"Be ye holy, as I am holy," is a command, not a suggestion, from God to believers. In his first epistle, Peter repeats this command with prerequisite work that must be done by us in order for us to move toward holiness. As such, there are obstacles that keep us from growing in holiness: apathy, ignorance, and lust. The 3 commands that Peter gives in 1:13 are all targeted toward our mind and our thinking -- prepare your minds for action, be sober-minded, and fix your hope on the completion of future grace. With such an emphasis on our minds, it is not hard to see that in order to become holy, our thinking must be transformed by the renewing of our minds through God's Word. If we neglect the reading and study of God's Word in our daily lives, it results in ignorance of the truth that the Spirit wants to use in our sanctification. |