The Bible Book

314

I

n his letter to Christians

scattered throughout Asia

Minor (modern Turkey),

Peter praises God for the salvation

secured by Christ’s resurrection.

Although his audience is facing

various troubles, Peter is confident

of God’s purpose in allowing their

suffering, and of their future joy.

For the New Testament,

salvation through faith in Jesus

is not merely a release from the

eternal consequences of sin.

Salvation also liberates believers

from sin’s tyranny in their daily

lives. One of God’s primary tools

for accomplishing this, Peter says,

is suffering. In Peter 1:7, he uses

imagery suggesting that God is

like a goldsmith, working on the

precious metal of the believer’s

faith. The divine smith heats it

so that impurities rise and can be

skimmed off, until the smith can

see His reflection without blemish

in the purified gold. Enduring

troubles righteously serves to refine

the believer’s faith and bring their

character into conformity with

God’s holiness.

Divine holiness

Holiness is the most frequently

mentioned attribute of God in the

Bible. At its core, “holy” indicates

separation. For God, holiness refers

to His transcendence over all

created things and to His alienation

from unrighteousness and sin.

These qualities are reflected in the

description of things, places, and

even people as “holy” in the Old

Testament. Such things could be

called “holy” insofar as they were

separated from common use for the

service of God, and as they were

preserved from contamination by

sin or ritual impurity. Israel was

to be “a holy nation” (Exodus 19:6),

and the construction of a “Holy

of Holies” in the Tabernacle and

Temple set that area apart as a

place for God’s presence.

IN BRIEF

PA S SAGE

1 Peter 1:3–2:25

THEME

Holiness

SETTING

c.60–65 ce 1 Peter is

addressed to believers

scattered throughout Roman

provinces in northwestern

Asia Minor.

KEY FIGURES

Peter Although the letter is

written in the name of the

Apostle Peter, scholars are

divided about whether or not

he was the actual author.

The readers The recipients

of the letter are mostly

Gentile Christians

experiencing persecution

because of their faith.

JUST AS HE WHO

CALLED YOU IS

HOLY, SO BE HOLY

IN ALL YOU DO

1 PETER 1:15, HOLINESS

I am the Lord your God;

consecrate yourselves and

be holy because I am holy.

Leviticus 11:44

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315

In Revelation 12, a star-crowned

woman represents the Church born

through Christ. Edward Robert

Hughes draws on this symbolism

in his painting Star of Heaven.

See also: The Ten Commandments 78–83 ■ The Prophet Ezekiel 162–63 ■ The Prophet Micah 168–71 ■

Jesus Embraces a Tax Collector 242–43 ■ Fruits of the Spirit 300

ACTS, EPISTLES, AND REVELATION

The holiness of God, and its

representation in ritual aspects

of the Mosaic Laws of piety,

highlights a central tension in

the biblical narrative: how sinful

humanity can come into the

presence of God when God’s

holiness separates Him from sin.

The Bible tells how only the High

Priest could enter the Holy of

Holies, and then only once a year

after ritual cleansing. Those who

entered unworthily would be struck

down by the holiness of God. Laws

concerning ritual uncleanliness

illustrated the separation of unclean

people from God and others; they

could not worship in the Temple,

nor could they enjoy human contact

without spreading uncleanliness.

Cleansing sinners

Although Jesus claimed to be the

Final Judge, who would condemn

unrepentant sinners to hell, He

demonstrated that holiness did not

make God unloving or unmerciful.

Through His miraculous healings

of, and fellowship with, sinners—

those who did not comply with

Mosaic Law—He welcomed sinners

into God’s kingdom. Rather than

approving their sins, He cleansed

them. Those He healed became fit

to worship God under Mosaic Law.

The Apostles taught that after

His death, Jesus sent the Holy

Spirit to remove sin and “sanctify”

sinners (make them holy). Believers,

they said, were already holy in the

sense of being set apart by God

and called “saints” (holy ones). Yet,

Peter says, believers should also

demonstrate holiness through their

character and deeds. That way,

their persecutors could level no

legitimate charge against them. ■

Key rituals of the Church

Worship in the early Church

focused on two key rituals. The

first was baptism, which initiated

new believers and brought them

together spiritually, bound by

the symbolic purification and

holiness of following Jesus. The

other was a meal, the Lord’s

Supper, celebrated during weekly

gatherings of believers, which

involved the ritual sharing of

bread and wine. A forerunner

of the Eucharist, this ceremonial

meal recalled Jesus’s “last

supper” with His disciples before

His crucifixion and symbolized

the believers’ holy unity with

Jesus and each other in the

“body of Christ.” It also was

the setting for Church discipline,

preserving the holiness of the

Church by removing those who

persisted in sin. Restoration and

readmittance to the fellowship

of the table was accomplished

through repentance. For early

Christians, the Lord’s Supper

anticipated the banquet that

awaited them in heaven at

the end of time.

The ritual washing of feet on

Maundy Thursday replicates Jesus

washing the disciples’ feet at the

Last Supper. It is an act of humility.

Just as you used

to offer yourselves as

slaves to impurity and

to ... wickedness, so

now offer yourselves as

slaves to righteousness

leading to holiness.

Romans 6:19

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