The Letters · New Testament

1 Peter 1

1 Peter 1: an inheritance kept in heaven and a call to be holy

General context

Peter, an apostle of Jesus Christ, writes to strangers scattered through five named regions, calling them elect according to the foreknowledge of God the Father. God is blessed for begetting them again to a lively hope by the resurrection of Jesus Christ, to an inheritance incorruptible and undefiled and reserved in heaven, while they are kept by God's power for a salvation ready to be revealed. They rejoice even while in heaviness for a season through manifold temptations, so that the trial of their faith, worth more than gold tried with fire, may be found to praise at the appearing of Jesus Christ. They love him without having seen him. The prophets are said to have searched about this salvation, looking for what time the Spirit of Christ in them signified when it testified beforehand of the sufferings and the glory to follow, and to have been told they ministered not to themselves. Instruction follows: gird up the loins of the mind, be sober, hope to the end, refuse the former lusts, and be holy as the one who called them is holy, with a written command quoted for it. Since the Father judges every man's work without respect of persons, they are to pass their sojourning in fear, redeemed not with silver and gold but with the precious blood of Christ, foreordained before the foundation of the world and manifest in these last times. Having purified their souls, they are to love one another fervently, being born again by the word of God, and a quotation about grass and flowers ends the chapter by setting perishable life against an enduring word.

Cited passages: 1 Peter 1:1, 1 Peter 1:2, 1 Peter 1:3, 1 Peter 1:4, 1 Peter 1:5, 1 Peter 1:6, 1 Peter 1:7, 1 Peter 1:8, 1 Peter 1:10, 1 Peter 1:11, 1 Peter 1:12, 1 Peter 1:13, 1 Peter 1:15, 1 Peter 1:16, 1 Peter 1:17, 1 Peter 1:18, 1 Peter 1:19, 1 Peter 1:20, 1 Peter 1:22, 1 Peter 1:23, 1 Peter 1:24, 1 Peter 1:25

1 Peter 1 (KJV)

¹Peter, an apostle of Jesus Christ, to the strangers scattered throughout Pontus, Galatia, Cappadocia, Asia, and Bithynia,

²Elect 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.

³Blessed 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,

⁴To an inheritance incorruptible, and undefiled, and that fadeth not away, reserved in heaven for you,

⁵Who are kept by the power of God through faith unto salvation ready to be revealed in the last time.

⁶Wherein ye greatly rejoice, though now for a season, if need be, ye are in heaviness through manifold temptations:

⁷That the trial of your faith, being much more precious than of gold that perisheth, though it be tried with fire, might be found unto praise and honour and glory at the appearing of Jesus Christ:

⁸Whom having not seen, ye love; in whom, though now ye see him not, yet believing, ye rejoice with joy unspeakable and full of glory:

⁹Receiving the end of your faith, even the salvation of your souls.

¹⁰Of which salvation the prophets have enquired and searched diligently, who prophesied of the grace that should come unto you:

¹¹Searching what, or 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.

¹²Unto whom it was revealed, that not unto themselves, but unto us they did minister the things, which are now reported unto you by them that have preached the gospel unto you with the Holy Ghost sent down from heaven; which things the angels desire to look into.

¹³Wherefore gird up the loins of your mind, be sober, and hope to the end for the grace that is to be brought unto you at the revelation of Jesus Christ;

¹⁴As obedient children, not fashioning yourselves according to the former lusts in your ignorance:

¹⁵But as he which hath called you is holy, so be ye holy in all manner of conversation;

¹⁶Because it is written, Be ye holy; for I am holy.

¹⁷And if ye call on the Father, who without respect of persons judgeth according to every man’s work, pass the time of your sojourning here in fear:

¹⁸Forasmuch as ye know that ye were not redeemed with corruptible things, as silver and gold, from your vain conversation received by tradition from your fathers;

¹⁹But with the precious blood of Christ, as of a lamb without blemish and without spot:

²⁰Who verily was foreordained before the foundation of the world, but was manifest in these last times for you,

²¹Who by him do believe in God, that raised him up from the dead, and gave him glory; that your faith and hope might be in God.

²²Seeing ye have purified your souls in obeying the truth through the Spirit unto unfeigned love of the brethren, see that ye love one another with a pure heart fervently:

²³Being born again, not of corruptible seed, but of incorruptible, by the word of God, which liveth and abideth for ever.

²⁴For all flesh is as grass, and all the glory of man as the flower of grass. The grass withereth, and the flower thereof falleth away:

²⁵But the word of the Lord endureth for ever. And this is the word which by the gospel is preached unto you.

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Historical context

The letter names its writer as "Peter, an apostle of Jesus Christ" and its readers as "the strangers scattered throughout Pontus, Galatia, Cappadocia, Asia, and Bithynia". That address is the only geography in the chapter, and no congregation or person in those regions is named. The readers are described as having had a "vain conversation received by tradition from your fathers", and as believing in someone they have not seen. Verse 12 says the message reached them through others, "by them that have preached the gospel unto you", which the letter does not date or attribute to anyone by name. Two quotations appear. The command at verse 16, "Be ye holy; for I am holy", is introduced as written; Leviticus 11:44 reads "ye shall be holy; for I am holy". The closing lines differ from Isaiah 40: verse 24 reads "all flesh is as grass, and all the glory of man as the flower of grass", where Isaiah 40:6 reads "All flesh is grass, and all the goodliness thereof is as the flower of the field", and verse 25 reads "the word of the Lord endureth for ever", where Isaiah 40:8 reads "the word of our God shall stand for ever".

Cited passages: 1 Peter 1:1, 1 Peter 1:18, 1 Peter 1:8, 1 Peter 1:12, 1 Peter 1:16, Leviticus 11:44, 1 Peter 1:24, Isaiah 40:6, 1 Peter 1:25, Isaiah 40:8

Literary context

The chapter runs on a contrast between what lasts and what does not, stated first as property and last as vegetation. The inheritance is "incorruptible, and undefiled, and that fadeth not away", the ransom is not silver and gold but blood, the new birth is "not of corruptible seed, but of incorruptible", and the closing quotation lets grass and flower do the work of the argument. Sight is the other thread: the readers love someone "having not seen", the prophets searched without being told the time, and even the angels only "desire to look into" these things, so the whole chapter is about people who are working from report rather than view. The turn from description to command is marked once, at verse 13, and every instruction after it depends on what came before. Long sentences stack clauses, one running through verses 3 to 5 without a stop, while the final quotation is short and blunt, which leaves the chapter ending on a hard line rather than a summary.

Cited passages: 1 Peter 1:4, 1 Peter 1:18, 1 Peter 1:23, 1 Peter 1:8, 1 Peter 1:11, 1 Peter 1:12, 1 Peter 1:13, 1 Peter 1:24

Key moments

Writer and regions named (1 Peter 1:1). The letter opens by naming Peter and five regions of scattered readers.
An inheritance reserved (1 Peter 1:4). What is promised is described as kept in heaven and unfading.
Faith tried like gold (1 Peter 1:7). The trial is compared to fire testing metal.
Loving one not seen (1 Peter 1:8). The readers are described as believing without sight.
The prophets searched (1 Peter 1:10). Earlier prophets are said to have looked into this salvation.
Be ye holy (1 Peter 1:16). A written command is quoted as the ground for holiness.
Grass and the word (1 Peter 1:24). A quotation sets fading flesh against an enduring word.

For reflection

The chapter tells people in heaviness that their trial is worth more than gold, and offers no account of why the heaviness came. What does that leave a reader holding?