1 Peter - Following Jesus Sample

Peter urges his Christian readers to live as ‘obedient children ...’ God ‘has given us new birth’ (1:3). It is new birth into his own family. God is now our father. Children are to obey their earthly fathers. How much more should this be so with you and your heavenly Father.

• Peter tells his friends three ways this obedience should work out in practice. What are his three commands (vv. 14, 15, 17)? (Notice how Peter gives a reason for each one.)

First, these believers must stop obeying their old sinful desires (v. 14). These ‘evil desires’ belong to the bad old days when these believers didn’t know God. In those days of ‘ignorance’, they just followed whatever sinful desires bubbled up in their hearts. But now they are children of God and they must obey him instead.

There is always a clash between what God wants and what sinful human beings want. Every thought, every action is a choice. Who will you choose to obey today?

The second command is to ‘be holy’ (v. 15). These believers’ lives used to be a mirror of the sin in their hearts. Now their lives should be a mirror of God’s holiness. Human children look like their parents; Christians should look like their Father too. God wants us to be just as pure and good as he is. Our home is with him.

Thirdly, we must live ‘in reverent fear’ of God (v. 17). We need to do that because of the sort of judge God is.

• How does God, our Father, judge each person’s work?

Our Father is holy (v. 16). He hates all evil. He is also a perfectly just judge. He is impartial (v. 17). God may be our father, but that doesn’t mean he has lower standards for us, just because we are in his family.

Wonderfully, God forgives our sin through Jesus’ death, but we are still to ‘live … in reverent fear’ of him (v. 17). God still hates sin. He wants us to stop it! We are not to settle down in disobedience. We can’t presume to slip all kinds of sinful behaviour past God, as if he will just look the other way.

Being obedient children sounds like a big ask, but did you notice the word ‘call’ in these verses? God has called us into relationship with him and he invites us to call on him to help us live as he wants.

Pray

Call on your Father to help you obey him today rather than your old sinful desires.