1 PETER 1:1-5
INTRODUCTION
The writer identifies himself as “Peter, an apostle of Jesus Christ” (v. 1). “Apostle of Jesus Christ” designates the office of Peter and at the same time indicates his authority for writing this letter. Apostles were directly commissioned by Christ. They therefore stood in a unique relationship to Him. The word “apostle” occurs approximately seventy-five times in the New Testament, with most of these occurrences clustered in the writings of Luke and Paul. Essentially the word “apostle” means, “One sent forth” by another, hence a messenger (cf. John 13:16). In most of its occurrences in the NT the word means something like “authorized ambassador.” All of those who were apostles in the strict sense of the word had seen the Lord (and so could bear witness to His resurrection) and had received a personal commission from the risen Christ. The marks of a true apostle were the performance of signs, wonders, and miracles. This does not imply that signs, wonders, and miracles have ceased. Peter’s use of the word apostle reflects his consciousness of a commission from the Lord, his sense of dependence upon and responsibility to the Lord, and his sense of authority to speak for the Lord.
The recipients are identified as “God’s elect, strangers in the world, scattered throughout Pontus, Galatia, Cappadocia," etc. These were believers who had been driven to various cities due to persecution. They were the elect of God. By the term “elect” the Christians are described from three points of view.
First, their relation to God: they are “elect.” The word “elect” is used in the Bible of those chosen out by God for a special relation to Him and with a view to special service on His behalf. Therefore, if you have received Christ as your Lord and Savior you are among the elect of God. In the NT, it is the third most frequent term for Christians, exceeded only by “disciples” and “saints.” The word “elect” speaks of privilege: believers are chosen to salvation in Christ, destined to be sons and daughters of God, holy and blameless before Him (Eph. 1:3-4). It also speaks of responsibility: believers are chosen to carry out God’s purpose of grace in the world, sent forth to proclaim abroad the praises or excellencies of Him who called them (1 Pet. 2:9). The term “elect” does not refer to anything special that we are in ourselves as believers or to anything special that we have done, but rather to something special that God has done to and for us. It is God who takes the initiative to save us and choose us and not the other way round. We have to remember that the Bible represents the term as a truth designed to make us humble, give us comfort and encouragement, and elicit thanksgiving and praise to God.
Second, the readers are described in terms of their status in the world: they are “strangers in the world," scattered throughout Pontus, Galatia, etc. “Strangers” (exiles) translates a word used of foreigners who settled for a while in a town or region without making it their permanent home. They were “resident aliens.” The word occurs in only three places in the NT: here; 1 Peter 2:11; and Hebrew 11:13. The world is a bridge. The wise person will pass over it, but will not build his/her house upon it. The underlying thought is that as Christians our true home is heaven, and so long as we are in the world we are living in an alien environment. We are the exiles of eternity. We must be apart from the world but never aloof from it. Our responsibility is to be the salt and the light of the world. Salt preserves from decay and creates thirst. As light we are to penetrate the darkness and drive the darkness away so that people can see. Many Cuban exiles in United States cannot wait to return to Cuba after the death of Fidel Castro. We, as Christians are the Chosen People of God; we are the exiles of eternity. Therein lay both our priceless privilege and our inescapable responsibility.
The term “scattered” (Dispersion; cf. James 1:1) is a free rendering of a Greek noun that was almost a technical term for Jews who lived outside of Palestine. They were a “scattered people.” Here Peter uses it figuratively (spiritually) to suggest the pilgrim life of believers. By using the term that was used exclusively for Jews, Peter is suggesting that Christians are an integral part of the Israel of God.
Third, the readers are described in terms of their geographical locality: “Pontus, Galatia, etc” of these districts, only Galatia and Asia are mentioned elsewhere in the New Testament as having Christian converts. However, we are to take note of the fact that during the day of Pentecost people from some of these provinces were present in Jerusalem (Acts 2:9).
I. PETITION FOR GRACE AND PEACE V. 2
Peter’s greeting is a prayer for grace and peace to be abundantly to the readers. “Grace” is the special favor of God through which believers experience forgiveness and divine help. Therefore, you and I need God’s grace to make it through everyday. “Peace” describes a condition of wholeness and completeness in fellowship with God. The peace of God is not the absence of trouble but the presence of God. In verse 2 all three members of the Trinity is mentioned—God the Father, God the Son (Jesus Christ), and God the Holy Spirit. All members of the Trinity work to bring about our salvation. The Father chose us before we chose Him (Eph. 1:4). Jesus Christ the Son died for us while we were still sinners (Rom. 5:6-10). The Holy Spirit brings us the benefits of salvation and sets us apart (sanctifies us) for God’s service (2 Thess. 2:13).
II. THE REBIRTH OF THE BELIEVING
COMMUNITY V. 3
A significant feature of 1 Peter is its teaching that Christians are a new people of God, a new Israel. If you are a Christian you have been chosen by God the Father. At one time, only the nation of Israel could claim to be God’s people, but through Jesus Christ all believers both Jews and Gentiles belong to God. Our salvation and security rest in the sovereign and merciful choice of Almighty God. No persecution or trials can take away the eternal life He gives to those who believe in Him. Peter begins the prayer with a doxology to God. Peter is not praying to a distant and unknown God; rather he is praying to the God who is like Jesus and to whom, through Jesus Christ, we may come with childlike confidence.
The first unit of the prayer of thanksgiving focuses on the recipients’ experience of the new birth and ascribes praise to God the Father for making this possible through the resurrection of Jesus Christ. The full title “Lord Jesus Christ” given to the Savior calls attention to His relationship to us (our divine Lord); His true humanity (Jesus); and His divinely appointed office (Christ). The term “born again” refers to spiritual birth (regeneration). It is the Holy Spirit’s act of bringing believers into God’s family. Jesus used this concept of new birth when He explained salvation to Nicodemus. It is the radical nature that we experience in Christ. We have been brought into a situation so entirely new and different that it is nothing short of a new life. It is as though we have been born a second time (John 3:3-5). Whatever else this means it means that when you become a Christian, there comes into your life a change so radical that the only thing that can be said is that life has begun all over again for you. God’s great mercy in our salvation points to three things:
· God’s action in causing us to be born again was in accordance with His compassionate character.
· There is a richness and magnitude in God’s mercy: it is a great or abundant mercy.
· It follows that we who are Christians owe God a great debt of gratitude for making new birth a reality. Not our merit but His mercy is at the root of it.
A. A Living Hope
Peter goes on to explain that the new life into which believers are brought involves a hope (v. 3), an inheritance (v. 4), and a salvation (v. 5). As a child of a rich man might be described as born to wealth, the child of a king as born to a throne, so believers have been born to hope, to an inheritance, and to salvation. We have been born to a living hope. This hope involves an inheritance, and the inheritance is more precisely defined as a full salvation from God. Hope occurs five times in this Epistle (here, 1:13, 21; 3:5, 15). The New Testament does not use the word “hope” loosely as we use it today. It is not to be thought of as mere wishful thinking but as a firm conviction concerning the future. The word hope means confident expectation, or joyful anticipation. We tend to take hope for granted today but we have to realize that the pagan world of the apostolic times like the pagan world of our day was a world without hope (Eph. 2:12). Unprecedented depression, uncertainty, and fear have settled over the masses today.
The verse states two things about the believer’s hope: First, it is a “living” hope. That is to say it is a hope that is active (cf. Heb. 4:12), that has reality about it, that will not disappoint, but will be fully realized (cf. Rom. 5:5). It is a fearful thing when a man and all his hopes die together. Because our hope in Christ is a living hope, “It is a firm, stable, indivisible hope, an anchor fixed within the veil.” Second, it is a hope made possible through the resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead. This implies that the hope of which Peter spoke is essentially the joyful expectation of believers that we will rise from the dead just as Jesus did.
III. THE GLORIOUS INHERITANCE VV. 4-5
B. A Heavenly Inheritance (v. 4)
As Christians, God’s Word says that we have entered into a glorious inheritance. The word “inheritance” is a word with great history; for it is the word which is often used in the Greek Old Testament for the inheritance of Canaan, the Promised Land. The turmoil that has escalated in the Middle East revolves around the parcel of land on which the Israelis live. The Old Testament states repeatedly that God had given to the Hebrew people the land for an inheritance to possess (Deut. 15:4; 19:10). However, to us inheritance tends to mean something which we shall possess in the future. One thing about this inheritance is that it is a secure possession. However, to the Jews the great settled possession is the Promised Land. That is the land they had always possessed. But the Christian inheritance is even greater. The inheritance that God has given to us is imperishable. That means the inheritance can never perish. The word was occasionally used with a military connotation—of a land not ravaged by enemy armies. In both the Old and New Testament times, the land of Israel was ravaged by invaders. The land had been fought over and destroyed and rebuilt many times. But the Christian possesses a peace and a joy, which no invading army can ravage and destroy. Our heritage in God is imperishable, not liable to decay or corruption. In short, death cannot reach it and destroy it.
Not only that, but also the inheritance is undefiled. The word means to pollute with impious impurity. Many times Palestine was polluted or defiled by the worship of false gods (idols) (Jer. 2:7, 23; 3:2; Ezek. 20:43). The defiling things left their touch on the Promised Land; but we who are Christians have a purity that the sin of the world cannot infect. The inheritance is beyond the reach of evil and cannot be contaminated by it. It retains its integrity. The inheritance is unfading; it can never fade. In the Promised Land and even here in the United States the loveliest flower fades and beautiful blossom dies. But Christians are lifted into a world where there is no change and decay and where our peace and joy are untouched by the chances and the changes of life. The Christian inheritance is not subject to the wasting effects of time. The word unfading suggests a beauty that time does not impair or cause to wither away. It is unchanging. Finally, our inheritance is kept in heaven. This means that it is divinely preserved. In recent times, many banks and shops in the Metroplex have suffered armed robberies. Some of these armed robbers have been arrested and put in jail. However, the inheritance that God has given us in Christ can never be touched by any armed robber, because it is heavily preserved and protected. Do you recall what took place in the Garden of Eden? When Adam and Eve disobeyed God and fell for Satan’s lies, God expelled them from the Garden of Eden. To ensure that they would not return to the Garden, God placed a seraph (angel) in the garden. Therefore, the inheritance that God has given to us is divinely preserved and therefore completely safe. The inheritance is being watched over or guarded, and protected from loss. The inheritance is securely kept under God’s careful watch. As Christians, we may endure much hardship and suffering, but we can be sure that our eternal inheritance is secure, for it is in the custody of our God. His eye is ever upon it, and we know that our God does not sleep or slumber.
Moreover, we are protected by the power of God Himself through faith. The word “protect” is also a military word. It means that our life is garrisoned by God and that He stands as a divine guard over us all our days. I don’t know about you, but because I know that my God protects me I can go to bed and have a sound sleep in the night. I know that I am in the perfect hand of the Omnipotent God.
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