Daily Devotional | Old versus New Self

When we get ready for the gym or our daily workout, we put on the right clothes (or shoes) for the job. Peter uses similar language to talk about the spiritual walk. As believers, we need to have “minds that are alert and fully sober” (v. 13). This can be literally translated as “girding up the loins of your mind” (v. 13). In Peter’s day, this meant gathering up their long robes to prepare for action.

Preparing our minds is the first of several commands intended to help us live out our salvation. Next, Peter says we’re to set our hope on God’s grace in Christ, which will be fully revealed when He returns (v. 13). This is the sure hope we’ve been discussing, in which our future salvation (glorification) is as certain as our past salvation (justification) and as our present salvation (sanctification). It’s as good as done!

In addition to preparing our minds for action and setting our hope on grace, we’re also to be holy in all we do (vv. 14–16). Verse 16 quotes from Leviticus to remind us that God is the standard, and He’s perfectly holy. In our unsaved past, we followed ignorant and evil desires. Spiritually reborn, we can no longer conform to this way of thinking and acting. To be holy means to be set apart. We’ve joined a new family that lives entirely differently. It would be completely inappropriate to go back to our old way of life. Instead, we’re to pursue righteousness wholeheartedly!

These three commands are interconnected. Preparing our minds for action includes our intellects — faith includes serious thought and reflection. Setting our hope on grace requires our imaginations because we’re envisioning something that hasn’t happened yet. Being holy involves our wills and choices. Redemption in Christ transforms our entire person!

>> We invite you to take time to reflect on your “old self” versus your “new self” (2 Cor. 5:17). What has changed? Where would you be today without Christ?