经文研读
1 Peter 1:14-16 — Be Holy, for I Am Holy
1 Peter 1:14-16 commands believers to live in holiness, set apart from their former ignorant lusts and conformed instead to the holy God who called them.
经文
- 14.你 們 既 作 順 命 的 兒 女 ， 就 不 要 效 法 從 前 蒙 昧 無 知 的 時 候 那 放 縱 私 慾 的 樣 子 。as children of obedience, not fashioning yourselves according to your former lusts in the time of your ignorance:
- 15.那 召 你 們 的 既 是 聖 潔 ， 你 們 在 一 切 所 行 的 事 上 也 要 聖 潔 。but like as he who called you is holy, be ye yourselves also holy in all manner of living;
- 16.因 為 經 上 記 著 說 ： 「 你 們 要 聖 潔 ， 因 為 我 是 聖 潔 的 。 」because it is written, Ye shall be holy; for I am holy.
这段经文的意思
Verse 14 frames the imperative as the conduct of those who have become 'children of obedience.' The new identity is set against 'your former lusts in the time of your ignorance,' so the negative command ('not fashioning yourselves') is grounded in a change of status: what once shaped them from ignorance no longer defines them. The phrasing 'children of obedience' subordinates inherited desires to the new reality of belonging to a God who commands.
Verse 15 supplies the positive content: 'be ye yourselves also holy in all manner of living.' The ground for this holiness is not human effort but resemblance to the one who called: 'like as he who called you is holy.' The scope is total — 'in all manner of living' — leaving no sphere of conduct outside the call to holiness.
Verse 16 anchors the imperative in scripture: 'it is written, Ye shall be holy; for I am holy.' By citing a written command, Peter locates the believers' holiness not in a novel idea but in the same God who has always required his people to be set apart. The reason given — God's own holiness — makes the call both an obligation and an imitation: the people are to be what their God is.
背景
The call to holiness in 1 Peter 1:14-16 sits inside a paragraph that opens with 'Wherefore girding up the loins of your mind, be sober and set your hope perfectly on the grace that is to be brought unto you at the revelation of Jesus Christ' (v. 13). The mental sobriety and fixed hope of v. 13 lead directly into the negative 'not fashioning yourselves' of v. 14, and the positive 'holy in all manner of living' of v. 15. The passage is thus the practical outflow of an eschatological hope.
The surrounding chapter frames the recipients as 'elect' and 'sojourners' (v. 1) who have been begotten again unto a living hope (v. 3) and are guarded through faith (v. 5). Immediately after v. 16, the text grounds the readers' conduct in redemption: they were redeemed 'not with corruptible things, with silver or gold' but 'with precious blood, as of a lamb without spot, even the blood of Christ' (vv. 18-19). The holiness of 1:14-16 is therefore set between two motivations — future grace at the revelation of Christ, and past redemption by his blood — both drawn from the surrounding text.
常见问题
What does 'children of obedience' mean in verse 14?
The phrase identifies the readers as those whose defining relationship is now obedience to the one who called them. The inherited pattern of 'former lusts' is set against this new family identity, so the verse treats obedience not as one act but as the character of those who belong to God.
Why does Peter cite 'Ye shall be holy; for I am holy' as written?
By saying 'it is written,' Peter ties the believers' holiness to an existing scriptural command rather than his own invention. The cited reason — God's own holiness — makes the demand both an obligation and an imitation: the people are to match what their God is.
What is the scope of 'all manner of living' in verse 15?
The phrase 'in all manner of living' is unqualified, extending the call to holiness across every sphere of conduct. Nothing in the verse carves out an exception, so the command covers both private and public behavior equally.