1 Peter, an apostle of Jesus Christ,
To God’s elect, exiles scattered throughout the provinces of Pontus, Galatia, Cappadocia, Asia and Bithynia, 2 who have been chosen according to the foreknowledge of God the Father, through the sanctifying work of the Spirit, to be obedient to Jesus Christ and sprinkled with his blood:
Grace and peace be yours in abundance.
Praise to God for a Living Hope
3 Praise be to the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ! In his great mercy he has given us new birth (In another version it says, has caused us to be born again) into a living hope through the resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead, 4 and into an inheritance that can never perish, spoil or fade. This inheritance is kept in heaven for you, 5 who through faith are shielded by God’s power until the coming of the salvation that is ready to be revealed in the last time. 6 In all this you greatly rejoice, though now for a little while you may have had to suffer grief in all kinds of trials. 7 These have come so that the proven genuineness of your faith—of greater worth than gold, which perishes even though refined by fire—may result in praise, glory and honor when Jesus Christ is revealed. 8 Though you have not seen him, you love him; and even though you do not see him now, you believe in him and are filled with an inexpressible and glorious joy, 9 for you are receiving the end result of your faith, the salvation of your souls. [Salvation of souls, what does St. Peter mean by this?]
10 Concerning this salvation, the prophets, who spoke of the grace that was to come to you, searched intently and with the greatest care, 11 trying to find out the time and circumstances to which the Spirit of Christ in them was pointing when he predicted the sufferings of the Messiah and the glories that would follow. 12 It was revealed to them that they were not serving themselves but you, when they spoke of the things that have now been told you by those who have preached the gospel to you by the Holy Spirit sent from heaven. Even angels long to look into these things.
Be Holy
13 Therefore, with minds that are alert and fully sober, set your hope on the grace to be brought to you when Jesus Christ is revealed at his coming. 14 As obedient children, do not conform to the evil desires you had when you lived in ignorance. 15 But just as he who called you is holy, so be holy in all you do; 16 for it is written: “Be holy, because I am holy.”[Lev. 11:44,45; 19:2]
17 Since you call on a Father who judges each person’s work impartially, live out your time as foreigners here in reverent fear. 18 For you know that it was not with perishable things such as silver or gold that you were redeemed from the empty way of life handed down to you from your ancestors, 19 but with the precious blood of Christ, a lamb without blemish or defect. 20 He was chosen before the creation of the world, but was revealed in these last times for your sake. 21 Through him you believe in God, who raised him from the dead and glorified him, and so your faith and hope are in God.
22 Now that you have purified yourselves by obeying the truth so that you have sincere love for each other, love one another deeply, from the heart.[Some early manuscripts from a pure heart] 23 For you have been born again, not of perishable seed, but of imperishable, through the living and enduring word of God. 24 For,
“All people are like grass, and all their glory is like the flowers of the field; the grass withers and the flowers fall,
25 but the word of the Lord endures forever.”[Isaiah 40:6-8 (see Septuagint)] And this is the word that was preached to you.
NOTES:
1:1–2 The introductory formula names Peter as the writer
(but see Introduction). In his comments to the presbyters (1 Pt 5:1), the
author calls himself a “fellow presbyter.” He addresses himself to the Gentile
converts of Asia Minor. Their privileged status as a chosen and sanctified
people makes them worthy of God’s grace and peace. In contrast is their actual existence
as aliens and sojourners, scattered among pagans, far from their true country.
1:1 Dispersion: literally, diaspora; see Jas 1:1 and
Introduction to that letter. Pontus…Bithynia: five provinces in Asia Minor,
listed in clockwise order from the north, perhaps in the sequence in which a
messenger might deliver the letter.
1:3–5 A prayer of praise and thanksgiving to God who bestows
the gift of new life and hope in baptism (new birth, 1 Pt 1:3) through the
resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead. The new birth is a sign of an
imperishable inheritance (1 Pt 1:4), of salvation that is still in the future
(to be revealed in the final time, 1 Pt 1:5).
1:6–9 As the glory of Christ’s resurrection was preceded by
his sufferings and death, the new life of faith that it bestows is to be
subjected to many trials (1 Pt 1:6) while achieving its goal: the glory of the
fullness of salvation (1 Pt 1:9) at the coming of Christ (1 Pt 1:7).
1:10–12 The Spirit of Christ (1 Pt 1:11) is here shown to
have been present in the prophets, moving them to search, investigate, and
prophesy about the grace of salvation that was to come (1 Pt 1:10), and in the
apostles impelling them to preach the fulfillment of salvation in the message
of Christ’s sufferings and glory (1 Pt 1:12).
1:13–25 These verses are concerned with the call of God’s
people to holiness and to mutual love by reason of their redemption through the
blood of Christ (1 Pt 1:18–21).
1:13 Gird up the loins of your mind: a figure reminiscent of
the rite of Passover when the Israelites were in flight from their oppressors
(Ex 12:11), and also suggesting the vigilance of the Christian people in the expectation of the parousia of Christ (Lk 12:35).
1:14–16 The ignorance here referred to (1 Pt 1:14) was their
former lack of knowledge of God, leading inevitably to godless conduct.
Holiness (1 Pt 1:15–16), on the contrary, is the result of their call to the
knowledge and love of God.
1:19 Christians have received the redemption prophesied by
Isaiah (Is 52:3), through the blood (Jewish symbol of life) of the spotless
lamb (Is 53:7, 10; Jn 1:29; Rom 3:24–25; cf. 1 Cor 6:20).
1:22–25 The new birth of Christians (1 Pt 1:23) derives from
Christ, the imperishable seed or sowing that produces a new and lasting
existence in those who accept the gospel (1 Pt 1:24–25), with the consequent
duty of loving one another (1 Pt 1:22).
1:23 The living and abiding word of God: or, “the word of
the living and abiding God.”
COMMENTARIES:
(This is a work in progress check out for updates on commentaries we will make)
BACK TO:
Copyright © 2020 by Ekklesia Katholes (Acts 9:31)
ALL RIGHTS RESERVED
No part of this publication may be produced, stored in a retrieval system, or transmitted, in any form or by any means, electronic, mechanical photocopying, recording, or otherwise, without the prior written permission from the publisher.
No comments:
Post a Comment