1 Peter 1:17-21

Recognising What God Has Done For Them They Should Live Their Lives With Greatest Care (1 Peter 1:17).

The emphasis on obedience continues, and now it is linked with God's remedy through the blood of Jesus Christ. Recognising that the Father on Whom they call is also their judge, Who judges without respect of persons, and that they have been redeemed by the very blood of Christ, they must live like it. They must live ‘in the fear and awe of the Lord' which is the beginning of wisdom (Psalms 111:10; Proverbs 9:10). Having God as ‘Father' is not to be seen as a grounds for assuming that we will be let off lightly. In Jewish families the father was expected to act to maintain discipline and ensure obedience to God's Instruction. How much more then our Father Who watches over us and is jealous for us and for our purity, Who knows the whole truth about us, and from Whose eyes nothing is hidden.

The idea of ‘fear' here is not of terror, but of reverent awe, recognising Whom God is and acknowledging that fact in our behaviour and attitude. We know that He dwells in the high and holy place (Isaiah 57:15), and expects of us His own peerless standards (compare Matthew 5:48). Redemption through the blood of Christ does not lessen our responsibility but makes it even greater. If we have been redeemed at such a great cost how can we ever possibly treat sin lightly?