1 Peter 1:13 to 1:17 - Zac Poonen - Verse By Verse Study

 Expository Sermon Notes

“From Grace to Greater Grace: The Call to Holiness and Obedience and Holy Fear”

Introduction and Context

• We return now to 1 Peter chapter 1 and verse 13.
• In the previous verses (considered last week), we saw something of the greatness of the salvation that has come to us through the grace of the Lord Jesus Christ.
• This is “the true grace of God” (1 Peter 5:12) in which we are told to stand firm.
• It is the grace about which the prophets of old prophesied (1 Peter 1:10) – something that was yet in the future for them, something they could not experience under the Old Testament.
• This made Jesus say that the least person in the kingdom of God is greater than the greatest of the Old Testament saints, even John the Baptist.
• This grace has now come to us through Jesus Christ.
• It is a tremendous salvation:
  • which the Old Testament prophets could not experience (though they prophesied it),
  • which the angels in heaven long to look into and understand, yet have not experienced themselves.

Verse 13 – The Therefore of Privilege and Responsibility

“Therefore” – because we have inherited this incomparable salvation… Peter says:

• Gird up your minds for action (or “brace up your minds”).
• Be sober (keep sober in spirit).
• Fix your hope completely on the grace that is yet to be brought to you at the revelation of Jesus Christ.

Key Truth: Salvation in Christ leads us from grace to greater grace.

• Initial salvation = forgiveness of sins through the riches of His grace (the beginning).
• Ongoing grace = grace that enables us to overcome sin (Romans 6:14 – “sin shall not be master over you, for you are not under law but under grace”).
• Grace that is sufficient for every need we face in earthly life (2 Corinthians 12:9).
• Future grace = a further grace that is to be ours at the return of Jesus Christ when He is finally revealed/unveiled.

We are to hope fully, perfectly, and completely in this coming grace. But this greater grace will not come automatically. We are commanded:

• Gird up the loins of your mind
• Be sober → We are to look forward soberly, seriously, intelligently, using our minds set on things above, expecting grace from God in order to obey.

Verse 14 – Obedient Children vs Former Lusts

• “As obedient children” (literal: “children of obedience”).
• Contrast with Ephesians 2:2 – unbelievers are “children of disobedience.”
• Do not be conformed (molded, shaped) to the former lusts which controlled you in the time of your ignorance.

Important distinction: Peter is NOT speaking here about forgiveness of sins.

• Forgiveness of sins was something Old Testament believers experienced.
• Peter is speaking of the grace the Old Testament prophets did NOT experience, though they prophesied it – a grace that goes beyond forgiveness.
• This is the grace that delivers from the power of sin and produces obedience to God’s commandments.

This is Peter’s great burden throughout the epistle, and he calls it “the true grace of God” (1 Peter 5:12) – grace that leads to obedience. Therefore:

• No longer let former lusts shape your personality.
• Let the grace of God deliver you from those lusts.
• Be obedient to God’s Word so that your personality is shaped in the image of Christ from now on.

Verse 15–16 – The Call to Holiness

• Instead of being molded by former lusts (the mold of Adam), be molded by the nature of the Holy One who called you.
• “But like the Holy One who called you, be holy yourselves in all your behavior.”
• Alternative translation: “Don’t let your character be molded by the desires of your ignorant days, but be holy in every part of your lives, for the One who called you is Himself holy.”

Holiness must characterize every area:

• actions
• words
• thoughts
• attitudes
• motives

The supreme reason (v.16): “Because it is written, ‘You shall be holy, for I am holy.’”

• We are children of a Father whose primary and essential characteristic is holiness.
• We have received the Holy Spirit.
• Therefore, holiness is to mark the entire personality of every child of God.

Verse 17 – Conduct Yourselves in Fear

“If you address as Father the One who impartially judges according to each man’s work…”

• God is impartial – He has no favorites.
• Sin always drives us out of God’s presence and breaks fellowship, whoever we are.

Two clearest biblical examples:

1. Garden of Eden – Adam and Eve sinned once → God who loved them and created them turned them out of the garden.
2. Calvary – Jesus, the only begotten Son, bearing the sins of the world (not His own) → the Father turned His face away (“My God, My God, why have You forsaken Me?”).

Therefore even for believers:

• Romans 8:13 – “If you are living according to the flesh, you will die” (eternal death, without doubt).
• God’s attitude toward sin never changes, whether in an unbeliever or a believer.

Conclusion and application (v.17): “Conduct yourselves in fear during the entire time of your sojourn upon earth.”

• From the beginning to the end of the Christian life we must walk in the fear of God.
• Jesus Himself, in the days of His flesh, offered up prayers with strong crying and tears to Him who was able to save Him from death (the death that comes from living after the flesh), and “He was heard because of His godly fear” (Hebrews 5:7).
• Jesus never entered that death because He walked in reverential fear every moment.

Final exhortation: If we, like Jesus, conduct ourselves in reverential fear every moment of our life:

• We will keep ourselves from sin.
• We will experience grace to obey all His commandments.
• We will be progressively transformed into the image of Christ until that final grace is brought to us at the revelation of Jesus Christ.

This is the true grace of God – stand fast in it!

Same Message From different LM:

I. The Context: Superior Grace and Salvation

In the preceding verses, the greatness of the Salvation that has come to us through the grace of the Lord Jesus Christ was considered. This is the true grace of God (1 Peter 5:12), which believers are told to stand firm in.

The grace that has come to us:

• Was prophesied by the Old Testament prophets (1 Peter 1:10).

• Was something yet in the future that we were to experience in Christ, which nobody under the Old Testament could ever experience.

• Has brought us a tremendous salvation that Old Testament prophets could not experience and which angels in heaven seek to understand.

• This superior salvation caused Jesus to say that the least person in the kingdom of God was greater than the greatest of Old Testament people, such as John the Baptist.

Since we are so privileged, having inherited this great salvation, Peter moves to the ensuing commands in verse 13.

II. The Call to Action and Hope (1 Peter 1:13)

Peter instructs believers based on the privilege they possess:

1. Gird Your Minds for Action: The command is to "gird your minds for action" or "brace up your minds".

2. Be Sober: Believers must "be sober" and keep sober in spirit.

3. Fix Complete Hope on Future Grace: We are to "fix your hope completely on the grace that is yet to be brought to you at the revelation of Jesus Christ".

Salvation through Jesus leads us from grace to greater grace. We are told of a further Grace that is to be ours at the return of Jesus Christ when He is finally revealed and unveiled. We are to hope fully for that future grace and experience more and more grace between now and then.

Crucially, this increase in grace is not automatic. To expect this Grace from God and thus to obey, we must look forward soberly, seriously, and intelligently, using our minds set on the things that are above.

III. The Necessity of Obedience (1 Peter 1:14)

Peter speaks of the same obedience he mentioned in verse 2:

• Believers are to live as obedient children before God.

• The literal translation of the phrase is "children of obedience", contrasting with the "children of disobedience" (Ephesians 2:2).

• We must not be molded by the desires of our ignorant days (or "conformed to the former lusts in the days of our ignorance").

In the days of our ignorance, when we did not know about this Grace or the salvation that could deliver us from sin's power, we lived according to our lusts.

Peter’s focus here is on something beyond forgiveness of sins—something the Old Testament prophets did not experience. This is the Grace that leads us to obedience to God's commandments. This is the true grace of God (1 Peter 5:12).

Since we are no longer ignorant, we must not let those former lusts shape our personality. Instead, the grace of God must deliver us from those lusts, and we must be obedient to God’s word so that our personality is shaped in the image of Christ henceforth.

IV. The Command for Holiness (1 Peter 1:15–16)

The contrast is clear: we must not let the former lusts shape us, but we must "be holy yourselves".

A. The Mold of Character

Our personality can be poured into two molds:

1. The mold of our former lusts (the figure of Adam).

2. The mold of the nature of God (that is seen in Christ).

To be poured into the mold of God's nature, obedience is required. If we obey each time God calls us to and seek for Grace to obey, then we shall become holy.

A different translation emphasizes this scope: "Don't let your character be molded by the desires of your ignorant days but be holy in every part of your lives". Holiness must characterize every aspect of our personality, including our actions, words, thoughts, attitudes, and motives—in all our behavior (verse 15).

B. The Fundamental Reason

The reason for this holiness is found in verse 16: "because the one who has called us our heavenly father is Holy and he has written you shall be holy for I am Holy".

Holiness is the primary and essential characteristic of our Father, and we are also given the Holy Spirit, who is called the Holy Spirit.

V. The Basis of Conduct: Reverential Fear (1 Peter 1:17)

Peter emphasizes the seriousness of our walk:

If we are going to address this Holy One as "Our Father," then it is essential that we conduct ourselves in reverential fear during the entire time of our stay upon this Earth.

A. The Impartial Judge

This Father judges everyone impartially according to each man’s work. God is impartial, meaning He has no favorites.

Sin drives us out of God's presence, and God has to turn his face away and break fellowship with us when we sin.

Clear examples of God’s impartiality regarding sin include:

1. Adam and Eve: They sinned just once, and that single sin was enough to turn them out of the garden. God, who loved them, turned them out when they sinned.

2. The Cross of Calvary: Jesus, the only begotten son of God, hung on the cross for the sins of the world, and the Father turned away his face.

God's attitude toward sin is always the same, whether sin is found in a man who calls himself a believer or an unbeliever; God has to break fellowship wherever sin is found.

This warning is applied to believers in Romans 8:13: "if you being Believers now live after the flesh you shall die eternally without a doubt," because the Father who judges has no favorites. Therefore, it is essential that we conduct ourselves in the fear of God from the beginning to the end of our Christian life.

B. Following Christ’s Example

Jesus conducted himself in reverential fear in the days of his flesh.

• Hebrews 5:7 notes that Jesus prayed with strong crying and tears to Him who was able to save him from death.

• That death was the death that results from living after the flesh, which Jesus never wanted to enter into.

• He sought help from his father and was heard because of his Godly fear.

We are called to follow in His footsteps every moment of our life to conduct ourselves in reverential fear of God. By doing so, we shall keep ourselves from sin and experience Grace to obey His Commandments.