Through the Bible - 1 Peter

The church that is in Babylon, elected together with you, salutes you; and so does Mark, my son. Greet one another with a kiss of charity. Peace be with you all that are in Christ Jesus. Amen. (1 Peter 5:13–14)

Peter's letter to a persecuted church: a call to live as a holy priesthood fixed on the living hope and heavenly inheritance we have in the risen Christ.

The Setting of the Letter

This great little letter of five chapters was written probably right around 64 A.D., very likely from Rome. At the end of the letter Peter mentions "the church that is in Babylon," but it's likely he was speaking spiritually rather than of the literal place east of Israel. He was probably in the capital of the empire, Rome, where Mark was at that same time, near the end of Paul's first imprisonment. Peter himself spent the last years of his life in Rome.

He addresses the letter to the saints, the strangers and pilgrims scattered throughout Pontus, Galatia, Cappadocia, Asia, and Bithynia—the area we'd call Turkey today, then Asia Minor. It's a letter of great exhortation and encouragement in the midst of suffering, because the church was about to suffer persecution in a big way. Nero was Caesar, and history records he was a complete lunatic. Legend has it that he instigated the great fires in Rome to rebuild the city in his own image, then shifted the blame onto the Christians. Public opinion turned quickly, and both the people and the government began to persecute believers.

The Man Peter

Most New Testament letters that begin "grace unto you and peace be multiplied" come from Paul, but here it's Peter—the one who declared in Matthew 16, "You are the Christ, the Son of the living God," who was given the keys of the kingdom and opened the door of the gospel to the Jews in Acts 2 and to the Gentiles in Acts 10.

Peter came from a poor background—a Galilean fisherman—yet the way the Lord spoke through this man after he was filled with the Spirit is powerful. We see throughout the Gospels that he had a big mouth and stuck his foot in it many times, but he also had a big heart, and that heart came in a big way from his failures. He was just a man, nothing special about him, though some have venerated him as more saintly than other saints. The leaders of Judaism looked at Peter and the apostles and called them "unlearned, untrained men"—they hadn't gone to the right schools, and you could tell from their accents they were from the backwater of Israel. Yet they had been with Jesus, and God poured out His Spirit upon them.

Some have argued these letters are too polished to have been written by Peter, but "it is not by might nor by power, but by my Spirit, saith the Lord." God takes that which is base, foolish, and weak to confound the wise. Many of us share that testimony—the Lord taking something weak and nothing in the world's eyes and using it for His glory.

Elect According to Foreknowledge

Elect according to the foreknowledge of God the Father, through sanctification of the Spirit, unto obedience and sprinkling of the blood of Jesus Christ: Grace unto you, and peace, be multiplied. (1 Peter 1:2)

God knows the end from the beginning. He is the same yesterday, today, and forever, the Alpha and the Omega. As a result of His foreknowledge, He is able to elect individuals to be His. We see this in the statement, "Jacob have I loved, and Esau have I hated," found in Malachi and reiterated in Romans. People stumble over "Esau have I hated," but I have more trouble with "Jacob have I loved." Jacob was a deceiver and a scoundrel, yet in Genesis 32 we see his repentance. Esau seemed like the better man—loved by his father, a great hunter—yet Hebrews 12 tells us he was a profane and immoral man who never repented. He sought the blessing with tears but found no place for repentance. I praise God that He has called us elect in Christ according to His foreknowledge.

This election is "through sanctification." Justification took care of the debt of our sin—Jesus, who knew no sin, became sin for us, and we receive His imputed righteousness. But the work doesn't end there. God desires that we be sanctified wholly. It's God who works in us both to will and to do His good pleasure, but we need to yield to His hand and say, "Lord, do with me as You please." That is contrary to our flesh, because we want to be in control, but it's a real profession of faith to lay our lives down as a living sacrifice.

The Blood and the Resurrection

Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, which according to his abundant mercy hath begotten us again unto a lively hope by the resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead. (1 Peter 1:3)

Note two things mentioned right at the start: the blood of Christ and the resurrection. Without the shedding of blood there is no remission of sins, and Jesus' blood would not have been enough had He not risen. His resurrection proved His blood is sufficient—that He is the Lamb of God who takes away the sin of the world. Paul says in 1 Corinthians 15 that if Jesus be not raised, every one of us is still dead in our sins. If His blood was shed and He remained in the tomb, we would still be dead in our sins, and if we had grace only for this life, we would of all men be most miserable. But He is not dead—He is risen indeed.

And it's by His abundant mercy. Every one of us should have received the wrath of God, but by mercy He has begotten us again to a living hope. This is not a "well, I hope so" hope. When I ask people if they have assurance they'd be with God in heaven and they say, "Well, I hope so," that's not the hope of Scripture. Biblical hope is an absolute expectation, a total assurance. Because He is alive, we also shall live with Him eternally.

A Heavenly Inheritance

He overly and abundantly blesses us with an inheritance "incorruptible, and undefiled, and that fadeth not away, reserved in heaven for you." Throughout this letter Peter keeps reiterating heaven, the last time, and the appearing and revelation of Jesus Christ. Why? Because that is the only way to stand in persecution. Everyone who desires to live godly in Christ Jesus will suffer persecution, and Jesus said, "In the world you will have much trouble." How can we face such things with boldness and even joy? Only if we have this living hope that this is not all there is.

In John 14 Jesus says, "Let not your heart be troubled... in my Father's house are many mansions... I go to prepare a place for you." What makes heaven so heavenly is the abiding presence of God. If He had only made a nice paradise, it would get old, but heaven is heavenly because Jesus is there. So the sufferings of this present world are not worthy to be compared with the glory that shall be revealed in us.

In Hebrews 11 the men and women of faith desired a city whose builder and maker was God. They understood they were strangers and pilgrims, and so they pressed on in adversity. We too are "kept by the power of God through faith unto salvation ready to be revealed in the last time." That is a great promise to hold onto in trial—not by my might or power, but by His Spirit, He keeps us.

Faith More Precious Than Gold

Wherein ye greatly rejoice... that the trial of your faith, being much more precious than gold that perisheth... might be found unto praise and honour and glory at the appearing of Jesus Christ. (1 Peter 1:6–7)

How can you rejoice in trial? Only by recognizing there is another life beyond this. The Lord brings each of us to a place where our faith is more precious than gold, more precious than anything in this world. For someone with a dramatic testimony, that preciousness comes quickly at conversion. But for those who grew up in church and made a profession of faith when very young, the Lord still brings them to the place where nothing else compares. As Paul told the Philippians, if you don't believe this, God will even reveal it to you. I hope and pray every one of you is at that place where your walk with the Lord is more precious than anything.

We have never seen Jesus, yet we love Him and follow Him by faith. Remember doubting Thomas—when Jesus appeared and let him touch His hands and side, Thomas cried, "My Lord and my God." Jesus said, "Blessed are you, Thomas, but even more blessed are they that have not seen, and yet have believed." Receiving the end of our faith, the salvation of our souls, we move from justification to sanctification to glorification. We see now dimly as through a glass, but then face to face. There is coming a day when faith becomes sight.

What the Prophets Searched

Of which salvation the prophets have inquired and searched diligently... searching 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. (1 Peter 1:10–11)

The prophets of old looked diligently into the salvation you and I would receive in Christ. They anticipated the resurrection of the coming Messiah and took care to write these things down, yet they didn't fully understand it. It was revealed to them that they ministered not to themselves but to us. Hebrews 11 says they all died in faith without receiving the promise, but today we have received it. Just as the disciples were born again when Jesus breathed on them and said, "Receive ye the Holy Spirit," we who were once dead in trespasses have been quickened, made alive.

And notice—these are things "the angels desire to look into." Even the angels stand in awe of God's work, probably because they look at us and wonder how God could love us. Yet He has loved us with such great love, demonstrated at the cross.

Be Holy, For I Am Holy

But as he which hath called you is holy, so be ye holy in all manner of conversation; because it is written, Be ye holy; for I am holy. (1 Peter 1:15–16)

Peter exhorts us to gird up the loins of our minds, be sober, and hope to the end. Don't go back to the former lusts; put off the old man and put on the new. And be holy—because God told us to be holy. There are great blessings in obedience, as Deuteronomy 28 shows, but the promise of blessing is not what should drive our holiness. We have been called by God to be holy.

He's quoting Leviticus 11:44. Notice God had already brought Israel out of bondage in Egypt, and then said, "Now be holy." The word holy is the Greek hagios, the same word translated saint. We need to recover what holiness really means. The first time the word is used is in Exodus 3:5, when God tells Moses, "Take the sandals off your feet, for the place where you stand is holy ground." Was that dirt better than other dirt? No—God's presence made it holy. The same with the holy of holies; it wasn't the gold and linens, it was His presence.

God has made us holy by the indwelling presence of His Holy Spirit, but holiness also means consecration—being completely set apart. In Daniel 5, Belshazzar was judged that very night for using the holy temple vessels for his party. They were holy not because they were gold and silver, but because they were consecrated to God. We too are called to be holy unto God, not to be defiled or used by the things of this world. At our house we have a bowl that is only for our dog Jackson—it's consecrated to him; I would never serve a salad in it. In the same way, we are to be consecrated unto God.

Redeemed With Precious Blood

Forasmuch as ye know that ye were not redeemed with corruptible things, as silver and gold... but with the precious blood of Christ, as of a lamb without blemish and without spot. (1 Peter 1:18–19)

If you call on the Father who judges without respect of persons, pass the time of your sojourning in fear. This reverence and fear of God is another characteristic the church has largely lost. Because God is holy, judgment has fallen on those who didn't approach Him as He commanded—Nadab and Abihu, and Uzzah who reached out to steady the ark. We are to walk this life in proper reverence for who God is.

We have been bought with a price—not by gold or silver, but by the precious blood of Christ. There's that word precious again. Jesus was foreordained before the foundation of the world, the Lamb slain before the foundation of the world (Revelation 13:8), yet manifested in these last times for us. Through Him we believe in God who raised Him from the dead—the resurrection again—and we are to walk in unfeigned love of the brethren. Being born again of incorruptible seed by the word of God which lives and abides forever; and who is the Word of God? Jesus, John chapter 1. All flesh is grass, but the word of the Lord endures forever.

Living Stones and a Royal Priesthood

Ye also, as lively stones, are built up a spiritual house, an holy priesthood, to offer up spiritual sacrifices, acceptable to God by Jesus Christ. (1 Peter 2:5)

Casting off all malice, guile, hypocrisy, and envy, we are to desire the sincere milk of the word that we may grow. Coming to Christ as a living stone, "disallowed indeed of men, but chosen of God, and precious," we are built up as a spiritual house.

This is interesting, because back in Matthew 16 Jesus said, "Upon this rock I will build my church." The Catholic church took that literally, building St. Peter's Basilica on what they believe is Peter's tomb. But Peter himself didn't think he was the rock. Here he identifies Jesus as the chief cornerstone. The rock Jesus spoke of was the great confession—"You are the Christ, the Son of the living God." Jesus is that rock, and we are all living stones built together as a spiritual house. There is no longer an earthly temple, because we are the temple of the Holy Spirit.

But we are also a priesthood—"a chosen generation, a royal priesthood, an holy nation, a peculiar people, that ye should shew forth the praises of him who hath called you out of darkness into his marvellous light." Sometimes we think only the vocational, paid leadership are the priesthood. But every one of us, having been transformed, has been called to declare His praises. We were all once in darkness; now that He's called us into His marvelous light, we should be leaping and praising God to whomever we meet. We offer spiritual sacrifices—the sacrifice of praise, the fruit of our lips, and our giving to the Lord and His body.

For those who believe, He is precious—that's the third time we see the word. Jesus is preciousness itself. Charles Spurgeon said His preciousness breaks the backs of words; our words are never enough to declare how precious He is. But to those who reject Him, He becomes a stone of stumbling and a rock of offense. Their unbelief doesn't diminish His preciousness—it only removes them from the blessing.

A Call to Submission

Submit yourselves to every ordinance of man for the Lord's sake: whether it be to the king, as supreme; or unto governors. (1 Peter 2:13–14)

As strangers and pilgrims, Peter begs us to abstain from fleshly lusts which war against the soul, and to keep our conduct honest among the Gentiles, so that those who speak against us as evildoers may, by our good works, glorify God in the day of visitation. As Jesus said in Matthew 5, "Let your light so shine before men, that they may see your good works, and glorify your Father which is in heaven."

Then for several chapters Peter focuses on submission. First, submission to government—and remember, the governing authority when Peter wrote this was Nero! "Honor the king," he says, even though that king was about to blame the burning of Rome on the Christians. Let your good conduct be such that the accusation doesn't even seem to fit.

Second, submission of servants to masters (1 Peter 2:18). About 60 percent of the Roman Empire were slaves at this time, and Peter calls them to be in subjection with all fear.

Submission in Marriage

Third, submission in marriage (1 Peter 3). "Wives, be in subjection to your own husbands; that, if any obey not the word, they also may without the word be won by the conversation of the wives." The purpose is the same as before—that conduct would win others to the Lord. Paul tells us in Ephesians we are to submit one to another in the fear of God, yet there is a proper hierarchy God has ordained in marriage. Our nation has defiantly pushed away from it, but this is not the authoritarian thing they imagine. A wife's true adorning is "the hidden man of the heart... the ornament of a meek and quiet spirit, which is in the sight of God of great price," as the holy women of old—even Sarah, who obeyed Abraham.

Then to the husbands: "Dwell with them according to knowledge, giving honour unto the wife, as unto the weaker vessel, and as being heirs together of the grace of life; that your prayers be not hindered." How many of you husbands understand your wives completely? This is where the women's liberation movement never finished the passage. They stopped at "wives, submit," but never read that God commands husbands to give honor to the wife. In that culture a wife was seen as property; God's view is entirely different. The inheritance is equal—you are joint heirs of the grace of life—and a man's prayers can be hindered if he doesn't honor his wife.

Finally, in all of life: "Be ye all of one mind, having compassion one of another... not rendering evil for evil... but contrariwise blessing." If you would love life and see good days, refrain your tongue from evil, do good, and seek peace. He gives us an equation for blessing in the midst of suffering.

Shepherds and Humility

Feed the flock of God which is among you, taking the oversight thereof, not by constraint, but willingly; not for filthy lucre... neither as being lords over God's heritage, but being ensamples to the flock. (1 Peter 5:2–3)

Peter exhorts the elders as a fellow elder and witness of the sufferings of Christ, fixing our focus again on the glory that shall be revealed. These are the very things Jesus taught—the leaders among the Gentiles seek position to lord it over people, but not so in God's kingdom. Remember, Jesus had told Peter in John 21, "Feed my sheep." Now Peter passes it on. When the chief Shepherd appears, the faithful elder will receive a crown of glory that fades not away.

To the younger, "submit yourselves unto the elder... and be clothed with humility: for God resisteth the proud, and giveth grace to the humble." Humble yourselves under the mighty hand of God, that He may exalt you in due time, "casting all your care upon him; for he careth for you." And be sober and vigilant, because our adversary the devil walks about as a roaring lion seeking whom he may devour—resist him steadfast in the faith.

But the God of all grace, who hath called us unto his eternal glory by Christ Jesus, after that ye have suffered a while, make you perfect, stablish, strengthen, settle you. (1 Peter 5:10)

The supreme example of humility is in Philippians 2: Christ, "being in the form of God... made himself of no reputation... and became obedient unto death, even the death of the cross. Wherefore God also hath highly exalted him." The one who humbles himself, God will exalt—just as Jesus taught in the parable of taking the lowest seat at the feast. Micah's word holds: "He hath shewed thee, O man, what is good... to do justly, and to love mercy, and to walk humbly with thy God."

Standing Strong Until the End

The believers Peter wrote to were about to go through great difficulty, and there is a real possibility that at some point in our own nation we may face trial, tribulation, and persecution. When that day comes, this is a great book to return to and to memorize, because it reminds us that this is not all there is. Going through difficulty doesn't give us license to roll over, cry, and quit. We are to stand strong in Christ and be witnesses until the very end, knowing that He works in us both to will and to do His good pleasure.

There is an aspect of our yielding that's so important. In trial we can roll over in self-pity, or we can recognize the Lord is able to use it for His greater good and glory as we draw near to Him. If ever there comes a day of such persecution, may we turn to the Lord's word and stand on His promises—that the sufferings of this present life are not worthy to be compared with the glory that shall be revealed in us.

Closing Prayer

Lord, I thank You that as we submit ourselves to You and draw near to You, You draw near to us, and as we humble ourselves before You, You exalt us. Your word says You resist the proud but give grace to the humble—You give more grace. We thank You that apart from that grace none of us could ever stand or approach You, and apart from it none of us could glorify You in the day of trouble. So I pray, pour out upon us Your grace by Your Spirit to stand in whatever You call us to go through, knowing we may suffer for Your name's sake, because anyone who desires to live godly in Christ Jesus will suffer persecution. We're seeing little hints of verbal persecution in our nation; if it ever turns physical, give this body the ability by Your Spirit to stand strong and glorify You, so that those in the world would think it strange that we run not with them and would be blown away because they see Your glory in our lives. Help us to be sober and vigilant, knowing we have an adversary seeking to take us out—but all we must do is resist him steadfast in the faith, recognizing You are the One who fights on our behalf. We praise You and thank You, in Jesus' name, Amen.