Lesson 9: Holiness in action – secure in His promises

Read 1 Peter 2:1-25- https://www.bible.com/bible/59/1pe.2
 11 Beloved, I urge you as sojourners and exiles to abstain from the passions of the flesh, which wage war against your soul.
12 Keep your conduct among the Gentiles honorable, so that when they speak against you as evildoers, they may see your good deeds and glorify God on the day of visitation.

Do you ever feel like you are a person out of place where you are, just going from one place to another without ever feeling like you are home?

God tells us in the verses above that we are strangers in this world because it is not our real home. In 2 Corinthians 5:20 we read that we are ambassadors for Christ. Have you ever met an ambassador from another country? They live in your country, but it is not their home. They probably get homesick for their country where they have friends and family, places they love, and maybe even just sounds they long to hear again. They live in your country for a time to do a job for their country.

We are also ambassadors. We now live in a foreign country and are away from our real Home – Heaven. As an ambassador, we are also expected to keep a standard of behavior which is a true picture of our own country which we represent. In our two verses above we are given some of those guidelines.


In a previous lesson we read about the first of these behaviors – purity. In Verse 11, the passions of the flesh are more than just sexual passions. It can include anything our bodies desire – food, drink, drugs, smoking, and so on. In 1 Corinthians 9:27 the Apostle Paul said he had to discipline his body to keep it under control. We do so by taking every wayward thought captive which is not pleasing to God (2 Corinthians 10:5). How do we do this? By mentally taking hold of that thought and pushing it out of our mind by intentionally replacing it with something Godly. This is where memorizing Scripture becomes so important to us – because challenging our mind to remember something word for word is one of the most effective ways to push something else out of our thoughts.

Keeping all our conduct of life honorable is part of everything we do – 1 Corinthians 10:31: So, whether you eat or drink, or whatever you do, do all to the glory of God.

All we do in putting holiness into action in our lives is based securely on His promises. If a person we had never met suddenly promised to give us great wealth if we did something specific they asked of us, would we believe them and do what they asked? Some people probably would. Some people take advantage of this and stake everything they already have on the promise they will receive more. Those who believe usually find themselves bitterly disappointed – not only do they not receive the promised wealth, they have lost what little they already had. They trusted in someone they did not know. God has given us the Bible so we can know Him, and through knowing Him, trust His promises to be fulfilled every time.

*What is the most important promise to you in the Bible – so you know you can trust God?