a call to holy living

In Peter's first epistle, he gives some pretty blunt & practical direction of holy living.

These days it seems there's a lot of emphasis on getting save, getting over our hangups & hurts &addictions, & then getting all warm & fuzzy with "our daddy God"...

but there seems to be little talk about how as followers of Jesus we need to live a holy life.

Holiness ain't "in" right now.

Self actualization seems to be the call of the moment.

We serve an infinitely holy God...

who expects us to at least make an attempt at reflecting & duplicating that holiness.

Here's what Peter has to say...

1 Peter 1

13 So prepare your minds for action and exercise self-control. 

Put all your hope in the gracious salvation that will come to you when Jesus Christ is revealed to the world. 

14 So you must live as God’s obedient children. 

Don’t slip back into your old ways of living to satisfy your own desires. 

You didn’t know any better then. 

15 But now you must be holy in everything you do, 

just as God who chose you is holy.

16 For the Scriptures say, 

“You must be holy because I am holy.”

17 And remember that the heavenly Father to whom you pray has no favorites. 

He will judge or reward you according to what you do. 

So you must live in reverent fear of him during your time here as “temporary residents.” 

18 For you know that God paid a ransom to save you from the empty life you inherited from your ancestors. 

And it was not paid with mere gold or silver, which lose their value. 

19 It was the precious blood of Christ, the sinless, spotless Lamb of God. 

20 God chose him as your ransom long before the world began, 

but now in these last days he has been revealed for your sake.

21 Through Christ you have come to trust in God. 

And you have placed your faith and hope in God 

because he raised Christ from the dead and gave him great glory.

22 You were cleansed from your sins when you obeyed the truth, 

so now you must show sincere love to each other as brothers and sisters. 

Love each other deeply with all your heart.

23 For you have been born again, 

but not to a life that will quickly end. 

Your new life will last forever 

because it comes from the eternal, living word of God. 

24 As the Scriptures say,

“People are like grass;
    their beauty is like a flower in the field.
The grass withers and the flower fades.
25     But the word of the Lord remains forever.”

And that word is the Good News that was preached to you.