1 Peter 1:10-17 The Pursuit of Holiness January 15, 2023

1 Peter 1 Verses 10 to 17 The Pursuit of Holiness January 15, 2023

Class Presentation Notes AAAA

Background Scripture:

· Psalm 89:7-8 (NASB) 7 A God greatly feared in the council of the holy ones, And awesome above all those who are around Him? 8 O LORD God of hosts, who is like You, O mighty LORD? Your faithfulness also surrounds You.

· Revelation 4:8 (NASB) 8 And the four living creatures, each one of them having six wings, are full of eyes around and within; and day and night they do not cease to say, "HOLY, HOLY, HOLY is THE LORD GOD, THE ALMIGHTY, WHO WAS AND WHO IS AND WHO IS TO COME."

Main Idea: Being holy means living such a God-filled life of kindness and gentleness that your life becomes winsome to others.

Question to Explore: Do I hunger for holiness or happiness?

Study Aim: To understand that holiness is a radical kind of lifestyle that makes you different from others; but it is a good difference.

Create Interest:

· Hagios and its Hebrew counterpart originally referred to anything set apart. God is holy first of all because He is set apart from all things, since He is the Creator of all things. Later the word came to refer to God’s character as righteous and pure. In the same way, the basic idea in being holy people is that they are set apart by God and for God. Out of this came the moral holiness required of those set apart by and for the holy God (1 Pet. 1:15–16).

· Believing in the Lord’s future coming motivates alertness and sober living. Christians are to avoid conforming to the sins of their pre-Christian life. They are to be holy as God is holy. Their attitude toward God is totally transformed to reverent fear. Believers are strangers and pilgrims passing through this sinful world. Christians should silence slanders against them by doing right.[1]

· A real Christian is an odd person in many ways to people in this world because of his/her faith in the Lord. Without the Lord, it is difficult for unsaved people to understand where we are coming from and where we are going. Consider the paradoxes we believe:

o We feel supreme love for One we have never met.

o We talk familiarly every day to Someone we cannot see or hear.

o We expect to go to Heaven on the virtue of Another.

o We empty ourselves in order to be full.

o We confess we are wrong in order to be declared right.

o We must lower ourselves in order to be exalted.

o We are strong when we are weak.

o We are the richest when we are the poorest.

o By giving we keep what we have and gain more.

§ The writer of Hebrews put it this way, “Now faith is the substance of things hoped for, the evidence of things not seen (Hebrews 11:1).

📷 But without faith it is impossible to please Him: for he that cometh to God must believe that He is, and that He is a rewarder of them that diligently seek Him (Hebrews 11:6).”[2]

· The Bible provides a very different approach from that of the hermits, monks, and utopians. Believers have a mission to accomplish in the world, and therefore we can’t afford to lock ourselves outsidethe world. The Christian’s solution to the problem of holy living in an unholy world is not isolation, it’s insulation. This is why 1 Peter 1challenges us to be different from our depraved society without fleeing to the caves, cloisters, or communes.[3]

Lesson In Historical Context:

· Salvation is the heart of the apostle Peter’s concern in this passage. He wanted his believing audience to focus on that full, final rescue from sin, Satan, death, and hell that God so graciously chose to give them through faith in His Son, Jesus Christ. Peter celebrates salvation’s greatness by reminding his readers that no matter how difficult the circumstances or how severe the persecution, they can confidently hold to the hope of eternal salvation.

· I cannot think of another word as blessed, hopeful, comforting, or assuring as salvation. The message of the Bible is that even though man cannot save himself from the eternal, damning consequences of his sin (Gen. 2:17; Jer. 2:22; 18:12; John 3:19; Rom. 6:23; Eph. 2:1–3; Col. 2:13; 2 Tim. 2:25–26 …………………………………………………………………,

o God can and will rescue from condemnation all those who trust in Him and believe His Word (Matt. 11:28–30; Luke 19:10; John 1:12–13, 29; 3:14–17; Acts 10:43; Eph. 1:7; 1 Thess. 5:9; 2 Tim. 1:9; Heb. 7:25; James 1:18).

o The apostle Paul wrote, “But God demonstrates His own love toward us, in that while we were yet sinners, Christ died for us” (Rom. 5:8). Not only does God love sinners, but He alone is able to rescue them since “salvation belongs to the Lord” (Ps. 3:8).

o Furthermore, God is willing to rescue sinners; He “desires all men to be saved and to come to the knowledge of the truth” (1 Tim. 2:4).

· Above all, salvation is according to God’s sovereign plan and purpose (Rom. 8:28–30; 2 Thess. 2:13–14; Rev. 13:8).

o Paul reminded Timothy that God “has saved us and called us with a holy calling, not according to our works, but according to His own purpose and grace which was granted us in Christ Jesus from all eternity” (2 Tim. 1:9).

o That statement also indicates that God designated His Son to be the means of salvation (cf. 2:6; Isa. 53:6, 10; Matt. 20:18–19; John 1:17; Acts 2:22–24; 13:23–32).

o Paul earlier declared to the Roman believers, “For I am not ashamed of the gospel, for it is the power of God for salvation to everyone who believes” (Rom. 1:16). And God was faithful to ordain preachers to announce that the work of Jesus Christ is the only means of rescuing sinners (cf. Acts 13:1–3; Rom. 10:14–17; 1 Cor. 1:21–25). As discussed in (1 Peter 1:6–9), Peter noted the joy of the church in the glorious gift of salvation.

o No matter how adverse their circumstances, Christians should never stop rejoicing over the greatness of their salvation: “Sing to the Lord, bless His name; proclaim good tidings of His salvation from day to day” (Psalms 96:2; cf. Psalms 9:14; 21:1; 40:16; 71:23; 1 Chron. 16:23; Isa. 25:9; 35:10; 1 Cor. 6:20; 1 Thess. 5:16; Rev. 5:9).

· Peter’s theme in the opening chapter of this letter is the blessedness or greatness of salvation. Here he examines it from the viewpoint of four divine agents who were involved with the message of salvation: the Old Testament prophets who studied it, the Holy Spirit who inspired it, the New Testament apostles who preached it, and the angels who examined it.[4]

Bible Study:

1 Peter 1:10-12 (NASB) 10 As to this salvation, the prophets who prophesied of the grace that would come to you made careful searches and inquiries, 11 seeking to know what person or time the Spirit of Christ within them was indicating as He predicted the sufferings of Christ and the glories to follow. 12 It was revealed to them that they were not serving themselves, but you, in these things which now have been announced to you through those who preached the gospel to you by the Holy Spirit sent from heaven—things into which angels long to look.

· This salvation, however, is not simply a product of Christian experience, but the fulfillment of an expectation of pre-Christian Judaism, as far as Peter is concerned. The prophets are surely the OT prophets, for they stand in contrast to the “you” of this early congregation.

o Peter, like others in the early church, saw as the greatest importance of the prophets not their rebukes of the errors of their day(which make up the major portion of their oracles), but their predictions of a future day of salvation or deliverance.

· It was the firm conviction of the church that this future had become a present reality in the coming of Jesus, His resurrection, and the outpouring of the Spirit, as one can see in the citing of the OT as a basis for such belief in all four Gospels (e.g., Matt. 13:16–17; Luke 10:23–24), in Acts (e.g., Acts 2), in Paul (e.g., Rom. 4:7–8; 1 Cor. 9:10; 10:11), and in Hebrews (e.g., Heb. 1–2). Since the prophets obviously preceded the period of fulfillment, they must (in the view of our author and likely in reality as well) have meditated on their own oracles, that is, “investigated and searched diligently,” for without the fulfillment they were surely unclear about the meaning of their own visions

· But the prophets were not speaking about their own age in this regard, for their oracles concerned “the grace that [has come] to you.” Peter stresses that, far from being underprivileged, Christians have received special favor from God.

o The prophets spoke indeed of grace, of salvation, but the deliverance prophesied did not belong to them but to the Christians reading this letter.

o However much these readers may be suffering, they stand in a position that even the greatest of the ancient prophets did not have.

· The data the prophets lacked in particular were time (“what time”) and context (“what manner of time”), which were needed to give full understanding of their words, for communication has meaning only in context. That this was a concern before the NT is clear, for Dan. 9:1–3, 22–23 shows how one Jew struggled to understand Jer. 25:11–14; 29:10, and the Intertestamental literature demonstrates how suffering intensified this search for understanding (4 Ezra 2:33–35; 1 Enoch 1:1–2) and how some believed they had the key to understand what the prophets could not.

o For example, the author of the Dead Sea Scroll commentary on Habakkuk wrote, “and God told Habakkuk to write down that which would happen to the final generation, but He did not make known to him when time would come to an end … this concerns the Teacher of Righteousness, to whom God made known all the mystery of the words of His servants the Prophets” (1QpHab 7:1–8).

o Peter clearly agreed with this scroll that Habakkuk did not know the “when” and that a further revelation was needed; for Peter, as for the sectaries of the Dead Sea, the key was indeed present, but for him it was present in the fulfillment in Christ.

· The prophets could speak about this time which they did not understand because it was “the Spirit of Christ” who was in them giving testimony (or witnessing).

o Normally the prophets are simply said to have the Spirit of God or a Holy Spirit (1 Sam. 10:6; Ezra 2:2; Hos. 9:7; Joel 2:28; 2 Pet. 2:21), but Peter here, like Paul in Rom. 8:9 (the only other place in the NT where the phrase “Spirit of Christ” is used), wishes to underline that the Spirit is not only from Christ but witnesses to Christ, whom he represents (similar to John’s use of the term, often given in transliterated form as “paraclete” or translated as “Counselor” [NIV] in John 15:16–17; this is the Spirit as he represents Christ, truly “another” rather than something different).

o The identification “Spirit of Christ,” then, shows that it is the Spirit’s witness to Christ in the OT that is the focus of interest, not the actual preexistence of Christ (as in John 1:1 or 1 Cor. 10:4), which Peter does not mention, nor the activity of the Spirit in general.

· This testimony of the Spirit had two facets, the order of which is significant:

o “The sufferings of Christ and the glories that should follow them.” As Matthew and Luke in particular show, the early church also believed that other aspects of the life of Christ were prophesied in Scripture.

§ The critical apologetic problem for the church was that the Jesus who had been crucified was now Lord of all, so they concentrated on this issue (e.g., Luke 24:25–26; Acts 2:22–36) and cited sayings of Jesus in which He interpreted the Scriptures as speaking of his suffering (e.g., Mark 12:10–11).

§ What is more, the sufferings of Christ (the plural probably indicates reflection on the various events of the passion; cf. 2 Cor. 1:5; Heb. 2:9) are of special interest to Peter (4:13; 5:1, 9) because they parallel the experience of the Christians, who are now suffering but expect glory later (as also Paul in Phil. 3:10).

o The glories that follow, then, refer to Christ’s resurrection, ascension, present glorification, and future revelation, in which the Christians expect to participate. The order is critical.

§ The glories follow the sufferings. Neither Christ nor his people receive the crown of glory without the crown of thorns.

§ Yet the prophets whom Peter believed foresaw (and to a degree experienced) this were not able to understand it, for they lacked vital information as to timing, including the order of the events.[5]

What are some lasting lessons in 1 Peter 1:10–12?

· The Old Testament prophets were led by the Spirit to predict the suffering and glory of Jesus Christ.

· Such prophecies were revealed by the risen Lord to the apostles; these facts became the good news by which believers have been saved.

· The angels have an intense interest in God’s great salvation of sinful humans.[6]

1 Peter 1:13-16 (NASB) Note the four part action plan shared here 13 Therefore, prepare your minds for action, keep sober in spirit, fix your hope completely on the grace to be brought to you at the revelation of Jesus Christ. 14 As obedient children, do not be conformed to the former lusts which were yours in your ignorance, 15 but like the Holy One who called you, be holy yourselves also in all your behavior; 16 because it is written, "YOU SHALL BE HOLY, FOR I AM HOLY."

· Vs. 13: (First) “prepare your minds for action,”The allusion here is to the manner in which the Orientals were accustomed to dress. They wear loose, flowing robes, so that, when they wish to run, or to fight, or to apply themselves to any business, they are obliged to bind their garments close around them. The meaning here is, that they were to have their minds in constant preparation to discharge the duties, or to endure the trials of life—like those who were prepared for labor, for a race, or for a conflict.

o (Second) “be self-controlled” /”keep sober in the spirit (v. 13; cf. 4:7; 5:8; 1 Thes. 5:6, 8). This word nēphontes,from the verb nēphō (“be sober”) is used only figuratively in the New Testament. It means to be free from every form of mental and spiritual “drunkenness” or excess. Rather than being controlled by outside circumstances, believers should be directed from within.

o (Third) “fix your hope completely” (1 Peter 1:13). Holy living demands determination. A believer’s hope is to be set perfectly (teleiōs, completely or unchangeably), and without reserve on the grace(cf. v. 10) to be bestowed when Jesus Christ is revealed (lit.,“in the revelation [apokalypsei] of Jesus Christ”; cf. the same phrase in v. 7; also cf. the verb “be revealed” [apokalyphthēnai] in v. 5. Four times Peter has already spoken of the Savior’s return and the accompanying ultimate stage of salvation (vv. 5, 7, 9, 13).[7]

o “on the grace to be brought to you. For the favorthat shall then be bestowed upon you, to wit, salvation. The word brought here means, that this great favor which they hoped for would be borne to them by the Savior on his return from heaven.

o “at the revelation of Jesus Christ. When the Lord Jesus shall be revealed from heaven in his glory; that is, when he comes to judge the world.[8] This is the Lord Jesus, the Man in heaven. He will exercise the power then; the Christians’ persecutors do so now. Christ’s coming will be with His powerful angels; His heavenly servants will be with Him to carry out His bidding.[9]

· Vs. 14: (Fourth) “do not be conformed to the former lusts which were yours in your ignorance,”

o Two marks of the old, pre-Christian life are described in the last part of verse 14: former lusts and ignorance. This doesn’t mean they were illiterate or mentally challenged. It means they did not know God or His Word.

§ By secular standards, many non-Christians are well educated, but they do not have the key to truth that comes through Christian faith and experience. In their ignorance of the truth, they desire many things that are deadly to moral and spiritual life.

§ The word for lusts is epithumia. It often refers to sexual lusts or passions, but at times refers to other worldly desires—such as greed for material things.[10]

o But it’s not just thinking that Peter is concerned about: there is also the important matter of obedience.It’s a wonderful thing to know that you are a child of God, but then comes the question:

§ What sort of a child are you? Peter wants us to be ‘obedient children’ (v. 14). A major part of growing up is learning to respect authority and to control yourself.

§ We should be controlled by God’s commands and not by ‘the passions of [our] former ignorance’. ‘Passions’ stand in contrast to the ‘hope’ Peter is encouraging us to nurture.

📷 They are desires that demand instant gratification. But to cave into their demands is to display an ignorance that should have been consigned to the past[11].

· Vs. 15: “But like the Holy One who called you is holy, be holy yourselves also in all your behavior.

o The character of believers is to be radically different from what it was in their pre-conversion days, for the new spiritual life bestowed upon them as a consequence of their new birth (1:3) is of God—and He is the Holy One.

o The new people of God have been called not to follow some abstract list of rules of conduct, but to something far more fundamental.

§ They are to express God’s nature in all their activities and relationships (cf. 2:21; 4:1), for it is through the witness of Christian lives of moral integrity that God will make Himself known to unbelievers in general.

· Vs. 16: Peter’s injunction is not of his own creating. He is drawing attention to the teaching of Scripture, which plainly lays down the command “Be holy, because I am holy.” This is a straight quotation from Leviticus 11:44–45 (the words are repeated in the two verses, which in itself underlines their importance in God’s mind), and in that ot context we are told that God’s demand for holiness in his people is based upon the fact that it is He who has redeemed them.

o God’s historic rescue of his people from slavery at the exodus foreshadowed His spiritual deliverance of them from sin. In both events, life for those redeemed was to be intrinsically different in future.[12]

Note for application submitted by Dr. Adrian Rogers, January 16, 1982

· What I’m trying to say to you, my dear friend, is when you go to the office tomorrow, you’re to go in holiness; and when you go to that factory tomorrow, you’re to go in holiness; and when you go to that school tomorrow, you’re to go in holiness. That is, God is saying, “Be holy—everything you do, every place you go, every day, is a holy place.” Every deed is a holy deed when we’re walking in the Spirit. “Be ye holy” (1 Peter 1:16).[13]

What are some lasting truths in 1 Peter 1:13–16?

· Christians are no longer to be conformed to their old lives of ignorance and lusts.

· We are to have renewed minds and disciplined actions.

· Our hope of the Lord’s coming exerts a moral imperative.

· We are to be holy because we worship a holy God.[14]

1 Peter 1:17 (NASB) 17 If you address as Father the One who impartially judges according to each one's work, conduct yourselves in fear during the time of your stay on earth;

· Not only are we to live holy lives in light of our hope (1:13–16); we also are to conduct our walk in the fear of the Lord (1:17). I know we’re living in a world that doesn’t like to talk much about the fear of God. People don’t mind talking about the love, grace, mercy, and blessings of God; but to refer to God as the Judge who evaluates our work—this kind of thinking bothers a lot of people today, even Christians. But Peter doesn’t hesitate to refer to the great holiness and justice of God, who demands reverence before Him. We would be wise to conform our attitude to Peter’s words rather than to the world’s preferences.

· When Peter says, “If you address as Father …,” he has prayer in mind. “If you address as Father”: If we as Christians call on a Holy God (presumably for help), we must understand that we call on a God who shows no partiality—and will so judge our conduct. This makes a working, sober, holy walk all the more important.[15] —that is, “seeing that you call on,” for all the regenerate pray as children of God, “Our Father who art in heaven” (Mt 6:9; Lu 11:2).

· If we’re going to pray to God as “our Father,” then we must speak and act as “obedient children” (1:14). We should hold Him in high reverence, knowing that we will one day give account to Him for our time spent on this earth.

o Hope again fills in the gap—but this is a realization that the hoped-for ascent to our heavenly dwelling will be accompanied by rewards directly related to the genuine quality of our lives.

o Paul gives us a similar sobering reminder: “So then each one of us will give an account of himself to God” (Rom. 14:12). And in 2 Corinthians 5:10 he writes, “For we must all appear before the judgment seat of Christ, so that each one may be recompensed for his deeds in the body, according to what he has done, whether good or bad.”

· “If you address as Father the One who impartially judges”, call upon as Father Him who without acceptance of persons (Ac 10:34; Ro 2:11; Jam 2:1,not accepting the Jew above the Gentile, 2 Ch 19:7; Lu 20:21; properly said of a judge not biased in judgment by respect of persons) judges.” The Father judges by His Son, His Representative, exercising His delegated authority (Jn 5:22). This marks the harmonious and complete unity of the Trinity.

o One day, believers will be brought before the judgment seat of Christ, where we will give account for our lives before God, and He will reward us accordingly. 1 Corinthians 3:15 makes it clear that even the believer who gains no reward will still be saved, but God’s judgment will separate the quality things from the wasted time, money, energy, and motives that tainted a believer’s holiness.

o On this earth, Christians applaud other Christians who have dynamic ministries, impactful evangelism, and powerful testimonies. And on the surface, many appear to be super-saints, or at least they have achieved a level of celebrity status in the Christian realm.

o Regardless of all that adulation and applause, we must never forget that God is the Judge. He alone knows the true motivation behind a person’s life.

o In the final analysis, He will be the one to say, “That deserves reward, but thatdoes not.” He will judge our works and expose our motives without partiality.

o This is why our hope for heaven must induce us to holiness on earth.[16]

· “conduct yourselves in fear during the time of your stay on earth;

o Fear— In the New Testament phobos takes for granted and enlarges on the classical concepts as purified and enriched by divine revelation and by inspiration.

§ There is still the sudden alarm, the deliberate fear and caution, the dread of impending doom. There is the slavish fear (Romans 8:15) called “bondage.” Each was a fact to be reckoned with.

§ But the glory of the gospel is that a new relationship with God overwhelms these negative aspects of fear, delivers believers from bondage, and gives them the spirit of adoption (son-placing) so that they confidently call God “Father.”

o This is what God does for those who fear Him and keep His commandments. It is a relationship of love and trust. “Fear” (phobos) is no longer a fear of judgment for the believer.

§ In addition, reverence toward God is always to be coupled with love of Him; this love, then, will cast out all “fear” (1 John 4:18).

§ This type of a relationship with the Lord will break the bondage fear brings (cf. Romans 8:15; 2 Timothy 1:7; Hebrews 2:15). The fear that remains is a function of love—fear lest a believer hurt the heart of the Savior and Lord or that he fails to love his neighbor as himself.

§ In addition, fear is the caution that makes believers respect and obey legitimate authority.

§ Furthermore, it is the proper concern for one’s own health and safety and that of others.[17]

o Fear is not here opposed to assurance, but to carnal security: fear producing vigilant caution lest we offend God and backslide. “Fearand hope flow from the same fountain: fear prevents us from falling away from hope” [Bengel].

o Though love has no fear in it, yet in our present state of imperfect love, it needs to have fear going along with.

§ It as a subordinate principle. This fear drowns all other fears. The believer fears God, and so has none else to fear. Not to fear God is the greatest baseness and folly. The martyrs’, more than mere human courage, flowed from this.[18]

· The apostle John says, “Perfect love cast out fear;” but there is no contradiction, as some have said, between the two holy apostles; for the fear which cannot coexist with perfect love (it may in various measures coexist with imperfect love) is slavish fear, selfish fear of death and punishment.

· The fear which Peter and Paul (Phil. 2:12) commend is holy fear—the fear of a most for a loving father, the fear of displeasing God before whom we walk, God who gave his blessed Son to die for us, God who will judge us at the last. This fear is not cowardice. Our Lord said (Luke 12:4), “Be not afraid of them that kill the body.… Fear Him,” etc. They who thus fear God need fear nothing else but God.[19]

Thought to Soak On

o Keep the context in mind. Peter says to a group of people going through really tough times, “In the midst of this difficulty you can either experience unspeakable joy, or you can feel sorry for yourself and drift back into carnality. If you return to carnality, know the repercussions are going to be heartbreaking. Therefore, pass the time in fear—not fear of the Father, but fear of the repercussions of your sin.”[20]

Let’s start to wrap up this lesson with a note from Warren Wiersbe:

o As God’s children, we need to be serious about sin and about holy living. Our Heavenly Father is a holy (John 17:11) and righteous Father (John 17:25). He will not compromise with sin. He is merciful and forgiving, but He is also a loving disciplinarian who cannot permit His children to enjoy sin. After all, it was sin that sent His Son to the cross. If we call God “Father,” then we should reflect His nature.

o What is this judgment that Peter wrote about? It is the judgment of a believer’s works. It has nothing to do with salvation, except that salvation ought to produce good works (Titus 1:16; 2:7, 12). When we trusted Christ, God forgave our sins and declared us righteous in His Son (Rom. 5:1–10; 8:1–4; Col. 2:13). Our sins have already been judged on the cross (1 Peter 2:24), and therefore they cannot be held against us (Heb. 10:10–18).

o But when the Lord returns, there will be a time of judgment called “the Judgment Seat of Christ” (Rom. 14:10–12; 2 Cor. 5:9–10). Each of us will give an account of his works, and each will receive the appropriate reward. This is a “family judgment,” the Father dealing with His beloved children.

§ The Greek word translated judges carries the meaning “to judge in order to find something good.” God will search into the motives for our ministry; He will examine our hearts. ButHe assures us that His purpose is to glorify Himself in our lives and ministries, “and then shall every man have praise of God” (1 Cor. 4:5). What an encouragement!

· God will give us many gifts and privileges, as we grow in the Christian life; but He will never give us the privilege to disobey and sin. He never pampers His children or indulges them. He is no respecter of persons. He “shows no partiality and accepts no bribes” (Deut. 10:17, niv). “For God does not show favoritism” (Rom. 2:11, niv). Years of obedience cannot purchase an hour of disobedience. If one of His children disobeys, God must chasten (Heb. 12:1–13). But when His child obeys and serves Him in love, He notes that and prepares the proper reward.

· Peter reminded his readers that they were only “sojourners” on earth. Life was too short to waste in disobedience and sin (see 1 Peter 4:1–6).

o It was when Lot stopped being a sojourner, and became a resident in Sodom, that he lost his consecration and his testimony.

o Everything he lived for went up in smoke! Keep reminding yourself that you are a “stranger and pilgrim” in this world (1 Peter 1:1; 2:11).

· In view of the fact that the Father lovingly disciplines His children today, and will judge their works in the future, we ought to cultivate an attitude of godly fear. This is not the cringing fear of a slave before a master, but the loving reverence of a child before his father. It is not fear of judgment (1 John 4:18), but a fear of disappointing Him or sinning against His love. It is “godly fear” (2 Cor. 7:1), a sober reverence for the Father.

· I sometimes feel that there is today an increase in carelessness, even flippancy, in the way we talk about God or talk to God. Nearly a century ago, Bishop B.F. Westcott said, “Every year makes me tremble at the daring with which people speak of spiritual things.” The godly bishop should hear what is said today!

o A worldly actress calls God “the Man upstairs.”

o A baseball player calls Him “the great Yankee in the sky.”

o An Old Testament Jew so feared God that he would not even pronounce His holy name, yet we today speak of God with carelessness and irreverence.

o In our public praying, we sometimes get so familiar that other people wonder whether we are trying to express our requests or impress the listeners with our nearness to God![21]

C. H. Spurgeon delivered this thought on Thursday evening, July 13th, 1882 given at the Metropolitan Tabernacle, Newington, England.

· “Peter first mentioned the glorious doctrines of grace, and the marvelous benefits bestowed by God upon believers, and he afterwards drew from them a practical inference. “Wherefore,” said he, “gird up the loins of your mind.” We are taught the truth in order that it may lead us to holiness of life.This is the object of God in giving us more light, —that, by that light, we may ourselves become more full of light, and be the means of conveying light to others. Therefore, when your mind is instructed concerning some grand truth, after you have sucked the honey and joy out of it, always say to yourself, “But what are the bearings of this doctrine upon my life? How should it influence me? What would God have me to do as the result of receiving such teaching as this?”From what Peter had already said, like a true logician, he draws a wise inference, and says, “Wherefore gird up the loins of your mind, be sober, and hope to the end for the grace that is to be brought unto you at the revelation of Jesus Christ.”[22]

· Grace and Peace to you this day for investing your time to read this😊.

[1]Robert J. Dean, Bible Studies for Life, Spring 2011, Herschel Hobbs Commentary (LifeWay Christian Resources, n.d.), 20. [2] Rod Mattoon, Treasures from First Peter, Treasures from Scripture Series (Springfield, IL: Rod Mattoon, 2011), 48. [3]Charles R. Swindoll, Insights on James, 1 & 2 Peter, vol. 13, Swindoll’s Living Insights New Testament Commentar (Carol Stream, IL: Tyndale House Publishers, 2014), 165. [4] John F. MacArthur Jr., 1 Peter, MacArthur New Testament Commentary (Chicago: Moody Publishers, 2004), 50–51. [5]Peter H. Davids, The First Epistle of Peter, The New International Commentary on the New Testament (Grand Rapids, MI: Wm. B. Eerdmans Publishing Co., 1990), 61–64. [6]Robert J. Dean, Bible Studies for Life, Spring 2011, Herschel Hobbs Commentary (LifeWay Christian Resources, n.d.), 18. [7]Roger M. Raymer, “1 Peter,” in The Bible Knowledge Commentary: An Exposition of the Scriptures, ed. J. F. Walvoord and R. B. Zuck, vol. 2 (Wheaton, IL: Victor Books, 1985), 843. [8]Albert Barnes, Notes on the New Testament: James to Jude, ed. Robert Frew (London: Blackie & Son, 1884–1885), 126. [9]Thomas L. Constable, “2 Thessalonians,” in The Bible Knowledge Commentary: An Exposition of the Scriptures, ed. J. F. Walvoord and R. B. Zuck, vol. 2 (Wheaton, IL: Victor Books, 1985), 715. [10]Robert J. Dean, Family Bible Study, Summer 2004, Herschel Hobbs Commentary (LifeWay Christian Resources, 2004), 108. [11]Andrew Thomson, Opening Up 1 Peter, Opening Up Commentary (Leominster, England: Day One, 2016), 37. [12]Norman Hillyer, 1 and 2 Peter, Jude, Understanding the Bible Commentary Series (Grand Rapids, MI: Baker Books, 2011), 46. [13]Adrian Rogers, “The Highway to Holiness,” in Adrian Rogers Sermon Archive (Signal Hill, CA: Rogers Family Trust, 2017), 1 Pe 1:13–22. [14]Robert J. Dean, Bible Studies for Life, Spring 2011, Herschel Hobbs Commentary (LifeWay Christian Resources, n.d.), 22. [15]David Guzik, 1 Peter, David Guzik’s Commentaries on the Bible (Santa Barbara, CA: David Guzik, 2013), 1 Pe 1:13–17. [16]Charles R. Swindoll, Insights on James, 1 & 2 Peter, vol. 13, Swindoll’s Living Insights New Testament Commentar (Carol Stream, IL: Tyndale House Publishers, 2014), 168. [17]Thoralf Gilbrant, “Φόβος,” The New Testament Greek-English Dictionary, The Complete Biblical Library (WORDsearch, 1991). [18]Robert Jamieson, A. R. Fausset, and David Brown, Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible, vol. 2 (Oak Harbor, WA: Logos Research Systems, Inc., 1997), 501. [19] H. D. M. Spence-Jones, ed., 1 Peter, The Pulpit Commentary (London; New York: Funk & Wagnalls Company, 1909), 9. [20] Jon Courson, Jon Courson’s Application Commentary (Nashville, TN: Thomas Nelson, 2003), 1547. [21]Warren W. Wiersbe, The Bible Exposition Commentary, vol. 2 (Wheaton, IL: Victor Books, 1996), 397–398. [22] C. H. Spurgeon, “Girded for the Work,” in The Metropolitan Tabernacle Pulpit Sermons, vol. 45 (London: Passmore & Alabaster, 1899), 553.