Charles Ellicott Commentary 1 Peter 1:17

"And if ye call on him as Father, who without respect of persons judgeth according to each man`s work, pass the time of your sojourning in fear:" — 1 Peter 1:17 (ASV)

And if.—The “if” casts no doubt, but, on the contrary, serves to bring out the necessary logical connection between invoking the Father—and such a Father—and fear. (See Note on 1 Thessalonians 4:14.)

You call on the Father.—We might paraphrase by “if you use the Lord’s Prayer.” (Refer again to 1 Peter 1:3; 1 Peter 1:14.) The word seems not only to mean “if you appeal to the Father,” but “if you appeal to the Father by the title of Father.” (Galatians 4:6.)

Who without respect of persons judges.—This “judges,” or decides, refers not only to the great judgment of the last day, but is also used in reference to the phrase “if you call upon the Father.” That phrase has a forensic sense (as used in Acts 25:11) of lodging an appeal.

Every time we lodge our appeal to the Father based on His Fatherhood, He decides the case. However, He decides it without partiality, making no allowance for our wrongdoing because we are His regenerate children, and certainly none because we are of the Hebrew race. That this last idea is present here can be seen from St. Peter’s words in Acts 10:34-35.

He judges according to every man’s work—i.e., based on the individual merits of the case before Him. The man’s “work” (not “works”) encompasses all his conduct collectively, as a single performance, which is either good on the whole or bad on the whole.

Pass the time . . . in fear.—The word for “pass” is really the same as the “conversation” of 1 Peter 1:15, and is intended to take our thoughts back to it: “As obedient children, be holy in every part of your conduct; and if you wish for favour from the Father, see that that conduct is characterised by fear.” “This fear,” says Archbishop Leighton, “is not cowardice (nor superstition, we may add); it drowns all lower fears, and begets true fortitude; the righteous dare do anything but offend God. Moses was bold and fearless in dealing with a proud and wicked king, but when God appeared he said (as the Apostle informs us), ‘I exceedingly fear and quake.’”

This extract well contrasts with the meaning that some would apparently thrust upon the word “fear,” as though it meant that the position of Christians as “aliens” in the midst of a hostile world required a timid attitude towards man. The “fear” of the Father may be seen in the first two clauses of the Lord’s Prayer itself.

Your sojourning.—See the note on 1 Peter 1:1, regarding “strangers.” Just because the word “sojourning” is metaphorical here (1 Peter 1:17) and a similar concept appears in 1 Peter 2:11, that is no reason why the word “strangers” in 1 Peter 1:1 should also be metaphorical, as it appears in a quite different context. The expression “your sojourning” here sets a limit to the discipline of fear and, at the same time, suggests a reason for it: although they are children, they have not yet received their inheritance (1 Peter 1:4) and must still secure it.