A Holy People, A Chosen People, A Suffering People

Purpose:  To affirm that Christians are to reflect God’s holiness, to examine what it means to be God’s chosen people, and to consider what it means to share in Christ’s suffering.  

Be Holy

 13Therefore, prepare your minds for action; be self-controlled; set your hope fully on the grace to be given you when Jesus Christ is revealed. 14As obedient children, do not conform to the evil desires you had when you lived in ignorance. 15But just as he who called you is holy, so be holy in all you do; 16for it is written: "Be holy, because I am holy."

Fo1 Peter 1:16 Lev. 11:44,45; 19:2; 20:7

Holiness is a characteristic of God–He says repeatedly, “I am holy, be thou holy, too.”  What is holiness?  Holiness is not following laws and rules–that is legalism.  Holiness is not thinking you are better than others–that is judgmentalism.  Holiness is that sacredness that sets God apart, and when we seek after holiness we, too, are set apart, but not from God, we are set apart for God.

The holiness movement takes its roots from John Wesley, an Anglican priest ordained in 1728. After studying the writings of the early church father Clement of Alexandria (177AD), and the Moravians. Wesley was convinced that true holiness is an attitude, a love for God, not how much sin you do or righteousness you do. Clement called this a heart holiness.  Isn’t that a wonderful phrase?  Heart holiness.  I love it.

Salvation by faith became their standing topic and implied to them three things which they saw as foundational to Christian faith:

That people are all, by nature, “dead in sin,” and, consequently, “children of wrath.”

That they are “justified by faith alone.”

That faith produces inward and outward holiness: And these points they insisted on day and night. In a short time they became popular Preachers. The congregations were large wherever they preached, and they were entitled Methodists.

Inward and outward holiness.  What does that mean to you?  Some people think of the holiness movement at the turn of the 20th century.  Others think of “holy rollers” or of dressing differently,  setting yourself apart from the world.  For me, it is simple:  You can not just talk the talk, you must walk the walk.  You might almost replace holiness with wholeness, completeness.  You sense the holiness of God, and you respond to His call upon your life.  Holiness should not be a burden we bear with sadness, but a mantle we wear with gladness, for to be holy is to be more Christlike in every thing we do.

What happens when we decide we are going to actively seek holiness?

*We no longer live as we did before we knew salvation

*Just as children grow into maturity over time, we Christians ,grow into a holy way of living, not overnight, but over time

*As ambassadors of the faith, we present the world with a reflection of who God is by inviting the world to examine our lives

Can you reflect God’s holiness just as well on the golf course or at the lake on Sunday as you can by being in God’s house?  First of all, we should reflect God’s holiness wherever we are, but if we choose to miss communing with God’s family on a routine basis, we will likewise lose the desire and the ability to seek after holiness.  John Wesley said “there is no holiness apart from social holiness" which means we can’t do this on our own.  We need to be a part of the community of faith, so that we can successfully be set apart for His service.

1 Peter 2:9-10  says 9 But you are a chosen people, a royal priesthood, a holy nation, a people belonging to God, that you may declare the praises of him who called you out of darkness into his wonderful light. 10 Once you were not a people, but now you are the people of God; once you had not received mercy, but now you have received mercy.

Once we become Christians we are no longer divided by our heritage, or our color, or our race, but instead we become defined by who we are in Christ.  Being chosen is not a privilege, it is a responsibility.  There should be a definitive difference between the lives of Christians and the lives of the unchurched and unsaved.  

If we were simply a chosen people, that would give us the feeling that we are special among all of the peoples of the world.  But we are not just chosen, we are a royal priesthood, with the responsibility to carry the message of Christ to the world.  We are a holy nation called to be different than nations who do not know the one, true and the living God.  We are a people belonging to God that we might declare the praises of Him who called us out of darkness and into His wonderful light.  Not only is Peter declaring who Christians are, he is reminding them of who God said Israel was when they were still in bondage in Egypt.  Whether we are slave or free, we are God’s chosen people and thus we are called to witness to His power, His might, and His grace.

As Christians we must consider what it means to suffer in Christ’s behalf.   

1 Peter 4:12 Dear friends, do not be surprised at the painful trial you are suffering, as though something strange were happening to you. 13But rejoice that you participate in the sufferings of Christ, so that you may be overjoyed when his glory is revealed. 14If you are insulted because of the name of Christ, you are blessed, for the Spirit of glory and of God rests on you. 15If you suffer, it should not be as a murderer or thief or any other kind of criminal, or even as a meddler. 16However, if you suffer as a Christian, do not be ashamed, but praise God that you bear that name. 17For it is time for judgment to begin with the family of God; and if it begins with us, what will the outcome be for those who do not obey the gospel of God? 18And, 

   "If it is hard for the righteous to be saved, 

      what will become of the ungodly and the sinner?" 19 So then, those who suffer according to God's will should commit themselves to their faithful Creator and continue to do good.

Peter was writing to the church in Asia Minor,and although serious persecution of those outside of Rome had not yet begun, there was certainly some discrimination based on this change in people who had become Christians.  For one thing, they could no longer worship in the temple.  They would have had problems buying and selling in the Agoras because commerce was closely tied to worship of pagan entities, and if Christians refused to worship the god or goddess in a certain town, then they would not be allowed to buy, sell or trade.  

What causes discrimination and persecution?

Differences between Christians and non-Christians

Fear caused by those differences

How easy is it to rejoice that you participate in the sufferings of Christ?  1 Thess 5: 18 says In everything give thanks, for this is the will of God.   We do not have thank God for the suffering we are in, but should thank God while we are in it that He abides with us during every trial.  The crucifixion, which is the example of Christ’s suffering, is also the very basis for our salvation.  As we suffer, we should know that God's will is not that we suffer, but that we abide with Him during our suffering.

Peter says that while we should not be surprised to be persecuted on Christ’s behalf, we should understand that if our suffering results from our own misdeeds then that suffering is justified and no longer parallels the suffering Jesus underwent.  In other words, if we bring suffering upon ourselves by our actions or our words, that type of suffering is not the same as suffering for Christ's sake.

Peter ends by stating that it is time for judgment to begin with the family of God.  We in the United States of America have been fortunate to escape any real persecution thus far as a result of our religion.  We may have people ridicule us because of our faith and the fact that we are different than those around us, but we have not had to meet in secret to have church, we have not had to smuggle in Bibles or tear chapters out of the Bible and pass them around so that everyone will have a part of the Word.  We have not been killed or tortured because we bear the name Christian or because we have provided a sanctuary to those who are trying to escape religious persecution.

Peter says if judgment comes upon the house of God, how much worse will that judgment be on those who have no faith upon which to lean.  When we hear the phrase, "suffer according to God’s will," that does not mean it is God's will for us to suffer.  God is our father, and He loves us just as we love our children.  But we were born into a world system that is dominated by sin, so we will suffer at some point in our lives.  Screenwriter Irving Ravetch said, "no one gets out of this world alive."  Indeed, no one gets out of this world without suffering.  But in the midst of suffering we should continue to trust God, to have faith upon Him, and even to praise Him, for this is the will of God.

God was so good to set in place, from the foundation of the world, grace that would cover all of our needs.  We have prevenient grace, that, even before we knew we needed grace, covered us and our sin.  We have saving grace, that, once we come into the realization that we must have Jesus to be our friend, our guide, our savior, and indeed our Lord, we merely call upon His name, repent of our sins, and commit our lives to Him.  And finally, we have sustaining grace that is our comfort and our friend even to the last breath we draw upon this earth.

God has chosen us, He has called us to holiness, and He promises to be with us in every situation, including suffering.  It is all about grace, it is all about holiness, it is all about living according to God's purpose for our lives.