1 Peter 1:13-16
Therefore, prepare your minds for action;
be self-controlled;
set your hope fully on the grace to be given you when Jesus Christ is revealed.
As obedient children, do not conform to the evil desires you had when you lived in ignorance.
But just as he who called you is holy, so be holy in all you do; for it is written: “Be holy, because I am holy.”
- This section starts with “Therefore”. How does this connect to what has just come before?
- “Prepare”… “Be”… “Set your hope”… How do these commands demonstrate a progression? What is the expectation on the believer?
- What are the expectations for a Christian regarding behavior?
- What is our motivation for living holy lives? What is holiness?
1 Peter 1:17-21
Since you call on a Father who judges each man’s work impartially, live your lives as strangers here in reverent fear.
For you know that it was not with perishable things such as silver or gold that you were redeemed from the empty way of life handed down to you from your forefathers, but with the precious blood of Christ, a lamb without blemish or defect.
He was chosen before the creation of the world, but was revealed in these last times for your sake.
Through him you believe in God, who raised him from the dead and glorified him, and so your faith and hope are in God.
- What does it mean to you that God the Father will “judge our work impartially”?
- Describe a life lived in “reverent fear”? Does that mean that we have to dread the presence of God?
- What does it mean that we are “redeemed”? How do redemption and judgment connect?
- How does this affect your understanding and appreciation of what Jesus has done for you?
1 Peter 1:22-25
Now that you have purified yourselves by obeying the truth so that you have sincere love for your brothers,
love one another deeply, from the heart.
For you have been born again, not of perishable seed, but of imperishable, through the living and enduring word of God. For,
“All men are like grass,
and all their glory is like the flowers of the field;
the grass withers and the flowers fall,
but the word of the Lord stands forever.”
And this is the word that was preached to you.
- There is a connection between holiness (“purification”) and love for others. Why does one depend on the other?
- What is the nature of being “born again”?
- From this week’s study, what do you learn about:
- What encouragement or warning do you gain from this chapter?
