“Therefore gird up the loins of your mind, be sober, and rest your hope fully upon the grace that is to be brought to you at the revelation of Jesus Christ.”
Peter submits in this section five pointed exhortations:
Prepare your mind for action
Be self-controlled
Set your hope
Do not be conformed to evil
Be holy
God bases these exhortations on the blessings in the introduction.
Therefore
The “therefore” is the platform for an appeal to the five imperatives that follow. It gathers up all the wealthy result of vv. 3-12. Commands always come out of privileges.
The word “therefore” draws an inference from all that has been said in the book thus far. The “therefore” also draws an inference from the believer’s honor. Because Christians hold distinction, they can live out their privileges. They are elect, sanctified, and sprinkled with the blood of Christ (1:2). Therefore, they have a living hope (1:3) and a reservation in heaven (1:4). God himself keeps His salvation (1:5). They have inner peace under duress (1:6-9). We can center our hope on these things.
Christians are now sons of God since they have come to Christ (Galatians 3:26). If we do not have faith in Christ, we are not a child of God. After we are spiritually born, our status before God changes. We now are as a child to a Father. This is a totally different relationship than a creature to the Creator.
Those without Christ are only capable of religious drivel. Their mind is reprobate (Romans 1:28) and carnal (Romans 8:7,8). Therefore they are blind to spiritual things (2 Corinthians 4:3,4). Colossians 1:21 says that one without God is an enemy of God in their mind (Ephesians 4:17,18).
PRINCIPLE:
Christians live out God’s standards because of their status in God’s eyes.
APPLICATION:
Christians, be ready for trials. Be prepared to rejoice in the midst of them. Look at your inheritance. Make sure that Jesus Christ is the source of your joy and not circumstances.
We must be ready. We are not ready if fear burdens our minds. If we are fearful, conflict is double: inner and outer. Not only do we face the problem, but we face inner turmoil as well.
The only way out of this is to possess an objective philosophy of life based on the Word of God. In this passage, that objective philosophy of life revolves around the person of the Lord Jesus Christ, not on our thoughts about ourselves.
Those without Christ cannot think perpendicularly. They can only think horizontally. They can categorize natural phenomena and think intelligently about mathematics, zoology, biology, and physics. They cannot relate to God because they do not have the spiritual apparatus to do so. They have not been born spiritually. They are dead to God. That is why brilliant people talk baby talk when it comes to God (1 Corinthians 2:14).
