Become Holy

Become Holy

1 Peter 1:14 – Like obedient children, do not comply with the evil urges you used to follow in your ignorance, 15 – but, like the Holy One who called you, become holy yourselves in all of your conduct, 16 – for it is written, “You shall be holy, because I am holy.”

I check out the cross references for verse 16 to find out where the phrase “You shall be holy, because I am holy” was written.  Here is what I found and its corresponding context:

Leviticus 11:44 – for I am the LORD your God and you are to sanctify yourselves and be holy because I am holy.  You must not defile yourselves by any of the swarming things that creep on the ground. 45 – for I am the LORD who brought you up from the land of Egypt to be your God, and you are to be holy because I am holy.

If you recall the plagues that were sent to Egypt; the frogs, lice, flies, and locusts were not sent to Egypt to be alternate sources of food.  They were sent as a proof that God is Lord over all things that those things should not be worshiped or eaten.  We were created in the image of God not the image of a bug or a frog.

Here’s the next one:  Leviticus 19:1 – The LORD spoke to Moses: 2 – “Speak to the whole congregation of the Israelites and tell them, ‘You must be holy because I, the LORD your God, am holy. 3 – Each of you must respect his mother and his father, and you must keep my Sabbaths. I am the LORD your God. 4 – Do not turn to idols, and you must not make for yourselves gods of cast metal. I am the LORD your God.

We are now in the context of the moral law of God highlighting the commandments referring to honoring your parents, remembering the Sabbath day, and not making any gods of cast metal or graven images.  We are born in the image of our parents and our first parents, Adam and Eve, were made in the image of God.  God rested from creating and made the Sabbath. And we are not to worship technology because God is the Lord, we worship He who made us, not things we’ve made from our own hands.

This next one is no less important than all the previous ones we’ve looked at, however it’s placed within a very controversial context:  Leviticus 20:7 – “you must sanctify yourselves and by holy, because I am the LORD your God. 8 – You must be sure to obey my statutes. I am the LORD who sanctifies you. 9 – “If anyone curses his father and mother he must be put to death. He has cursed his father and mother; his blood guilt is on himself. 10 – If a man commits adultery with his neighbor’s wife, both the adulterer and the adulteress must be put to death. – the verses continue to describe sexual practices that are forbidden, practices that are deemed acceptable and even protected by today’s standards.

The final verse in my list of cross references is a little different from all the rest:  Amos 3:3 – Do two walk together without having met?  Here is its context in verse 2 – “I have chosen you alone from all the clans of the earth. Therefore I will punish you for all your sins.”

Revelation 3:19 says – All those I love, I rebuke and discipline. So be earnest and repent!

God wants to meet together with us and walk with us along our journey on earth to our ultimate destination in heaven.  This journey will involve correction and discipline as we choose to conform to God and refuse to conform to the world.  To meet and spend time with God is to become holy.  It is the work of a lifetime to be remade in the image of God in our thoughts and actions awaiting the day when our bodies are transformed at His appearing.  We have been chosen for holiness; chosen for heaven; chosen by Jesus. 

In the power of Jesus Christ, let’s become a holy people today!