Continuing in this direction, holy living involves a departure from our former lusts, the evil desires that controlled us while we lived in ignorance as non-Christians. Peter writes, "As obedient children, do not conform to the evil desires." The command here is for believers to stop patterning their life and character according to the lusts that they had before they were converted to Christ. As Paul says in Romans 12:2, "Do not conform any longer to the pattern of this world."

Again, we notice that non-Christians do not shape their lives according to wisdom and charity, but according to beastly lusts, strong sinful urges that drive them to rebellion and destruction. As for us, we are no longer like animals and spiritual rebels. Now we are "obedient children," or "children of obedience." This Semitic idiom refers to those who take after the character of someone or something. So non-Christians are "children of disobedience" (Ephesians 2:2) and "children of wrath" (Ephesians 2:3), while Christians are "children of light" (Ephesians 5:8; Luke 16:8; John 12:36), and here in Peter, the "children of obedience."

And as children of obedience, we no longer have to conform to the evil desires we had while we were still non-Christians. Now we can throw off the mold to think differently and behave differently. Now we can live in obedience to the truth, and not be slaves to sinful urges and desires. Yes, we will then become an eyesore and an offense to the unbelievers, but we do not try to be different for the sake of being different. If we will only be obedient to the truth, we will already be different enough.

Peter says that his readers had an "empty way of life" before their conversion. Non-Christians portray themselves as rational and intelligent people, but we have seen that this is a lie. They also portray their lifestyles as exciting and meaningful, but this is a lie as well. Their lives are empty, futile, useless, and worthless. And this is the sort of people that they are. Unbelievers are not to be envied.

Many Christians have been unbelievers for years before they were converted, and they have lived this futile life that Peter is talking about. But because of remaining sin in them, and because of hardship and persecution, sometimes they forget how terrible things were before their conversion. Consider the Israelites who complained against Moses and Aaron, saying, "If only we had died by the LORD's hand in Egypt! There we sat around pots of meat and ate all the food we wanted, but you have brought us out into this desert to starve this entire assembly to death" (Exodus 16:3). But they were slaves in Egypt! They were not living in comfort and luxury.

Likewise, when facing difficulties incurred by their faith, some Christians forget about the wretched condition of the past, and they become nostalgic, so that they revel in a romanticized version of what life was like before their conversion. But they need to remember that they were slaves to sin. They were ignorant and irrational people – stupid people. They were driven not by reason but by animalistic lusts and urges. Their lives were empty and futile. They were useless and worthless people.

As Christians, we have been redeemed from this kind of life. Now, silver and gold can buy one's freedom from slavery under a human master, but natural commodities like these can never redeem a person who is enslaved by ignorance and depravity. Non-Christians have silver and gold, and these can often buy them out of trouble with men and into a life of comfort and luxury. But these can never buy them out of trouble with God and into life in heaven.

God himself had to pay the price for the redemption of our souls, for otherwise no one could be saved. So he sent his own Son to die on the cross for the elect, those whom he has chosen before the creation of the world. Now we have new life in Christ, and we no longer need to be pathetic and worthless people like the unbelievers, and like we were before our conversion.

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