but as he who has called you is holy, be ye also holy in all [your] conversation;
Peter turns from what God has done for believers to how they must now live. But what does "holy" mean, how far does "all your conduct" reach, and is this a demand or a gift?
The call is not measured against other people or against our own past. One writer presses how far it reaches into ordinary, unwatched life:
"But as He who called you is holy, you also be holy in all your conduct" — in every kind of walk. When people go away on holiday, they sometimes think, "At home I would go to the meeting as usual, but nobody knows me here." That's the world. It is not a matter of putting on a formal collar on Sunday and taking it off every other day. The Lord would have Himself always before us, so that we should be consistent every day and be holy. Does God lower His holiness? He cannot give a standard less than Himself.
Peter does not aim this command at people trying to become God's. He aims it at people who already belong to Him. One writer notes that the same letter says both things:
Scripture speaks of holiness, like sanctification, in two ways: (1) as a position, which is absolute, and (2) as a practice, which grows… In the first letter of Peter we find just the same thing. He says, "Be holy" (1 Peter 1:15) to the very people to whom he says, "You are… a holy nation" (1 Peter 2:9).
So is this a rule we must keep, or something God gives? One writer answers that God supplies what He asks for:
God is dealing with us on the ground of grace, and also of holiness. For us, holiness is as much a part of grace as any other blessing. "Be holy; for I am holy" is the expression of intimacy, and does not come merely as a command. Grace must make us holy, "partakers of His holiness"… It is not God requiring man's holiness, but making us partakers of His. What more could we wish? Love does it. He makes us partakers of the very thing that separates God from all that does not match Himself — holiness, not mere innocence. Innocence is the ignorance of good and evil: you would not say that God was innocent, but holy.
Peter backs the appeal by quoting Leviticus, where God told Israel to be holy because He is holy. One writer roots the call in who the Father is, not in a rulebook:
And because the Father who has called us is holy, all His children should show that same character in every part of life. Even the Old Testament (Lev. 11:44) had said, "Be holy, for I am holy;" not "because the law requires it." If it was true then, how much more so for those who know the saving grace of the Lord Jesus Christ! This is loving conformity to a Person, not demanded conformity to a law. It involves loving what is good and hating evil.
Some might ask why a line first spoken to Israel under the law should govern people who live under grace. The answer given is that the command rests on something that never shifts:
Now, as children, we are told to be holy, that is, separate from evil. The Apostle quotes the law to insist on holiness (Leviticus 11:44). However much the character of the age may change, the nature of God cannot change. It was true under law, and it is still true under grace, that God is absolute in holiness. So everyone in relationship with God must be holy, whether under law or grace.
Yet the level is not the same in both eras. One writer ties it to the new place God gives believers:
It is now the children, not of the fathers, but of God the Father, whose standing is not in flesh, but in Christ. The holiness rises according to the place and relationship.
Holiness has two sides, and one of them must come first:
I have spoken only of the negative side — separation from evil; there is also the positive — holiness to the Lord. We are called from the one to the other. But as to practical holiness, the second is impossible without the first — separation from evil… "As He who called you is holy, you also be holy in all your conduct." If I am true to Him, I am leaving the one (evil) and reaching after the other.
- Called. It starts with God's act, not ours. He called you, and His own holiness sets the standard, because He cannot give anything lower than Himself.
- Made. Those He calls are already a holy people. Grace does not just demand holiness; God makes us partakers of His own.
- Like. The likeness He asks for is a child's likeness to the Father. It is love for a Person, not conformity to a law.
- Unchanging. The command goes back to Leviticus and still stands. The age changes; God's nature does not. The standard only rises, because our place with Him is nearer.
- All. It covers every part of life, holidays included. It means leaving evil behind and reaching after the Lord.
because it is written, Be ye holy, for *I* am holy.
God's call to be holy is not a new demand made only of Christians — Peter quotes a line already written in the law of Moses. So what does "holy" mean when God says it of Himself, and what can it mean when He says it of us?
Peter's "since it is written" points back to one place in the law. God first spoke these words to the people He had rescued out of Egypt.
So we read, "As He who has called you is holy, so be holy in all your conduct (literally, your manner of life)" (1 Peter 1:15). The next verse goes on to say, "You shall be holy, for I am holy." The quotation is from Leviticus 11:44, "For I am the LORD your God. Consecrate yourselves therefore, and be holy, for I am holy."
The words are old. But those who hear them now stand in a new place, and that changes what the words carry.
Was this an unheard of requirement on God's part? Far from it. When He ruled as the LORD over a people who were His by natural birth, it could be no other way: "You shall be holy, for I am holy." The apostle cites Leviticus 11:44… Now it is the children of God the Father, not the children of the fathers. Their standing is not in natural descent, but in Christ. The holiness rises according to the place and relationship.
One word covers both God and us in this verse. It does not mean the same thing in both halves.
Used of God, the word speaks of Him as holy. He knows good and evil perfectly, and wills good and no evil. Used of people, it marks them out as separated — set apart to God, away from evil and from common use.
Read as a bare order, the verse sounds crushing. One writer hears something else in it: the language of closeness.
God is dealing with us on the ground of grace, and of holiness too. For us, holiness is as much a part of grace as any other blessing. "Be holy, for I am holy" is the expression of intimacy, and comes not merely in the way of command. Grace must make us holy, "partakers of His holiness"… God is not demanding a holiness of man's own. He is making us share in His. What more could we wish? Love does it. He gives us a share in the very thing that separates God from everything unlike Himself — holiness, not mere innocence. Innocence is not knowing good and evil. You would not call God innocent; you would call Him holy… It is "His holiness" — knowing evil as He knows it, and being able to rise above it.
Notice what reason God gives. He does not point to a rule. He points to Himself.
The Father who has called us is holy. So the same character should show in all His children, in every part of life. Even the Old Testament (Lev. 11:44) had said, "Be holy, for I am holy" — not "because the law demands it." If that was true then, how much more for those who know the saving grace of the Lord Jesus Christ! This is loving likeness to a Person, not forced likeness to a law. It means loving what is good and hating evil.
Because the reason is a relationship, a believer's answer for a life set apart is short. It points to God, not to himself.
It is good to see where the personal holiness of God's people comes from. Their complete separation from every kind of uncleanness flows out of their relationship to Him. It does not work on the principle of "stand back, I am holier than you." It is simply this: "God is holy." So everyone He brings into association with Himself must be holy too… Someone may ask a Christian why he stays away from the ten thousand things the men of this world join in. His answer is simply to be, "My Father is holy." This is the true foundation of personal holiness.
The same writer separates two things people confuse: what every believer already is, and how much of it shows day by day.
All believers stand in the same condition of holiness, or sanctification. But how far that shows in practice may vary to any degree. The condition comes from our being brought near to God by the blood of the cross. How far it shows will depend on our keeping near, by the power of the Spirit.
- Written. Peter is quoting Leviticus 11:44. The call is old, but the standing of those called is new, and holiness rises with the relationship.
- Holy. Of God, the word means He knows good and evil perfectly and wills only good. Of people, it means set apart to Him, away from evil and from common use.
- Given. The words are the language of intimacy, not only of command. God does not demand a holiness of our own; He makes us partakers of His.
- Personal. The reason God gives is Himself. This is likeness to a Person, not the keeping of a rule.
- Practical. The believer's answer for a life set apart is "My Father is holy." All believers share one condition of holiness; how much of it shows depends on keeping near to God.