This rather lengthy text might be better preached in two sermons instead of one. But to truly see the church as a gospel community I don’t want to separate the reality of hope and the responsibility of holiness in Peter’s words. Hope and holiness are equally vital to a gospel life; they’re a huge part of our identity and mission in the world. We can’t, for example, hope to go to heaven one day because we say we believe in Jesus while living like hell here on earth in unholiness. Nor should we seek an outer, showy holiness that finds hope for heaven in self-righteousness rather than Jesus’ blood. Holding hope and holiness in balance, as we’ll see, is a project for the whole church, not just individual Christians!
The Reality of Hope
Greeting the elect (Christian-Jewish) exiles and bidding them grace and peace in vv. 1-2, Peter says in v. 3, “Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ!” He’s not just declaring that Jesus’ Father is a bless-ed God. Of course He is—He’s supreme over heaven and earth, infinitely worthy and wonderful. This is a summons not just to agree that God should be worshiped but to actually worship Him. God the Father isn’t just bless-ed; He is to be blessed!
And why is God to be so blessed by the community of Christ-followers? Because, as Peter says, “According to his great mercy, he has caused us to be born again to a living hope through the resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead…” The reality of Christian hope is rooted in Christ and His resurrection from the dead, in the fact that God the Father is so merciful that, according to that mercy, Peter says, “he has caused us to be born again…”
God’s mercy precedes His greatest miracle on behalf of humans: the new birth. Very simply, the new birth is the Holy Spirit waking a sinner up by the good news of Christ, resulting not just in a public profession of faith in Jesus as having paid your sin’s death penalty on the cross but in a public pursuit of Jesus’ holy life. The new birth brings about a vocal and visible acknowledgment of Jesus as both Savior AND Lord—as the source of our hope AND of our holiness. The living hope of every Christian AND every local church community is a living Savior!
In his book, When the Church Was a Family, Joseph Hellerman rightly says, “In Scripture salvation is a community-creating event.” When people trust in Jesus and follow Him in baptism (as we recently witnessed), that salvation creates (or re-creates) Christian community. Today’s notions of Jesus as a “personal Savior,” of a “personal relationship with God,” and of the “unchurched Christian” aren’t in the New Testament. Our day of individualized, privatized, customized faith finds people not just picking and choosing beliefs from a buffet of religions, but adopting a salad bar spirituality within religions, such as Christianity. I like the salvation Jesus offers me, but I’ll pass on sharing it with others. I like the hope of heaven, but helping others find it and having others help me keep it, I don’t need that. But with so much in the self and in the world fighting against salvation and hope no Christian can sustain a disciple’s life in isolation. Like the appendages in our mortal bodies, we’re spiritually incomplete on our own. As Paul says, we the individual members of Christ’s body need the other members to connect us to the Head, Jesus, who gives life to the whole body and every part of it.
In v. 3 the Christian community’s living hope is seen as a present hope. But Peter then describes it in vv. 4-5 as also a future reality. God has caused us to be born again “to an inheritance that is imperishable, undefiled, and unfading, kept in heaven for you, who by God’s power are being guarded (presently) through faith for a salvation ready to be revealed (future tense) in the last time.”
Think of your most recently overcome struggle. Did you get through it alone, or with the help of others? My seminary doctorate may have my name on it, but I didn’t get it on my own. I got it through the prayers, help, and sacrifice of others who I hope both benefitted from helping me obtain it, and will continue to benefit from joining me in that struggle now that I’ve obtained it. Letting other Christians share in your struggles not only benefits you; it benefits them too!
Your heavenly ‘salvation certificate’ will bear your name, but you won’t have gotten it on your own. Written in Lamb’s blood in the Lamb’s book of life, Jesus will have purchased it; but your salvation will also have been pursued in the context of a hoping community here on earth—not a community trying to earn the hope of salvation but a community seeking to exhibit their hope of salvation to each other and to the world. Peter says in vv. 6-7,
“In this you rejoice, though now for a little while, if necessary, you have been grieved by various trials, so that the tested genuineness of your faith—more precious than gold that perishes though it is tested by fire—may be found to result in praise and glory and honor at the revelation of Jesus Christ.”
Nobody wants trials and grief. But what true disciples want even less than the grief of trials and tests is an untested, unproven, ungenuine faith. Because what true disciples want most is to praise, honor and glorify Christ, which only the genuinely faithful can do, because only they genuinely love Him. As Peter says in vv. 8-9,
“Though you have not seen him, you love him. Though you do not now see him, you believe in him and rejoice with joy that is inexpressible and filled with glory, obtaining the outcome of your faith, the salvation of your souls.”
Every “you” in this passage is plural: “obtaining the salvation of your souls (not soul).” Here is a community not earning but “obtaining,” not deserving but desiring salvation, together. They rejoice because they’re hopeful; they’re hopeful because they’re faithful; they’re faithful because they love Jesus; and they love Jesus because a merciful heavenly Father has caused them to be born again.
To further encourage these exiled Christians in pursuing the hope of salvation as a community project Peter traces the roots of their faith to the Old Testament prophets with whom they were familiar. He says in vv. 10-12,
“Concerning this salvation, the prophets who prophesied about the grace that was to be yours searched and inquired carefully [as to] what person or time the Spirit of Christ in them was indicating when he predicted the sufferings of Christ and the subsequent glories. It was revealed to them that they were serving not themselves but you, in the things that have now been announced to you through those who preached the good news to you by the Holy Spirit sent from heaven, things into which angels long to look.”
Turn with me to Isaiah 53. Though obviously having many prophets in mind, Peter is perhaps most clearly referring to Isaiah who asks in Is. 53:1, “Who has believed what he has heard from us? And to whom has the arm of the LORD been revealed?” As Peter says, Isaiah is inquiring about who will receive his prophecy of the Messiah just described in Is. 52:13-15: “Behold, my servant shall act wisely; he shall be high and lifted up, and shall be exalted” (that sounds like the “subsequent glories” Peter describes in v. 11). Isaiah says in v. 14, “His appearance was so marred, beyond human semblance, and his form beyond that of the children of mankind” (that sounds like the sufferings of Christ Peter mentions in v. 11). Then Isaiah says, “so shall he sprinkle many nations; kings shall shut their mouths because of him; for that which has not been told them they see, and that which they have not heard they understand.” Peter says in v. 2 that the elect exiles were elect, “according to the Father’s foreknowledge, in the Spirit’s sanctification, for obedience to Jesus and for sprinkling with His blood.”
Isaiah gives a centuries-old description of a future community, envied by angels, shaped by the Messiah’s sufferings, sprinkled by His blood, and sent forth to likewise sprinkle the nations through the gospel as His agents of reconciliation (nations like: Pontus, Galatia, Cappadocia, Asia, Bithynia, etc.). This is why a community of such vibrant hope must also be a community of visible holiness.
The Responsibility of Holiness
So, building on his previous line of thought, Peter expands his readers’ focus from the reality of Christian hope to the responsibility of Christian holiness in v. 13ff:
“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.’”
Again, while his words trickle down to the individual level, Peter is writing in the plural—to a community expected not just to be hopeful but holy. This is really where the proverbial rubber meets the road. The wheat is separated from the chaff, and the sheep from the goats in the realm of holiness, not in the realm of hope. As I said at the beginning, plenty of people call themselves Christians and “hope” to be saved because they prayed a prayer, made a decision, and got saved years ago. But if their hope were genuine they wouldn’t keep isolating themselves from other Christians as a cover for indulging in sin. And plenty of other people call themselves Christians and “hope” to be saved because their lives look pretty on the outside. But if their hope were genuine, they would stop nurturing pride in their hearts, forget about impressing other people, and humble themselves by submitting to the accountability of Christian community.
We guard against sin’s outer and inner tendencies in the church by following Peter’s instruction: ‘preparing our minds for action, being sober-minded, and hoping fully in God’s grace in Christ.’ “Amazing grace, how sweet the sound, that saved a wretch like me // I once was lost but NOW am found, was (spiritually) blind but NOW I see.” God’s grace is a present reality, isn’t it? But the basis of our full hope isn’t present grace; Peter says, “set your hope fully on the grace that will be brought to you at the revelation of Jesus Christ.”
The grace we’ve experienced in the past, and the grace we experience in the present—while amazing—isn’t all the grace God has to give us in Christ. Not even close! It’s like the difference between smelling a steak and sinking your teeth into it. The aroma of God’s eternal grace in Christ has wafted into time and into our lives. As the Holy Spirit fans the scent of that grace our way, it turns our hearts heavenward; it causes us to believe in Christ; it turns the scent of sin that once enticed us into a foul odor by comparison and changes the direction and destination of our lives. But this present grace is still just a scent; it’s not the substance. The substance of God’s grace in Christ IS CHRIST! And His full revelation, whether in our physical deaths or in His bodily return at the end of the age, is still future.
The Christians living in Peter’s time faced a challenge that Christians still face today: how to remain hopeful and attune to the scent of Christ in this age while anticipating His substance in the age to come? We do it by living holy; and we do that in community. Peter says in v. 14, “As obedient children, do not be conformed to the passions of your former ignorance”—the old scent of sin that once captivated us and stirred in us the pursuit of selfish pleasures. Peter finishes the thought in vv. 15-16, “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.’”
Being holy as God is holy seems like an unreachably tall order, doesn’t it? Peter says in v. 17, “If you call on him as Father who judges impartially according to each one’s deeds, conduct yourselves with fear throughout the time of your exile…” That sounds about right. Fear is the only appropriate response of sinners before a holy God who judges our deeds and has every right to cast us into hell. So why doesn’t He? It’s because ‘You shall be holy, for I am holy’ isn’t just a command; it’s also a promise. Holiness isn’t just something God expects of us; it’s something He provides to us. Look at vv. 18-21.
“…knowing that you were ransomed from the futile ways inherited from your forefathers, not with perishable things such as silver or gold, but with the precious blood of Christ, like that of a lamb without blemish or spot. He was foreknown before the foundation of the world but was made manifest in the last times for the sake of you who through him are believers in God, who raised him from the dead and gave him glory, so that your faith and hope are in God.”
Are we to fear and revere God? Yes. But our fear is not the unknowing fear of those who serve a god or gods who expect holiness but give no assurance of whether that standard has been met.
I sat right out here on a park bench talking with a kind man of the Muslim faith as we watched his son play basketball during sports camp. We talked about holy books and prophets, and about what our Gods expect of us. And when I asked him pointedly, “How do you know if you’ve done enough good?” he looked me right in the eye and said, “I don’t know—we don’t know; it’s up to him.” I then told him that Jesus gives us assurance—that being God, not just a prophet—we can look to His blood and have hope that our holiness will meet God’s perfect standard because Jesus met it for us.” But as of yet his eyes haven’t been opened. This man is obviously not a radical Muslim—he brought his son to a Christian sports camp! He’s part of a community of non-radical Muslims who want to do good to their neighbors and please their god. But their good deeds are all that they can look to for encouragement and hope. The Christian community has something better. We have the hope of the cross for our holiness. And now as we encourage each other toward holiness in community it isn’t to gain hope, it’s to maintain hope—to remain hopeful as we watch one another be conformed to the character of Christ.
Peter says in vv. 22-25:
“Having purified your souls by your obedience to the truth (that’s the obedience of faith) for a sincere brotherly love, love one another earnestly from a pure heart, since you have been born again, not of perishable seed but of imperishable, through the living and abiding word of God; for (and he quotes again from Isaiah)
‘All flesh is like grass, and all its glory like the flower of grass. The grass withers, and the flower falls, but the word of the Lord remains forever.’
And this word is the good news that was preached to you.”
Let me ask you today: do you have that kind of hope—a hope that looks at your aging body and says, “This isn’t all there is”? A hope that’s shaped by growing holiness in your life? A holiness that’s growing because you’re part of a community of born-again believers in Jesus Christ, the God-Man who came to earth, died for you, rose again, reigns on high, and will return?
The first step toward that kind of hope is faith—obedience to the truth of the gospel. Be born again! Be made holy by Christ! Express that hope and rebirth through believer’s baptism. Create (or re-create) a new community here! I’d love to visit with you after the service if you’re ready to take this step
But the next step is really many steps. It’s making the conscious choice to walk through life as part of a holy and hopeful community of Christ-followers, letting the shared life of the gospel refine and magnify the holiness of Christ in you. As we do this we’ll need to continually ask ourselves:
- Who has access to my inner world?
- What Christian(s) do you invite to know your former passions and ignorances?
- Who do you meet with regularly to pray, read Scripture and share life?
- Are you in a small group? Do you have an accountability partner(s)?
- Whose inner world am I accessing?
- What brother or sister on the fringe of Christian community are you pursuing for the purpose of holiness and hope?
- What’s your prayer life look like? Does your praying reflect the value of the holy and hopeful community of which you and your fellow disciples are part?