Peter wanted his readers to live joyfully in the midst of sufferings. Consequently he outlined his readers' major responsibilities to enable them to see their duty clearly so they could carry it out. These responsibilities were their duties to God, to other believers, and to the world.
The first sub-section of this epistle (vv. 3-12) stressed walking in hope. The second sub-section (vv. 13-25) emphasizes walking in holiness, reverence, and love. Peter held out several incentives to encourage his readers to walk appropriately: God's glory (v. 13), God's holiness (vv. 14-15), God's Word (v. 16), God's judgment (v. 17), and God's love (vv. 18-21).42Peter presented the believer's duty to God as consisting of three things: a correct perspective, correct behavior, and correct attitude.
1:13 "Therefore"ties in with everything Peter had explained thus far (vv. 3-12). He said in effect, Now that you have focused your thinking positively you need to roll up your sleeves mentally and adopt some attitudes that will affect your activities.
". . . the thought is: Make up your mind decisively!'"43
"The English phrase pull yourselves together' would express the meaning."44
"In Israel an ordinary person wore as the basic garment a long, sleeveless shirt of linen or wool that reached to the knees or ankles. Over this mantle something like a poncho might be worn, although the mantle was laid aside for work. The shirt was worn long for ceremonial occasions or when at relative rest, such as talking in the market, but for active service, such as work or war, it was tucked up into a belt at the waist to leave the legs free (1 Kings 18:46; Jer. 1:17; Luke 17:8; John 21:18; Acts 12:8). Thus Peter's allusion pictures a mind prepared for active work."45
Sober of spirit describes a Christian who is in full control of his speech and conduct in contrast to one who allows his flesh (i.e., his sinful human nature) to govern him.
The main duty, however, is to become conscious of the culmination of our hope when Christ returns (cf. v. 7; 4:3; Titus 2:10-13). When we do this, present trials will not deflect us from obeying God faithfully now. In other words, Peter urged his readers to face their daily trials with a specific attitude clearly and constantly in mind. We should remember that what God will give us soon as a reward for our faithful commitment to Him is worth any sacrifice now (cf. Rom. 8:18).
1:14 A better translation of "obedient children"might be "children whose spirit is obedience."Negatively we should stop letting our sinful passions dominate and control us (cf. Rom. 12:2). Self-indulgence is characteristic of those who are ignorant of God. Practically this involves saying no to the flesh.
The fact that Peter said that his readers had lived in "ignorance"identifies them for the first time explicitly as Gentile Christians (cf. Acts 17:23, 30; Eph. 4:18).
1:15 Positively we should emulate our holy God who called us to be holy and to be holy in all our behavior: thoughts, words, and deeds (cf. 2:9, 21; 3:9; 5:10; Mark 1:17). Holy means set apart from sin to God. We are to strive after sinless living, purity. Peter was not implying that his readers had been living unholy lives but that holiness should mark them.
This verse contains the first use of a key word in 1 Peter: "behavior"(Gr. anastrophe; cf. 1:18; 2:12; 3:1, 2, 16). Other frequently recurring words include "bear up"(Gr. pascho; cf. 2:19, 20, 21, 23; 3:14, 17, 18; 4:1 [twice], 15, 19; 5:10), "submit"(Gr. hypotasso; cf. 2:13, 18; 3:1, 5, 22; 5:5), and "do right"(Gr. agathopoieo; cf. 2:15, 20; 3:6, 17). Taken together these words indicate one of this epistle's distinctive emphases, namely, the importance of bearing up submissively and practicing good deeds while enduring persecution.
1:16 Peter reinforced this imperative with an Old Testament quotation (Lev. 11:44-45).
"When it comes to the use of the OT, 1 Peter stands out among the NT letters, especially when one compares the number of citations and allusions to the length of the letter. 1 Peter contains about the same number of OT references per unit of text as does Hebrews. Only Revelation contains more."46
In the context Israel was to be holy so she could have intimate fellowship with God. We cannot expect to enjoy intimate fellowship with God who is holy unless we are holy too. Intimate fellowship with God is the greatest good human beings can experience, but without holiness it is impossible.
"The Word reveals God's mind, so we should learnit; God's heart, so we should loveit; God's will, so we should liveit. Our whole being--mind, will, and heart--should be controlled by the Word of God. . . .
"We do not study the Bible just to get to know the Bible. We study the Bible that we might get to know God better. Too many earnest Bible students are content with outlines and explanations, and do not really get to know God. It is good to know the Word of God, but this should help us better know the God of the Word."47
Peter continued the exposition of Leviticus 19 that he began in verse 16.48
"Peter's point is that if he and his readers have a special relationship to God by virtue of their calling and their new birth, then it is all the more urgent that they remember who he is in himself, and display the reverence that God deserves."49
1:17 "If"means "since"here (a first class condition in Greek). We do call on God as our Father because He is our Father (Matt. 6:4, 6, 9; Luke 11:2; Rom. 8:15; Gal. 4:6). Nevertheless He is also the Judge of all, and He judges impartially, not on the basis of externals but on the basis of reality. Since we must all stand before God for an evaluation of our works, we should live now accordingly (Rom. 14:10-12; 2 Cor. 5:10).
"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 judgethcarries the meaning to judge in order to find something good.'"50
It is good for us to maintain respect (fear) for God as our Judge since He has this power over us. Again Peter reminded us that our earthly life of trials and suffering is only a brief sojourn.
1:18-19 The Greek word for "redeemed"(elytrothete) means to ransom, to free by paying a ransom price (cf. Mark 10:45; Luke 24:21; Tit. 2:14).
"He [Peter] has some of the most noteworthy statements in the New Testament about the atoning value of Christ's suffering."51
"Any representative first-century church would have three kinds of members: slaves, freemen, and freed men. People became slaves in various ways--through war, bankruptcy, sale by themselves, sale by parents, or by birth. Slaves normally could look forward to freedom after a certain period of service and often after the payment of a price. Money to buy his freedom could be earned by the slave in his spare time or by doing more than his owner required. Often the price could be provided by someone else. By the payment of a price (lytron, antilytron), a person could be set free from his bondage or servitude. A freed man was a person who formerly had been a slave but was now redeemed."52
As the death of the Passover lamb liberated the Israelites from bondage in Egypt, so the death of Jesus Christ frees us from the bondage of sin (cf. Exod. 12:5). In speaking of redemption Peter always emphasized our freedom from a previously sinful lifestyle to live a changed life here and now.53Jesus Christ's life, represented by the blood, is of infinitely greater value than any mere metal, as precious as that metal may be (cf. Acts 3:6; 8:20). "Futile"means vain or powerless, and it suggests that many of Peter's readers were indeed Gentiles. We would normally expect this in view of where they lived (v. 1). This word better describes the lifestyle of an unsaved Gentile than that of an unsaved Jew (cf. v. 14).
1:20-21 The Fall did not take God by surprise. He already knew what He would do in view of it and Who would do it. We have two good reasons why we can come to God: what Christ did for us, and what God did for Christ for what Christ did for us. Our attitude toward God, therefore, can and should be both reverential (v. 17) and confident.
So far ". . . the ethical impact of the epistle barely begins to make itself felt. The call to action and to a holy and reverent life is general rather than specific. The imperatives of hope and of godly fear have more to do with eschatological expectations than with ethics, and more to do with the readers' relationship to God than with their relationships to each other or to their pagan neighbors."54
Peter next turned his attention from the believer's duty to God to the believer's duty to his or her Christian brethren. He did so to explain further the implications of living joyfully during trials and suffering. He returned to what he set out to do in verse 13, namely, to spell out the implications of Christian faith and hope. However, he continued to reflect on the theological basis of our ethical responsibilities. He will get into practical Christian ethics later.
1:22 The purification to which Peter referred occurred at conversion as a result of believing the gospel (cf. John 13:10). This cleansing made it possible for us to love other Christians unremittingly (Gr. ektenos). Now Peter urged his readers to do everything out of love for the brethren. We do not need to love one another as thoughwe were brethren. We can love one another because we really arebrethren.
1:23 The Word of God is the instrument God uses to produce new birth (cf. Matt. 13:20; Luke 8:11). This "seed"shares the character of its Source. It never passes out of fashion nor does it become irrelevant.
"All the way from the Tower of Babel in Genesis 11, to Babylon the Great' in Revelation 17-18, man's great attempts at unity are destined to fail.
"If we try to build unity in the church on the basis of our first birth, we will fail; but if we build unity on the basis of the new birth, it will succeed."55
1:24-25 This quotation from Isaiah 40:6-8 contrasts the transitory character of nature and the eternality of God's Word (cf. James 1:10-11). Every natural thing eventually dies and disappears, the opposite of God's living and abiding Word (cf. Matt. 24:35; Mark 13:31; Luke 21:33). The seed lives and abides, and so do those to whom it gives new life.
"My friend, we need the preaching and the teaching of the Word of God above everything else. I do not mean to minimize the place of music, the place of methods, and the place of organization, but there is absolutely no substitute for the Word of God today."56
The duty of Christians to one another then is to love one another unremittingly. We can and should do so because we are genuine brethren and because we will abide forever.
