Bible Commentary


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1 Peter, an apostle of Jesus Christ, to the strangers scattered throughout Pontus, Galatia, Cappadocia, Asia, and Bithynia,

2 Elect according to the foreknowledge of God the Father, through sanctification of the Spirit, to obedience and sprinkling of the blood of Jesus Christ: Grace to you, and peace, be multiplied.

3 Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, which according to his abundant mercy has begotten us again to a lively hope by the resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead,

4 To an inheritance incorruptible, and undefiled, and that fades not away, reserved in heaven for you,

5 Who are kept by the power of God through faith to salvation ready to be revealed in the last time.

6 Wherein you greatly rejoice, though now for a season, if need be, you are in heaviness through manifold temptations:

7 That the trial of your faith, being much more precious than of gold that perishes, though it be tried with fire, might be found to praise and honor and glory at the appearing of Jesus Christ:

8 Whom having not seen, you love; in whom, though now you see him not, yet believing, you rejoice with joy unspeakable and full of glory:

9 Receiving the end of your faith, even the salvation of your souls.

10 Of which salvation the prophets have inquired and searched diligently, who prophesied of the grace that should come to you:

11 Searching what, or what manner of time the Spirit of Christ which was in them did signify, when it testified beforehand the sufferings of Christ, and the glory that should follow.

12 To whom it was revealed, that not to themselves, but to us they did minister the things, which are now reported to you by them that have preached the gospel to you with the Holy Ghost sent down from heaven; which things the angels desire to look into.

13 Why gird up the loins of your mind, be sober, and hope to the end for the grace that is to be brought to you at the revelation of Jesus Christ;

14 As obedient children, not fashioning yourselves according to the former lusts in your ignorance:

15 But as he which has called you is holy, so be you holy in all manner of conversation;

16 Because it is written, Be you holy; for I am holy.

17 And if you call on the Father, who without respect of persons judges according to every man's work, pass the time of your sojourning here in fear:

18 For as much as you know that you were not redeemed with corruptible things, as silver and gold, from your vain conversation received by tradition from your fathers;

19 But with the precious blood of Christ, as of a lamb without blemish and without spot:

20 Who truly was foreordained before the foundation of the world, but was manifest in these last times for you,

21 Who by him do believe in God, that raised him up from the dead, and gave him glory; that your faith and hope might be in God.

22 Seeing you have purified your souls in obeying the truth through the Spirit to unfeigned love of the brothers, see that you love one another with a pure heart fervently:

23 Being born again, not of corruptible seed, but of incorruptible, by the word of God, which lives and stays for ever.

24 For all flesh is as grass, and all the glory of man as the flower of grass. The grass wither, and the flower thereof falls away:

25 But the word of the Lord endures for ever. And this is the word which by the gospel is preached to you.


Our Imperishable Inheritance

1Pe 1:1-12

Scattered strangers! The designation is true of us all. Note the reference to the Trinity involved in the opening sentence. Our inheritance is prepared and kept for us, as we for it. We who believe may count on the guarding power of God. Not till our spirit is joined to a perfected body in the presence of Christ will our salvation be complete.

Trial is manifold. There is more or less of it in every true life. The best diamonds take longer in cutting and polishing. But, after all, compared to the eternity before us, it is but short-lived, and there is a needs-be for all. Hope in 1Pe 1:3, faith in 1Pe 1:7, love in 1Pe 1:8, blend in the joy that is unspeakable and full of the glory which is as yet hidden.

Notice that the prophets, angels and apostles are represented as deeply interested in that glorious salvation which God has declared unto mankind in the gospel, and by which we have been redeemed.

Redeemed and Purified

1Pe 1:13-25

The appeal for a holy life is enforced by considering the great cost of our redemption and the great hope which is opened before us. Ours must be the girded loins, lest our desires trail after forbidden things, or be sullied by the mud on the road. We must be holy, as God is: and this can be realized only when we allow God, by His Holy Spirit, to pour Himself into our natures.

There is no fear like that which love begets. We do not fear God with the fear of the slave or felon, but with the fear of the love that cannot endure the thought of giving pain to the loving and loved. Who can think of returning to Egypt, when such a Passover lamb has redeemed us! Our redemption was not an after-thought with God. It is part of an eternal plan; let us not get entangled in the meshes of mere earthly ambition. Notice the familiar combination of faith, hope and love, 1Pe 1:21-22. But these graces are only indigenous in those who have been twice born by the Spirit through the Word.