seekeroftruth
Well-Known Member
1 Peter 1:1 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.
3 Praise be to the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ! In his great mercy he has given us new birth 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.
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.
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.”[a]
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.[b] 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.”[c]
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.”[c]
And this is the word that was preached to you.
a. 1 Peter 1:16 Lev. 11:44,45; 19:2
b. 1 Peter 1:22 Some early manuscripts from a pure heart
c. 1 Peter 1:25 Isaiah 40:6-8 (see Septuagint)
This is from bible_studys.org.
Peter was a fisherman on the Sea of Galilee, when he was called to follow Jesus. His brother, Andrew, was a fisherman, as well. Peter was married and had a home in Capernaum. When Jesus called Peter, he left his nets and followed Jesus.
There are many outstanding things about Peter. This is the same Peter, who was chosen with James and John to carry out special tasks for the Lord Jesus. This is the same Peter, who walked on the water. He is the same Peter, who saw the transfiguration. He is the same Peter, who told Jesus who He was, when people were guessing who Jesus was. He said, "Thou art the Christ, the Son of the living God."
1 Peter was most likely written just before or shortly after July, A.D. 64 when the city of Rome burned, thus a writing date of ca. A.D. 64-65.
When the city of Rome burned, the Romans believed that their emperor, Nero, had set the city on fire, probably because of his incredible lust to build. In order to build more, he had to destroy what already existed.
The Romans were totally devastated. Their culture, in a sense, went down with the city. All the religious elements of their life were destroyed, their great temples, shrines, and even their household idols were burned up. This had great religious implications because it made them believe that their deities had been unable to deal with this conflagration and were also victims of it. The people were homeless and hopeless. Many had been killed. Their bitter resentment was severe, so Nero realized that he had to redirect the hostility.
The emperor’s chosen scapegoat was the Christians, who were already hated because they were associated with Jews, and because they were seen as being hostile to the Roman culture. Nero spread the word quickly that the Christians had set the fires. Thus, a vicious persecution against Christians began and soon spread throughout the Roman empire, touching places north of the Taurus mountains, like Pontus, Galatia, Cappadocia, Asia and Bithynia, and impacted the Christians, who Peter call “aliens”. These “aliens”, who were probably Gentiles, for the most part, possibly led to Christ by Paul and his associates, and established on Paul’s teachings, needed spiritual strengthening because of their sufferings. Thus the Apostle Peter, under the inspiration of the Holy Spirit, wrote this epistle to strengthen them.
God is not controlled by time, as we are. He is eternal. He lives in eternity. It is no problem for Him to look a few thousand years into the future (by our time). God dwells where there is one eternal day. There is no separation of time into days, and weeks, and months where God the Father dwells.
He foreknew, from the foundation of the earth, what decision you and I would make pertaining to salvation. He wrote our name into the Lamb's book of life at the foundation of the earth. He did not make us like puppets where we would not have a choice, He just knew ahead of time, how we would choose.
God chose all who would believe to be His sons, from the beginning of time. The plan of salvation was worked out from the very beginning. God knew our weakness and made provision for it. We are sanctified in the Spirit by the shed blood of Jesus Christ. It is in the Holy Spirit that we are "sanctified" (made holy). It is the Holy Spirit of God which keeps us.
Jesus promised He would send the Holy Spirit to dwell within us and be our Teacher and our Guide. He would teach us all Truth. It is the sprinkled blood of Jesus Christ that cleanses us and makes us acceptable to the Father. To be filled with God's Spirit, brings grace and peace, multiplied.
This is from the Easy English site.Peter wants to encourage Christians who are suffering for Christ. Although Christians might suffer in this life, they will not suffer for ever. This world is not their real home. Heaven is their real home. One day they will live with God in heaven and share God’s glory.
Peter also wants his readers to understand the grace of God. He wants every Christian to know what God has done for them. He wants them to learn more about God.
This letter is very practical. When a person becomes a Christian his life changes. (‘his’ here refers to both men and women, not just to men.) Peter tells his readers how to live a good Christian life. Peter was with Jesus for about three years. He saw all that Jesus did. He heard all that Jesus said. Peter is writing to encourage Christians to live like Jesus.
Peter wrote this letter while Nero was emperor. Nero was raised by an ambitious mother who was reported to murder people to put her son in control. He was actually a poet and musician. He didn't want to be emperor.... he wanted to sing on the stage.... but he used his office well at first. He did away with capital punishment.... and he put a lot of effort into public works. His mother plotted against him... apparently.... because she lost control of him.... and he had to have her killed. His wife had an affair... so he had her killed too.
When Rome burnt to the ground the people decided that Nero was to blame.... Nero had to find someone to take the blame. People already hated the Christian Jews... they were always going around being "holier than thou" "goodie two shoes".... and they were always claiming a Jew survived the cross.... and the whole world had to know that no one ever survived the Roman Cross..... so Nero blamed the Christians Jews for burning Rome to the ground.
So that's where the world was when Peter wrote this letter that was apparently circulated around churches in the area we now call Turkey. Those people were being persecuted because of what Nero was telling people. All Nero really wanted to do was hold big concerts where his adoring fans could hear his magnificent poems and experience his musical talents. Yep... the encyclopedia says Nero was 35 miles away when the fire broke out in Rome.... the fire he would use to replace that awful Roman architecture with graceful Greek architecture. Nero blamed it on the Christian Jews but everyone was saying the antichrist had arrived and Nero fiddled while Rome burned......
Peter was writing to a church that was shaking in their boots. The government of Rome... and all of the people..... were blaming the Christians for the fire. They were out of work, out of job, homeless, they didn't know where their next meal was going to come through.... and thanks to Nero propaganda.... the Christian Jews were being crucified for burning Rome to the ground.
Peter wanted to make his brother and sisters in Christ feel better. He reminded them that as Christians... they now have eternal life.
Eternal life.... what a concept.... I am now 70 years old.... and my life has lasted what seems to be a lifetime.... but I haven't even lived long enough to put a tick on the eternity clock. When I compare 70 years to 7000 years.... I see how small it seems.... when I compare 70 years to 7,000,000 years.... well I think I made my point.... 70 years is nothing when I contemplate the fact I am going to live forever.
When I was having my first baby.... I had a really smart nurse in the labor room. I hadn't been to any birthing classes.... I had no idea what was happening. I consider myself a fairly intelligent woman.... but when those labor pains started.... I became sure there was a magical zipper that my nurse could unzip and I would have a baby. I know that is insane.... but labor pains are that strong. My smart nurse, though, waited until the first of my pains was over.... and then she showed me the clock. She had me time the next pain.... oh it was even worse... I begged her to just unzip it.... but when the pain was over it had only lasted less than a minute. "There"... she said "you can handle anything for less than a minute right?"..... she didn't warn me that they might last longer than a minute... but by the time they got really intense... I was sure I could make it though a minute or two..... at a time.
When times get rough. When it looks like the world is going to hell in a handbasket.... I tell myself... I have eternal life. I can make it through this. If this trial kills me... then I wake up in Heaven... so why, I ask myself, why am I letting myself get all tied up in knots looking for a magical zipper of this.
Peter reminded the Christians..... we are the adopted children of God. Jesus the Messiah is our Big Brother. We have eternal life. We were sculpted by God who counted the hairs on our heads while He was getting us ready for this tiny time on earth. He already knows what we are going to do before we do it... because He controls time and He's already seen our future. Peter wrote this letter to remind them of the promise that Jesus explained to Peter personally.
Christians can handle it... Christians are imperishable.
