Revelation Themes and Eschatological Applications

Holiness Explained and Encouraged Part 2 of 2

Transcript: AI Transcript

Professor: John Weaver

Subject: New Testament Studies

Genre: Sermon

Dictation Name:

Date: 2012-03-05

Synopsis: In this second part of a two-part message on holiness, Pastor John Weaver continues his exposition of 1 Peter 1:13-16, focusing on the diligence developed in holiness (verses 14-15) and the diligence designed in holiness (verses 15-16). He explains that holiness requires active effort: believers must be obedient children who instantly obey God's Word, not conforming to their former sinful lusts. Holiness involves a continual process of putting off old sinful habits and putting on new godly ones, renewing the mind through Scripture. The standard for holiness is God's own holy character, expressed in His law, which is immutable and binding. Believers become holy as they conform their lives to God's law, which is the totality of Scripture. The message emphasizes that holiness is not optional but a necessary, practical outworking of salvation, empowered by the Holy Spirit, and that God's children should increasingly resemble their Heavenly Father.

[John Weaver] All right, let's open our Bibles into first Peter chapter one again. First Peter chapter one. For those of you who were not here last week, I began a message. Entitled holiness explained and encouraged. So I'm going to take just a few moments and review part one, and then we're going to continue today on part two and try to tie these two messages together. So look in 1 Peter 1, beginning with verse 13. Peter writes, wherefore gird up the loins of your mind, be sober, and hope to the end for the grace that is to be brought unto you at the revelation of Jesus Christ, as obedient children, not fashioning yourselves according to the form of lust in your ignorance.

[John Weaver] But as he who hath called you is holy, so be ye holy in all manner of conversation, because it is written, be ye holy, For I am holy. You remember last week, I began by saying that holiness is absolutely necessary in the Christian life because the Bible clearly teaches in Hebrews chapter 12 and verse 14, follow peace with all men and holiness without which no man shall see the Lord. So holiness then is a necessity. It is a requirement and it is demanded by a holy God. And I pointed out last week, just by way of introduction, that Christendom as a whole, while we are indeed a professing Christian people, Christendom as a whole is practically totally devoid of biblical holiness.

[John Weaver] And I realize there's a vast difference between a professor of faith and one who possesses faith. And I realize that our churches mostly are filled with unsaved people. I understand that. But unhappily, even those who are saved do not have a right understanding concerning biblical holiness. So last week we only looked at one point. I have three points in this message. We're going to cover two of them today. But the only point we looked at was this. The diligence demanded in holiness. If you look back in verse 13, this is the only verse we discussed last week.

[John Weaver] Wherefore, gird up the loins of your mind, be sober and hope to the end, for the grace that is to be brought unto you at the revelation of Jesus Christ. Now, I pointed out last week as I explained verse 13, that holiness does not simply happen. It does not slip up on us, nor is holiness acquired by a trip down the aisle to the front of a church building. Holiness, according to Peter, is something that must be worked at. He said, gird up the loins of your mind, and I told you what that literally meant.

[John Weaver] Of course, the Orientals wore those long flowing robes. If they were to fight, if they were to run, if they were to do anything that required movement, they would take their robes and gird them up under their loins, usually had a belt or a rope or something where they could move. And so I told you actually what Peter is saying is literally roll up the shirt sleeves of your mind or take the coat off your mind, get ready to do some very serious and hard thinking.

[John Weaver] In other words, you have to develop a biblical outlook, a biblical perspective, a biblical worldview. So he's telling you then that you have to understand there's going to be something serious going on by simply girding up the loins of your mind. And then he said you're to be sober. And I pointed out how the opposite of sober here is not necessarily drunkenness. Certainly that could be an application. But I pointed out the word sober here literally means that we're to think accurately, circumspectly, seriously. We're to be serious minded in this aspect. So when he tells us to be sober, he's already told us to roll up the shirt sleeves of our mind and I went through the scriptures and I showed you how that word is used.

[John Weaver] Now he's saying you be serious in this and then thirdly he says you hope to the end for the grace that has been brought to you with the revelation of Jesus Christ. And then I pointed out that actually there are two revelations that are referred to. The first one in the context is the revelation of the word of God and the second one is the second coming of Christ. So what he is saying is that we must literally gird up the loins of our mind, be sober, be serious and he says That hope is encouraged and evidenced by an understanding, first of all, of the written revelation of the Word of God, and secondly, by personal intimate fellowship with the living Word of God, the Lord Jesus Christ, who is returning.

[John Weaver] So let me just sum up verse 13 for you before we go any further. What Peter is telling us is this. Holiness is not a hit and miss every now and then activity. It is a lifestyle. It is a world view. It is a mental attitude. It is a perspective on life that pervades our thinking in every sphere and every action of our lives. So holiness then is not something that just happens. It's something according to Peter that must be worked at and you're going to see as we continue how he teaches this. So today we're going to look secondly at verses 14 and 15. The diligence developed in holiness. The diligence developed in holiness.

[John Weaver] So we've already looked at the first point now. Diligence demanded in holiness. Now the diligence developed in holiness. Verse 14, he said, As obedient children, not fashioning yourselves according to the former lusts in your ignorance, but as he who hath called you as holy, So be ye holy in all manner of conversation. Now as you look at verse 14, there is a positive that must be developed in our lives and there is a negative that must be avoided in our lives. So the positive is as obedient children. The negative is not fashioning yourselves according to the former lusts of your ignorance. So let's take the positive first. He says, as obedient children.

[John Weaver] Now the word obedient is from a Greek word that basically means to hear under. To hear under. It refers to a submission and obedience based upon hearing. It means that we learn submission, we learn obedience, and compliance to our Father's words and counsel simply upon hearing His instruction. It means we don't argue, we don't bellyache, we don't whine, we don't criticize, we just simply obey.

[John Weaver] Now you understand that there are two basic ways of instructing and educating children. The first way of course is verbal and the second way is punitive. Verbal just simply means we talk to them, we instruct them, we give them directions, we teach them. Punitive means the use of the rod. That is, we chastise them, we whip them for not obeying our commands.

[John Weaver] Now, it's interesting that in the New Testament, our Lord said four times, He that hath ears to hear, let him hear. Now, ask yourself, what is an obedient child? I want you to listen. An obedient child is one who hears and immediately and instantly obeys. Listen to this sentence. Delayed obedience is disobedience. Delayed obedience is disobedience. Intending to obey is not the same as obedience. I've had my children, I've had my grandchildren tell me, well I intended to do that. But you didn't. Intended obedience is not obedience. Politeness, respect, and reverence are pointless without obedience. I want you to hold first Peter. I want you to turn back in your Bibles to Matthew 21. I'm going to make that statement again, and then I want you to see this from the Scripture. Matthew chapter 21, and we will begin reading there with verse 28. Listen to what I'm telling you. It is very important. Notice Matthew 21. Here's the statement again. Politeness, respect, and reverence are pointless without obedience. Look in Matthew chapter 21 verse 28, our Lord said, But what think ye?

[John Weaver] A certain man had two sons, and he came to the first and said, Son, go work today in my vineyard. And he answered and said, I will not. But afterwards he repented and went. And he came to the second and said, Likewise. And he answered and said, I go, sir. And went not. And then our Lord says, Whither of them twain did the will of his father? They say unto him, The first. Jesus said, and verily I say unto you that the publicans and the harlots go into the kingdom of God before you. So the second child just simply said, yes, sir. Yes, father.

[John Weaver] I'll do it right now. But he did not. The first one rude and ugly, but yet he repented and then he went. So the point I'm trying to make, you can be polite, you can be reverent, you can be respectful, but if you don't do what you are told, it is still disobedience. That's why our Lord said in John 14 and verse 15, if you love me, keep my commandments. If we love him, we will obey. You know, every one of us admire children who hear and obey instantly.

[John Weaver] When we see children like that, we tend to think they must have absolutely wonderful parents and that the parents have spent a great deal of time with the children and that those children have been meticulously instructed and trained very lovingly, very kindly and therefore they are such wonderful, obedient children. Has it ever entered into your minds that that is exactly the kind of children that we should be toward our Heavenly Father. Punitive instruction is demanded only when verbal instruction fails.

[John Weaver] That's why you read in Proverbs 22 and verse 15, foolishness is bound up in the heart of the child, but the rod of correction shall drive it far from him. So it is foolishness, it is sin that requires the rod. And when foolishness and sin require the rod, it is applied. Now let me ask you, if we applied the rod to our disobedient physical children, shall God do any less to His children? And if we whipped and chastened and disciplined our children because we love them, is not God going to do the same toward us? You see, our Lord has promised that all believers who sin will suffer. It does not mean that He ceases to love us. It does not mean that we cease to be His children. But it does mean that we're going to be chastened if we sin.

[John Weaver] The Bible tells us in Psalm 89 in verse 32, God said, And one of my favorite verses It's found in Micah 6 and verse 9, and here's all it says, the latter part, Hear ye the rod, and him who hath appointed it. In other words, God says, if you won't hear my words, then you need to hear my rod. Because I'm going to bring that rod upon you. And the rod only comes when we fail to hear and heed and obey. And so what Peter is saying in 1 Peter, Chapter 1 and verse 14, as obedient children, we need to learn to hear under. That is, when we hear our Lord's instruction, when we hear our Lord's directions, we instantly and immediately obey and bring our lives in conformity to His Word. It's just that simple. That is an obedient child. It's one who hears and one who obeys instantly, immediately. I want you to look in verse 14 again because he says, as obedient children, that's the positive. Now here's the negative.

[John Weaver] Not fashioning yourselves according to the former lust in your ignorance. Now, it's very important that you understand, he says, not fashioning yourselves according to the former lust in your ignorance. Well, what were your former lusts? Well, look in your Bibles, if you would. Hold 1 Peter. But go back to the book of Ephesians chapter 2. And look, if you would, what the Apostle Paul wrote. Ephesians chapter 2.

[John Weaver] And notice, if you would, verse 2. He tells us exactly what our former lusts were. He says, swearing in time past, you walked according to the course of this world, According to the prince of the power of the air the spirit that now worketh in the children of disobedience among whom also We all had our conversation or conduct in times past in the lust of our flesh Fulfilling the desires of the flesh and of the mind and were by nature children of wrath even as others so our former lust then is how we lived before we were converted. We lived according to the world. We lived according to the flesh. We lived according to the spirit of this world. We were disobedient. We were rebellious. We did what we pleased and we did what satisfied our flesh. Now, what He is telling us according to 1 Peter 1 and verse 14, if we are to be obedient children, not fashioning ourselves or not molding ourselves according to our former lust in our ignorance. That means this.

[John Weaver] We must change. We must change. How do you change? Well, skip down to verse 17 in Ephesians chapter 4. Ephesians chapter 4 beginning of verse 17. I have entire messages just on this passage and I'm not going to re-preach those messages, but look. Ephesians 4 verse 17, This I say therefore and testify of the Lord, that you henceforth walk not as other Gentiles walk, how? In the vanity of their mind. So Paul is saying you don't walk as the unsaved walk. How do they walk? In the vanity, in the uselessness, in the worthlessness of their mind. Watch verse 18.

[John Weaver] having the understanding darkened, that's in ignorance, being alienated from the life of God through the ignorance that is in them because of the blindness of their heart. So he says you don't walk like that. Verse 19, who being past feeling, have given themselves over into lasciviousness to work all uncleanness with greediness. Watch verse 20. But you have not so learned Christ. Now, let's go to verse 21.

[John Weaver] if so be that you have heard him, and have been taught by him, as the truth is in Jesus, that you put off concerning the former conversation or conduct the old man, which is corrupt according to the deceitful lust, and be renewed in the spirit of your mind, and that you put on the new man, which after God is created in righteousness and true holiness. Now interestingly enough, the apostle Paul says, in verse 22, that you put off the former conversation, the old man, which is corrupt, and then he tells you, and be renewed in the spirit of your mind. Now when Paul says, be renewed in the spirit of your mind, it's the same thing as Peter saying, gird up the loins of your mind.

[John Weaver] Now here's what he's teaching us, and he's teaching us very plainly, that in order to change our lives, we must learn Jesus Christ. There are biblical principles. We have to learn to put off the old habits, the old ways of thinking, the old ideas, and learn to put on the new man, which is created in righteousness and true holiness. And the only way we can learn those things is by girding up the loins of our mind, being sober, thinking seriously, and studying the Scripture to find the principles of the Word of God. An ignorant man will never be a holy man. An ignorant man will never be a godly man. And I'm not talking about someone who's never been to school. I'm not talking about someone who just has never had a higher education. No, no, no. I'm talking about an ignorant man. A man who is ignorant of God's Word will never ever be a holy man. Why? Because we must learn Christ. We must be constantly putting off our old habits and putting on new godly biblical habits.

[John Weaver] I've told people this, I have done far more repenting since I've been saved than when I got saved. And you know it's amazing when you think that pretty well, well I've got everything under control, all of a sudden you see things in your life that, you know they're just, they're wrong, they're wicked. And it must be a constant and continual change. You remember the Bible tells us in Romans 8 and verse 29 that God's will for each of us is that we be conformed to the image of Jesus Christ.

[John Weaver] So that means we have to continually go through this putting off and putting on until we have acquired new habits and new attitudes and new perspectives. It's just like when you go to bed, you put off the clothes that you've worn all day. You put on your nightclothes. The next morning you get up, you put off your nightclothes and put on your dayclothes. You have to put off before you put on. And so what he's saying is, you have to put off these old habits, but you can't just put them off, you must put something else in their place, and that is a new habit, a godly habit.

[John Weaver] Now, I want you to go back to verse 15 of 1 Peter chapter 1. I want you to watch this carefully. He says, in verse 14, as obedient children, not fashioning yourselves according to the former lusts in your ignorance, but as He which called you is holy, so be you holy in all manner of conversation. All manner of conversation. Our God is holy. He has called us unto holiness and therefore He demands holiness in all manner of conversation.

[John Weaver] Now the word conversation does not just refer to talk. The word conversation refers to behavior, deportment, conduct, your manner of life. What He is saying in verse 15 is that every sphere, every area of our life is to be controlled and regulated by holiness. In other words, we have no choice in the matter. Holiness is His requirement. Holiness is His demand. And therefore, there are no neutral zones.

[John Weaver] There are no king's exes. There are no times out. I can't say, well, Lord, I want to be holy in every area but this, I'm dealing with Henry Klingler. You know how Henry is. No, Lord. No, no, no, no, no. I don't care if Henry is wrong. I have to do what's right. Janet says she knows how he is. No, I'm teasing. You know that. But you understand that I can't say, well, time out, I'm not going to be holy when I deal with Henry. Or time out, I'm not going to be holy when I deal with Doc. No, no, no. I can't do that. God demands holiness in every area and every sphere of my life. Now, the question comes. How do we accomplish becoming holy in every sphere of our lives? Well, I want you to hold 1 Peter, but go in your Bibles to Romans chapter 6. And I want to begin reading with verse 11. Romans chapter 6 and verse 11. Because I'm going to show you the answer to that question on how we become holy in every sphere of our lives.

[John Weaver] Look in Romans chapter 6 and let's begin reading there with verse 11. This passage is a wonderful, wonderful passage. Romans 6 verse 11, God says this, likewise Reckon ye yourselves also to be dead indeed unto sin, but alive unto God through Jesus Christ our Lord. Let not sin therefore reign in your mortal body, that you should obey it in its lust thereof. Neither yield ye your members as instruments of unrighteousness unto sin, but yield yourselves unto God as those that are alive from the dead, and your members as instruments of righteousness unto God. Now, go back to verse 11. Likewise, reckon you also yourselves to be dead indeed unto sin, but alive unto God through Jesus Christ our Lord." Now the word reckon means to count. It means to impute. So he literally says count yourself dead indeed unto sin. That's first. Count yourself dead indeed unto sin.

[John Weaver] Let me ask you a question. Let's suppose I had a casket in this room with a dead man in it. And I pulled out a fifth of whiskey and I looked at the dead man and I said, come on buddy, let's get drunk. Is he going to get drunk? No. What if I said, come on and let's go commit adultery? Is he going to do it? No. Why? He's dead.

[John Weaver] Sin has nothing to do with him now. He is dead. What does God say? Count yourselves dead unto sin. So when temptation comes along, you tell temptation, I'm sorry, I'm a dead man. I've died in Jesus Christ. I've been crucified with Christ. I'm dead. You have no power over me. You have no persuasion over me. I'm counting myself dead. Then he says, don't just count yourself dead. You then count yourself alive unto God through Jesus Christ. You know, the Bible says that Christ died indeed unto sin once, but after he liveth unto God. So once we've counted ourselves dead in Christ, we have to understand that we are alive in Christ and we are to live for Him.

[John Weaver] Now, I want you to notice what He said. Watch verse 11. He says, Likewise reckon ye also yourselves to be dead indeed unto sin, but alive unto God through Jesus Christ our Lord. Now watch verse 12. Let not sin therefore reign in your mortal body, that you should obey it and the lust thereof. I want you to note what He did not say. He did not say, let not sin be in your mortal body. Would to God it wasn't there.

[John Weaver] And one day by His grace it won't be there. But it is there now. But what He did say was, let not sin reign in your mortal body. Sin is no longer in control for the child of God. Sin is no longer our Lord. This is what He's teaching. Jesus Christ is our Lord. Jesus Christ is in control. And when sin comes to us, we say no.

[John Weaver] You see, this is the difference between a saved man and an unsaved man. An unsaved man, has no power to resist sin because sin is His Lord, sin is His King. That's what Romans 5 teaches. Romans 6 teaches it as well. But only those who have been saved by the grace of God have been delivered from the dominion and the power of sin and now they are under the dominion and power of Jesus Christ.

[John Weaver] Now you're going to ask, well wait a minute. How does reckoning myself dead indeed unto sin and alive unto God make me holy? How is denying the lordship and the kingship and the dominion of sin in my life going to make me holy? Well look at verse 16. Know you not that to whom you yield yourselves servants to obey, His servants you are to whom you obey, whether they are sin unto death or of obedience unto righteousness?

[John Weaver] What did He just say? Don't you know that whomever you obey, His servant you are? Whether it's sin unto death or of obedience unto righteousness. So if I want to be the servant of sin, what do I do? I obey sin. If I want to be the servant of Jesus Christ, what do I do? I obey Jesus Christ. You see, it is obedience that demonstrates and evidences in whom we really genuinely believe and trust. The one that we obey is the one that we genuinely believe in and trust. It's a very practical test. It's a very practical demonstration. Do you remember it? I know you do.

[John Weaver] I've quoted it so many times. What our Lord said in Luke 6 in verse 46, Why call ye me Lord, Lord, and do not the things which I say unto you? You remember the word Lord? Curiosity means boss, owner, master, sovereign. He said, why are you calling me Lord if you're not going to do what I'm going to say unto you? So, look in verse 19. Romans 6 verse 19, look there now. Look what he says.

[John Weaver] I speak after the manner of men because of the infirmity of your flesh. He says, I know you're weak. So he said, I'm going to put this out where you can understand it. I speak after the manner of men because of the infirmity of your flesh for as you have yielded your member servants to uncleanness and to iniquity and to iniquity, even so now yield your member servants to righteousness unto holiness.

[John Weaver] Now, what is the apostle teaching us? Well, here's what he's saying. Before you were converted, you gave an eager, willing, and ready, and practical obedience to sin.

[John Weaver] Now He says that you're saved. You give a willing, ready, and eager obedience to Jesus Christ. Let me ask you. If you serve sin eagerly, willingly, readily, and give a very practical obedience to it before you were saved, shall you do less to Jesus Christ who saved you and took you out of your sin? No. Here's what happened. Listen carefully. Before we were converted, when we walked according to the course of this world, the prince of the power of the air, when we walked according to the lust of our flesh and the lust of our mind and the pride of our life, you know what we did? We planned to sin. We schemed to sin. We sacrificed to sin. We wanted what saved and satisfied us. That's what we wanted.

[John Weaver] And we worked it around so that we could have that. We were giving a practical obedience to the lust of our flesh and the lust of our eyes and the pride of life.

[John Weaver] Now that we're saved, can we not think and plan and scheme to give a practical obedience to Jesus Christ? Can we not sacrifice to do that? I believe anything less is an act of blasphemy. Because we willingly gave that to sin, how can we give less to Jesus Christ? What the Apostle Peter is telling us, as well as what the Apostle Paul is telling us, is that we must continue to change our lives and continue to bring our lives in conformity to His Word until we have put off completely those old habits, put on new habits, and learned Jesus Christ. You see, all holiness is, is a very practical application of salvation that is to be developed in our life. So, diligence is demanded in holiness, and there must be a diligence developing holiness in our lives. I want you to see one last point today. If you'll go back to 1 Peter 1, I want you to see the diligence designed in holiness.

[John Weaver] Look at verses 15 and 16 together. But as He who hath called you is holy, so be you holy in all manner of conversation. Because it is written, Be ye holy, for I am holy. Now, I read verses 15 and 16 together because I want you to see the thought that really nailed my hide to the barnyard door. Look at verse 15. But as He hath called you as holy, so be you holy. in all manner of conversation. I want you to go back. As He has called you as holy, so be you holy. Now when you read that, how can you come up with anything other than this? Since God is holy, He demands me to be as He is. in holiness. Now, we know that God is holy.

[John Weaver] In fact, we're told in the book of Revelation 15 and verse 4, Who shall not fear thee, O Lord, and glorify thy name? For only thou art holy. In 1 Samuel 2 and verse 2, the Word of God declares, There is none as holy as the Lord. Now, since God is all holy, only holy, and always holy, how can we be as holy as He who has called us to be holy? Look at verse 15 again. But as He who has called you is holy, so be you holy in all manner of conversation. Obviously, we're to be like Him in holiness. And since we're sinners, we can in no way reach perfection in this life. So how can we be holy as He is holy? That's an interesting question. How can we be holy as He is? Because God is only holy, all holy, and always holy. Those of you that are saved, ask yourself this question. Are you all holy, only holy and always holy?

[John Weaver] I know some of you are. And you know, I'm not. How can we do this? How can we be holy as God is holy? Well, it's important to understand that the basis of God's law is the holy character of God. Listen carefully. The law of God is an expression of God's righteousness and God's holiness. God's law is a manifestation of His character. It is also a manifestation of the conduct action and disposition of heart that God approves of and delights in. And we know that God is righteous and so are his judgments.

[John Weaver] I probably told you this a hundred times in the last number of years. But please remember a king rules by his law. God's law is the expression of His nature and of His will. As God is holy, so is His law. The Bible says in Psalm 11 in verse 7, For the righteous Lord loveth righteousness. His countenance doth behold the upright. Now listen to that. The righteous Lord loveth righteousness. His countenance doth behold the upright. Psalm 19 verse 9, the fear of the Lord is clean, enduring forever. The judgments of the Lord are true and righteous all together. Unhappily, when God's law is mentioned, most people only think of the Ten Commandments. It is true, the Ten Commandments are a summary of God's law. But they are not all of God's law. God's law is revealed also in the context of case laws, historical, narrative, prophecy, psalm, proverbs, gospels, and epistles. All of God's word is law. A king rules by his law. The Ten Commandments may summarize the essential principles of the moral law, But those principles are also developed, explained and illustrated and applied throughout the rest of Scripture.

[John Weaver] That's why Isaiah, in Isaiah 8 and verse 20 said this, to the law and to the testimony, if they agree not, it's because there's no light in them. He said you have to hold everything according to the light of the law of God. I want you to hold 1 Peter just momentarily, but look back in your Bibles to Matthew 22, Let me show you the point that I'm trying to emphasize. Look in Matthew chapter 22. And let's begin reading there with verse 35. Matthew 22 verse 35. Then one of them, who was a lawyer, asked him a question, tempting him and saying, Master, which is the great commandment in the law? Jesus said unto him, Thou shalt love the Lord thy God with all thy heart, with all thy soul, with all thy mind. This is the first and great commandment. And the second is likened to it, Thou shalt love thy neighbor as thyself. On these two commandments hang all the law and the prophets. Interestingly enough, when the lawyer asked him, Master, what is the greatest commandment of all?

[John Weaver] Our Lord never quoted any of the ten commandments. But he gave a summary of all of God's law, just like the Ten Commandments are a summary of the moral law. The summary of God's law is to love him with all of our heart, mind, soul, body, spirit, being, everything we are. The second is likened to it. We are to love our neighbors ourselves. And then he said, on these hang all the law and the prophets. That is the totality of God's word. Do you remember what our Lord said in Matthew 5 and verse 17? He said, think not that I'm come to destroy the law of the prophets. I'm not come to destroy, but to fulfill.

[John Weaver] And then he went on to say this, for verily I say unto you, till heaven and earth pass one jot or one tittle, shall not in any wise pass from the law until all be fulfilled. And what did the Apostle Paul say in Romans 7 verse 12? Listen carefully now. Wherefore, the law is holy, and the commandment holy, just, and good. Listen to what he said. Wherefore, the law is holy, and the commandment holy, just, and good.

[John Weaver] Let me ask you a question. If the law is a manifestation of God's holy character, if the law is a manifestation of God's will, if the law is holy as the one who gave it, when we obey God's law, are we not being holy? as He is holy. Because that law is an expression of God's will. How do we become holy as He is holy? The answer is by bringing our lives into conformity to His law. Which is not only an expression of His holy nature, but also an expression of His holy will for our lives. We become like Him when we obey Him and we do that which He has ordained and given to us expressly for our holiness. Isn't that interesting?

[John Weaver] You know, there's a passage in Psalm 119, we often quote it. Wherewithal shall a young man cleanse his way, By taking heed thereto according to Thy Word with my whole heart have I sought Thee. O let me not wander from my commandment. Thy Word have I hid in my heart that I might not sin against Thee." We become holy as He is holy only as we obey His holy law which is the totality of Scripture.

[John Weaver] Now, I want you to go back to 1 Peter chapter 3, because, in 1 Peter chapter 1, there's another verse, verse 16. Look at it. 1 Peter 1 and verse 16. We read, because it is written, be ye holy, For I am holy. Well, isn't that interesting? Because it is written, be ye holy, for I am holy. Where is it written? Where is that written? And the answer is, it's written throughout the older covenant. The New Testament or the New Covenant is verifying the Old Testament's immutability Because God is immutable. We have the same God, the same law, and the same demand for holiness. So when the New Testament says, because it is written, it is referring to everything that the Old Testament has written concerning God's holiness. So if you'll go back in your Bibles very quickly, just to one book right now, look in the book of Leviticus chapter 11. And let's begin reading there with verse 44, Leviticus 11 and verse 44. Notice what the scripture says. Verse 44. Leviticus 11, verse 44, for I am the Lord, your God, you shall therefore sanctify yourselves and you shall be holy for I am holy.

[John Weaver] Neither shall you defile yourselves with any manner of creeping thing that creepeth upon the earth. For I am the Lord that bringeth you up out of the land of Egypt to be your God. You shall therefore be holy, for I am holy." Look in Leviticus 19 and verse 2. Leviticus 19 and verse 2. In fact, we can read verse 1. Leviticus 19 verse 1, And the Lord spake unto Moses, saying, Speak unto all the congregation of the children of Israel, and say unto them, You shall be holy, for I the LORD your God am holy. If you'll look in Leviticus 20 and verse 7. Again God tells the people. Leviticus 20 verse 7, Sanctify yourselves therefore and be ye holy, for I am the LORD your God. Notice, Sanctify yourselves therefore and be holy, for I am the LORD your God. God. Did God demand holiness of the saints in the Old Testament? The answer is yes. We're in Leviticus chapter 20. Look in verse 26. Look what God told the people. And you shall be holy unto me, for I am the Lord, for I the Lord am holy, and have severed you from other people, that you should be mine.

[John Weaver] And you shall be holy unto me. Turn right over to the book of Deuteronomy chapter 7 and look at verse 6. Deuteronomy 7 and verse 6. Again, God says this. Deuteronomy 7 verse 6. For thou art a holy people unto the Lord thy God. The Lord thy God hath chosen thee to be a special people unto Himself above all the people that are upon the faces of the earth. holy people unto the Lord by God. Then in Deuteronomy 14, look if you would please at verse 2. Again God says, For thou art a holy people unto the Lord by God, and the Lord hath chosen thee to be a peculiar people unto himself above all the nations that are upon the face of the earth.

[John Weaver] Now, I hope that you have grasped at least two very important points. The first one is this, God's law can never change because God in His own essence cannot change. God is immutable. He is unchangeable and therefore that law which He gave which is holy, just and good is just as immutable unchangeable as God is. The second point that you must grasp is if we desire to be like Him, and to please Him, and to honor Him, we must conform to His law, which is His standard of holiness and righteousness.

[John Weaver] Now, one last passage, then we'll make some applications. I want you to turn to 1 John chapter 3. And here's a question that has to be asked in light of this truth. Let's begin reading with verse 1 of 1 John 3. Verse 2 is actually the one I want, but I want you to see the preceding verse as well. 1 John 3 verse 1. What manner of love the Father hath bestowed upon us, that we should be called the sons of God.

[John Weaver] Therefore the world knoweth us not, because it knew Him not. Now look at the greatness of His love which He has bestowed upon us, that we should be called the sons of God. Now look at verse 2. Beloved, now, right now, now are we the sons of God, and it doth not yet appear what we shall be, But we know that when He shall appear, we shall be like Him.

[John Weaver] For we shall see Him as He is. So here's my question. If we're going to be like Him, when we see Him, should we not be like Him now? before we see Him, if we're His sons, if we're His children? Well, of course. If we are going to be like Him when we see Him, in order to please Him, in order to obey Him, for God has predestinated us to be conformed to the image of His dear Son, We need to learn to be like Him now. God designed it that way. He told us to obey Him.

[John Weaver] Let me just quote one passage. One of the plainest passages is found in Matthew 5 and verse 48 when He said that you may be the children of your Father who is in heaven. I'll guarantee you that the child born to Clay and Jennifer is going to look like them. Hopefully, if it's a girl, she'll look more like Jennifer. But that child is going to look like them. And you let that child live with them for 15, 20 years, the child is going to end up acting like them and having the same attitude and mindset that they're going to have. What did He say? That you may be the children of your Father in heaven. In other words, just like our earthly children look like us and think like us and walk like us and act like us, we should think and walk and act like our Heavenly Father as obedient children.

[John Weaver] Not fashioning ourselves according to our former lusts and our ignorance. But as He who called us as the Holy, So we're to be holy in all manner of conversation because it is written, be ye holy for I am holy. My first application is this. Holiness is determined by God and not by man. I don't care one whit for all the traditions and declarations of men. All the traditions and all the declarations of men cannot and will never make you holy. Like the Pharisees, you may keep them until you die, yet you will die in your sins and you will never be holy. You may belong to every church in the land, you may be baptized by every preacher available, you may walk down the aisle into the front of every church, but Unless your life is one of obedience to the Word of God, you will never, ever be holy. I distinguished for you in the first message the difference between a positional holiness and a practical and personal holiness. I'm not talking about the positional holiness, the perfection that we have in Christ.

[John Weaver] I'm talking about the personal and practical holiness that He demands. It is only as we have been regenerated and converted and empowered by the Holy Spirit that we're enabled to bring our lives in conformity to His Word. Our Father has designed that we be like Him and we must therefore personally and practically be like Him and conform to His standard. We must diligently, by girding up the loins of our mind, by being sober, by hoping to the end, by being obedient children and not fashioning ourselves according to our former lusts and our ignorance, but we're to be holy in all manner of conversation because He who has called us is holy. We have to diligently, consistently, and constantly put off the old man and put on the new man and become more and more like Christ. That is holiness. And Peter is exhorting us, explaining to us what holiness is, and then encouraging us to be more like our Heavenly Father. And if we're His children, we genuinely want to be like Him. Father, in the name of Jesus Christ, we bow to Thee this day.

[John Weaver] We thank You for Your love and Your mercy. We thank You for Your truth. And Lord, we have to confess we've failed so miserably in our lives. We've been so unholy. We've been so disobedient. But Lord, I pray that You will convict us. You will enable us and empower us by Thy Spirit. to be more holy, to be more godly, to put off the old man, to put on the new man, and to bring our lives into greater conformity to your word.

[John Weaver] Thou didst say, Father, without me, you can do nothing. And Lord, holiness is something. And we must have you, and we must have your power. We must have your help and your direction. So we ask, Father, for your blessing. and your help and your power. In the name of Jesus Christ, our Lord, we pray. Amen.

Holiness Explained and Encouraged Part 2 of 2

John Weaver | YouTube

Lecture Metadata	Details
Speaker	John Weaver
Source	YouTube
Media ID	02iISsOlPTc
Subject	New Testament Studies
Course	Revelation Themes and Eschatological Applications
Genre	Sermon
Date	2012-03-05
Dictation Name
Book	Book 104: Holiness Explained and Encouraged — Chapter 2
Source Timed Segments	63

Formatted Transcript

Review of Part 1: The Diligence Demanded in Holiness (1 Peter 1:13)

Holiness requires active mental effort: girding up the loins of the mind (preparing for serious thinking), being sober (thinking accurately and seriously), and hoping in the grace revealed through Scripture and Christ's return. Holiness is a lifestyle and worldview, not a passive occurrence.

All right, let's open our Bibles to 1 Peter chapter 1 again. 1 Peter chapter 1. For those of you who were not here last week, I began a message entitled "Holiness Explained and Encouraged." So I'm going to take just a few moments and review part one, and then we're going to continue today on part two and try to tie these two messages together. So look in 1 Peter 1, beginning with verse 13. Peter writes,

Scripture Reading — 1 Peter 1:13-16

"Wherefore gird up the loins of your mind, be sober, and hope to the end for the grace that is to be brought unto you at the revelation of Jesus Christ, as obedient children, not fashioning yourselves according to the former lusts in your ignorance." "But as he who hath called you is holy, so be ye holy in all manner of conversation, because it is written, 'Be ye holy, for I am holy.'"

You remember last week, I began by saying that holiness is absolutely necessary in the Christian life because the Bible clearly teaches in Hebrews chapter 12 and verse 14, "Follow peace with all men, and holiness, without which no man shall see the Lord." So holiness then is a necessity. It is a requirement, and it is demanded by a holy God. And I pointed out last week, just by way of introduction, that Christendom as a whole, while we are indeed a professing Christian people, Christendom as a whole is practically totally devoid of biblical holiness.

And I realize there's a vast difference between a professor of faith and one who possesses faith. And I realize that our churches mostly are filled with unsaved people. I understand that. But unhappily, even those who are saved do not have a right understanding concerning biblical holiness. So last week we only looked at one point. I have three points in this message. We're going to cover two of them today. But the only point we looked at was this: the diligence demanded in holiness. If you look back in verse 13, this is the only verse we discussed last week.

"Wherefore, gird up the loins of your mind, be sober and hope to the end, for the grace that is to be brought unto you at the revelation of Jesus Christ." Now, I pointed out last week as I explained verse 13, that holiness does not simply happen. It does not slip up on us, nor is holiness acquired by a trip down the aisle to the front of a church building. Holiness, according to Peter, is something that must be worked at. He said, "gird up the loins of your mind," and I told you what that literally meant. Of course, the Orientals wore those long flowing robes. If they were to fight, if they were to run, if they were to do anything that required movement, they would take their robes and gird them up under their loins, usually had a belt or a rope or something where they could move. And so I told you actually what Peter is saying is literally "roll up the shirt sleeves of your mind" or "take the coat off your mind," get ready to do some very serious and hard thinking.

In other words, you have to develop a biblical outlook, a biblical perspective, a biblical worldview. So he's telling you then that you have to understand there's going to be something serious going on by simply girding up the loins of your mind. And then he said you're to be sober. And I pointed out how the opposite of sober here is not necessarily drunkenness. Certainly that could be an application. But I pointed out the word sober here literally means that we're to think accurately, circumspectly, seriously. We're to be serious minded in this aspect. So when he tells us to be sober, he's already told us to roll up the shirt sleeves of our mind and I went through the scriptures and I showed you how that word is used.

Now he's saying you be serious in this and then thirdly he says you hope to the end for the grace that has been brought to you with the revelation of Jesus Christ. And then I pointed out that actually there are two revelations that are referred to. The first one in the context is the revelation of the word of God and the second one is the second coming of Christ. So what he is saying is that we must literally gird up the loins of our mind, be sober, be serious and he says that hope is encouraged and evidenced by an understanding, first of all, of the written revelation of the Word of God, and secondly, by personal intimate fellowship with the living Word of God, the Lord Jesus Christ, who is returning.

So let me just sum up verse 13 for you before we go any further. What Peter is telling us is this. Holiness is not a hit and miss every now and then activity. It is a lifestyle. It is a world view. It is a mental attitude. It is a perspective on life that pervades our thinking in every sphere and every action of our lives. So holiness then is not something that just happens. It's something according to Peter that must be worked at and you're going to see as we continue how he teaches this. So today we're going to look secondly at verses 14 and 15. The diligence developed in holiness. The diligence developed in holiness.

The Diligence Developed in Holiness: Obedient Children (1 Peter 1:14)

Believers are to be obedient children who hear and instantly obey God's Word. Delayed obedience is disobedience. Politeness without obedience is worthless, as illustrated by the parable of the two sons (Matthew 21:28-31).

So we've already looked at the first point now. Diligence demanded in holiness. Now the diligence developed in holiness. Verse 14, he said, "As obedient children, not fashioning yourselves according to the former lusts in your ignorance, but as he who hath called you is holy, so be ye holy in all manner of conversation." Now as you look at verse 14, there is a positive that must be developed in our lives and there is a negative that must be avoided in our lives. So the positive is "as obedient children." The negative is "not fashioning yourselves according to the former lusts of your ignorance." So let's take the positive first. He says, "as obedient children."

Now the word obedient is from a Greek word that basically means "to hear under." To hear under. It refers to a submission and obedience based upon hearing. It means that we learn submission, we learn obedience, and compliance to our Father's words and counsel simply upon hearing His instruction. It means we don't argue, we don't bellyache, we don't whine, we don't criticize, we just simply obey.

Now you understand that there are two basic ways of instructing and educating children. The first way of course is verbal and the second way is punitive. Verbal just simply means we talk to them, we instruct them, we give them directions, we teach them. Punitive means the use of the rod. That is, we chastise them, we whip them for not obeying our commands.

Now, it's interesting that in the New Testament, our Lord said four times, "He that hath ears to hear, let him hear." Now, ask yourself, what is an obedient child? I want you to listen. An obedient child is one who hears and immediately and instantly obeys. Listen to this sentence. Delayed obedience is disobedience. Delayed obedience is disobedience. Intending to obey is not the same as obedience. I've had my children, I've had my grandchildren tell me, "Well I intended to do that." But you didn't. Intended obedience is not obedience. Politeness, respect, and reverence are pointless without obedience. I want you to hold 1 Peter. I want you to turn back in your Bibles to Matthew 21. I'm going to make that statement again, and then I want you to see this from the Scripture. Matthew chapter 21, and we will begin reading there with verse 28. Listen to what I'm telling you. It is very important. Notice Matthew 21. Here's the statement again. Politeness, respect, and reverence are pointless without obedience. Look in Matthew chapter 21 verse 28, our Lord said, "But what think ye?

A certain man had two sons, and he came to the first and said, 'Son, go work today in my vineyard.' And he answered and said, 'I will not.' But afterwards he repented and went. And he came to the second and said, 'Likewise.' And he answered and said, 'I go, sir.' And went not. And then our Lord says, 'Whether of them twain did the will of his father?' They say unto him, 'The first.' Jesus said, 'Verily I say unto you that the publicans and the harlots go into the kingdom of God before you.' So the second child just simply said, 'Yes, sir. Yes, father.' 'I'll do it right now.' But he did not. The first one rude and ugly, but yet he repented and then he went. So the point I'm trying to make, you can be polite, you can be reverent, you can be respectful, but if you don't do what you are told, it is still disobedience. That's why our Lord said in John 14 and verse 15, 'If you love me, keep my commandments.' If we love him, we will obey. You know, every one of us admire children who hear and obey instantly.

When we see children like that, we tend to think they must have absolutely wonderful parents and that the parents have spent a great deal of time with the children and that those children have been meticulously instructed and trained very lovingly, very kindly and therefore they are such wonderful, obedient children. Has it ever entered into your minds that that is exactly the kind of children that we should be toward our Heavenly Father? Punitive instruction is demanded only when verbal instruction fails. That's why you read in Proverbs 22 and verse 15, 'Foolishness is bound up in the heart of the child, but the rod of correction shall drive it far from him.' So it is foolishness, it is sin that requires the rod. And when foolishness and sin require the rod, it is applied. Now let me ask you, if we applied the rod to our disobedient physical children, shall God do any less to His children? And if we whipped and chastened and disciplined our children because we love them, is not God going to do the same toward us? You see, our Lord has promised that all believers who sin will suffer. It does not mean that He ceases to love us. It does not mean that we cease to be His children. But it does mean that we're going to be chastened if we sin.

Scripture Reading — Psalm 89:32

The Bible tells us in Psalm 89 in verse 32, God said, 'And one of my favorite verses is found in Micah 6 and verse 9, and here's all it says, the latter part, 'Hear ye the rod, and him who hath appointed it.' In other words, God says, if you won't hear my words, then you need to hear my rod. Because I'm going to bring that rod upon you. And the rod only comes when we fail to hear and heed and obey. And so what Peter is saying in 1 Peter, chapter 1 and verse 14, as obedient children, we need to learn to hear under. That is, when we hear our Lord's instruction, when we hear our Lord's directions, we instantly and immediately obey and bring our lives in conformity to His Word. It's just that simple. That is an obedient child. It's one who hears and one who obeys instantly, immediately. I want you to look in verse 14 again because he says, 'as obedient children,' that's the positive. Now here's the negative.

The Diligence Developed in Holiness: Not Fashioning Yourselves to Former Lusts (1 Peter 1:14)

Believers must not conform to their pre-conversion sinful desires. This requires a change of life: putting off the old man (old habits and thinking) and putting on the new man, which is created in righteousness and true holiness (Ephesians 4:17-24).

"Not fashioning yourselves according to the former lusts in your ignorance." Now, it's very important that you understand, he says, "not fashioning yourselves according to the former lusts in your ignorance." Well, what were your former lusts? Well, look in your Bibles, if you would. Hold 1 Peter. But go back to the book of Ephesians chapter 2. And look, if you would, what the Apostle Paul wrote. Ephesians chapter 2. And notice, if you would, verse 2. He tells us exactly what our former lusts were. He says,

Scripture Reading — Ephesians 2:2-3

"Wherein in time past you walked according to the course of this world, according to the prince of the power of the air, the spirit that now worketh in the children of disobedience: among whom also we all had our conversation in times past in the lusts of our flesh, fulfilling the desires of the flesh and of the mind; and were by nature children of wrath, even as others."

So our former lust then is how we lived before we were converted. We lived according to the world. We lived according to the flesh. We lived according to the spirit of this world. We were disobedient. We were rebellious. We did what we pleased and we did what satisfied our flesh. Now, what He is telling us according to 1 Peter 1 and verse 14, if we are to be obedient children, not fashioning ourselves or not molding ourselves according to our former lusts in our ignorance. That means this.

We must change. We must change. How do you change? Well, skip down to verse 17 in Ephesians chapter 4. Ephesians chapter 4 beginning of verse 17. I have entire messages just on this passage and I'm not going to re-preach those messages, but look. Ephesians 4 verse 17, "This I say therefore and testify of the Lord, that you henceforth walk not as other Gentiles walk, how? In the vanity of their mind." So Paul is saying you don't walk as the unsaved walk. How do they walk? In the vanity, in the uselessness, in the worthlessness of their mind. Watch verse 18.

"Having the understanding darkened, that's in ignorance, being alienated from the life of God through the ignorance that is in them because of the blindness of their heart." So he says you don't walk like that. Verse 19, "Who being past feeling, have given themselves over into lasciviousness to work all uncleanness with greediness." Watch verse 20. "But you have not so learned Christ." Now, let's go to verse 21. "If so be that you have heard him, and have been taught by him, as the truth is in Jesus, that you put off concerning the former conversation the old man, which is corrupt according to the deceitful lusts; and be renewed in the spirit of your mind; and that you put on the new man, which after God is created in righteousness and true holiness." Now interestingly enough, the apostle Paul says, in verse 22, that you put off the former conversation, the old man, which is corrupt, and then he tells you, "and be renewed in the spirit of your mind." Now when Paul says, "be renewed in the spirit of your mind," it's the same thing as Peter saying, "gird up the loins of your mind."

Now here's what he's teaching us, and he's teaching us very plainly, that in order to change our lives, we must learn Jesus Christ. There are biblical principles. We have to learn to put off the old habits, the old ways of thinking, the old ideas, and learn to put on the new man, which is created in righteousness and true holiness. And the only way we can learn those things is by girding up the loins of our mind, being sober, thinking seriously, and studying the Scripture to find the principles of the Word of God. An ignorant man will never be a holy man. An ignorant man will never be a godly man. And I'm not talking about someone who's never been to school. I'm not talking about someone who just has never had a higher education. No, no, no. I'm talking about an ignorant man. A man who is ignorant of God's Word will never ever be a holy man. Why? Because we must learn Christ. We must be constantly putting off our old habits and putting on new godly biblical habits.

I've told people this, I have done far more repenting since I've been saved than when I got saved. And you know it's amazing when you think that pretty well, well I've got everything under control, all of a sudden you see things in your life that, you know they're just, they're wrong, they're wicked. And it must be a constant and continual change. You remember the Bible tells us in Romans 8 and verse 29 that God's will for each of us is that we be conformed to the image of Jesus Christ.

So that means we have to continually go through this putting off and putting on until we have acquired new habits and new attitudes and new perspectives. It's just like when you go to bed, you put off the clothes that you've worn all day. You put on your nightclothes. The next morning you get up, you put off your nightclothes and put on your dayclothes. You have to put off before you put on. And so what he's saying is, you have to put off these old habits, but you can't just put them off, you must put something else in their place, and that is a new habit, a godly habit.

Now, I want you to go back to verse 15 of 1 Peter chapter 1. I want you to watch this carefully. He says, in verse 14, "as obedient children, not fashioning yourselves according to the former lusts in your ignorance, but as He which called you is holy, so be you holy in all manner of conversation." All manner of conversation. Our God is holy. He has called us unto holiness and therefore He demands holiness in all manner of conversation.

Holiness in All Manner of Conversation (1 Peter 1:15)

Holiness must pervade every area of life—behavior, conduct, and manner of living. There are no neutral zones or exceptions; God demands holiness in every sphere.

Now the word conversation does not just refer to talk. The word conversation refers to behavior, deportment, conduct, your manner of life. What He is saying in verse 15 is that every sphere, every area of our life is to be controlled and regulated by holiness. In other words, we have no choice in the matter. Holiness is His requirement. Holiness is His demand. And therefore, there are no neutral zones.

There are no king's exes. There are no times out. I can't say, "Well, Lord, I want to be holy in every area but this, I'm dealing with Henry Klingler. You know how Henry is. No, Lord. No, no, no, no, no. I don't care if Henry is wrong. I have to do what's right." Janet says she knows how he is. No, I'm teasing. You know that. But you understand that I can't say, "Well, time out, I'm not going to be holy when I deal with Henry." Or "Time out, I'm not going to be holy when I deal with Doc." No, no, no. I can't do that. God demands holiness in every area and every sphere of my life. Now, the question comes. How do we accomplish becoming holy in every sphere of our lives? Well, I want you to hold 1 Peter, but go in your Bibles to Romans chapter 6. And I want to begin reading with verse 11. Romans chapter 6 and verse 11. Because I'm going to show you the answer to that question on how we become holy in every sphere of our lives.

How to Become Holy: Reckoning and Yielding (Romans 6:11-19)

Believers become holy by reckoning themselves dead to sin and alive to God, and by yielding their members as instruments of righteousness. Obedience demonstrates true lordship; we must give the same eager obedience to Christ that we once gave to sin.

Look in Romans chapter 6 and let's begin reading there with verse 11. This passage is a wonderful, wonderful passage. Romans 6 verse 11, God says this,

Scripture Reading — Romans 6:11-19

"Likewise reckon ye also yourselves to be dead indeed unto sin, but alive unto God through Jesus Christ our Lord. Let not sin therefore reign in your mortal body, that you should obey it in the lusts thereof. Neither yield ye your members as instruments of unrighteousness unto sin, but yield yourselves unto God as those that are alive from the dead, and your members as instruments of righteousness unto God."

Now, go back to verse 11.

Scripture Reading — Romans 6:11-19

"Likewise, reckon you also yourselves to be dead indeed unto sin, but alive unto God through Jesus Christ our Lord."

Now the word reckon means to count. It means to impute. So he literally says count yourself dead indeed unto sin. That's first. Count yourself dead indeed unto sin.

Let me ask you a question. Let's suppose I had a casket in this room with a dead man in it. And I pulled out a fifth of whiskey and I looked at the dead man and I said, "Come on buddy, let's get drunk." Is he going to get drunk? No. What if I said, "Come on and let's go commit adultery"? Is he going to do it? No. Why? He's dead.

Sin has nothing to do with him now. He is dead. What does God say? Count yourselves dead unto sin. So when temptation comes along, you tell temptation, "I'm sorry, I'm a dead man. I've died in Jesus Christ. I've been crucified with Christ. I'm dead. You have no power over me. You have no persuasion over me. I'm counting myself dead." Then he says, don't just count yourself dead. You then count yourself alive unto God through Jesus Christ. You know, the Bible says that Christ died indeed unto sin once, but after he liveth unto God. So once we've counted ourselves dead in Christ, we have to understand that we are alive in Christ and we are to live for Him.

Now, I want you to notice what He said. Watch verse 11. He says, "Likewise reckon ye also yourselves to be dead indeed unto sin, but alive unto God through Jesus Christ our Lord." Now watch verse 12. "Let not sin therefore reign in your mortal body, that you should obey it in the lusts thereof." I want you to note what He did not say. He did not say, "Let not sin be in your mortal body." Would to God it wasn't there. And one day by His grace it won't be there. But it is there now. But what He did say was, "Let not sin reign in your mortal body." Sin is no longer in control for the child of God. Sin is no longer our Lord. This is what He's teaching. Jesus Christ is our Lord. Jesus Christ is in control. And when sin comes to us, we say no.

You see, this is the difference between a saved man and an unsaved man. An unsaved man has no power to resist sin because sin is his Lord, sin is his King. That's what Romans 5 teaches. Romans 6 teaches it as well. But only those who have been saved by the grace of God have been delivered from the dominion and the power of sin and now they are under the dominion and power of Jesus Christ.

Now you're going to ask, "Well wait a minute. How does reckoning myself dead indeed unto sin and alive unto God make me holy? How is denying the lordship and the kingship and the dominion of sin in my life going to make me holy?" Well look at verse 16. "Know you not that to whom you yield yourselves servants to obey, his servants you are to whom you obey, whether of sin unto death or of obedience unto righteousness?" What did He just say? Don't you know that whomever you obey, his servant you are? Whether it's sin unto death or of obedience unto righteousness. So if I want to be the servant of sin, what do I do? I obey sin. If I want to be the servant of Jesus Christ, what do I do? I obey Jesus Christ. You see, it is obedience that demonstrates and evidences in whom we really genuinely believe and trust. The one that we obey is the one that we genuinely believe in and trust. It's a very practical test. It's a very practical demonstration. Do you remember it? I know you do.

I've quoted it so many times. What our Lord said in Luke 6 in verse 46, "Why call ye me Lord, Lord, and do not the things which I say unto you?" You remember the word Lord? Curiosity means boss, owner, master, sovereign. He said, "Why are you calling me Lord if you're not going to do what I'm going to say unto you?" So, look in verse 19. Romans 6 verse 19, look there now. Look what he says.

Scripture Reading — Romans 6:11-19

"I speak after the manner of men because of the infirmity of your flesh."

He says, "I know you're weak." So he said,

Scripture Reading — Romans 6:11-19

"I'm going to put this out where you can understand it. I speak after the manner of men because of the infirmity of your flesh: for as you have yielded your members servants to uncleanness and to iniquity unto iniquity, even so now yield your members servants to righteousness unto holiness."

Now, what is the apostle teaching us? Well, here's what he's saying. Before you were converted, you gave an eager, willing, and ready, and practical obedience to sin. Now He says that you're saved. You give a willing, ready, and eager obedience to Jesus Christ. Let me ask you. If you served sin eagerly, willingly, readily, and gave a very practical obedience to it before you were saved, shall you do less to Jesus Christ who saved you and took you out of your sin? No. Here's what happened. Listen carefully. Before we were converted, when we walked according to the course of this world, the prince of the power of the air, when we walked according to the lust of our flesh and the lust of our mind and the pride of our life, you know what we did? We planned to sin. We schemed to sin. We sacrificed to sin. We wanted what saved and satisfied us. That's what we wanted.

And we worked it around so that we could have that. We were giving a practical obedience to the lust of our flesh and the lust of our eyes and the pride of life. Now that we're saved, can we not think and plan and scheme to give a practical obedience to Jesus Christ? Can we not sacrifice to do that? I believe anything less is an act of blasphemy. Because we willingly gave that to sin, how can we give less to Jesus Christ? What the Apostle Peter is telling us, as well as what the Apostle Paul is telling us, is that we must continue to change our lives and continue to bring our lives in conformity to His Word until we have put off completely those old habits, put on new habits, and learned Jesus Christ. You see, all holiness is, is a very practical application of salvation that is to be developed in our life. So, diligence is demanded in holiness, and there must be a diligence developing holiness in our lives. I want you to see one last point today. If you'll go back to 1 Peter 1, I want you to see the diligence designed in holiness.

The Diligence Designed in Holiness: Be Holy as God is Holy (1 Peter 1:15-16)

God's command to be holy as He is holy is based on His own character. Since God is all-holy, only-holy, and always-holy, believers are called to reflect His holiness. This is accomplished by obeying God's law, which is an expression of His holy nature and will.

Look at verses 15 and 16 together. "But as He who hath called you is holy, so be you holy in all manner of conversation. Because it is written, 'Be ye holy, for I am holy.'" Now, I read verses 15 and 16 together because I want you to see the thought that really nailed my hide to the barnyard door. Look at verse 15. "But as He hath called you is holy, so be you holy in all manner of conversation." I want you to go back. "As He has called you is holy, so be you holy." Now when you read that, how can you come up with anything other than this? Since God is holy, He demands me to be as He is in holiness. Now, we know that God is holy.

In fact, we're told in the book of Revelation 15 and verse 4,

Scripture Reading — Revelation 15:4

"Who shall not fear thee, O Lord, and glorify thy name? For only thou art holy."

In 1 Samuel 2 and verse 2, the Word of God declares, "There is none as holy as the Lord." Now, since God is all holy, only holy, and always holy, how can we be as holy as He who has called us to be holy? Look at verse 15 again. "But as He who has called you is holy, so be you holy in all manner of conversation." Obviously, we're to be like Him in holiness. And since we're sinners, we can in no way reach perfection in this life. So how can we be holy as He is holy? That's an interesting question. How can we be holy as He is? Because God is only holy, all holy, and always holy. Those of you that are saved, ask yourself this question. Are you all holy, only holy and always holy?

I know some of you are. And you know, I'm not. How can we do this? How can we be holy as God is holy? Well, it's important to understand that the basis of God's law is the holy character of God. Listen carefully. The law of God is an expression of God's righteousness and God's holiness. God's law is a manifestation of His character. It is also a manifestation of the conduct, action and disposition of heart that God approves of and delights in. And we know that God is righteous and so are his judgments.

I probably told you this a hundred times in the last number of years. But please remember a king rules by his law. God's law is the expression of His nature and of His will. As God is holy, so is His law. The Bible says in Psalm 11 in verse 7,

Scripture Reading — Psalm 11:7

"For the righteous Lord loveth righteousness; His countenance doth behold the upright."

Now listen to that.

Scripture Reading — Psalm 11:7

"The righteous Lord loveth righteousness; His countenance doth behold the upright."

Psalm 19 verse 9, "The fear of the Lord is clean, enduring forever: the judgments of the Lord are true and righteous altogether." Unhappily, when God's law is mentioned, most people only think of the Ten Commandments. It is true, the Ten Commandments are a summary of God's law. But they are not all of God's law. God's law is revealed also in the context of case laws, historical, narrative, prophecy, psalm, proverbs, gospels, and epistles. All of God's word is law. A king rules by his law. The Ten Commandments may summarize the essential principles of the moral law, but those principles are also developed, explained and illustrated and applied throughout the rest of Scripture.

That's why Isaiah, in Isaiah 8 and verse 20 said this,

Scripture Reading — Isaiah 8:20

"To the law and to the testimony: if they speak not according to this word, it is because there is no light in them."

He said you have to hold everything according to the light of the law of God. I want you to hold 1 Peter just momentarily, but look back in your Bibles to Matthew 22. Let me show you the point that I'm trying to emphasize. Look in Matthew chapter 22. And let's begin reading there with verse 35. Matthew 22 verse 35. "Then one of them, who was a lawyer, asked him a question, tempting him and saying, 'Master, which is the great commandment in the law?' Jesus said unto him, 'Thou shalt love the Lord thy God with all thy heart, with all thy soul, with all thy mind. This is the first and great commandment. And the second is likened to it, Thou shalt love thy neighbor as thyself. On these two commandments hang all the law and the prophets.'" Interestingly enough, when the lawyer asked him, "Master, what is the greatest commandment of all?"

Our Lord never quoted any of the ten commandments. But he gave a summary of all of God's law, just like the Ten Commandments are a summary of the moral law. The summary of God's law is to love him with all of our heart, mind, soul, body, spirit, being, everything we are. The second is likened to it. We are to love our neighbors as ourselves. And then he said,

Scripture Reading — Matthew 22:35-40

"On these hang all the law and the prophets."

That is the totality of God's word. Do you remember what our Lord said in Matthew 5 and verse 17? He said, "Think not that I'm come to destroy the law or the prophets. I'm not come to destroy, but to fulfill."

And then he went on to say this, "For verily I say unto you, till heaven and earth pass, one jot or one tittle shall in no wise pass from the law until all be fulfilled." And what did the Apostle Paul say in Romans 7 verse 12? Listen carefully now.

Scripture Reading — Romans 7:12

"Wherefore, the law is holy, and the commandment holy, just, and good."

Listen to what he said.

Scripture Reading — Romans 7:12

"Wherefore, the law is holy, and the commandment holy, just, and good."

Let me ask you a question. If the law is a manifestation of God's holy character, if the law is a manifestation of God's will, if the law is holy as the one who gave it, when we obey God's law, are we not being holy as He is holy? Because that law is an expression of God's will. How do we become holy as He is holy? The answer is by bringing our lives into conformity to His law. Which is not only an expression of His holy nature, but also an expression of His holy will for our lives. We become like Him when we obey Him and we do that which He has ordained and given to us expressly for our holiness. Isn't that interesting?

God's Law as the Standard of Holiness

God's law is not limited to the Ten Commandments but encompasses all of Scripture. The law is holy, just, and good, and it is immutable because God is immutable. Conforming to God's law is how believers become holy as He is holy.

You know, there's a passage in Psalm 119, we often quote it. "Wherewithal shall a young man cleanse his way? By taking heed thereto according to Thy Word. With my whole heart have I sought Thee: O let me not wander from Thy commandments. Thy Word have I hid in my heart that I might not sin against Thee." We become holy as He is holy only as we obey His holy law which is the totality of Scripture.

Now, I want you to go back to 1 Peter chapter 1, because, in 1 Peter chapter 1, there's another verse, verse 16. Look at it. 1 Peter 1 and verse 16. We read, "Because it is written, 'Be ye holy, for I am holy.'" Well, isn't that interesting? "Because it is written, 'Be ye holy, for I am holy.'" Where is it written? Where is that written? And the answer is, it's written throughout the older covenant. The New Testament or the New Covenant is verifying the Old Testament's immutability because God is immutable. We have the same God, the same law, and the same demand for holiness. So when the New Testament says, "because it is written," it is referring to everything that the Old Testament has written concerning God's holiness. So if you'll go back in your Bibles very quickly, just to one book right now, look in the book of Leviticus chapter 11. And let's begin reading there with verse 44, Leviticus 11 and verse 44. Notice what the scripture says. Verse 44. Leviticus 11, verse 44, "For I am the Lord your God: you shall therefore sanctify yourselves, and you shall be holy; for I am holy.

Neither shall you defile yourselves with any manner of creeping thing that creepeth upon the earth. For I am the Lord that bringeth you up out of the land of Egypt to be your God: you shall therefore be holy, for I am holy." Look in Leviticus 19 and verse 2. Leviticus 19 and verse 2. In fact, we can read verse 1. Leviticus 19 verse 1, "And the Lord spake unto Moses, saying, 'Speak unto all the congregation of the children of Israel, and say unto them, You shall be holy, for I the Lord your God am holy.'" If you'll look in Leviticus 20 and verse 7. Again God tells the people. Leviticus 20 verse 7, "Sanctify yourselves therefore and be ye holy, for I am the Lord your God." Notice, "Sanctify yourselves therefore and be holy, for I am the Lord your God." Did God demand holiness of the saints in the Old Testament? The answer is yes. We're in Leviticus chapter 20. Look in verse 26. Look what God told the people. "And you shall be holy unto me, for I the Lord am holy, and have severed you from other people, that you should be mine."

"And you shall be holy unto me." Turn right over to the book of Deuteronomy chapter 7 and look at verse 6. Deuteronomy 7 and verse 6. Again, God says this. Deuteronomy 7 verse 6. "For thou art a holy people unto the Lord thy God: the Lord thy God hath chosen thee to be a special people unto Himself above all the people that are upon the faces of the earth." Holy people unto the Lord thy God. Then in Deuteronomy 14, look if you would please at verse 2. Again God says, "For thou art a holy people unto the Lord thy God, and the Lord hath chosen thee to be a peculiar people unto himself above all the nations that are upon the face of the earth."

Now, I hope that you have grasped at least two very important points. The first one is this, God's law can never change because God in His own essence cannot change. God is immutable. He is unchangeable and therefore that law which He gave which is holy, just and good is just as immutable, unchangeable as God is. The second point that you must grasp is if we desire to be like Him, and to please Him, and to honor Him, we must conform to His law, which is His standard of holiness and righteousness.

Application: Holiness Determined by God, Not Man

Holiness is defined by God's Word, not human traditions. Practical holiness requires regeneration, the Holy Spirit's empowerment, and a continual process of putting off the old man and putting on the new man. Believers, as God's children, should increasingly resemble their Heavenly Father.

Now, one last passage, then we'll make some applications. I want you to turn to 1 John chapter 3. And here's a question that has to be asked in light of this truth. Let's begin reading with verse 1 of 1 John 3. Verse 2 is actually the one I want, but I want you to see the preceding verse as well. 1 John 3 verse 1. "Behold, what manner of love the Father hath bestowed upon us, that we should be called the sons of God.

Therefore the world knoweth us not, because it knew Him not." Now look at the greatness of His love which He has bestowed upon us, that we should be called the sons of God. Now look at verse 2. "Beloved, now, right now, now are we the sons of God, and it doth not yet appear what we shall be, but we know that when He shall appear, we shall be like Him. For we shall see Him as He is." So here's my question. If we're going to be like Him when we see Him, should we not be like Him now before we see Him, if we're His sons, if we're His children? Well, of course. If we are going to be like Him when we see Him, in order to please Him, in order to obey Him, for God has predestinated us to be conformed to the image of His dear Son, we need to learn to be like Him now. God designed it that way. He told us to obey Him.

Let me just quote one passage. One of the plainest passages is found in Matthew 5 and verse 48 when He said that you may be the children of your Father who is in heaven. I'll guarantee you that the child born to Clay and Jennifer is going to look like them. Hopefully, if it's a girl, she'll look more like Jennifer. But that child is going to look like them. And you let that child live with them for 15, 20 years, the child is going to end up acting like them and having the same attitude and mindset that they're going to have. What did He say? That you may be the children of your Father in heaven. In other words, just like our earthly children look like us and think like us and walk like us and act like us, we should think and walk and act like our Heavenly Father as obedient children.

Not fashioning ourselves according to our former lusts and our ignorance. But as He who called us is holy, so we're to be holy in all manner of conversation because it is written, "Be ye holy, for I am holy." My first application is this. Holiness is determined by God and not by man. I don't care one whit for all the traditions and declarations of men. All the traditions and all the declarations of men cannot and will never make you holy. Like the Pharisees, you may keep them until you die, yet you will die in your sins and you will never be holy. You may belong to every church in the land, you may be baptized by every preacher available, you may walk down the aisle into the front of every church, but unless your life is one of obedience to the Word of God, you will never, ever be holy. I distinguished for you in the first message the difference between a positional holiness and a practical and personal holiness. I'm not talking about the positional holiness, the perfection that we have in Christ.

I'm talking about the personal and practical holiness that He demands. It is only as we have been regenerated and converted and empowered by the Holy Spirit that we're enabled to bring our lives in conformity to His Word. Our Father has designed that we be like Him and we must therefore personally and practically be like Him and conform to His standard. We must diligently, by girding up the loins of our mind, by being sober, by hoping to the end, by being obedient children and not fashioning ourselves according to our former lusts and our ignorance, but we're to be holy in all manner of conversation because He who has called us is holy. We have to diligently, consistently, and constantly put off the old man and put on the new man and become more and more like Christ. That is holiness. And Peter is exhorting us, explaining to us what holiness is, and then encouraging us to be more like our Heavenly Father. And if we're His children, we genuinely want to be like Him. Father, in the name of Jesus Christ, we bow to Thee this day.

Study Guide

Major Themes

Holiness Requires Active Diligence

Summary: Holiness is not automatic; it demands intentional mental effort, serious thinking, and a lifestyle of obedience. Believers must actively work at holiness by renewing their minds and conforming to God's Word.

Evidence: Pastor Weaver explains that Peter's command to 'gird up the loins of your mind' means to prepare for hard thinking, and that holiness is a lifestyle and worldview that must be worked at (1 Peter 1:13).

Obedience as the Mark of a Child of God

Summary: True obedience is immediate and complete, not delayed or merely intended. Politeness and reverence are meaningless without obedience. God chastens disobedient children, just as earthly parents discipline their children.

Evidence: Pastor Weaver states, 'Delayed obedience is disobedience,' and uses Matthew 21:28-31 to show that the son who initially refused but later obeyed did the father's will, not the one who politely agreed but did nothing.

Putting Off the Old Man and Putting On the New Man

Summary: Holiness involves a continual process of discarding old sinful habits and thought patterns and replacing them with new godly ones, learned through Scripture. This is a practical outworking of salvation.

Evidence: Citing Ephesians 4:17-24, Pastor Weaver explains that believers must 'put off the former conversation the old man' and 'put on the new man,' which requires learning Christ and being renewed in the spirit of the mind.

Holiness in Every Area of Life

Summary: God demands holiness in all manner of conversation—every aspect of behavior and conduct. There are no exceptions or neutral zones; believers must be holy in every sphere of life.

Evidence: Pastor Weaver emphasizes that 'all manner of conversation' refers to behavior and conduct, and that we cannot claim exceptions for difficult people or situations; God demands holiness in every area.

Reckoning and Yielding as the Path to Holiness

Summary: Believers become holy by counting themselves dead to sin and alive to God, and by yielding their bodies as instruments of righteousness. Obedience demonstrates who truly is Lord.

Evidence: From Romans 6:11-19, Pastor Weaver explains that we must 'reckon' ourselves dead to sin and yield our members to righteousness, giving the same eager obedience to Christ that we once gave to sin.

God's Holiness as the Standard and Source of Holiness

Summary: The command to be holy is rooted in God's own holy character. Believers are to be like their Heavenly Father, and this is achieved by obeying His law, which reflects His nature.

Evidence: Pastor Weaver points out that 1 Peter 1:15-16 says 'as he who hath called you is holy, so be ye holy,' and that God's law is an expression of His holy character; obeying it makes us holy as He is holy.

The Immutability and Totality of God's Law

Summary: God's law encompasses all of Scripture, not just the Ten Commandments, and it is unchangeable because God is unchangeable. Conformity to this law is the means of holiness.

Evidence: Pastor Weaver cites Matthew 22:35-40 to show that the greatest commandments summarize all the law and prophets, and Romans 7:12 to affirm the law is holy, just, and good. He argues that all Scripture is law.

Holiness Defined by God, Not Man

Summary: True holiness is determined by God's Word, not human traditions or religious rituals. Practical holiness requires regeneration and the Spirit's power, and it is evidenced by a life of obedience.

Evidence: Pastor Weaver states, 'Holiness is determined by God and not by man,' and warns that keeping man-made traditions or performing religious acts without obedience to God's Word will never produce holiness.

Key Arguments

Holiness is not passive but requires diligent mental and practical effort.

Summary: Peter's command to 'gird up the loins of your mind' indicates that holiness demands serious, intentional thinking and a lifestyle change, not a one-time event.

Evidence: Pastor Weaver explains that 'gird up the loins of your mind' means to prepare for hard thinking, and that holiness is a worldview and lifestyle that must be worked at (1 Peter 1:13).

True obedience is immediate and complete; delayed obedience is disobedience.

Summary: An obedient child of God hears and instantly obeys. Politeness without action is worthless, as shown in the parable of the two sons.

Evidence: Pastor Weaver states, 'Delayed obedience is disobedience,' and uses Matthew 21:28-31 to illustrate that the son who obeyed, though initially rude, did the father's will.

Holiness requires putting off old sinful habits and putting on new godly ones.

Summary: Believers must continually replace their former lusts and ignorance with Christ-like behavior, learned through Scripture and empowered by the Spirit.

Evidence: Citing Ephesians 4:17-24, Pastor Weaver explains the process of putting off the old man and putting on the new man, which is created in righteousness and true holiness.

Holiness must encompass every area of life without exception.

Summary: God demands holiness in all manner of conversation—every aspect of behavior. There are no neutral zones or times when holiness is optional.

Evidence: Pastor Weaver emphasizes that 'all manner of conversation' means every sphere of life, and we cannot claim exceptions for difficult people or situations.

Reckoning ourselves dead to sin and yielding to God is the practical path to holiness.

Summary: By counting ourselves dead to sin and alive to God, and by yielding our members as instruments of righteousness, we demonstrate that Christ is Lord and we become holy.

Evidence: From Romans 6:11-19, Pastor Weaver explains that we must 'reckon' ourselves dead to sin and yield to God, giving the same eager obedience to Christ that we once gave to sin.

God's law is the expression of His holy character and the standard for holiness.

Summary: Since God is holy, His law is holy. Obeying God's law is how believers become holy as He is holy, because the law reflects His nature and will.

Evidence: Pastor Weaver argues that God's law is a manifestation of His character, and that by obeying it, we conform to His holiness (1 Peter 1:15-16; Romans 7:12).

God's law is immutable and encompasses all of Scripture.

Summary: Because God is unchangeable, His law cannot change. The law includes not just the Ten Commandments but all of Scripture, which is the rule for holiness.

Evidence: Pastor Weaver cites Matthew 22:35-40 to show that the greatest commandments summarize all the law and prophets, and argues that all Scripture is law.

Holiness is defined by God's Word, not human traditions.

Summary: Man-made traditions and religious rituals cannot produce holiness. Only obedience to God's Word, empowered by the Spirit, results in practical holiness.

Evidence: Pastor Weaver states, 'Holiness is determined by God and not by man,' and warns that keeping traditions without obedience to God's Word will never make one holy.

Scripture References

1 Peter 1:13-16

Context: The primary text of the message, commanding believers to gird up their minds, be sober, hope in grace, be obedient children, not conform to former lusts, and be holy as God is holy.

Hebrews 12:14

Context: Cited to establish the necessity of holiness: 'Follow peace with all men, and holiness, without which no man shall see the Lord.'

Matthew 21:28-31

Context: The parable of the two sons, used to illustrate that obedience is demonstrated by action, not just polite words; the son who initially refused but later obeyed did the father's will.

John 14:15

Context: Quoted to support that love for Christ is shown by keeping His commandments: 'If you love me, keep my commandments.'

Proverbs 22:15

Context: Cited to explain that punitive discipline (the rod) is needed when verbal instruction fails, because foolishness is bound in the heart of a child.

Psalm 89:32

Context: Mentioned in the context of God chastening His children for sin, though the exact verse is not quoted in the transcript.

Micah 6:9

Context: Quoted: 'Hear ye the rod, and him who hath appointed it,' to emphasize that if we do not hear God's words, we will hear His rod of discipline.

Ephesians 2:2-3

Context: Describes the former lusts of believers: walking according to the course of this world, the prince of the power of the air, fulfilling the desires of the flesh and mind.

Ephesians 4:17-24

Context: Explains the process of putting off the old man (corrupt according to deceitful lusts) and putting on the new man (created in righteousness and true holiness), through learning Christ.

Romans 8:29

Context: Cited to show that God's will is for believers to be conformed to the image of Jesus Christ, which requires continual putting off and putting on.

Romans 6:11-19

Context: Key passage on reckoning oneself dead to sin and alive to God, not letting sin reign, and yielding members as instruments of righteousness unto holiness.

Luke 6:46

Context: Quoted: 'Why call ye me Lord, Lord, and do not the things which I say unto you?' to emphasize that obedience demonstrates true lordship.

Revelation 15:4

Context: Cited to affirm God's unique holiness: 'Who shall not fear thee, O Lord, and glorify thy name? For only thou art holy.'

1 Samuel 2:2

Context: Quoted: 'There is none as holy as the Lord,' to emphasize God's absolute holiness.

Psalm 11:7

Context: Quoted: 'For the righteous Lord loveth righteousness; His countenance doth behold the upright,' to show that God's law reflects His righteous character.

Psalm 19:9

Context: Quoted: 'The fear of the Lord is clean, enduring forever: the judgments of the Lord are true and righteous altogether,' to affirm the righteousness of God's law.

Isaiah 8:20

Context: Quoted: 'To the law and to the testimony: if they speak not according to this word, it is because there is no light in them,' to emphasize that all things must be tested by God's law.

Matthew 22:35-40

Context: The greatest commandments: love God and love neighbor, on which hang all the law and the prophets, showing that all Scripture is summarized by love.

Matthew 5:17-18

Context: Jesus came not to destroy the law but to fulfill it; not one jot or tittle will pass from the law until all is fulfilled, affirming the law's permanence.

Romans 7:12

Context: Quoted: 'Wherefore, the law is holy, and the commandment holy, just, and good,' to establish that God's law is inherently holy.

Historical References

Oriental custom of girding up robes

Context: Pastor Weaver explains that in Oriental culture, men wore long flowing robes and would gird them up under their loins to prepare for action, illustrating the mental preparation required for holiness.

Important Quotes

Delayed obedience is disobedience.

Significance: This concise statement captures the core of the message's teaching on obedience: true obedience to God must be immediate, not postponed or merely intended.

Politeness, respect, and reverence are pointless without obedience.

Significance: Emphasizes that outward religious decorum is worthless if not accompanied by actual obedience to God's commands, as illustrated by the parable of the two sons.

An ignorant man will never be a holy man.

Significance: Highlights the necessity of knowing God's Word for holiness; ignorance of Scripture makes holiness impossible because we must learn Christ to put off the old man.

I have done far more repenting since I've been saved than when I got saved.

Significance: Illustrates the ongoing nature of sanctification; even mature believers continually discover areas needing repentance and change.

Sin is no longer in control for the child of God. Sin is no longer our Lord.

Significance: Affirms the believer's freedom from sin's dominion through union with Christ, a key truth for reckoning oneself dead to sin.

The one that we obey is the one that we genuinely believe in and trust.

Significance: Provides a practical test of faith: our obedience reveals who or what we truly serve and trust as lord.

Holiness is determined by God and not by man.

Significance: Summarizes the message's final application: true holiness is defined by God's Word, not human traditions or religious rituals.

Discussion Questions

What does it mean to 'gird up the loins of your mind' in practical terms, and how can we cultivate this mental discipline daily?

Context: Pastor Weaver explains that this phrase means preparing for serious thinking and developing a biblical worldview. This question encourages application of the first point.

Why is delayed obedience considered disobedience, and how does this challenge our typical excuses for not immediately obeying God?

Context: The message emphasizes that intending to obey or being polite is not enough; true obedience is instant. This question probes personal tendencies to delay obedience.

In what areas of your life are you still 'fashioning yourself according to former lusts,' and what steps can you take to put off those old habits?

Context: Based on 1 Peter 1:14 and Ephesians 4:22-24, this question prompts self-examination and practical application of putting off the old man.

How does the concept of 'reckoning yourselves dead to sin' (Romans 6:11) work in daily temptation, and what does it look like to yield your members to righteousness?

Context: Pastor Weaver uses the analogy of a dead man not responding to temptation. This question explores the practical outworking of this spiritual truth.

If God's law is an expression of His holy character, how should that affect our attitude toward Old Testament laws and the entirety of Scripture?

Context: The message argues that all Scripture is God's law and is immutable. This question addresses potential misunderstandings about the relevance of the Old Testament.

What are some man-made traditions or religious practices that people often substitute for true holiness, and how can we avoid that trap?

Context: Pastor Weaver warns that traditions and declarations of men cannot make one holy. This question helps identify and reject false standards of holiness.

How does the promise that we will be like Christ when He appears (1 John 3:2) motivate us to pursue holiness now?

Context: The message uses this verse to argue that if we will be like Him then, we should strive to be like Him now. This question connects future hope with present duty.

Applications

Cultivate a disciplined mind for holiness

Summary: Believers must intentionally engage in serious thinking and study of Scripture to develop a biblical worldview, as holiness requires mental effort and a renewed mind.

Evidence: Pastor Weaver explains that 'gird up the loins of your mind' means to prepare for hard thinking, and that holiness is a lifestyle that pervades our thinking (1 Peter 1:13).

Practice immediate obedience to God's Word

Summary: When we hear God's instructions in Scripture, we should obey instantly without delay, argument, or mere intention, because delayed obedience is disobedience.

Evidence: Pastor Weaver states, 'Delayed obedience is disobedience,' and uses the parable of the two sons to show that action, not words, proves obedience (Matthew 21:28-31).

Continually put off old sinful habits and put on new godly ones

Summary: Holiness is a process of replacing former lusts and ignorance with Christ-like behavior, learned through Scripture and empowered by the Spirit.

Evidence: Citing Ephesians 4:22-24, Pastor Weaver explains that we must 'put off the old man' and 'put on the new man,' which requires learning Christ and renewing the mind.

Pursue holiness in every area of life without exception

Summary: There are no neutral zones or times when holiness is optional; God demands holiness in all behavior, conduct, and interactions.

Evidence: Pastor Weaver emphasizes that 'all manner of conversation' means every sphere of life, and we cannot claim exceptions for difficult people or situations.

Reckon yourself dead to sin and alive to God daily

Summary: When tempted, believers should consciously count themselves dead to sin's power and alive to God, yielding their bodies as instruments of righteousness.

Evidence: From Romans 6:11-13, Pastor Weaver explains that we must 'reckon' ourselves dead to sin and not let sin reign, but yield to God as those alive from the dead.

Conform your life to the whole counsel of God's law

Summary: Since God's law (all of Scripture) is the expression of His holy character, believers become holy by obeying it, not by following man-made traditions.

Evidence: Pastor Weaver argues that God's law is holy and immutable, and that obeying it is how we become holy as He is holy (1 Peter 1:15-16; Romans 7:12).

Strive to resemble your Heavenly Father as His child

Summary: Just as earthly children resemble their parents, believers should increasingly reflect God's character in thought, word, and deed, motivated by the hope of being like Christ at His appearing.

Evidence: Pastor Weaver uses 1 John 3:2 and Matthew 5:48 to show that God's children should act like their Father, and that our future transformation should inspire present holiness.

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deepseek | deepseek-v4-pro | weaver_study | 2026-06-06T00:15:12Z

Clean Transcript

Holiness Explained and Encouraged Part 2 of 2

Clean readable transcript. This view follows the Commentary.net cleaned segment text while preserving timestamps for audio follow-along.

All right, let's open our Bibles to 1 Peter chapter 1 again. 1 Peter chapter 1. For those of you who were not here last week, I began a message entitled "Holiness Explained and Encouraged." So I'm going to take just a few moments and review part one, and then we're going to continue today on part two and try to tie these two messages together. So look in 1 Peter 1, beginning with verse 13. Peter writes, "Wherefore gird up the loins of your mind, be sober, and hope to the end for the grace that is to be brought unto you at the revelation of Jesus Christ, as obedient children, not fashioning yourselves according to the former lusts in your ignorance."
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"But as he who hath called you is holy, so be ye holy in all manner of conversation, because it is written, 'Be ye holy, for I am holy.'" You remember last week, I began by saying that holiness is absolutely necessary in the Christian life because the Bible clearly teaches in Hebrews chapter 12 and verse 14, "Follow peace with all men, and holiness, without which no man shall see the Lord." So holiness then is a necessity. It is a requirement, and it is demanded by a holy God. And I pointed out last week, just by way of introduction, that Christendom as a whole, while we are indeed a professing Christian people, Christendom as a whole is practically totally devoid of biblical holiness.
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And I realize there's a vast difference between a professor of faith and one who possesses faith. And I realize that our churches mostly are filled with unsaved people. I understand that. But unhappily, even those who are saved do not have a right understanding concerning biblical holiness. So last week we only looked at one point. I have three points in this message. We're going to cover two of them today. But the only point we looked at was this: the diligence demanded in holiness. If you look back in verse 13, this is the only verse we discussed last week.
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"Wherefore, gird up the loins of your mind, be sober and hope to the end, for the grace that is to be brought unto you at the revelation of Jesus Christ." Now, I pointed out last week as I explained verse 13, that holiness does not simply happen. It does not slip up on us, nor is holiness acquired by a trip down the aisle to the front of a church building. Holiness, according to Peter, is something that must be worked at. He said, "gird up the loins of your mind," and I told you what that literally meant.
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Of course, the Orientals wore those long flowing robes. If they were to fight, if they were to run, if they were to do anything that required movement, they would take their robes and gird them up under their loins, usually had a belt or a rope or something where they could move. And so I told you actually what Peter is saying is literally "roll up the shirt sleeves of your mind" or "take the coat off your mind," get ready to do some very serious and hard thinking.
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In other words, you have to develop a biblical outlook, a biblical perspective, a biblical worldview. So he's telling you then that you have to understand there's going to be something serious going on by simply girding up the loins of your mind. And then he said you're to be sober. And I pointed out how the opposite of sober here is not necessarily drunkenness. Certainly that could be an application. But I pointed out the word sober here literally means that we're to think accurately, circumspectly, seriously. We're to be serious minded in this aspect. So when he tells us to be sober, he's already told us to roll up the shirt sleeves of our mind and I went through the scriptures and I showed you how that word is used.
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Now he's saying you be serious in this and then thirdly he says you hope to the end for the grace that has been brought to you with the revelation of Jesus Christ. And then I pointed out that actually there are two revelations that are referred to. The first one in the context is the revelation of the word of God and the second one is the second coming of Christ. So what he is saying is that we must literally gird up the loins of our mind, be sober, be serious and he says that hope is encouraged and evidenced by an understanding, first of all, of the written revelation of the Word of God, and secondly, by personal intimate fellowship with the living Word of God, the Lord Jesus Christ, who is returning.
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So let me just sum up verse 13 for you before we go any further. What Peter is telling us is this. Holiness is not a hit and miss every now and then activity. It is a lifestyle. It is a world view. It is a mental attitude. It is a perspective on life that pervades our thinking in every sphere and every action of our lives. So holiness then is not something that just happens. It's something according to Peter that must be worked at and you're going to see as we continue how he teaches this. So today we're going to look secondly at verses 14 and 15. The diligence developed in holiness. The diligence developed in holiness.
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So we've already looked at the first point now. Diligence demanded in holiness. Now the diligence developed in holiness. Verse 14, he said, "As obedient children, not fashioning yourselves according to the former lusts in your ignorance, but as he who hath called you is holy, so be ye holy in all manner of conversation." Now as you look at verse 14, there is a positive that must be developed in our lives and there is a negative that must be avoided in our lives. So the positive is "as obedient children." The negative is "not fashioning yourselves according to the former lusts of your ignorance." So let's take the positive first. He says, "as obedient children."
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Now the word obedient is from a Greek word that basically means "to hear under." To hear under. It refers to a submission and obedience based upon hearing. It means that we learn submission, we learn obedience, and compliance to our Father's words and counsel simply upon hearing His instruction. It means we don't argue, we don't bellyache, we don't whine, we don't criticize, we just simply obey.
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Now you understand that there are two basic ways of instructing and educating children. The first way of course is verbal and the second way is punitive. Verbal just simply means we talk to them, we instruct them, we give them directions, we teach them. Punitive means the use of the rod. That is, we chastise them, we whip them for not obeying our commands.
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Now, it's interesting that in the New Testament, our Lord said four times, "He that hath ears to hear, let him hear." Now, ask yourself, what is an obedient child? I want you to listen. An obedient child is one who hears and immediately and instantly obeys. Listen to this sentence. Delayed obedience is disobedience. Delayed obedience is disobedience. Intending to obey is not the same as obedience. I've had my children, I've had my grandchildren tell me, "Well I intended to do that." But you didn't. Intended obedience is not obedience. Politeness, respect, and reverence are pointless without obedience. I want you to hold 1 Peter. I want you to turn back in your Bibles to Matthew 21. I'm going to make that statement again, and then I want you to see this from the Scripture. Matthew chapter 21, and we will begin reading there with verse 28. Listen to what I'm telling you. It is very important. Notice Matthew 21. Here's the statement again. Politeness, respect, and reverence are pointless without obedience. Look in Matthew chapter 21 verse 28, our Lord said, "But what think ye?
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A certain man had two sons, and he came to the first and said, 'Son, go work today in my vineyard.' And he answered and said, 'I will not.' But afterwards he repented and went. And he came to the second and said, 'Likewise.' And he answered and said, 'I go, sir.' And went not. And then our Lord says, 'Whether of them twain did the will of his father?' They say unto him, 'The first.' Jesus said, 'Verily I say unto you that the publicans and the harlots go into the kingdom of God before you.' So the second child just simply said, 'Yes, sir. Yes, father.'
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'I'll do it right now.' But he did not. The first one rude and ugly, but yet he repented and then he went. So the point I'm trying to make, you can be polite, you can be reverent, you can be respectful, but if you don't do what you are told, it is still disobedience. That's why our Lord said in John 14 and verse 15, 'If you love me, keep my commandments.' If we love him, we will obey. You know, every one of us admire children who hear and obey instantly.
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When we see children like that, we tend to think they must have absolutely wonderful parents and that the parents have spent a great deal of time with the children and that those children have been meticulously instructed and trained very lovingly, very kindly and therefore they are such wonderful, obedient children. Has it ever entered into your minds that that is exactly the kind of children that we should be toward our Heavenly Father? Punitive instruction is demanded only when verbal instruction fails.
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That's why you read in Proverbs 22 and verse 15, 'Foolishness is bound up in the heart of the child, but the rod of correction shall drive it far from him.' So it is foolishness, it is sin that requires the rod. And when foolishness and sin require the rod, it is applied. Now let me ask you, if we applied the rod to our disobedient physical children, shall God do any less to His children? And if we whipped and chastened and disciplined our children because we love them, is not God going to do the same toward us? You see, our Lord has promised that all believers who sin will suffer. It does not mean that He ceases to love us. It does not mean that we cease to be His children. But it does mean that we're going to be chastened if we sin.
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The Bible tells us in Psalm 89 in verse 32, God said, 'And one of my favorite verses is found in Micah 6 and verse 9, and here's all it says, the latter part, 'Hear ye the rod, and him who hath appointed it.' In other words, God says, if you won't hear my words, then you need to hear my rod. Because I'm going to bring that rod upon you. And the rod only comes when we fail to hear and heed and obey. And so what Peter is saying in 1 Peter, chapter 1 and verse 14, as obedient children, we need to learn to hear under. That is, when we hear our Lord's instruction, when we hear our Lord's directions, we instantly and immediately obey and bring our lives in conformity to His Word. It's just that simple. That is an obedient child. It's one who hears and one who obeys instantly, immediately. I want you to look in verse 14 again because he says, 'as obedient children,' that's the positive. Now here's the negative.
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"Not fashioning yourselves according to the former lusts in your ignorance." Now, it's very important that you understand, he says, "not fashioning yourselves according to the former lusts in your ignorance." Well, what were your former lusts? Well, look in your Bibles, if you would. Hold 1 Peter. But go back to the book of Ephesians chapter 2. And look, if you would, what the Apostle Paul wrote. Ephesians chapter 2.
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And notice, if you would, verse 2. He tells us exactly what our former lusts were. He says, "Wherein in time past you walked according to the course of this world, according to the prince of the power of the air, the spirit that now worketh in the children of disobedience: among whom also we all had our conversation in times past in the lusts of our flesh, fulfilling the desires of the flesh and of the mind; and were by nature children of wrath, even as others." So our former lust then is how we lived before we were converted. We lived according to the world. We lived according to the flesh. We lived according to the spirit of this world. We were disobedient. We were rebellious. We did what we pleased and we did what satisfied our flesh. Now, what He is telling us according to 1 Peter 1 and verse 14, if we are to be obedient children, not fashioning ourselves or not molding ourselves according to our former lusts in our ignorance. That means this.
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We must change. We must change. How do you change? Well, skip down to verse 17 in Ephesians chapter 4. Ephesians chapter 4 beginning of verse 17. I have entire messages just on this passage and I'm not going to re-preach those messages, but look. Ephesians 4 verse 17, "This I say therefore and testify of the Lord, that you henceforth walk not as other Gentiles walk, how? In the vanity of their mind." So Paul is saying you don't walk as the unsaved walk. How do they walk? In the vanity, in the uselessness, in the worthlessness of their mind. Watch verse 18.
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"Having the understanding darkened, that's in ignorance, being alienated from the life of God through the ignorance that is in them because of the blindness of their heart." So he says you don't walk like that. Verse 19, "Who being past feeling, have given themselves over into lasciviousness to work all uncleanness with greediness." Watch verse 20. "But you have not so learned Christ." Now, let's go to verse 21.
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"If so be that you have heard him, and have been taught by him, as the truth is in Jesus, that you put off concerning the former conversation the old man, which is corrupt according to the deceitful lusts; and be renewed in the spirit of your mind; and that you put on the new man, which after God is created in righteousness and true holiness." Now interestingly enough, the apostle Paul says, in verse 22, that you put off the former conversation, the old man, which is corrupt, and then he tells you, "and be renewed in the spirit of your mind." Now when Paul says, "be renewed in the spirit of your mind," it's the same thing as Peter saying, "gird up the loins of your mind."
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Now here's what he's teaching us, and he's teaching us very plainly, that in order to change our lives, we must learn Jesus Christ. There are biblical principles. We have to learn to put off the old habits, the old ways of thinking, the old ideas, and learn to put on the new man, which is created in righteousness and true holiness. And the only way we can learn those things is by girding up the loins of our mind, being sober, thinking seriously, and studying the Scripture to find the principles of the Word of God. An ignorant man will never be a holy man. An ignorant man will never be a godly man. And I'm not talking about someone who's never been to school. I'm not talking about someone who just has never had a higher education. No, no, no. I'm talking about an ignorant man. A man who is ignorant of God's Word will never ever be a holy man. Why? Because we must learn Christ. We must be constantly putting off our old habits and putting on new godly biblical habits.
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I've told people this, I have done far more repenting since I've been saved than when I got saved. And you know it's amazing when you think that pretty well, well I've got everything under control, all of a sudden you see things in your life that, you know they're just, they're wrong, they're wicked. And it must be a constant and continual change. You remember the Bible tells us in Romans 8 and verse 29 that God's will for each of us is that we be conformed to the image of Jesus Christ.
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So that means we have to continually go through this putting off and putting on until we have acquired new habits and new attitudes and new perspectives. It's just like when you go to bed, you put off the clothes that you've worn all day. You put on your nightclothes. The next morning you get up, you put off your nightclothes and put on your dayclothes. You have to put off before you put on. And so what he's saying is, you have to put off these old habits, but you can't just put them off, you must put something else in their place, and that is a new habit, a godly habit.
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Now, I want you to go back to verse 15 of 1 Peter chapter 1. I want you to watch this carefully. He says, in verse 14, "as obedient children, not fashioning yourselves according to the former lusts in your ignorance, but as He which called you is holy, so be you holy in all manner of conversation." All manner of conversation. Our God is holy. He has called us unto holiness and therefore He demands holiness in all manner of conversation.
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Now the word conversation does not just refer to talk. The word conversation refers to behavior, deportment, conduct, your manner of life. What He is saying in verse 15 is that every sphere, every area of our life is to be controlled and regulated by holiness. In other words, we have no choice in the matter. Holiness is His requirement. Holiness is His demand. And therefore, there are no neutral zones.
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There are no king's exes. There are no times out. I can't say, "Well, Lord, I want to be holy in every area but this, I'm dealing with Henry Klingler. You know how Henry is. No, Lord. No, no, no, no, no. I don't care if Henry is wrong. I have to do what's right." Janet says she knows how he is. No, I'm teasing. You know that. But you understand that I can't say, "Well, time out, I'm not going to be holy when I deal with Henry." Or "Time out, I'm not going to be holy when I deal with Doc." No, no, no. I can't do that. God demands holiness in every area and every sphere of my life. Now, the question comes. How do we accomplish becoming holy in every sphere of our lives? Well, I want you to hold 1 Peter, but go in your Bibles to Romans chapter 6. And I want to begin reading with verse 11. Romans chapter 6 and verse 11. Because I'm going to show you the answer to that question on how we become holy in every sphere of our lives.
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Look in Romans chapter 6 and let's begin reading there with verse 11. This passage is a wonderful, wonderful passage. Romans 6 verse 11, God says this, "Likewise reckon ye also yourselves to be dead indeed unto sin, but alive unto God through Jesus Christ our Lord. Let not sin therefore reign in your mortal body, that you should obey it in the lusts thereof. Neither yield ye your members as instruments of unrighteousness unto sin, but yield yourselves unto God as those that are alive from the dead, and your members as instruments of righteousness unto God." Now, go back to verse 11. "Likewise, reckon you also yourselves to be dead indeed unto sin, but alive unto God through Jesus Christ our Lord." Now the word reckon means to count. It means to impute. So he literally says count yourself dead indeed unto sin. That's first. Count yourself dead indeed unto sin.
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Let me ask you a question. Let's suppose I had a casket in this room with a dead man in it. And I pulled out a fifth of whiskey and I looked at the dead man and I said, "Come on buddy, let's get drunk." Is he going to get drunk? No. What if I said, "Come on and let's go commit adultery"? Is he going to do it? No. Why? He's dead.
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Sin has nothing to do with him now. He is dead. What does God say? Count yourselves dead unto sin. So when temptation comes along, you tell temptation, "I'm sorry, I'm a dead man. I've died in Jesus Christ. I've been crucified with Christ. I'm dead. You have no power over me. You have no persuasion over me. I'm counting myself dead." Then he says, don't just count yourself dead. You then count yourself alive unto God through Jesus Christ. You know, the Bible says that Christ died indeed unto sin once, but after he liveth unto God. So once we've counted ourselves dead in Christ, we have to understand that we are alive in Christ and we are to live for Him.
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Now, I want you to notice what He said. Watch verse 11. He says, "Likewise reckon ye also yourselves to be dead indeed unto sin, but alive unto God through Jesus Christ our Lord." Now watch verse 12. "Let not sin therefore reign in your mortal body, that you should obey it in the lusts thereof." I want you to note what He did not say. He did not say, "Let not sin be in your mortal body." Would to God it wasn't there.
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And one day by His grace it won't be there. But it is there now. But what He did say was, "Let not sin reign in your mortal body." Sin is no longer in control for the child of God. Sin is no longer our Lord. This is what He's teaching. Jesus Christ is our Lord. Jesus Christ is in control. And when sin comes to us, we say no.
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You see, this is the difference between a saved man and an unsaved man. An unsaved man has no power to resist sin because sin is his Lord, sin is his King. That's what Romans 5 teaches. Romans 6 teaches it as well. But only those who have been saved by the grace of God have been delivered from the dominion and the power of sin and now they are under the dominion and power of Jesus Christ.
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Now you're going to ask, "Well wait a minute. How does reckoning myself dead indeed unto sin and alive unto God make me holy? How is denying the lordship and the kingship and the dominion of sin in my life going to make me holy?" Well look at verse 16. "Know you not that to whom you yield yourselves servants to obey, his servants you are to whom you obey, whether of sin unto death or of obedience unto righteousness?"
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What did He just say? Don't you know that whomever you obey, his servant you are? Whether it's sin unto death or of obedience unto righteousness. So if I want to be the servant of sin, what do I do? I obey sin. If I want to be the servant of Jesus Christ, what do I do? I obey Jesus Christ. You see, it is obedience that demonstrates and evidences in whom we really genuinely believe and trust. The one that we obey is the one that we genuinely believe in and trust. It's a very practical test. It's a very practical demonstration. Do you remember it? I know you do.
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I've quoted it so many times. What our Lord said in Luke 6 in verse 46, "Why call ye me Lord, Lord, and do not the things which I say unto you?" You remember the word Lord? Curiosity means boss, owner, master, sovereign. He said, "Why are you calling me Lord if you're not going to do what I'm going to say unto you?" So, look in verse 19. Romans 6 verse 19, look there now. Look what he says.
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"I speak after the manner of men because of the infirmity of your flesh." He says, "I know you're weak." So he said, "I'm going to put this out where you can understand it. I speak after the manner of men because of the infirmity of your flesh: for as you have yielded your members servants to uncleanness and to iniquity unto iniquity, even so now yield your members servants to righteousness unto holiness."
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Now, what is the apostle teaching us? Well, here's what he's saying. Before you were converted, you gave an eager, willing, and ready, and practical obedience to sin.
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Now He says that you're saved. You give a willing, ready, and eager obedience to Jesus Christ. Let me ask you. If you served sin eagerly, willingly, readily, and gave a very practical obedience to it before you were saved, shall you do less to Jesus Christ who saved you and took you out of your sin? No. Here's what happened. Listen carefully. Before we were converted, when we walked according to the course of this world, the prince of the power of the air, when we walked according to the lust of our flesh and the lust of our mind and the pride of our life, you know what we did? We planned to sin. We schemed to sin. We sacrificed to sin. We wanted what saved and satisfied us. That's what we wanted.
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And we worked it around so that we could have that. We were giving a practical obedience to the lust of our flesh and the lust of our eyes and the pride of life.
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Now that we're saved, can we not think and plan and scheme to give a practical obedience to Jesus Christ? Can we not sacrifice to do that? I believe anything less is an act of blasphemy. Because we willingly gave that to sin, how can we give less to Jesus Christ? What the Apostle Peter is telling us, as well as what the Apostle Paul is telling us, is that we must continue to change our lives and continue to bring our lives in conformity to His Word until we have put off completely those old habits, put on new habits, and learned Jesus Christ. You see, all holiness is, is a very practical application of salvation that is to be developed in our life. So, diligence is demanded in holiness, and there must be a diligence developing holiness in our lives. I want you to see one last point today. If you'll go back to 1 Peter 1, I want you to see the diligence designed in holiness.
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Look at verses 15 and 16 together. "But as He who hath called you is holy, so be you holy in all manner of conversation. Because it is written, 'Be ye holy, for I am holy.'" Now, I read verses 15 and 16 together because I want you to see the thought that really nailed my hide to the barnyard door. Look at verse 15. "But as He hath called you is holy, so be you holy in all manner of conversation." I want you to go back. "As He has called you is holy, so be you holy." Now when you read that, how can you come up with anything other than this? Since God is holy, He demands me to be as He is in holiness. Now, we know that God is holy.
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In fact, we're told in the book of Revelation 15 and verse 4, "Who shall not fear thee, O Lord, and glorify thy name? For only thou art holy." In 1 Samuel 2 and verse 2, the Word of God declares, "There is none as holy as the Lord." Now, since God is all holy, only holy, and always holy, how can we be as holy as He who has called us to be holy? Look at verse 15 again. "But as He who has called you is holy, so be you holy in all manner of conversation." Obviously, we're to be like Him in holiness. And since we're sinners, we can in no way reach perfection in this life. So how can we be holy as He is holy? That's an interesting question. How can we be holy as He is? Because God is only holy, all holy, and always holy. Those of you that are saved, ask yourself this question. Are you all holy, only holy and always holy?
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I know some of you are. And you know, I'm not. How can we do this? How can we be holy as God is holy? Well, it's important to understand that the basis of God's law is the holy character of God. Listen carefully. The law of God is an expression of God's righteousness and God's holiness. God's law is a manifestation of His character. It is also a manifestation of the conduct, action and disposition of heart that God approves of and delights in. And we know that God is righteous and so are his judgments.
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I probably told you this a hundred times in the last number of years. But please remember a king rules by his law. God's law is the expression of His nature and of His will. As God is holy, so is His law. The Bible says in Psalm 11 in verse 7, "For the righteous Lord loveth righteousness; His countenance doth behold the upright." Now listen to that. "The righteous Lord loveth righteousness; His countenance doth behold the upright." Psalm 19 verse 9, "The fear of the Lord is clean, enduring forever: the judgments of the Lord are true and righteous altogether." Unhappily, when God's law is mentioned, most people only think of the Ten Commandments. It is true, the Ten Commandments are a summary of God's law. But they are not all of God's law. God's law is revealed also in the context of case laws, historical, narrative, prophecy, psalm, proverbs, gospels, and epistles. All of God's word is law. A king rules by his law. The Ten Commandments may summarize the essential principles of the moral law, but those principles are also developed, explained and illustrated and applied throughout the rest of Scripture.
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That's why Isaiah, in Isaiah 8 and verse 20 said this, "To the law and to the testimony: if they speak not according to this word, it is because there is no light in them." He said you have to hold everything according to the light of the law of God. I want you to hold 1 Peter just momentarily, but look back in your Bibles to Matthew 22. Let me show you the point that I'm trying to emphasize. Look in Matthew chapter 22. And let's begin reading there with verse 35. Matthew 22 verse 35. "Then one of them, who was a lawyer, asked him a question, tempting him and saying, 'Master, which is the great commandment in the law?' Jesus said unto him, 'Thou shalt love the Lord thy God with all thy heart, with all thy soul, with all thy mind. This is the first and great commandment. And the second is likened to it, Thou shalt love thy neighbor as thyself. On these two commandments hang all the law and the prophets.'" Interestingly enough, when the lawyer asked him, "Master, what is the greatest commandment of all?"
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Our Lord never quoted any of the ten commandments. But he gave a summary of all of God's law, just like the Ten Commandments are a summary of the moral law. The summary of God's law is to love him with all of our heart, mind, soul, body, spirit, being, everything we are. The second is likened to it. We are to love our neighbors as ourselves. And then he said, "On these hang all the law and the prophets." That is the totality of God's word. Do you remember what our Lord said in Matthew 5 and verse 17? He said, "Think not that I'm come to destroy the law or the prophets. I'm not come to destroy, but to fulfill."
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And then he went on to say this, "For verily I say unto you, till heaven and earth pass, one jot or one tittle shall in no wise pass from the law until all be fulfilled." And what did the Apostle Paul say in Romans 7 verse 12? Listen carefully now. "Wherefore, the law is holy, and the commandment holy, just, and good." Listen to what he said. "Wherefore, the law is holy, and the commandment holy, just, and good."
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Let me ask you a question. If the law is a manifestation of God's holy character, if the law is a manifestation of God's will, if the law is holy as the one who gave it, when we obey God's law, are we not being holy as He is holy? Because that law is an expression of God's will. How do we become holy as He is holy? The answer is by bringing our lives into conformity to His law. Which is not only an expression of His holy nature, but also an expression of His holy will for our lives. We become like Him when we obey Him and we do that which He has ordained and given to us expressly for our holiness. Isn't that interesting?
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You know, there's a passage in Psalm 119, we often quote it. "Wherewithal shall a young man cleanse his way? By taking heed thereto according to Thy Word. With my whole heart have I sought Thee: O let me not wander from Thy commandments. Thy Word have I hid in my heart that I might not sin against Thee." We become holy as He is holy only as we obey His holy law which is the totality of Scripture.
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Now, I want you to go back to 1 Peter chapter 1, because, in 1 Peter chapter 1, there's another verse, verse 16. Look at it. 1 Peter 1 and verse 16. We read, "Because it is written, 'Be ye holy, for I am holy.'" Well, isn't that interesting? "Because it is written, 'Be ye holy, for I am holy.'" Where is it written? Where is that written? And the answer is, it's written throughout the older covenant. The New Testament or the New Covenant is verifying the Old Testament's immutability because God is immutable. We have the same God, the same law, and the same demand for holiness. So when the New Testament says, "because it is written," it is referring to everything that the Old Testament has written concerning God's holiness. So if you'll go back in your Bibles very quickly, just to one book right now, look in the book of Leviticus chapter 11. And let's begin reading there with verse 44, Leviticus 11 and verse 44. Notice what the scripture says. Verse 44. Leviticus 11, verse 44, "For I am the Lord your God: you shall therefore sanctify yourselves, and you shall be holy; for I am holy.
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Neither shall you defile yourselves with any manner of creeping thing that creepeth upon the earth. For I am the Lord that bringeth you up out of the land of Egypt to be your God: you shall therefore be holy, for I am holy." Look in Leviticus 19 and verse 2. Leviticus 19 and verse 2. In fact, we can read verse 1. Leviticus 19 verse 1, "And the Lord spake unto Moses, saying, 'Speak unto all the congregation of the children of Israel, and say unto them, You shall be holy, for I the Lord your God am holy.'" If you'll look in Leviticus 20 and verse 7. Again God tells the people. Leviticus 20 verse 7, "Sanctify yourselves therefore and be ye holy, for I am the Lord your God." Notice, "Sanctify yourselves therefore and be holy, for I am the Lord your God." Did God demand holiness of the saints in the Old Testament? The answer is yes. We're in Leviticus chapter 20. Look in verse 26. Look what God told the people. "And you shall be holy unto me, for I the Lord am holy, and have severed you from other people, that you should be mine."
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"And you shall be holy unto me." Turn right over to the book of Deuteronomy chapter 7 and look at verse 6. Deuteronomy 7 and verse 6. Again, God says this. Deuteronomy 7 verse 6. "For thou art a holy people unto the Lord thy God: the Lord thy God hath chosen thee to be a special people unto Himself above all the people that are upon the faces of the earth." Holy people unto the Lord thy God. Then in Deuteronomy 14, look if you would please at verse 2. Again God says, "For thou art a holy people unto the Lord thy God, and the Lord hath chosen thee to be a peculiar people unto himself above all the nations that are upon the face of the earth."
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Now, I hope that you have grasped at least two very important points. The first one is this, God's law can never change because God in His own essence cannot change. God is immutable. He is unchangeable and therefore that law which He gave which is holy, just and good is just as immutable, unchangeable as God is. The second point that you must grasp is if we desire to be like Him, and to please Him, and to honor Him, we must conform to His law, which is His standard of holiness and righteousness.
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Now, one last passage, then we'll make some applications. I want you to turn to 1 John chapter 3. And here's a question that has to be asked in light of this truth. Let's begin reading with verse 1 of 1 John 3. Verse 2 is actually the one I want, but I want you to see the preceding verse as well. 1 John 3 verse 1. "Behold, what manner of love the Father hath bestowed upon us, that we should be called the sons of God.
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Therefore the world knoweth us not, because it knew Him not." Now look at the greatness of His love which He has bestowed upon us, that we should be called the sons of God. Now look at verse 2. "Beloved, now, right now, now are we the sons of God, and it doth not yet appear what we shall be, but we know that when He shall appear, we shall be like Him.
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For we shall see Him as He is." So here's my question. If we're going to be like Him when we see Him, should we not be like Him now before we see Him, if we're His sons, if we're His children? Well, of course. If we are going to be like Him when we see Him, in order to please Him, in order to obey Him, for God has predestinated us to be conformed to the image of His dear Son, we need to learn to be like Him now. God designed it that way. He told us to obey Him.
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Let me just quote one passage. One of the plainest passages is found in Matthew 5 and verse 48 when He said that you may be the children of your Father who is in heaven. I'll guarantee you that the child born to Clay and Jennifer is going to look like them. Hopefully, if it's a girl, she'll look more like Jennifer. But that child is going to look like them. And you let that child live with them for 15, 20 years, the child is going to end up acting like them and having the same attitude and mindset that they're going to have. What did He say? That you may be the children of your Father in heaven. In other words, just like our earthly children look like us and think like us and walk like us and act like us, we should think and walk and act like our Heavenly Father as obedient children.
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Not fashioning ourselves according to our former lusts and our ignorance. But as He who called us is holy, so we're to be holy in all manner of conversation because it is written, "Be ye holy, for I am holy." My first application is this. Holiness is determined by God and not by man. I don't care one whit for all the traditions and declarations of men. All the traditions and all the declarations of men cannot and will never make you holy. Like the Pharisees, you may keep them until you die, yet you will die in your sins and you will never be holy. You may belong to every church in the land, you may be baptized by every preacher available, you may walk down the aisle into the front of every church, but unless your life is one of obedience to the Word of God, you will never, ever be holy. I distinguished for you in the first message the difference between a positional holiness and a practical and personal holiness. I'm not talking about the positional holiness, the perfection that we have in Christ.
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I'm talking about the personal and practical holiness that He demands. It is only as we have been regenerated and converted and empowered by the Holy Spirit that we're enabled to bring our lives in conformity to His Word. Our Father has designed that we be like Him and we must therefore personally and practically be like Him and conform to His standard. We must diligently, by girding up the loins of our mind, by being sober, by hoping to the end, by being obedient children and not fashioning ourselves according to our former lusts and our ignorance, but we're to be holy in all manner of conversation because He who has called us is holy. We have to diligently, consistently, and constantly put off the old man and put on the new man and become more and more like Christ. That is holiness. And Peter is exhorting us, explaining to us what holiness is, and then encouraging us to be more like our Heavenly Father. And if we're His children, we genuinely want to be like Him. Father, in the name of Jesus Christ, we bow to Thee this day.
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We thank You for Your love and Your mercy. We thank You for Your truth. And Lord, we have to confess we've failed so miserably in our lives. We've been so unholy. We've been so disobedient. But Lord, I pray that You will convict us. You will enable us and empower us by Thy Spirit to be more holy, to be more godly, to put off the old man, to put on the new man, and to bring our lives into greater conformity to Your Word.
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Thou didst say, Father, without me, you can do nothing. And Lord, holiness is something. And we must have You, and we must have Your power. We must have Your help and Your direction. So we ask, Father, for Your blessing and Your help and Your power. In the name of Jesus Christ, our Lord, we pray. Amen.
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deepseek | deepseek-v4-pro | clean_readable_transcript | 2026-06-05T13:19:46Z

Holiness Explained and Encouraged Part 2 of 2

John Weaver | Freedom Ministries

In this second part of a two-part message on holiness, Pastor John Weaver continues his exposition of 1 Peter 1:13-16, focusing on the diligence developed in holiness (verses 14-15) and the diligence designed in holiness (verses 15-16). He explains that holiness requires active effort: believers must be obedient children who instantly obey God's Word, not conforming to their former sinful lusts. Holiness involves a continual process of putting off old sinful habits and putting on new godly ones, renewing the mind through Scripture. The standard for holiness is God's own holy character, expressed in His law, which is immutable and binding. Believers become holy as they conform their lives to God's law, which is the totality of Scripture. The message emphasizes that holiness is not optional but a necessary, practical outworking of salvation, empowered by the Holy Spirit, and that God's children should increasingly resemble their Heavenly Father.

Review of Part 1: The Diligence Demanded in Holiness (1 Peter 1:13)

Scripture Reading — 1 Peter 1:13-16

"Wherefore gird up the loins of your mind, be sober, and hope to the end for the grace that is to be brought unto you at the revelation of Jesus Christ, as obedient children, not fashioning yourselves according to the former lusts in your ignorance." "But as he who hath called you is holy, so be ye holy in all manner of conversation, because it is written, 'Be ye holy, for I am holy.'"

The Diligence Developed in Holiness: Obedient Children (1 Peter 1:14)

Scripture Reading — Psalm 89:32

The Bible tells us in Psalm 89 in verse 32, God said, 'And one of my favorite verses is found in Micah 6 and verse 9, and here's all it says, the latter part, 'Hear ye the rod, and him who hath appointed it.' In other words, God says, if you won't hear my words, then you need to hear my rod. Because I'm going to bring that rod upon you. And the rod only comes when we fail to hear and heed and obey. And so what Peter is saying in 1 Peter, chapter 1 and verse 14, as obedient children, we need to learn to hear under. That is, when we hear our Lord's instruction, when we hear our Lord's directions, we instantly and immediately obey and bring our lives in conformity to His Word. It's just that simple. That is an obedient child. It's one who hears and one who obeys instantly, immediately. I want you to look in verse 14 again because he says, 'as obedient children,' that's the positive. Now here's the negative.

The Diligence Developed in Holiness: Not Fashioning Yourselves to Former Lusts (1 Peter 1:14)

Scripture Reading — Ephesians 2:2-3

"Wherein in time past you walked according to the course of this world, according to the prince of the power of the air, the spirit that now worketh in the children of disobedience: among whom also we all had our conversation in times past in the lusts of our flesh, fulfilling the desires of the flesh and of the mind; and were by nature children of wrath, even as others."

Holiness in All Manner of Conversation (1 Peter 1:15)

Holiness must pervade every area of life—behavior, conduct, and manner of living. There are no neutral zones or exceptions; God demands holiness in every sphere.

How to Become Holy: Reckoning and Yielding (Romans 6:11-19)

Look in Romans chapter 6 and let's begin reading there with verse 11. This passage is a wonderful, wonderful passage. Romans 6 verse 11, God says this,

Scripture Reading — Romans 6:11-19

"Likewise reckon ye also yourselves to be dead indeed unto sin, but alive unto God through Jesus Christ our Lord. Let not sin therefore reign in your mortal body, that you should obey it in the lusts thereof. Neither yield ye your members as instruments of unrighteousness unto sin, but yield yourselves unto God as those that are alive from the dead, and your members as instruments of righteousness unto God."

Now, go back to verse 11.

Scripture Reading — Romans 6:11-19

"Likewise, reckon you also yourselves to be dead indeed unto sin, but alive unto God through Jesus Christ our Lord."

Now the word reckon means to count. It means to impute. So he literally says count yourself dead indeed unto sin. That's first. Count yourself dead indeed unto sin.

Scripture Reading — Romans 6:11-19

"I speak after the manner of men because of the infirmity of your flesh."

He says, "I know you're weak." So he said,

Scripture Reading — Romans 6:11-19

"I'm going to put this out where you can understand it. I speak after the manner of men because of the infirmity of your flesh: for as you have yielded your members servants to uncleanness and to iniquity unto iniquity, even so now yield your members servants to righteousness unto holiness."

The Diligence Designed in Holiness: Be Holy as God is Holy (1 Peter 1:15-16)

In fact, we're told in the book of Revelation 15 and verse 4,

Scripture Reading — Revelation 15:4

"Who shall not fear thee, O Lord, and glorify thy name? For only thou art holy."

Scripture Reading — Psalm 11:7

"For the righteous Lord loveth righteousness; His countenance doth behold the upright."

Now listen to that.

Scripture Reading — Psalm 11:7

"The righteous Lord loveth righteousness; His countenance doth behold the upright."

That's why Isaiah, in Isaiah 8 and verse 20 said this,

Scripture Reading — Isaiah 8:20

"To the law and to the testimony: if they speak not according to this word, it is because there is no light in them."

Scripture Reading — Matthew 22:35-40

"On these hang all the law and the prophets."

Scripture Reading — Romans 7:12

"Wherefore, the law is holy, and the commandment holy, just, and good."

Listen to what he said.

Scripture Reading — Romans 7:12

"Wherefore, the law is holy, and the commandment holy, just, and good."

God's Law as the Standard of Holiness

Application: Holiness Determined by God, Not Man

Holiness Explained and Encouraged Part 2 of 2

John Weaver | YouTube

Lecture Metadata	Details
Speaker	John Weaver
Source	YouTube
Media ID	02iISsOlPTc
Subject	New Testament Studies
Course	Revelation Themes and Eschatological Applications
Genre	Sermon
Date	2012-03-05
Dictation Name
Book	Book 104: Holiness Explained and Encouraged — Chapter 2
Source Timed Segments	63

Lecture Guide

Outline

Review of Part 1: The Diligence Demanded in Holiness (1 Peter 1:13): Holiness requires active mental effort: girding up the loins of the mind (preparing for serious thinking), being sober (thinking accurately and seriously), and hoping in the grace revealed through Scripture and Christ's return. Holiness is a lifestyle and worldview, not a passive occurrence.
The Diligence Developed in Holiness: Obedient Children (1 Peter 1:14): Believers are to be obedient children who hear and instantly obey God's Word. Delayed obedience is disobedience. Politeness without obedience is worthless, as illustrated by the parable of the two sons (Matthew 21:28-31).
The Diligence Developed in Holiness: Not Fashioning Yourselves to Former Lusts (1 Peter 1:14): Believers must not conform to their pre-conversion sinful desires. This requires a change of life: putting off the old man (old habits and thinking) and putting on the new man, which is created in righteousness and true holiness (Ephesians 4:17-24).
Holiness in All Manner of Conversation (1 Peter 1:15): Holiness must pervade every area of life—behavior, conduct, and manner of living. There are no neutral zones or exceptions; God demands holiness in every sphere.
How to Become Holy: Reckoning and Yielding (Romans 6:11-19): Believers become holy by reckoning themselves dead to sin and alive to God, and by yielding their members as instruments of righteousness. Obedience demonstrates true lordship; we must give the same eager obedience to Christ that we once gave to sin.
The Diligence Designed in Holiness: Be Holy as God is Holy (1 Peter 1:15-16): God's command to be holy as He is holy is based on His own character. Since God is all-holy, only-holy, and always-holy, believers are called to reflect His holiness. This is accomplished by obeying God's law, which is an expression of His holy nature and will.
God's Law as the Standard of Holiness: God's law is not limited to the Ten Commandments but encompasses all of Scripture. The law is holy, just, and good, and it is immutable because God is immutable. Conforming to God's law is how believers become holy as He is holy.
Application: Holiness Determined by God, Not Man: Holiness is defined by God's Word, not human traditions. Practical holiness requires regeneration, the Holy Spirit's empowerment, and a continual process of putting off the old man and putting on the new man. Believers, as God's children, should increasingly resemble their Heavenly Father.

Major Themes

Key Arguments

Holiness is not passive but requires diligent mental and practical effort.

Peter's command to 'gird up the loins of your mind' indicates that holiness demands serious, intentional thinking and a lifestyle change, not a one-time event.

Pastor Weaver explains that 'gird up the loins of your mind' means to prepare for hard thinking, and that holiness is a worldview and lifestyle that must be worked at (1 Peter 1:13).

True obedience is immediate and complete; delayed obedience is disobedience.

An obedient child of God hears and instantly obeys. Politeness without action is worthless, as shown in the parable of the two sons.

Pastor Weaver states, 'Delayed obedience is disobedience,' and uses Matthew 21:28-31 to illustrate that the son who obeyed, though initially rude, did the father's will.

Holiness requires putting off old sinful habits and putting on new godly ones.

Believers must continually replace their former lusts and ignorance with Christ-like behavior, learned through Scripture and empowered by the Spirit.

Citing Ephesians 4:17-24, Pastor Weaver explains the process of putting off the old man and putting on the new man, which is created in righteousness and true holiness.

Holiness must encompass every area of life without exception.

God demands holiness in all manner of conversation—every aspect of behavior. There are no neutral zones or times when holiness is optional.

Pastor Weaver emphasizes that 'all manner of conversation' means every sphere of life, and we cannot claim exceptions for difficult people or situations.

Reckoning ourselves dead to sin and yielding to God is the practical path to holiness.

By counting ourselves dead to sin and alive to God, and by yielding our members as instruments of righteousness, we demonstrate that Christ is Lord and we become holy.

From Romans 6:11-19, Pastor Weaver explains that we must 'reckon' ourselves dead to sin and yield to God, giving the same eager obedience to Christ that we once gave to sin.

God's law is the expression of His holy character and the standard for holiness.

Since God is holy, His law is holy. Obeying God's law is how believers become holy as He is holy, because the law reflects His nature and will.

Pastor Weaver argues that God's law is a manifestation of His character, and that by obeying it, we conform to His holiness (1 Peter 1:15-16; Romans 7:12).

God's law is immutable and encompasses all of Scripture.

Because God is unchangeable, His law cannot change. The law includes not just the Ten Commandments but all of Scripture, which is the rule for holiness.

Pastor Weaver cites Matthew 22:35-40 to show that the greatest commandments summarize all the law and prophets, and argues that all Scripture is law.

Holiness is defined by God's Word, not human traditions.

Man-made traditions and religious rituals cannot produce holiness. Only obedience to God's Word, empowered by the Spirit, results in practical holiness.

Pastor Weaver states, 'Holiness is determined by God and not by man,' and warns that keeping traditions without obedience to God's Word will never make one holy.

Scripture References

1 Peter 1:13-16: The primary text of the message, commanding believers to gird up their minds, be sober, hope in grace, be obedient children, not conform to former lusts, and be holy as God is holy.
Hebrews 12:14: Cited to establish the necessity of holiness: 'Follow peace with all men, and holiness, without which no man shall see the Lord.'
Matthew 21:28-31: The parable of the two sons, used to illustrate that obedience is demonstrated by action, not just polite words; the son who initially refused but later obeyed did the father's will.
John 14:15: Quoted to support that love for Christ is shown by keeping His commandments: 'If you love me, keep my commandments.'
Proverbs 22:15: Cited to explain that punitive discipline (the rod) is needed when verbal instruction fails, because foolishness is bound in the heart of a child.
Psalm 89:32: Mentioned in the context of God chastening His children for sin, though the exact verse is not quoted in the transcript.
Micah 6:9: Quoted: 'Hear ye the rod, and him who hath appointed it,' to emphasize that if we do not hear God's words, we will hear His rod of discipline.
Ephesians 2:2-3: Describes the former lusts of believers: walking according to the course of this world, the prince of the power of the air, fulfilling the desires of the flesh and mind.
Ephesians 4:17-24: Explains the process of putting off the old man (corrupt according to deceitful lusts) and putting on the new man (created in righteousness and true holiness), through learning Christ.
Romans 8:29: Cited to show that God's will is for believers to be conformed to the image of Jesus Christ, which requires continual putting off and putting on.
Romans 6:11-19: Key passage on reckoning oneself dead to sin and alive to God, not letting sin reign, and yielding members as instruments of righteousness unto holiness.
Luke 6:46: Quoted: 'Why call ye me Lord, Lord, and do not the things which I say unto you?' to emphasize that obedience demonstrates true lordship.
Revelation 15:4: Cited to affirm God's unique holiness: 'Who shall not fear thee, O Lord, and glorify thy name? For only thou art holy.'
1 Samuel 2:2: Quoted: 'There is none as holy as the Lord,' to emphasize God's absolute holiness.
Psalm 11:7: Quoted: 'For the righteous Lord loveth righteousness; His countenance doth behold the upright,' to show that God's law reflects His righteous character.
Psalm 19:9: Quoted: 'The fear of the Lord is clean, enduring forever: the judgments of the Lord are true and righteous altogether,' to affirm the righteousness of God's law.
Isaiah 8:20: Quoted: 'To the law and to the testimony: if they speak not according to this word, it is because there is no light in them,' to emphasize that all things must be tested by God's law.
Matthew 22:35-40: The greatest commandments: love God and love neighbor, on which hang all the law and the prophets, showing that all Scripture is summarized by love.
Matthew 5:17-18: Jesus came not to destroy the law but to fulfill it; not one jot or tittle will pass from the law until all is fulfilled, affirming the law's permanence.
Romans 7:12: Quoted: 'Wherefore, the law is holy, and the commandment holy, just, and good,' to establish that God's law is inherently holy.

Historical References

Oriental custom of girding up robes: Pastor Weaver explains that in Oriental culture, men wore long flowing robes and would gird them up under their loins to prepare for action, illustrating the mental preparation required for holiness.

Important Quotes

Delayed obedience is disobedience.

This concise statement captures the core of the message's teaching on obedience: true obedience to God must be immediate, not postponed or merely intended.

Politeness, respect, and reverence are pointless without obedience.

Emphasizes that outward religious decorum is worthless if not accompanied by actual obedience to God's commands, as illustrated by the parable of the two sons.

An ignorant man will never be a holy man.

Highlights the necessity of knowing God's Word for holiness; ignorance of Scripture makes holiness impossible because we must learn Christ to put off the old man.

I have done far more repenting since I've been saved than when I got saved.

Illustrates the ongoing nature of sanctification; even mature believers continually discover areas needing repentance and change.

Sin is no longer in control for the child of God. Sin is no longer our Lord.

Affirms the believer's freedom from sin's dominion through union with Christ, a key truth for reckoning oneself dead to sin.

The one that we obey is the one that we genuinely believe in and trust.

Provides a practical test of faith: our obedience reveals who or what we truly serve and trust as lord.

Holiness is determined by God and not by man.

Summarizes the message's final application: true holiness is defined by God's Word, not human traditions or religious rituals.

Discussion Questions

[Question]

What does it mean to 'gird up the loins of your mind' in practical terms, and how can we cultivate this mental discipline daily?

[Context]

Pastor Weaver explains that this phrase means preparing for serious thinking and developing a biblical worldview. This question encourages application of the first point.

[Question]

Why is delayed obedience considered disobedience, and how does this challenge our typical excuses for not immediately obeying God?

[Context]

The message emphasizes that intending to obey or being polite is not enough; true obedience is instant. This question probes personal tendencies to delay obedience.

[Question]

In what areas of your life are you still 'fashioning yourself according to former lusts,' and what steps can you take to put off those old habits?

[Context]

Based on 1 Peter 1:14 and Ephesians 4:22-24, this question prompts self-examination and practical application of putting off the old man.

[Question]

How does the concept of 'reckoning yourselves dead to sin' (Romans 6:11) work in daily temptation, and what does it look like to yield your members to righteousness?

[Context]

Pastor Weaver uses the analogy of a dead man not responding to temptation. This question explores the practical outworking of this spiritual truth.

[Question]

If God's law is an expression of His holy character, how should that affect our attitude toward Old Testament laws and the entirety of Scripture?

[Context]

The message argues that all Scripture is God's law and is immutable. This question addresses potential misunderstandings about the relevance of the Old Testament.

[Question]

What are some man-made traditions or religious practices that people often substitute for true holiness, and how can we avoid that trap?

[Context]

Pastor Weaver warns that traditions and declarations of men cannot make one holy. This question helps identify and reject false standards of holiness.

[Question]

How does the promise that we will be like Christ when He appears (1 John 3:2) motivate us to pursue holiness now?

[Context]

The message uses this verse to argue that if we will be like Him then, we should strive to be like Him now. This question connects future hope with present duty.

Applications

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