Commentaries and Other Bible Study Helps - Prayer Tents - Prayer Tents

1:13 set your hope fully. The fullness of grace and its complete work will come only when Jesus returns, and believers are to long for that day. They do so by thinking rightly about reality and by living sober-minded and sensible lives in this present evil age.

1:14-15 While living on this earth, Christians have to fight the desires of sin, so they are called to be obedient children, separated from evil in all that they do. They are to be holy (cf. Lev. 18:2-4), for that accords with the character of God who is holy and has called believers to himself.

1:17 Father who judges impartially may refer only to the final judgment, when believers will be judged according to their deeds (cf. Rom. 2:6, 16; 2 Cor. 5:10). More likely, Peter has in mind both this present life and the last day as well. God is not only the Father of his people but also their judge. Fear is not a paralyzing terror but a fear of God's discipline and fatherly displeasure; it is a reverence and awe that should characterize the lives of believers during their exile (cf. 1 Pet. 1:1) on this earth.

1:18-19 The reason for the call to fear (v. 17) is given in vv. 18-19. Believers were ransomed by Christ's precious blood. "Ransom" recalls Israel's deliverance from Egypt (Deut. 7:8; 9:26; 15:15; 24:18), which in turn points to the greater deliverance accomplished by Jesus Christ. Believers are delivered from a life of futility and meaninglessness to one of great significance. you were ransomed from the futile ways inherited from your forefathers. Christ's sacrifice breaks the inevitability and power of "generational sin," the idea that the sins of parents and grandparents are often repeated in later generations (cf. Ex. 20:5-6). Christ's sacrifice is compared to a lamb without blemish or spot. The references to "lamb" and "blood" point to the OT sacrifices and especially to Christ as the Passover Lamb (Exodus 12) and the servant of the Lord (cf. "lamb," Isa. 53:7). As the perfect sacrifice, Christ atoned for the sins of the unrighteous (cf. John 1:29; 1 Pet. 3:18).

1:20-21 Christians should live in holy fear (v. 17) because they are deeply loved and should not despise that love. God planned (Christ was foreknown, cf. v. 2) from eternity past when he would send Christ, and he chose to reveal him at the time in history when these believers lived (for the sake of you) so that they would enjoy the inexpressible privilege of living in the days of fulfillment (cf. vv. 10-12). They should be full of hope (hope functions as an inclusio--a literary envelope--beginning and ending this section; vv. 13, 21), for Christ's being raised reminds them of their future reward.