13 Wherefore gird up the loins of your mind, be sober, and hope to the end for the grace that is to be brought unto you at the revelation of Jesus Christ; 14 As obedient children, not fashioning yourselves according to the former lusts in your ignorance: 15 But as he which hath called you is holy, so be ye holy in all manner of conversation; 16 Because it is written, Be ye holy, for I am holy. 1 Peter 1:13-16 KJV
In these verses, this message from God starts out with one having to “gird up” or “to fasten, secure, to equip, and to prepare” (1) “the loins” or “the seat of strength” (1) of your mind. Your mind “signifies properly intention, a reaching or inclining forward to an object….stretching or inclining, or advancing eagerly, pushing or setting forward….” (2). “Intention is when the mind, with great earnestness and of choice, fixes its view on any idea, considers it on every side, and will not be called off by the ordinary [or inferior (2)] solicitation of other ideas” (2).
So in these verses what do we fix our mind on?
We are to “be sober” or to be “discreet” (3) or to be “prudent; wise in avoiding errors or evil, and in selecting the best means to accomplish a purpose…cautious; wary; not rash.” (2). We are to “hope to the end for the grace….” Grace is “the divine influence upon the heart, and its reflection in the life,” (3) “that is to be brought unto you at the revelation of Jesus Christ.” Revelation is the “appearing, coming, manifestation” (3) of Jesus Christ. Therefore, we are to be secure in our seat of strength or our mind, have a heart influenced by the divine, and to hope now for the appearing, the manifestation of Jesus Christ, and until the end of the age for the coming of Jesus Christ.
In doing so, we are to be obedient children or obedient “sons and daughters” (3), and we are to be obedient or to have “attentive hearkening” (3), hearkening meaning “listening, attending, observation” (2) to the revelation of Jesus Christ. We are not to be “fashioning” or conforming (3) to our former lusts or for “a longing for what is forbidden” (3) in our ignorance or “behavior” (3), or “negative state of the mind” (2).
God called us to be holy as He is holy, i.e., to be “morally blameless, a saint” (3). We are to be as such in our conversation or “behavior” (3).
As “it is written” in Leviticus 11:45, 19:2, and 20:7, God commands us to be holy as He is holy.
Put on the image of Jesus Christ. That is our purpose in life.
God Bless Everyone!
(1) biblestudytools.com
(2) Noah Webster 1828 Dictionary
(3) The New Strong’s Exhaustive Concordance Of The Bible, by James Strong, LL.D., S.T.D.
Brenda A. McGee has attended New York Theological Seminary in New York, NY, and Fuller Theological Seminary in Pasadena, CA as a Master of Divinity student.