Week 12: Made Holy, Becoming Holy (1 Peter 1:13–16; Hebrews 10:10, 14; 12:14)

The Big Idea

The New Testament takes up the old call from Leviticus to be holy because God is holy, and roots it in Jesus. Through his once-for-all sacrifice, believers have already been made holy. And because we have been made holy, we now pursue holiness in all of life. Holiness is both a finished gift and a lifelong growth, and we must hold both.

Before You Read

Over eleven weeks we have traced holiness from a day set apart at creation, to holy ground, to a holy nation, to the priests' charge to distinguish, to the call to be holy like God, to fields and wages, to a treasured people, to the danger of God's presence, to the throne room, to holy mercy, and finally to a world where even cooking pots are holy. Now we come to the New Testament. Peter writes to scattered Christians facing hard times and quotes Leviticus directly. The letter to the Hebrews, written to believers tempted to drift back from Christ, explains how Jesus' sacrifice does what the old priests and offerings never could. Together they show both sides of holiness in the Christian life.

Read

Read 1 Peter 1:13–16 slowly, twice, and at least once aloud. Then read Hebrews 10:10, 10:14, and 12:14 the same way. If you can, read Hebrews 10:11–14 and 12:10–14 to see the surrounding thoughts.

Observe

1. In 1 Peter 1:13, what three things does Peter tell believers to do with their minds and their hope?
2. Where is their hope to be set (v. 13)? When will that grace be brought to them?
3. What does Peter call his readers in verse 14? What are they told not to be conformed to?
4. In verse 15, what is the reason given for being holy? Who is described as holy?
5. Which Old Testament passage is Peter quoting in verse 16? (Look back at Week 5.)
6. According to Hebrews 10:10, by what have believers been sanctified, and how often did it happen?
7. Hebrews 10:14 uses two different time words. What has been done "for all time," and what is still going on?
8. In Hebrews 12:14, what two things are believers told to strive for? What is said about holiness?

A Word to Notice

Qadash (kah-DAHSH), the verb we met in Week 1, means "to make holy" or "to consecrate." When the New Testament speaks of being "sanctified," it is using a Greek word that carries this same Old Testament idea. Sanctify simply means to make holy. The first time the Bible used this verb, God sanctified the day on which he rested from his finished work, and no one could add to that work. Hebrews says something similar about Jesus' sacrifice: it is finished, once for all. And yet, just as the seventh day was meant to be lived in and enjoyed, the holiness Christ gives is meant to be lived out. God has made us holy, and God is making us holy.

Interpret

1. Peter tells believers to be holy in all their conduct. How does that echo what we saw in Leviticus 19, Deuteronomy 14, and Zechariah 14?Consider: Holiness was never only for the tabernacle. It reached the field, the wages, the mourning customs, and the cooking pots. Peter says the same: no area of life is outside God's claim.

2. Peter calls his readers obedient children before he tells them to be holy. Why is that order important?Consider: As in Exodus 19 and Deuteronomy 7, identity comes first. They are already God's children. Holiness is family likeness, not an entrance exam.

3. Hebrews 10:14 says Christ "has perfected for all time those who are being sanctified." How can someone be perfected and still being sanctified at the same time?Consider: In Christ, believers are fully accepted and set apart for God, once and for all. That standing does not change. At the same time, God is working in them to make their lives match what he has already declared. One is our position; the other is our growth.

4. Hebrews 12:14 says that without holiness no one will see the Lord. Does this mean we must earn our way to heaven by becoming holy enough?Consider: Read Hebrews 12:10, where God disciplines us so that we may share his holiness. The holiness we strive for is the holiness God himself is working in us. Striving is real, but it is a response to grace and a work of grace, not a way to buy it.

5. Cross-reference: Read Philippians 1:6 and 2:12–13. How does Paul hold together God's work and our work in becoming holy?Consider: God began the work and will finish it. We work out our salvation because God is at work in us. Holiness is never God alone without us, and never us alone without God.

Apply: Let the Text Read You

1. Which side of holiness do you tend to forget: that in Christ you are already made holy, or that you are called to grow in holiness? How has forgetting one side affected your walk with God?
2. Peter says to set your hope fully on grace. What else are you tempted to set your hope on to make you acceptable to God?
3. Looking back over these twelve weeks, which passage read you most deeply? What did it show you about God, and about yourself?
4. What is one ordinary area of your life, a pot or a field or a paycheck, that you want to mark as holy to the LORD in the weeks ahead?

Pray

Holy Father, thank you that by the offering of Jesus once for all, you have made me yours. Thank you that you are still at work, making me more like you. Set my hope fully on your grace, and let my whole life, in all my conduct, show that I belong to you. Amen.

For Groups (optional)

• Discussion starter: Go back to the answers your group gave in Week 1 to the question, "When you hear 'holy,' what comes to mind?" How have those pictures changed?
• Spend extra time on Apply question 3. Let each person share one passage that stuck with them and why.
• Close by reading Leviticus 11:45 and 1 Peter 1:15–16 aloud, back to back, and thank God together for his faithfulness from Sinai to the cross to today.

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Scripture quotations are from the ESV® Bible (The Holy Bible, English Standard Version®), © 2001 by Crossway, a publishing ministry of Good News Publishers. Used by permission. All rights reserved.