This salvation that Peter has spent the first 13 verses discussing provides us four things we desperately need to please God: enlightenment (.14), holiness (.15), a new identity (.16-.20), and hope (.21).

Enlightenment. According to verse 14, we were formerly in “ignorance,” which clearly implies that we are now enlightened — but enlightened to what? and in what way were we previously ignorant? As is the case most of the time, our answer is provided within the context. In our previous state of heathen-hood we were ignorant of God, holiness, and His plan for the universe and ourselves. In short, we were ignorant of everything that truly matters.

Holiness. Previously, our lives were characterized by pagan values and urges. Now, in Christ Jesus, our lives are to take on the character of God, which is most appropriately described as “holy.” What does it mean to be holy? A textual definition may be “set apart,” meaning holiness is to be an observable phenomena. When three oranges are in the same bowl, they are not “set apart.” It is only when one orange has been removed from the bowl that it can be called “apart from the rest.” Though this may be a simple matter with oranges, how does one “set apart” their life? By preparing one’s mind for unencumbered thought, self-control, and defining oneself not by selfish ambition, but by the hope of their eventual perfection in Christ (.13) Refer to the article “Be Holy, Because I Am Holy!” for more on this issue.

Identity. Understanding one’s identity reveals enlightenment and is paramount to holiness. When identified as a pagan, one does what pagans do out of ignorance, but the believer sets his mind on God’s law regardless of how foolish it may appear to the world. Further, it is our identity which offers us hope as our new inheritance of everlasting life is secured by the sacrifice of Jesus. This is contrasted by our previous inheritance of sin, death and eternal damnation which we inherited from our physical ancestors.

Hope. Because our salvation was purchased with imperishable things, by God himself, our salvation is also imperishable. This hope is not misplaced, as it is based on the God who can rise from the dead and is glorified above all creation.

Because our faith and hope are in a holy God who will judge all humanity, we ought to imitate him by being holy and by forsaking the empty way of life we knew before we met Christ. This provides our new life a foundation of holiness grown out of God’s character and nurtured by the blood of Christ. Tomorrow we’ll dig a little deeper into what it means to be holy.