1 Peter 1.15 15 “…but as he who called you is holy, you
also be holy in all your conduct, 16 since it is written, “You shall be holy,
for I am holy.” (ESV)
Once upon a time I was an avid reader of R.C. Sproul. I
learned a lot from his writing and from the audio messages I heard. In his
book, “The Holiness of God” (which I just reordered) Sproul explains that the
concept of holiness is best described (or depicted) in the word: other. Holiness is not conduct although
conduct is a large part of it. But conduct is not defined by our family name, it’s who our
family is: we are other. We are the Others.
In this world there are the those, and then there are the others.
The others have not made this world their home – to them it’s only a part of
the journey toward home. Others are not contented with the trends and trinkets
of modern life (at whatever point modern
was to them, or is to us). The crisis
of man is their main concern: and that is man is lost without God and is only
found in the fathomless ocean of His grace (another mostly misunderstood word
which simply means: favor).
Peter’s admonishment sounds different when we say it like
this: “…but as he who called you is other, you also be other in all your conduct, since it is written, “You shall be other, for I am other.” We are other as God is other. God isn’t like other “gods”;
He is the only true and living God. All the rest are not gods who call themselves gods (but insist upon calling themselves
“God”).
It is interesting as well that Abraham in the earliest
days was called the Hebrew (Genesis
14.13) – Hebrew: which in its literal translation means: "one from the other side". Abraham was other because he
was from the other side. Well, the other side of what? Abraham was called one
from the other side because he was from the other side he was an outsider; but
he also belonged to the other side:
the side of God. In the earliest days
of antiquity Abraham was the only
other there was…
And so it is fitting that Peter reminds his readers (and
us) to be other as God is other. Our temptation is to lose our identity and
forget who we are and Whose we are. We are God’s own and because we are, we’re
to conduct ourselves in this world according to the family Name: OTHER. We are
the others in Christ Jesus, the chosen, the beloved, the graced.
Today, I am reminded of my name and my heritage in Jesus
Christ, the Son of God who saved me to become one of His own from the other
side: an Other.
Father God, You are other and because I belong to You, I am other. May I daily live the rest of my life aware of this identity and thereby live the life You’ve given me according to this identity in Him, in You. Amen.
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