First Peter is a small epistle, but it's big on the subject of holiness.

The name "Seventh-day Adventist" reveals that a central part of our message deals with the second advent of Christ. In our evangelistic meetings and Bible studies the advent hope fills a prominent place. Many new converts say that a major reason for their joining the remnant church is that they want to be ready to meet Jesus when He returns. Yet how many believers really understand what the Bible teaches about being ready to meet the Lord? When Jesus comes, will our hopes be fulfilled or will we experience the greatest disappointment of our lives? What does the Bible tell us about what believers have to be when the sky parts and the King of Kings appears in blazing glory?

Our salvation is intimately associated with the possession of holiness. Because of its significance to our salvation and to preparation for Christ's second coming, let us explore the meaning of holiness and how it manifests itself in the life of the knowledgeable believer.

The Bible Provides the Answer

I recently discovered a very useful insight into this question during my personal devotions. My habit in Bible study for some time has been to focus on a particular Bible book and try to grasp its full message before proceeding to another book. While I do not attempt to memorize the book, I do try to memorize its main points. Practicing this method, I have received blessings I had never before imagined. The Bible has become more precious, meaningful and exciting than I had thought possible. One blessing is that I have found answers to some of my questions regarding holiness.

The particular book that has recently given me a profound understanding of holiness is Peter's first letter. I recommend reading it ten, twenty or even fifty times. I think you will be amazed at the insights the Word of God provides. Instead of becoming bored with the study, I have discovered that the light the Holy Spirit sheds on Scripture keeps expanding, adding new dimensions every time I study the passages. When I think I am thoroughly familiar with the subject, the Holy Spirit opens up added perspectives of truth.

Discoveries in 1 Peter

Please join me in taking a careful look at 1 Peter. For whom was it written? It was addressed to believers who were scattered over a widespread area. Peter calls them "pilgrims," people on their way to the kingdom.

The first subject Peter touches upon is salvation. He points out that Jesus has given His precious people the hope of an incorruptible inheritance through His resurrection. This treasure is "reserved" for us "in heaven." Very soon, however, we shall receive the "end" or goal of our faith, the "salvation" of our "souls" (ch 1:4, 9). Prophets of old have studied this subject. Now the gospel has made it clear how this salvation can be obtained.

Call to Holiness

Next Peter describes the impact that the hope of salvation ought to have on our lives. It should lead to significant changes. Says he, "Gird up the loins of your mind, and rest your hope fully upon the grace that is to be brought to you at the revelation of Jesus Christ" (ch 1:15). Peter here calls for a life of holiness. "As He who called you is holy, you [should] also be holy in all your conduct" (ch 1:15).

Quoting a long-standing principle from the Old Testament, he writes, "Be holy, for I am holy" (ch 1:16). If believers fully realize that they are created in the image of God, they cannot but come to the conclusion that their lives are to reflect God in all their behavior. The crucial question remains, What does it mean to be holy? Peter explains what it means in the rest of his epistle.

A Life that Breaks with Former Lusts

First Peter shows that a holy lifestyle has to do with obedience. It represents a lifestyle that is opposite to living according to one's former lusts (ch 1:14). A holy life is characterized by a solemn awareness that God is our impartial Judge, who will properly evaluate all our actions. Peter writes, Your lifestyle will no longer reveal "your aimless conduct" that was governed "by the traditions of your fathers" (ch 1:18).

Christ's "precious blood has redeemed us" from a worthless cultural heritage. How often do people, especially youth, defend their worldly lifestyle by appealing to culture! Whether it is music, dressing, eating, or drinking, they defend it on the basis that it is a part of culture. Unfortunately they fail to see that culture is not neutral. Human cultures dominated by paganism for many centuries have been ruled by the evil one. These cultures are far from God's ideal for His people. Even the so-called Christian cultures do not reflect the lifestyle of New Testament Christians but have become largely like the world, molded by the great apostasy that was to permeate the world before the second advent (see 2 Thess 2). Consequently, no culture or tradition is a safe indicator as to how Christians should live. Only the Word of God can be trusted as a safe guide to the behavior that is appropriate for holiness.

Holiness Is a Gift

Peter reminds us that the lives of believers have been purified in "obeying the truth through the Spirit" (ch 1:22). The Holy Spirit, the Spirit of truth as Jesus called Him, leads them to an understanding of the Word of God, which in turn brings them the new-birth experience and holiness (see ch 1:23).

Holiness Reveals Fervent Love

A holy life does not consist in simply obeying the truth. It must also be characterized by loving one another fervently with a pure heart (ch 1:22). This oneness in truth and love is basic to the unity among God's people that reveals to the world that the Father has sent Jesus as the Saviour (see John 17:17-23). "Love as brothers, be tenderhearted, be courteous; not returning evil for evil or reviling for reviling, but on the contrary blessing, knowing that you were called to this, that you may inherit a blessing" (ch 3:8, 9).

Holiness Focuses on the Word of God

Instead of adopting the standards of the world, we, as newborn infants, "desire the pure milk of the word," to grow thereby (ch 2:1-2). The Word of God is the source of spiritual growth for believers. The Word, not the world, is to shape every facet of our lifestyle, including all our likes and dislikes.

Holiness Involves a Life of Spiritual Sacrifice

A holy life accepts Christ as the "Cornerstone" of the spiritual temple that represents the New Testament community of faith. Genuine believers see themselves as "living stones" that help make up this edifice. They are fully alive, not dead, and are willing to be molded by the living Cornerstone. They are part of a dynamic growth process. Their holy lives are characterized by spiritual sacrifices that are "acceptable to God through Jesus Christ" (ch 2:5).

In complete obedience to the Word of God they make up a holy priesthood, a holy nation. They are considered God's own special people called to a specific mission. They are to proclaim the praises of their Saviour, for He has called them "out of darkness into His marvelous light" (ch 2:9). They are fully aware of the stark contrast between their former lifestyle of darkness in their various cultural traditions and their new and living experience with their Saviour. No wonder they respond with thanks and praise-giving.

Holiness Abstains from Fleshly Lusts

In case anyone still has questions about what it means to be holy, Peter reminds new believers to abstain from fleshly lusts. These lusts he defines as those "which war against the soul" (ch 2:11). When lusts are allowed to operate freely, they undermine and eventually destroy the believer's spirituality.

This injunction alerts true believers to their need to find out how they can protect themselves from their former lusts. Mrs. White provides a profound insight into this matter. "If the mind is impure the body will naturally engage in impure acts. Purity cannot exist in the soul of one who yields his body to impure acts. If the body is serving lust, the mind cannot maintain consecration to God. To preserve a sanctified mind, the body must be preserved in sanctification and honor. The mind will then serve the law of God, and yield willing obedience to all its claims" (Review and Herald, March 8, 1870).

A life of holiness is characterized by a mind that is subject to divine rulership. Such a life enjoys the highest form of freedom. "There is therefore now no condemnation to those who are in Christ Jesus, who do not walk according to the flesh, but according to the Spirit" (Rom 8:1).

"Abstain from fleshly lusts," says 1 Peter 2:11, "which war against the soul." Intemperance in eating and drinking surely jeopardize the soul. "By eating to excess the stomach is made to do double work, and the mind is affected and unfit to take in and comprehend eternal realities. Those who indulge the appetite at the expense of the brain and nerve power will not, and can not, take the messages the Lord gives, the spiritual bread from heaven, which is the word of God. There are thousands upon thousands who are intemperate in eating, and the result is that the lust of the flesh is warring against the Spirit, and the Spirit against the flesh" (Spalding and Magan Collection, p. 80).

In the lives of all who desire to gain the victory over the lusts of the flesh there rages a severe battle for the mind. It is a life-and-death conflict. The victory depends on the degree to which Christ is in control of the life. Only when He possesses us fully can we claim victory in the battle against the lust of the flesh. Those who are Christ's "have crucified the flesh with its passions and desires" (Gal 5:24).

Peter states that as members of a holy nation believers should have a lifestyle that is beyond reproach. They must "conduct themselves honorably among the Gentiles" (ch 2:12). Unbelievers may malign them and falsely accuse them of all kind of wickedness, but in the day of reckoning the wicked will be compelled to give glory to God for the good works done by the faithful.

Holiness Involves Submitting to Authority

A life of holiness is characterized by a willingness to submit to authority. This willingness is another vital aspect of witnessing to unbelievers. Peter calls for submission to government "for the Lord's sake" (ch 2:13). It is the will of God, he says, that by "doing good you may put to silence the ignorance of foolish men" (ch 2:15). This submission to government gives believers an opportunity to witness about their loyalty to human institutions. "The people of God will recognize human government as an ordinance of divine appointment and will teach obedience to it as a sacred duty within its legitimate sphere" (Testimonies for the Church, 6:402). Only when human laws conflict with the law of God are believers released from this sacred duty, for then they must "obey God rather than men" (Acts 5:29).

Holiness Submits to Employers

Peter also calls for submission to "masters," a term that refers to anyone placed above believers in authority, including employers. He requires submission not only to good and gentle bosses but also to harsh ones. At first one may feel quite disinclined to accept this counsel, but Christians who long for holiness willingly endure suffering, even wrongful suffering. Peter asks, "What credit is it if, when you are beaten for your faults, you take it patiently? But when you do good and suffer for it, if you take it patiently, this is commendable before God" (ch 2:20).

It is a part of the believer's calling to follow in Christ's footsteps. Christ, said Peter, "when He was reviled, did not revile in return; when He suffered, He did not threaten, but committed Himself to Him who judges righteously" (ch 2:23).

Holiness Honors Family Organization

Holiness has a direct impact on the family. A holy family is one in which the partners fulfill the divine roles assigned by the Creator. This means, Peter says, that wives are to be submissive to their husbands. Living in harmony with the divine plan of family organization is an essential key to family happiness. Fulfilling one's proper role in the family can also be a powerful means of soul-winning. The holy lives of devout wives are a means of reaching unbelieving husbands "when they observe your chaste conduct accompanied by fear" (ch 3:2).

Some have interpreted this counsel to mean that wives are required to submit to husbands no matter what their husbands demand. Such a view is contrary to the tenor of the New Testament. A holy lifestyle for the wife does not require her to submit blindly to her marriage partner. Under all circumstances she is to preserve her God-given dignity. God requires, Ellen White states, that the wife should keep "the fear and glory of God ever before her. Entire submission is to be made only to the Lord Jesus Christ, who has purchased her [the wife] as His own child by the infinite price of His life. God has given her a conscience, which she cannot violate with impunity. Her individuality cannot be merged in that of her husband, for she is the purchase of Christ. It is a mistake to imagine that with blind devotion she is to do exactly as her husband says in all things, when she knows that in so doing injury would be worked for her body and her spirit, which have been ransomed from the slavery of Satan. There is One who stands higher than the husband to the wife; it is her Redeemer, and her submission to her husband is to be rendered as God has directed—'as it is fit in the Lord'" (Manuscript Releases, 13:74).

In explaining the New Testament ideal of holiness for women, Peter encourages the cultivation of a Christian character, warning against preoccupation with outward beauty and the wearing of jewelry. Instead, he stresses cultivation of the inner graces of a "gentle and quiet spirit, which is very precious in the sight of God" (ch 3:3, 4). Here we glimpse the lifestyle of holy women in the past who trusted in God, Peter says. As an example of submission he points to Abraham's wife, Sarah. When women follow Sarah's example, they will be in the truest sense daughters of Abraham, the father of the faithful (see ch 3:5, 6).

Blessed is the woman whose husband is controlled by the Holy Spirit. "When the Spirit of Christ controls the husband, the wife's subjection will only result in rest and benefit, for he will require from her only that which will result in good, and in the same way that Christ requires submission from the church" (Manuscript Releases, 21:215). In a healthy, well-governed family, husbands are very understanding, "giving honor to the wife, as to the weaker vessel." They never fail to keep in mind that both partners are "heirs together of the grace of life." Husbands who fail to be considerate of their wives experience diminished effectiveness of their prayers (see ch 3:7).

Holiness Submits to Suffering

Christians who live a life of holiness do not shrink from suffering. Peter says, "If you should suffer for righteousness sake, you are blessed" (ch 3:14). Christ is our supreme example of the need to endure suffering. He suffered for our sins that He might bring us to God. In all His sufferings Jesus "gave an example of absolute submission to the divine will" (Signs of the Times, Aug. 9, 1905). It is the divine plan that humanity is to be brought back into a saving relationship with their Creator and Redeemer. Christ's example of radical loyalty to His Father is the model believers are to imitate. "Since Christ suffered for us in the flesh," Peter writes, "arm yourselves also with the same mind" (ch 4:1).

The results of such holy living are potentially staggering. Peter mentions the unique blessing that comes from suffering. "For he who has suffered in the flesh has ceased from sin, that he no longer should live the rest of his time in the flesh for the lusts of men, but for the will of God" (ch 4:2). Suffering is one of God's powerful means to aid believers in obtaining holiness. It makes them aware of the futility of their previous worldly lifestyle, when they "walked in licentiousness, lusts, drunkenness, revelries, drinking parties, and abominable idolatries" (ch 4:3). The past becomes repulsive, while, in contrast, a life without end in the presence of Jesus becomes the all-consuming goal to live for.

A holy lifestyle has as its objective the glory of God, anticipating that "in all things God may be glorified through Jesus Christ, to whom belong the glory and the dominion forever and ever. Amen" (ch 4:11).

Even though trials and tribulations may be severe, they provide unique and precious experiences to believers. They help Christians to identify especially with Christ's experience when on earth. "Rejoice," Peter says, "to the extent that you partake of Christ's sufferings, that when His glory is revealed, you may also be glad with exceeding joy." Furthermore, "if you are reproached for the name of Christ, blessed are you, for the Spirit of glory and of God rests upon you" (ch 4:12-14).

Conclusion

The subject of holiness is vast, full of depth, and often alluded to throughout the Scriptures. Here we have confined ourselves primarily to Peter's first letter. But from this one short document we have seen that the only way we can have a correct understanding of holiness is through studying the Word of God. God's Word defines holiness and describes it in great detail. Frequently the Bible does this by contrasting holiness with the futile lifestyles of unconverted worldlings. It is of paramount importance that we meditate on the Word daily, so we can grow in grace and walk with Christ.

The Lord's messenger solemnly rebukes our Laodicean attitude, asking the penetrating question, "Who are standing in the counsel of God at this time? Is it those who virtually excuse wrongs among the professed people of God, and murmur in their hearts, if not openly, against those who would reprove sin? Is it those who take their stand against them, and sympathize with those who commit wrong? No, indeed! These, unless they repent, and leave the work of Satan in oppressing those who have the burden of the work, and in holding up the hands of sinners in Zion, will never receive the mark of God's sealing approval. They will fall in the general destruction of all the wicked, represented by the five men bearing slaughter weapons [see Ezek 9].

"Mark this point with care: those who receive the pure mark of truth, wrought in them by the power of the Holy Ghost, represented by the man in linen, are those that 'sigh and cry for all the abominations that are done' in the church. Their love for purity and the honor and glory of God is such, and they have so clear a view of the exceeding sinfulness of sin, that they are represented as being in an agony, even sighing and crying" (Review and Herald, June 8, 1886, emphasis mine).