Session 2
1 Peter 1:13-25
Memory Verse: 1 Peter 1:15-16
Peter’s encouragement to the believers was rooted in the fact that God decided to save them before the foundation of the earth. He executed their salvation by grace through faith and was working out their salvation through their suffering. As encouraging and inspiring as all of this is, life still has to be lived. How can such lofty, eternal ideas be applied in a practical and meaningful way through such dire circumstances?
These are the questions of the Christian life, and these are the questions that Peter addressed in this passage. Holiness has always been God’s plan for His people, but it also has been our greatest struggle. As you study these verses and prepare to lead this lesson, examine your life and evaluate your pursuit of holiness. Ask the Lord to show you where you need to nurture holiness and to give you the courage to take that step. Challenge the adults in your Bible study to do the same as they learn more about pursuing holiness on a personal level.
People pursue things that are important to them. If it is fitness, they might get a gym membership or set the alarm early so they can get up and run. Likewise, a godly heart engages in godly pursuits. Because God is holy, He desires that those who follow Him walk in holiness. The pursuit of holiness is not always easy but is always a worthy pursuit. As the believers to whom Peter wrote faced persecution, they may have been tempted to compromise their faith. Peter encouraged them to pursue holiness. (PSG, p. 19)
Peter opened this first epistle with a greeting to believers in Asia Minor, Christ followers who were enduring tremendous suffering and persecution for their faith in Jesus. Peter urged them to remain faithful and to view their current suffering within the context of eternity. The joys and peace of the eternal life they had thanks to their relationship with Christ would make their temporary suffering pale in comparison.
First-century believers-and Christ followers today-could be assured that Peter’s words were trustworthy because of two important truths. First, Old Testament prophecies had pointed to the finished work of the Messiah centuries before those prophecies were fulfilled. Even though they would not enjoy the benefits of the gospel in their own lifetimes, these men of God served New Testament believers by revealing His truths, which were realized in Christ.
Second, the work of God for the salvation of humanity was a wonder to the angels in heaven. They cannot experience salvation the way humans do, but they understand and glorify God for His grace toward His highest creation.
As Peter continued to lay out his argument for the trustworthiness of salvation, even in the midst of suffering, three imperatives stand out. Though it may not seem practical to the modern mind, Peter’s baseline response to suffering was to immerse oneself into the accomplished work of Jesus (1 Pet. 1:13). The first thing we must do is meditate on what He has done. By reflecting on His work in our lives, believers become better equipped to see suffering from God’s perspective.
Doing so leads to a second command: Live as holy as Jesus lived (vv. 14-16). Centuries earlier, God had commanded His people to be holy because He is holy. Even after the death and resurrection of Jesus, reflecting the holiness of God in a practical way remains the goal of the Christian life.
Perhaps most fascinating is the third command, where Peter urged his readers to live in the fear of God (v. 17). One’s circumstances do not fully dictate the aspects of God’s character we may invoke. So, even in painful situations, God is always Father and always Judge. Reverence and awe (godly fear) of our eternal Judge is always better than living in the fear of earthly pain and sorrow, which are temporary.
These imperatives lead to a life of faith and hope in suffering, and believers should remind each other of these truths. Being born again involves a new perspective on eternal life-a life grounded in a God who never changes and His Word, which never fails (vv. 22-25).
Read 1 Peter 1:13-25 and circle all of the phrases that define practical applications of what it means to live a holy life. How should having a relationship with Christ change our attitude toward holiness? (PSG, p. 20)
EXPLORE THE TEXT
13 Therefore, with your minds ready for action, be sober-minded and set 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 desires of your former ignorance. 15 But as the one who called you is holy, you also are to be holy in all your conduct;
16 for it is written, Be holy, because I am holy. 17 If you appeal to the Father who judges impartially according to each one’s work, you are to conduct yourselves in reverence during your time living as strangers.
(v. 13) Minds ready for action: The phrase ready for action carries the idea of a person binding up a robe or tunic. Prior to running or other similar forms of physical exertion, individuals would gather up their long robes around their waist so as not to be impeded in their motion. What people would do to remove physical obstacles, Peter challenged his readers to do spiritually and mentally.
Peter also challenged them to be sober-minded. Literally, the term refers to avoiding intoxication. From a spiritual perspective, it emphasizes living free from forces that distract and deceive. For believers, sin pulls away from what is real and true. To use a contemporary phrase, we must keep our wits about us spiritually. (See 1 Pet. 4:7 and 5:8.)
(v. 13) Set your hope: Biblically, hope is an active belief that God will fulfill His plans and purposes. It also suggests the willingness to wait patiently until His work is complete. It reflects an expectation or confidence. This is the foundation upon which the Christian life is built. Our hope in Christ grounds our walk with Him and equips us to stand firm until His revelation, His return.
The idea is of being conformed to a particular shape by an external force. In the New Testament, the Greek word suschematizo is used only here and in Romans 12:2. Christ followers are called to become more like Jesus so the world can see an accurate reflection of His work and character. A believer points others to Christ in this way. However, the forces of the world want to distort God’s good design by shaping believers into an image that will damage their testimony and water down their spiritual influence.
(v. 14) Former ignorance: Peter’s readers would be tempted to fall back into the rut of certain desires that marked their lives before coming to Jesus. Salvation is a gracious act of the Lord, and sanctification is an ongoing work of the Holy Spirit, but the Christian life is not passive. Christ followers do not drift toward holiness. It requires intentional effort and focus. We are called to fight sin and put it to death.
(vv. 15-16) The one who called you is holy: Called is a reference to God’s effectual call on the lives of believers. It is more than a mere invitation. It is powerful and effective, bringing people out of darkness and into light. That which God demands (holiness) He graciously provides through His call. This call to be holy as He is holy has been a longstanding expectation of God for His people, being traced back to the early days of the law (Lev. 11:44-45).
(v. 17) Living as strangers: Christ followers are distinct from the prevailing culture. This is not a matter of isolation or withdrawal, which would run contrary to God’s command to be salt and light in the world. Rather, Peter urged his readers to avoid mirroring the values and behaviors of the world that contradict the gospel. Any horizontal alienation they might experience with others would be filtered through their vertical connection to Christ and the Father, who also serves as the ultimate Judge of all humans.
EXPLORE THE TEXT
18 For you know that you were redeemed from your empty way of life inherited from your ancestors, not with perishable things like silver or gold, 19 but with the precious blood of Christ, like that of an unblemished and spotless lamb. 20 He was foreknown before the foundation of the world but was revealed in these last times for you. 21 Through him you believe in God, who raised him from the dead and gave him glory, so that your faith and hope are in God.
(v. 18) Redeemed: Redemption speaks of liberation. Conquered people become possessions of their captors, yet they can be rescued or redeemed by a stronger force. Likewise, slaves are owned by their masters, yet they also can be redeemed by someone who is willing to pay the price to set them free. Here, Peter spoke of one’s redemption from an empty way of life, most likely associated with the worship of idols made of silver or gold. Peter’s readers could not redeem themselves from idolatry. They needed One who is stronger than the power of sin to set them free. Christ alone fulfilled that work.
Wealth can redeem someone from many human problems, yet no amount of money can rescue someone from the judgment of God for sin. All the gold and silver from all the idols in the world would never be enough to pay that debt. Something far more valuable is necessary: namely, the precious blood of Jesus. Only His pure sacrifice on our behalf is acceptable to God for redemption.
(v. 19) Unblemished and spotless lamb: The term blood and the reference to Jesus as a lamb without defect is reminiscent of the Old Testament sacrificial system where blood was necessary for atonement. During the annual Passover observance, the high priest would slaughter a lamb for the forgiveness of the people’s sins. God required the animal to be unblemished and spotless. The same standard was held for Jesus. He lived a life without sin and became the only perfect sacrifice on behalf of the human race. All the previous sacrifices pointed to His death, which made forgiveness available “once for all time” (see Heb. 10:10-18).
(v. 20) Foreknown: Jesus’s ransom payment was not some spiritual “Plan B.” To the contrary, it was God’s plan from the foundation of the world. Before time, God knew humanity would need a Savior, and He knew Jesus would fulfill that role. This is why God could tell Adam and Eve that one of their offspring (Jesus) would crush the head of the serpent (Satan), even though He would suffer a bruised heel in the process (Gen. 3:15).
Peter intentionally raised this issue at this point in the letter. By doing so, the apostle gave his audience another reminder that they lived during a unique period of human history. They were witnesses to the way God fulfilled His longstanding promise for a Messiah. The finished work of Jesus that had been revealed in a prophetic way centuries earlier (see 1 Pet. 1:12) was now completed before God’s people in these last times.
(v. 21) Believe in God: The belief in God that Peter speaks of is not a mere cognitive acceptance of Jesus’s historicity (as important as that is). Rather, it encompasses a complete and utter trust in God, the One who acted to save sinners through the life, death, and resurrection of Jesus. This is not head knowledge. It is heart knowledge motivated by faith.
(v. 21) Glory: The Greek word (doxa) suggests honor and praise. It literally relates to value or weight assigned to someone or something. Because He is God, Jesus is intrinsically glorious and worthy of praise and honor.
Contrary to physical appearances, He demonstrated His glory on the cross and through His resurrection. His glory leads His people to stand secure in their faith and their hope. Because Jesus has been glorified, His people can rest assured of their unique and eternal relationship with the Father.
EXPLORE THE TEXT
22 Since you have purified yourselves by your obedience to the truth, so that you show sincere brotherly love for each other, from a pure heart love one another constantly, 23 because you have been born again-not of perishable seed but of imperishable-through the living and enduring word of God. 24 For All flesh is like grass, and all its glory like a flower of the grass. The grass withers, and the flower falls, 25 but the word of the Lord endures forever. And this word is the gospel that was proclaimed to you.
(v. 22) Purified yourselves: Peter reminded his readers of their personal conversion experiences. They had purified themselves in the past through obedience to the truth. In other words, by embracing the gospel, they had been made clean before God. They had established a new relationship with Him through Jesus Christ. This does not negate the ongoing work of sanctification in the life of a believer or the need for regular examination and confession. However, it does emphasize how God sees His people as clean through the blood of Jesus.
(v. 22) Brotherly love: Holiness is not merely an exercise in individualism. Their purity should also transform their relationships with others. The quest for personal holiness includes brotherly love for others who are in Christ. The word rendered “love” here is phileo, a love of family or those with much in common. Members of a church must have a brotherly love for one another because they share a common bond in Christ and a common passion for the truth of the gospel (see 1 John 3:11-18; 4:7-21).
(v. 23) Born again: Every human has been born physically. However, Christ followers have been born again. The Greek wording (anagennao) is related to begetting and the creation of new life. It is a compound word that means “to give birth again.” This spiritual birth is an act of God. He brings life from spiritual death through His Word.
(v. 23) Imperishable: Peter commonly used the word imperishable (aphthartos; see 1:4 and 3:4), which suggests something not prone to decay or corruption. The focus is on an immortal existence. Paul used it to contrast the temporary crowns and wreaths given to athletes with the eternal crowns believers will receive from God (see 1 Cor. 9:25), and Peter had used it earlier to describe a believer’s inheritance (1 Pet. 1:4).
The seed God uses to produce “born again” people is as eternal and incorruptible as God Himself. While much of what is associated with human existence is perishable and passing, the life that God produces in believers does not fade over time. Peter’s mention of the living and enduring nature of God’s Word emphasizes that not only is the gospel never-ending, but it also produces that same life in those who believe.
(vv. 24-25) Endures forever: Peter cited Isaiah 40:6-8 to underscore the eternal nature of both God and His Word. It’s probable that, upon writing about the eternality of the gospel and its ongoing impact on those who believe, Peter was inspired to cite the passage as a validation for what he had written.
In its original context, the prophet shared that the nations appearing strong were not-and never would be-stronger than God’s Word. They would never be able to stand up to Him once He decided to deliver His people. Such nations would wither like grass and falling flowers. In contrast, God’s Word stands the test of time, all the way into eternity.
Review these points from Apply the Text on page 27 of the Personal Study Guide:
Invite volunteers to reflect on what it means to pursue holiness and why that’s a significant endeavor in the life of a believer.
Guide the group to discuss the first set of questions on page 27 of the PSG. Encourage adults to identify how they will pursue holiness in their own lives and how they will encourage one another as well.
Close in prayer, thanking God for creating us in His image and challenging and equipping us to be holy as He is holy. Commit to living in a way that reflects the holy God we serve.
Reinforce the session by texting or emailing each person in the group during the week and suggesting ideas for expressing love for one another. Maybe there is someone in the group facing a challenging decision that group members can lift in prayer. Maybe someone has encountered a health procedure or a life event where the group can step in and provide tangible expressions of love and support. Challenge adults to find practical ways to demonstrate holiness by living out their faith every day.
God is infinite in holiness and all other perfections. (See 1 Samuel 2:2; Isaiah 6:1-5.)
Dig deeper into the background and usage of key words or phrases.
Focus on the phrase “Be holy, because I am holy” in 1 Peter 1:16. Read the following passages: Exodus 15:11; 19:4-6; Leviticus 20:26; Psalm 24:1-6; Isaiah 6:1-5; 2 Corinthians 6:14-18; Hebrews 12:10,14; and Revelation 15:4. Then read the entry for “holy” in a Bible dictionary. Make notes of any findings that help you better understand the concept of holiness.
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