Called To Live The Holy Life

SERMON # 1121

PASTOR EDITH CRUZ

DATE: AUGUST 12, 2020

TOPIC: "Called To Live The Holy Life" 1 Peter 1:13-16

Our dear and beloved Peter, he had already told us about salvation, now he tells us: "Therefore...", since they are saved, it is proper that they prepare TO BE HOLY!

I. We start from the fact that the God who called us IS HOLY!

A. In our salvation we have many glories that work in us making great changes.

1. Now we are getting to know the Gospel. We are blessed to know the writings of the Apostles teaching us about how everything has been since Jesus arrived. We can know the great and good of the kingdom of God to give us the spiritual impulse that is required of the disciples of Jesus.

2. Our duties are born in the heart of the Gospel.

3. The dynamic of duty toward good conduct and holiness is born in the heart of the Gospel.

4. (Vs. 13) “…gird up the loins of your understanding…” The apostle Peter knows how to educate us, because he has already lived it. He teaches us that since we are saved, and by the way, saints, we must have A GIRTH OF UNDERSTANDING!

5. We have to walk fast since we have salvation and now, we are on the path of a holy life, because then, we have to gird up our loins SO WE DO NOT TRIP.

6. That is why you should girdle your loins. The loins "...of understanding..." of reason, of the mind.

7. Because we are from the kingdom of God, when we go out to live in a hostile world, we must avoid panic and distractions in this fallen earth.

8. In times of persecution there is always the tendency to become agitated and confused.

9. But, A TIGHTENED MIND IS A MIND THAT IS STRONG, WILLING, COLD AND READY FOR ACTION! We must have girded the loins of our understanding!

10. Let mind and reason not be hindered by distraction from fear of men or persecution.

11. Peter continues and now advises us: “… be sober…” He says so because he has already instructed us for unity and mental strength (that of girdling the loins of the understanding), now for sobriety in conduct he tells us: “...be sober... "

12. This means having SELF-CONTROL, which is in contrast to hysteria.

13. By having the loins of the understanding girded nothing drives us crazy or makes us tremble, and with a sober spirit we are BALANCED and STABLE without getting carried away madly by our own ideas or feelings!

14. With an optimistic mind, looking ahead, “…set your hope fully on the grace to be given you when Jesus Christ is revealed…”

15. The certainty of the coming of Christ is presented as an urgent motive FOR PATIENCE THROUGH THE TEMPESTS AND TRIBULATIONS OF LIFE.

16. “…when Jesus Christ is revealed…” Here it refers to the Lord's return to earth, when he will be revealed in glory. It could also refer to the Rapture, when Christ comes for His saints.

17. (Vs. 14) "...as obedient children..." THE OBEDIENT MIND OF OBEDIENT CHILDREN!

18. “The obedient children” should not “follow the sins” that characterized them in their previous life.

19. Now that we are Christians, we must model our lives after the One whose name we bear.

20. If you follow your life molded as ungodly, then you deny your heavenly character.

21. What is your character? Has it been difficult for you to mold yourself according to Christ? Well, that means you still love yourself more than the Lord!

22. "...do not conform to the evil desires you had when you lived in your ignorance..." The things you did in the days of your ignorance are no longer your mold!

23. "They should be taken away" now that they have been enlightened by the Holy Spirit. You should not continue in them!

24. "...the evil desires you had..." means the sins to which they previously indulged when they were "ignorant of God."

25. You claim to know and love him, but it is your acts that tell whether it is true or false.

26. (Vs. 15) Instead of imitating the impious world with its fashions and styles, OUR LIVES SHOULD REPRODUCE THE HOLY CHARACTER OF THE ONE WHO CALLED US.

27. Being pious means bearing the moral likeness of God! God is holy in all His ways!

28. You cannot be someone who walks distorted in God's way.

29. If we want to be like Him, we have to be "holy" in everything we "do" and "say."

30. In this life we will never be “as” holy as He, but we should “be holy” because He is!

31. GREAT REASON TO BE HOLY!

32. (Vs. 16) (Leviticus 11:44) “For I am the Lord your God; therefore consecrate yourselves, and you will be holy, because I am holy..." " ...because it is written: Be holy, because I am holy. "

33. Peter knows the history of the people of Israel and goes to the Old Testament to show that God expects His people to be like Him!

34. WHAT A GREAT LOVE AND WHAT CONFIDENCE FOR WITH OUR LIVES!

35. Christians are empowered to live holy lives by the Holy Spirit that dwells in them!

36. The Old Testament saints DID NOT HAVE THIS HELP AND BLESSING.

37. Remember, since we have more privileges than they do, we are also more responsible!

38. HOLINESS WAS GOD'S IDEAL IN THE OLD TESTAMENT!

39. Now, in the New Covenant it is a concrete and daily quality with the coming of the Holy Spirit.

40. The Old Testament verse of Leviticus takes on a new depth of meaning in the New Testament.

41. It is the difference between what seems normal and WHAT IS PROPER OF LIFE! Amen.