1 Peter 1:16 – because it is written, “you shall be holy, for I AM holy.”
I used to read this verse and think of it as a command. I thought God was telling us we had to live a holy life. Of course this made me wonder how that could ever be possible.
As I became more aware of God’s grace and what all it means, I found my answer as to how to be holy.
God’s grace is a gift. Our sins were crucified with Christ when He died on the cross. Our old sinful nature was buried with Christ and we were raised up a new creation.
Because of God’s gift of grace, our souls are now made perfect. Our hope is fixed completely on the grace brought to us at the revelation of Jesus Christ. We no longer have a soul that is sinful. We are a new creation in Christ.
Our soul has been made perfect by the grace of Christ. Our body and our mind are still in process of being transformed. As we allow the spirit of Christ to change and transform us, our body and mind will start to come in line with our soul. Of course, that will take a lifetime to complete.
I now realize this is not a command, but a statement. We are holy, because God is holy. Now that Christ has given us the gift of grace, we don’t have to live a Holy life by works, but God sees a perfect and holy soul within us.
Done with Religion 
Thanks for sharing your thoughts on this matter of His great grace. That grace is so complete that our lives are no longer ours as we grow in Him, but the reality of that holiness is found in what Paul said about Jesus, “In Him we live and move and have our being.” You can read my further thoughts on this on my blog at: http://awildernessvoice.wordpress.com/2012/06/18/living-in-christ/.
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Spot on! There is nothing we can add to the womplete work which Christ wrought in us. Like Andrew Wommack says – “Our Spirits are now just as holy as they will be after having spent 10,000 years in heaven.”
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