Derek W.H. Thomas is the John Richards Professor of Practical and Systematic Theology at Reformed Theological Seminary in Jackson, Miss. He is also the minister of teaching at First Presbyterian Church in Jackson and editorial director for The Alliance of Confessing Evangelicals. Among Dr. Thomas’ many books are God Strengthens: Ezekiel Properly Explained, Mining for Wisdom: A Twenty-Eight-Day Devotional Based on the Book of Job, and Calvin’s Teaching on Job.
Dr. Thomas, addressing the topic Be Ye Holy: The Necessity of Sanctification, took us to I Peter 1:13-25.
INTRODUCTION
It is one thing to talk about the holiness of God and another thing to long for holiness in our own life. Consider the “third use” of the law (as a guide). Or Luther’s refrain: We are saved by faith alone, but not by a faith that is alone. Or James: Faith without works is dead.
But ours is a man-centered age. We like books on how to be a good father or how to improve your diet, rather than how to be holy and Christ-like. And in our circles, we can get caught up with theological issues and miss the point that the goal of all theology is to drive us into a holiness of life. R. Murray Mc’Chenye’s great statement has been noted: “My people’s greatest need is my personal holiness.” This is serious business because without holiness, the author of Hebrews tells us, no one will see the Lord.
MORAL IMPERATIVES ARE BASED ON GOSPEL INDICATIVES
We see “therefore” at the start of our passage. Why? Because Peter is basing his moral imperatives on gospel indicatives. Confuse those two and you’ve confused the gospel. In the first two verses of I Peter we see that being addressed are “the elect exiles.” And to what end? “Sanctification of the Spirit, for obedience to Jesus Christ.” We are saved in order to be holy.
Notice how Trinitarian Peter is: “foreknowledge of God the Father, in the sanctification of the Spirit, for obedience to Jesus Christ.” Each member of the Godhead works in concert with the others in foreordination and execution of salvation. What have we been called to? “An inheritance that is imperishable, undefiled, and unfading….joy that is inexpressible and filled with glory.” We are to be holy because we’ve been brought into this relationship with God.
We are to think in Christian ways – in biblical ways. The battle begins in our minds. Dr. Thomas recalls visiting Geoffrey Thomas in Alfred Place, Aberystwyth, rising early and reading John Owen on indwelling sin. John Owen used to talk about “the default state” of your mind: what does your mind revert to when it is not being pushed in one direction or another. That is the indicator of your spiritual mindedness.
We see three motivations for holiness in I Peter 1:13-25.
MOTIVATION I: THE HOLINESS OF GOD
In verse 15-16 Peter cites the text from the holiness code: “you shall be holy, for I am holy.” This gives us both a motivation and a standard for holiness. Because the members of the God-head are holy, God’s people ought to be holy. We ought to reflect something of God’s moral purity. How could it be otherwise?
I Samuel chapter 1. Consider the parameters whereby Hannah was motivated to be holy. In this passage we’re introduced to this small family, Elkanah and his two wives, Hannah and Peninnah. While Hannah is unable to bear children, Peninnah’s womb is quite fruitful. And apparently she rubs it in during the family’s annual visits to the temple. In I Samuel 1 we see Hannah in anguish. Her husband insensitively suggests he ought to be more precious to Hannah than 10 sons. While Hannah prays inaudibly, Eli (with equal insensitivity) inquires as to whether she is drunk.
Hannah’s prayer was straightforward: Give me a son, Lord, and I will give him back to You. Imagine the selflessness of Hannah, when God did give her a son: As soon as the child was weaned, she brought him to the temple. What was it that motivated her? It was the holiness of God (I Samuel 2:2). There is a beautiful attraction of holiness.
Is holiness our passionate concern? Is it what we yearn for, and pray for, and long for? Is holiness our personal passion? Our passion for our churches?
MOTIVATION II: THE GOSPEL
We have been bought–purchased: we are not our own (1:18). Peter is perhaps reflecting on that testimony he gave at Ceserea Phillipi: “You are the Christ, the Son of God.” How to Jesus respond? He proceeded to explain that he must go to Jerusalem and die. And Peter’s response: “Lord, you must be mistaken. You who are the Sovereign King — this could never happen to you.”
What dawned on Peter (upon his reflection of Ceserea Phillipi) is that Jesus had ransomed him from the vanity of this world. This is gospel logic. When something is bought, you have the right of private ownership. Peter is reflecting on the fact that he belongs to Jesus Christ. Blood was shed for me. A ransom was paid to set me free.
He goes on verses 20-21 to reflect upon the revelation of the gospel: “He was foreknown before the foundation of the world but was made manifest in the last times for the sake of you who through him are believers in God.” Our holiness is based upon all that God has done to secure our redemption. What the redeemed soul needs is human holiness, not God’s holiness or angelic holiness. But in the humanity of Jesus Christ. Those who santifies and those being sanctified are one and the same. We are, in progressive sanctification, to reflect the righteousness of Christ which has been reckoned and imputed to us.
Paul’s language is that we have “believed into Jesus Christ.” Peter says we are “living stones” in a building in which Jesus Christ is the chief cornerstone. (No surprise that Peter should choose the stone/building imagery — Jesus gave Him the name “rock”.)
We have been brought into a relationship in which we can call God “Abba, Father.” We have been brought into the family of God. That is why he goes into the importance of our loving one another. Dr. Thomas reflected on his own conversion as a young adult. It hit him that Christians were his true family. Peter is addressing holiness within the context of family life.
Dr. Thomas reflected on getting into trouble with the headmaster at the age of 12. That was painful, but nothing compared to the rebuke of his older brother. His 17 year old brother caught him in the hallway, took him aside and said, “You have let the family down.” That is the logic of Peter’s motivation here: We are to love one another sincerely, because we are family. When we fall short of God’s glory, we let the family down. We let the Father down. It is a test of our love for God the Father.
MOTIVATION III: THE JUDGMENT OF GOD
We lack the time to expand upon this, but suffice it to say it is a neglected topic in our day. We are to give an account of the deeds done in the body. There is to be a judgment and rewards alloted. One of the motivations for holiness is that a day of reckoning is surely coming. Peter’s concern for holiness here is in the midst of fiery trials.
Are you experiencing trials this morning? Peter would be saying to you: See that trial as God’s gift to you. Embrace it. Don’t waste your cancer, as John Piper wrote. See that trial in the purposes of our sovereign God as the very means to conform you into the image of God. That you may be able to say with Job: “When I am tried, I shall come forth as gold.” Or as Charles Wesley wrote:

Finish then thy new creation:
Pure and spotless let us be;
Let us see thy great salvation,
Perfectly restored in thee;
Changed from glory into glory,
Till in heaven we take our place,
Till we cast our crowns before thee,
Lost in wonder, love and praise.

Donald A. Carson is research professor of New Testament at Trinity Evangelical Divinity School in Deerfield, Ill. He is a widely sought-after conference speaker and teacher, and he is known in the church for his excellence in scholarship and passion for the biblical Gospel. Dr. Carson has authored more than forty-five books including The Gagging of God, Scripture and Truth, and the commentary on Matthew in the Expositors’ Biblical Commentary series.
In addressing the topic A Holy Nation: The Church’s High Calling, Dr. Carson read I Peter 2:4-10.
INTRODUCTION
In addition to our individual identities, we all have corporate identities. In fact, we have many corporate identities. We are all here at the Ligonier conference. Many of us are Americans. Some are plumbers. Others are doctors. Etc. Of course, these corporate identities overlap. We may be Americans and doctors. And the precedence of these corporate identities may differ from one person to another. Some prefer to think of themselves as medical doctors first, and African Americans second, while others may reverse the order. But our corporate identity as Christians trumps all other corporate identities.
I. OUR IDENTITY
You are a “chosen people.” The word is sometimes rendered “race.” Isaiah 43:3-4 and then from verse 19 and following shows that God has a special love for the people of Israel (over Egypt, Cush, and Seba) even though the Israelites have not offered their God-commanded sacrifices. God will nevertheless deal with them as His covenant people.
It started with Abraham. He was chosen; he didn’t offer himself as the leader of a new race. And then there is the selection of Isaac (not Ishmael) and then Jacob (not Esau). The locus of God’s chosen people extends to Christians today. Persecution was inflicted upon the Christian “genus” (people) to whom Peter was writing because they believed (as a pagan of that day wrote) in the “strange myth of the resurrection.”
(A) Chosen people
Peter 1:1 establishes the diversity of the readers to whom he intends his letter, “You, the chosen of God, from Pontus, Galatia, Cappadocia, Asia, and Bithynia.” Basically, from all over the place. In our day, Peter would have said, “Iran, Egypt, Brazil, North America, etc.”
(B) Royal priesthood
We see this language in Exodus 19:6. That all of the Israelites were “royal priests” did not preclude the Levites being a special kind of priest (with special priveldges and prerogatives). On the one hand, one could not volunteer to be a Levite. On the other hand, all the people are priests. The priesthood function was two-fold: (1) They were mediators between God and man. They took God’s teaching, demands, and ceremonial requirements and disclosed them to the people. (2) They lifted up to God the sins of the people and their own sins.
When Paul in Romans 15 discusses his evangelism, it is called a “priestly service”. We become priests not because we have some peculiar role (e.g., full-time ministry), but because as Christians we are to pray for those outside and to present the living God’s gospel to them. Talking to an unbeliever is a priestly act of mediation. We are all priests in this sense; believers are built into a spiritual priesthood. We all have access to God. There are not two standards of holiness on this side of the cross. We are all a part of the priesthood (what a privilege!) of the King of the universe.
(C) Holy Nation
This is the word we render “ethnicity”. [The word “nation” in English refers to a geo-political entity. In the ancient days there were multiple ethnicities that constituted one geo-political entity. For example, you might have the French-speaking Canadians (a “nation”) in the “state” or Quebec.
What kind of nation are we? A holy nation. There are many communicable attributes of God (e.g., love). What about holiness? On the one hand, we’re commanded to be holy – so it is a communicable attribute. On the other hand, there are concentric rings of holiness (levels). What does holy mean? Separate? Not really. Morality? You can’t imagine the angels saying to God “moral, moral, moral.”
No, holy is an adjective for God. Even the highest order of angels cover their wings as they cry out to God (he’s too holy to look at). Other things (like instruments) in so far as they are to be used exclusively for the things of God. If we’re talking about holy people, then the manner in which these people are to display holiness has overtones of morality: Living in a way that is consistent and reflective of God’s holiness. Because God has set us apart as being His, we are (in one sense) holy (de facto). Yet we can live in a way that besmirches His Name. However, we are to live in such a way that we display His holiness. This can set up conflicts with other corporate identities which we may have. And how we resolve any such conflicts is very important.
(D) We are God’s special possession.
On the one hand, everyone is God’s possession. God rules over all. But only those who are born of God are truly God’s (in a special sense). So we see that Israel is God’s special possession. It is a spectacular notion. It ought to instill in us awe and wonder. Especially considering that this is by His own initiative.
Peter understands that what was said of God’s people in the Old Testament must be said of God’s people in the New Testament. It is an unspeakable privledge to be among God’s special people. It creates a corporate identity which has supremacy over and above all other corporate identities we may have.
II. OUR PURPOSE
Back to I Peter 2:9, our purpose is “that we may declare the praises.” The language is from Isaiah 43:21: “the people whom I formed for myself that they might declare my praise.
Note the sheer God-centeredness of this purpose. Many non-Christians today complain about the idea of God being “narcissistic” — self-absorbed. This is recent – 20 years ago, we had only Christian atheists. The Christian God is the one such persons did not believe in. But such people did not have any problem with God being bigger than us. After all, He’s the King; He’s God. Not so for young people today.
The response is this: Because we have been made for God, it is a supreme act of love on God’s part to command that we love Him supremely. Not only because He is God, but precisely because He is God. There is no insecurity in this God. He has no needs. In eternity past, the Son loved the Father and the Father loved the Son. They were perfectly content in their fellowship. God’s focus on Himself is precisely what we need. Otherwise, we are left to wallow in idolatry over and over again.
Our purpose is to sing God’s excellencies. Consider who we once were – aliented from God, enemies, yet now we’ve been ransomed. That is a cause for unspeakable praise.
III. OUR FOUNDATION
We see our foundation in I Peter 2:10: We have received mercy. The language in Hosea 1:6-9 is helpful. Those being spoken of are all Israelites. Yet God declares them to be “not His people.” Then in chapter 2 we read (in verse 23) that they are again declared to be God’s people. Note how Paul and Peter use these verses — they use them to refer to Gentiles. They say of Gentiles you were “not God’s people” but now “are God’s people.” Paul and Peter can do this exegetically because once Israel had been judiciously declared “not my people” they became indistinguishable from the pagans (exactly what Romans 1:18-3:20 is about). All are under sin: Jew and Gentile. Israel itself had become “not my people.” And if God can bring back in ethnic Israelites, then he can do it to Gentiles as well. We were all “not my people” (under sin). But now we have received mercy. Go back to I Peter 1: “elect…born again to a living hope…kept through faith for salvation…ransomed….with the precious blood of Christ.”
Everything we enjoy as God’s people has been secured by the cross. Forgiveness, peace with God, reconciliation, justification — all of it. Our identity, corporately, is being the people of God. We must think of ourselves as the Christians first and foremost. This is the end of racism, of nationalism. This is our identity. Our unity is grounded entirely in Christ’s work. As we become God-obsessed, Christ-obsessed, and cross-obsessed, whatever other identities we have, these give a holy diversity to the household of faith, wherein our diversity becomes not a source of division and strife, but of redounding glory to God.