February 15 2026, Sunday School Lesson

HOLY CONDUCT

Lesson Text: 1 Peter 1:14-17

Related Scriptures: Leviticus 20:7-8, 26; Philippians 2:12-15; 1 John 3:1-10; 1 Peter 2:9-12; Romans 2:6-11

TIME: between A.D. 62 and 63

PLACE: from Babylon (possibly from Rome)

Golden Text “As obedient children, not fashioning yourselves according to the former lusts in your ignorance” (1 Peter 1:14)

INTRODUCTION

How often have you seen a child and immediately though that they looked or acted exactly like one of their parents? Whether it is a daughter who has hoer mother’s nose, a son who has his father’s small quirk in how he raises his eyebrows, or something larger about the way they conduct themselves, we can see parents in their children.

Last week, we looked at Israel’s call in Leviticus to be holy because God is holy. This week, we see that the New Testament picks up and continues the same theme.

As God’s children, we are called to resemble Him. We are not called to be holy arbitrarily. We are called to be holy because God is holy. He is both our motivation and hour model. One helpful way we can think about living as Christians is that we are called to imitate Him (Phil. 2:5; 2 Cor. 3:18). This can sometimes simplify difficulty decisions. Rather than worrying about a hundred different factors, sometimes we can simply ask ourselves who God is and what would please Him.

LESSON OUTLINE

1. WHAT NOT TO DO – 1 Pet. 1:14

2. WHAT TO DO – 1 Pet. 1:15

3. OUR MOTIVIATION – 1 Pet. 1:16

4. OUR ATTITUDE – 1 Pet. 1:17

QUESTIONS

1. What is the immediate context surrounding our passage in 1 Peter.

2. What did Jesus accomplish beyond taking away our punishment for sin?

3. What are God’s children called to do?

4. Why does Go call us to be holy?

5. What is the implication of God being perfectly holy in all His ways?

6. What Old Testament passage did Peter quote?

7. Who was Peter writing to when he wrote “if ye call on the Father,” and why might he have used that language?

8. How will God judge us based on our works?

9. What does it mean to fear God?

10. What does it mean to be a sojourner in this world?

ANSWERS

1. Because of what Peter had just said in verses 3-13, we are called to prepare for action. Likewise, we are to perform the actions of verses 14-17 with the knowledge Peter references in verse 18 and following “forasmuch as ye know.” We are not called to action in a vacuum, and the verses in our passage are not isolated. In verses 3-12, Peter praised God for His mercy in causing us to be born again through the resurrection of Jesus. He rejoiced that we have an imperishable inheritance waiting for us and that we are protected by God, guaranteeing we will reach our inheritance. Our faith will be tested, but this will result in honor, praise, and glory. We are called to act in response to what God has already done. God’s grace toward us and His holiness are both motivations for our holiness and the pattern we are to follow. God calls us, we become His children, and we are called to increasingly put aways our old desires and take on new ones, obeying God and bearing the family resemblance. At the same time, we are to look forward to and set our hope on the future grace that God will give us when Jesus comes again.

2. He did not merely take our punishment away to help us attain a neutral status with God. God is not content merely to tell us that justice has been satisfied and then leave us alone. If Jesus’ death meant that we lived our lives without the fear of punishment and hell but also without any hope of heaven, that would still be tremendous mercy. But God is not satisfied with that. Instead, He adopts us as His children and brings us into His family.

3. Now that we are God’s children, we ought to behave that way. When we were saved, we were immediately transformed. However, this does not mean we were immediately perfected. We are called to continual transformation through the renewal of our minds (Romans 12:2). As we put off the old self, we are to put on Christ (Eph. 4:20-24). Growth in the Christian life involves intentionally putting of sin. It also involves putting on holiness. If we focus only on getting rid of specific sins and bad habits, we may inadvertently trade one set of sin for a new one. We must also actively seek to put on new habits of holiness and imitate Christ.

4. The call to holiness is not *arbitrary (decisions, actions or qualities determined by personal whim, impulse, or chance rather than reason, law, or necessity.) God does not give us random commands. Rather, He calls us to be holy because He is holy. We are called to resemble our Heavenly Father. God’s commands not only tell us how we are to live, but they also indirectly reveal His character.

5. God is perfectly holy in all His ways, and we are called to imitate Him. That means that we should not consider some “small” sins to be acceptable. Although not all sins are equally heinous (cf. Matt. 23:23-24), they are all equally wrong (cf. 5:21-22). God calls some sins “greater” than others (Ezek. 8:6, 13, 15), but any sin is enough to condemn a person. We must vigorously fight sin in all areas of our lives.

6. In verse 16, Peter quoted the Leviticus 19 passage that we studied last week.

7. Peter was using this conditional phrase to speak to his entire Christian audience. But why would Peter use a phrase about calling on God ad Father to refer to all Christians? Why not use a phrase such as “if you have believed in Him” or something else that also applies to all Christians? The answer may be that Peter was once again intentionally connecting his exhortation to conduct ourselves with fear to our identity as God’s children. What we do should reflect who we are.

8. Further, our heavenly rewards will be proportionate to our life and faithfulness (cf. 1 Cor. 3:10-15). Unbelievers are judged and condemned for their sinful deeds. The sins of believers are forgiven because of what Christ has done, and we are given His righteousness. Even the thief on the cross, who seems to have converted only hours before his death, shall rejoice forever, despite having little chance to do good deeds as a believer (cf. Luke 23:42-43). However, we will receive degrees of reward for our good deeds, comparable to how unbelievers will receive varying degrees of punishment for their varying sins (Matt. 10:15; Luke 12:47-48). Our deeds do not save us, but they do matter.

9. This is a small, partial analogy of what our fear of God is like. We no longer need to fear His wrath, but we marvel at His unmatched strength, and we recognize what could happen if we were to metaphorically “get out of the boat” by forsaking Him and choosing to live in sin. We recognize that our God will one day shake all of creation and that He is consuming fire (Heb. 12:26-29). We are safe in Christ, but there is no safety apart from Him. A right perspective on who God is humbles us, leads us to holy fear, and is the basis of wisdom (Prov. 1:7; 15:33).

10. What does it mean to be foreigners in exile? What does it mean to be a pilgrim or to sojourn on this earth? It means, fundamentally, that this world is not our home. We should not expect to fit in with everyone around us.