Focal Passage: I Peter 1:13-25
I learned a hard lesson on conformity before I reached the age of ten. However, I was past twenty before I realized that conformity was the problem. It happened one day when I was pushing my toy tractor through our gravel driveway.
Between my excessive speed and the size of the gravel, one of my front wheels made a sudden turn and snapped off. After a thorough scolding from my father for being so hard on my toy, I sadly pushed it aside to plow no more. Although it was later replaced, no other childhood tractor was as impressive as it was.
Many years later I discovered that all toy tractors of that era had an inherent weakness. They are made of what we used to call “pot metal” or die-cast metal. In addition to not being very strong in the first place, this metal was made even more vulnerable by being forced to conform to a mold. Unlike steel, it has no inherent strength. Its heavyweight cousin, cast iron, shares a similar weakness. Although it is much heavier than many other metals, it too has been forced to conform to a mold. Consequently, even something as intimidating as Mama’s iron skillet can be broken by dropping it on the ground on a cold morning.
Troy Rust
By contrast forged steel has been tried by fire and made stronger. Conformed metals are melted to liquid and poured into a mold that dictates their shape. In a similar way, carnal conformity follows whoever dictates the mold. Peter warns his readers against conforming to the desires of the former ignorance that was characteristic of their lostness (1:14). As Bob Dylan sang, “It may be the Devil or it may be Lord, but you’re gonna have to serve somebody.” Whomever you serve becomes your master, whether you realize it or not (Romans 6:12).
Instead of conforming to the dictates of the flesh, Paul declared that Christians are “predestined to be conformed to the image of [God’s] Son” (Romans 8:29a). In other words, if you belong to Jesus God has put you on a sanctifying path that makes you more and more like Jesus, and less and less like the world. Although we will never reach perfection is this fallen flesh, our goal is to be holy in all our conduct because we serve a God who is holy. Holy is one of those biblical terms that we have heard so many times that we may not stop to consider what it really means. To be holy means that we are set apart and consecrated and should live lives that are morally pure and upright.
Lest we should think that the call to holiness is unnecessarily restrictive for people who are free in Christ, Peter reminds us of the price that was paid for our redemption. Instead of simply saying that we were redeemed from sin, he reminds us that we were redeemed from our “empty way of life inherited from [our] ancestors” (1:18). Unlike our perishable treasures bought with silver and gold, we were purchased with “the precious blood of Christ” (1:19). As Paul exhorted the Corinthians, “You are not your own, for you were bought at a price. So glorify God with your body” (1 Cor 6:19b-20). B&R — Rust is associational mission strategist for Holston Baptist Association.
