Read 1 Peter 1:13-16 – Be Holy
1. Just as people in biblical times would gather up their long robes and tie them around their waists so they could move quickly and freely, we need to do whatever it takes to focus our thoughts on those things that allow us to serve God successfully, all the while eliminating any thoughts that would trip us up. – NKJV Study Bible Consider Hebrews 12:1-2. How do these verses add to your understanding of 1 Pet. 1:13?
a. (vs 13) Define “sober”. How does this apply to girding up the loins of your mind?
b. On what are we to rest our hope? (vs 13) When do we expect this hope to be fulfilled?
2. Verses 14 and 15 first tell us what obedience doesn’t look like, and then it tells us what it does look like. Compare the two.
a. What does “conforming yourselves” indicate?
b. Define “holy”.
c. How can a person be holy? Or can they?
d. (vs 16) Look up these verses in Leviticus: Lev. 11:44-45, 19:2, 20:7. What is God telling the Israelites? Practically speaking, what would this look like in their lives? What should it look like in our lives?
Read 1 Peter 1:17-21 – Motivation to Live A Godly Life
1. As God’s children, we need to be serious about sin and about holy living. Our heavenly Father is a holy (John 17:11) and righteous Father (John 17:25). He will not compromise with sin. He is merciful and forgiving, but He is also a loving disciplinarian who cannot permit His children to enjoy sin. After all, it was sin that sent His Son to the cross. If we call God “Father,” then we should reflect His nature. – Wiersbe Comment on this quote.
2. The judgment spoken of in verse 17 has nothing to do with salvation, but rather the place where our works will be evaluated. We will all experience this at the Judgment Seat of Christ, also known as the Bema Seat Judgment. What do we learn of this from Rom 14:10-12 and 2 Cor. 5:9-10?
a. (vs 17) What does “throughout the time of your stay here” confirm?
b. (vs 17) How do we “conduct yourselves… in fear”?
3. (vs 18) As valuable as silver and gold are, they are still corruptible. We were not redeemed (bought back, set free by paying a price) with anything that could be ruined or destroyed. According to verse 19, by what means were we redeemed?
4. How is our condition prior to salvation described in verse 18?
5. (vs 20) When did God make the plan for your salvation?
6. (vs 21) Because of the work of Jesus on the cross, our faith and hope are in God. What do John 10:17-18 and 1 Cor. 6:19-20 tell us about the cost of our redemption?
7. Peter means to motivate us to holy living by reminding us of the circumstances of our salvation. We can so easily fall into indifference, taking for granted the cost of our salvation. This is one of the reasons God established “The Lord’s Supper”…to remember. What steps will you take to always remember and thus motivate yourself to holy living?
Read 1 Peter 1:22-25 – The Word of God
1. Peter does not say that we purify our own souls, but that we accomplish the purification of our souls by obedience to God’s truth. – NKJV Study Bible Describe this purification.
2. According to verse 22, what is one evidence of obeying the truth?
a. The word “sincere” is literally the word “unhypocritical.” Describe sincere love.
b. “Fervently” is an athletic term meaning “striving with all of one’s energy.” What does this indicate about our efforts to love one another?
c. How does one love “fervently with a pure heart”?
d. Compare a pure heart with the heart of Psalm 55:21?
3. In verse 22 Peter uses two different words for love. The first is philadelphia meaning brotherly love, and the next is agape which is sacrificial, unconditional love. Wiersbe says we share brotherly love because we are brothers and sisters in Christ and have likenesses. We share agape love because we belong to God and therefore can overlook differences. Your thoughts?
4. (vs 23) Your first birth was of the flesh which is corruptible. In our flesh, we cannot love sincerely or with a pure heart. But we are born again through the word of God which is incorruptible. It endures forever. Verse 24-25 is taken from Isaiah 40:6-8. Read Isaiah 40:6-8. How does this deepen our understanding?