1. FIRST PETER CHAPTER ONE: FOURTEEN TO SIXTEEN
TAKE A LOOK AT THE ASPECT OF HOLINESS
Charles e Whisnant, Teacher, Learner, Expositor
December 04, 2013
1A HOLINESS HAS TO DO WITH MY HEART
The heart of motivation The seat of passion the spring of all thought processes and
conscience.
Holiness is always the saved sinner's response of gratitude for grace received.
2A HOLINESS HAS TO DO WITH MY TEMPERAMENT
The factors that make specific ways of reacting and behaving natural to me.
Its what inclines me to transact with my enviroment (situations , things, people.
Its the raw material out of which temperament is formed..
Character is what we do with our temperament. Personality is the final produce.
3A HOLINESS HAS TO DO WITH MY HUMANNES
Jesus model for us human goodness. What is that? Human live lived as God intened. Where the
human person is completely united in God honoring and nature fulfilling way.
It is the reverse of secular humanism.
Genuine holiness is genuine Christ-likeness , and genuine Christ likeness is genuine humanness, the
only genuine humanness there is.
Love in the service of the Lord Jesus Christ and others
Humility and meekness under the Divine hand
Integrity of behavior expressing interrogation of character
Wisdom with faithfulness
Sorrow at people's sin
Joy at the Father's goodness
Single mindedness in seeking to please the Father, morning, noon and night
Christians are meant to become human as Jesus was human. Called to imitate the character of Christ.
4A HOLINESS HAS TO DO WITH MY RELATIONSHIPS
Holiness is not isolationism, but relationship. Not detached from ordinary human
involvement.
Its not becoming materialistic, extravagant or a grabber and empire builder,
But must operate as a servant of God in the world,

2. HOLINESS IS A NUMBER OF THINGS:
1. Both outward and inward aspect
2. A matter of both action and motivation
3. Conduct and character
4. Divine grace and human effort
5. Obedience and creativity
6. Submission and imitative
7. Conservation to God and commitment to people
8. Self discipline and self giving
9. Righteousness and love
10.A matter of Spirit-led keeping
11. A walk, of conduct of life
12.In the Spirit that displays the fruit of the Spirit
13.It is a matter of seeking to imitate Jesus way of behaving
14.It is a matter of patient, persistent unrighteousness
15.Taking God's side against sin in our own lives and in lives of others.
16.Of worshiping God in the Spirit as one serves Him in the world.
17.Single-mindedness, wholehearted
18.Free and glad concentration on the business of pleasing God
19.It is the distinctive form and so to speak, flavor of a live set apart from God that is now being
inwardly renewed by His power.
20.Holiness is thus the demonstration of faith, working by love.
21.Therefore it is whole supernatural in the sense of being God's gracious achievement within
us, and wholly natural in the sense of being our own true humanness.
How then are we to be holy? Peter gives us several directives.
(1) We are to be holy in all our conduct. Holiness is not to be compartmentalized into certain
“religious” areas of our life. Holiness is a way of life that affects everything we do. Holiness is a
lifestyle, rather than mere conformity to a list of rules.
(2) We are to be holy by not being conformed to our former lusts. Holiness is a lifestyle which
differs dramatically from our manner of life before we were saved . Leviticus 18:1-8. Romans 123:1-
2; Romans 1:21-25; Romans 6:16; Ephesians 4:17-24, 2 Peter 2:12-13; I Corinthians 9:24-27;
(3) We are to be holy by imitating God. We are to be holy because God is holy (see above). We are
also to be holy as God is holy. As Jesus once put it,“Therefore you are to be perfect, as your heavenly
Father is perfect” (Matthew 5:48). I John 3:1-12
(4) We are to be holy by obeying God’s Word. Romans 8:1-4; I Corinthians 2:6-16

3. Let me try to draw a picture of Biblical holiness
(J.C. Ryle, “Holiness, Its Nature, Hindrances, Difficulties, and Roots“)
“Without holiness, no man shall see the Lord!” Hebrews 12:14
Are we holy? Shall we see the Lord?
In this hurrying, bustling world–let us stand still for a few minutes and consider the matter of
holiness. It is a solemn thing to hear the Word of God saying, “Without holiness, no man shall see
the Lord!”A man may go great lengths in religionand yet never reach true holiness.
What is true practical holiness?
It is not knowledge–Balaam had that.
It is not great profession–Judas Iscariot had that.
It is not doing many things–Herod had that.
It is not zeal for certain matters in religion–Jehu had that.
It is not morality and outward respectability of conduct–the rich young ruler had that.
It is not taking pleasure in hearing preachers–the Jews in Ezekiel’s time had that.
It is not keeping company with godly people–Joab and Gehazi and Demas had that.
Yet none of these were holy people! These things alone, are not holiness. A man may have any
one of them–and yet never see the Lord!
Let me try to draw a picture of Biblical holiness, that we may see it clearly before the eyes of
our minds.
1. Holiness is the habit of being of one mind with God, according as we find His mind described
in Scripture.
2. A holy man will endeavor to shun every known sin, and to keep every known commandment.
3. A holy man will strive to be like our Lord Jesus Christ.
4. A holy man will follow after meekness, patience, gentleness, patience, kind tempers, and
government of his tongue.
5. A holy man will follow after temperance and self-denial.
6. A holy man will follow after love and brotherly kindness.
7. A holy man will follow after a spirit of mercy and benevolence towards others.
8. A holy man will follow after purity of heart.
9. A holy man will follow after the fear of God.
10. A holy man will follow after humility.
11. A holy man will follow after faithfulness in all the duties and relations in life.
12. Last–but not least, a holy man will follow after spiritual-mindedness.

4. HOLINESS: THE DIVINE IMPERATIVE
1 .I suspect that this valley has yet to see what God can do through a body of believers fully yielded to
Him.
2 .If we desire to be a church that is effective, effusive, and infectious for Christ, we must be a people
of holiness.
We can devise all kinds of games, gimmicks, and gadgets to attract people, but God wants us to
be wholly like him and holy like Him.
3. Do you ever wonder why we so often limp along spiritually, licking our wounds and longing for
victory? Why we so often stagnate or settle for mediocrity in the things of Christ?
Perhaps it’s because we’ve lost our PASSION FOR HOLINESS. And it’s that passion I want to
call us to.
4. Dr. J. Sidlow Baxter comments,
“No subject which ever engages the thought of Christian believers can be more sacredly commanding
than that of our personal holiness, by which I mean an in wrought holiness of heart and life. Beyond
contradiction, this is our ‘priority-number-one’ concern. Admittedly, one would not infer so from the
general appearance of things just now, but it is so, if the New Testament is true.
“Although this deeper work of the Holy Spirit in the consecrated believer seems little expounded in the
average church today, with the unhappy consequence that comparatively few Christians seem to know much
about it in experience, it still remains true that this call to holiness is the first call of the New Testament to all
Christians. For the moment, let just one text of Scripture represent the many to us: Ephesians 1:4, staggering
in its mystery and immensity
5.Reasons for the decline in holiness preaching and living:
a. Undermining of biblical authority We’ll never aspire to a holy standard of living without an
authoritative base.
b. The standard seems too high: Some people, even some preachers, are intimidated to speak of it,
lest they be viewed as hypocrites. Granted, it is convicting to preach such a high standard of holiness,
but it is God’s standard and we must proclaim nothing less.
c. Absence of role models
We need truly godly leaders to emulate holiness and to hold us accountable. Ungodly or complacent
spiritual leaders confuse the issue.
d. Our current self-centered/man-centered theology:
Many professing Christians are so focused on what they think God should give them that
they’ve apparently lost sight of what He wants to make them. They’ve exchanged what they
can becomefor what they can get. Like the prophet Isaiah, they need a fresh vision of God’s
holiness (Isaiah 6). We all do! Many professing Christians are so focused on what they think
God should give them that they’ve apparently lost sight of what He wants to make them.
They’ve exchanged what they can become for what they can get . Like the prophet Isaiah,
they need a fresh vision of God’s holiness (Isaiah 6). We all do!
e. Theological tradition
Currently there is a much debate over the “Lordship Salvation” issue (i.e., does salvation require
yielding to Christ’s lordship, or must we simply receive Him as our Savior?).Many people have so
separated justification from sanctification that they believe it is possible to be a true believer and
never manifest the fruit of repentance. However, Scripture has much to say to the contrary.