If you don’t have a desire for a transformation of character from the inside out, it’s because you just haven’t faced yourself.

There is in all of us a selfishness, a lack of self-control, a dysfunction. And yet God calls us to, “be ye holy.” Being holy does not just mean to keep the rules. Being holy means you are wholly reoriented in your thinking, in your feeling, and in your behavior. It means to be totally changed in mind, heart, and will. To be holy is to wholly belong to God.

Let’s look at these verses in 1 Peter and ask 1) what does this text tell us a holy person looks like? And 2) how can we want a holy life so that we get it?

This sermon was preached by Dr. Timothy Keller at Redeemer Presbyterian Church on November 7, 1993. Series: Splendor in the Furnace: 1 Peter, Part 1. Scripture: 1 Peter 1:13-21.

Today's podcast is brought to you by Gospel in Life, the site for all sermons, books, study guides and resources from Timothy Keller and Redeemer Presbyterian Church. If you've enjoyed listening to this podcast and would like to support the ongoing efforts of this ministry, you can do so by visiting https://gospelinlife.com/give and making a one-time or recurring donation.

To be a holy person is not what people popularly think it is these days. In modern English we often use the word “holy” to mean “holier than thou”—inaccessible, condescending, and self-righteous. Or at best, people will think of a holy person as somebody who keeps all the rules.

But holiness is not about keeping all the rules. Holiness is an attitude of the heart in which you look at God and you say, “Use me.” Therefore, to be holy means more than just to give him your mind; you have to give him your life. In 1 Peter 1, there is a contrast shown between a life without God and a holy life. And this contrast shows us a depiction of a holy life.

These verses show us that 1) a life without God is ignorant, but a life of holiness integrates the thought and the life, 2) a life without God is an imitative life, but a holy life is an examined life, and 3) a life without God is a life of slavery without authority, but a holy life is a life of freedom under authority.

This sermon was preached by Dr. Timothy Keller at Redeemer Presbyterian Church on October 31, 1993. Series: Splendor in the Furnace: 1 Peter, Part 1. Scripture: 1 Peter 1:13-16.

Today's podcast is brought to you by Gospel in Life, the site for all sermons, books, study guides and resources from Timothy Keller and Redeemer Presbyterian Church. If you've enjoyed listening to this podcast and would like to support the ongoing efforts of this ministry, you can do so by visiting https://gospelinlife.com/give and making a one-time or recurring donation.

Many Western people today think that Christianity is for people who don’t want to use their minds, that if you’re educated and thoughtful you wouldn’t believe. They think that to be Christian you’d have to jettison your thoughts and surrender to a realm of feeling, to a leap of faith.

But the Bible tells us the opposite. In 1 Peter, when it calls us to holiness, it says we must prepare our minds. Holiness includes the whole person—including the mind. In fact what Peter says and what it says all through the Bible is not only “May Christians think,” but “Christians must think.” It’s fundamental.

Let’s look at how 1 Peter shows us that 1) Christianity requires you to use your mind, to be thinking and rational, and 2) Christianity is the only thing that really encourages thinking and gives a basis for it.

This sermon was preached by Dr. Timothy Keller at Redeemer Presbyterian Church on October 24, 1993. Series: Splendor in the Furnace: 1 Peter, Part 1. Scripture: 1 Peter 1:13-16.

Today's podcast is brought to you by Gospel in Life, the site for all sermons, books, study guides and resources from Timothy Keller and Redeemer Presbyterian Church. If you've enjoyed listening to this podcast and would like to support the ongoing efforts of this ministry, you can do so by visiting https://gospelinlife.com/give and making a one-time or recurring donation.