Heroic Holiness - Part 1 - 1 Peter 1:14-16
Pastor Tim Brown, Calvary Chapel Fremont, Sunday August 2, 2009
Heroic Holiness - 1 Peter 1:14-16
“…the continual struggle against sin has become for many Christians an alien and exotic pursuit ... Heroic holiness has never been common, but it was once at least commonly coveted.” Ken Myers | Touchstone | July/August 2009 | p9
Heroic holiness in the Bible:
Joseph – Genesis 39:9/David – 1 Samuel 24:6/Daniel - Daniel 1:8
What motivated these men to walk in holiness and cling to God regardless of the difficult circumstances/power of temptation? Were they merely avoiding ‘getting in trouble’? Was Joseph secretly saying in his heart: “I’d really like to be w/ her, but I’d get busted”? So w/ David/Daniel… If so, their obedience wouldn’t be out of love for God but would be motivated by fear of consequences – not because they valued what He values, but out of fear of getting caught.
Holiness is valuing what God values. Joseph valued sexual purity/ David valued God’s timing/Daniel valued fellowship w/ God
Legalism is doing what God commands w/o valuing what God values. God wants your heart and your body to be in the same place – no split/danger sign
Legalism is doing what God commands w/o loving the God who commands it. Legalism is obedience for obedience’s sake and holiness is obedience for God’s sake. Legalism is struggling against sin w/o loving God.
Legalism is doing holy things while loving unholy things.
Legalism is failed holiness.
What is the greatest commandment? Be holy? No, it’s ‘…love the Lord your God…’ A passionate love for God will result in a heroic holiness. Holiness is about loving God. We can certainly strive to be holy, but holiness is largely a result of loving God. What do we say of Joseph/David/ Daniel – that they were holy? Yes, but because they loved God.
14 There are forces that resist you loving God/holiness.
Don’t be conformed – there is an unholy power seeking to shape your life.
Joseph – PLEASURE/David – PRIDE of place/Daniel – PEER PRESSURE
These are challenges that all face. There are many who have walked away from Christ for the pursuit of sexual gratification/ ambitious pride/desire for acceptance and fear of rejection.
Lusts don’t have to do w/ only the pursuit and fulfillment of physical pleasures, but the pursuit of an independent life – a life lived w/o need of the authority of God and the bother of accountability to God. God has a vision for your life/your lusts have a vision for your life.
It is the surrender to lust that short-circuits the beauty of holiness. Some of you who once walked closely to Christ have surrendered to a life of lust and the pursuit of your desires. Unlike Joseph, you haven’t fled from sexual sin. Unlike David, you’ve given way to greedy ambition. (Take advantage of people in their weakness and stick it to them.) Unlike Daniel, a desire to fit in and go along has carried you from fellowship w/ God. Desires for other than God have gripped your soul. You were once known for godliness and, now, ungodliness.
Your lusts will try to control you. Don’t allow them to form who you are/don’t submit to them At one point – this was all you knew. But the Spirit has illuminated your soul w/ the knowledge of Christ and a whole new blueprint for life has been unfolded for you. You are now a ‘child of obedience’.
When he knocked at the door of the gate, a servant-girl named Rhoda came to answer. Acts 12:13 Rhoda ‘obeyed’ the door. (21 times this verb is used. 19 times obey/1 time accept/1 time answer.) A child of obedience answers whenever the Lord is knocking. A child of obedience always says YES.
“…each time we obey, we receive into our natures a little more of the Divine nature.” fbmeyer It is through the obedience of faith that you become holy. Obedience precedes holiness. Obedience sculpts holiness. The obedience of faith will sculpt your soul into the holiness of Christ.
3 points to make (already made 2): #1 holiness is loving what God loves/#2 holiness is responding to the Lord and not your lusts/#3 holiness is you becoming holy. Love/response/transformation…
15 Greek – not: let your behavior become holy | but: you yourselves become holy in all your behavior. The emphasis isn’t on behaving in a holy way, but on becoming holy. Does holiness form behavior or does behavior form holiness? I think it’s mainly the latter. Your obedient behavior sculpts your character.
An undisciplined/lazy young man goes off to the military and comes back different a person. Not only orderly/neat/respectful, but he values these things as well. Not only has his behavior changed, but his character has been impacted as well. He won’t keep his room clean because he’ll get in trouble if he doesn’t, but because he now desires to keep it clean himself. When his younger brother speaks disrespectfully to his father, he slaps him on the back of the head.
It’s not my behavior that’s becoming holy, it’s me that’s becoming holy. My behavior is either obedient or it’s not – I am either doing what the Lord desires or I am not. But there are degrees of holiness in my soul.
This is strengthened by v16. God doesn’t say, “I am holy and so I want you to act holy.” This is strengthened by v 14 – not: don’t be conformed to former behaviors, but don’t be conformed to former lusts. Not: you acted one way and now you’ll act another way. Holiness isn’t about behaving, but about being. When a concern for holiness shifts from what the soul values to how the body acts, legalism is not far away. Behavior is a means to an end: purpose: please God. result: holiness. Behavior is a means to an end, but when it is an end in itself it become legalism. Legalism is Christianity that has lost its soul.
Joseph/David/Daniel didn’t obey God because they would get in trouble if they didn’t/feel guilty if they didn’t – but because they loved God. The purpose of their obedience was to please and glorify God and the result was a transformation of soul.
Jesus Christ came to save your soul from sin. Part of that salvation is the forgiveness of sin and another aspect of that salvation is the transformation of your soul – holiness.
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Heroic Holiness - 1 Peter 1:14-16
“…the continual struggle against sin has become for many Christians an alien and exotic pursuit ... Heroic holiness has never been common, but it was once at least commonly coveted.” Ken Myers | Touchstone | July/August 2009 | p9
Heroic holiness in the Bible:
Joseph – Genesis 39:9/David – 1 Samuel 24:6/Daniel - Daniel 1:8
What motivated these men to walk in holiness and cling to God regardless of the difficult circumstances/power of temptation? Were they merely avoiding ‘getting in trouble’? Was Joseph secretly saying in his heart: “I’d really like to be w/ her, but I’d get busted”? So w/ David/Daniel… If so, their obedience wouldn’t be out of love for God but would be motivated by fear of consequences – not because they valued what He values, but out of fear of getting caught.
Holiness is valuing what God values. Joseph valued sexual purity/ David valued God’s timing/Daniel valued fellowship w/ God
Legalism is doing what God commands w/o valuing what God values. God wants your heart and your body to be in the same place – no split/danger sign
Legalism is doing what God commands w/o loving the God who commands it. Legalism is obedience for obedience’s sake and holiness is obedience for God’s sake. Legalism is struggling against sin w/o loving God.
Legalism is doing holy things while loving unholy things.
Legalism is failed holiness.
What is the greatest commandment? Be holy? No, it’s ‘…love the Lord your God…’ A passionate love for God will result in a heroic holiness. Holiness is about loving God. We can certainly strive to be holy, but holiness is largely a result of loving God. What do we say of Joseph/David/ Daniel – that they were holy? Yes, but because they loved God.
14 There are forces that resist you loving God/holiness.
Don’t be conformed – there is an unholy power seeking to shape your life.
Joseph – PLEASURE/David – PRIDE of place/Daniel – PEER PRESSURE
These are challenges that all face. There are many who have walked away from Christ for the pursuit of sexual gratification/ ambitious pride/desire for acceptance and fear of rejection.
Lusts don’t have to do w/ only the pursuit and fulfillment of physical pleasures, but the pursuit of an independent life – a life lived w/o need of the authority of God and the bother of accountability to God. God has a vision for your life/your lusts have a vision for your life.
It is the surrender to lust that short-circuits the beauty of holiness. Some of you who once walked closely to Christ have surrendered to a life of lust and the pursuit of your desires. Unlike Joseph, you haven’t fled from sexual sin. Unlike David, you’ve given way to greedy ambition. (Take advantage of people in their weakness and stick it to them.) Unlike Daniel, a desire to fit in and go along has carried you from fellowship w/ God. Desires for other than God have gripped your soul. You were once known for godliness and, now, ungodliness.
Your lusts will try to control you. Don’t allow them to form who you are/don’t submit to them At one point – this was all you knew. But the Spirit has illuminated your soul w/ the knowledge of Christ and a whole new blueprint for life has been unfolded for you. You are now a ‘child of obedience’.
When he knocked at the door of the gate, a servant-girl named Rhoda came to answer. Acts 12:13 Rhoda ‘obeyed’ the door. (21 times this verb is used. 19 times obey/1 time accept/1 time answer.) A child of obedience answers whenever the Lord is knocking. A child of obedience always says YES.
“…each time we obey, we receive into our natures a little more of the Divine nature.” fbmeyer It is through the obedience of faith that you become holy. Obedience precedes holiness. Obedience sculpts holiness. The obedience of faith will sculpt your soul into the holiness of Christ.
3 points to make (already made 2): #1 holiness is loving what God loves/#2 holiness is responding to the Lord and not your lusts/#3 holiness is you becoming holy. Love/response/transformation…
15 Greek – not: let your behavior become holy | but: you yourselves become holy in all your behavior. The emphasis isn’t on behaving in a holy way, but on becoming holy. Does holiness form behavior or does behavior form holiness? I think it’s mainly the latter. Your obedient behavior sculpts your character.
An undisciplined/lazy young man goes off to the military and comes back different a person. Not only orderly/neat/respectful, but he values these things as well. Not only has his behavior changed, but his character has been impacted as well. He won’t keep his room clean because he’ll get in trouble if he doesn’t, but because he now desires to keep it clean himself. When his younger brother speaks disrespectfully to his father, he slaps him on the back of the head.
It’s not my behavior that’s becoming holy, it’s me that’s becoming holy. My behavior is either obedient or it’s not – I am either doing what the Lord desires or I am not. But there are degrees of holiness in my soul.
This is strengthened by v16. God doesn’t say, “I am holy and so I want you to act holy.” This is strengthened by v 14 – not: don’t be conformed to former behaviors, but don’t be conformed to former lusts. Not: you acted one way and now you’ll act another way. Holiness isn’t about behaving, but about being. When a concern for holiness shifts from what the soul values to how the body acts, legalism is not far away. Behavior is a means to an end: purpose: please God. result: holiness. Behavior is a means to an end, but when it is an end in itself it become legalism. Legalism is Christianity that has lost its soul.
Joseph/David/Daniel didn’t obey God because they would get in trouble if they didn’t/feel guilty if they didn’t – but because they loved God. The purpose of their obedience was to please and glorify God and the result was a transformation of soul.
Jesus Christ came to save your soul from sin. Part of that salvation is the forgiveness of sin and another aspect of that salvation is the transformation of your soul – holiness.
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