1 Peter 1:13-21: Be Holy
Base Text: 1 Peter 1:13-21
I. Understanding the Text
A. "Therefore" (1 Peter 1:13)
1. What follows the direct conclusion of what came before
2. Believers as elect exiles by God's foreknowledge,
sanctification of Spirit for obedience to Jesus Christ
(1 Peter 1:1-2)
3. Born again to living hope through resurrection for
inheritance undefiled, unfading, imperishable, guarded by
God's power for ultimate salvation (1 Peter 1:3-5)
4. Rejoicing in this, even if faith tested, resulting in
praise, honor, glory at revelation of Jesus Christ
(1 Peter 1:6-7)
5. They love and believe in Jesus, having great joy, obtaining
outcome of faith, salvation (1 Peter 1:8-9)
6. Salvation inquired of by prophets, seeing what would take
place, saw that they were serving not themselves but you
through announcing that which would become Gospel message
(1 Peter 1:10-12)
7. All of these represent great messages of encouragement
8. Peter then turns to what believers should do in response
B. Preparation, Sober-mindedness, Setting Hope (1 Peter 1:13)
1. Peter begins with three quick charges
2. "Prepare your minds for action" (ESV) or "girding up the
loins of your mind" (ASV)
3. Interesting image: "girding of loins" normally used to tell
someone to get ready for a journey (cf. 2 Kings 4:29,
2 Kings 9:1, etc.)
4. ESV accurately translates the image: believers must prepare
their minds for action just as one gets ready for a long
journey
5. Sober-mindedness also seen later in 1 Peter 4:7
6. Sobriety normally understood in terms of substances: one is
sober when one is not intoxicated by some drug
7. Therefore, believers are not to allow anything to intoxicate
their minds, but be fully in charge of all their faculties!
8. Setting hope fully on grace to be revealed
9. What is that grace, or gift? Salvation, inheritance, since
it comes at the revelation of Jesus Christ
(cf. 1 Peter 1:4-5)
10. Hope must be anchored in that, nothing else
(cf. Romans 8:24-25, 1 Peter 1:3)
11. "Fully" or "completely" directed toward that end!
C. Obedience and Holiness (1 Peter 1:14-16)
1. After speaking about mental direction, Peter focuses on
action
2. Believers to be "as obedient children"
3. Believers reckoned as children of God (cf. Romans 8:14-17,
Ephesians 1:3-5)
4. Exhortation to obedience implicit (Romans 6:15-23,
1 Peter 1:22)
5. Being obedient children, they are to no longer be "conformed
to the passions of [their] former ignorance"
6. Such a statement mostly directed at Gentiles, being formerly
ignorant of the One True God (cf. Acts 17:30-31,
Ephesians 2:11-18)
7. Yet the Jews are not without condemnation (cf. Romans 2)
8. Condemnation of conformity to world (Romans 12:2)
9. Peter especially marks out "passions:" lust, covetousness,
jealousy, envy, and the like (cf. Galatians 5:19-21)
10. Instead of living in former passions, believers are to be
holy in all their conduct
11. The basis of this is God's holiness, Leviticus 11:44
12. As God is holy, expectation that those who would follow
God would be holy!
13. Holy: set apart, consecrated, sanctified-- entirely clean,
whole, and righteous (cf. Leviticus, 2 Peter 3:12, etc.)
D. Conduct Lives in Reverence (1 Peter 1:17-19)
1. Another reminder for Christians to live properly involves
recognition of God as impartial judge according to deeds
2. cf. Romans 2:5-10
3. Peter insinuates that no one should feel complacent that
since they are God's chosen people they will be saved
regardless
4. Instead, believers are to conduct themselves with proper
fear/reverence toward God, realizing that God will judge
everyone by the same standard, and no one gets a "free
pass"!
5. "Time of your exile" referring back to verse 1
6. Based on v. 18, clearly not directed at Jews, but Gentiles--
therefore, not a discussion of exile from physical
Jerusalem, but using that image to describe the life of the
Christian on earth
7. Peter expects the believers to conduct themselves with fear
because of the nature of their redemption
8. Delivered from ultimately worthless ways of forefathers--
idolatry (Romans 1:18-32, 1 Thessalonians 1:9)
9. May also have some reference to Jewish traditions
10. This "ransom" not paid for with gold or silver
(cf. Exodus 30:12-13) that perishes
11. Instead, ransom paid for by blood of Christ, like a lamb
(cf. John 1:29)
E. Christ's Coming (1 Peter 1:20-21)
1. Jesus as foreknown before creation (cf. Ephesians 3:10-11)
2. Made manifest at "last times"
3. Why? For those who have come to believe in God through Him!
4. God as raising Jesus from the dead, gave Him glory
(cf. 1 Corinthians 15, Philippians 2:5-11)
5. Outcome: believer's faith and hope in God (cf. Isaiah 9:2,
Colossians 1:27)
II. Applications
A. Mental Preparation
1. We have noted how Peter has been extremely encouraging in
his discussion in 1 Peter 1:1-12
2. He speaks regarding the living hope believers have in the
resurrection, how their faith will result in glory, praise,
and honor for God, and how wonderful the message of
salvation really is
3. He then moves on to show the expectations that God has for
believers on account of the great things that He has done
4. The first expectation may seem surprising, but really is
not: mental preparation!
5. Because of all the wonderful things God has done, we are to
prepare our minds for action, be sober-minded, and set our
hope fully on ultimate salvation (1 Peter 1:13)!
6. After all, this is from the same Apostle who told the Jews
on the day of Pentecost to "repent" (Acts 2:38)
7. For there to be proper change in action, there must be a
change of the mind (cf. Mark 7:17-23)
8. Therefore, in order to live properly on account of what God
has done for us, we must first cleanse and prepare the mind
to serve Him!
B. Holiness
1. The life that the believer is to live is to be characterized
by holiness
2. In the Old Testament, holiness extremely concrete: priests
as a people set apart, with specifications regarding their
bodies, ceremonial washings, conduct, presentation
(cf. Leviticus)
3. Our holiness not based in physical separation, lack of
contact with "unclean" persons (cf. 1 Corinthians 5:10,
Matthew 9:9-13)
4. Based in cleanliness and purity: doing what is right,
avoiding what is sin (Romans 12:1-2, 9)
5. To be holy, we have to help those in need, show love and
compassion, seek best interests of others, love God, love
neighbor as ourselves (Romans 13:8-10, Galatians 6:10,
Philippians 2:1-4)
6. In short, as God is holy, we must do for others what God has
done for us and them if we are to be holy
(cf. Matthew 5:43-48, Ephesians 4:32)
7. Repentance and holiness, therefore, the expected response to
all that which God has done for us!
C. Conducting Ourselves in Fear
1. Yet Peter does not end there
2. Unfortunately, many times people focus on their own
"holiness" so much as to believe that they are redeemed by
virtue of how awesome they are
3. A Jewish/Pharisee problem (cf. Luke 18:9-14, John 8:31-59,
Romans 2)
4. They believed that since they were children of Abraham, they
were God's chosen people, thus enslaved to nothing, and
apparently guaranteed salvation!
5. Jesus warned against this strongly, as does Peter
6. God an impartial judge of deeds-- He will not acquit the
guilty, regardless of whether they called upon Christ or not
(cf. Matthew 7:21-23)
7. Thus, even as we are to be holy, we must conduct ourselves
with proper reverence toward God!
8. Furthermore, we do this because of the basis of our
salvation-- not anything we have done, not our material
resources or the "wisdom" of our fathers, but through the
sacrifice of Christ!
9. We did nothing to earn it-- therefore, we must be thankful
for it and obey from the heart (Ephesians 2:1-10,
Titus 3:3-8)!
III. Conclusion
A. Peter turns from encouragement to action
1. God has done wonderful things and has made wonderful
promises
2. Therefore, we are to get busy doing His will!
B. Peter demonstrates what we must do
1. First, we must be mentally prepared and pure
2. Then we must obey God in holiness
3. We must conduct ourselves in fear, knowing that God judges
impartially
4. We must remember that all of this is not because of how
great we are but because of the precious sacrifice of Jesus
C. Let us be holy because God is holy, and live a life of praise
and honor for Him!
D. Invitation/songbook