Holy For The Mission
Matt Keller
Part of Reflection
February 16, 2020

Have you ever noticed how everything in the Scripture that is associated with God is holy?

God is identified by His holiness and everything about God is marked by His holiness. As you read through the Bible, you’ll see holy ground, holy land, holy place, most holy place, holy people, and holy angels.

We carry and read from, study and follow the Holy Bible. Everything associated with God is holy.

Because of this, God has made those who believe holy, and He calls us to be holy. In other words, we are to

the holiness of God everywhere we go and in everything we do.

One of the things we need to remember is that we need to be holy, not only to honor God, and not only for our own benefit. We need to pursue holiness—to be a reflection of God’s holiness—for the benefit of others.

1 Peter 2:11–17
11 Beloved, I urge you as sojourners and exiles to abstain from the passions of the flesh, which wage war against your soul. 12 Keep your conduct among the Gentiles honorable, so that when they speak against you as evildoers, they may see your good deeds and glorify God on the day of visitation. 13 Be subject for the Lord’s sake to every human institution, whether it be to the emperor as supreme, 14 or to governors as sent by him to punish those who do evil and to praise those who do good. 15 For this is the will of God, that by doing good you should put to silence the ignorance of foolish people. 16 Live as people who are free, not using your freedom as a cover-up for evil, but living as servants of God. 17 Honor everyone. Love the brotherhood. Fear God. Honor the emperor.

Pursuing holiness will help you your mission.

What is our mission? What task did Jesus give to His followers to accomplish while we wait for His return?

Jesus said that we are to make

.

Peter understood the importance of living in such a way that made it possible to fulfill the mission of telling others about salvation through faith in Jesus Christ.

But how does your holiness help fulfill your mission?

I want to show you one principle that explains how holiness helps fulfill your mission.

Your conduct your claim.

The things you do will either confirm to others what you say you are, or it will tell others that you’re not at all what you claim to be.

Peter was talking to a bunch of people who needed to be on mission because they claimed to be the people of God.

This is important because when we talk about holiness we need to understand that as Christians we are not just being set apart from something, we are being set apart for something.

The way Peter referred to these people tell us that they claimed to be Christians and Peter did not dispute that claim. In fact, Peter acknowledged their claim and began to teach that…

Your conduct should confirm your claim.

Galatians 5:19–21 (CSB)
19 Now the works of the flesh are obvious: sexual immorality, moral impurity, promiscuity, 20 idolatry, sorcery, hatreds, strife, jealousy, outbursts of anger, selfish ambitions, dissensions, factions, 21 envy, drunkenness, carousing, and anything similar. I am warning you about these things—as I warned you before—that those who practice such things will not inherit the kingdom of God.

Think about this, your flesh and its desires are waging war against your soul—the immaterial part of you that is the object of both God’s judgment and God’s saving work. Your soul is what makes you, you. It is the seat and the center of your emotion, will, and desire. It is the essence of a person that continues after physical death.

Do you know what this means? It means that every believer is a walking

.

Based on God’s work in the believer, Peter strongly urged or encouraged them to keep their conduct honorable.

“The world takes its notions of God, most of all, from the people who say that they belong to God’s family. They read us a great deal more than they read the Bible. They see us; they only hear about Jesus Christ.” —Alexander MacLaren

Your conduct should confirm your claim.

It’s one thing to conduct yourself personally in such a way that it is obvious to others that you are disciple of Jesus.

It’s another thing to submit to people in authority. And the people who read this letter originally were among those who were being persecuted for their faith by those in authority over them.

How in the world can you subject yourself to those in authority over you—especially when you don’t feel they deserve to be in authority over you? Peter tells us…

You do it for the Lord’s sake.

You understand that those in authority over you have a God-ordained role.

You accept that this is God’s will.

We need to realize that we are first and foremost the servants of God—and we must live and deal with others as though we are subject to God.

That is why we must

everyone.

We must

the brotherhood.

We must

God.

We must

the emperor.

Why must we follow these instructions? What does all of this have to do with being holy and pursing holiness?

Obeying the principles in this text will give your faith

. Remember, your conduct confirms your faith.

Pursuing holiness will help you fulfill your mission.