Sometimes we can be tempted to allow our circumstances causes us to be tempted to indulge our flesh, and be sinful. But our circumstances, even our pain, is never an excuse to disobey God. In 1 Peter the Apostle Peter is writing to Christians, scattered throughout Asia Minor, who were facing persecution and various trials. As Peter has been pointing them to their living hope, the great salvation provided for them in Jesus Christ, Peter tells his readers, who are in the midst of suffering, that the God who called them demands they be holy as God is holy. He goes on to explain that, since they call on God as Father who judges impartially according to each one’s deeds, they were to live with fear of Him while they remained in this world, where they are strangers.
