1 Peter 1:13-25
Peter begins this section with the word “therefore,” which is our cue to note that what follows is directly related to what was said previously. Another way to translate the word here would be to say, “Because of what was just said, this is how you should respond.” What did Peter just finish saying?
He spoke about the living hope we have through the resurrection of Jesus. Because of Christ, we have salvation, and that salvation is being guarded in heaven by God’s power. In this, we rejoice despite present sufferings. The prophets spoke of this, and even the angels long to catch a glimpse of these things.
V13: Therefore, with your minds ready for action, be sober-minded and set your hope completely on the grace to be brought to you at the revelation of Jesus Christ. The principal instruction here is to “set your hope completely.” This is done by being sober-minded. This word is elsewhere translated as self-control. What Peter is saying here is that there is a mental process we must go through where we consciously force ourselves not to think about our current circumstances but to focus instead on God’s grace that is brought to us by the revelation of Jesus Christ.
V14: Peter refers to the recipients of this letter as “obedient children.” They are not completely obedient because nobody is completely obedient to God. Peter is not speaking of already being obedient, but what we should strive towards. He is beginning to lay out our identity in Christ here.
As people who are saved with a salvation being guarded by God’s power in heaven, we must not be conformed to our former desires, which we had due to ignorance. Because of Christ, we are expected to know better.
The term “obedient” means to “obey based on having paid attention to something or someone.” Who do you think is the someone we are supposed to have paid attention to and learned obedience from? Jesus! Obedient children are those who have seen and heard what Jesus is like and seek to be just like Him.
V15-16: Peter continues this line of thought by pointing out that the one who called them is holy, and as a consequence, they are to be holy. He then quotes part of Lev 20:7. What does it mean to be holy?
In the Biblical context, it means to set something aside for religious or sacred use. The thing set aside is then only used for that purpose. As Baptists, we don’t have a lot of “sacred” things that we only use for religious purposes. The closest thing I could think of was the Communion trays. It would be shocking and maybe upsetting to some if I used these to put cookies in during our next potluck. We might think of the tray as “sacred,” but it is set aside to be used only in the act of Communion.
The implication here is that if we are to be holy, then we are meant to be set aside for sacred use only. This doesn’t mean we don’t get to have fun, but that our lives belong to one who is sacred, and He expects us to act like the one we belong to.
Whatever characteristics Jesus has as a result of being holy, we are expected to exhibit the same characteristics. The reverse is also true. Whatever characteristics Jesus does not exhibit as a result of being holy, we must reject in ourselves.
But, and this is important, we cannot live well enough to be holy. Holiness is not something earned but something bestowed upon us by one who is holy. God is not telling us to earn holiness but is declaring that we are holy. As a consequence, we need to now live it out.
V17: The rest of this passage deals with how that is to look. If we appeal to the Father who judges impartially, then we must also judge impartially. We are to conduct ourselves in reverence during our time living as strangers. This goes back to the introduction of this letter, where Peter reminds us that we are foreigners living in a place we are not from. The point here is that we must live in reverence/fear/respect for God and His ways during our time in this foreign land.
V18-19: The reason for this is that we have been redeemed from the empty life we inherited from our ancestors. Our status as holy is not something that gets passed down from generation to generation. Each person must decide to follow Jesus for themselves. Even if you grew up in a “Christian” home and went to church every Sunday and Wednesday, you must still be declared holy by the Holy One. You cannot be redeemed by silver or gold, but only by the sacrifice of the unblemished and spotless lamb.
V20: This unblemished and spotless lamb is not something new but was foreknown before the foundation of the world. Contrast this with the silver and gold that are perishable. Before the foundation of the world, God knew that He would need a perfect sacrifice. Jesus is not a reaction to a world gone bad, but the foundation of the world. It is only now, in these last times, that God has chosen to reveal Jesus to us.
V21: It is through Jesus that we can know God. God raised Jesus from the dead and gave Him glory, so that your faith and hope are in God. This ties us all the way back to verse 13, where we are supposed to set our hope completely on the grace to be brought to you at the revelation of Jesus Christ. Jesus has now, in the last times, been revealed. Through Him we find grace and it is in Him we set our hope.
V22-25: Peter says here that since you have purified yourselves. The word purified is the same root word as holy. Peter’s point is not that we make ourselves holy but rather that we are now exhibiting the holiness of Christ by living as Christ showed us and instructed us to do. We do this by showing sincere brotherly love for each other. The brotherly love must come from a pure heart that constantly loves one another. The foundation for this is the unperishable word of the living God.
Peter is going to quote from Isaiah 40:6-8 and the context of that is the human rulers are only temporary. We are not called to follow this or that ruler because they are ever changing. What is popular today is not popular tomorrow but one thing never changes and that is the word of the Lord endures forever.
And this word is the gospel that was proclaimed to you.
What we need to take away from the section of Peter’s letter is that we are called to be holy. Therefore, be who you are made to be. If you know Jesus Christ then you are holy, set apart for something sacred. Be that person.
The other big takeaway is that the foundation of this holiness is reverence for God and His word. We might call it fear or respect, but the point is we look to Christ, we trust Christ, we live like Christ.