Why Holiness Matters
Key Scriptures: 1 Peter 1:16-19
14As obedient children, do not conform to the evil desires you had when you lived in ignorance. 15 But just as he who called you is holy, so be holy in all you do; 16 for it is written: “Be holy, because I am holy.”
Since you call on a Father who judges each person’s work impartially, live out your time as foreigners here in reverent fear. For you know that it was not with perishable things such as silver or gold that you were redeemed from the empty way of life handed down to you from your ancestors, but with the precious blood of Christ, a lamb without blemish or defect.
heading
Lesson One: We are to be holy is because God is holy
• Our #1 priority as believers is to know God. The #2 priority is to make God known (serve).
• We are called to reveal the holiness of God’s character to world.
1 Peter 1:15-16, But just as he who called you is holy, so be holy in all you do; for it is written: “Be holy, because I am holy.”
Deuteronomy 11:13-14, So if you faithfully obey the commands I am giving you today—to love the Lord your God and to serve him with all your heart and with all your soul—then I will send rain on your land in its season, both autumn and spring rains, so that you may gather in your grain, new wine and olive oil.
Philippians 3:7-11, But whatever were gains to me I now consider loss for the sake of Christ. What is more, I consider everything a loss because of the surpassing worth of knowing Christ Jesus my Lord, for whose sake I have lost all things. I consider them garbage, that I may gain Christ and be found in him, not having a righteousness of my own that comes from the law, but that which is through faith in Christ—the righteousness that comes from God on the basis of faith. I want to know Christ—yes, to know the power of his resurrection and participation in his sufferings, becoming like him in his death, and so, somehow, attaining to the resurrection from the dead.
Romans 10:14,How, then, can they call on the one they have not believed in? And how can they believe in the one of whom they have not heard? And how can they hear without someone preaching to them?
Matthew 5:14-16, You are the light of the world. A town built on a hill cannot be hidden. Neither do people light a lamp and put it under a bowl. Instead they put it on its stand, and it gives light to everyone in the house. In the same way, let your light shine before others, that they may see your good deeds and glorify your Father in heaven.
headfing
Lesson Two: We are to be holy is because judgement day is coming.
• We should live with a healthy, righteous fear of God.
• Our lives should reflect a pattern of holiness.
1 Peter 1:17, Since you call on a Father who judges each person’s work impartially, live out your time as foreigners here in reverent fear.
Matthew 25:32-36, All the nations will be gathered before him, and he will separate the people one from another as a shepherd separates the sheep from the goats. He will put the sheep on his right and the goats on his left. “Then the King will say to those on his right, ‘Come, you who are blessed by my Father; take your inheritance, the kingdom prepared for you since the creation of the world. For I was hungry and you gave me something to eat, I was thirsty and you gave me something to drink, I was a stranger and you invited me in, I needed clothes and you clothed me, I was sick and you looked after me, I was in prison and you came to visit me.’
heding
Lesson Three: We are to be holy is because we were bought with the blood of Jesus.
• The foundation for holiness is the redemptive work of Christ on the cross.
• Remembering the sacrifice of Jesus should help us to choose obedience.
1 Peter 1:18-19, For you know that it was not with perishable things such as silver or gold that you were redeemed from the empty way of life handed down to you from your ancestors, but with the precious blood of Christ, a lamb without blemish or defect.