Saturday, June 5, 2010

1 Peter 1

As always, I prefer to read the entire epistle first to discover the answers to the five W's (who, what, when, where and why):

  • Who:
    • 1 Peter 1:1: This letter is from Peter
    • 1 Peter 1:1: ...foreigners in the provinces of ****Pontus, Galatia, Cappadocia, Asia, and Bithynia...
    • 1 Peter 5:12: I have written and sent this short letter to you with the help of Silas, whom I commend to you as a faithful brother...
      • Silas is Silvanus (with Paul in Acts 15:40).
    • 1 Peter 5:13: ... sends you greetings, and so does my son Mark.
      • Acts 15:38: But Paul disagreed strongly, since John Mark had deserted them in Pamphylia and had not continued with them in their work.
      • 2 Timothy 4:11: Only Luke is with me. Bring Mark with you when you come, for he will be helpful to me in my ministry.
    • Polycarp, who was personally acquainted with the Apostle John, cites the Epistle of Peter. All the other documents of the first and second centuries show that the Epistle was unanimously known and accepted as Peter's.
    What:
    • Peter stresses Christ's atoning death and glorious resurrection.
    • Theme: Suffering then glory! The Christian hope in the time of trial and trouble.
    • Practical exhortations to holy living, obedience to civil government, strong marriages, Christian humility and defense of the faith.
    • Key verses:
      • 1:7: These trials will show that your faith is genuine. It is being tested as fire tests and purifies gold—though your faith is far more *precious than mere gold. So when your faith remains strong through many trials, it will bring you much praise and glory and honor on the day when Jesus Christ is revealed to the whole world.
      • 3:17: It is better, if it is God's will, to suffer for doing good than for doing evil.
    • Key words:
      • Faith - 7 times in Peter's two epistles.
      • Glory - (with cognate words) - sixteen times.
      • Hope - four times. Peter has been called the apostle of hope; Paul, the apostle of faith; John, the apostle of love.
      • Revelation - (with cognate words) - five times.
      • Salvation - three times.
      • Suffer: (with cognate words) - 16 times.
  • When: Probably before the great Neronian persecution. Probably 63 AD, after the martyrdom of James in Jerusalem (which, according to Josephus, occurred in 62 AD). Some believe this was written during the Noronian persecution.
  • Where: 1 Peter 5:13: Your sister church here in Babylon sends you greetings...
    • There was at this time a large colony of Jews in Babylon who had fled Rome due to severe persecution under Claudius. In spite of the fact that Papias mentions the death of Peter as occurring in Rome, there is no substantial historical basis for this supposition and Paul never mentions Peter being in Rome.
  • Why:
    • 1 Peter 5:12: ... My purpose in writing is to encourage you and assure you that what you are experiencing is truly part of God’s grace for you. Stand firm in this grace.
    • The purpose for this letter shows us that we are to live a life that counts for eternity rather than for now.

(1) This letter is from *Peter, an apostle of Jesus Christ. I am writing to **God’s chosen people who are living as ***foreigners in the provinces of ****Pontus, Galatia, Cappadocia, Asia, and Bithynia.

  • *Peter: Galatians 2:8 (Paul speaking): For the same God who worked through Peter as the apostle to the Jews also worked through me as the apostle to the Gentiles
  • **God’s chosen people: These would be mostly Christian Jews of the dispersion; some were possibly pilgrims who had believed in Christ at the outpouring of the Holy Spirit at Pentecost (Acts 2:4).
    • Romans 8:29: For God knew his people in advance, and he chose them to become like his Son, so that his Son would be the firstborn among many brothers and sisters.
    • Ephesians 1:4-6: Even before he made the world, God loved us and chose us in Christ to be holy and without fault in his eyes. God decided in advance to adopt us into his own family by bringing us to himself through Jesus Christ. This is what he wanted to do, and it gave him great pleasure. So we praise God for the glorious grace he has poured out on us who belong to his dear Son.
  • ***foreigners:
    • Acts 8:1-4: Saul was one of the witnesses, and he agreed completely with the killing of Stephen. A great wave of persecution began that day, sweeping over the church in Jerusalem; and all the believers except the apostles were scattered through the regions of Judea and Samaria. (Some devout men came and buried Stephen with great mourning.) But Saul was going everywhere to destroy the church. He went from house to house, dragging out both men and women to throw them into prison. But the believers who were scattered preached the Good News about Jesus wherever they went.
    • Philippians 3:20: But we are citizens of heaven, where the Lord Jesus Christ lives. And we are eagerly waiting for him to return as our Savior.
  • ****Pontus, Galatia, Cappadocia, Asia and Bithynia were Roman provinces in what is now Turkey. The list of countries in 1 Peter 1:1 is from east to west, which

    suggests that the writer was in the East at the time of writing. Babylon is directly mentioned as the origin in 1 Peter 5:13.

(2) God the Father knew you and *chose you long ago, and his Spirit has **made you holy. As a result, you have obeyed him and have been ***cleansed by the blood of Jesus Christ. May God give you more and more grace and peace.

  • Here's the trinity - the Father, the Spirit and Jesus Christ. Those who deny the doctrine of the Trinity have difficulty with this and a number of other texts, for they clearly speak of three members of the Godhead, all of whom are involved in the work of salvation. Each member of the Trinity plays a distinct role in the salvation of the saint.
  • *chose you long ago:
    • Romans 8:29-30: For God knew his people in advance, and he chose them to become like his Son, so that his Son would be the firstborn among many brothers and sisters. And having chosen them, he called them to come to him. And he gave them right standing with himself, and he promised them his glory.
    • Ephesians 1:4-6: Even before he made the world, God loved us and chose us in Christ to be holy and without fault in his eyes. God decided in advance to adopt us into his own family by bringing us to himself through Jesus Christ. This is what he wanted to do, and it gave him great pleasure. So we praise God for the glorious grace he has poured out on us who belong to his dear Son.
  • **made you holy: "sanctification" in the KJV.
    • Hebrews 10:10: For God’s will was for us to be made holy by the sacrifice of the body of Jesus Christ, once for all time.
  • ***cleansed by the blood:
    • Refers to sprinkling the blood upon people or objects that were to be set apart for the service of God especially in the Torah and in Hebrews. In the Old Testament, the priest imparted holiness. In the New Testament, Jesus acts as our High Priest, who, by his own sacrifice and blood, atones for our sin and offers pardon and forgiveness for our sins.
    • Hebrews 9:22: In fact, according to the law of Moses, nearly everything was purified with blood. For without the shedding of blood, there is no forgiveness.

(3) All praise to God, the Father of our Lord Jesus Christ. It is by his great *mercy that we have been **born again, because God raised Jesus Christ from the dead. Now we live with great expectation,

  • *mercy: Someone once said, "Grace is getting what we don't deserve. Mercy is not getting what we do deserve."
  • **born again:
    • The new birth is a theme in 1 Peter. It occurs here, in 1:23 and in 2:2.
    • John 3:3: Jesus replied, “I tell you the truth, unless you are born again, you cannot see the Kingdom of God.”

(4) and we have a priceless *inheritance—an inheritance that is **kept in heaven for you, pure and undefiled, beyond the reach of change and decay.

  • *inheritance: Romans 8:17: And since we are his children, we are his heirs. In fact, together with Christ we are heirs of God’s glory. But if we are to share his glory, we must also share his suffering.
  • **kept (reserved in the KJV): The Greek word (tereo) translated "kept" is literally "having been kept (or reserved)." God had it planned for us from ages past per verse 2.
    • Matthew 6:19-20: “Don’t store up treasures here on earth, where moths eat them and rust destroys them, and where thieves break in and steal. Store your treasures in heaven, where moths and rust cannot destroy, and thieves do not break in and steal.
    • Revelation 22:12: “Look, I am coming soon, bringing my reward with me to repay all people according to their deeds.

(5) And through your faith, God is *protecting you by his power until you receive this salvation, which is ready to be revealed on **the last day for all to see.

  • *protecting you: God does the protecting of the believer. The word "protecting" here, "shielded" in the NIV and "kept" in the KJV is the Greek verb phroureo, a military term: "to maintain a watch, guard, to provide security, protect, keep." This protecting or guarding will continue until Christ returns -- and personally completes our salvation (Hebrews 9:28; Romans 8:23; 1 Corinthians 15:54).
    • Romans 8:23: And we believers also groan, even though we have the Holy Spirit within us as a foretaste of future glory, for we long for our bodies to be released from sin and suffering. We, too, wait with eager hope for the day when God will give us our full rights as his adopted children, including the new bodies he has promised us.
    • Romans 8:35-39: Can anything ever separate us from Christ’s love? Does it mean he no longer loves us if we have trouble or calamity, or are persecuted, or hungry, or destitute, or in danger, or threatened with death? (As the Scriptures say, “For your sake we are killed every day; we are being slaughtered like sheep.”) No, despite all these things, overwhelming victory is ours through Christ, who loved us. And I am convinced that nothing can ever separate us from God’s love. Neither death nor life, neither angels nor demons, neither our fears for today nor our worries about tomorrow—not even the powers of hell can separate us from God’s love. No power in the sky above or in the earth below—indeed, nothing in all creation will ever be able to separate us from the love of God that is revealed in Christ Jesus our Lord.
    • 1 Corinthians 15:54: Then, when our dying bodies have been transformed into bodies that will never die, this Scripture will be fulfilled: “Death is swallowed up in victory.
    • Hebrews 9:28: so also Christ died once for all time as a sacrifice to take away the sins of many people. He will come again, not to deal with our sins, but to bring salvation to all who are eagerly waiting for him.
  • **the last day:
    • Romans 14:10: So why do you condemn another believer? Why do you look down on another believer? Remember, we will all stand before the judgment seat of God.
    • Revelation 20:11-15: And I saw a great white throne and the one sitting on it. The earth and sky fled from his presence, but they found no place to hide. I saw the dead, both great and small, standing before God’s throne. And the books were opened, including the Book of Life. And the dead were judged according to what they had done, as recorded in the books. The sea gave up its dead, and death and the grave gave up their dead. And all were judged according to their deeds. Then death and the grave were thrown into the lake of fire. This lake of fire is the second death. And anyone whose name was not found recorded in the Book of Life was thrown into the lake of fire.

(6) So be truly glad. There is *wonderful joy ahead, even though you have to endure many **trials for ***a little while.

  • *wonderful joy: "wonderful" (NLT), "inexpressible" (NIV) or "unspeakable" (KJV) is the Greek adjective aneklaletos describing a joy beyond the power of words to express.
  • **trials:
    • 2 Peter 2:9: So you see, the Lord knows how to rescue godly people from their trials, even while keeping the wicked under punishment until the day of final judgment.
    • James 1:2-4: Dear brothers and sisters, when troubles come your way, consider it an opportunity for great joy. For you know that when your faith is tested, your endurance has a chance to grow. So let it grow, for when your endurance is fully developed, you will be perfect and complete, needing nothing.
  • ***a little while: "little while" denotes the whole of their earthly life before they inherit future salvation.

(7) These trials will show that your faith is genuine. It is being tested as fire tests and purifies gold—though your faith is far more *precious than mere gold. So when your faith remains strong through many trials, it will bring you much praise and glory and honor on the day when Jesus Christ is revealed to the whole world.

  • *precious occurs seven times.
  • Job 23:10: But he knows where I am going. And when he tests me, I will come out as pure as gold.
  • 1 Corinthians 3:11-15: For no one can lay any foundation other than the one we already have—Jesus Christ. Anyone who builds on that foundation may use a variety of materials—gold, silver, jewels, wood, hay, or straw. But on the judgment day, fire will reveal what kind of work each builder has done. The fire will show if a person’s work has any value. If the work survives, that builder will receive a reward. But if the work is burned up, the builder will suffer great loss. The builder will be saved, but like someone barely escaping through a wall of flames.
  • The story is told of a man who was visiting a gold factory and became very interested in watching the goldsmith purify the gold by heating it in a large vat. Finally he asked the goldsmith how he knew when the gold had been heated enough so that all the impurities were gone. The goldsmith responded, "When I can see my face clearly reflected in the gold.
  • Our faith isn’t tested because God doesn’t know how much or what kind of faith we have. It is tested because we often are ignorant of how much or what kind of faith we have. God’s purpose in testing is to display the enduring quality of our faith and to perfect it.

(8) You love him even though you have *never seen him. Though you do not see him now, you trust him; and you rejoice with a glorious, inexpressible joy.

  • *never seen him: John 20:29: Then Jesus told him, “You believe because you have seen me. Blessed are those who believe without seeing me.”

(9) The reward for trusting him will be the *salvation of your **souls.

  • *salvation of your souls (soterian psuchon) is for the saved not the unsaved. This is the losing of self that we might gain the reward at His appearing.
    • Matthew 16:24-27: Then Jesus said to his disciples, “If any of you wants to be my follower, you must turn from your selfish ways, take up your cross, and follow me. If you try to hang on to your life, you will lose it. But if you give up your life for my sake, you will save it. And what do you benefit if you gain the whole world but lose your own soul? Is anything worth more than your soul? For the Son of Man will come with his angels in the glory of his Father and will judge all people according to their deeds.
    • Hebrews 10:39: But we are not like those who turn away from God to their own destruction. We are the faithful ones, whose souls will be saved.
    • James 1:21: So get rid of all the filth and evil in your lives, and humbly accept the word God has planted in your hearts, for it has the power to save your souls.
  • **souls: Greek - psuche.

(10) This salvation was something even the prophets wanted to know more about when they prophesied about this gracious salvation prepared for you.

  • 2 Peter 1:21: or from human initiative. No, those prophets were moved by the Holy Spirit, and they spoke from God.
  • These are not verses on how to get into heaven. If this were so, it would be in direct contradiction to all the rest of Scripture which clearly asserts that salvation (from the penalty of sin) is a free gift (Ephesians 2:8-9) which comes by faith alone (Romans 5:1) apart from our own good works (Titus 3:5). These verses are talking about discipleship, (Luke 14:26-35). It is one thing to come to Christ by faith in His finished work for the forgiveness of our sins. It is quite another thing to come after Christ by following Him down the rugged and perilous road of discipleship. To follow Christ is a costly decision and therefore should be considered very carefully before beginning (Luke 14:28-31). Christ is talking about being saved from a profitless life, or in other words, a life that is of no eternal value.

(11) They wondered what time or situation the Spirit of Christ within them was talking about when he told them in advance about Christ’s suffering and his great glory afterward.

(12) They were told that their messages were not for themselves, but for you. And now this Good News has been announced to you by those who preached in the power of the Holy Spirit sent from heaven. It is all so wonderful that even the *angels are eagerly watching these things happen.

  • *angels: 1 Corinthians 4:9: Instead, I sometimes think God has put us apostles on display, like prisoners of war at the end of a victor’s parade, condemned to die. We have become a spectacle to the entire world—to people and angels alike.

(13) So think clearly and exercise self-control. Look forward to the gracious salvation that will come to you when Jesus Christ is revealed to the world.

(14) So you must live as God’s obedient children. Don’t slip back into your old ways of living to satisfy your own desires. You didn’t know any better then.

(15) But now you must be holy in everything you do, just as God who chose you is holy.

(16) For the Scriptures say, “You must be holy because I am holy.”

  • Leviticus 11:44-45; 19:2; 20:7.

(17) And remember that the heavenly Father to whom you pray has no favorites. He will judge or reward you according to what you do. So you must live in reverent fear of him during your time as “foreigners in the land.”

(18) For you know that God paid a ransom to save you from the empty life you inherited from your ancestors. And the ransom he paid was not mere gold or silver.

  • Acts 20:28: “So guard yourselves and God’s people. Feed and shepherd God’s flock—his church, purchased with his own blood—over which the Holy Spirit has appointed you as elders.
  • 1 Corinthians 6:20: for God bought you with a high price. So you must honor God with your body.
  • Ephesians 1:7: He is so rich in kindness and grace that he purchased our freedom with the blood of his Son and forgave our sins.
  • Colossians 1:13-14: For he has rescued us from the kingdom of darkness and transferred us into the Kingdom of his dear Son, who purchased our freedom and forgave our sins.

(19) It was the precious *blood of Christ, the sinless, spotless **Lamb of God.

  • *blood of Christ: Hebrews 9:12: With his own blood—not the blood of goats and calves—he entered the Most Holy Place once for all time and secured our redemption forever.
  • **Lamb of God: John 1:29: The next day John saw Jesus coming toward him and said, “Look! The Lamb of God who takes away the sin of the world!

(20) God chose him as your ransom long before the world began, but he has now revealed him to you in these last days.

  • John 1:1-2: In the beginning the Word already existed. The Word was with God, and the Word was God. He existed in the beginning with God.
  • John 17:24: Father, I want these whom you have given me to be with me where I am. Then they can see all the glory you gave me because you loved me even before the world began!
  • Ephesians 1:4: Even before he made the world, God loved us and chose us in Christ to be holy and without fault in his eyes.
  • 2 Timothy 1:9: For God saved us and called us to live a holy life. He did this, not because we deserved it, but because that was his plan from before the beginning of time—to show us his grace through Christ Jesus.

(21) Through Christ you have come to trust in God. And you have placed your faith and hope in God because he raised Christ from the dead and gave him great glory.

(22) You were cleansed from your sins when you obeyed the truth, so now you must show sincere love to each other as brothers and sisters. Love each other deeply with all your heart.

(23) For you have been born again, but not to a life that will quickly end. Your new life will last forever because it comes from the eternal, living word of God.

(24) As the *Scriptures say, “People are like grass;
their beauty is like a flower in the field.
The grass withers and the flower fades.

  • *Scriptures: Isaiah 40:6-8.

(25) But the word of the Lord remains forever.” And that word is the Good News that was preached to you.

  • In 303 a.d., the Roman Emperor Diocletian demanded that every copy of the Scriptures in the Roman Empire be burned. He failed, and 25 years later, the Roman Emperor Constantine commissioned a scholar named Eusebius to prepare 50 copies of the Bible at government expense.

NOTE: Unless otherwise noted, the scripture version used is the New Living Translation.

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