We’re delighted that our good friend and brother, Simon Chase, has agreed to prepare a few “lockdown ponderings” for us! These are adapted from a series Simon is teaching at Gillingham Baptist Church, and which began when the UK went into Lockdown due to the coronavirus.
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1 Peter 1:13-16 Therefore, preparing
your minds for action, and being sober-minded, set your hope fully on the grace
that will be brought to you at the revelation of Jesus Christ. As obedient
children, do not be conformed to the passions of your former ignorance, but as
he who called you is holy, you also be holy in all your conduct, since it is
written, “You shall be holy, for I am holy.”
We have seen
that these Christian folk are a scattered people, a suffering people,
but also a joyfully saved people. So far, Peter has described
them, their situation and the blessings that are theirs now and eternally. Now
he prescribes – the word ‘therefore’ is there for that reason. As
theologians say, the indicative (what we are and have in Christ) comes before
the imperative (how we are to live, in and for Christ). The former is the
motive for the latter. In other words, because of who you are, be who you
should be.
1. BE PREPARED v 13
If only we had
had enough PPE; if only we’d seen this Covid-19 crisis coming. Well Christians
must always be ready in every way, especially with the right spiritual outlook.
How?
(a) By ‘preparing’
– in our ‘minds’. Peter uses a picture that our translation loses of hitching
up long robes so that vigorous work can be done. We have to have a ready
outlook and attitude.
(b) By being
‘sober’-minded. Originally related to not being inebriated, we are to be wise,
measured, balanced. We must not be caught up in panic or the tide of opinion.
(c) The key
attitude is hope; points (a) and (b) above are ‘participles’ – the way
we exercise our ‘hope’. That is why the -ing tense is used: prepar-ing, be-ing.
We have ‘hope’, v 3; an ‘inheritance’, v 4; eventually ‘salvation’, v 5. Grace
will be delivered to us!
(d) And we know
the ‘timing’, ‘at the revelation of Jesus Christ’, which is the ‘last time’, v
5.
The end of Covid-19
restrictions isn’t what will sustain us; but everything connected with Jesus’
return – that is, glory – should!
2. BE OBEDIENT v 14
We should live as
if we were children belonging to the family whose surname and reputation is ‘obedience’.
Did I say ‘as if’? This is a reality. That is what we were born again to – ‘for
obedience’, v 2.
But as we saw
yesterday, that makes us distinctive, different from the world, ‘not conforming’,
Rom 12:2. New birth has changed us; ‘former ignorance’ was never acceptable and
must not condition us now. Now, a sober mind and living hope controls, not ‘passions’.
This is the same word for what angels have in v 12 ‘long’. There it is a strong
urge rightly expressed. Here it describes the ruling principles of our old,
Christless life. Being a Christian is bound involve living as a
Christian; now we are oriented eternally, not to this world.
3. BE WHAT
YOU WERE CALLED TO BE v 15
Instead of being
‘passion’ controlled, we are to be ‘holy’ – sanctified, v 2. We do not need to
join the panic of the world when crises hit, whether nationally or personally.
We have a surer foundation.
The pattern to
follow is God Himself – He has ‘called’ us. It is a calling that transforms us.
But the calling determines who we should be like – Him. God in Christ by the
Spirit is the pattern, standard and degree of our holiness. This holiness is to
be lived out; this holiness is to be pervasive. It is what God has always
expected of His called people, Gen 17:1. What does ‘holiness’ look like? Is it
not explained in Scripture? It is the two love commands; love God, love your
neighbour. Everything else flows from this.
4. BE HOLY v 16
This call to
holiness is consistent with Scripture (see Leviticus 19:2) and throughout the
Law of the Old Testament. The being and character of God is the basis for the
way we are to live now. I wonder how much have we actively employed that motive
as a way of pursuing holiness. It is easy to overlook this as the standard
required. Do we assume our God is content with us just taking ‘baby steps’? He
wants us holy from day one, and each day after.
Is this an
incredible, impossible – even blasphemous – command? As holy as God? Surely not
for those created in the image of God – and though marred, being remade, Colossians
3:9. Surely not for those ‘chosen’ for ‘sanctification’ for ‘obedience’ and for
‘sprinkling’, v 2. Surely not for those to whom ‘grace and peace’ is
‘multiplied’, v 2.
To summarise, the
character of God is the pattern and standard for the character of our lives.
The reward of
God reserved for us and the return of God for us is our incentive.
In John’s gospel
Jesus frequently says ‘I AM’. But here is another I AM – I am holy. Ultimately,
the I AM is the reason for us TO BE.
