002 As I Am Holy

1 Peter 1:16

July 6, 2025

If you were with us last week, you know that

We have begun a new topical study here together.

We are calling it: “The Necessity of Sanctification”

One writer defined sanctification:

“Sanctification is the spiritual transformation of the mind and the affections that in turn redirects the will and actions.”

(MacArthur, John; Mayhue, Richard [Biblical Doctrine; Crossway, Wheaton, IL, 2017] pg. 640)

We talked about it last week as that middle segment of salvation

Where all believers currently dwell.

We saw justification as that which happened in the past when we expressed faith in Christ. “We were saved”.

We saw glorification as that which will happen when Christ returns or we die and to be with Him and our body of sin is done away with. “We will be saved”.

But we live in the middle of those two realities.

We are in the process of “being saved” from sin,

And that is what we call sanctification.

· It is the process of taking off the old man and putting on the new man.

· It is the process of the mortification of sin to walk in the new life of Christ.

· It is the process of being conformed into the image of Christ.

· It is to be washed by the word.

· It is to be purified even through suffering.

All of those things speak of sanctification.

As we discussed last week, it can be a little bit of an intimidating topic,

BUT IT IS ESSENTIAL that we understand it, embrace it, and pursue it.

WHY?

BECAUSE GOD DEMANDS IT.

1 Thessalonians 4:3 “For this is the will of God, your sanctification”

Jesus told Peter:

John 13:8 “If I do not wash you, you have no part with Me.”

The writer of Hebrews said:

Hebrews 12:14 “Pursue peace with all men, and the sanctification without which no one will see the Lord.”

Clearly sanctification is essential.

God demands it.

AND THIS MORNING

We want to return to the command we began to examine last week.

“YOU SHALL BE HOLY AS I AM HOLY.”

Now LAST TIME we looked at that text sort of big picture.

We talked about why sanctification matters so much.

1. God’s promises require sanctification.

2. God’s presence requires sanctification.

3. God’s payment requires sanctification.

And the larger context Peter makes that clear.

But this morning I want us to dive into this study of sanctification

On a more focused level.

SO LET’S BEGIN HERE.

Since God commands “YOU SHALL BE HOLY AS I AM HOLY”

It is only fitting that we begin by looking at God’s holiness.

Jerry Bridges wrote:

“Many Christians have what we might call a “cultural holiness.” They adapt to the character and behavior pattern of Christians around them. As the Christian culture around them is more or less holy, so these Christians are more or less holy. But God has not called us to be like those around us. He has called us to be like Himself. Holiness is nothing less than conformity to the character of God.”

(Bridges, Jerry [The Pursuit of Holiness; Nav Press, Colorado Springs, CO, 2006] pg. 9)

And that is where we need to start.

· God doesn’t tell us to be holy like the culture is holy.

· God doesn’t tell us to be holy like your neighbor is holy.

· God tells us to be holy as He is holy.

SO THIS MORNING

I simply want us to examine that one little statement

As the springboard to thrust us into a conversation about sanctification.

We have now identified THE GOAL.

We have now identified THE OBJECTIVE.

IT IS TO BE HOLY LIKE GOD IS HOLY.

Paul stated it like this:

Romans 8:29 “For those whom He foreknew, He also predestined to become conformed to the image of His Son, so that He would be the firstborn among many brethren;”

To the Ephesians he said:

Ephesians 1:4 “He chose us in Him before the foundation of the world, that we would be holy and blameless before Him.”

That is the objective, that is where we are headed.

And though we are not going to get there this morning,

I don’t mind giving you A LITTLE REASSURANCE at the start.

This is an objective we will ABSOLUTELY OBTAIN.

This is a goal will ABSOLUTELY MEET.

Speaking of Christ, the apostle John says:

1 John 3:2 “Beloved, now we are children of God, and it has not appeared as yet what we will be. We know that when He appears, we will be like Him, because we will see Him just as He is.”

Paul told the Philippians

Philippians 1:6 “For I am confident of this very thing, that He who began a good work in you will perfect it until the day of Christ Jesus.”

Church, you’re going to get there.

God will see to it that in glory

You will be perfectly conformed to the image of Christ.

The study of sanctification speaks to our pursuing that goal

Even while we are still confined to this earth.

Paul said it like this:

Philippians 3:12-14 “Not that I have already obtained it or have already become perfect, but I press on so that I may lay hold of that for which also I was laid hold of by Christ Jesus. Brethren, I do not regard myself as having laid hold of it yet; but one thing I do: forgetting what lies behind and reaching forward to what lies ahead, I press on toward the goal for the prize of the upward call of God in Christ Jesus.”

So there’s the big picture.

· God has called us to holiness and one day we will be holy.

· But today we are not, so we are called to pursue it as our chief ambition in life.

THE COMMAND IS CLEAR

“YOU SHALL BE HOLY AS I AM HOLY.”

Well let’s break that statement down a little.

I actually want to start at the end.

#1 “I AM HOLY”

1 Peter 1:16

Let’s talk about the holiness of God.

Certainly we recognize it as the “chief of all His attributes or perfections.”

No other attribute is used to describe God in a 3-fold manner.

God is never called “Love, Love, Love” or “Mercy, Mercy, Mercy”

But:

Isaiah 6:3 “And one called out to another and said, “Holy, Holy, Holy, is the Lord of hosts, The whole earth is full of His glory.”

So what is “HOLY”?

Both the Hebrew and the Greek word for “HOLY” basically mean

“to be set aside for something special.”

When we are talking about God be holy

We are talking about One who is unique

Who is not only set aside, He is actually set above.

· He is set apart from creation. He is above creation.

· He is set apart from humanity. He is above humanity.

· He is set apart from every other pagan deity. He is above them all.

He is “HOLY”

But to help us understand His holiness a little better,

And subsequently what our holiness is supposed to be,

LET’S GET A LITTLE THEOLOGICAL FOR A MOMENT.

Theologians separate God’s holiness into TWO CATEGORIES.

And if you’ve got a copy of that “Biblical Doctrine” book

You can read all about this there, but let me give you the high points.

1) MAJESTIC HOLINESS

Majestic holiness is simply that which makes God different,

And distinct from everything else in creation.

Exodus 15:11 “Who is like You among the gods, O Lord? Who is like You, majestic in holiness, Awesome in praises, working wonders?”

There is just no one and nothing else like Him.

TURN TO: JEREMIAH 10:6-16

The entire passage magnifies the exclusivity of God.

· There is none like Him.

· No one can do what He does.

· He is unique, distinct, set apart from every other thing.

HE IS HOLY.

When Hannah praised the LORD for the birth of Samuel she said:

1 Samuel 2:2 “There is no one holy like the Lord, Indeed, there is no one besides You, Nor is there any rock like our God.”

She was speaking of God’s “Majestic Holiness”.

· No one else could do what He did in allowing her to have a child.

· No one else could accomplish what He accomplished in here.

· HE DISTINGUISHED HIMSELF from the laws of nature, the works of men, and the abilities of any other so-called god.

He is holy and there is none like Him.

ONE OF THE SINS OF HUMANITY

Is when we actually try to bring Him down to our level.

This was why God commanded that “no graven image” could be made, not even if that image was to represent Him.

Any comparison you make of Him would be to rob Him of who He is.

It would be to call Him less than holy.

Isaiah 40:18 “To whom then will you liken God? Or what likeness will you compare with Him?”

Isaiah 40:21-25 “Do you not know? Have you not heard? Has it not been declared to you from the beginning? Have you not understood from the foundations of the earth? It is He who sits above the circle of the earth, And its inhabitants are like grasshoppers, Who stretches out the heavens like a curtain And spreads them out like a tent to dwell in. He it is who reduces rulers to nothing, Who makes the judges of the earth meaningless. Scarcely have they been planted, Scarcely have they been sown, Scarcely has their stock taken root in the earth, But He merely blows on them, and they wither, And the storm carries them away like stubble. “To whom then will you liken Me That I would be his equal?” says the Holy One.”

Any graven image is nothing but an insult to God.

He is distinct and set apart and above them all.

It is also a sin when we seek to make God like us.

Remember Psalms 50?

Psalms 50:17-21 “For you hate discipline, And you cast My words behind you. “When you see a thief, you are pleased with him, And you associate with adulterers. “You let your mouth loose in evil And your tongue frames deceit. “You sit and speak against your brother; You slander your own mother’s son. “These things you have done and I kept silence; You thought that I was just like you; I will reprove you and state the case in order before your eyes.”

BUT HE IS NOT LIKE US.

1 Samuel 15:29 “Also the Glory of Israel will not lie or change His mind; for He is not a man that He should change His mind.”

Hosea 11:8-9 “How can I give you up, O Ephraim? How can I surrender you, O Israel? How can I make you like Admah? How can I treat you like Zeboiim? My heart is turned over within Me, All My compassions are kindled. I will not execute My fierce anger; I will not destroy Ephraim again. For I am God and not man, the Holy One in your midst, And I will not come in wrath.”

· God is not fickle like humanity.

· God never makes a mistake that needs to be corrected.

· God is never caught having to regroup after circumstances change.

He is God and He is distinct from His creation.

HE IS HOLY.

When the children of Israel traveled to Sinai

· He came down on the mountain,

· They were emphatically warned, “DON’T TOUCH THE MOUNTAIN!”

When Job called for God to arrive and give an answer.

· God arrived in a whirlwind and asked, “Who is this who darkens counsel with words without knowledge?”

· Job immediately knew He was not speaking to an equal.

GOD IS MAJESTIC IN HOLINESS.

And this holiness defines all of His attributes or His perfections.

· His love is holy love.

· His mercy is holy mercy.

· His grace is holy grace.

· His wisdom is holy wisdom.

THAT IS TO SAY, THERE IS NONE LIKE HIS.

· Human love is often times corrupted; nothing more than lust in disguise.

· Human mercy has a limit, but God’s mercy has no limits.

· Human grace will eventually tire out, but God’s grace never does.

· Human wisdom is foolishness before God, but God’s wisdom never fails.

But God is unique and distinct and set apart from all of creation.

That is what we call His MAJESTIC HOLINESS

The second theological aspect of God’s holiness is what we call:

2) MORAL HOLINESS

Here we say that God is morally and ethically perfect.

That is to say that God never behaves wrongly.

God always does what is right and that without hesitation.

· There are no moral dilemmas in God’s mind.

· There are no battles within God’s flesh about doing the right thing.

· He knows what’s right.

· He does what’s right.

· Without fail and without hesitation.

At my grandmother’s funeral last week

We looked at that famous passage in Ecclesiastes where Solomon says:

Ecclesiastes 3:1-4 “There is an appointed time for everything. And there is a time for every event under heaven— A time to give birth and a time to die; A time to plant and a time to uproot what is planted. A time to kill and a time to heal; A time to tear down and a time to build up. A time to weep and a time to laugh; A time to mourn and a time to dance.”

And so on…

And you and I know that we at one point or another

We have all violated all of those appropriate behaviors.

· We have laughed when it was not appropriate.

· We have cried when it was not appropriate.

· We have planted when it was not appropriate.

· We have uprooted when it was not appropriate.

BUT GOD NEVER DOES THAT.

God is always perfect in His behavior,

His response, His attitude, His actions, His decisions.

HE IS MORALLY AND ETHICALLY FLAWLESS.

AND HE IS PERFECTLY SO

When we think of morality or ethics in our life,

We think of things we are always growing into.

We grow in truth, we grow in righteousness, we grow in kindness.

GOD NEVER GROWS INTO PERFECTION, HE IS PERFECT.

He lives in perfect conformity to His own divine standard.

Psalms 145:17 “The Lord is righteous in all His ways And kind in all His deeds.”

John said:

1 John 1:5 “This is the message we have heard from Him and announce to you, that God is Light, and in Him there is no darkness at all.”

GOD NEVER DOES ANYTHING WRONG…AT ALL.

We are familiar with passages like:

Hebrews 6:18 “…it is impossible for God to lie...”

Paul said the same thing in:

Titus 1:2 “in the hope of eternal life, which God, who cannot lie, promised long ages ago,”

James 1:13 “Let no one say when he is tempted, “I am being tempted by God”; for God cannot be tempted by evil, and He Himself does not tempt anyone.”

Paul referred to Him as “the incorruptible God” in Romans 1:23

Job 34:10 “Far be it from God to do wickedness, And from the Almighty to do wrong.

Psalms 18:30 “As for God, His way is blameless…”

So you have a bit of a grasp then

On WHAT GOD MEANS when He says “I AM HOLY”

HE IS MAJESTICALLY HOLY – set apart and distinct.

HE IS MORALLY HOLY – perfect in all of His way.

FURTHERMORE…

God’s holiness requires Him

To demand holiness in everything around Him.

Because He is holy, He certainly can’t enjoy what is not holy.

This is what motivates the command:

“YOU SHALL BE HOLY AS I AM HOLY.”

AND HE IS WATCHING.

We learn in Scripture, for instance,

That God is constantly searching us out.

2 Chronicles 16:9 “For the eyes of the Lord move to and fro throughout the earth that He may strongly support those whose heart is completely His. You have acted foolishly in this. Indeed, from now on you will surely have wars.”

Proverbs 15:3 “The eyes of the Lord are in every place, Watching the evil and the good.”

And not just through a telescope in heaven,

But GOD IS GAZING UPON THE HEARTS of men.

Hebrews 4:13 “And there is no creature hidden from His sight, but all things are open and laid bare to the eyes of Him with whom we have to do.”

David said:

Psalms 139:1-3 “O Lord, You have searched me and known me. You know when I sit down and when I rise up; You understand my thought from afar. You scrutinize my path and my lying down, And are intimately acquainted with all my ways.”

You understand that God’s holiness drives Him to watch all of creation.

He gazes into the very soul of man that He might evaluate Him.

AND WE FIND that if anything there is not holy, God hates it.

Zechariah 8:17 “Also let none of you devise evil in your heart against another, and do not love perjury; for all these are what I hate,’ declares the Lord.”

Psalms 5:5 “The boastful shall not stand before Your eyes; You hate all who do iniquity.”

Psalms 7:11 “God is a righteous judge, And a God who has indignation every day.”

Every time we sin, we are doing something that God hates.

God demands holiness from His creation.

He says, “YOU SHALL BE HOLY AS I AM HOLY”

And He judges those who are not.

You get an idea then of what we mean when we discuss God’s holiness.

HE IS MAJESTICALLY HOLY – set apart and distinct.

HE IS MORALLY HOLY – without moral or ethical flaw.

But let’s now go back to the first of that verse in 1 Peter

And look at the next important aspect.

Peter says:

#2 “YOU SHALL”

1 Peter 1:16

Peter here is defining WHO GOD IS TALKING TO

When He gives the command for holiness.

Now, this is hardly the first time such a command is given in Scripture.

Leviticus 11:44 “For I am the Lord your God. Consecrate yourselves therefore, and be holy, for I am holy. And you shall not make yourselves unclean with any of the swarming things that swarm on the earth.”

Leviticus 19:2 “Speak to all the congregation of the sons of Israel and say to them, ‘You shall be holy, for I the Lord your God am holy.”

Leviticus 20:26 “Thus you are to be holy to Me, for I the Lord am holy; and I have set you apart from the peoples to be Mine.”

Leviticus 22:32 “You shall not profane My holy name, but I will be sanctified among the sons of Israel; I am the Lord who sanctifies you,”

We’ve seen the command a lot.

Jesus even states a form of it in the Sermon on the Mount

Matthew 5:48 “Therefore you are to be perfect, as your heavenly Father is perfect.”

But in every one of those instances

The target audience would have been the unrighteous.

They were people who were seeking to obtain righteousness by works

So that command only proved to be an unobtainable standard.

In fact, we would say that Jesus reiterated that command as a way of driving men to Himself.

We know that the righteousness of God eludes men,

But it is imparted to us when we place faith in the finished work of Jesus.

That is what justification is.

Romans 3:21-24 “But now apart from the Law the righteousness of God has been manifested, being witnessed by the Law and the Prophets, even the righteousness of God through faith in Jesus Christ for all those who believe; for there is no distinction; for all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God, being justified as a gift by His grace through the redemption which is in Christ Jesus;”

So it would be very easy just to look at that command and say,

“Yes God demands holiness, but that command is only meant to drive the lost to Jesus for the righteousness He will impute to them.”

But there is only one problem with the verse we are looking at.

Peter is not writing to unbelievers.

· He is absolutely clear that he is writing to believers; persecuted believers.

· And Peter pulls out this command for them.

This IS NOT a command for an unbeliever to believe in Christ

So that righteousness might be imputed to him.

This IS a command to a believer to be holy like God is holy.

You need to see that. This is our command.

#3 “BE HOLY”

1 Peter 1:16

Here I simply want to point out that God does not say, “shall do”,

He says “SHALL BE”.

He demands more than just knowledge of His holiness,

He demands conformity to His holiness.

And that conformity is inner conformity.

We are NOT talking here simply about outward works.

We ARE talking about the condition of the heart.

Remember when Jesus kicked off the Sermon on the Mount.

· He started with what we call the “Beatitudes” as opposed to the “Doatitudes”

When God calls men to be holy,

It is far more than asking them to conform to some outward system.

GOD IS LOOKING AT THE HEART.

Jesus showed up and ripped the Pharisees as hypocrites

· Because they gave, but they did so for praise from men.

· Because they prayed, but they did so to be noticed.

· Because they fasted, but they did it for their own glory.

He even told the crowds:

Matthew 5:20 “For I say to you that unless your righteousness surpasses that of the scribes and Pharisees, you will not enter the kingdom of heaven.”

And when they challenged Him it really went bad for them.

Matthew 15:7-9 “You hypocrites, rightly did Isaiah prophesy of you: ‘This people honors Me with their lips, But their heart is far away from Me. ‘But in vain do they worship Me, Teaching as doctrines the precepts of men.’”

The call to holiness is not primarily a call to behavior modification.

It is a call to a changed heart that in turn changes behavior.

Remember the quote we started with this morning?

“Sanctification is the spiritual transformation of the mind and the affections that in turn redirects the will and actions.”

Has this not been the message throughout the Old Testament?

Hosea 6:4 “What shall I do with you, O Ephraim? What shall I do with you, O Judah? For your loyalty is like a morning cloud And like the dew which goes away early.”

Amos 5:21-23 “I hate, I reject your festivals, Nor do I delight in your solemn assemblies. “Even though you offer up to Me burnt offerings and your grain offerings, I will not accept them; And I will not even look at the peace offerings of your fatlings. “Take away from Me the noise of your songs; I will not even listen to the sound of your harps.”

Isaiah 1:12-17 “When you come to appear before Me, Who requires of you this trampling of My courts? “Bring your worthless offerings no longer, Incense is an abomination to Me. New moon and sabbath, the calling of assemblies— I cannot endure iniquity and the solemn assembly. “I hate your new moon festivals and your appointed feasts, They have become a burden to Me; I am weary of bearing them. “So when you spread out your hands in prayer, I will hide My eyes from you; Yes, even though you multiply prayers, I will not listen. Your hands are covered with blood. “Wash yourselves, make yourselves clean; Remove the evil of your deeds from My sight. Cease to do evil, Learn to do good; Seek justice, Reprove the ruthless, Defend the orphan, Plead for the widow.”

Jeremiah 4:4 “Circumcise yourselves to the Lord And remove the foreskins of your heart, Men of Judah and inhabitants of Jerusalem, Or else My wrath will go forth like fire And burn with none to quench it, Because of the evil of your deeds.”

Joel 2:13 “And rend your heart and not your garments.” Now return to the Lord your God, For He is gracious and compassionate, Slow to anger, abounding in lovingkindness And relenting of evil.”

“Change the heart, not the action.”

If you change the heart, the action will follow.

Is im

portant for us to understand that the holiness God demands

Is an inward holiness that works its way from the inside out.

· It is a changed heart that loves God.

· It is a changed heart that hates sin.

· It is a changed heart that desires holiness.

That is what God is demanding.

It is what a person must BE, not just DO.

Now let’s look finally at those last two words:

#4 “HOLY AS I AM HOLY”

1 Peter 1:16

God is directing His saved people that they are to

BE “HOLY AS” He is holy.

And we go back now to that

MAJESTIC HOLINESS of God and that MORAL HOLINESS of God.

And our first temptation is to say:

“But we can’t be as set apart as God…” that’s true.

In this life,

You will never achieve that perfect majestic holiness like God possesses.

But again I remind you that sanctification

Is not about perfection, it’s about direction.

So while we may never be as distinct as God,

WE CAN STRIVE to be set apart and distinct from the world.

Think about all of those Old Testament commands to Israel.

· Not eating pork

· Growing their hair long on their temples

· Not mix-breeding their cattle

All of that was a practical visual

To make them different from the nations around them.

THAT WAS THE POINT.

Now it is a point they missed.

They thought it was all about meat and hair and other external factors.

But it was the point none the less

We are to be set apart from the world,

Not so much in our diet or outward appearance as in our heart.

Which will effect the outward stuff.

WE ARE TO BE DISTINCT SPIRITUALLY.

Listen to Paul:

Ephesians 4:17-20 “So this I say, and affirm together with the Lord, that you walk no longer just as the Gentiles also walk, in the futility of their mind, being darkened in their understanding, excluded from the life of God because of the ignorance that is in them, because of the hardness of their heart; and they, having become callous, have given themselves over to sensuality for the practice of every kind of impurity with greediness. But you did not learn Christ in this way,”

Again:

2 Corinthians 6:14-18 “Do not be bound together with unbelievers; for what partnership have righteousness and lawlessness, or what fellowship has light with darkness? Or what harmony has Christ with Belial, or what has a believer in common with an unbeliever? Or what agreement has the temple of God with idols? For we are the temple of the living God; just as God said, “I will dwell in them and walk among them; And I will be their God, and they shall be My people. “Therefore, come out from their midst and be separate,” says the Lord. “And do not touch what is unclean; And I will welcome you. “And I will be a father to you, And you shall be sons and daughters to Me,” Says the Lord Almighty.”

Don’t be like them!

That is Paul’s cry to the church.

You are to be different.

· You don’t want what they want.

· You don’t crave what they crave.

· You don’t chase what they chase.

· You don’t respond like they respond.

DO YOU SEE THE DIFFERENCE?

How badly is the church in need of sanctification

When we are right there chasing the same things the world chases?

· They want money, we want money.

· They want pleasure, we want pleasure.

· They want comfort, we want comfort.

· They want fame, we want fame.

There is no distinction and that is a lack of holiness.

THAT IS A LACK OF SANCTIFICATION.

We are to apply that majestic righteousness to our lives and be set apart.

We are also to apply that MORAL RIGHTEOUSNESS to our lives.

Philippians 2:14-15 “Do all things without grumbling or disputing; so that you will prove yourselves to be blameless and innocent, children of God above reproach in the midst of a crooked and perverse generation, among whom you appear as lights in the world,”

1 Peter 2:12 “Keep your behavior excellent among the Gentiles, so that in the thing in which they slander you as evildoers, they may because of your good deeds, as they observe them, glorify God in the day of visitation.”

Ephesians 4:25-5:5 “Therefore, laying aside falsehood, speak truth each one of you with his neighbor, for we are members of one another. Be angry, and yet do not sin; do not let the sun go down on your anger, and do not give the devil an opportunity. He who steals must steal no longer; but rather he must labor, performing with his own hands what is good, so that he will have something to share with one who has need. Let no unwholesome word proceed from your mouth, but only such a word as is good for edification according to the need of the moment, so that it will give grace to those who hear. Do not grieve the Holy Spirit of God, by whom you were sealed for the day of redemption. Let all bitterness and wrath and anger and clamor and slander be put away from you, along with all malice. Be kind to one another, tender-hearted, forgiving each other, just as God in Christ also has forgiven you. Therefore be imitators of God, as beloved children; and walk in love, just as Christ also loved you and gave Himself up for us, an offering and a sacrifice to God as a fragrant aroma. But immorality or any impurity or greed must not even be named among you, as is proper among saints; and there must be no filthiness and silly talk, or coarse jesting, which are not fitting, but rather giving of thanks. For this you know with certainty, that no immoral or impure person or covetous man, who is an idolater, has an inheritance in the kingdom of Christ and God.”

Or let’s just go back one more time

And read that second chapter of Titus again.

TURN TO: TITUS 2

Do you see it now?

Do you see what God means when He commands our holiness to be like His?

THIS IS OUR EARTHLY PURSUIT

So it is a great starting point as we discuss sanctification.

Consider the holiness of God and pursue it with all your heart.

AND HERE IS THE KICKER,

If you have no desire in your heart to pursue that,

Then we need to discuss a regeneration need of the heart.

BUT AS A BELIEVER,

· You should already have love for God.

· You should already have a hatred for sin.

· You should already have a desire for holiness.

Those things should be there in some measure

Because of the Spirit within you.

SO PURSUE IT.

“YOU SHALL BE HOLY AS I AM HOLY”