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Commentary Index | Return to PrayerRequest.com | DownloadBob Utley You Can Understand the Bible - 1 Peter 1:13 - 1:16
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This Chapter Verse Commentaries:
NASB (UPDATED) TEXT: 1Pe_1:13-16
13Therefore, 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. 14As obedient children, do not be conformed to the former lusts which were yours in your ignorance, 15but like the Holy One who called you, be holy yourselves also in all your behavior; 16because it is written, "You shall be holy, for I am holy."
1Pe_1:13 "Therefore" This (dio, cf. 2Pe_1:10; 2Pe_1:12; 2Pe_3:14) shows that the exhortations that follow are the result of the previous discussion.
NASB "prepare your minds for action"
NKJV "gird up the loins of your mind"
NRSV "prepare your minds for action"
TEV "have your minds ready for action"
NJB "your minds. . .ready for action"
This is an aorist middle participle used as an imperative. Its form denotes that a decisive act of personal choice is demanded. This is a Hebrew idiom, literally "gird up the loins of your mind." In the Ancient Near East both men and women wore robes. By reaching through the legs and pulling the back of the robe forward and tucking it into the belt, the robe became pants, which allowed strenuous action. Similar admonitions of preparation for mental activity is found in Rom_12:2; Eph_4:17; Eph_4:23.
▣ "keep sober in spirit" This is a present active participle in a series of imperatives and participles used with imperatival force. This is not a call to sobriety, but a metaphor for mental alertness and level headedness (cf. 1Pe_4:7; 1Pe_5:8; 1Th_5:6; 1Th_5:8; 2Ti_4:5).
▣ "fix your hope completely" This is an aorist active imperative which means make a decisive choice to trust completely in Christ's return. "Hope" in the NT often refers to the Second Coming (cf. Tit_2:13). Our hope is based on the settled and sure character and actions of the Triune God (cf. 1Pe_1:2-5).
▣ "on the grace to be brought to you at the revelation of Jesus Christ" This is the same grace for which the OT prophets made careful search (cf. 1Pe_1:10). This clearly shows that the believers' hope is in the character and actions of the Triune God (cf. 1Pe_1:2-5) and that His grace will be fully manifested at Jesus' return (cf. 1Jn_3:2). Salvation is described by all Greek verb tenses. See Special Topic at 1Pe_1:5.
1Pe_1:14 "obedient children" This is a Hebrew idiom of our family relationship with God the Father and Jesus the Son (negative expressions are found in Eph_2:2; Eph_5:6). Believers are co-heirs through Him (cf. Rom_8:15-17). Amazingly, sinners are part of the family of God by His invitation and Jesus' sacrifice.
NASB, NRSV "do not be conformed"
NKJV "not conforming yourselves"
TEV "do not allow your lives to be shaped"
NJB "do not allow yourselves to be shaped"
This is a present middle or passive participle used as an imperative. As so often in the NT believers are described as being acted upon by God or the Spirit (passive voice), but there is the grammatical possibility that believers are being called on to clearly live out their new relationship to God through the power of His Spirit (middle voice).
As salvation is a conditional covenant, initiated by God but with a mandated response, so too, the Christian life. Eternal life has observable characteristics (cf. 1Pe_1:15). Much of Peter's terminology is from Paul's letters, here Rom_12:2.
▣ "to the former lusts which were yours in your ignorance" This refers to the Gentile believers' immoral and godless pagan past (cf. 1Pe_4:2-3; Eph_4:17-19).
1Pe_1:15
NASB "but like the Holy One who called you"
NKJV "but as He who called you is holy"
NRSV "instead, as he who called you is holy"
TEV "instead. . .just as God who called you is holy"
NJB "after the model of the Holy One who calls us"
This is an emphasis on God's character and sovereign choice (cf. 1Pe_2:9; 1Pe_5:10). No one can come to God unless the Spirit draws them (cf. Joh_6:44; Joh_6:65). This is another theological way of repudiating divine acceptance by means of human performance (cf. Eph_2:8-9). My sermon title on this text is "The Holy One's holy ones."
▣ "be holy yourselves also" This is an aorist passive (deponent) imperative. Believers are called to holiness. God's will has always been that His children reflect His character (cf. Tit_2:14). The goal of Christianity is not only heaven when we die, but Christlikeness now (cf. Rom_8:29-30; 2Co_3:18; 2Co_7:1; Gal_4:19; Eph_1:4; Eph_2:10; Eph_4:13; 1Th_3:13; 1Th_4:3; 1Th_4:7; 1Th_5:23). Jesus' task was not only remission of sin, but the restoration of the image of God in fallen mankind. We must always be suspicious of an assurance of salvation that lacks Christlikeness! The gospel is (1) a person to welcome; (2) a truth about that person to believe; and (3) a life emulating that person to live (cf. Eph_4:1; Eph_5:1-2; Eph_5:15; 1Jn_1:7; 1Jn_2:4-6). Remember the shocking words of Jesus in Mat_5:20; Mat_5:48! Always be careful of "what's-in-it-for-me" Christianity. We are saved to serve. We are called to holiness in no uncertain terms. God have mercy on a western church trapped by (1) prosperity; (2) materialism; and (3) health/wealth preaching!
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▣ "in all your behavior" Notice the emphasis on "all." The challenge is not selected righteousness, but pervasive holiness (cf. 1Jn_3:3).
1Pe_1:16 "because it is written, 'You shall be holy, for I am holy'" "Written" is a perfect passive indicative, which is an idiom for Scripture used so often by Jesus, but only here in Peter. This is a quote from Lev_11:44-45; Lev_19:2; Lev_20:7; Lev_20:26. This is not a new requirement, but a repeated requirement (cf. Mat_5:48). Holiness in the OT sense was not sinlessness, but a conformity to the covenant requirements of God (i.e., Exo_19:6; Exo_22:31; Deu_14:2; Deu_14:21; Deu_26:19). The NT also has covenant requirements which issue in Christlikeness (cf. Rom_8:28-29; 2Co_3:18; 2Co_7:1; Gal_4:19; Eph_1:4; Eph_4:13; 1Th_3:13; 1Th_4:3; 1Th_4:7; 1Th_5:23). See Special Topic below.
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