1 Peter 2:11

Beloved, I beseech you as sojourners and pilgrims, to abstain from fleshly lusts, which war against the soul;

Beloved ... This term of endearment carries with it a certain feeling of concern and pity, for no one knew any better than Peter the fury of the gathering storm that was so soon to break over the defenseless heads of the Christians.

I beseech you as sojourners and pilgrims ... Like the overture to a great opera which gathers the dominating strains of the whole production, these words suggest the tragedy that lies so close at hand. "These words, when compared with Psalms 39:12, Septuagint (LXX), from which Peter drew them, prepare for the description of distress which is to follow."[31] For more comment on "sojourners," see under 1 Peter 2:1:1. The word "pilgrim" means primarily, "one who journeys."

Abstain from fleshly lusts, which war against the soul ... There ar two reasons assigned in this verse to support the renunciation of fleshly lusts: (1) the readers are sojourners, and (2) the lusts make war against the soul. The metaphor of warfare is an apt one for the Christian life. That life is a constant struggle against many enemies, both within and without. The social order itself is basically hostile to Christianity, and the inward desires of the flesh and of the mind also constantly tend to erode spirituality.