Written by Dawn Rutan
There are preachers who quote 1 Peter 1:15-16 (ESV), “…Be holy in all your conduct, since it is written, ‘You shall be holy, for I am holy,’” as a basis for works righteousness. God is holy so He wants us to live holy lives, or so the argument goes. However, that little word “since” makes a big difference in these two verses, meaning that verse 16 is the reason for verse 15. The Greek word translated “You shall be” in 16 is not a command, but future indicative tense. In essence Peter is saying, “Because you will have the holiness of God, therefore you can live holy lives now.
We also can’t ignore the greater context of Peter’s letters, as well as the rest of the New Testament. Peter started his first letter by stating who we are in Christ. “According to His great mercy, He has caused us to be born again to a living hope through the resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead… who by God’s power are being guarded through faith for a salvation ready to be revealed in the last time” (1:3b, 5). On the basis of our identity, “Therefore, preparing your minds for action, and being sober-minded… As obedient children, do not be conformed to the passions of your former ignorance” (13-14). Peter uses a similar format in his second letter, “His divine power has granted to us all things that pertain to life and godliness, through the knowledge of Him who called us to His own glory and excellence… For this very reason make every effort to supplement your faith with virtue…” (2 Pet. 1:3, 5). Only because of who we are in Christ and all the blessings we have received from Him can we then pursue holy living.
Paul’s letters are also full of reminders of who we are in Christ. “But you were washed, you were sanctified, you were justified in the name of the Lord Jesus Christ and by the Spirit of our God… [He] who is joined to the Lord becomes one spirit with Him… Or do you not know that your body is a temple of the Holy Spirit within you, whom you have from God? You are not your own, for you were bought with a price. So glorify God in your body” (1 Corinthians 6:11b, 17, 19-20). Because of who you are in Christ you can glorify God. “Therefore, if anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation. The old has passed away; behold, the new has come… Therefore, we are ambassadors for Christ” (1 Cor. 5:17, 20a). As a new creation you can represent Christ to the world.
It’s so easy to get it all backward and think that we have to live holy lives in order to be made right with God, that we must behave a certain way so that we can one day be accepted into His kingdom. But Scripture says that being precedes doing. We are made able to obey because of who God says we already are. This is a truth that I never knew until was an adult. The preachers and teachers I heard in many different churches while growing up never bothered to tell me who I was in Christ. All they seemed to care about was how people acted, and for many of us it was truly an act. We tried to look good so that people would believe we were saved. It created a lot of fear, wondering “How good is good enough?”
This world we live in today is even more confused. Identity gets tied to education, career, sexuality, family role, economic status, etc. Christians need to remind one another of who we are in Christ, because that is the only thing that will last. Everything else will pass away. In the Kingdom, we won’t be known as doctor, lawyer, gay, married, wealthy, or anything else like that. We will be—and already are—children of God, loved, accepted, new creations, righteous, redeemed, free, heirs, brothers and sisters, made alive, faithful, reconciled with God, saints and overcomers. That alone is our motivation for how we should live. If we are living out of any other identity, we have to constantly perform a certain way in order to maintain it.
Sam Allberry said,
“I’m defined by who I am before God the Father in Jesus Christ… Who I most truly, ultimately, and fundamentally am is someone who is in Christ. And therefore when I’m striving to be holy, when I’m striving to be Christlike, I’m not going against the grain of who I really am, I’m going with it. As someone who is in Christ I am most being me when I am pursuing godliness, not when I am pursuing sin.”
For the person who is in Christ, sin is no longer “natural,” regardless of how it may feel. Instead, righteousness is our new nature and the life we are meant to pursue. Yes, it takes effort, but it is an effort that is guaranteed to pay off as we become more and more like God made us to be.
“For we are His workmanship, created in Christ Jesus for good works, which God prepared beforehand, that we should walk in them” (Ephesians 2:10).
© 2017 Dawn Rutan. The views stated may or may not reflect the beliefs of the pastor or leadership of Dulin’s Grove Church.
