1 Peter 1:14-16—Conformity

As obedient children, do not be conformed to the former lusts which were yours in your ignorance, but like the Holy One who called you, be holy yourselves also in all your behavior; because it is written, “You shall be holy, for I am holy.” 1 Peter 1:14-16

As obedient children…

In our age, obedience, whether to parents, the law, or any other authority, is not highly valued (unless, of course, someone decides to go against a certain Supreme Court ruling—then all bets are off, and their detractors become Bible scholars, pulling out the Romans 13 card). In contrast, rebellion and lawlessness are exalted in popular media and movements. Obedience, especially to God and His Word, is ridiculed in many circles and considered tedious or restrictive in others—including in the church world.

And yet, to God, obedience in His children is of immeasurable value. The prophet Samuel once said, “To obey is better than sacrifice” (1 Samuel 15:22).

… do not be conformed to the former lusts which were yours in your ignorance…

Have you ever messed up? Were there things in your life before you met Christ that might cause you shame or concern if they were splashed all over newsfeeds or headlines? Most of us can answer “Yes” to one or both of these questions; the rest of you would probably fail a lie detector test! 🙂

Peter states very bluntly, “Don’t jump back in there!” concerning all the stuff you messed around with in your past. “Don’t conform yourself! You who have made a public profession of Jesus as Lord—why start mixing it up with the very stuff that was suffocating the life out of you before you were saved?”

Once upon a time, you were ignorant of the spiritual realm around you. You were ignorant of the forces to which you yielded when you pursued that stuff. And if you were anything like me, the reason you turned to Christ was because you realized that you were no longer in control of your desires—they controlled you; and you longed to be released from their cold grip.

With me, one of my main lusts was alcohol. And as I realized the stronghold it had upon my mind and behavior, I spiraled down into gloomy resignation that nothing would ever change; it was downhill from here—I had already witnessed what it had done to my dad.

But thank God! Jesus had other ideas and set me free as He came into my life. I felt the change; I literally felt something leave my body. The craving for alcohol was gone.

But years later, I decided that it wasn’t that big of a deal to have a little wine now and then. And it wouldn’t have been except for one small thing….I liked it every bit as much as before, and I soon began drinking a little more and a little more each time. I learned something: Alcoholism doesn’t forget its kids—even though one of them once kicked it to the curb.

What was happening to me? I was conforming myself to my former lust. The only difference was this: I was no longer ignorant of the spiritual realm and the implication of my choices.

Thank God for His mercy. After nearly five years of flirting with the very thing God had rescued me from, I was fully sickened by my hypocrisy. I confessed to a trusted individual on staff at my church. Instead of hoping to hear, “Oh, that’s OK; we all stumble,” I told her that the next time I ever bought liquor, I was honor-bound to tell her—and then she could tell my pastor or his wife or just get on the microphone some Sunday morning at church and tell the entire congregation, “Dorothy is drinking again.”

And you want to know something? It worked. I quit. Yes, the liquor bottles at the grocery store still sang to me for a few years after that, “We’re on sale! Just come on by and get a deal!” as I walked past their aisle. And I would sing back, “No. I’ll have to tell Nancy!” and I walked on by.

As believers, you and I have a choice in the matter. We can be conformed to our former lusts, or we can resist carnal conformity. But none of us who knows Christ can claim in our carnality, “I didn’t know!”

Peter offers a far better choice:

… but like the Holy One who called you, be holy yourselves also in all your behavior; because it is written, “You shall be holy, for I am holy.”

As formidable as this command sounds, it simply offers the alternative to living for yourself—live for God. Live for His glory.

The Lord alone is holy. The beauty of the new birth, however, is that if anyone is in Christ, he is a new creature; the old things passed away; behold, new things have come (2 Corinthians 5:17).

And the new that has been birthed into you is saturated with the grace of God—not so you can sin now without ever having to face eternal consequences—NO! The grace of God that dwells within you is there to empower you to obey God and to conform to Him alone.

As you yield to Him and make choices consistent with the new birth, you are holy in your behavior. You may not be perfect, but you are holy, i.e., determined to spend the rest of your life, not for the dead-end, life-sucking pursuits of the flesh, but for the purposes of God.

Godspeed as you choose to conform to Him and not to past lusts!

Dorothy

And do not be conformed to this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind, so that you may prove what the will of God is, that which is good and acceptable and perfect. Romans 12:2

© 2015, Dorothy Frick