God, knowing that we will be glorified when Jesus returns and will live forever in His presence worshipping Him.

Also in preparing our minds to live rightly, we should, “as obedient children, …not be conformed to the passions of [our] former ignorance, but as He who called [us] is holy, [we] also [are to] be holy in all [our] conduct, since it is written, “You shall be holy, for I am holy.”

If we are to obey God's command to “be holy, for [He] is holy” then we will not be conformed to the passions of our former ignorance. This means to live holy (which literally means set apart [for God]) we must not follow our old worldly ways, the ways we acted before God “called us” causing us to be reborn (as we saw a few weeks ago) but we should follow Him, and live as He commands. Our former ignorance means that before, we did not know God, and therefore, had no knowledge of how to live rightly (in His eyes) and did not even try to live according to His will. So now, as His children, that He called, and caused to be reborn and believe in His Son and be saved, we are now aliens in this world; His “elect exiles.” And we should no longer conform to this world. We should no longer do what the world does, because we have been called out as God's people, we are to be holy (set apart) because He is holy and set apart from the sin of this world.

If we are truly Christians, if God has caused us to be reborn, and we believe in Christ as our savior, then our actions WILL change. When we begin to prepare our minds for action (that is living a holy life, as His light in the darkness) and we set our hope in Christ and what He has to offer in Himself and in heaven, then compared to the lavish feast God has prepared for us, the worldly things will look like mud pies. Sinful actions that seem fun at the time will be revealed for what they truly are: destructive.

When our minds are prepared, and we are “sober-minded” we will not look like the world around us. If we look like the world (dress like the world), talk like the world, act like the world, then how will anyone know that we are the “light of the world?” If no one can tell a difference in our life and theirs, how can we tell them about the salvation of God, and the hope that is in Jesus Christ, if He hasn't made a difference in our lives?

We need to move to the point where we ask God to mold our lives after Jesus, that we would live holy lives as He did, in complete obedience to God.

Eph 4:22-24

…Put off your old self, which belongs to your former manner of life and is corrupt through deceitful desires, and to be renewed in the spirit of your minds, and to put on the new self, created after the likeness of God in true righteousness and holiness.

We are called to live in holiness because “without holiness, no one will see the Lord” (Heb 12:14). God's command to “be holy” because He “is holy” is more than a command to believe in His Son Jesus Christ for salvation, but a call to submit to His Lordship over our lives. It is a call to live totally for Him, a call to live as an exile, an alien in a foreign land.

We have been called out by God to be His people, we are set apart for Him. He has caused us to be reborn, and commands us to live holy lives; to live as Jesus. So we see the truth of what God has done for us in our salvation, we see that we are citizens of the Kingdom of God, His people, called out by Him and for Him, and as obedient children, we should strive for holiness. We should prepare our minds, casting off the “old self,” our former ways that were in ignorance, and live holy lives, because the One who called us holy.

Let us live as children of God, born again to a living hope that is in Christ, set apart from the world, no longer impressed by the things it has to offer, but in the glory of God.


	1 Peter 1:13-16 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.” For the past few weeks, we have been looking at the apostle Peter's first epistle. We have seen that Peter is writing to the “elect exiles” in Northern Asia Minor; he is writing to believers who are living as aliens in a foreign land. We have seen, and join with, Peter in rejoicing over the great truths of God's mercy that He has caused us to be born again, to a living hope that is in Jesus, to an inheritance that is kept for us in heaven, and that no matter what trials we go through, in the end, our faith will be proven genuine, and more precious than gold, resulting in praise and glory and honor being given to God through us. This week, I would like to skip a few verses, not because I think they are unimportant, or do not have great truths for our lives within them, but I do this in order to move on to Peter's main message: to live holy lives. We have seen the doctrines Peter has presented, and how he rejoiced and worshipped because of them, but how do those doctrines impact our lives? How do we apply this truth to our actions? This is what I want to look at tonight. 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. What does it mean to “prepare your mind for action?” In the Greek, it literally says, “gird up the loins of your mind.” What in the world does it mean to gird up your loins, and what does that have to do with my mind? In the first century, clothing styles weren't quite what they are now. People wore long flowing garments, robes, tunics, and such to protect from the sun and many other things. If someone were to run, they would trip all over themselves because of this robe. So the idea of “girding up your loins” meant to pull up your robe, or tuck it into you belt, so that you legs are free to move. This expression was used in military aspects, for messengers, and for anyone that needed to run without tripping. The idea here is that you prepare yourself for the task at hand. If you have to deliver a message to another commander in the military, you will prepare to run the distance by pulling up your robe, to free your legs so you can perform your task to the best of your ability with the most precision possible. So if we are to “prepare our minds” for action, we must do all we can to purify our minds, bringing us closer to God. We must be “sober-minded” or “self-controlled.” This means we must be in control of our mind, and not let our worldly desires, the desires of the flesh, take over and cause us to sin. This is translated “sober-minded” because the Greek word implies (and is the root of other words pertaining to) alcohol use. If you have ever seen someone who is drunk try to walk, or do anything else, you know right off that they are not in control of their mind, or their “faculties.” They stumble around, get their words mixed up, and do things they wouldn't normally do (if they were sober). Likewise, when we allow sin to control our “minds” we are just like a drunk, stumbling around speaking and acting in ways we shouldn't, and maybe wouldn't if we had “prepared our minds” for action by following God's word. How do we prepare our minds for action? By “[setting our] hope fully on the grace that will be brought to [us] at the revelation of Jesus Christ.” When we set our hope on that grace, the things of the world seem less appealing to us, and we begin to see God as to One who brings us more satisfaction than anything else. No worldly vice can bring us more pleasure than God. We begin to prepare our minds for action, to live in this sinful world and be His light in the darkness, by first recognizing the grace of God in the truth that we have that hope and inheritance we talked about a few weeks ago. We see that nothing this world offers compares to the glorious riches we have in Christ. So as we begin to prepare our minds for right living, living holy lives, we first set our hope in the grace of God, knowing that we will be glorified when Jesus returns and will live forever in His presence worshipping Him. Also in preparing our minds to live rightly, we should, “as obedient children, …not be conformed to the passions of [our] former ignorance, but as He who called [us] is holy, [we] also [are to] be holy in all [our] conduct, since it is written, “You shall be holy, for I am holy.” If we are to obey God's command to “be holy, for [He] is holy” then we will not be conformed to the passions of our former ignorance. This means to live holy (which literally means set apart [for God]) we must not follow our old worldly ways, the ways we acted before God “called us” causing us to be reborn (as we saw a few weeks ago) but we should follow Him, and live as He commands. Our former ignorance means that before, we did not know God, and therefore, had no knowledge of how to live rightly (in His eyes) and did not even try to live according to His will. So now, as His children, that He called, and caused to be reborn and believe in His Son and be saved, we are now aliens in this world; His “elect exiles.” And we should no longer conform to this world. We should no longer do what the world does, because we have been called out as God's people, we are to be holy (set apart) because He is holy and set apart from the sin of this world. If we are truly Christians, if God has caused us to be reborn, and we believe in Christ as our savior, then our actions WILL change. When we begin to prepare our minds for action (that is living a holy life, as His light in the darkness) and we set our hope in Christ and what He has to offer in Himself and in heaven, then compared to the lavish feast God has prepared for us, the worldly things will look like mud pies. Sinful actions that seem fun at the time will be revealed for what they truly are: destructive. When our minds are prepared, and we are “sober-minded” we will not look like the world around us. If we look like the world (dress like the world), talk like the world, act like the world, then how will anyone know that we are the “light of the world?” If no one can tell a difference in our life and theirs, how can we tell them about the salvation of God, and the hope that is in Jesus Christ, if He hasn't made a difference in our lives? We need to move to the point where we ask God to mold our lives after Jesus, that we would live holy lives as He did, in complete obedience to God. Eph 4:22-24 …Put off your old self, which belongs to your former manner of life and is corrupt through deceitful desires, and to be renewed in the spirit of your minds, and to put on the new self, created after the likeness of God in true righteousness and holiness. We are called to live in holiness because “without holiness, no one will see the Lord” (Heb 12:14). God's command to “be holy” because He “is holy” is more than a command to believe in His Son Jesus Christ for salvation, but a call to submit to His Lordship over our lives. It is a call to live totally for Him, a call to live as an exile, an alien in a foreign land. We have been called out by God to be His people, we are set apart for Him. He has caused us to be reborn, and commands us to live holy lives; to live as Jesus. So we see the truth of what God has done for us in our salvation, we see that we are citizens of the Kingdom of God, His people, called out by Him and for Him, and as obedient children, we should strive for holiness. We should prepare our minds, casting off the “old self,” our former ways that were in ignorance, and live holy lives, because the One who called us holy. Let us live as children of God, born again to a living hope that is in Christ, set apart from the world, no longer impressed by the things it has to offer, but in the glory of God.