In this third part of our series in 1 Peter, the apostle continues to slow the church down. Before he urges believers to act, to change, or to respond, he invites them to linger. To dwell. To look again at the salvation they have received and to see it afresh, not as something assumed or backgrounded, but as something weighty, beautiful, and life-shaping.
Peter writes to Christians who are weary. They are living as exiles, scattered and pressured, trying to remain faithful in contexts that are often hostile or indifferent to the gospel. And his response is not to give them a list of strategies for survival. Instead, he draws their attention back to what God has done. Salvation, Peter reminds them, is not a small thing. It is the long-promised work of God, anticipated by the prophets, searched out and wondered over, and now revealed fully in Jesus Christ.
The prophets, Peter tells us, spoke of a grace they could not fully see. They knew God was acting. They knew salvation was coming. But they did not live to see how it would all come together in the suffering and glory of Christ. And yet they preached, trusted, and persevered. Their ministry was marked by faithfulness rather than visible success. In pointing back to them, Peter places the present church within the long story of God’s redemptive work. What these believers are experiencing is not random or meaningless. It is part of the same pattern that has always marked the people of God: suffering before glory, obedience before vindication, faithfulness before fruit.
Peter wants the church to see that difficulty is not a sign of God’s absence. It is often the very place where the life of faith is tested, refined, and revealed. Even the angels, he says, long to look into these things. Salvation is not something to rush past. It is something to dwell in, to return to again and again, because it is the source of hope, endurance, and joy in the Christian life.
Only after grounding the church in this big picture does Peter turn to the question of how believers are to live. Verse 13 marks the turning point. “Therefore,” Peter says. Because of everything God has done, because of this great salvation, prepare your minds for action. The Christian life begins in the mind, shaped by truth, renewed by hope, and sustained by grace. Peter’s imagery is practical and earthy. Roll up your sleeves. Get ready. Be alert. This is not passive faith, but it is also not self-driven effort. It is a life lived in response to grace.
At the heart of Peter’s call is holiness. “Be holy, because I am holy.” This can easily be misunderstood. Holiness is not about withdrawing from the world in fear, nor is it about trying to earn God’s favour through moral effort. Peter holds together what the gospel always holds together: grace and obedience, identity and calling. Believers are already God’s children. They are already recipients of mercy. And precisely because that is true, they are called to live differently.
Peter rejects two false paths. One treats faith as private and invisible, something that makes little difference to how we live. The other turns holiness into legalism, a way of proving ourselves to God or others. Both miss the gospel. True holiness flows from knowing who God is and who we are in Christ. It is shaped by reverence, gratitude, and hope. It is lived out in ordinary decisions, everyday obedience, and faithful presence in the world.
Holiness, Peter shows us, is not about becoming less human, but more so. It is about being shaped by the character of a holy God who has drawn near to us as Father. When we truly grasp both God’s holiness and God’s grace, we are moved neither to fear-driven rule-keeping nor to careless freedom, but to joyful, serious, hope-filled living.
This is why Peter calls the church to fix their hope fully on the grace to be revealed in Christ. Hope is not vague optimism. It is settled confidence in what God has promised and will complete. And it is this hope that enables believers to live faithfully in difficult places, trusting that God is at work even when the fruit is slow or hidden.
The beautiful life, Peter reminds us, is a holy life. Not perfect, not effortless, but rooted in grace and shaped by hope. A life that reflects the beauty of the gospel in a broken world. A life that lingers on salvation and then lives it out, day by day, until Christ comes again.
🎧 Listen to the full sermon
Part 3 | 1 Peter 1:10–16 | The Beautiful Life Is a Holy Life
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