1 Peter 1

1Pe 1:1-25.

ADDRESS TO THE

ELECTED OF THE

GODHEAD:

THANKSGIVING FOR THE

LIVING

HOPE TO

WHICH

WE

ARE

BEGOTTEN,

PRODUCING

JOY

AMIDST

SUFFERINGS:

THIS

SALVATION AN

OBJECT OF

DEEPEST

INTEREST TO

PROPHETS AND TO

ANGELS:

ITS

COSTLY

PRICE A

MOTIVE TO

HOLINESS AND

LOVE, AS

WE

ARE

BORN

AGAIN OF THE

EVER-ABIDING

WORD OF

GOD.

1. Peter--Greek form of Cephas, man of rock.

an apostle of Jesus Christ--"He who preaches otherwise than as a

messenger of Christ, is not to be heard; if he preach as such, then it

is all one as if thou didst hear Christ speaking in thy presence"

[LUTHER].

to the strangers scattered--literally, "sojourners of the

dispersion"; only in

Joh 7:35

and Jas 1:1,

in New Testament, and the Septuagint,

Ps 147:2,

"the outcasts of Israel"; the designation peculiarly given to the

Jews in their dispersed state throughout the world ever since the

Babylonian captivity. These he, as the apostle of the circumcision,

primarily addresses, but not in the limited temporal sense only; he

regards their temporal condition as a shadow of their spiritual calling

to be strangers and pilgrims on earth, looking for the heavenly

Jerusalem as their home. So the Gentile Christians, as the

spiritual Israel, are included secondarily, as having the same high

calling. He

(1Pe 1:14; 2:10; 4:3)

plainly refers to Christian Gentiles (compare

1Pe 1:17;

1Pe 2:11).

Christians, if they rightly consider their calling, must never settle

themselves here, but feel themselves travellers. As the Jews in

their dispersion diffused through the nations the knowledge of

the one God, preparatory to Christ's first advent, so Christians, by

their dispersion among the unconverted, diffuse the knowledge of

Christ, preparatory to His second advent. "The children of God

scattered abroad" constitute one whole in Christ, who "gathers them

together in one," now partially and in Spirit, hereafter perfectly and

visibly. "Elect," in the Greek order, comes before "strangers";

elect, in relation to heaven, strangers, in relation to

the earth. The election here is that of individuals to eternal

life by the sovereign grace of God, as the sequel shows. "While each is

certified of his own election by the Spirit, he receives no assurance

concerning others, nor are we to be too inquisitive

[Joh 21:21, 22];

Peter numbers them among the elect, as they carried the

appearance of having been regenerated" [CALVIN].

He calls the whole Church by the designation strictly belonging only to

the better portion of them [CALVIN]. The election

to hearing, and that to eternal life, are distinct.

Realization of our election is a strong motive to holiness. The

minister invites all, yet he does not hide the truth that in none but

the elect will the preaching effect eternal blessing. As the chief

fruit of exhortations, and even of threatenings, redounds to "the

elect"; therefore, at the outset, Peter addresses them. STEIGER translates, to "the elect pilgrims who form the

dispersion in Pontus.", &c. The order of the provinces is that

in which they would be viewed by one writing from the east from

Babylon

(1Pe 5:13);

from northeast southwards to Galatia, southeast to Cappadocia, then

Asia, and back to Bithynia, west of Pontus. Contrast the order,

Ac 2:9.

He now was ministering to those same peoples as he preached to on

Pentecost: "Parthians, Medes, Elamites, dwellers in Mesopotamia and

Judea," that is, the Jews now subject to the Parthians, whose capital

was Babylon, where he labored in person; "dwellers in

Cappadocia, Pontus, Asia, Phrygia, Bithynia," the Asiatic dispersion

derived from Babylon, whom he ministers to by letter.

2. foreknowledge--foreordaining love

(1Pe 1:20),

inseparable from God's foreknowledge, the origin from

which, and pattern according to which, election takes place.

Ac 2:23,

and Ro 11:2,

prove "foreknowledge" to be foreordination. God's

foreknowledge is not the perception of any ground of action out

of Himself; still in it liberty is comprehended, and all absolute

constraint debarred [ANSELM in STEIGER]. For so the Son of God was "foreknown" (so the

Greek for "foreordained,"

1Pe 1:20)

to be the sacrificial Lamb, not against, or without His will, but His

will rested in the will of the Father; this includes self-conscious

action; nay, even cheerful acquiescense. The Hebrew and

Greek "know" include approval and acknowledging as

one's own. The Hebrew marks the oneness of loving and

choosing, by having one word for both, bachar

(Greek, "hairetizo," Septuagint). Peter descends

from the eternal "election" of God through the new birth, to the

believer's "sanctification," that from this he might again raise them

through the consideration of their new birth to a "living hope"

of the heavenly "inheritance" [HEIDEGGER]. The

divine three are introduced in their respective functions in

redemption.

through--Greek, "in"; the element in which we are

elected. The "election" of God realized and manifested itself

"IN" their sanctification. Believers are

"sanctified through the offering of Christ once for all"

(Heb 10:10).

"Thou must believe and know that thou art holy; not, however, through

thine own piety, but through the blood of Christ"

[LUTHER]. This is the true sanctification of the

Spirit, to obey the Gospel, to trust in Christ

[BULLINGER].

sanctification--the Spirit's setting apart of the saint as

consecrated to God. The execution of God's choice

(Ga 1:4).

God the Father gives us salvation by gratuitous election; the Son earns

it by His blood-shedding; the Holy Spirit applies the merit of the Son

to the soul by the Gospel word [CALVIN]. Compare

Nu 6:24-26,

the Old Testament triple blessing.

unto obedience--the result or end aimed at by God as

respects us, the obedience which consists in faith, and that

which flows from faith; "obeying the truth through the Spirit"

(1Pe 1:22).

Ro 1:5,

"obedience to the faith," and obedience the fruit of faith.

sprinkling, &c.--not in justification through the atonement once

for all, which is expressed in the previous clauses, but (as the order

proves) the daily being sprinkled by Christ's blood, and so cleansed

from all sin, which is the privilege of one already justified and

"walking in the light."

Grace--the source of "peace."

be multiplied--still further than already.

Da 4:1,

"Ye have now peace and grace, but still not in perfection; therefore,

ye must go on increasing until the old Adam be dead"

[LUTHER].

3. He begins, like Paul, in opening his Epistles with giving

thanks to God for the greatness of the salvation; herein he looks

forward (1) into the future

(1Pe 1:3-9);

(2) backward into the past

(1Pe 1:10-12)

[ALFORD].

Blessed--A distinct Greek word (eulogetos,

"Blessed BE") is used of God, from that used of

man (eulogemenos, "Blessed IS").

Father--This whole Epistle accords with the Lord's prayer;

"Father,"

1Pe 1:3, 14, 17, 23; 2:2;

"Our,"

1Pe 1:4,

end; "In heaven,"

1Pe 1:4;

"Hallowed be Thy name,"

1Pe 1:15, 16; 3:15;

"Thy kingdom come,"

1Pe 2:9;

"Thy will be done,"

1Pe 2:15; 3:17; 4:2, 19;

"daily bread,"

1Pe 5:7;

"forgiveness of sins,"

1Pe 4:8, 1;

"temptation,"

1Pe 4:12;

"deliverance,"

1Pe 4:18

[BENGEL]; Compare

1Pe 3:7; 4:7,

for allusions to prayer. "Barak," Hebrew "bless,"

is literally "kneel." God, as the original source of blessing, must be

blessed through all His works.

abundant--Greek, "much," "full." That God's "mercy"

should reach us, guilty and enemies, proves its fulness. "Mercy"

met our misery; "grace," our guilt.

begotten us again--of the Spirit by the word

(1Pe 1:23);

whereas we were children of wrath naturally, and dead in sins.

unto--so that we have.

lively--Greek, "living." It has life in itself, gives

life, and looks for life as its object [DE

WETTE]. Living is a favorite expression of

Peter

(1Pe 1:23;

1Pe 2:4, 5).

He delights in contemplating life overcoming death in the

believer. Faith and love follow hope

(1Pe 1:8, 21, 22).

"(Unto) a lively hope" is further explained by "(To) an inheritance

incorruptible . . . fadeth not away," and "(unto) salvation

. . . ready to be revealed in the last time." I prefer with

BENGEL and STEIGER to join as

in Greek, "Unto a hope living (possessing life and

vitality) through the resurrection of Jesus Christ." Faith, the

subjective means of the spiritual resurrection of the soul, is wrought

an objective means

(1Pe 3:21).

Its moral fruit is a new life. The connection of our sonship with the

resurrection appears also in

Lu 20:36;

Ac 13:33.

Christ's resurrection is the cause of ours, (1) as an efficient cause

(1Co 15:22);

(2) as an exemplary cause, all the saints being about to rise after the

similitude of His resurrection. Our "hope" is, Christ rising from the

dead hath ordained the power, and is become the pattern of the

believer's resurrection. The soul, born again from its natural state

into the life of grace, is after that born again unto the life of

glory.

Mt 19:28,

"regeneration, when the Son of man shall sit in the throne of His

glory"; the resurrection of our bodies is a kind of coming out of the

womb of the earth and entering upon immortality, a nativity into

another life [BISHOP PEARSON]. The four causes of our salvation are; (1) the

primary cause, God's mercy; (2) the proximate cause, Christ's death and

resurrection; (3) the formal cause, our regeneration; (4) the final

cause, our eternal bliss. As John is the disciple of love, so

Paul of faith, and Peter of hope. Hence, Peter, most of

all the apostles, urges the resurrection of Christ; an undesigned

coincidence between the history and the Epistle, and so a proof of

genuineness. Christ's resurrection was the occasion of his own

restoration by Christ after his fall.

4. To an inheritance--the object of our "hope"

(1Pe 1:3),

which is therefore not a dead, but a "living" hope. The

inheritance is the believer's already by title, being actually assigned

to him; the entrance on its possession is future, and hoped for as a

certainty. Being "begotten again" as a "son," he is an "heir," as

earthly fathers beget children who shall inherit their

goods. The inheritance is "salvation"

(1Pe 1:5, 9);

"the grace to be brought at the revelation of Christ"

(1Pe 1:13);

"a crown of glory that fadeth not away."

incorruptible--not having within the germs of death. Negations

of the imperfections which meet us on every side here are the chief

means of conveying to our minds a conception of the heavenly things

which "have not entered into the heart of man," and which we have not

faculties now capable of fully knowing. Peter, sanguine, impulsive, and

highly susceptible of outward impressions, was the more likely to feel

painfully the deep-seated corruption which, lurking under the

outward splendor of the loveliest of earthly things, dooms them soon to

rottenness and decay.

undefiled--not stained as earthly goods by sin, either in the

acquiring, or in the using of them; unsusceptible of any stain. "The

rich man is either a dishonest man himself, or the heir of a dishonest

man" [JEROME]. Even Israel's inheritance was

defiled by the people's sins. Defilement intrudes even on our

holy things now, whereas God's service ought to be undefiled.

that fadeth not away--Contrast

1Pe 1:24.

Even the most delicate part of the heavenly inheritance, its bloom,

continues unfading. "In substance incorruptible; in

purity undefiled; in beauty unfading" [ALFORD].

reserved--kept up

(Col 1:5,

"laid up for you in heaven,"

2Ti 4:8);

Greek perfect, expressing a fixed and abiding state,

"which has been and is reserved." The inheritance is in security,

beyond risk, out of the reach of Satan, though we for whom it is

reserved are still in the midst of dangers. Still, if we be believers,

we too, as well as the inheritance, are "kept" (the same Greek,

Joh 17:12)

(1Pe 1:5).

in heaven--Greek, "in the heavens," where it can neither

be destroyed nor plundered. It does not follow that, because it is

now laid up in heaven, it shall not hereafter be

on earth also.

for you--It is secure not only in itself from all misfortune,

but also from all alienation, so that no other can receive it in your

stead. He had said us

(1Pe 1:3);

he now turns his address to the elect in order to encourage and exhort

them.

5. kept--Greek, "who are being guarded." He answers the

objection, Of what use is it that salvation is "reserved" for us in

heaven, as in a calm secure haven, when we are tossed in the world as

on a troubled sea in the midst of a thousand wrecks?

[CALVIN]. As the inheritance is "kept"

(1Pe 1:4)

safely for the far distant "heirs," so must they be "guarded" in their

persons so as to be sure of reaching it. Neither shall it be wanting to

them, nor they to it. "We are guarded in the world as our

inheritance is kept in heaven." This defines the "you" of

1Pe 1:4.

The inheritance, remember, belongs only to those who "endure unto the

end," being "guarded" by, or IN "the power of God,

through faith." Contrast

Lu 8:13.

God Himself is our sole guarding power. "It is His power

which saves us from our enemies. It is His long-suffering which

saves us from ourselves" [BENGEL].

Jude 1,

"preserved in Christ Jesus";

Php 1:6; 4:7,

"keep"; Greek, "guard," as here. This guarding is effected, on

the part of God, by His "power," the efficient cause; on the part of

man, "through faith," the effective means.

God, and in virtue of His power, and God lives in him. "In" marks that

the cause is inherent in the means, working organically through them

with living influence, so that the means, in so far as the cause works

organically through them, exist also in the cause. The power of God

which guards the believer is no external force working upon him from

without with mechanical necessity, but the spiritual power of God in

which he lives, and with whose Spirit he is clothed. It comes down on,

and then dwells in him, even as he is in it

[STEIGER]. Let none flatter himself he is being

guarded by the power of God unto salvation, if he be not walking by

faith. Neither speculative knowledge and reason, nor works of

seeming charity, will avail, severed from faith. It is through faith

that salvation is both received and kept.

unto salvation--the final end of the new birth. "Salvation," not

merely accomplished for us in title by Christ, and made over to us on

our believing, but actually manifested, and finally completed.

ready to be revealed--When Christ shall be revealed, it shall be

revealed. The preparations for it are being made now, and began when

Christ came: "All things are now ready"; the salvation is

already accomplished, and only waits the Lord's time to be manifested:

He "is ready to judge."

last time--the last day, closing the day of grace; the day of

judgment, of redemption, of the restitution of all things, and of

perdition of the ungodly.

6. Wherein--in which prospect of final salvation.

greatly rejoice--"exult with joy": "are exuberantly glad."

Salvation is realized by faith

(1Pe 1:9)

as a thing so actually present as to cause exulting joy in spite of

existing afflictions.

for a season--Greek, "for a little time."

if need be--"if it be God's will that it should be so"

[ALFORD], for not all believers are afflicted. One

need not invite or lay a cross on himself, but only "take up" the cross

which God imposes ("his cross");

2Ti 3:12

is not to be pressed too far. Not every believer, nor every sinner, is

tried with afflictions [THEOPHYLACT]. Some falsely

think that notwithstanding our forgiveness in Christ, a kind of

atonement, or expiation by suffering, is needed.

ye are in heaviness--Greek, "ye were grieved." The

"grieved" is regarded as past, the "exulting joy" present.

Because the realized joy of the coming salvation makes the present

grief seem as a thing of the past. At the first shock of

affliction ye were grieved, but now by anticipation ye

rejoice, regarding the present grief as past.

through--Greek, "IN": the element in

which the grief has place.

manifold--many and of various kinds

(1Pe 4:12, 13).

temptations--"trials" testing your faith.

7. Aim of the "temptations."

trial--testing, proving. That your faith so proved "may

be found (aorist; once for all, as the result of its being

proved on the judgment-day) unto (eventuating in) praise," &c., namely,

the praise to be bestowed by the Judge.

than that of gold--rather, "than gold."

though--"which perisheth, YET is tried with

fire." If gold, though perishing

(1Pe 1:18),

is yet tried with fire in order to remove dross and test its

genuineness, how much more does your faith, which shall never perish,

need to pass through a fiery trial to remove whatever is defective, and

to test its genuineness and full value?

glory--"Honor" is not so strong as "glory." As "praise" is in

words, so "honor" is in deeds: honorary reward.

appearing--Translate as in

1Pe 1:13,

"revelation." At Christ's revelation shall take place also the

revelation of the sons of God

(Ro 8:19,

"manifestation," Greek, "revelation";

1Jo 3:2,

Greek, "manifested . . . manifested," for "appear

. . . appear").

8. not having seen, ye love--though in other cases it is

knowledge of the person that produces love to him. They

are more "blessed that have not seen and yet have believed," than they

who believed because they have seen. On Peter's own love to Jesus,

compare

Joh 21:15-17.

Though the apostles had seen Him, they now ceased to know Him merely

after the flesh.

in whom--connected with "believing": the result of which is "ye

rejoice" (Greek, "exult").

now--in the present state, as contrasted with the

future state when believers "shall see His face."

unspeakable--

(1Co 2:9).

full of glory--Greek, "glorified." A joy now already

encompassed with glory. The "glory" is partly in present

possession, through the presence of Christ, "the Lord of glory," in the

soul; partly in assured anticipation. "The Christian's joy is

bound up with love to Jesus: its ground is faith; it is

not therefore either self-seeking or self-sufficient"

[STEIGER].

9. Receiving--in sure anticipation; "the end of your faith,"

that is, its crowning consummation, finally completed "salvation"

(Peter here confirms Paul's teaching as to justification by

faith): also receiving now the title to it and the

first-fruits of it. In

1Pe 1:10

the "salvation" is represented as already present, whereas "the

prophets" had it not as yet present. It must, therefore, in this verse,

refer to the present: Deliverance now from a state of wrath:

believers even now "receive salvation," though its full "revelation" is

future.

of . . . souls--The immortal soul was what was

lost, so "salvation" primarily concerns the soul; the body shall

share in redemption hereafter; the soul of the believer is saved

already: an additional proof that "receiving . . . salvation"

is here a thing present.

10. The magnitude of this "salvation" is proved by the

earnestness with which "prophets" and even "angels" searched into it.

Even from the beginning of the world this salvation has been testified

to by the Holy Spirit.

prophets--Though there is no Greek article, yet

English Version is right, "the prophets" generally

(including all the Old Testament inspired authors), as

"the angels" similarly refer to them in general.

inquired--perseveringly: so the Greek. Much more is

manifested to us than by diligent inquiry and search the prophets

attained. Still it is not said, they searched after it, but

concerning (so the Greek for "of") it. They were already

certain of the redemption being about to come. They did not like us

fully see, but they desired to see the one and the same

Christ whom we fully see in spirit. "As Simeon was anxiously desiring

previously, and tranquil in peace only when he had seen Christ, so all

the Old Testament saints saw Christ only hidden, and as it were

absent--absent not in power and grace, but inasmuch as He was not yet

manifested in the flesh" [CALVIN]. The prophets,

as private individuals, had to reflect on the hidden and

far-reaching sense of their own prophecies; because their words, as

prophets, in their public function, were not so much their own as

the Spirit's, speaking by and in them: thus Caiaphas. A striking

testimony to verbal inspiration; the words which the inspired

authors wrote are God's words expressing the mind of the Spirit, which

the writers themselves searched into, to fathom the deep and precious

meaning, even as the believing readers did. "Searched" implies that

they had determinate marks to go by in their search.

the grace that should come unto you--namely, the grace of the

New Testament: an earnest of "the grace" of perfected "salvation

. . . to be brought at the (second) revelation of Christ."

Old Testament believers also possessed the grace of God; they were

children of God, but it was as children in their nonage, so as to be

like servants; whereas we enjoy the full privileges of adult sons.

11. what--Greek, "In reference to what, or what

manner of time." What expresses the time absolutely: what

was to be the era of Messiah's coming; what manner of time; what

events and features should characterize the time of His coming. The

"or" implies that some of the prophets, if they could not as

individuals discover the exact time, searched into its

characteristic features and events. The Greek for "time" is

the season, the epoch, the fit time in God's purposes.

Spirit of Christ . . . in them--

(Ac 16:7,

in oldest manuscripts, "the Spirit of Jesus";

Re 19:10).

So JUSTIN MARTYR says, "Jesus

was He who appeared and communed with Moses, Abraham, and the other

patriarchs." CLEMENT OF ALEXANDRIA calls Him "the Prophet of prophets, and Lord

of all the prophetical spirit."

did signify--"did give intimation."

of--Greek, "the sufferers (appointed) unto

Christ," or foretold in regard to Christ. "Christ," the

anointed Mediator, whose sufferings are the price of our

"salvation"

(1Pe 1:9, 10),

and who is the channel of "the grace that should come unto you."

the glory--Greek, "glories," namely, of His resurrection,

of His ascension, of His judgment and coming kingdom, the necessary

consequence of the sufferings.

that should follow--Greek, "after these (sufferings),"

1Pe 3:18-22; 5:1.

Since "the Spirit of Christ" is the Spirit of God, Christ is

God. It is only because the Son of God was to become our Christ that He

manifested Himself and the Father through Him in the Old Testament, and

spake in the prophets.

12. Not only was the future revealed to them, but this also,

that these revelations of the future were given them not for

themselves, but for our good in Gospel times. This, so far from

disheartening, only quickened them in unselfishly testifying in the

Spirit for the partial good of their own generation (only of

believers), and for the full benefit of posterity. Contrast in Gospel

times,

Re 22:10.

Not that their prophecies were unattended with spiritual instruction as

to the Redeemer to their own generation, but the full light was not to

be given till Messiah should come; it was well that they should have

this "revealed" to them, lest they should be disheartened in not

clearly discovering with all their inquiry and search the full

particulars of the coming "salvation." To Daniel

(Da 9:25, 26)

the "time" was revealed. Our immense privileges are thus brought

forth by contrast with theirs, notwithstanding that they had the great

honor of Christ's Spirit speaking in them; and this, as an incentive to

still greater earnestness on our part than even they manifested

(1Pe 1:13,

&c.).

us--The oldest manuscripts read "you," as in

1Pe 1:10.

This verse implies that we, Christians, may understand the

prophecies by the Spirit's aid in their most important part, namely, so

far as they have been already fulfilled.

with the Holy Ghost sent down--on Pentecost. The oldest

manuscripts omit Greek preposition en, that is, "in";

then translate, "by." The Evangelists speaking by the Holy Spirit were

infallible witnesses. "The Spirit of Christ" was in the prophets also

(1Pe 1:11),

but not manifestly, as in the case of the Christian Church and its

first preachers, "SENT down from heaven." How

favored are we in being ministered to, as to "salvation," by prophets

and apostles alike, the latter now announcing the same things as

actually fulfilled which the former foretold.

which things--"the things now reported unto you" by the

evangelistic preachers "Christ's sufferings and the glory that should

follow"

(1Pe 1:11, 12).

angels--still higher than "the prophets"

(1Pe 1:10).

Angels do not any more than ourselves possess an

INTUITIVE knowledge of redemption. "To look into"

in Greek is literally, "to bend over so as to look deeply into

and see to the bottom of a thing." See on

Jas 1:25,

on same word. As the cherubim stood bending over the mercy seat, the

emblem of redemption, in the holiest place, so the angels intently gaze

upon and desire to fathom the depths of "the great mystery of

godliness, God manifest in the flesh, justified in the Spirit, seen

of angels"

(1Ti 3:16).

Their "ministry to the heirs of salvation" naturally disposes them to

wish to penetrate this mystery as reflecting such glory on the love,

justice, wisdom, and power of their and our God and Lord. They can

know it only through its manifestation in the Church, as they

personally have not the direct share in it that we have. "Angels have

only the contrast between good and evil, without the power of

conversion from sin to righteousness: witnessing such conversion in the

Church, they long to penetrate the knowledge of the means whereby it is

brought about" [HOFMAN in ALFORD].

13. Wherefore--Seeing that the prophets ministered unto you in

these high Gospel privileges which they did not themselves fully share

in, though "searching" into them, and seeing that even angels "desire

to look into" them, how earnest you ought to be and watchful in respect

to them!

gird up . . . loins--referring to Christ's own words,

Lu 12:35;

an image taken from the way in which the Israelites ate the passover

with the loose outer robe girded up about the waist with a girdle, as

ready for a journey. Workmen, pilgrims, runners, wrestlers, and

warriors (all of whom are types of the Christians), so gird themselves

up, both to shorten the garment so as not to impede motion, and to gird

up the body itself so as to be braced for action. The believer is to

have his mind (mental powers) collected and always ready for Christ's

coming. "Gather in the strength of your spirit" [HENSLER]. Sobriety, that is, spiritual

self-restraint, lest one be overcome by the allurements of the

world and of sense, and patient hopeful waiting for Christ's

revelation, are the true ways of "girding up the loins of the mind."

to the end--rather, "perfectly," so that there may be nothing

deficient in your hope, no casting away of your confidence.

Still, there may be an allusion to the "end" mentioned in

1Pe 1:9.

Hope so perfectly (Greek, "teleios") as to reach unto

the end (telos) of your faith and hope, namely, "the

grace that is being brought unto you in (so the Greek) the

revelation of Christ." As grace shall then be perfected,

so you ought to hope perfectly. "Hope" is repeated from

1Pe 1:3.

The two appearances are but different stages of the

ONE great revelation of Christ, comprising the New

Testament from the beginning to the end.

14. From sobriety of spirit and endurance of hope

Peter passes to obedience, holiness, and reverential

fear.

As--marking their present actual character as "born again"

(1Pe 1:3, 22).

obedient children--Greek, "children of obedience":

children to whom obedience is their characteristic and ruling

nature, as a child is of the same nature as the mother and father.

Contrast

Eph 5:6,

"the children of disobedience." Compare

1Pe 1:17,

"obeying the Father" whose "children" ye are. Having the obedience of

faith (compare

1Pe 1:22)

and so of practice (compare

1Pe 1:16, 18).

"Faith is the highest obedience, because discharged to the highest

command" [LUTHER].

fashioning--The outward fashion (Greek,

"schema") is fleeting, and merely on the surface. The "form," or

conformation in the New Testament, is something deeper and more

perfect and essential.

the former lusts in--which were characteristic of your state of

ignorance of God: true of both Jews and Gentiles. The sanctification is

first described negatively

(1Pe 1:14,

"not fashioning yourselves," &c.; the putting off the old man, even in

the outward fashion, as well as in the inward

conformation), then positively

(1Pe 1:15,

putting on the new man, compare

Eph 4:22, 24).

"Lusts" flow from the original birth-sin (inherited from our first

parents, who by self-willed desire brought sin into the world), the

lust which, ever since man has been alienated from God, seeks to

fill up with earthly things the emptiness of his being; the manifold

forms which the mother-lust assumes are called in the plural

lusts. In the regenerate, as far as the new man is

concerned, which constitutes his truest self, "sin" no longer exists;

but in the flesh or old man it does. Hence arises the conflict,

uninterruptedly maintained through life, wherein the new man in the

main prevails, and at last completely. But the natural man knows only

the combat of his lusts with one another, or with the law, without

power to conquer them.

15. Literally, "But (rather) after the pattern of Him who hath

called you (whose characteristic is that He is) holy, be (Greek,

'become') ye yourselves also holy." God is our grand model. God's

calling is a frequently urged motive in Peter's Epistles. Every

one that begets, begets an offspring resembling himself [EPIPHANIUS]. "Let the acts of the offspring indicate

similarity to the Father" [AUGUSTINE].

conversation--deportment, course of life: one's way of going

about, as distinguished from one's internal nature, to which it must

outwardly correspond. Christians are already holy unto God by

consecration; they must be so also in their outward walk and

behavior in all respects. The outward must correspond to the inward

man.

16. Scripture is the true source of all authority in

questions of doctrine and practice.

Be ye . . . for I am--It is I with whom ye have to do.

Ye are mine. Therefore abstain from Gentile pollutions. We are too

prone to have respect unto men [CALVIN]. As I am

the fountain of holiness, being holy in My essence, be ye

therefore zealous to be partakers of holiness, that ye may be as

I also am [DIDYMUS]. God is essentially holy: the

creature is holy in so far as it is sanctified by God. God, in giving

the command, is willing to give also the power to obey it, namely,

through the sanctifying of the Spirit

(1Pe 1:2).

17. if ye call on--that is, "seeing that ye call on," for

all the regenerate pray as children of God, "Our Father

who art in heaven"

(Mt 6:9;

Lu 11:2).

the Father--rather, "Call upon as Father Him who without

acceptance of persons

(Ac 10:34;

Ro 2:11;

Jas 2:1,

not accepting the Jew above the Gentile,

2Ch 19:7;

Lu 20:21;

properly said of a judge not biassed in judgment by respect of persons)

judgeth," &c. The Father judgeth by His Son, His Representative,

exercising His delegated authority

(Joh 5:22).

This marks the harmonious and complete unity of the Trinity.

work--Each man's work is one complete whole,

whether good or bad. The particular works of each are manifestations of

the general character of his lifework, whether it was of faith and love

whereby alone we can please God and escape condemnation.

pass--Greek, "conduct yourselves during."

sojourning--The outward state of the Jews in their

dispersion is an emblem of the sojourner-like state of

all believers in this world, away from our true Fatherland.

fear--reverential, not slavish. He who is your Father, is also

your Judge--a thought which may well inspire reverential fear. THEOPHYLACT observes, A double fear is mentioned in

Scripture: (1) elementary, causing one to become serious; (2)

perfective: the latter is here the motive by which Peter urges

them as sons of God to be obedient. Fear is not here opposed to

assurance, but to carnal security: fear producing

vigilant caution lest we offend God and backslide. "Fear and

hope flow from the same fountain: fear prevents us from

falling away from hope" [BENGEL]. Though

love has no fear IN it, yet in our

present state of imperfect love, it needs to have fear going ALONG WITH It as a subordinate principle. This fear

drowns all other fears. The believer fears God, and so has none else to

fear. Not to fear God is the greatest baseness and folly. The martyrs'

more than mere human courage flowed from this.

18. Another motive to reverential, vigilant fear

(1Pe 1:17)

of displeasing God, the consideration of the costly price of our

redemption from sin. Observe, it is we who are bought by the

blood of Christ, not heaven. The blood of Christ is not in Scripture

said to buy heaven for us: heaven is the "inheritance"

(1Pe 1:4)

given to us as sons, by the promise of God.

corruptible--Compare

1Pe 1:7,

"gold that perisheth,"

1Pe 1:23.

silver and gold--Greek, "or." Compare Peter's own words,

Ac 3:6:

an undesigned coincidence.

redeemed--Gold and silver being liable to corruption themselves,

can free no one from spiritual and bodily death; they are therefore of

too little value. Contrast

1Pe 1:19,

Christ's "precious blood." The Israelites were ransomed with

half a shekel each, which went towards purchasing the lamb for

the daily sacrifice

(Ex 30:12-16;

compare

Nu 3:44-51).

But the Lamb who redeems the spiritual Israelites does so "without

money or price." Devoted by sin to the justice of God, the Church of

the first-born is redeemed from sin and the curse with Christ's

precious blood

(Mt 20:28;

1Ti 2:6;

Tit 2:14;

Re 5:9).

In all these passages there is the idea of substitution, the

giving of one for another by way of a ransom or equivalent. Man is

"sold under sin" as a slave; shut up under condemnation and the curse.

The ransom was, therefore, paid to the righteously incensed Judge, and

was accepted as a vicarious satisfaction for our sin by God, inasmuch

as it was His own love as well as righteousness which appointed it. An

Israelite sold as a bond-servant for debt might be redeemed by one of

his brethren. As, therefore, we could not redeem ourselves, Christ

assumed our nature in order to become our nearest of kin and brother,

and so our God or Redeemer. Holiness is the natural fruit of redemption

"from our vain conversation"; for He by whom we are redeemed is

also He for whom we are redeemed. "Without the righteous

abolition of the curse, either there could be found no deliverance, or,

what is impossible, the grace and righteousness of God must have come

in collision" [STEIGER]; but now, Christ having

borne the curse of our sin, frees from it those who are made God's

children by His Spirit.

vain--self-deceiving, unreal, and unprofitable: promising good

which it does not perform. Compare as to the Gentiles,

Ac 14:15;

Ro 1:21;

Eph 4:17;

as to human philosophers,

1Co 3:20;

as to the disobedient Jews,

Jer 4:14.

conversation--course of life. To know what our sin is we must

know what it cost.

received by tradition from your fathers--The Jews' traditions.

"Human piety is a vain blasphemy, and the greatest sin that a man can

commit" [LUTHER]. There is only one Father to be

imitated,

1Pe 1:17;

compare

Mt 23:9,

the same antithesis [BENGEL].

19. precious--of inestimable value. The Greek order is,

"With precious blood, as of a lamb without blemish (in itself)

and without spot (contracted by contact with others), (even the

blood) of Christ." Though very man, He remained pure in Himself

("without blemish"), and uninfected by any impression of sin from

without ("without spot"), which would have unfitted Him for being

our atoning Redeemer: so the passover lamb, and every sacrificial

victim; so too, the Church, the Bride, by her union with Him. As

Israel's redemption from Egypt required the blood of the paschal lamb,

so our redemption from sin and the curse required the blood of Christ;

"foreordained"

(1Pe 1:20)

from eternity, as the passover lamb was taken up on the tenth day of

the month.

20. God's eternal foreordination of Christ's redeeming

sacrifice, and completion of it in these last times for us, are

an additional obligation on us to our maintaining a holy walk,

considering how great things have been thus done for us. Peter's

language in the history corresponds with this here: an undesigned

coincidence and mark of genuineness. Redemption was no afterthought, or

remedy of an unforeseen evil, devised at the time of its arising. God's

foreordaining of the Redeemer refutes the slander that, on the

Christian theory, there is a period of four thousand years of nothing

but an incensed God. God chose us in Christ before the foundation of

the world

(Eph 1:4).

manifest--in His incarnation in the fulness of the time. He

existed from eternity before He was manifested.

in these last times--

1Co 10:11,

"the ends of the world." This last dispensation, made up of "times"

marked by great changes, but still retaining a general unity, stretches

from Christ's ascension to His coming to judgment.

21. by him--Compare "the faith which is by Him,"

Ac 3:16.

Through Christ: His Spirit, obtained for us in His resurrection

and ascension, enabling us to believe. This verse excludes all who do

not "by Him believe in God," and includes all of every age and clime

that do. Literally, "are believers in God." "To believe

IN (Greek, 'eis') God"

expresses an internal trust: "by believing to love God, going

INTO Him, and cleaving to Him, incorporated into

His members. By this faith the ungodly is justified, so that

thenceforth faith itself begins to work by love"

[P. LOMBARD]. To believe

ON (Greek, "epi," or dative case)

God expresses the confidence, which grounds itself on

God, reposing on Him. "Faith IN (Greek,

'en') His blood"

(Ro 3:25)

implies that His blood is the element IN which

faith has its proper and abiding place. Compare with this verse,

Ac 20:21,

"Repentance toward (Greek, 'eis,' 'into,' turning

towards and going into) God and faith toward

(Greek, 'eis,' 'into') Christ": where, as there is but

one article to both repentance and faith, the two are

inseparably joined as together forming one truth; where "repentance"

is, there "faith" is; when one knows God the Father spiritually, then

he must know the Son by whom alone we can come to the Father. In Christ

we have life: if we have not the doctrine of Christ, we have not God.

The only living way to God is through Christ and His sacrifice.

that raised him--The raising of Jesus by God is the special

ground of our "believing": (1) because by it God declared openly His

acceptance of Him as our righteous substitute; (2) because by it and

His glorification He received power, namely, the Holy Spirit, to impart

to His elect "faith": the same power enabling us to believe as raised

Him from the dead. Our faith must not only be IN

Christ, but BY and THROUGH

Christ. "Since in Christ's resurrection and consequent dominion our

safety is grounded, there 'faith' and 'hope' find their stay"

[CALVIN].

that your faith and hope might be in God--the object and effect

of God's raising Christ. He states what was the actual result

and fact, not an exhortation, except indirectly. Your

faith flows from His resurrection; your hope from

God's having "given Him glory" (compare

1Pe 1:11,

"glories"). Remember God's having raised and glorified Jesus as the

anchor of your faith and hope in God, and so keep alive these graces.

Apart from Christ we could have only feared, not believed and

hoped in God. Compare

1Pe 1:3, 7-9, 13,

on hope in connection with faith; love is introduced in

1Pe 1:22.

22. purified . . . in obeying the truth--Greek,

"in your (or 'the') obedience of (that is, 'to')

the truth (the Gospel way of salvation)," that is, in the fact of your

believing. Faith purifies the heart as giving it the only pure

motive, love to God

(Ac 15:9;

Ro 1:5,

"obedience to the faith").

through the Spirit--omitted in the oldest manuscripts. The Holy

Spirit is the purifier by bestowing the obedience of faith

(1Pe 1:2;

1Co 12:3).

unto--with a view to: the proper result of the purifying

of your hearts by faith. "For what end must we lead a chaste life? That

we may thereby be saved? No: but for this, that we may serve our

neighbor" [LUTHER].

unfeigned--

1Pe 2:1, 2,

"laying aside . . . hypocrisies . . .

sincere."

love of the brethren--that is, of Christians. Brotherly

love is distinct from common love. "The Christian loves

primarily those in Christ; secondarily, all who might be in Christ,

namely, all men, as Christ as man died for all, and as he hopes that

they, too, may become his Christian brethren"

[STEIGER]. BENGEL remarks

that as here, so in

2Pe 1:5-7,

"brotherly love" is preceded by the purifying graces, "faith,

knowledge, and godliness," &c. Love to the brethren is the evidence of

our regeneration and justification by faith.

love one another--When the purifying by faith into love of

the brethren has formed the habit, then the act

follows, so that the "love" is at once habit and act.

with a pure heart--The oldest manuscripts read, "(love) from the

heart."

fervently--Greek, "intensely": with all the powers

on the stretch

(1Pe 4:8).

"Instantly"

(Ac 26:7).

23. Christian brotherhood flows from our new birth of an

imperishable seed, the abiding word of God. This is the consideration

urged here to lead us to exercise brotherly love. As natural

relationship gives rise to natural affection, so spiritual relationship

gives rise to spiritual, and therefore abiding love, even as the

seed from which it springs is abiding, not transitory as earthly

things.

of . . . of . . . by--"The word of God" is

not the material of the spiritual new birth, but its mean or medium. By

means of the word the man receives the incorruptible seed of

the Holy Spirit, and so becomes one "born again":

Joh 3:3-5,

"born of water and the Spirit": as there is but one Greek

article to the two nouns, the close connection of the sign and

the grace, or new birth signified is implied. The word is the

remote and anterior instrument; baptism, the proximate and

sacramental instrument. The word is the instrument in relation to the

individual; baptism, in relation to the Church as a society

(Jas 1:18).

We are born again of the Spirit, yet not without the use of

means, but by the word of God. The word is not the beggeting principle

itself, but only that by which it works: the vehicle of the

mysterious germinating power [ALFORD].

which liveth and abideth for ever--It is because the Spirit of

God accompanies it that the word carries in it the germ of life. They

who are so born again live and abide for ever, in contrast to

those who sow to the flesh. "The Gospel bears incorruptible fruits, not

dead works, because it is itself incorruptible"

[BENGEL]. The word is an eternal divine power. For

though the voice or speech vanishes, there still remains the kernel,

the truth comprehended in the voice. This sinks into the heart and is

living; yea, it is God Himself. So God to Moses,

Ex 4:12,

"I will be with thy mouth" [LUTHER]. The life is

in God, yet it is communicated to us through the word.

"The Gospel shall never cease, though its ministry shall"

[CALOVIUS]. The abiding resurrection glory

is always connected with our regeneration by the Spirit.

Regeneration beginning with renewing man's soul at the

resurrection, passes on to the body, then to the whole world of

nature.

24. Scripture proof that the word of God lives for ever, in

contrast to man's natural frailty. If ye were born again of flesh,

corruptible seed, ye must also perish again as the grass; but now that

from which you have derived life remains eternally, and so also will

render you eternal.

flesh--man in his mere earthly nature.

as--omitted in some of the oldest manuscripts.

of man--The oldest manuscripts read, "of it" (that is, of the

flesh). "The glory" is the wisdom, strength, riches, learning, honor,

beauty, art, virtue, and righteousness of the

NATURAL man (expressed by "flesh"), which all are

transitory

(Joh 3:6),

not OF MAN (as English Version reads)

absolutely, for the glory of man, in his true ideal realized in

the believer, is eternal.

withereth--Greek, aorist: literally, "withered," that is,

is withered as a thing of the past. So also the Greek for

"falleth" is "fell away," that is, is fallen away: it no sooner

is than it is gone.

thereof--omitted in the best manuscripts and versions. "The

grass" is the flesh: "the flower" its glory.

25.

(Ps 119:89.)

this is the word . . . preached unto you--That is

eternal which is born of incorruptible seed

(1Pe 1:24):

but ye have received the incorruptible seed, the word

(1Pe 1:25);

therefore ye are born for eternity, and so are bound now to live for

eternity

(1Pe 1:22, 23).

Ye have not far to look for the word; it is among you, even the joyful

Gospel message which we preach. Doubt not that the Gospel preached

to you by our brother Paul, and which ye have embraced, is the

eternal truth. Thus the oneness of Paul's and Peter's creed

appears. See my

Introduction,

showing Peter addresses some of the same churches as Paul labored among

and wrote to.