HOW THEN SHALL WE LIVE? 1 Peter 1:10-20

Jesus Fulfills God’s Promises
1:10-12

The Old Testament prophets prophesied about the grace that would come in Christ to bring salvation. But they were not given the whole picture. They searched and inquired to know who the Messiah would be, when he would come, how he would suffer, and how he would be glorified. (10-11) Despite this, the Holy Spirit did not give them the whole picture. In fact, even angels longed to see the revelation of Christ, but did not. (12)

They were not serving themselves, though. They were serving us, showing us the promises of God made in the past, then showing us the fulfillment of them in Christ. We have a great advantage, for the Holy Spirit has announced the full picture to us through those who preached the good news, such as Jesus himself and his apostles. What a blessing it is!

How Shall We Then Live
1:13-20

Yes, this is a reference to Francis Schaeffer’s book. Published in 1976, Schaeffer’s point in his book was that worldview affects the way people live and make decisions, which affects the direction of culture. Charles “Chuck” Colson was influenced by Schaeffer. He followed Schaeffer’s ideas in his own book “How Now Shall We Live”, published in 1999 and dedicated to Schaeffer.

Peter has the same thought in this passage, although more limited in scope. His question is “how do we now live in light of this inheritance, this hope?” . That is why he starts the passage with the word “therefore”. In other words, in light of this permanent inheritance given to us through the grace of God, how do we live out this life on earth?

First, Peter tells us what our state of mind should be. He says “preparing your minds for action”. (13) It is literally “gird the loins of your mind” for action. This is a reference to men getting ready for battle or some kind of action. The Jewish men wore robes that went down to their ankles. This was not conducive to running and moving. So, they pulled up the skirt of the robe and tucked it into their belt for more freedom of movement. It was called girding your loins. You prepared yourself for action. For example, as Israel prepared to leave Egypt, the men were told to eat their dinner with their robes girded. They were to be ready to move quickly when the time came.

This is not unlike Paul using the battle dress of a Roman soldier to tell us to put on the whole armor of God.

Christians need to go into the world prepared, knowing where trouble lies and being ready to face it. Peter also says to be sober minded. If our minds are full of frivolous things, we cannot fight spiritual battles. If we are drunk or on drugs, we cannot fight spiritual battles.

So, we go into every day knowing the world is not our home, that temptations and trials will come, that opportunities to witness will arise, and that we need to live each day to glorify God.