📖WEB · 1 Peter 1:14
What does 1 Peter 1:14 mean?
"as children of obedience, not conforming yourselves according to your former lusts as in your ignorance,"
— 1 Peter 1:14 (World English Bible)
Surrounding context
searching for who or what kind of time the Spirit of Christ, which was in them, pointed to, when he predicted the sufferings of Christ, and the glories that would follow them.
To them it was revealed, that not to themselves, but to you, they ministered these things, which now have been announced to you through those who preached the Good News to you by the Holy Spirit sent out from heaven; which things angels desire to look into.
Therefore prepare your minds for action, be sober, and set your hope fully on the grace that will be brought to you at the revelation of Jesus Christ—
as children of obedience, not conforming yourselves according to your former lusts as in your ignorance,
but just as he who called you is holy, you yourselves also be holy in all of your behavior;
because it is written, “You shall be holy; for I am holy.”
If you call on him as Father, who without respect of persons judges according to each man’s work, pass the time of your living as foreigners here in reverent fear:
Explanation
1 Peter 1:14 calls believers to live as "children of obedience" — a Hebraic way of speaking that means people whose character is defined by obedience, much as we might say "children of light" to mean people characterized by light. Peter is telling his readers that obedience to God should now be the shaping influence of their identity, rather than the desires that once controlled them. He contrasts this new way of life with their "former lusts," the cravings and impulses that governed their behavior before they came to faith, and he attributes those old patterns to a period of "ignorance" — a time when they did not yet know God or his will.
To understand this verse well, it helps to know who Peter was writing to and why. First Peter is addressed to Christians scattered across Asia Minor (modern-day Turkey), many of whom were Gentile converts facing social pressure, suspicion, and sometimes persecution because their new faith set them apart from the surrounding pagan culture. Before their conversion, these believers had lived according to the values and practices of that culture — value systems Peter elsewhere describes as marked by sensuality, idolatry, and disorderly living. Peter writes to strengthen their identity as God's chosen and holy people (language he uses just a few verses later) and to urge them not to slide back into old patterns now that they belong to Christ. Verse 14 sits within a larger unit (1:13-16) that calls them to "be holy" because God who called them is holy, quoting Leviticus.
Theologically, this verse highlights the connection between conversion and transformed behavior. Peter assumes that coming
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