In the 1970s, after Francis Schaeffer had observed the “cultural upheaval” of the prior decade and studied the changes in thought and culture that led to his present day, he asked and answered the question, “How should we then live?” as Christians in this culture. He knew that to claim Christ and simply follow the cultural trends was not acceptable. He knew simply that who we claim to be must affect how we live.

As we turn to 1 Peter, we note that Peter’s thinking is along the same lines. As we saw last week, he spent the first twelve verses of the chapter reminding these Gentile believers who they were. They were God’s chosen people, awaiting an inheritance, with reason to rejoice, and the most privileged people in redemptive history.

With that, the likely question that would have been on his hearers’ minds is, “How shall we then live?” That is, if that’s who we are (elect exiles in this world), then what should our lives look like, how shall we live? And if they were asking that question, they did not have to wait long to receive an answer from Peter, for in the very next section Peter addresses that topic. He has begun with an indicative (this is who you are) and now follows with an imperative (this is how you must live).

Therefore, just as last week I said that we can apply Peter’s comments about who these Gentile believers are in Christ to ourselves, so we must now apply these commands Peter gives to ourselves and obey them. Simply put, if you want to comfort yourself by identifying yourself with the description in verses 1-12, then you must feel and obey the commands of 1:13-2:3. So, with that said, what is it that Peter commands his hearers (and us) to do?

He begins saying to them …

As those awaiting an inheritance, set your hope on the grace to come (13-16)

Peter begins this section calling the readers to be preparing their minds for action and being sober-minded. The actual language Peter uses is “gird up the loins of your mind.” Even as a man would have to take his robe and pull it up through his legs into his belt to get ready to exercise, Peter calls his readers to get their minds ready. But for what task? He says, “Set your hope fully on the grace that will be brought to you at the revelation of Jesus Christ” (13).

As those awaiting the inheritance to come, Peter wants his readers to set their hopes fully on it. By this Peter does not mean that he wants his readers to try to muster up some hope and then try to focus all of that on the grace to come at the coming of Jesus Christ. Rather, he wants his readers to set their minds and focus on the fact that Christ is coming and what that means and let that hope shape how they think, act, and live.

This past week the Union students were in the last week before Spring Break. And as I had conversation with the students this week, I believe it was without exception that the student would say, “You know it’s Spring Break next week, right?” or “Well, with Spring Break coming …” or the like. It’s not as if they were waking up each morning saying, “Be hopeful about Spring Break today. Really get excited about it.” No. Rather, they just set their focus on the fact that it was coming; it really was going to be here in a few days. And as they focused on it in their minds, their hopes grew, and it began to shape everything they did. Some no doubt even went without much sleep this week in light of the fact that they would sleep thirteen hours a day next week.

It is the same for us. We must set our focus on the fact that Christ really is returning, an inheritance really is coming to us, and we will one day be made holy, as even our bodies will be raised from the dead. And how should that cause us to live as we focus on those realities, on the grace that will be brought to us at the revelation of Jesus Christ?

Peter answers in verses 14-16, declaring, “As obedient children, do not be conformed to the passions of your former ignorance but as he who called you is holy, you also be holy in all your conduct, since it is written: “You shall be holy, for I am holy.”

Simply, we set our hope completely on Christ’s coming in being holy now. If we’re setting our focus on a time when we will have a glorious eternal inheritance and will be made holy, then it is only fitting that we are not conformed to the passions that drove us when we were ignorant of such realities but that we are holy now in everything we do, in all our conduct. This has been the command even as far back in Leviticus as their God declared, “You shall be holy as I am holy.”

Suppose I were to tell you that my great hope, what I was looking forward to with great anticipation, was having wood floors in my office. Then, after hearing I got my tax refund back you said, “Hey, what did you spend the money on?” and I said, “I put it down on a new car.” Then, we ran into each other at the local hardware store and I said, “Man, I’ve been researching non-stop to find the best flooring.” “Oh, the best hardwood?” you ask. And I said, “No, carpet for my upstairs bedroom.” It wouldn’t take too long before you would say, “Lee, your great hope and your living need to match up more than they do. Either you need to quit telling people that your great hope is having hardwood in your office or you need to start directing your living toward the end of getting hardwood in your office.”

Your hope and your living must line up. That’s exactly what Peter is telling us in this text. Set your focus on the grace to be revealed to you. Let your mind think of it and filter your life through that reality. And then live holy, for the one you’re waiting for is holy, and when you see him you will be like him.

As those who have been blessed with a sure inheritance that will come to us at the coming of Jesus Christ, we must set our focus on that reality, and let it affect our lives by living holy, separating ourselves from the practices that were ours in our ignorance and belong to so many in this world who do not know Christ. As those who have been sanctified, or set apart, we must live holy lives, separate from those practices which characterize those who do not know Christ.

And Peter continues. Not only must we set our focus on the grace to come, living holy, but Peter also declares …

As those who call God “Father,” live your lives with fear (17-21)

Peter writes in verse 17, “And if you call on him as Father who judges impartially according to each one’s deeds, conduct yourselves with fear throughout the time of your exile.” Peter’s reasoning here may seem a bit odd to us. He writes, “If you call God Father … conduct yourselves with fear.” We might expect him to say, “If you call God Father … have no fear before him.” But he doesn’t. So what does he mean?

I love my dad very much. We have always had and still have a great relationship. When I visit him we can hardly pass each other in the hallway without hugging. When I was little I remember him helping me learn things, bragging before his friends about things I could do, and just loving me. And when I was little I remember being afraid of him. I would hear of friends saying that they ran from their dad when they were about to get spanked, and it seemed as crazy to me as if they had said they just walked on the moon. I thought, “No way. Are you afraid to do that?” When I thought of disobeying as a child, that which often kept me from it was fear of my dad. All my mom had to say to bring me to my senses was, “I’ll tell your dad about this if you don’t straighten up.” I was afraid of him. I was afraid of the discipline that came from his hand.

Now, you might say, “So which is it? Were you afraid of him or did you love him and have a great relationship with him?” Both. And it was right. Fathers have this unique role in a child’s life of being able to love and nurture and train and of being able to instill fear at the thought of disobedience. Ask any child of any good father and they will tell you there is a bit of fear in them when they think of their father. And ask that same child if they love their dad and would rather spend time with him rather than anyone else and they would probably say, “Yes.” You see, fathers have this unique role of being able to model for us a relationship where you have love and fear and the fear does nothing to affect your feeling of love, acceptance, and confidence in him.

I think Peter knew that. I think many in his audience knew what that was like. And that’s why he writes, “If you call on him as Father who judges impartially according to each one’s deeds, conduct yourselves with fear in the time of your exile.” He wants us to realize that God is our Father, and he is a Father who will judge us impartially according to our deeds. He will judge our works on that final day. We will give an account before him, suffering loss and reward. So, Peter says tells us to conduct ourselves in fear. Live in that same fear that kept you from disobedience as a child, not a fear that keeps you from running to him, but a fear that keeps you running to him. If you call him Father, conduct yourselves in fear.

And yet Peter provides us with more reason why we should live in fear in light of disobedience. We do not want to despise the price paid to make us children of God. He writes, “Conduct yourselves with fear throughout the time of your exile, knowing that you were ransomed from your futile ways inherited from your forefathers, not with perishable things such as silver or gold but with the precious blood of Christ, like that of a lamb, without blemish or spot. He was foreknown before the foundation of the world but was made manifest in these last times for your sake who through him are believers in God who raised him from the dead and gave him glory so that your faith and your hope are in God” (18-21).

We all have been redeemed from our meaningless live to which we were enslaved, that handed down from our forefathers. God has purchased us to be his. And he has not purchased us with silver or gold but something much more precious, the spotless blood of Christ. Therefore, were we to forget holiness and forget walking in fear of God, then we would be despising the value of Christ’s sacrifice on our behalf. It would be like us saying, “Man, Christ died for me” and then gloating over our sin before him. It would be like spitting on such a sacrifice so that we might be children of God.

Peter wants us to know what happened so that we might call God, “Father.” Christ’s blood was spilled for us, and this was a commitment of God before the foundation of the world, now carried out in Christ so that we might be believers through him, so that we might have faith and hope in God.

Jesus died and was raised from the dead so that we might have the privilege of calling God our Father. Therefore, do not despise the value of the payment for our redemption but rather fear God and walk in holiness before him.

And yet Peter is not finished, adding …

As those who have been born again, love one another earnestly (22-25)

In verse 22, Peter exhorts them, “Having purified your souls by your obedience to the truth for a sincere brotherly love, love one another earnestly from a pure heart.” That is, since you’ve obeyed the command of the gospel by which you were purified to the end that you might love the brothers, love one another. Because we have been redeemed to the end that we love others, then we should love one another.

However, this isn’t simply doing acts that might seem loving. Peter doesn’t simply say, “Do kind things for one another.” Rather, he says that we should love “earnestly from a pure heart.” This text (along with 1 Corinthians 13) reminds us that we can do a number of things for other people and even give our bodies to be burned and yet not have love because love necessarily involves one’s heart.

But you can’t just make someone love another from one’s heart. So why does Peter expect them to be able to obey this? It is because they’ve been born again. He writes, “Since you have been born again, not of perishable seed but of imperishable, through the living and abiding word of God. For all flesh is like grass and all its glory like the flower of grass. The grass withers and the flower falls, but the word of the Lord remains forever. And this word is the good news that was preached to you” (23-25).

He knows they can love the brothers because a miracle has happened within them. They’ve been born again. God has brought them life. They are no longer dead in their sins. And he has brought them life through an imperishable seed, namely the gospel that was preached to them. They’ve been born to a life that will not end and to an end that they love their brothers, and so it is possible and commanded for them to love the brothers.

As Christians, we are to love one another. We are to care for one another, pray for one another, encourage one another, and build up one another’s burdens. We are to love one another earnestly from our hearts. And if you think you cannot do that, it’s because you do not understand what God has done for us.

In the Old Testament, specifically in Isaiah 40, God promised Israel that he would deliver them from their exile, stating this by his word. And then he declared in that chapter that though men themselves will die, his word will remain forever. That is the text that Peter is quoting. He’s saying that this promise has been fulfilled in the gospel coming to you and you believing. The promises of the Old Testament are becoming a reality in their lives and ours. God has given us new hearts. He has given us new life. He has enabled us to love one another, and so that is our command.

And finally, Peter commands us …

As those called to obedience, put away sin and long for the Word of God (2:1-3)

Peter has just commanded us to love one another, and so he ends writing that they should put away anything that would hinder the commands of holiness, fear, and love. He writes in 2:1, “So put away all malice and all deceit and hypocrisy and envy and all slander.” That is to say, put away anything that would stand in the way of loving one another. Malice causes division and bitterness. Deceit and slander cause us to be against each other. Envy causes us to want harm or loss for others. Hypocrisy causes us to distrust one another. All of these things stand in the way of love, therefore, Peter calls us to put all these things away.

Then, you would expect him to turn around and tell us positive things we can do to demonstrate love. It would be natural to read verse 1 and then read, “And begin to encourage one another, be truthful with one another, be honest and vulnerable, long for the good of others, and speak well of one another. Those would be the opposite of what he has told us not to do. But that’s not what he does. Rather, he writes, “Like newborn infants, long for the pure spiritual milk that by it you may grow up to salvation – if indeed you have tasted that the Lord is good” (2:2-3). And by milk, Peter seems to mean the word of God, as that’s what he’s been describing as the source of their life and what endures forever.

But why does he do that? Well, first, let us note that that is a common practice in the Scripture. In Psalm 1, for example, the Psalmist declares, “Blessed is the man who walks not in the counsel of the wicked, nor stands in the way of sinners, nor sits in the seat of scoffers, but … ” And you would expect him to write the opposite of these actions, writing, “But who walks in the counsel of the wise, does not walk as sinners but as the righteous, and who lives righteously.” But instead he simply writes, “But his delight is in the law of the LORD, and on his law he meditates day and night.”

If the unrighteous man can be described as doing all of these actions, the righteous man need only be described with one action – that his delight is in the word? Why? It is because if one’s delight is in the word of God then one will live a godly life. It is our source and powerful producer of godliness.

That’s why Peter wants them to long for the nourishment of the word. Long for it like a child longs for milk, knowing it is not some nice addition to life but the very source of life. Peter wants us to long for the spiritual milk (that is) the Scripture that way because he knows it will cause us to grow up to salvation.

As believers who have been born again to be holy, walk in fear of God, and love our brothers, Peter knows that these things are enabled in us only as we crave the word of God and pour it into our lives. And Peter also knows that as you do this you’ll want more. As you taste the goodness of God in his word and the power thereof, you’ll want more.

Therefore, let me ask you, “Do you meditate on, read, and memorize God’s word? Is it part of your diet?” If not, then I would dare say you do not like meditating on it, reading it, studying it, and memorizing it? I would say that you’ve not tasted God’s powerful goodness therein. Therefore, begin taking in God’s word more, feed upon it, watch your craving increase, and then observe the power of the word as you begin to walk more holy, in fear of the Lord, and being driven to love your brothers.

God has been so gracious to us. So what then shall we do? How shall we then live? We are to set our focus on Christ’s coming living holy lives, to walk in the fear of our God despising sin and cherishing Christ’s payment, to love our brothers and sisters in Christ realizing God has enabled us to do so by causing us to be born again, and we are to put away anything that stands in the way of fulfilling his commandments and delight in God’s word, craving it even as a baby craves milk.

Therefore, may we declare our obedience to this word and remind ourselves of why we are enabled to obey it as we come to the table. Amen.

'HOW SHOULD WE THEN LIVE?'

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