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"Peter, an Apostle of Jesus Christ." Notice the author uses the name given him by Jesus. The name, Peter, stood for "rock" and it signified a strong faith. Simeon was his family name and Paul called him Cephas. He was one of the 12 Disciples who were called by Jesus, and therefore after the death of Jesus, he became an Apostle. After Pentecost, the Apostles received many gifts of the Spirit which included preaching, working miracles, prophecy and judicial powers. Peter is here establishing his credentials, he is not bragging.
Now, lets look to whom the letter is written. "To the exiles of the Dispersion." The Jews were dispersed at least three times. The first time and the most comprehensive, was in the destruction of the Northern Kingdom of Israel in 722 BC, by the Assyrians and Sargon II began deporting 28,000 Jews to various parts of the Assyrian Empire. Most of these Jews never returned to their homeland. In 586 BC Nebuchadnezzer destroyed Jerusalem and the Nation of Judah fell and thousands of Jews were systematically deported to Babylon as slaves. A few returned, about 70 years later, to Jerusalem, but most remained near where they had been deported. The last dispersion occurred after the death of Stephen and was due to the persecution of the Jewish Christians in Jerusalem. Here Peter mentions five areas, all in Asia Minor, where he was directing the letter which would indicate these Jews may have been from any or all of these dispersions.
Notice how Peter describes these Jewish Christians. To him, they were "chosen" and "destined", elected or chosen according to the fore-knowledge of God, and predestined to be the "fruits of the Gospel". This expounds the Doctrine of Election", the Doctrine of the Fore-knowledge of God and the Doctrine of the Sovereignty of God. He also acknowledges the indwelling of the Holy Spirit in a believers' life for the purpose of leading that person in the process we call Sanctification or spiritual growth. All of this was the result of being "sprinkled" by the blood of Jesus, covered by the blood of the Lamb, forgiven, saved and sanctified.
"May Grace and Peace be multiplied to you." "Grace", unmerited favor of God, with
all of its pardoning, healing, assisting and saving effects, and "peace" with all
of its effect on all areas of our lives, may all of this be "multiplied" to you.
This implies that they already had all of these things but Peter foresaw that there
was going to be a greater need for the outpouring of God's Grace, with the coming
persecution.
Hope for the Future
["Click here for I Peter 1:3-4"]
There is much doctrine in these two verses. We can divide them into three parts.
"Congratulations", Peter says, "You have been born anew by the mercy of God through Jesus Christ." Being "born again" into the Kingdom of God, deserves much thanksgiving. We owe all of our blessings to the abundant mercies of God.
"Congratulations, you have received an inheritance." Notice how Peter describes this inheritance. It is a living hope. It is not pie in the sky by and by, it is not something in the future, it is now. We do not have to die to inherit eternal life, it is ours the moment we accept Christ as our Lord and Savior. He also says that it is "imperishable", incorruptible, as the KJ puts it. It cannot be changed, destroyed, revoked or done away with. It is like its Creator, it is eternal. It is also undefiled, without fault and unfading, its beauty and luster is unfading, it, like the Gospel from which it comes, is the same yesterday, today and forever.
"Congratulations, you have been preserved, saved for eternity." Peter says that our salvation is "kept in Heaven". God has promised to all His Sons and Daughters that by regeneration and adoption, we will receive an eternal inheritance. This inheritance cannot be bought, earned or bargained for, it is a gift of God (Eph. 2:8). We can do nothing to deserve it, therefore, we can do nothing to loose it. Matthew Henry says, "The heir to an earthly estate has no assurance that he will live to enjoy his inheritance, but the heirs of heaven shall certainly be conducted safely to the possession of it." The blessing here promised is preservation, we are kept, Peter says.
When we consider the power of Satan, when we consider the frailness of our frame,
when we consider our sinful nature, we can see the greatness of God's work in
Christ Jesus. Nothing short of this work could preserve us through this life.
So we have an inheritance, preserved by the power of God, for eternity.
Trials of the Present
["Click here for I Peter 1:5-9"]
Verse speaks of our salvation the reality of which will be revealed in the "last time" or the last days. Here, Peter reveals three facts about our salvation.
"In this, you shall rejoice, though now for a while, you may have to suffer various trials." Rejoicing is more that an inner feeling, it will show itself on your face, your eyes and mouth will acknowledge its presence and you will sing phrases and show gratitude toward God.
Peter was preparing these people for the trials that was certainly to come. Trials are a part of every life. We must look upon them with gratitude for they as a means of spiritual growth. They will test the genuineness of your faith. Peter says that a "tried faith" is much more precious than "tried" gold, gold purified in the fire. Our faith is purified by trials where, like gold, impurities are separated. Even purified Gold in time will perish, but faith will never perish.
Then Peter says something that may need some explaining. It appears that Peter is saying in verse 7 that trials will result in a greater appreciation of Jesus when we see Him. We know that there will be no degrees of reward in Heaven, other than "crowns" which we will lay at the feet of Jesus, however, could there be degrees of appreciation, as there is here on earth, resulting in the amount of persecution that a person has experienced for Christ? This may have been evidenced on the face of Stephen as those who witnessed his stoning saw what they believed was the "Glory of God" shining on his face.
Then Peter commends these people for their faith in Jesus Christ even though they had never saw Him they still believe in Him and love Him. Peter believed and loved Jesus, but he had walked and talked with Jesus, he had witnessed His miracles, been privileged to hear His teachings, these people only heard about Him.
Notice how Peter knew about these people's faith, it was the "evidence", they rejoiced with unutterable and exalted joy. Paul says that this is evidence of things not seen. There needs to be an outward expression of our joy over being saved and knowing Christ as our Lord and Savior.
I like what Matthew Henry says about this at this point. "Salvation is a permanent
thing, it begins in this life, is not interrupted by death and continues through
all eternity." There believers had the beginnings of Heaven in their possession
and if it seemed that the entire world was against them, they should know that God was
not. That's why Peter wrote this letter.
Anticipation in the Past
["Click here for I Peter 1:10-12"]
We must remind ourselves that the people that Peter was writing to were Jews. They had anticipated, for centuries, the salvation of Israel through the coming of the Messiah. Here Peter, having just declared to them that what in past times they had just hoped for, they now had and he uses the Old Testament to show them that the doctrine of salvation through faith in Jesus Christ, was not new, but was the same doctrine that the prophets of old sought so diligently.
Prophets were people inspired by God to either say or do things that was above their own ability, foretelling events that was to come and revealing the will of God by the direction of the Holy Spirit. These respected and honored individuals were the ones whom Peter says searched diligently for the truths concerning the doctrine of Justification by Faith. To them, it would be a glorious time of spiritual insight, grace and peace that would come upon the church. They desired to see and hear what these Jews had been privileged to see and hear about.
Daniel was a man sent of God and gifted with great powers of prophesy, yet he had to obtain much of his knowledge thru the study of books and properly apply it to his time. The Prophets knew of the promised Messiah and they all sought beyond what was given to them by the Holy Spirit, to understand the salvation that He was to bring. Peter was attempting to show these dispersed Jews that the Dispensation of Grace, which they had anticipated for so many years, was here and that it was more glorious, revealing and extensive than the Dispensation of the Law.
Notice what the Prophets especially searched for. They wanted knowledge about the sufferings of Christ and His glorious resurrection. They knew that the knowledge of this would reveal to them the Gospel. They also sought to know the time when the Messiah would appear. They believed that they were inspired by the Spirit, and they believed that it was the Spirit of the Messiah. They had a limited understanding of the Trinity. It would appear that they did not search in vain for they were given some information, sufficient to comfort them. They were informed that the Messiah would not come in their lifetime, however, they were told that God had set a time for these things to come to pass. Peter reminds them that now these things have come to pass and that they are responsible to witness of them as led by the Holy Spirit. Things which the Angels longed to see, are now theirs to witness to.
Here we see those who sought after the knowledge of salvation in the past, the
Prophets, the Apostles and the Angels. From these passages of scripture, we can
learn that if we diligently search the scriptures we can be rewarded with
understanding and that the best of men sometimes have their requests denied, God
always knows what is best.
Exhortation to be Holy
["Click here for I Peter 1:13-21"]
In these verses, Peter exhorts them to be Christ like in their conduct. Notice how he starts out, "Therefore, you should gird up your minds,...." Because of what he has just said, sense they were privileged to have revealed to them what prophets had longed to know, therefore, they should gird up their minds. What does that mean? Gird comes from the word "girdle". To gird up something, means to gather it in for support so that it will not be moved by every wind of doctrine. He was telling them that because they had been given much, much was expected.
They had a Gospel to proclaim. It had to be free of excess garbage. Loose clothing is a burden to a runner. Outside distractions clutter the mind of a student. Peter was telling them to delete from their minds any form of distraction and keep their minds on Christ and His Gospel. Do away with anything that would hinder in their witness. Then he gives them a few things to dwell on:
To these dispersed Jews, Peter says, "If you believe that God is a Judge, than you ought to live in fear of that judgment." We will all be judged according to what we have done. First, by what we have done with Christ. This determines the place of our eternity. Secondly, by what we have done for Christ. Our service for the Lord, or lack of it, will be judged. Why should we be judged for this? Motivation is an important part of service for Christ. Our works will be judged in this regard. We should serve Him for His glory and not for ours. We were saved not only from eternal punishment but also for service to Him.
We are responsible to God for our conduct, our conversation and our lives. This is out of gratitude for what Christ did for us. He paid the price for our sins. This was predestined before the foundation of the world. Before God created man, He knew there would be sin and there would be a need for forgiveness and this forgiveness would have to be purchased by Christ, the second person of the Trinity. This, Peter says, has been revealed in these last days, for their sake and for ours. His birth, His life, His miracles, His teachings, His death and His resurrection, all have been revealed in the Gospel, for God, through Jesus Christ, is the Author and Finisher of our faith. He also is our hope for eternal life.
So, to them and to us Peter says, "Be holy in all of your conduct, which is the
first evidence of spiritual growth or sanctification while striving to be Christ
like.
Exhortation to Lone One Another
["Click here for I Peter 1:22-25"]
In the last study of verses 13 thru 21, we saw that the first evidence of spiritual growth was a "holy life", in these verses we see the second evidence which is "love for one another". Here Peter acknowledges that there is already evidence of their love for one another but more is needed. He tells them that love must grow so that there is nothing "pretended" about it, but it is sincere love that you express. There is so much insincerity today in all areas of life, we must try very hard to keep it out of the church and out of our relationships with one another. People talk about their following Christians behind their back and shake their hands on Sunday morning. This kind of acceptance is not love, it is simply tolerating some one.
Peter says that obedience to Christ is evidence of spiritual growth and spiritual growth is evidenced by love that is sincere. Now, how do we achieve this sincerity? Peter says the key is "obedience." The Gospel is the "truth". This truth will purify the soul if it is obeyed. The Spirit of God is the great Purifier, but we must submit and obey His leadership. The minds of Christians must be purified before we can love one another with a "Christ like" love.
Notice Peter reiterates Paul's message concerning re-birth. Verse 23 says, "You all have been born anew." This was done by the power of the Holy Spirit through the Gospel of Jesus Christ. This then, was accomplished by that which is "imperishable". The Gospel and the fruit of the Gospel, which is re-birth, is imperishable. (Perseverance of the Saints). Peter says in verse 24 that it is not like grass that withers and dies, for the Word of the Lord abides forever.
Peter was reflecting on Job who realized that man, in his greatest glory, is like grass that withers and fades away and dies. The only way to render this perishable creature imperishable is through the Word of God. If received, God's Word will preserve us for eternity and the evidence of this will be a sincere love for one another.
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