Be Who You Are

It’s been said that Christianity is not about rules, but relationship. There is truth in that statement, but the New Testament knows nothing of a relationship with Jesus that makes obedience irrelevant. Imagine someone repeatedly lying to their spouse, destroying the family finances, and flirting with others behind their back, only to respond when confronted, “But marriage is about relationship, not rules.” We would think they were deranged. The rules do not create the relationship, but they protect and preserve it, enabling it to flourish.

So far, Peter has not issued any commands or imperatives; only indicatives that ground his readers’ identity in what God has done for them in salvation. But new birth also necessitates a new lifestyle. In this text, Peter lays down three imperatives that will be worked out specifically through the rest of the letter: Hope Fully, Be Holy, and Fear Rightly.

The call to live a set apart life is not a prudish, self-righteous, or legalistic charge; it comes from a familial identity. We are not accepted because we obey; we can obey because we’ve been accepted. As Jesus was preparing for the Cross, he prayed, “For their sake I consecrate myself, that they also may be sanctified in truth” (John 17:19). His holy devotion was for us, so that we could be wholly devoted to Him. So, be who you are.