In the beginning of his first letter, Peter has encouraged his readers by telling them of the many blessings they have because of their faith in Christ Jesus. He has also reminded them of the great value of salvation. But God’s wonderful blessings also place some obligations on those who receive them. As Jesus said, “…To whomever much is given, of him will much be required; and to whom much was entrusted, of him more will be asked.” (Luke 12:48) In 1:13-16 Peter writes: “Therefore, prepare your minds for action, be sober and set your hope fully on the grace that will be brought to you at the revelation of Jesus Christ—as children of obedience, not conforming yourselves according to your former lusts as in your ignorance, but just as he who called you is holy, you yourselves also be holy in all of your behavior; because it is written, “You shall be holy; for I am holy.””
Peter is writing to people who are suffering because of their faith in Jesus Christ. When we suffer, when we are facing pressure on every side, it is easy to become overwhelmed by a feeling of helplessness. Anxiety and indecision can paralyze us so that we passively watch while trouble overtakes us. But because of God’s blessings and the costly salvation that has been given to them, the followers of Jesus should not respond like this to trouble. Instead Peter tells them that they should “prepare your minds for action.” In Luke 12:36 Jesus instructs His disciples: “Be like men watching for their lord, when he returns from the marriage feast; that, when he comes and knocks, they may immediately open to him.” The Christian should always hold himself ready to do whatever task his Master asks of him. He needs to clear his mind of the problems and troubles he faces, and to think about how he can accomplish his Master’s will.
Peter says that the follower of Christ is to “be sober”. The actual meaning of the Greek word that Peter uses is “free from the influence of intoxicants”. One of the reasons people drink liquor or take drugs is to escape reality. They imagine that by getting intoxicated they won’t have to face their troubles. But, the troubles only get worse and the person who tries to escape them by getting drunk or “high” cannot think clearly in order to deal with them. This is not for Christians. The Christian is not to try to escape his problems, but rather to look beyond and through them with the eyes of hope. “…set your hope fully on the grace that will be brought to you at the revelation of Jesus Christ…” (verse 13) The Apostle Paul expands this thought when he writes in Romans 5:2-5, “…We rejoice in hope of the glory of God. Not only this, but we also rejoice in our sufferings, knowing that suffering works perseverance; and perseverance, proven character; and proven character, hope: and hope doesn’t disappoint us, because God’s love has been poured out into our hearts through the Holy Spirit who was given to us.”
In the very beginning of his letter, Peter referred to God as the ‘Father’. He did so because the scriptures say that God adopts as His children all of those who put their faith in Jesus Christ. As we saw in an earlier program, Romans 8:16-17 says, “The Spirit himself testifies with our spirit that we are children of God; and if children, then heirs; heirs of God, and joint heirs with Christ…” But Peter points out that along with the priceless privilege of being God’s child comes a responsibility. He writes: “as children of obedience, not conforming yourselves according to your former lusts as in your ignorance.” (verse 14)
When Peter speaks of ignorance, he is not referring to how much education a person has. The Apostle Peter himself was an uneducated fisherman. Acts 4:13 records: “Now when they saw the boldness of Peter and John, and had perceived that they were unlearned and ignorant men, they marveled. They recognized that they had been with Jesus.” In contrast, the Apostle Paul was highly educated. In Acts 22:3 he says he was, “brought up in this city at the feet of Gamaliel, instructed according to the strict tradition of the law of our fathers…” And in Galatians 1:14 he says, “I advanced in the Jews’ religion beyond many of my own age among my countrymen, being more exceedingly zealous for the traditions of my fathers.” What Peter and Paul had in common was that they both met Jesus and came to love Him. The question is not how many academic degrees we have but instead, how well do we know Jesus? The kind of ignorance that Peter is talking about is spiritual ignorance.
There are two kinds of spiritual ignorance. The first kind is not knowing about God and the salvation from sin that He offers through Jesus Christ. Acts 17:29-30 says: “Being then the offspring of God, we ought not to think that the Divine Nature is like gold, or silver, or stone, engraved by art and design of man. The times of ignorance therefore God overlooked. But now he commands that all people everywhere should repent,”
The second kind of spiritual ignorance is more serious. It results from hearing about God, but deliberately hardening one’s heart to the message. The Apostle Paul writes: “…you no longer walk as the rest of the Gentiles also walk, in the futility of their mind, being darkened in their understanding, alienated from the life of God, because of the ignorance that is in them, because of the hardening of their hearts.” (Ephesians 4:17-18) From this passage we see that hardening one’s heart leads to ignorance which in turn separates one from a godly life. This is why Peter stresses that we must be obedient.
Peter says that our obedience will be demonstrated by our holiness. But we do not achieve holiness by our own efforts. Colossians 1:21-22 reminds us: “You, being in past times alienated and enemies in your mind in your evil works, yet now he has reconciled in the body of his flesh through death, to present you holy and without blemish and blameless before him,” Our holiness is measured by the degree to which we surrender our wills to Christ Jesus and accept His holiness. Have we surrendered to Christ, or are we still clinging to our own wills?