1 Peter 1:13-25

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Observations + Meaning:
  • Therefore, preparing your minds for action, and being sober-minded, set your hope fully on the grace that will be brought to you at the revelation of Jesus Christ. (V13)
    • The inheritance that we are promised as followers of Christ should motivate us as Christian to set our hope entirely on Christ
    • However the fullness of grace will only be brought to us when Jesus returns, and as believers we long for that day
  • but as he who called you is holy, you also be holy in all your conduct,16 since it is written, “You shall be holy, for I am holy. (V15, 16)
    • While we are on this earth, as obedient children (v14) we are called to fight the temptations of sin 
    • If we set our hope entirely on Christ, we are also called to be holy because Christ was holy
  • And if you call on him as Father who judges impartially according to each one's deeds, conduct yourselves with fear throughout the time of your exile (v17)
    • God is not only our father, but he is also a judge who judges impartially
    • The fear that he mentions is not a paralysing fear, but instead fear of God’s discipline and fatherly displeasure (like fear of upsetting the father)
      • It is a reverence and awe that should characterise us while we live on this earth
  • knowing that you were ransomed from the futile ways inherited from your forefathers, not with perishable things such as silver or gold, 19 but with the precious blood of Christ, like that of a lamb without blemish or spot. (V18, 19)
    • Jesus Christ gave us the greatest deliverance
    • We were delivered from a life of futility and meaninglessness to one of great significance because of Christ
    • Chris was the perfect sacrifice, without blemish and is why he atoned for all our sins past, present and future 
  • He was foreknown before the foundation of the world but was made manifest in the last times for the sake of you 21 who through him are believers in God, who raised him from the dead and gave him glory, so that your faith and hope are in God. (V20, 21)
    • Christians should live in holy fear (v17) because we are deeply loved and we should not despise this love
    • God planned from eternity’s beginning, that he would send Christ, and he chose to reveal him at the time in history when these believers lived so that they would enjoy the inexpressible privilege of living in the days of fulfilment
    • We should live with hope for Christ’s being raised reminds then of our future reward
  • Having purified your souls by your obedience to the truth for a sincere brotherly love, love one another earnestly from a pure heart, 23 since you have been born again, not of perishable seed but of imperishable, through the living and abiding word of God (v22, 23)
    • Since we have been born again to a new living hope, we are commanded to love one another fervently 
    • Our call to love one another is grounded in our conversion (which is when we were obedient to the truth)
    • We were born again through the living and abiding word of God (the gospel)
  • For “all flesh is like grass and all its glory like the flower of grass. The grass withers, and the flower falls, but the word of the Lord remains forever” (v24, 25)
    • The power of the word of the Lord has granted new life to believers and will never fail
Application:
  • When I worry or stress or just feel uneasy, I’m reminded that in Christ, because of Christ and through Christ, I am born again to a new and living hope
  • The fear I have of God isn’t one that makes me scared or oppressed, but one that is motivated by my love for Him and reverence of his awe and power
  • Because Christ was the perfect sacrifice, my life now has great significance for Christ and his kingdom
  • In times of stress and worry, I need not be scared because Christ planned from the beginning of eternity to send Christ to perfectly atone for our sins. He chose to reveal Christ at perfect time when those believers would live with fulfilment and I can now do so too because of what Christ has done.
  • I should thus live with hope because what Christ did and his resurrection reminds me of the future reward of life that I am guaranteed
  • Because we are born again we called to love one another fervently and this is grounded in our conversion

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