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1 Peter 1:13-16
13 Therefore gird up the loins of your mind, be sober, and rest your hope fully upon the grace that is to be brought to you at the revelation of Jesus Christ; 14 as obedient children, not conforming yourselves to the former lusts, as in your ignorance; 15 but as He who called you is holy, you also be holy in all your conduct, 16 because it is written, “Be holy, for I am holy.”
Peter had just written about the amazing plan that the Lord had devised to save the world – so amazing was it that the angels desired to understand these things. He then says that we need to ‘gird up the loins of our minds.’ This term, ‘gird up the loins,’ is best understood by middle-eastern cultures, where robes are still used by men as a dress code. The term also connects with our South Indian culture, where the lungi is used. When a person wearing a robe or a lungi is about to get involved in some action that requires speed and quick movements, he takes the bottom of his robe or lungi and tucks it into his belt or into the top of his lungi so that he’s able to move easier with no hindrance. So his readers understood this term very well, since they wore robes.
Peter seems to be saying that the times we live in are of such significance, and calls for us to be active in living out our faith. We need to be mentally prepared for action. All preparation starts with the mind, and so he addresses the mind first. Someone said, “All battles are either won or lost in the mind.”
The second thing Peter tells his readers to be, is sober. The word, ‘sober’ can be used in two contexts; the first meaning of the word sober refers to not being drunk. As Christians, we are not called to drunkenness but to be sober, so we can live the way the Lord would have us live. The Apostle Paul cautions against being drunk with wine, which leads to debauchery, and encourages us to be filled with the Holy Spirit instead. (Ephesians 5:18)
Another meaning of the word, ‘sober,’ is to be serious. We are not to be flippant and careless in the way we live our lives, but to be serious in our commitment to Christ. This does not negate room for humor and laughter, but it refers to a serious commitment to walking with Christ every day.
Peter then goes on to them to tell them to rest their hope, or to set their hope fully on the grace that will be revealed when Jesus returns. After telling them to be ready for action and to be sober-minded, he then tells them to have a single-minded focus on the fact that they are going to receive a gracious gift from God when Jesus returns. All that we have received from God will fade into oblivion when compared with what the Lord will bestow upon us on that day. There’s nothing that can be compared with living forever in the presence of God, and that’s where we who believe in, and follow the Lord are headed.
Peter then goes on to remind them to be like obedient children, meaning that just as kids learn obedience at home, they too as new believers in the Family of God, need to be obedient to God. It’s only in obedience to God that any real change and transformation can take place.
He then discourages them from becoming conformed to their former way of life, when they lived to fulfil their lustful desires, and reminds them that they did so out of ignorance. Now that we know the truth, we have no excuse to continue on in the old way of life.
Peter then gives a reason for his instructions for a holy (set apart) life – it’s because God Himself is holy. Since we now know God personally and are part of His family, we need to seek to reflect His holiness in our lives. He then quotes the same words from Leviticus 11:44, which says, “Be holy, for I am holy.” This goes to prove that God’s expectations of man have not changed – the only difference is that now we have the ability to live the life that God would have us live, because we have His Holy Spirit living inside of us.
1 Peter 1:17-21
17 And if you call on the Father, who without partiality judges according to each one’s work, conduct yourselves throughout the time of your stay here in fear; 18 knowing that you were not redeemed with corruptible things, like silver or gold, from your aimless conduct received by tradition from your fathers, 19 but with the precious blood of Christ, as of a lamb without blemish and without spot. 20 He indeed was foreordained before the foundation of the world, but was manifest in these last times for you 21 who through Him believe in God, who raised Him from the dead and gave Him glory, so that your faith and hope are in God.
Peter then appeals to their reason, and reminds them that since God is impartial in the way He judges people, we should be careful in how we live our lives, not assuming that because we are believers, the Lord will be lenient with us if we choose to live sinful lives. He goes on to remind them that they were not redeemed from their old aimless way of life (that was passed down to them along with traditions by their ancestors), by perishable things like gold or silver, but were rather redeemed with the precious blood of Jesus when He gave His life for their sins. He was pure like a lamb, and spotless with no sin, and that’s why His blood was accepted by God, the Father. In fact, all the sacrifices of the Old Testament actually pointed to Jesus’s sacrificial death on the cross for the sins of the whole world.
Peter reminds them that God’s plan of redemption was not an after-thought, but was something He had planned long before creation itself. God knew that man would rebel against Him, and God had decided beforehand that Jesus would pay the price for our redemption, but this was kept secret until the time He came into the world. It’s through Jesus that we have come to believe in God, who raised Jesus from the dead and took Him into heaven, where He is now seated at the right hand of God. On account of all this that God has done for us, our faith and hope are in God, since it was God who took the initiative to reconcile us back to Himself, though we were the ones who rebelled against Him.
Michael Collins
Website: https://www.thelifetransformingword.com/
