By Roy E. Ciampa, Ph.D., S. Louis and Ann W. Armstrong
Professor of Religion, Samford University
The Expression of Our Hope
1 Peter 1:13–25
Some say, “He who dies with the most toys wins.” But today’s passage teaches us that our Father’s love has invaded our lives so our relationship with Him can transform every part of our lives, leading us to pursue things of eternal value rather than merely temporary pleasures.
While verses 1–12 focused primarily on what God has done for us in Christ, this passage (13–25) stresses how we should respond to our Father’s redeeming love.
Live in grace and holiness rather than conformity to the world. (13−16)
Peter reminds us to live in light of the hope we have that will be realized when Christ returns.
We must no longer give in to our evil desires as we did before coming to know Christ. Our lives must and can be different now.
We are to be “obedient children” and we must be holy, just like our heavenly Father (see Lev. 11:44–45; 19:2; 20:7).
So much flows from knowing God is our Father: He gives us new birth (vv. 3, 23), provides us with an inheritance (v. 4), protects us from various dangers (v. 5) and expects us to reflect our Father’s character (vv. 15–16).
Live as God’s people because we have been redeemed from the world. (17−21)
Our ultimate loyalty must not be to this world, where we are foreigners passing through, but to our Father, who is the ultimate judge and an impartial one at that.
He is the one to whom we are ultimately accountable.
Our new lives must contrast as sharply with the empty way of life of those who don’t know God as the perfect blood of Christ contrasts with perishable things like silver and gold.
Our Father has redeemed us from condemnation and from the empty way of life that would be our fate if He had not chosen Christ to be our redeemer. Because of Christ, chosen and revealed “in these last times,” we can place our faith and hope in the God who raised Him up and glorified Him.
We live our new lives before God and others because our loving Father has provided everything for our salvation and sanctification.
Live according to God’s word in order to remain pure in this world. (22−25)
Peter expounds on what it looks like to live in reverent fear of God.
Purifying ourselves by obeying the truth must reflect a deep and pure love for our brothers and sisters in Christ.
Peter uses two different words for love. The first one is “philadelphia,” the love of one’s siblings (often called “brotherly love”), which must be genuine or sincere. Because God is our Father, fellow believers are our spiritual siblings, and we are to love them as true family members.
The other word is the verb form of “agape” (the word most often used for God’s love): we must love one another earnestly (or intently) from a pure heart.
Verses 23–25 stress the eternal nature of our new life in Christ. Our new birth is not like our original births.
Our original births came about in the normal human way, which results in a temporary mortal life.
The quote from Isaiah 40:6–8 in verse 24 stresses that human life is like grass and flowers that temporarily flourish and then wither and die.
But as Isaiah 40:8 says, the word of the Lord “endures forever,” and it is through that eternal word of God that Christians have been born into eternal life (since it is not perishable but imperishable seed).
That word was preached to us and is the key to the new birth and our life in Christ that endures forever.
Share with others: