1 Peter 1:1–12

1:1–2 As is typical of most NT letters, Peter begins by identifying himself as an “apostle of Jesus Christ.” The genitive “of Jesus Christ” is probably one of possession, although the idea of being sent or commissioned by Jesus may also be present. Peter is one of Christ’s apostles in the same way the other eleven are (Matthias having replaced Judas Iscariot): he is fully authorized to speak on Christ’s behalf and to act as his emissary or representative. Others called “apostles” in the NT operate at a lower level of spiritual authority (2 Cor. 8:23; Phil. 2:25; perhaps Rom. 16:7).

The recipients of the letter are identified as “elect exiles of the Dispersion in Pontus, Galatia, Cappadocia, Asia, and Bithynia,” which together constitute what we know as modern-day Turkey. The land encompassed by these provinces is massive: nearly 135,000 square miles (350,000 sq. km), roughly the equivalent of the states of New York, Pennsylvania, and Ohio combined.

The Greek term translated “elect” is used 22 times in the NT, twice in our letter with reference to Jesus himself (1 Pet. 2:4, 6; cf. Luke 23:35). In 17 of these 22 instances the word is used of men and women as God’s “elect,” those chosen to inherit eternal life (Matt. 22:14; 24:22, 24, 31; Mark 13:20, 22, 27; Luke 18:7; Rom. 8:33; Col. 3:12; 2 Tim. 2:10; Titus 1:1; 1 Pet. 1:1; 2:9; 2 John 1, 13; Rev. 17:14).

The objects of God’s sovereign selection are specifically identified as “exiles” or “sojourners” or “aliens” (cf. 1 Pet. 1:17 and 2:11). The question is whether Peter intends by this word to explain who the elect are—namely, strangers or aliens scattered throughout the diverse locations noted above—or whether he intends to describe which type of exiles he is addressing—i.e., the “elect” ones. Either option is possible, with the likelihood being the latter. Whatever else may be said of these believers, their foundational and defining identity is that of being “elect exiles” of God’s saving grace.

Some scholars insist that this terminology refers to the political and social status of Peter’s audience.¹ On this view, they were literally foreigners in the lands in which they lived. They lacked citizenship and the rights that came with it. They probably lived on the fringes of society, disenfranchised, suffering both economic and political oppression. Others believe that Peter is describing not so much their social standing but their spiritual condition. Christians, whether in Pontus in the first century or Paris in the twenty-first, are God’s pilgrim people, sojourners on the earth. Followers of Jesus, whether in Galatia or Germany, Bithynia or Bosnia, are aliens in this world, displaced from their true home, which is the new Jerusalem, the heavenly city God has prepared for those who love him. We are but resident aliens on this earth (cf. esp. Heb. 11:13–16).²

At first glance, to speak of “elect exiles” seems like a contradiction in terms. To be an exile is to be rejected. To be elect is to be selected. But there is no contradiction here. God’s people are rejected by this world precisely because they have been elected by God. God made them exiles in the earth, resident aliens, when he chose them out of the world for himself and destined them for an eternal and heavenly inheritance. Although they are currently in exile, socially marginalized, on the fringes of society, exposed to hostile powers, they are God’s chosen ones and destined for eternal and heavenly glory.

Three prepositional phrases further qualify the nature and purpose of God’s sovereign choice of men and women. First, people are elect “according to the foreknowledge of God the Father” (1 Pet. 1:2; cf. Eph. 1:4; 2 Tim. 1:9; Rev. 13:8; 17:8). “Foreknowledge” does not imply that God merely observes the elect or is aware of their existence or has information concerning their lives. Nor does it mean that God simply predicts our conversion or knows about it in advance. Often in Scripture, to know has a meaning beyond that of mere cognition. It is used in a sense practically synonymous with “to love,” “to set regard upon,” “to know with peculiar interest, delight, affection, and action” (cf. Gen. 18:19; Ex. 2:25; Pss. 1:6; 144:3; Jer. 1:5; Hos. 13:5; Amos 3:2; Matt. 7:23; 1 Cor. 8:3; Gal. 4:9; 2 Tim. 2:19; 1 John 3:1). Thus, to foreknow is to forelove. That God foreknew us means that he set his gracious and merciful regard upon us, that he knew us from eternity past with a sovereign and distinguishing delight. God’s foreknowledge is an active, creative work of divine love. It is not bare pre-vision that merely recognizes a difference between those who believe and those who do not believe. God’s foreknowledge creates that difference!

Here Peter asserts that we are elect “according to the foreknowledge of God the Father” (1 Pet. 1:2). Most agree that the preposition kata (translated “according to”) has the sense of “in conformity with.” In other words, God’s foreknowledge or eternal love of us was the standard or norm in light of which his electing act was undertaken.

Second, this election by God was “in the sanctification of the Spirit” (v. 2b). The preposition “in” is instrumental, as the Spirit is himself the one who sanctifies. “Sanctification” is a fluid word in the NT, here referring to the initial act of God the Spirit by which we are set apart unto the Father as his own, consecrated and claimed to be holy. Peter has in view that inaugural separation from all others so that we might be exclusively his, owned by the one who chose us (Acts 20:32; 26:18; 1 Cor. 1:2, 30; 6:11; 2 Thess. 2:13).³

Third and finally, the purpose of election (reflecting the force of the preposition eis, “for the purpose of”) is “obedience to Jesus Christ” and “sprinkling with his blood” (the single preposition governs both nouns, “obedience” and “sprinkling”). Thus this sovereign act of the Father in foreknowing and electing us, and the Spirit’s work in setting us apart to himself, have as their aim or purpose or goal our obedience to Christ and our sprinkling with his blood.

The background for this statement is Exodus 24:3–8, in which Moses initiates the children of Israel into covenant with God. When the Israelites promised to obey all that the Lord commanded, Moses sprinkled sacrificial blood on them, signifying God’s gracious acceptance of them into the covenant and their obligation to be faithful and obedient to him. Peter seems to be saying that just as the Israelites pledged their obedience (Ex. 24:3, 7) and were sprinkled with the blood of the sacrifice (Ex. 24:8) in order to inaugurate them into the old covenant, so also we pledge obedience to God as the blood of Christ is applied to effect our entrance into the new covenant.

Peter’s prayer for “grace and peace” to be “multiplied” to them is more than a formal, literary convention. The grace of God is not merely his kindly and undeserved favor but also his power and presence, through his Spirit, operative and active in the lives of his people. The “peace” for which Peter prays is likewise an experiential sense of well-being and spiritual tranquility that ought to characterize all of God’s children (cf. Phil. 4:7).

1:3–5 Peter will soon refer to the suffering his readers are experiencing, how they are “grieved by various trials” (1:6), are being slandered by unbelievers (2:12), and are enduring sorrow and “suffering unjustly” (2:19). In 4:12 he mentions the “fiery trial” that many of them have endured. But such a somber theme is no obstacle to heartfelt and exuberant praise of God, as Peter declares, “Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ.” This doxological explosion is found in slightly different terms again in 4:11 (“To him belong glory and dominion forever and ever. Amen.”) and 5:11 (“To him be the dominion forever and ever. Amen.”).

In 1:6 Peter will reassure his readers that “in this” they rejoice, “though now for a little while, if necessary, you have been grieved by various trials.” The antecedent to “this” is the salvation and hope that come to us by God’s mercy in Christ, as portrayed in verses 3–5. Thus, it is our salvation, our hope, our inheritance “kept in heaven” (v. 4b) for us that serves as a fountain and reservoir of deep delight in God in order to sustain and strengthen the Christian soul when everything else threatens to destroy us.

Our new birth unto faith in Christ is the fruit of God’s “great mercy” (v. 3). Whereas grace contemplates sinners as guilty, mercy contemplates them as miserable. Mercy is the response of the divine heart to us when the results of our sin and corruption are seen: we are pitiable, pathetic, helpless to extricate ourselves from the condition into which sin has plunged us.

New birth is more than moral reformation or the mere exchange of one set of habits for another. In regeneration (cf. anagennaō; v. 3) there is a supernatural, efficacious, and altogether mysterious work of the Holy Spirit that occurs beneath and prior to all positive human response to the gospel. The point of describing salvation in terms of a merciful “divine begetting” is to highlight the initiative of God in making alive or giving birth to that which was either dead or nonexistent (cf. John 1:13; Eph. 2:1–4; 2 Cor. 4:6).

This divine begetting of life in the elect results in the precious gift of a “living hope” (1 Pet. 1:3). Hope is full assurance, not uncertain desire. Hope is unshakable confidence that what God has said he will do, he will do. It is the full assurance or strong confidence that God will do good to us in the future as he fulfills his every promise.

Peter describes our hope as “living.” This should be contrasted with the dead, lifeless, ultimately futile hope found in the world at large (cf. Eph. 2:12; 1 Thess. 4:13). Our hope is living in the sense that it is productive and fruitful and fertile; ours is a hope that has the power to change how we live. It is alive because its focus and object is real and unchanging and true and rock-solid.

This hope is ours “through the resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead” (1 Pet. 1:3b). Later Peter will make clear that we are born again unto this living hope “through the living and abiding word of God” (v. 23), which is the “good news that was preached” to us (v. 25; cf. 1 Cor. 15:3–4). We have good reason to believe that Christ’s death for us was sufficient in making satisfaction and atonement for our sin because God raised him from the dead.

This hope is the confident assurance that we have an inheritance kept and preserved for us in heaven, not subject to the corrupting and corrosive influence of things on this earth. In the OT, the promised inheritance was typically defined in terms of the land God had pledged to Abraham and his seed. This hope is still in many ways physical, as it is wrapped up in the new heavens and new earth and the city of God, the new Jerusalem. But it greatly transcends any inheritance possible in this life. It is “imperishable” (aphtharton), “undefiled” (amianton), and “unfading” (amaranton). Everything we know in this life eventually dies, is defiled, or loses its capacity to captivate and enthrall. Each of these terms, on the other hand, reassures us that the hope reserved for us in heaven will never fail us in this way.

Peter declares that God’s power (1 Pet. 1:5), working through and sustaining our faith, is the guarantee that what he has promised will assuredly be ours. It is precisely “through” our faith that God keeps us secure. God’s power protects us from any loss of faith or any unbelief that might threaten our inheritance. The only thing that could keep us from heaven would be our forsaking our faith in Christ, turning to other hopes, other treasures. So, to protect us, God prevents that from happening. He inspires and nourishes and strengthens and builds our faith. In doing so, he secures us against the only thing that could destroy us: unbelief, lack of trust in God.

1:6–7 As noted earlier, the antecedent of “this” (v. 6) in which Peter grounds the believer’s joy is the merciful work of God by which we have been saved (vv. 3–5). Whereas we may be tempted to think that suffering and grief preclude joy, Peter says otherwise. Indeed, there are in verses 6–7 two additional reasons to rejoice in suffering. Peter speaks first of the duration of our suffering: it is “for a little while” (v. 6a). When compared to eternity, the time of suffering now will always be short. Compared to an inheritance that is “imperishable, undefiled, and unfading, kept in heaven for [us],” our present suffering is only for a little while (v. 4; cf. Rom. 8:18; 2 Cor. 4:16–18).

Some contend that the verb agalliasthe (“you rejoice”) is a futuristic present focusing on the joy to be ours in the eschaton. But Peter’s point is that such joy is a present reality in spite of the suffering God’s people are now enduring, in anticipation of eschatological blessings still to come. The same verb is used elsewhere in the NT for rejoicing now (Matt. 5:12; Luke 1:47; John 8:56; Acts 2:26; Rev. 19:7), and the same form occurs yet again in verse 8 with emphasis on our joy in Christ in the present.

“If necessary” (1 Pet. 1:6) reminds us that Christians endure distress only if God wills it (cf. 3:17; 4:19). We might suffer for doing what is right, or we might not. The sovereign will of God governs all of the distresses that befall us, and therefore their design is ultimately not of evil men or Satan but of God.

But why would God deem it necessary to allow suffering in our lives? The answer is found in 1:7: “so that the tested genuineness of your faith—more precious than gold that perishes though it is tested by fire—may be found to result in praise and glory and honor at the revelation of Jesus Christ.” God’s intention is for our troubles and trials to refine the genuineness of our faith just as fire refines gold, so that when Christ returns, the quality of our faith may win praise and glory and honor. Approved faith is said to be more valuable than gold because gold is temporary and will ultimately be destroyed. Yet faith is also compared with gold because both are refined and purified of their dross and alloy by fire (cf. Ps. 66:10; Isa. 48:10; Mal. 3:3).

When Jesus appears in glory (here apokalypsei is used of his second advent), two things will take place. First, his glory will be magnificently reflected in the mirror of our faith. He will be the trusted one and the hoped-for one and the rejoiced-in one. Thus his glory will shine in our faith and hope and joy. The more pure and refined the gold of our faith is, the more clearly his beauty and worth will be reflected.

Second, since God exalts all that exalts him, he will give praise and honor and glory to our faith. He will say, “Well done, good and faithful servant.” He will give us (as Peter says in 5:4) the “unfading crown of glory” (cf. 1 Cor. 4:5).

1:8 If we follow the logic of Peter’s thought in verses 6–7, we discover that verse 8 describes what is left of Christian faith after it has passed through the furnace of afflictions. In other words, verse 8 is Peter’s portrayal of the end product of persecution and pain. This is Christian experience in its purest and most pristine form. Peter has no illusions of perfection, but he does envision a relationship with Jesus absent the peripheral elements.

When Peter speaks of loving Jesus, he refers to unashamed, extravagant affection for the Son of God. One need not see Jesus in the flesh to experience unbridled passion for him. Rather, we see him in the revelation of God’s Word, and the Spirit quickens in our hearts and souls a passionate affection for him that is undeniable and unquenchable.

Second, such faith involves trusting Jesus. “Believe” in verse 8 means more than giving mental assent to doctrinal truths about Jesus. It certainly includes such assent, but it also requires yielding to him, relying on him moment by moment, entrusting one’s soul to him, and turning to him at all times for strength and encouragement and hope.

Third, this faith includes enjoying Jesus. The end product of a faith that has been purged and purified is a joy that is “inexpressible” and “filled with glory” (v. 8). This is not to say that joy is absent prior to the onset of trials. We are responsible to “rejoice always” (1 Thess. 5:16)—before, during, and after hardship. Peter’s point is simply that the quality and sincerity and fervency of joy are both refined and intensified by trials. Far from being secondary or something to suppress and avoid, joy is described here as that which characterizes Christian experience in its highest and most sanctified form.

Peter describes this joy as inexpressible or unutterable, a joy so profound that it is beyond mere words. It is ineffable, all-consuming, overwhelming, speechless joy! This joy defies all human efforts at understanding or explanation.

This joy is also “filled with glory.” This word evokes images of God’s glory in the OT, of the bright, shining radiance of his presence. The “glory” here may also refer to the glory of the coming age, when our salvation is consummated and we enter into the fullness of our relationship with Christ. But even now, in the present, though we do not see Jesus, we experience something in advance of the great and indescribable glory of that coming day. The future glory has broken into the present and has changed us forever.

1:9 This vital and vibrant faith in Christ will be consummated in the fullness of salvation at the second coming of our Savior. The participle “obtaining” is likely causal, as the joy we experience in the present is based in large measure on the certainty of our final salvation. Peter’s use of “souls” (psychōn) does not suggest a body-soul dualism, as if only the immaterial dimension of our being will be saved. He uses the word “soul” on several occasions in the letter (1:22; 2:11, 25; 3:20; 4:19), twice with reference to the entire person (3:20; 4:19).

1:10–12 Concerning “this salvation” (as promised in v. 9), Peter articulates several truths. First, the Holy Spirit,¹ operating through OT prophets, made it known well in advance (vv. 10–11). The saving grace of God in Christ was not an afterthought or a reaction to unforeseen developments. Rather, it was purposed and prophesied in the OT Scriptures, Second, this salvation can be summed up in one word: “grace,” here an umbrella term encompassing all that God has done for us in Christ (v. 10). It consists, from beginning to end, in the display of God’s merciful favor to hell-deserving sinners. Third, this salvation is made possible only by the “sufferings of Christ” (v. 11b). The preposition eis likely has the sense of destination: “the sufferings destined for” or “that were to come upon” Christ. These sufferings are followed by “glories” (an unusual use of the plural in the NT), namely, the resurrection, ascension, and exaltation of Christ to the right hand of the Father.

The glory of this salvation is revealed yet again in the intense curiosity and interest of the very prophets who foretold its advent. God made it clear to them (note the divine passive:² “it was revealed” by God) that in speaking prophetically of what was yet to come, they were serving us, not themselves. Finally, this salvation, far from being some ancient, esoteric, or irrelevant word pointing to something embarrassing, is so marvelous and majestic that even the angels of heaven long to look into and understand it (v. 12). Whereas it may be that Peter is referring to angelic ignorance and thus their curiosity concerning the nature of our salvation, the infinitive “to look” (parakypsai) may instead point to their eagerness for its fulfillment.