FIRST PETER

Theme: In this Epistle there is offered to us a fine illustration of how Peter fulfilled the commission given to him by the Lord - “When thou art converted strengthen thy brethren.” (Luke 22:32).

Purified and settled through suffering, and matured by experience he was able to utter words of encouragement to bodies of Christians who were passing through fiery trials. Many of the lessons which he had learned from the Lord Himself he imparted to his readers. (Compare I Peter 1:10 with Matthew 13:17; I Peter 5:2 and John 21:15-17; I Peter 5:8 with Luke 22:31).

Verse 12 of the last chapter will suggest the theme of the Epistle - the grace of God.

Those whom he was addressing were passing through times of testing. He therefore encourages them by showing that all that was needed for strength, character and courage was provided for in the grace of God. God is the “God of all grace” (5:10) whose message to His people is, “My grace is sufficient.”

The theme of I Peter may be summed up as follows: the sufficiency of divine grace and its practical application in relation to Christian living, and to the endurance of trial and suffering.

Why Written: To encourage believers to hold fast during suffering, and to exhort them to holiness.

When Written: Probably A. D. 60.

Where Written: From Babylon (5:13).

Contents:

I. Rejoicing in Suffering Because of Salvation. 1:1-12.

II. Suffering for Righteousness’ sake. 1:13 to 3:22.

III. Suffering with Christ. Ch. 4.

IV. Concluding Exhortations. Ch. 5.

I. Rejoicing in Suffering Because of Salvation. Ch. 1:1-12.

1. The source of our salvation (v. 2):

(a) The Father who chooses.

(b) The Spirit who sanctifies.

(c) The Son, with whose blood we are sprinkled.

2. The result of salvation: the new birth (v. 3).

3. The consummation of salvation: the acquisition of the heavenly inheritance which is reserved for the believer, while he himself is kept by the power of God (vv. 4, 5).

4. The joy of salvation (vv. 6-8). Even in the midst of trials and temptations which are but for the testing of faith, the believers can rejoice in their invisible Lord with joy unspeakable and full of glory.

5. The mystery of salvation (vv. 9-12).

(a) The prophets who predicted the sufferings and glory of Christ, did not fully understand their own prophecies. In answer to their enquiries it was revealed to them that the salvation about which they were prophesying was not for them but for those living in another dispensation.

(b) The angels who have never sinned desire to investigate the strange joy of those who have been redeemed by Christ.

II. Suffering for Righteousness’ sake. Chs. 1:13 to 3:22.

In this section we shall notice the following exhortations:

1. To holiness (1:13-21). With alert and sober minds, the believers are to separate themselves from their former habits of life, living a life of holiness and watching for the Lord’s return.

2. To intense and sincere love of the brethren (1:22-25). This love should follow as the natural result of the purification of the soul by the Holy Spirit; and of the new birth.

3. To spiritual growth (2:1, 2). As the new born babe instinctively desires to feed on milk, so the regenerate are to have a yearning desire for the unadulterated teaching of the Word of God, the sweetness of which they have already tasted.

4. To draw near unto Christ, the foundation stone of the great spiritual temple, of which they are the living stones (2:3-10). The believers collectively form one great temple (Ephesians 2:20-22) of which they themselves are the priesthood, and where they offer up spiritual sacrifices. (Compare Hebrews 13:10, 15). The relation Israel bore to God as an earthly people, they – Gentiles - bear to Him as an earthly people, for they are a chosen people, a holy nation, God’s own peculiar treasure (v. 9, compare Deuteronomy 7:6).

5. To live a blameless life, so as to disarm the prejudice and enmity of the heathen surrounding them (2:11, 12).

6. To submission.

(a) Submission of all Christians to the government (2:13-17).

“It was a lesson so deeply needed by the Christians of the day that it is taught as emphatically by Peter as by Paul himself. It was more than ever needed at a time when dangerous revolts were gathering to a head in Judea; when the hearts of the Jews throughout the world were burning with a fierce flame of hatred against the abominations of tyrannous idolatry: when Christians were being charged with ‘turning the world upside down’; when some poor Christian slave led to martyrdom or put to the torture might easily relieve the tension of his soul by bursting into Apocalyptic denunciations of sudden doom against the crimes of the mystic Babylon; when the heathen in their impatient contempt, might willfully interpret a prophecy of the final conflagration as though it were a revolutionary and incendiary threat; and when Christians at Rome were, on this very account, already suffering the agonies of Neronian persecution.”

- Farrar.

(b) Submission of slaves to masters (2:18-25). Servants are to be obedient even to unjust and harsh masters. In suffering injustice silently they will be glorifying God, and they will be true followers of Christ, who did not defend Himself but committed His cause to God the righteous Judge.

(c) The submission of wives to husbands (3:17). Christian wives might be led to consider their heathen husbands as inferior to themselves. They are rather to obey their husbands, so that, if the latter will not accept the written Word or believe the spoken testimony, they may be won by the silent and effective testimony of a holy life. In so doing, Christian wives will be following the example of holy women of old.

7. To brotherly love (vv. 8-12.

8. To patient endurance of wrong (vv. 13-16).

If they are doing good they have nothing to fear (v. 13). But if it happens that they do suffer innocently they are to remember that a blessing is promised to those who suffer for righteousness’ sake (v. 14, compare Matthew 5:11, 12).

Inward holiness of heart, and an outward readiness to defend their faith in the spirit of meekness, together with a good conscience would finally make the heathen ashamed of their false accusations (vv. 15, 16).

In the matter of suffering unjustly, the believer has the example of Christ, who, as the sinless One, suffered for the unjust. But His sufferings were followed by triumph and exaltation In triumph, for He proclaimed His victory in the underworld; in exaltation, for He is now seated at the right hand of God (vv. 18-20).

In like manner will the Christians’ sufferings be followed by glory.

III. Suffering with Christ. Ch. 4.

1. Death to sin (4:1-6).

As Christ died to an earthly life and rose again to a heavenly, Christians are to consider themselves dead to the old life of sin and alive to a new life of holiness (vv. 1-3, compare Romans Ch.6). The heathen wonder at their manner of life, and speak evil of them. But right will finally triumph at the time when the Lord shall judge the living and the dead (vv. 4-6).

2. Conduct in view of imminence of the Lord’s return (vv. 7-11).

3. The glorious privilege of suffering with Christ (vv. 12-19).

Christians are not to be surprised at God’s process of testing and refining by suffering, but rather to rejoice in the fact, that they are partakers of Christ’s sufferings (vv. 12, 13).

To bear Christ’s reproach is a sign of spiritual grace resting on them, but to suffer as an evil-doer is a sign of disgrace (v. 15). Let believers expect suffering, for judgment must begin at the house of God - there must be a time of purging and purification for the church. Therefore let those who suffer commit themselves unto Him who is faithful (vv. 17-19).

IV. Concluding Exhortations. Ch. 5.

1. To the pastors. Ch. 5:1-4).

2. To young men (vv. 5, 6).

3. To the church in general (vv. 6-11).

4. Salutations (vv. 12-14).

~ end of I Peter ~