Friday 11 April 2008
- Bible Book:
- 1 Peter
"Instead, as he who has called you is holy, be holy yourselves in all your conduct; for it is written, 'You shall be holy, for I am holy.'" (v.15-16)
Background
The author of this letter commends those Christians who havenever seen Christ, yet now love him and believe in him. The faiththat is being commended appears to be a combination of faithfulnesstowards God and willingness to respond to what God has done inChrist. The consequence of this faith is that believers begin toexperience the profound and lasting joy of the heavenly reign ofGod in spite of the hardships they may be undergoing in thepresent.
In verses 10-12, the writer claims that the Hebrew prophets couldforesee the salvation that was to come through Christ, but appearsto go further in suggesting that the message they gave to thosethey served in their own time is insignificant compared with itspurpose for the Christian community. But this is not a view that iscommonly held today. The Hebrew Scriptures had a message for theirown time, but the same Spirit that inspired the prophets can beidentified with the Spirit of Christ, so their message also had afuture significance.
The word 'therefore' at the beginning of verse 13 is important. Thedisciplined life of practical holiness that the writer moves on tooutline is the response that should be made by those who haveexperienced the grace of God in their lives. Christian charactermust be a reflection of the character of God because Christianfaith is expressed in the ethics by which God's people live.
To Ponder
What could Christians and Jews share in commontoday in their approach to the Hebrew Scriptures (The OldTestament)?
What is faith? Believing, obedient living orboth?