In All Your Behavior

[Sue J Love]

“Therefore, prepare your minds for action, keep sober in spirit, fix your hope completely on the grace to be brought to you at the revelation of Jesus Christ. 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 1:13-16 NASB1995)

In context, the subject matter is that of faith in Jesus Christ, surrender of our lives to God, dying with Christ to sin, being transformed in heart and mind of the Spirit of God, and walking in fellowship with our Lord in obedience to his commands. It is about faith being tested. And it is the message of the gospel of our salvation, which, in the life of a follower of Christ, is a life-long process of sanctification and of being made holy, which will not be complete until Jesus returns for his faithful followers, his bride.

[Romans 8:24; Romans 13:11; 1 Corinthians 1:18; 1 Corinthians 15:1-2; 2 Timothy 1:8-9; Hebrews 9:28; 1 Peter 1:1-25]

Faith in Jesus Christ, which comes from God, which is authored and perfected by Jesus Christ, which is gifted to us by God, and persuaded of God, is not of our own doing. We cannot be saved from our sins and have eternal life with Christ in our own human effort. God is the one who sets the standard for what our salvation should look like and what God requires of us who profess faith in the Lord Jesus. And he says that by faith we die with him to sin and we walk in obedience to his commands, by the grace of God.

[Hebrews 12:1-2; John 1:12-13; John 6:44; Ephesians 2:8-10; Acts 26:18]

For Jesus Christ taught that to come to him we must deny self, take up our cross daily (die daily to sin), and follow (obey) him. For if we hold on to living in sin and for self, we will lose our lives for eternity. But if we deny self, die daily to sin, by the Spirit, and we walk in obedience to our Lord and to his commands, in his power, then we have eternal life with God. For not everyone who calls him “Lord” will enter the kingdom of heaven, but the one DOING (obeying) the will of God (see Luke 9:23-26; Matthew 7:21-23).

Therefore, we must prepare our minds for action, and we must keep sober in spirit, fixing our hope completely on the grace to be brought to us at the revelation of Jesus Christ. And please pay close attention to the wording here, for it means something significant. For biblical salvation is not about just making a profession of faith in Jesus, but it is about living the life that God had planned for us to live even before the creation of the world, by biblical faith in the Lord, in obedience to God, in the power of God.

For God’s grace, which is bringing us salvation, is training us to renounce ungodliness and worldly passions, and to live self-controlled, upright, and godly lives while we wait for Jesus’ return. For Christ “gave himself for us to redeem us from all lawlessness and to purify for himself a people for his own possession who are zealous for good works.” “For we are his workmanship, created in Christ Jesus for good works, which God prepared beforehand, that we should walk in them.” (See Titus 2:11-14; Ephesians 2:8-10)

So, please understand what this is teaching us here, for how we live our lives on this earth will determine where we spend eternity. And no, that is not teaching “works salvation,” but it is teaching the gospel of salvation taught by Jesus and by his New Testament apostles in the Scriptures, taught in their correct biblical context. Yes, we do nothing to earn our salvation, but biblical faith in Jesus Christ must result in our walks of obedience and our dying to sin, in the power of God, or we will not inherit eternal life with God.

[Matthew 7:13-14,21-23; Luke 9:23-26; John 10:27-30; Acts 26:18; Romans 1:18-32; Romans 2:5-10; Romans 3:23; Romans 6:1-23; Romans 8:1-14; 1 Corinthians 10:1-22; Galatians 5:16-24; Ephesians 2:8-10; Ephesians 4:17-32; Ephesians 5:3-6; Titus 2:11-14; Hebrews 3:1-19; Hebrews 4:1-13; Hebrews 10:19-39; Hebrews 12:1-2; 1 Peter 2:24; 1 John 1:1-10; 1 John 2:3-6; 1 John 3:4-10; Revelation 2:1-29; Revelation 3:1-22]

So, when this instructs us here that, as obedient children of God we are not to be conformed to our former lusts, but we are to be holy in all our behavior, this is not a mere suggestion or recommendation. And it is definitely not something to be ignored. And holy means to be set apart (unlike, different) from the world because we are being conformed by God to the likeness of character of Jesus Christ. So it means that we are to forsake our sins and follow our Lord in obedience to his commands, by his grace.

For Our Nation

An Original Work / September 11, 2012
Christ’s Free Servant, Sue J Love
Recording Via Gerry Peters, music producer and arranger

Bombs are bursting. Night is falling.
Jesus Christ is gently calling
You to follow Him in all ways.
Trust Him with your life today.
Make Him your Lord and your Savior.
Turn from your sin. Follow Jesus.
He will forgive you of your sin;
Cleanse your heart, made new within.

Men betraying: Our trust fraying.
On our knees to God we’re praying,
Seeking God to give us answers
That are only found in Him.
God is sovereign over all things.
Nothing from His mind escaping.
He has all things under His command,
And will work all for good.

Jesus Christ is gently calling
You to follow Him in all ways.

Men deceiving: We’re believing
In our Lord, and interceding
For our nation and its people
To obey their God today.
He is our hope for our future.
For our wounds He offers suture.
He is all we need for this life.
Trust Him with your life today.

In All Your Behavior
An Original Work / October 28, 2025
Christ’s Free Servant, Sue J Love