1 Peter 2:1

Wherefore laying aside The sequence of thought goes on, as is seen in the "new-born babes" of the next verse, from the thought of the "regeneration" of believers expressed in chap. 1Pe 1:3; 1 Peter 1:23. As entering on a new and purer life they are to "lay aside" (compare the use of the kindred noun in connexion with baptism in chap. 1 Peter 3:21) the evil that belongs to the old. As far as the list of evils is concerned, they point, especially in the "hypocrisies and evil speakings," to the besetting sins of the Jewish rather than the Gentile character, as condemned by our Lord (Matthew 23 et al.) and St James (James 3:4), and so confirm the view which has been here taken, that the Epistle was throughout addressed mainly to Jewish converts.