Grace and Holiness
Have you ever had several seemingly unrelated things come together to complement one another so well that you just know God is in it? I recently finished a study on 1 Peter, and at the same time this semester, I have been taking Old Testament Survey and Intro to Theology. While these three things don’t seem related, they ended up intertwining amazingly. What stood out to me in reading the Old Testament was the emphasis on holiness, and one of the major themes in 1 Peter was also holiness. For my theology class, one of our reading assignments was The Pursuit of Holiness. It was quite the theme!
The first, most obvious connection I made was between reading the first five books of the Old Testament while studying 1 Peter 1.
As obedient children, do not be conformed to the former lusts which were yours in your ignorance, but like the Holy One who called you, be holy yourselves also in all your behavior; because it is written, “You shall be holy, for I am holy.” 1 Peter 1:14-16
1 Peter 1:16 is quoting Leviticus 19:2:
“Speak to all the congregation of the sons of Israel and say to them, ‘You shall be holy, for I the Lord your God am holy.”
Over and over again, throughout the Old Testament, God calls the children of Israel to holiness. But what the history of Israel reveals is that Israel couldn’t be holy. They continually rebelled against God, disobeying Him and disregarding His holiness. They couldn’t do it. And if the story ended there, life would be depressing. We are all like the children of Israel; none of us can be holy in our own efforts. We all fall short of God’s glory (see Rom. 3:23). But luckily, the story doesn’t end there.
1 Peter 5:12 tells us the purpose for Peter’s writing:
Through Silvanus, our faithful brother (for so I regard him), I have written to you briefly, exhorting and testifying that this is the true grace of God. Stand firm in it!
1 Peter doesn’t just tell us to be holy because God is holy. It also contains the secret to how we, sinful and broken people, can be holy. The answer? By God’s grace.
The word “grace” appears in 1 Peter eight times. Peter begins his letter praying that grace and peace be theirs in the fullest (1 Peter 1:2). He explains that the prophets prophesied of “the grace that would come to you,” this grace being our salvation (1 Peter 1:10). Peter tells us to fix our hope on the grace that will be given to us at Christ’s revelation (1 Peter 1:13). He reminds us that we are all “fellow heirs of the grace of life” (1 Peter 3:7). We are instructed to use our gifts in order to be good stewards of God’s grace (1 Peter 4:10). Finally, 1 Peter 5 reminds us that God is the giver of grace, and He is the God of all grace (1 Peter 5:5, 10).
1 Peter is a wonderful book instructing us on how to live holy in all areas of life, as a part of the church, in suffering and testing, in our roles, and in daily life. But it’s all given with the backdrop of God’s grace, reminding us that we can’t in our own strength live the amazing life we’re called to live. But with God’s grace, we have the amazing gift and opportunity of living the grand life He’s called us to!
Sometimes people can have the wrong view of grace. There is a false idea that because God gives grace, we can continue to sin, and God will just keep giving us His grace. But that’s not what the Bible teaches. Paul combats this very argument in Romans.
What shall we say then? Are we to continue in sin so that grace may increase? May it never be! How shall we who died to sin still live in it? Or do you not know that all of us who have been baptized into Christ Jesus have been baptized into His death? Therefore we have been buried with Him through baptism into death, so that as Christ was raised from the dead through the glory of the Father, so we too might walk in newness of life. For if we have become united with Him in the likeness of His death, certainly we shall also be in the likeness of His resurrection, knowing this, that our old self was crucified with Him, in order that our body of sin might be done away with, so that we would no longer be slaves to sin; for he who has died is freed from sin. Romans 6:1-7
God’s grace does more than just forgive us from our sins; God’s grace enabled us to die to sin and live to righteousness, to leave our life of sin, and start walking in holiness. God’s grace is His strength in us.
Keep your behavior excellent among the Gentiles, so that in the thing in which they slander you as evildoers, they may because of your good deeds, as they observe them, glorify God in the day of visitation. 1 Peter 2:12
but sanctify Christ as Lord in your hearts, always being ready to make a defense to everyone who asks you to give an account for the hope that is in you, yet with gentleness and reverence; and keep a good conscience so that in the thing in which you are slandered, those who revile your good behavior in Christ will be put to shame. 1 Peter 3:15-16
The result of having our lives transformed by God’s grace so that we walk in holiness instead of sin is that our lives become a testimony of God’s glory. Our behavior as Christians is part of our defense of the gospel, and when the world sees a transformed life, God is glorified.
I pray that you have been encouraged today to walk in God’s grace and pursue holiness. May our transformed lives defend the gospel and glorify God!
With love,
Kelsey
