1 Peter

A Lively Hope

The man who wrote this letter once sank in the waves because he took his eyes off Jesus. He once cut off a servant’s ear in the garden. He once swore he did not know the Man. Now Simon Peter writes as a steady elder to believers scattered across what is now Turkey, people who were being slandered, mistreated, and facing what he calls a “fiery trial” (4:12). His message to them is hope.

“Blessed 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” (1:3). Suffering shows up in nearly every chapter of 1 Peter. So does glory. Peter does not promise these believers an easy road. He promises them that the road leads home, and that the One who walked it first left footprints for them to follow.

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Authorship & Setting

Peter writes “to the strangers scattered throughout Pontus, Galatia, Cappadocia, Asia, and Bithynia”(1:1). Though the language sounds Jewish, many of the readers seem to have been Gentiles, people who “in time past were not a people, but are now the people of God” (2:10). They were strangers in their own towns now, mocked for no longer joining in the pagan life they had once lived (4:3–4).

Peter wrote “By Silvanus, a faithful brother unto you” (5:12), the same Silas who traveled with Paul. Silvanus likely served as Peter’s scribe or helped shape the letter, which may explain its polished Greek from a Galilean fisherman. Peter sends greetings from “the church that is at Babylon” and from “Marcus my son” (5:13). Most understand Babylon here as a code name for Rome, the great city of exile and idolatry. Mark, once the deserter, was now at Peter’s side.

The letter was most likely written in the early 60s AD, around the time Nero’s persecution began. Church tradition holds that Peter was crucified in Rome during that persecution, and an early account says he asked to be crucified upside down, judging himself unworthy to die the same way as his Lord. Jesus had told him by the Sea of Galilee how he would die (John 21:18–19). When Peter writes about suffering for Christ, he writes as a man who knew what was coming.

Key Figures

• Peter — an apostle, and “also an elder, and a witness of the sufferings of Christ” (5:1).
• Silvanus — a faithful brother, through whom Peter wrote the letter (5:12).
• Mark — Peter’s spiritual son, with him in “Babylon” (5:13).
• The scattered strangers — believers suffering for their faith across Asia Minor, called a royal priesthood and a peculiar people.
• Sarah — held up as an example of a holy woman who trusted God (3:5–6).
• Noah — who built the ark while God waited patiently, in which “few, that is, eight souls were saved by water” (3:20).
• The elders — shepherds of the flock, charged to serve willingly and not for money (5:1–4).
• The adversary — “your adversary the devil, as a roaring lion” (5:8), resisted by steadfast faith.

Greek Word Study

πάροικος · paroikos

“Stranger,” a resident alien living in a place that is not his home. Peter calls believers “strangers and pilgrims” (2:11) and tells them to pass “the time of your sojourning here in fear” (1:17). This world is not our final address. We live here as foreigners, loyal to another King and headed for another country.

ποικίλος · poikilos

“Manifold,” “divers,” literally many-colored, varied. Peter uses it twice. Believers are in heaviness “through manifold temptations” (1:6). And they are stewards of “the manifold grace of God”(4:10). Trials come in many colors. So does grace. Whatever shade your trouble comes in, God has grace to match.

ὑπογραμμός · hypogrammos

“Example” (2:21). It was the word for the model letters a teacher wrote for children to trace as they learned to write. Christ suffered for us, “leaving us an example, that ye should follow his steps.” We learn to live by tracing over His life, line by line.

ἐπιρίπτω · epiriptō

“To cast upon,” to throw something onto something else. “Casting all your care upon him; for he careth for you” (5:7). The only other place it appears in the New Testament is when the disciples threw their garments on the colt for Jesus to ride (Luke 19:35). Peter is not talking about gently setting your worries down. He means throw them on Him.

Eight-Movement Outline

MOVEMENT ONE

Born Again to a Lively Hope (1:1–12)

God has given us new birth to a living hope through the resurrection, “To an inheritance incorruptible, and undefiled, and that fadeth not away, reserved in heaven for you, Who are kept by the power of God through faith” (1:4–5). The inheritance is kept for you, and you are kept for it. For now there are trials, but the trial of your faith is “much more precious than of gold that perisheth, though it be tried with fire” (1:7). “Whom having not seen, ye love; in whom, though now ye see him not, yet believing, ye rejoice with joy unspeakable and full of glory” (1:8). The prophets searched to understand this salvation, “which things the angels desire to look into” (1:12).

MOVEMENT TWO

Be Ye Holy (1:13–2:3)

“Wherefore gird up the loins of your mind, be sober, and hope to the end” (1:13). As obedient children, don’t go back to the lusts of your former ignorance. “Be ye holy; for I am holy” (1:16). Remember the price: “ye were not redeemed with corruptible things, as silver and gold… But with the precious blood of Christ, as of a lamb without blemish and without spot” (1:18–19). You were born again “not of corruptible seed, but of incorruptible, by the word of God, which liveth and abideth for ever” (1:23). So lay aside malice and deceit, and “As newborn babes, desire the sincere milk of the word, that ye may grow thereby” (2:2).

MOVEMENT THREE

Living Stones and a Royal Priesthood (2:4–10)

Come to Christ, the living stone, rejected by men but chosen by God. “Ye also, as lively stones, are built up a spiritual house, an holy priesthood, to offer up spiritual sacrifices, acceptable to God by Jesus Christ” (2:5). To believers He is precious. To the disobedient He is a stone of stumbling. “But ye are a chosen generation, a royal priesthood, an holy nation, a peculiar people; that ye should shew forth the praises of him who hath called you out of darkness into his marvellous light” (2:9).

MOVEMENT FOUR

Strangers and Pilgrims (2:11–25)

“Dearly beloved, I beseech you as strangers and pilgrims, abstain from fleshly lusts, which war against the soul” (2:11). Live so honestly that even those who slander you will glorify God. Submit to rulers for the Lord’s sake. “Honour all men. Love the brotherhood. Fear God. Honour the king” (2:17). Servants who suffer unjustly and take it patiently find favor with God, because Christ did the same, “leaving us an example, that ye should follow his steps” (2:21). “Who, when he was reviled, reviled not again; when he suffered, he threatened not” (2:23). “Who his own self bare our sins in his own body on the tree… by whose stripes ye were healed” (2:24). We were like sheep going astray, but are now returned “unto the Shepherd and Bishop of your souls” (2:25).

MOVEMENT FIVE

At Home and Among Enemies (3:1–17)

Wives with unbelieving husbands may win them without a word, by the way they live. True beauty is not outward adornment, “But let it be the hidden man of the heart… even the ornament of a meek and quiet spirit, which is in the sight of God of great price” (3:4). Husbands, “dwell with them according to knowledge, giving honour unto the wife… that your prayers be not hindered”(3:7). All of you, be of one mind, compassionate, courteous, “Not rendering evil for evil, or railing for railing: but contrariwise blessing” (3:9). If you suffer for righteousness, you are blessed. “Be ready always to give an answer to every man that asketh you a reason of the hope that is in you with meekness and fear”(3:15).

MOVEMENT SIX

The Just for the Unjust (3:18–4:6)

“For Christ also hath once suffered for sins, the just for the unjust, that he might bring us to God, being put to death in the flesh, but quickened by the Spirit” (3:18). Peter then mentions Christ preaching to “the spirits in prison” who were disobedient in the days of Noah (3:19–20), one of the most debated passages in the New Testament. Some see Christ proclaiming His victory to fallen spirits after His death. Others see Christ preaching through Noah to the people of Noah’s day. Peter’s point is clear either way: as eight souls were brought safely through the water in the ark, baptism now pictures our salvation, “the answer of a good conscience toward God, by the resurrection of Jesus Christ” (3:21). Since Christ suffered in the flesh, arm yourselves with the same mind.

MOVEMENT SEVEN

The Fiery Trial (4:7–19)

“But the end of all things is at hand: be ye therefore sober, and watch unto prayer. And above all things have fervent charity among yourselves: for charity shall cover the multitude of sins” (4:7–8). Be hospitable without grumbling. Use your gifts as good stewards of the manifold grace of God. “If any man speak, let him speak as the oracles of God” (4:11). “Beloved, think it not strange concerning the fiery trial which is to try you”(4:12). Rejoice to share Christ’s sufferings. “Yet if any man suffer as a Christian, let him not be ashamed” (4:16). “For the time is come that judgment must begin at the house of God” (4:17). Those who suffer according to God’s will should “commit the keeping of their souls to him in well doing, as unto a faithful Creator” (4:19).

MOVEMENT EIGHT

Feed the Flock; Resist the Adversary (5:1–14)

Peter speaks as a fellow elder: “Feed the flock of God which is among you, taking the oversight thereof, not by constraint, but willingly; not for filthy lucre, but of a ready mind; Neither as being lords over God’s heritage, but being ensamples to the flock” (5:2–3). “And when the chief Shepherd shall appear, ye shall receive a crown of glory that fadeth not away” (5:4). Everyone, “be clothed with humility” (5:5). “Humble yourselves therefore under the mighty hand of God, that he may exalt you in due time: Casting all your care upon him; for he careth for you” (5:6–7). “Be sober, be vigilant; because your adversary the devil, as a roaring lion, walketh about, seeking whom he may devour: Whom resist stedfast in the faith” (5:8–9). After a little suffering, the God of all grace will “make you perfect, stablish, strengthen, settle you” (5:10).

Christ Typology

The Lamb Without Blemish. At the first Passover, God told Israel, “Your lamb shall be without blemish” (Exodus 12:5). The lamb was inspected, then slain, and its blood put on the doorposts. Peter says we were redeemed “with the precious blood of Christ, as of a lamb without blemish and without spot: Who verily was foreordained before the foundation of the world” (1:19–20). The Passover was not God’s first idea. It was a picture of a plan made before creation.

The Rock and the Stones. Jesus gave Simon the name Peter, petros, a stone, and said, “upon this rock I will build my church”(Matthew 16:18). Now Peter, of all people, writes that Christ is the living Stone and the chief Cornerstone, and that every believer is a living stone built on Him. Peter quotes Isaiah 28:16, Psalm 118:22, and Isaiah 8:14. He never points to himself as the foundation. He points everyone, including himself, to Christ.

Isaiah 53 Lived Out. Peter’s description of Christ’s suffering in 2:22–25 follows Isaiah 53 almost line by line: “Who did no sin, neither was guile found in his mouth” (Isaiah 53:9); He bore our sins (53:12); “by whose stripes ye were healed” (53:5); “ye were as sheep going astray”(53:6). Peter had heard Jesus foretell His death and had tried to stop it. Now he sees it as the fulfillment of Isaiah’s Servant, and writes about it with the authority of an eyewitness.

Noah’s Ark. The world of Noah’s day was judged by water, and eight people were saved inside the ark, carried safely through the very waters of judgment. Peter says baptism corresponds to this. It is not the water that saves, but what the ark pictured: being in Christ, who passed through the judgment for us and rose again. Those in Him come through the flood alive.

A Kingdom of Priests. At Sinai God told Israel, “ye shall be unto me a kingdom of priests, and an holy nation” (Exodus 19:6). Peter takes those words and gives them to the church: a royal priesthood, a holy nation, a peculiar people. Under the old covenant, only the sons of Aaron could offer sacrifices. Under the new, every believer offers spiritual sacrifices to God through Jesus Christ, our great High Priest.

The Chief Shepherd. Ezekiel promised, “I will set up one shepherd over them, and he shall feed them, even my servant David” (Ezekiel 34:23), after condemning the shepherds who fed themselves. Peter calls Jesus the chief Shepherd and the Shepherd and Bishop of our souls. Every elder is an under-shepherd, accountable to Him, and will receive his reward, or his rebuke, when the chief Shepherd appears.

Personal Application

Your hope is alive. It is not wishful thinking. It is anchored in an empty tomb. The inheritance waiting for you cannot rot, be stained, or fade, and God Himself is guarding both it and you. When trials come, they are refining something more precious than gold.

You are a priest. Every believer has direct access to God through Christ, and every believer is called to offer spiritual sacrifices: praise, good works, and a life given to Him. You do not need a professional religious class to stand between you and God. Christ is your High Priest, and you are part of His royal priesthood.

Suffer like Christ. When He was insulted, He did not insult back. When He suffered, He did not threaten. He entrusted Himself to the Father, who judges righteously. That is not weakness. It is the strongest thing a person can do. When you are wronged, follow His steps.

Know what a true shepherd looks like. Peter gives three contrasts: willingly, not by constraint; with a ready mind, not for filthy lucre; as an example to the flock, not as a lord over it. Those are the marks of a shepherd who serves under the chief Shepherd. And Peter says judgment begins at the house of God.

Throw your cares on Him. Not some of them. All of them. The devil prowls like a lion looking for someone weighed down, isolated, and anxious. Resist him by staying humble, sober, steadfast, and close to the God who cares for you. After a little while, He will settle you.

TO GOD BE ALL THE GLORY · MARANATHA