Read & explore together
A Call to Holiness
This part of 1 Peter calls believers to live differently because of who God is and what Christ has done. It joins clear commands with reasons, moving from the mind and behaviour to redemption, faith and hope.
Understanding the passage
The setting of these words
In these verses, the writer speaks directly to believers and tells them how to live. The passage is teaching, not story. It urges them to set their hope on coming grace, to practise holiness, and to remember that they were redeemed through the blood of Christ and now trust in God.
1 Peter 1:13–21Main takeaway
Because God is holy and Christ has redeemed his people, believers are called to live with obedient holiness, reverent fear, faith and hope in God.
Follow the letter’s teaching
Open a card to explore the full explanation and its Bible references.
01Prepare your mind and hopeThe passage begins with action words: prepare, be sober, and set your hope fully on grace.
Explanation
The passage begins with action words: prepare, be sober, and set your hope fully on grace. “Prepare your minds for action” points to alert, ready thinking. “Be sober” adds self-control and clear judgement. The hope is set on the grace to be brought at the revelation of Jesus Christ.
02Live as obedient children in holinessBelievers are described as “children of obedience”, so they are not to be shaped by their former lusts or by ignorance.
Explanation
Believers are described as “children of obedience”, so they are not to be shaped by their former lusts or by ignorance. Instead, their pattern is God himself: “he who called you is holy”. Holiness is not limited to one part of life, because the command reaches “all of your behavior”.
03Fear God while living as foreignersThe writer says that if believers call on God as Father, they should also remember that he judges each person’s work without partiality.
Explanation
The writer says that if believers call on God as Father, they should also remember that he judges each person’s work without partiality. So they are to live their time here in reverent fear. The passage holds together closeness to God as Father and seriousness before him as judge.
04Remember the cost of redemptionTheir changed life is grounded in redemption. They were not redeemed with perishable wealth such as silver or gold, and the former way of life is called useless.
Explanation
Their changed life is grounded in redemption. They were not redeemed with perishable wealth such as silver or gold, and the former way of life is called useless. Instead, redemption came through the precious blood of Christ, described with the image of a lamb without blemish or spot.
05Faith and hope rest in God through ChristChrist was foreknown before the foundation of the world and revealed in this last age for the sake of these believers.
Explanation
Christ was foreknown before the foundation of the world and revealed in this last age for the sake of these believers. Through him they believe in God, the one who raised him from the dead and gave him glory. The result named here is that their faith and hope are in God.
Questions to explore
Pause, look back at the verses and talk together.
01What does 1 Peter 1:13 say believers should do with their minds and hope?
Look for the three linked commands in the verse: prepare your minds for action, be sober, and set your hope fully on the grace to be brought at the revelation of Jesus Christ.
02How does the passage connect God’s holiness with everyday behaviour?
Read 1 Peter 1:15-16 carefully and notice that God’s holiness is the reason believers are to be holy in all their behaviour.
03According to 1 Peter 1:18-21, why should faith and hope be in God?
Trace the reasons in order: redemption came through Christ’s precious blood, Christ was revealed for believers’ sake, and God raised him from the dead and gave him glory.
Read the Bible passage
World English Bible ClassicScripture quotation · Public domain
1 Peter 1:13–21
13Therefore 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—
14as children of obedience, not conforming yourselves according to your former lusts as in your ignorance,
15but just as he who called you is holy, you yourselves also be holy in all of your behavior,
16because it is written, “You shall be holy, for I am holy.”
17If you call on him as Father, who without respect of persons judges according to each man’s work, pass the time of your living as foreigners here in reverent fear,
18knowing that you were redeemed, not with corruptible things like silver or gold, from the useless way of life handed down from your fathers,
19but with precious blood, as of a lamb without blemish or spot, the blood of Christ,
20who was foreknown indeed before the foundation of the world, but was revealed in this last age for your sake,
21who through him are believers in God, who raised him from the dead and gave him glory, so that your faith and hope might be in God.