This is week nine of our series entitled “The Family”. In this series we have been studying the Bible to see what it means to be the church and to see what God has called the church to do. Over the course of this series we have talked about making disciples, being devoted to God, learning to become more generous, becoming united, being the gifts that God has designed us to be, speaking truth in love, and pursuing transformation together in the context of biblical community.

Last week we began to look at what it means to pursue personal holiness in the context of church community 1 Peter 1:13 – 21. In that section of Scripture, Peter says “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’” (1 Pet. 1:15 – 16). Simply stated, holiness means to be set apart for the special purposes of God.

Holiness can only be pursued at the personal level in the context of being together in regular biblical community. No one learns to be holy if they never gather face to face with other believers. If you are consistently absent from biblical community, you will only prop up a self-imposed façade of yourself in the mirror, apart from the watching eyes of the body of Christ which you were saved to be part of.

In our study last week of 1 Peter 1:13 – 21, we learned that to pursue holiness we must set our hope on the grace of God (v. 13) rather than hoping in things like our performance, our success, our accomplishments, or our popularity and acceptance. We also learned that the pursuit of holiness requires that we do not be conformed to our former stupidity (v. 14) or our former ways of living before Jesus saved us – He did not save us to have us revert back to our old sinful ways of living.

We also learned that to pursue holiness we must conduct our lives with godly fear (v. 17)which puts our earthly momentary fears to death and helps us to walk in obedience to God since he judges our lives based upon his perfect character. Remembering the price of our ransom (vv. 18 – 19) is also vital to our pursuit of holiness because our price tag – the shed blood and broken body of Jesus – is what defines our value and reminds us to live in holiness as the blood bought children we have become.

Lastly, we talked about pursuing holiness by simply believing and trusting in God’s eternal plan (20 – 21) which teaches us that God knew us intimately, he drew intimately close to us in Christ, before the foundation of the earth, so that at the moment of our salvation, we could begin knowing him for all of eternity as he has always known us.

Set your hope on the grace of God. Do not be conformed to your former stupidity. Conduct your life with godly fear. Remember the price of your ransom. Believe and trust in God’s eternal plan of salvation. Those are the foundation for our pursuit of holiness. The church family that anchors its heartbeat to these principles will grow in holiness – one baby step at a time.

But the question remains for this week: “What does holiness look like and what does it look like to be unholy?” Peter dives right into answering that question with a series of imperatives and indicatives; he simply indicates what is right and holy and then he insists that we now live in a way that is right and holy.2 Look at the text with me…

22Having purified your souls by your obedience to the truth for a sincere brotherly love, love one another earnestly from a pure heart, 23since you have been born again, not of perishable seed but of imperishable, through the living and abiding word of God; 24for “All flesh is like grass and all its glory like the flower of grass. The grass withers, and the flower falls, 25but the word of the Lord remains forever.” And this word is the good news that was preached to you. 1So put away all malice and all deceit and hypocrisy and envy and all slander. 2Like newborn infants, long for the pure spiritual milk, that by it you may grow up into salvation – 3if indeed you have tasted that the Lord is good.

#1: THE PURIFYING WORK OF THE GOSPEL (1:22 – 25)

Peter begins his instructions about holiness in verses 22 – 25 of chapter one with some words about the purifying work of the gospel, where he says that “Having purified your souls by your obedience to the truth 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 ‘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.”Again, this section of the text is all about the purifying work of the gospel.

When I think about the purifying work of the gospel, I am reminded of Psalm 103 which teaches us that God casts our filthy, heart staining sins an infinite distance from us as he purifies us through the work of his Spirit. I am also reminded that the prophets in the Old Testament say that although we have behaved like harlots and although our sins have stained our lives like scarlet, God has purified us, white as snow through the shed blood and broken body of Jesus (Isaiah 1:18; Ezekiel 16:30-33; Hosea).

This purifying work of the gospel, according to Peter, is something that enables us to genuinely and earnestly love our brothers and sisters in Christ because that gospel which purifies us is an unfading, unfailing, living, and active word of truth that saves us from the presence, power, and penalty of our sins – in contrast to human flesh which withers away like grass and flowers (v. 24 – 25). It is this “imperishable” purifying gospel, that transforms us, makes us into new creations in Christ Jesus, and then sets us free to love our spiritual family as God has loved us (vv. 23).

When Peter says in verse 22 that “Having purified your souls by your obedience to the truth for a sincere brotherly love, [therefore] love one another earnestly from a pure heart”he is pointing the fact that since we have obeyed the gospel for salvation, we are now pure – washed clean, made perfect – therefore we are to live and love in purity from the very depths of our newly purified beings. Having been purified by the gospel, we are to continue to be purified by the gospel as we labor to live and love in ways that are holy and honoring to the God who made us pure and holy by the work of his crucified, risen, and returning Son.

Simply stated, the purifying work of the gospel has everything to do with making you and I right and pure before our holy God, but it also means that the fruit or evidence of that inner purification, will necessarily be witnessed in the way that we love our brothers and sisters in Christ. This is why I say that holiness can only be walked out, lived out, and grown in, through regular time spent in community with other brothers and sisters in Christ. The rubber of our pursuit of holiness must hit the road in regular biblical community; otherwise, it will merely sit in the garage under a blanket for no one else to see, like an antique car that never sees the light of day.

The moral of the story in this first portion of our text, is that the purifying work of the gospel is what transforms us and sets us free to love our spiritual family with all the energy that the Spirit of the living God gives to us. So, spend every day asking the Lord to continue purifying your heart, your mind, and your behavior with the message of the gospel.

Labor to be obedient to the gospel, and work to love your spiritual family as God has loved you in the gospel through the shed blood and broken body of his one and only Son, Jesus Christ. As you do this, you will notice that God will continue to remove your old impure clothing of wickedness.

#2: THE IMPURE CLOTHING OF WICKEDNESS (2:1)

The impure clothing of wickedness has no place in the life of a blood-bought saint and adopted child of God. Impure, wicked clothing no longer belongs to you if you have trusted in Jesus. Your new clothing has no stain, no spot, and no wrinkle in it because Christ took your old clothes of Satan, Sin, and Death at the cross of Calvary. Your only responsibility is to put on those new clothes as you grow in the gospel in relationship with other believers.

You are now the proud but humbled recipient of brand new, spotless clothing – the clothing of Christ’s perfect righteousness and holiness, and Peter’s instructions to you and me in verse 1 of chapter two, is that we must “put away all malice and all deceit and hypocrisy and envy and all slander.” We are to put off our impure clothing of wickedness.

Our new lives in Christ Jesus are literally meant to produce spiritual and moral reform, as one commentator explains, “Genuine faith brings [genuine] change in behavior”.3 Peter has already instructed us to love our spiritual family as God in Christ loves us (v. 22) – which is the definition of what it means to walk in holiness and so fulfill the Law of Christ (Matt. 22:34 – 40) as we seek to “love others, [as] we respect them, promote their lives, honor their property, tell them the truth, and seek their good, not [seeking] their goods”.4

This love that Peter has already spoken of means that we will put way, or put off, or get rid of wicked behaviors like malice, deceit, hypocrisy, envy, and slander, just as we would put away, put off, or get rid of our soiled clothing after a hard day of work.5 The interesting thing about this list of wicked clothing items that Peter makes, is that while it is definitely the filthy clothing of the world we live in, it is more than that because it is often the wicked clothing that is found in many church families.6

Obviously, a church family should never be known for being malicious, or dishonest, or hypocritical, or envious, or slanderous. But the sad reality in Peter’s day and in our day, is that these sins in church families, are often overlooked, not spoken about, justified, or excused away as we focus on the external evils of the world we live in rather than holding one another accountable to walking in holiness in the household of God.7

Since God says that judgment begins with the house of God (1 Peter 4:17), it is imperative that we turn our six-guns on ourselves so that we might grow in holiness as we labor to rid ourselves of the impure clothing of wickedness. So, what are these articles of impure wicked clothing?

Malice is simply maliciousness and evil intent. Someone practicing malice will seek to climb the ladder of success at the expense of others, will oftentimes hold grudges, and will usually behave according to their own self-centered interests.8

Deceit is bald faced deception, dishonesty, and lies that seek to cover up the truth and spread disinformation for the sake of self-protection, self-promotion, and self-advancement.

Hypocrisy is simply holding other people to unbiblical standards while you yourself practice sin behind closed doors as you look down your nose at those who do not meet your self-imposed, extrabiblical rules and regulations – you are the mature one and everyone else is immature based upon your unbiblical standards.

Envy is a kind of jealousy that motivates you to pursue power, prestige, control, comfort, and acceptance at all costs. When you are envious of someone else, because of something they have that you do not have, you will climb over them, use them, or attempt to eliminate them in your pursuit of satisfying your desires.

Slander is the practice of saying things about other people that are not true so that you can tear them down. When you slander someone, you play the Holy Spirit, believing that you can see what motivates them and you twist the facts to fit the false narrative you are constructing about them. Slander is the main weapon of character assassination.

I am sure you can see why these articles of impure wicked clothing have no place in the body of Christ. These virtues are not in keeping with our profession of faith. And of course, we know that Peter does not really give us a list of opposite holy virtues to pursue here. It should suffice to say that seeking to truly love one another as God in Christ has loved us will necessarily lead to the removal of these articles of clothing.

But I also think it is helpful to be reminded that the fruit of the Spirit, the fruit of the life of a genuine believer in Christ, is love, and love is joy-filled, it is peaceful, it is patient, it is kind, it is good, it is faithful, it is gentle, it is self-controlled, and it does not delight in evil (Gal. 5:22 – 23; 1 Cor. 13:4 – 8).

The bottom line here is this, if you have trusted in Christ, if you have been and are being purified by the gospel, then you have been given a new set of pure clothing, and you must be diligent about throwing away the impure clothing of wickedness and unholiness. The question now, is how do you do this? How do you remove that impure clothing of unholy wickedness?

#3: THE PURE SPIRITUAL MILK (2:2)

Peter answers that question in verse 2 of chapter two when he says, “Like newborn infants, long for the pure spiritual milk, that by it you may grow up into salvation” When I read this verse, all I can hear Peter saying is that we need to act like babies! We do not need to act like babies in terms of doing immature, stupid, or sinful things. But we do need to act like babies in terms of our surrendered dependence upon Christ.

The image of a newborn infant who longs for the pure spiritual milk is an image of a baby who cannot do anything for itself; the baby is completely dependent upon someone else to feed it and nurture it. A baby relies on its parents to feed it with milk that is packed full of the nutrients that will help the baby grow into adulthood. While a baby does grow out of the need for someone to feed it, it never grows out of the need for nutrition.

Spiritually speaking, we should never become deceived into thinking that we can move on from the basic nutrition of the gospel which is our pure spiritual milk. The same nutritious gospel that first saves us is the same nutritious gospel that helps us to “grow up into salvation”. It is the gospel that continues to humble, correct, encourage, and strengthen the believer at every point in the journey of knowing and loving God as he has loved us in Christ Jesus.

Here is the gospel: God created me to be with him. My sin separates me from God. My sin cannot be made right through good behavior. Jesus paid the price for my sin by dying on the cross and leaving the tomb empty. God gave me the faith to believe and trust in Jesus therefore I have received the gift of eternal life. Eternal life begins now and last forever.

Preach that gospel to yourself daily. Write out the high points of the gospel in your own words. Memorize it. Recite it often. Every time you are faced with any kind of decision, come back to that gospel message and ask: “Which decision will most honor and glorify my Father in Heaven? If God had to make this decision, how would he make it so that he upheld his own holiness?” In this way, you will act like a baby who is fully surrendered and fully dependent upon the pure spiritual milk of the gospel and you will continue to grow in purity and holiness.

CONCLUSION…

In conclusion, we have discussed what it means to grow in holiness by becoming obedient to the purifying work of the gospel, by growing in your love for your spiritual family, by throwing away your impure wicked clothing, and by surrendering in full daily dependence – like a baby – on the spiritual milk of the gospel.

These things are good and true. But there is one more thing in the text that I want to leave you with as we bring this study to a close. Peter lays out all of these things about the purifying work of the gospel, and growing in love for our spiritual family, and getting rid of our filthy wicked impure clothing, and desiring the pure spiritual nutrition of the gospel, and then he closes our passage with these words in verse 3 where he says, that you can do these things “if indeed you have tasted that the Lord is good.”

Everything Peter has said about our pursuit of holiness will either be an attempt to earn God’s love (legalism) or an attempt to prove how lovely we are (moralism) if we have not first tasted that God is good in the message of the gospel. If the gospel has not saved you, if the bloody cross of Jesus Christ has not humbled and humiliated you to the point of desperation, if your sin has not left you broken and needy, if that empty tomb has not proven to you that Jesus is the rightful Savior and King, then your attempts at being holy are a waste of time.

But if you have been humbled by the cross of Christ, if your sin makes you desperate for a Savior and King, if that empty tomb fills you with the hope of eternity, and if you have become obedient to the gospel which calls you to surrender in trust and belief in the God who gave everything to save you, then you have tasted that God is good. Your pursuit of holiness will only be as genuine as the intensity of your appetite for your Good Father in Heaven.

If you have tasted in God’s goodness in the gospel of your salvation in Christ Jesus, by the power of God’s Spirit, who is alive inside of you, you can now long for the spiritual nutrition of the gospel. You can surrender in full dependence on him to help you exchange your wicked clothing for the pure clothing that belongs to you. And you can be continually purified and made holy as your Father in Heaven is holy through the transforming effects of the purifying message of the gospel. Be holy as God is holy! – Amen!

1 Unless otherwise specified, all Bible references are to the English Standard Version Bible, The New Classic Reference Edition (ESV) (Crossway, a publishing ministry of Good News Publishers, 2001).

2 Daniel, M., Doriani, 1 Peter – Reformed Expository Commentary, (Phillipsburg, New Jersey: P&R Publishing Company, 2014), 51 – 52.

3 Ibid., 58.

4 Ibid., 59.

5 Ibid.

6 Ibid., 60.

7 Ibid.

8 Ibid.