Sep. 09, 2026

Dear Friends,

I hope you can join us tonight for Bible study. Our Scripture is 1 Peter 1:13-16. Notes are attached. 

LIVING THE CHRISTLIFE

WAYNE BARRETT

SEPTEMBER 9, 2026

1 Peter 1:13-16

13 Therefore, preparing your minds for action, and being sober-minded, set your hope fully on the grace

that will be brought to you at the revelation of Jesus Christ. 14 As obedient children, do not be conformed

to the passions of your former ignorance, 15 but as he who called you is holy, you also be holy in all your

conduct, 16 since it is written, “You shall be holy, for I am holy.”

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v 13 – “Therefore, preparing your minds for action …”

more lit. “Therefore, having girded up the loins of your mind …”

The personality of Peter really comes through

To “gird up the loins”—to gather up a long robe or tunic and bind it tightly around the

waist and thighs in order to make the legs to be unhindered for some type of physical

activity.

Fishermen would have been very used to this!

So to say “having girded up the loins of your mind” is like us saying “having rolled up

the sleeves of your mind”

Beyond the metaphor—what is Peter saying?

mind – dianoia, imagination, mind, understanding—every aspect of our mental capacities

“And he said to him, ‘You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your

soul and with all your mind. This is the great and first commandment.’”—Matthew 22:37-38

Following Christ is not anti-intellectual or anti-knowledge or a pursuit in which our minds are to

be dormant while we walk by faith.

We are to love God and follow Christ with every bit of our minds engaged: knowledge,

understanding, imagination, reason, creativity, …

And we are to engage the world with our minds

“We destroy arguments and every lofty opinion raised against the knowledge of God, and

take every thought captive to obey Christ”—2 Corinthians 10:5

Christianity is not passive or timid or fearful—it is strong and active and engages the whole

person.

So as we go out to live the Christian life, we have “girded up the loins of [our] mind”—we

prepare our minds for vigorous activity.

“being sober-minded”

néphó, being sober; then (like now) the word did mean not to be drunk, and it also meant to be

sensible, serious, in full possession of one’s faculties, to be discreet or circumspect

We are not to be silly or impressionable or superficial or foolish acting

“set your hope fully …”

The preceding words were preliminary, conditions to be met—but this is instruction to which it

is all leading

“fully” may be misleading. The word is teleiós, which means to completion, to the finish. It can

be translated perfectly, but then again, this means perfectly as in to complete it, not that it is

without any flaw. The sense is until the end, until all is accomplished.

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So “set your hope until its fulfilment”—and the tense is aorist, completed action. This is an

accomplished act.

more lit. “on the grace being brought to you …”

It is not future tense, it is present participle—it is actively happening

Everything is in motion according to God’s plan

again, more lit. “in [en] the revelation of Jesus Christ.”

see 2 Thessalonians 1:5-10

This is to be the first object of our hope.

If we truly know that this is “where things are headed,” such a certain expectation gives

us strength and encouragement and joy is looking forward to that day.

v 14 – “As obedient children …”

lit. “as children of obedience”—obedience should be a defining quality of Christian living

a major theme of Scripture

A consumer culture emphasizes choices and catering to the desires of the customer.

The Bible emphasizes obedience to Christ.

“do not be conformed” – more lit. “not fashioning yourselves”

An active activity and an ongoing one—we are, in how we live, fashioning ourselves, shaping

ourselves, to some type of pattern. We are to do this intentionally.

more lit. “to the former—in your ignorance—lusts [epithumia].”

Peter contrasts our calling in Christ to the type of living that is in the world without

Christ—and from which his readers had come. These are worldly lusts or passions of

many types, not just sexual lusts. A lust for riches, a lust for recognition, a lust for

power over others, etc.

Word order is flexible in Greek, but the phrase “in your ignorance” is moved up, inserted

early, for emphasis. Compare “That was the wrong turn we took, because of your

refusal to ask for directions.” to “That was—because of your refusal to ask for

directions—the wrong turn we took.”

Another example of Peter’s direct language

v 15 – “but as he who called you is holy …”

God is holy: sinless, blameless, light with no darkness, and set apart completely from any

blemish or corruption of evil

more lit. “also yourselves, in all conduct, be.”

conduct – anastrophé, behavior, conduct, way of life, manner of life

This is a challenge—but it is our charge

We are to fashion our living according to holiness

It is important not to have misguided—even silly—ideas about holy living

Jesus is (and was) holy in all his living, in all his behaviors

God is holy—not only in his Being, but in all of his activity

Life in fulness and diversity is to be lived in holiness

“… whatever is true, whatever is honorable, whatever is just, whatever is pure, whatever

is lovely, whatever is commendable, if there is any excellence, if there is anything

worthy of praise, think about these things. 9 What you have learned and received and

heard and seen in me—practice these things, and the God of peace will be with

you.”—Philippians 4:8-9

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v 16 – “since it is written …”

“For I am the LORD your God. Consecrate yourselves therefore, and be holy, for I am holy. You

shall not defile yourselves with any swarming thing that crawls on the ground. For I am the

LORD who brought you up out of the land of Egypt to be your God. You shall therefore be

holy, for I am holy.”—Leviticus 11:44-45

The passage Peter is quoting, and in which God’s holiness is asserted, is a passage regarding

things that are clean or unclean to eat.

God emphasized that the Israelites were not to be like everyone else, and they were not

necessarily to follow their own inclinations, even in matters of what to eat and drink.

Peter had a strong personality. God used that personality; Peter did not give it up in order to be

“holy.”

Holiness is not the same as “being religious,” as most people would understand being religious.

Holiness is belonging to God and seeking to be like Him. Belonging to Christ, and seeking to

be like him.

Hating sin. Not seeking the world. Pursuing Spirit-led obedience to Christ. Being the people of

Christ. Holy unto him