After spending many years as the captain of a slave-trading ship, John Newton came to believe in the Lord. He was overwhelmed with gratitude for the salvation that Christ offered even to him. On the basis of this life-changing experience, he penned the words to the hymn, "Amazing Grace."

Grace always has been and still is amazing. It is amazing because of the long-suffering love that stands behind it. It is amazing because it offers so much to people who have sinned so greatly. Peter describes the importance of God's grace in this passage.

The grace that was shown to first-century believers (and to us) was so significant that the prophets of old longed to understand it better. Even angels want to grasp it more completely. Grace truly is amazing!

The prophets came to understand that they were serving a cause that went beyond their own time and place. The grace of God that they proclaimed was centered in Jesus, who was revealed to the world in the generation of Peter's readers. It is all for you, Peter says. The work of the prophets, the saving grace of Jesus, and the overall plan of God have come together for you.

Because this was true, Peter's recipients needed to prepare for action. The grace of God was not something to be taken lightly. They were to set their hope on God's grace and be a distinct, holy people for the Lord. Christians should live this way because we have been purchased by the blood of the spotless Lamb, the innocent sacrificed for the guilty. God paid a dear price for us. He did not redeem us with mere silver or gold, but with the blood of his Son.

God paid more than a king's ransom for you and me. He paid the price to set us free from an empty life with the life of the Prince himself. Amazing!

1. What do you find amazing about grace?

 

 

2. How can you "prepare your mind for action" (1:13)? The literal wording is "gird up the loins of your mind," as if getting ready for battle. How important is preparation before a battle?

 

 

3. The basic meaning of holy is "set apart." How are Christians set apart for God? How can someone tell if you are set apart for God?

 

 

4. Holiness has often been misunderstood or wrongly applied (such as thinking that it means to come across as "holier than thou"). Why doesn't holiness have a positive meaning to people today, even among Christians?

 

 

5. What is the basic motivation for our being holy (1:15-16)?

 

 

6. Look at Leviticus 19, which begins with the admonition to "Be holy, for I am holy." That chapter describes how the Israelites were to treat each other and other people. How should "holiness" show up in our lives today?

 

 

7. Is there ever any reason to question God's love? So why do we?