1 Peter 1:13-21, Hope and Holiness In Light of God’s Grace

Introduction

Good morning, beloved! It is a joy to once again gather and open God’s Word together. If you have a Bible, please turn with me to 1 Peter 1. We’re continuing our verse by verse study of this wonderful letter written by the apostle Peter. This morning we will be looking at 1 Peter 1:13-21. As is our pattern, I will first read the passage and then we will pray and ask the LORD to bless our time together in His Word. Please follow along as I read the passage for us.

READ 1 PETER 1:13-21

PRAY

Like most people, I love Spring. There is something about it that stirs up new hope and joy. The increased sunshine. The increased temperatures. The fresh growth of vegetation. The flowers that are blooming. The fresh air of the outdoors. The sound of birds singing. The rustling of newly grown leaves in the wind. The brightness of the blue sky. The wisp of clouds blown by the breeze. All of it being reminiscent of new life that is dawning. New life that is abundant and flourishing.

Don’t get me wrong. I love every season. Perhaps to the dismay of some of you, even winter. There is beauty to be seen of God’s glorious creation in every season. Even the unique beauty of winter and snow proclaims the glory of God. But there is something unique to the dawning of Spring after the long cold of Winter that points beyond itself to the hope of new life. For many the hope of new life coming in the Spring is what makes enduring the cold Winters possible. You know it’s coming and long for it.

We endure long cold winters and periodically think to ourselves or say to one another, “Spring is coming.” Likewise, as we navigate life in this world as the people of God this side of eternity, we should regularly remind ourselves and one another of our great hope that Jesus is coming back again. That is what Peter is doing for his readers in this passage. Having reminded them of this great salvation that is theirs in Christ, he turns his attention to exhort them on how they ought to live in light of that great salvation. We need that same reminder and exhortation today.

In light of God’s grace toward us in Christ, we are to live lives characterized by hope and holiness.

MAIN IDEA –– Set your hope on God’s grace in Christ, determined to live holy lives and walk in reverent fear of the LORD.

Three main imperatives form the outline for us this morning throughout the passage:

Set your hope on God’s grace in Christ

Live holy lives

Walk in reverent fear

Set Your Hope On God’s Grace in Christ (v. 13)

Notice the first word at the beginning of the passage––“therefore.” You’ve heard me and many others say this before, but it's always worth being reminded. You likely know the saying. Whenever you come across the word “therefore” you must ask the question “what is it there for?” It is a connecting word that bridges the gap between what came before in the text and what is coming after in the text. So, all that Peter is about to say that we will unpack this morning is in light of what Peter has written before.

All that follows this “therefore” is Peter’s instruction and exhortation to the people of God in light of the great salvation he has just finished praising God for. Having reminded them of God’s great work of salvation––prophesied by the prophets and longingly observed by the angels––Peter wants us to know that this salvation has an effect on the way we live our lives even now, this side of eternity. Look there at verse 13 to see what he says:

1 Peter 1:13 –– 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.

Before we unpack the main imperative––set your hope––I want us to quickly understand this phrase that comes just before that. He says, “preparing your minds for action, and being sober-minded.” What does that mean? In the original language the phrase translated “preparing your minds for action” literally reads “gird up the loins of your mind.” To gird up in those days was to tie up your long robe at your waist so that you were prepared for action––to move with quickness and purpose to accomplish a difficult task that lay in front of you.

We see an example of this in many places throughout the Scriptures. One notable example comes with the instructions for the first Passover in Exodus 12. The people were to eat of it in haste as they were to be prepared at a moment’s notice for their departure from Egypt when the LORD would deliver them. Peter is telling them to have their minds ready for action. Prepared for the difficult task of living as exiles, as the people of God, in this world. Then there is the complementary need of “being sober-minded.”

Peter is not speaking of a contrast to drunkenness. It is a kind of sober outlook on life in this world. Living with self-control no matter the circumstances you find yourself in. I love how Joe Rigney describes this idea of being sober-minded. It is to have clarity of mind, stability of soul, and readiness to act. That is to say that no matter what our circumstances are and no matter what kind of opposition we face––whether internal or external––we have the kind of clarity of mind and stability of soul and readiness to act in a way that is pleasing to the LORD.

As I heard another pastor put it, it is the kind of self-control where we recognize that the “self is being controlled by God.” What Peter is describing here is the kind of posture we ought to have as the people of God. This is to be your ongoing life-long posture as a Christ-follower. How might we cultivate this kind of posture? This posture of sober-mindedness that is ready for action comes with knowing what God has said.

It is cultivated as we are transformed by the renewing of our minds according to God’s Word. Not just a mere knowledge of it. But also a committed readiness to live in accordance with God’s Word no matter what the circumstances or consequences may be. It is a posture of unwavering uncompromising commitment to live God’s way in God’s world. This is to be your ongoing lifelong posture as a Christ-follower.

Then, from that posture we are to “set our hope on God’s grace in Christ.” More specifically, Peter is pointing to our future hope that will be revealed at Christ’s second coming. Just as we might endure a long winter with the confident hope of spring to come, we endure life in this fallen world as the people of God with our hope set on the future final deliverance to come when Christ returns. We are to live this life in light of eternity.

How do we do this? What does it mean to “set our hope” on something? It is to focus on it. To have your eyes set on it. To longingly look forward to it. In high school I was a distance runner. Part of what helped fuel me to run the race well was the hope of the finish line that was coming. Every mile ran was one less mile between me and the end of the race. For really long races, like a ten miler or a half-marathon, I knew there would be a treat at the end to revive me after the long run. Like the ice cream sandwich I was given after finishing the St. Louis half-marathon!

Furthermore, when we speak of hope biblically we understand it not as wishful thinking, but as an absolute certainty. Biblical hope is one of certainty and great expectation. Like an expectant mother who begins to nest and prepare for her child to be born, so too we live and function now in light of what is coming in the future, by God’s grace. Peter wants us to set our hope––to focus––on God’s sure Word and certain promises, not on our circumstances this side of eternity. What does that look like day after day? We don’t have to wonder. Peter tells us.

Live Holy Lives (v. 14-16)

In what follows, Peter applies this exhortation with two main imperatives. The first is to live holy lives. Look at verses 14 through 16 again with me:

1 Peter 1:14-16 –– As obedient children, do not be conformed to the passions of your former ignorance, but as he who called you is holy, you also be holy in all your conduct, since it is written, “You shall be holy, for I am holy.”

Notice what Peter does. He likens them to “obedient children.” If you are a Christian, that is what you are in relation to God. He is your Father in Heaven. You are one of His beloved children. Thus, “as obedient children,” Peter wants us to be like our heavenly Father. This is in stark contrast to who we once were and how we once lived before being adopted into His family. Do you see that there?

“Do not be conformed to the passions of your former ignorance.” I’m reminded of what Paul said to the Ephesians. Before God made us alive together with Christ we were “dead in our trespasses and sins.” We were “sons of disobedience” and “children of wrath.” Here, Peter is telling us not to be that way. Don’t revert back to who you once were and how you once lived. That’s not who you are anymore. By God’s grace you are obedient children.

Therefore, “as he who called you is holy, you also be holy in all your conduct.” Our Father in heaven is holy. As his obedient children, we too are to be holy just like Him. Displaying His good and holy character in our lives in every way possible. Those born of God will increasingly resemble their heavenly Father. To make this point even stronger, Peter grounds this in what God has said before––“since it is written, “You shall be holy, for I am holy.”

There is no one place where this is said. It is a repeated statement in various places, particularly in Leviticus––Leviticus 11:44; 19:2; 20:7 for instance. In Leviticus God is laying out all the details of the law and how His covenant people were to live in light of their covenant relationship with Him as their God. Much of what God prescribed there was intended to set them apart from the nations around them. That’s what it means that God is holy and what it means for His people to live holy just as He is holy.

There is no God like our God. He is unique. He is distinct. He is separate and set apart from all. He is perfectly pure, radiant, and undefiled. He is unblemished and unstained from the world. As those who have been called out of darkness and into His marvelous light––as obedient children of our holy heavenly Father––we too are to be holy like Him. Now, it is here that we must consider a point of important clarification. We are not speaking here of any kind of works based righteousness.

Peter is not exhorting us to earn anything. He is not telling us to be holy, like God is holy, so that we can become His children. He is appealing to us on the basis of something that is already true of us. We already have been changed. We already have been born again from above. We have already been made new. If you are a Christian you are already a new creation, as Paul puts it. You already are a child of your heavenly Father, born of the Spirit, clothed in the righteousness of your older brother, the LORD Jesus Christ.

That new creation reality is to increasingly be displayed outwardly over the course of your life. This holiness is the fruit that comes from the hope that we have. Hope is the root. Holiness is the fruit that springs out of that root. This week I came across this quote from Stephen Charnock that puts it this way––“Works make not the heart good, but a good heart makes the works good.” As those who are already obedient children of our heavenly Father, from the heart, we as a result desire and are able to live holy lives that display His character in the world.

Think of it this way. It's the way some people might look at a young man and say, “you’re just like your father!” Sometimes that can be meant as a complement. Oftentimes it's sadly not a compliment. Sometimes we’re proud of that designation. Other times we’re not proud of it. It all depends on the context and why it is being said. Beloved, if you are a Christian, you should never be ashamed to be like your Father in heaven.

Whether it's a fellow church member pointing out evidence of God’s grace or the world that hates God and hates you because you are acting in accordance with His Word. Never be ashamed to press on toward being more and more like your heavenly Father. As His children, we want to grow up to be more like our Father in heaven. Our hope leads us to respond to life in a certain way. We reject worldliness and reflect God’s character. We cannot serve two masters.

Walk in the Fear of the LORD (v. 17-21)

Peter continues with another imperative applying what it looks like to set our hope on God’s grace in Christ. We are to walk in reverent fear of the LORD. We see that in verses 17 through 19:

1 Peter 1:17-19 –– 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, knowing that you were ransomed from the futile ways inherited from your forefathers, not with perishable things such as silver or gold, but with the precious blood of Christ, like that of a lamb without blemish or spot.

The imperative is there in the latter half of verse 17–– “conduct yourselves with fear throughout the time of your exile.” What is Peter telling us here? Are we to walk around with the kind of fear that always has us looking over our shoulder? Living under constant panic amidst danger? No, that’s not what Peter is exhorting us to. Notice that the point I said was “reverent fear.” The kind of reverence that loves Him and does not want to do anything foolish that will disappoint Him.

It's the kind of fear alluded to in C.S. Lewis classic work––The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe. When the Pevensie kids are new to Narnia and learning who Aslan is, Susan asked Mr. Beaver if Aslan was safe. "Safe?" said Mr Beaver ..."Who said anything about safe? 'Course he isn't safe. But he's good. He's the King, I tell you.” This kind of fear is made all the more clear in the reasons Peter gives us for why we ought to walk in such reverent fear of the LORD.

That imperative is framed by two reasons for why we are to walk in reverent fear of the LORD. One before it and one after it. The first reason comes before and we might put it this way––because of what God will do. Knowledge of the coming judgment causes us to walk carefully in this life with reverent fear before the LORD. Not only is God our Father, but He is also the impartial judge of all the universe. And one day, he will pass judgment on all mankind.

Though we will stand before Him as His adopted children clothed in the righteousness of Christ by faith alone, that does not negate our reverence for Him in this life. In fact it should increase it all the more. I think that is made all the more clear in light of the second reason that Peter gives beginning in verse 18. We might put it this way––because of what God has done. You were ransomed with the precious blood of Christ. God’s perfect justice and tender love are not opposed to each other. They are complementary.

He says, “you were ransomed from the futile ways inherited from your forefathers.” To be ransomed is to have been bought out of slavery. That’s what the word is referring to. If you are a Christian, you who once were enslaved to sin and death have been ransomed from sin and death. And the price for your ransom was higher than anything any human being could afford. He didn’t ransom you with perishable things like silver or gold. You were ransomed with the precious blood of Christ.

Beloved, God has purchased us at great cost to Himself. He did not have to do it. He would have been perfectly justified to condemn us all to eternal death under His just wrath. Instead, according to His great mercy, he ransomed us by sending His own Son into the world to save sinners. To be the propitiation for our sin. He satisfied His wrath in the sacrificial death of His Son as a substitute in our place on the cross.

Just as Christ died on the cross, paying the ransom for us, we too by faith in Him have died to sin. This is the same idea that Paul is after in Romans 6. A fruitful exercise for you this afternoon while gathered in fellowship after the worship gathering or in your homes and in the discipleship groups later this week would be to read Romans 6. There Paul asks the question, “Are we to continue in sin that grace may abound? By no means! How can we who died to sin still live in it?”

There’s a lot more we could say in parallel from that wonderful chapter in Romans, but I think you get the point. God’s gracious and glorious work of salvation for us in Christ does not leave us enslaved to sin. He has freed us from slavery to sin. He has paid our ransom. He has bought us with His precious blood that we might be holy as He is holy. That we might represent Him in creation with our very lives just as He created us to. That the whole earth would be filled with those who bear His image and thus the whole earth be full of His glory.

That’s been the plan all along. Peter returns to this idea of hope in Christ once again here in the last two verses that we will look at this morning. All that we have considered this morning is bracketed by our hope in Christ. Speaking of Christ, Peter says in verses 20 and 21:

1 Peter 1:20-21 –– He was foreknown before the foundation of the world but was made manifest in the last times for the sake of you 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.

In eternity past, before the foundation of the world (that is before creation itself), God determined that His eternal Son would be revealed in the last days for the sake of His people. That is, those who through Christ are believers in God. Christ laid down His life as our substitute. God raised him up from the dead and gave him glory. Why did God do all of this? Why did He make this plan? What was the purpose? “So that your faith and hope are in God.”

Not so that you can live your best life now. Not so that you can make much of yourself. Not so that you can be well known and well liked by the world. Not so you can have it your way and do whatever pleases you. He did all of this, beloved, so that your faith and hope would rest firmly fixed on Him and Him alone––all to the praise of His glory.

Conclusion

As you can see, we’ve come full circle. We set our hope on that final glorious day when Christ returns because of what God has done for us in Christ from eternity past so that our hope would ultimately be in Him. And so, we live for Him and His glory with our eyes fixed on Him through all of life’s circumstances this side of eternity. We want to be like Him. We want to reverence Him in all that we say, think, and do. A life consecrated and devoted to Him in light of His grace toward us in Christ.

We’ll see this all the more practically as we continue through this letter in the weeks and months ahead. A life lived with our hope set on God’s grace in Christ touches every aspect of our lives. Our life and ministry together as a church family. Our home life. Our work life. How we relate to the world around us and those in authority over us. As we look at all of those things together, beloved, Set your hope on God’s grace in Christ, determined to live holy lives and walk in reverent fear of the LORD.