1 Peter 1
1 Peter, an apostle of Jesus Christ, to those who reside as aliens, scattered throughout Pontus, Galatia, Cappadocia, Asia, and Bithynia, who are chosen
2 according to the foreknowledge of God the Father, by the sanctifying work of the Spirit, to obey Jesus Christ and be sprinkled with His blood: May grace and peace be yours in the fullest measure.
Peter identifies himself as an apostle of Jesus Christ. An apostle is one who is sent by God to preach the gospel of Jesus Christ to people who have not heard it before.
At Pentecost, and shortly thereafter, Peter’s anointed preaching resulted in many people getting saved. But at the same time, there arose a lot of persecution of the Christians in Israel. When the new Christians were persecuted, they got scattered to the surrounding places. Peter is writing to these Christians.
These Christians couldn’t fit anywhere. They couldn’t fit among the Jews who didn’t believe Jesus, and they couldn’t fit among the Gentiles. The earth was not their home and the resided as aliens. It is the same for many true believers in our times too – it is hard to fit anywhere. We long for our heavenly home for the earth is not our home.
Some people think that God chose who would be saved and who wouldn’t. It is true that God chose, but understand that His choice was not arbitrary – it was based on His foreknowledge of who would believe. We see in 1 Peter 1:2 and Rom 8:28-30 that God’s choice of whom to save is based on His foreknowledge of who would believe. That is, God the Father looked ahead in time to see who would respond to, and obey, Jesus’ call to believe in Him, and then used the Holy Spirit to set them apart, and then, when they believed, applied the blood of the covenant to those people and forgave their sins according to the terms of that covenant.
Peter wishes grace and peace to these Christians. Like Paul, Peter also realized the importance of receiving grace from God and being at peace with God – if you are not at peace with God you cannot accomplish anything for God, and if you don’t receive help from God you cannot overcome sin or solve any of your spiritual problems. If you are fighting with the company that provides power and gas to your home you get no power and gas and you can’t do anything. In the same way, if you are not at peace with God, and if you don’t have His grace, you can’t do anything of eternal value for God.
In almost every (every!) epistle, the author wishes his readers grace and peace. They knew the importance of having grace and peace with God. They also knew that God opposes the proud but gives grace only to the humble. They understood therefore how important it was to have humility. But alas, many of us today miss this.
What about you? Have you realized the importance of being humble before God? Do you know what it means to be humble before God? Can you detect whether you currently are, or have in the recent past been, proud? I’ve hardly ever heard any sermon, or read a book, that teaches such things, and yet, these are the most important lessons to learn and practice in the Christian walk!
Peter wished his readers had grace and peace in the fullest measure – which tells us that receiving grace and peace is not an all-or-nothing deal; rather, you get it in measures. To the extent that you are humble, to that extent you receive grace, and to the extent that you are at peace with God, to that extent you and God can work together to build His kingdom.
3 Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, who according to His great mercy has caused us to be born again to a living hope through the resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead,
4 to {obtain} an inheritance {which is} imperishable and undefiled and will not fade away, reserved in heaven for you,
5 who are protected by the power of God through faith for a salvation ready to be revealed in the last time.
Peter, like Paul in many places, identifies God as the Father of Jesus – a relationship that Jesus Himself testified to many times in the gospel. Those who don’t realize this cannot be saved, and other religions that may have regard for Jesus, think of Him as a great man, but not the very Son of God.
Peter is thankful to God for His mercy – it is only because of God’s mercy that we got a chance to be born again. God could have let us go to Hell, but decided to provide us with a way out. To have mercy is to not give someone the punishment they deserve. If you are merciful to others, then God will be merciful to you too (Mt 5:7).
We were born again to a living hope – the hope that one day, when we are resurrected, we will receive a new body that cannot be tempted. This is our imperishable inheritance. It is imperishable and undefiled and cannot fade way in the sense that because of it we will never be able to sin again – for if you can’t be tempted then you cannot sin. This inheritance saves us from the presence of sin, and will be given to us when Jesus returns, and thus is a salvation that is ready to be revealed in the last time.
We have this living hope only because Jesus rose from the dead. His rising from the dead in a body that cannot be tempted was proof that God will do the same for us too. Paul also mentions this in 1 Cor 15.
This inheritance is reserved in heaven for us. God protects us from any temptation that is too much for us to bear. His protection is available as long as we have faith i.e. we believe what Jesus said.
When other people’s actions trouble you, realize that you are troubled because you have a flesh through which you can be tempted. If you had no flesh then no matter what other people did you would not be tempted to get irritated or angry or to take revenge. So then, when people do you wrong, realize that it is a bother to you only because you have a flesh. It is this flesh that God will take away when Jesus returns.
6 In this you greatly rejoice, even though now for a little while, if necessary, you have been distressed by various trials,
7 so that the proof of your faith, {being} more precious than gold which is perishable, even though tested by fire, may be found to result in praise and glory and honor at the revelation of Jesus Christ;
8 and though you have not seen Him, you love Him, and though you do not see Him now, but believe in Him, you greatly rejoice with joy inexpressible and full of glory,
9 obtaining as the outcome of your faith the salvation of your souls.
What must we rejoice in? In the fact that one day we will be rid of temptation. What kind of person rejoices in this? It is those who battle temptation daily who rejoice in the fact that one day they will not have such struggles.
Many people think that life will be smooth because they are Christian. As a result, when they encounter persecution or fiery trials they get disillusioned and stop believing and loving God. They turn away from Him. That is a big mistake, and Peter is reminding these Christians not to make that mistake. We also should learn from what Peter is saying here.
God doesn’t send us trials for no reason – it is only if it is necessary. The purpose of the trials is to prove that we believe and love Jesus even though we don’t see Him. This faith is very valuable because it will result in great reward on the Day of Judgment. Think of each trial as an opportunity to prove that you love Jesus.
When we go through trials we can draw strength and encouragement from the fact that one day we will receive a body that cannot be tempted, and we can rejoice because of that.
So then, when you are being persecuted for your faith, or in some other tough situation, stay faithful, knowing that your faith shows that you love Jesus, and your love for Jesus will be greatly rewarded when Jesus returns. Eye has not seen, and ear has not heard, what God has prepared for those who love Him (1 Cor 2:9).
10 As to this salvation, the prophets who prophesied of the grace that {would come} to you made careful searches and inquiries,
11 seeking to know what person or time the Spirit of Christ within them was indicating as He predicted the sufferings of Christ and the glories to follow.
12 It was revealed to them that they were not serving themselves, but you, in these things which now have been announced to you through those who preached the gospel to you by the Holy Spirit sent from heaven – things into which angels long to look.
13 Therefore, prepare your minds for action, keep sober {in spirit,} fix your hope completely on the grace to be brought to you at the revelation of Jesus Christ.
The salvation that God has offered mankind is no small thing. The payment was huge, and the result is huge. In view of this, we should treat it as very valuable and not take it for granted.
Before Jesus made the payment for our sin, God announced His plan for our salvation through His prophets. They were very excited to know of God’s plan, and wanted to understand it more, but God didn’t give any one prophet the entire picture. Even the angels were not privy into the details of the plan. It was top secret because God didn’t want Satan and his demons to know the plan. But now, the plan has become a reality, and so we should not ignore our salvation or neglect it. We should prepare our minds for action i.e. we should avail of every facet of the plan to get the most benefit from it. It is like finding a huge diamond in your backyard – don’t just look at it, but make the most of the financial freedom that it offers you. In the same way, God’s salvation is like a spiritual diamond that He placed in your backyard – make the most of the spiritual freedom that it offers you.
To be sober in spirit is force yourself to think about what is good for your spiritual health and what isn’t and then orient your life towards what brings you spiritual benefit. For example, instead of watching TV a lot, spend time understanding the Bible. Instead of spending your vacations traveling around the world, use it to better your understanding of God.
14 As obedient children, do not be conformed to the former lusts {which were yours} in your ignorance,
15 but like the Holy One who called you, be holy yourselves also in all {your} behavior;
16 because it is written, "YOU SHALL BE HOLY, FOR I AM HOLY."
How does one make the most of one’s salvation? The first step is to overcome your lusts. Separate yourself from sin. Run away from temptation. Read your Bible to understand what God wants, and then do it!
A true child of God wants to have the same character as God. Since God is holy (i.e. separated from sin) we too should desire to be separated from sin. If you have no desire to be separated from sin, how can you call yourself a child of God?
17 If you address as Father the One who impartially judges according to each one's work, conduct yourselves in fear during the time of your stay {on earth;}
18 knowing that you were not redeemed with perishable things like silver or gold from your futile way of life inherited from your forefathers,
19 but with precious blood, as of a lamb unblemished and spotless, {the blood} of Christ.
Just because you are now a child of God, don’t for a moment think that God is going to be partial to you. God is not partial to anyone, and if you are a wayward child, God will surely discipline you. The price God paid to make you His child was huge and so He will do whatever it takes to convert every child to a son. Rom 8:28-30 says that God has predestined us to be conformed to the image of His Son Jesus and that He will cause all things to work towards that goal. You need to look at trials from that perspective.
If you are practicing sin, and no discipline comes, you are not a child of God (Heb 1:6-8).
20 For He was foreknown before the foundation of the world, but has appeared in these last times for the sake of you
21 who through Him are believers in God, who raised Him from the dead and gave Him glory, so that your faith and hope are in God.
Even before God founded the world and put man in it, He knew that man would sin and that Jesus would make payment for that sin, and that you would believe and be saved. For this reason, you can have confidence that God knows what He is doing, and that nothing happening around you is mere happenstance – it is a part of God’s plan to conform you to the likeness of Jesus.
Notice that Jesus didn’t raise Himself from the dead, but God did. Jesus couldn’t raise Himself from the dead because He didn’t have the power to do so. That is why, just before He died, He said, “Into your hands I commit my spirit.” He was expressing His dependence on God to raise Him up.
God wouldn’t have raised Jesus if Jesus had sinned. Therefore, His resurrection is proof that He didn’t sin even once as man, thus implying that His mission to make atonement for the sins of man was successful. That is why His resurrection is such an important thing.
What glory did God give Jesus after He raised Him from the dead? It was the glory that Jesus emptied Himself of when He became a man (Php 2:5-6) – the glory of being equal to God. When Jesus became man, He was 100% man, but no longer 100% God, but only God in identity, not in power. He was a little lesser than the angels (Heb 2:7-9).
22 Since you have in obedience to the truth purified your souls for a sincere love of the brethren, fervently love one another from the heart,
23 for you have been born again not of seed which is perishable but imperishable, {that is,} through the living and enduring word of God.
Step one was to overcome personal temptation. Step two is to sincerely love the other children of God – and pay attention to the word ‘sincerely’. What do you do when people in the church rub you the wrong way – when they ignore or mistreat you, or don’t invite you to their parties, or gossip about you, or betray your confidences, or don’t keep their promises to you? You leave their judgment in the hands of God and don’t take revenge yourself; and what’s more, you do good to them.
Why? It is because God, in whose likeness you were born again into, is like that (Mt 5:43-48).
24 For, "ALL FLESH IS LIKE GRASS, AND ALL ITS GLORY LIKE THE FLOWER OF GRASS. THE GRASS WITHERS, AND THE FLOWER FALLS OFF,
25 BUT THE WORD OF THE LORD ENDURES FOREVER." And this is the word which was preached to you.
One important thing to understand is that God is so great that when He says something, He does it. He keeps His promises. When God says that He will give you a body that cannot be tempted when Jesus returns, you can be sure that it will happen. As a Christian, you can endure your trials, knowing that wonderful things are in store for you, and therefore, you can afford to endure persecution, mistreatment and whatever – nothing should be able to prevent you from loving God, as Paul also expresses in the latter part of Romans 8 (Rom 8:17-39).
When a man says something, even if he is a faithful man, you can only count on it for as long as he is alive; once he dies, all bets that what he says he will do, are off. Further, man is alive for such a short time. Therefore, you can count on man only briefly. But when God says something, you can count on it forever. For this reason, as Peter says next, it is worth spending time reading and understanding what God has said. If you want to get the best out of your salvation, you need to understand it thoroughly, and you cannot get that understanding without reading it in God’s word.
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