@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 by the same power whereby
Christ was raised from the dead. Baptism is 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)
by Jesus safely (@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 1:1, "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.
by--Greek, "in." The believer lives spiritually in 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 by the Holy Spirit, eternally proceeding from the Father
and Himself, 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.