I Peter 1:13-19

3. Purify yourself.

That is one of the 10 things you need to be doing in waiting for Christ's return. So if we hope for and desire to be firstfruits of God at His coming, we must work on becoming pure. Peter puts it a little bit differently. Let us go back to I Peter 1, verses 13 through 19. He writes here,

So they just use basically two different words for saying the same thing. Becoming pure is the same thing as becoming holy. It is making our conduct align with the Holy One Himself, become like Jesus Christ. Now notice here, he says in verse 13 that it requires sobriety, we have to be serious and in control of ourselves. It requires conviction (Martin was talking about that a little bit this morning). It requires obedience, and it requires us putting off the old man in the fear of God.

We want to get rid of all of those negatives, all of those things that we have absorbed either from our own selfish human nature, from the world, or from Satan's influence. We have got to get rid of all of that. That is the only way we are going to become pure, and then we have to, once that is all swept out, as it were, we have to fill it up with good things. We have to fill it up with the obedience and all those virtues of God that we possibly can, so that when Christ appears, we are going to be like Him. That is what is going to enable us to see Him as He is.

I Peter 1:13-15

I think it is interesting this phrase in the first verse here. It says, "gird up the loins of your mind." I was really curious on what this means. In Bible times, they wore tunics and this was basically a robe that was probably a one-piece garment that basically went down to their ankles, similar to a very, very long shirt. And with the length of these tunics, it would be very hard for them to move quickly because of the restraints.

And so the phrase "gird up your loins" refers to a special way that they would tie the tunic up, converting it basically to a shorter dress, you might say, or a shorter robe. But what it did, it freed up the legs so it could prepare them if they want to work, they want to travel, or even go into battle. The wearer, though, was preparing themselves for action of one type or another.

Peter is saying, be prepared both mentally and spiritually for action or challenges that come your way, because they are coming. It means to focus your thoughts, eliminating distractions, and readying yourself for a spiritual challenge and be prepared for any resistance against temptation.

That is why it says, "Be holy, for I am holy."