1 PETER CHAPTER 1
by
1.
Date of writing: 65AD.
2.
Author: Peter an apostle of Jesus
Christ (1 Peter 1:1); a witness of the
sufferings of Christ (1 Pet. 5:1);
Simon Peter.
3.
This book didn’t have trouble being accepted into the canon of
scripture, but 2 Peter did.
3.1.
The critics said that the books were not Jewish enough and couldn’t
have been written by Peter.
3.2.
Peter had walked with the Lord for over 30 years by now, and he had
read Ephesians, Galatians, and Romans and thus we should expect Peter’s
theology and practice to be much like Paul’s.
3.3.
The critics probably would have rejected the letter if he had written
from too Jewish of a point of view.
4.
Recipients: primarily Jews from Asia
Minor: ‘Galatia, Cappodicia, Asia, and
Bithynia.’
4.1.
The word used for them in verse 1 is the word used for the dispersion.
4.2.
Peter was the apostle to
the Circumcision (Rom. 11:13; Gal. 2:8).
5.
These were the areas where Paul had written letters before and planted
churches.
6.
The purpose of Peter’s writing:
6.1.
After a recent outbreak of localized persecution (probably at the hands
of Nero) Peter prepares his readers for further suffering.
6.1.1. The first persecution began
with the stoning of Steven: Acts
8:1 (Fox believed that ‘2,000 died’
then).
6.1.2. World-wide persecution
didn’t begin until 249 AD under Decius, the Roman emperor.
6.1.3. Perhaps the apostle Paul had
just been martyred by Nero.
6.2.
Peter wanted to show his support of the apostle Paul and his ministry.
6.3.
A chance to build up the churches, especially the Jewish believers in
them.
7.
The place of writing is Babylon: The city itself, or as some believe Babylon may have been a
code-word for Rome (1 Peter 5:13).
8.
Content: “Peter seeks first of all to
teach and remind his readers of the greatness and certainty of their eternal
hope that they have in Jesus Christ. He
seeks to show them that the Lord allows them to be tested greatly because of
the preciousness of a faith that has undergone testing. He exhorts them to zeal, perseverance,
devotion, action, and holiness. He
causes them to consider Jesus and His sufferings on their behalf to be their
motivation to endure suffering with courage, faithfully. He tells them not to be surprised if they
should be called upon to suffer. He
tells them that they should never suffer because of their own sin and
rebellion, but only because they were being faithful to their calling as
Christians. He exhorts all to
submission according to God’s hierarchy of authorities placed over their lives. He exhorts them to have a pure love for one
another, and all men, and to use every opportunity to share the gospel to the
lost. He exhorts the leaders to serve
willingly, and to serve by being examples, not by intimidation. Finally, he tells all to be ‘sober’ and
prepared in heart for the spiritual warfare which they are going to be faced
with.”
9.
VS 1:1 - “Peter, an apostle of Jesus
Christ, to those who reside as aliens, scattered throughout Pontus, Galatia,
Cappadocia, Asia, and Bithynia, who are chosen” - Peter addresses his readers as ‘an apostle of Jesus Christ’
9.1.
Peter calls himself by His Christ given name.
9.1.1. There is much in a name.
9.1.2. We need to associate
ourselves with our new identity in Christ.
9.1.3. We have been given a new
mind, heart, will, and our consciences have been cleansed.
9.1.4. ILLUSTRATION: “The story of Porky”
Several years ago when I lived in Phoenix I worked
at a company as a driver, and there was a guy there whom the guys called
“Porky.” I witnessed to Porky many
times over several months, and finally one day he told me and another Christian
friend there that he had accepted Christ into his life. We rejoiced and began then to try to follow
up Porky and help him to grow in his new life in Christ. Porky’s real name was Ken, however since he
had always been over-weight, his friends had adopted the cruel nickname of
Porky for him. After Porky became a
Christian, I continued to call him Porky, and unknowingly I believe now that
each time I called him by that name it was like driving a stake in his heart,
for it reminded him of his life before coming to Christ and of all of the
sinful living that he had done throughout his life. After a few weeks Porky began to show little interest in anything
spiritual and eventually fell away from Christ all together and went back to
his previous life. Now, I don’t know
whether or not Porky really was saved or whether his conversion was spurious,
however God convicted me after this experience how important it is for people
to begin to identify themselves with something that reminds them of their new
life in Christ, and for some people who come to Christ, it may be totally
appropriate for us to give them a new name to match their new identity in
Christ.
9.2.
He doesn’t defend his apostleship, just states it.
9.2.1. This is proof of who he is.
9.2.2. Another Peter would have
defended himself.
9.3.
Peter was part of the inner circle of 3, and the central disciple
picked to lead by Jesus.
9.3.1. Peter, James, and John alone
were invited by Jesus to accompany Jesus to the Mt. of Transfig., the raising
of Jairus’ daughter, and the garden of Gethsame.
9.4.
Paul had previously written the books of Galatians, Ephesians, and
Colossians to the churches in Asia Minor:
The Pulpit Commentary states, “In Proconsular Asis were Iconium,
Derbe, Lystra, Antioch (Pisidian), Miletus, Laodicea, Hierapolis, Colossae,
Philadelphia, Sardis, Thyatira, Ephesus (the capital), Smyrna, Pergamos, Troas,
where (probably) Churches were formed under Paul’s influence, and to three of
which he addressed letters. Neither in
Pontus, nor in Cappadocia, nor in Bithynia do we read of Christian work.”
9.5.
Peter introduces the topic of the “Election of the Believer,” a
favorite doctrine of Paul’s:
9.5.1. This is not the general call
to salvation of Rom. 10:13, “Whosoever will call...”
9.5.2. This is the “Effectual
Calling” of God of His people.
9.6.
God can “Predestine” people to salvation because He “Foreknows” the end
from the beginning.
9.7.
Because God “foreknows,” He also “foreordains” :
9.7.1. It is His will that is
actually being worked out on earth, as Isaiah 46:9-10 reveals to us,” 9
“Remember the former things long past, For I am God, and there is no
other; I am God, and there is no one
like Me, 10 Declaring the end from the beginning, And from ancient times things
which have not been done, Saying, ‘My purpose will be established, And I will
accomplish all My good pleasure.’”
9.7.1.1.God is in control of
everything in the universe, not man and not Satan, and this means that there is
no such thing as luck or coincidence.
9.7.1.2.Whenever evil occurs on
earth, it is not His perfect will being worked out, but His permissive will, in
other words He is allowing evil to happen for His own purposes.
9.7.2. Jesus said to His disciples
(thus to us), “You did not choose me, but I chose you.
9.8.
Because He foreknows doesn’t mean that we do not choose Him, for we
still have free will and must choose to trust in Christ for salvation.
9.9.
The believer enters into what Paul wrote about in Rom. 8:29-30, and
which has been termed the “Unbroken Chain” of Election.
9.9.1. The question to be asked
then is, “Could then a person ever lose his salvation after receiving it?”
9.9.1.1.Martyn Lloyd-Jones has asked
the question, “Is there anything which the Lord begins that He doesn’t
finish?”
9.9.1.2.I have a hard time believing
that a God whom we believe is outside of time (in all parts of time at once
actually) could on His part grant someone eternal life knowing all along that
in the end that person would not be saved in the first place.
9.9.1.3.However on the other hand,
just because a person has had some kind of an emotional and/or spiritual
experience with the Lord which he thinks was a coming to be saved by Christ
does not necessarily mean he actually was saved. The fruit of salvation as well as his continuing to abide in
Christ throughout his life is evidence of his truly having been saved in the
first place. It is also his guarantee
of eternal salvation.
10.
VS 1:2 - “2 according to the foreknowledge
of God the Father, by the sanctifying work of the Spirit, that you may obey
Jesus Christ and be sprinkled with His blood: May grace and peace be yours in
fullest measure” - Sanctification means “to be
set apart as holy unto the Lord”
10.1.
We are created by God for His good purposes for us: Col. 1:16, “16 For by Him all things were
created, both in the heavens and on earth, visible and invisible, whether thrones
or dominions or rulers or authorities—all things have been created by Him and for
Him.” Sanctification is seen as
existing in two essences in the scriptures.
10.1.1.Once for all: Heb. 10:10, “10 By this will we have been
sanctified through the offering of the body of Jesus Christ once for all.”
10.1.1.1.This first sense is used
here in verse 2.
10.1.2.Experiential: 1 Thess. 4:3-4, “3 For this is the will
of God, your sanctification; that is, that you abstain from sexual immorality;
4 that each of you know how to possess his own vessel in sanctification and
honor.”
10.1.2.1.What are you doing as a
result of your sanctification?
10.1.2.1.1.Are you allowing God to mold
and shape you every day?
10.1.2.1.2.Jesus said in Luke 6:46,
“And why do you call Me, ‘Lord, Lord,’ and do not do what I say?”
10.2.
Peter writes that we are sanctified that we might ‘obey’ Jesus Christ
in all things.
10.3.
Being ‘sprinkled with His blood’ is an illusion to the dedication of
the Tabernacle: Heb. 9:19-22, “19 For
when every commandment had been spoken by Moses to all the people according to
the Law, he took the blood of the calves and the goats, with water and scarlet
wool and hyssop, and sprinkled both the book itself and all the people, 20
saying, “This is the blood of the covenant which God commanded you.” 21 And in the same way he sprinkled both the
tabernacle and all the vessels of the ministry with the blood. 22 And according
to the Law, one may almost say, all things are cleansed with blood, and without
shedding of blood there is no forgiveness.”
10.4.
Peter’s salutation here in verse 2 shows similarity between he and
Paul.
11.
VS 1:3 - “3 Blessed be the God and Father
of our Lord Jesus Christ, who according to His great mercy has caused us to be
born again to a living hope through the resurrection of Jesus Christ from the
dead,” -
‘Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ’ was a phrase used by
Paul (2 Cor. 1:3; Eph. 1:3)
11.1.
Great ‘mercy’ is something that when experienced should cause a person
to have great ‘reverence’ for God.
11.1.1.We see in Luke 5:8 that this
was something which sinful Peter knew so very personally, “8 When
Simon Peter saw it, he fell down at Jesus’ knees, saying, Depart from
me; for I am a sinful man, O Lord.”
11.2.
In this verse, and three times in the first two chapters Peter uses the
concept ‘born again’ which Jesus used in John 3 in His talk with Nicodemus.
11.2.1.Paul used the concept also
in 1 Cor. 15:8, “one untimely born.”
11.2.2.The apostle John used the
phrase ‘born of God’ five times in 1 John.
11.3.
The Christian’s ‘hope’ is a ‘living hope.’
11.3.1.Paul was the apostle of
faith, John was the apostle of love, and Peter was the apostle of ‘hope.’
11.3.2.The Christian’s hope is
“confident expectation.”
11.3.3.This ‘hope’ we have is an
“anchor of our soul”: Heb. 6:19-20,
“19 This hope we have as an anchor of the soul, a hope both sure and
steadfast and one which enters within the veil, 20 where Jesus has entered as a
forerunner for us, having become a high priest forever according to the order
of Melchizedek.”
11.3.4.When we lose our peace and
are fraught with worry, we have taken our eyes off of our hope.
11.3.5.God’s Word becomes the rock
for us as Paul wrote to Timothy in 2
Tim. 1:12, “12... for I know whom I have believed and I am convinced that He
is able to guard what I have entrusted to Him until that day,”” 2 Tim.
1:12.
11.4.
Peter knew that the most important event of the New Testament was the
resurrection of Christ.
11.4.1.Paul wrote that our faith is
worthless and we are still in our sins if Jesus be not raised (1 Cor. 15:17).
11.4.2.ILLUSTRATION: The story of the Communist leader Bukharin, ““About 1930, the
Communist leader Bukharin journeyed from Moscow to Kiev. His mission was to address a huge assembly.
His subject, atheism. For a solid hour he aimed his heavy artillery at
Christianity, hurling argument and ridicule. At last he was finished and viewed
what seemed to be the smoldering ashes of men's faith. "Are there any
questions?" Bukharin demanded. A solitary man arose and asked permission
to speak. He mounted the platform and moved close to the Communist. The
audience was breathlessly silent as the man surveyed them first to the right,
then to the left. At last he shouted the ancient Orthodox greeting,
"CHRIST IS RISEN!" The vast assembly arose as one man and the
response came crashing like the sound of an avalanche, "HE IS RISEN INDEED!"”--James
S. Hewett, Illustrations Unlimited (Wheaton: Tyndale House Publishers, Inc,
1988
12.
VS 1:4 - “4 to obtain an inheritance which is
imperishable and undefiled and will not fade away, reserved in heaven for you,” - As a son or a daughter of God, we have all received an
inheritance
12.1.
The inheritance that we Christians have is the “eternal life” we have
received now only in part, not in all of its fullness. We’ll have to wait until we get to heaven to
receive all of its fullness.
12.2.
Our present experience of salvation is a down-payment, an assurance of
our eternal inheritance.
12.3.
When we get to heaven we will then be saved from the “presence” of
sin. Now we Christians are only saved
from the penalty and power of sin.
12.4.
Our inheritance cannot ‘fade’ away like almost everything else on this
earth, and not like a wilting flower or grass which is only green for a season.
12.4.1.Our inheritance is “imperishable
and undefiled.”
12.4.2.ILLUSTRATION: All food, even the most tastiest meal at the finest restaurant,
will eventually decay and not be good to the taste or for food, however our
inheritance will last forever.
12.4.3.In Old Testament times a
person became “unclean” sometimes and therefore was separated from community
and worship, however in heaven we will never be separated by any uncleaness
again.
12.4.4.90% of all of my counseling
of people has simply involved them to regain God’s perspective in their lives,
which means to keep their minds focused on the hope that they have in Christ.
13.
VS 1:5 - “5 who are protected by the power
of God through faith for a salvation ready to be revealed in the last time.” - The Lord Protects the
believer in this life
13.1.
No Christian is able to fight the spiritual battles he faces in his own
power.
13.2.
After you get saved you realize you have an enemy who is hunting you.
13.3.
The weapons of our warfare are divinely powerful: 2 Cor. 10:3, ““3 For though we walk in
the flesh, we do not war according to the flesh, 4 for the weapons of our
warfare are not of the flesh, but divinely powerful for the destruction of
fortresses,”
13.4.
We war against principalities and powers not people: Eph. 6:12, ““12 For our struggle is not against
flesh and blood, but against the rulers, against the powers, against the world
forces of this darkness, against the spiritual forces of wickedness in the
heavenly places.”
13.5.
ILLUSTRATION: In 2 Chron. 14:11-13, we read
about how that when King Asa of Israel had 1 million Ethiopian soldiers with
300 chariots besiege Judah and the situation seemed completely impossible for
the Lord to have victory in, that is, until Asa called upon the Lord: ““11 Then Asa called to the Lord his
God, and said, “Lord, there is no one besides Thee to help in the battle
between the powerful and those who have no strength; so help us, O Lord our
God, for we trust in Thee, and in Thy name have come against this multitude. O
Lord, Thou art our God; let not man prevail against Thee. 12 So the LORD smote the
Ethiopians before Asa, and before Judah; and the Ethiopians fled. 13 And
Asa and the people that were with him pursued them unto Gerar: and the
Ethiopians were overthrown, that they could not recover themselves; for they
were destroyed before the LORD, and before his host; and they carried away very
much spoil.””
13.5.1.What man considers a
difficult or impossible situation the Lord considers to be just a trifle to be
overcome. He alone can win the
spiritual battles we get into, therefore we must learn to trust in Him for
those victories
13.6.
In the NT there are written several very similar things about the Lord
protecting the believer:
13.6.1.He guards what we have
entrusted to Him (2 Tim. 1:12).
13.6.2.He is able to keep us from
stumbling (Jude 24).
13.6.3.He confirms us unto the
end...blameless in the day of the Lord (1 Cor. 1:8).
13.6.4.He perfects the work He has
begun in our life until the day of Christ Jesus (Phil. 1:6).
13.6.5.Nothing can separate us from
the love of God in Christ Jesus (Rom. 8:35-39).
13.6.6.These are just the working
out of what Jesus promised in John 10:28-29.
13.7.
The devil has to go through the shepherd in order to get to the sheep.
13.8.
ILLUSTRATION: Several
years ago now one of the guys in the home fellowship we were going to seemed to
be overwhelmed in his life because he was thinking that somehow he in his own
strength would have to hold out his faith in Christ and be faithful to God to
the end in order to be saved. However,
I encouraged him by sharing with him these promises which guarantee us that the
Lord is committed to seeing us all the way to heaven. Though we must hold on to His hand, He is reaching out and
holding on to ours all the way.
13.9.
If someone truly does fall away from Christ, can we not say that he
never was saved? Heb. 3:6, 14 seems to
imply this, ““6 but Christ was faithful as a Son over His house whose house
we are, if we hold fast our confidence and the boast of our hope firm until the
end... 14 For we have become partakers of Christ, if we hold fast the beginning
of our assurance firm until the end.”
14.
VS 1:6 - “6 In this you greatly rejoice,
even though now for a little while, if necessary, you have been distressed by
various trials,” - The believers ‘greatly rejoiced’ in these promises even though they
had to suffer sometimes
14.1.
The trials of the Jewish brethren in the church usually came at the
hands of their countrymen originally.
14.2.
We need to “consider it all joy when we encounter various trials”- Ja. 1:2-4.
14.3.
Our circumstances do not have to control whether or not we have joy in
our life.
14.4.
The Greek word for ‘trials’ can also be translated ‘temptations.’ There is a trial in every temptation and
visa versa.
14.5.
We can take heart because trials last just for a ‘little while,’ they
don’t last forever.
14.6.
If we have to go through ‘trials’ it is because God knows that they are
‘necessary’ for the work He desires to do through us and in us.
14.7.
Peter’s readers were going through ‘various’ or “manifold” trials, and
so it is often also in our case. Trials
sometimes seem to just come to us from every place imaginable.
15.
VS 1:7 - “7 that the proof of your faith,
being more precious than gold which is perishable, even though tested by fire,
may be found to result in praise and glory and honor at the revelation of Jesus
Christ;” -
The ‘testing’ of our faith is more precious than gold
15.1.
Though gold is the most valuable commodity on earth, it is
‘perishable.’ However, our faith as
Christians won’t perish.
15.2.
Our faith produces results that will last for eternity: 1 Cor. 2:9, ““9 but just as it is
written, “Things which eye has not seen and ear has not heard, And which have
not entered the heart of man, All that God has prepared for those who love Him.””
15.3.
The phrase ‘revelation of Jesus Christ’ means when we go to be with
Him.
15.4.
The impurities in silver and gold are removed by heating them up in a
fire and in the same way our faith as Christians is purified, or tested, by the
fiery trials that the Lord puts us through.
15.5.
Our faith is precious to the Lord, and because of that the Lord
purifies our faith because a purified faith will all the more ‘result in praise
and glory and honor at the revelation of Jesus Christ.’
15.5.1.We’ll hear, “Well done thou
good and faithful servant” (Matt.
25:21; 1 Cor. 4:5).
15.5.2.ILLUSTRATION: “The Story of the Teapot”
< author unknown >
An American couple went to Europe, to England and
they were celebrating their 25th wedding anniversary. Both the man and the wife
were connoisseurs and fanciers of pottery, antiques and China. When they came to Sussex they went into a
Little China shop. Their eyes singled
out a beautiful little tea cup on the top shelf.
The man said, "Can I see that, that's the most
beautiful tea cup I've ever seen.
And as he was
holding the tea cup the tea cup began to speak . It said, "You don't understand, I
haven't always been a tea cup. There
was a time when I was red and that I was clay.
My master took me and he rolled me and he patted me over and over and
over. I yelled out, "Let me
alone!", but he only smiled and said, "Not yet." And then I was placed on a spinning wheel,
suddenly I was spun around and around and around. "Stop it I'm getting dizzy," I said.
The master only nodded and said "Not yet."
Then he put me in an oven, I'd never felt such
heat. I wondered why he wanted to burn
me, and I yelled and I knocked on the door, and I could see him through the
opening, and I could read his lips, as he nodded his head he said, "Not
yet."
Finally the door did open, "whew," and he
put me on a shelf and I began to cool. "That's better," I said.
And then suddenly he grabbed me and he brushed me and he began to paint me all over. I thought I would suffocate, I thought I would gag, the fumes were horrible. And he just smiled and said, "Not yet." And then suddenly he put me back into an oven, not the first one but one twice as hot, and I knew that I was going to suffocate. And I begged and I screamed and I yelled, and all the time I could see him through the opening, smiling and nodding his head, "Not yet, not yet.” And then I knew that there was no hope, I knew that I wouldn't make it. I was just ready to give up when the door opened and he took me out and he put me on a shelf.
Then an hour later he came back and he handed me a
mirror and he said, "Look at yourself." And I did. And I said,
"That can't be me, I'm beautiful."
"I want you to remember," he then said,
"I know that it hurt to be rolled and to be patted but if I would have
left you, you would have dried out. And
I know that it made you dizzy to spin you around and around on a spinning wheel
but if I had stopped you would have crumbled.
And I know that it hurt and it was hot and disagreeable in the oven, but
if I hadn't put you there you would have cracked. And I know that the fumes were oh so bad when I brushed you and
when I painted you all over, but you see, if I hadn't done that you wouldn't
have hardened and there would have been no color in your life. And if I hadn't put you in that second oven
you wouldn't have survived for very long. The hardness would not have
held. But now you are a finished
product. You are what I had in mind
when I first began with you.””
15.6.
Trials don’t automatically improve us as Christians, for as one person
once put it, “Trials either make us better or they make us bitter, it
depends upon how we accept them into our lives.”
15.6.1.In Hebrews chapter 12, the
Lord tells us that we are not to despise the chastening of the Lord because
just as every loving father chastens his child, so the Lord chastens every
child of His, and He does so because He loves us and knows what good things
result in our life from His chastening of us.
16.
VS 1:8-9 : “8 and though you have not seen
Him, you love Him, and though you do not see Him now, but believe in Him, you greatly
rejoice with joy inexpressible and full of glory, 9 obtaining as the outcome of
your faith the salvation of your souls.” - Though they had not seen Jesus they loved
Him and rejoiced with a joy inexpressible and full of glory
16.1.
To have faith in Jesus, we don’t have to have known Him in the flesh.
16.2.
It is not “sight” that brings these great blessings, but simply faith
(faith has its own reward).
16.3.
‘Faith’ comes from hearing and reading the word (Rom. 10:17).
16.4.
I believe that this phrase ‘joy inexpressible and full of glory’
describes our life when we have yielded ourselves completely to the Lord and He
baptizes (immerses) us in His Spirit.
Those who have experienced the baptism of the Holy Spirit have described
their experience very similarly to this.
16.4.1.The book “Joy Unspeakable”
by Martyn Lloyd-Jones has its title taken from this verse, and in the book he
has the following remarks about the experience of the baptism of the Holy
Spirit, “Look at the second chapter of Acts—fancy saying that that is non-experimental! But that is what some have taught. Because they have been afraid of the
excesses of Pentecostalism they have driven themselves to that impossible,
indeed ludicrous position of saying that the baptism with the Holy Spirit is
non-experimental. As we have seen, it
was not only experimental, it was so experimental that the whole of Jerusalem
knew that it had happened to the people;
they knew it themselves and everybody else knew it. Indeed it is characterized essentially by
this tremendous experimental or experiential happening. It is great and most amazing. It is the most wonderful and glorious
experience a man can ever have in this life.
The only thing beyond the experience of the baptism with the Spirit is
heaven itself. In that experience,
then, a man feels that he can never sin again—how can he sin against such
love? So it is not at all surprising
that people have tended to identify it with sanctification.”
17.
VS 1:10-12 - “10 As to this salvation, the
prophets who prophesied of the grace that would come to you made careful search
and inquiry, 11 seeking to know what person or time the Spirit of Christ within
them was indicating as He predicted the sufferings of Christ and the glories to
follow. 12 It was revealed to them that they were not serving themselves, but
you, in these things which now have been announced to you through those who
preached the gospel to you by the Holy Spirit sent from heaven—things into
which angels long to look.” - We see here the mind set and
heart of the Old Testament prophets
17.1.
The Old Testament prophets sought the Lord “carefully” and “diligently”
to be sure He was speaking to them.
17.2.
The Old Testament prophets knew that their ministry would be to those
who would come after them.
17.3.
Daniel sought the Lord about what would happen in the future, and God
revealed the 70 weeks prophesy (Dan. 9:1-27).
17.4.
If we Christians were to seek the Lord “carefully” and “diligently”
today, He would reward us with wisdom and knowledge.
17.4.1.ILLUSTRATION: The modern days methods for mining gold have evolved drastically
because of the fact that gold has become harder and harder to find in the
earth, and now with modern high-tech mining machinery they can actually
disassemble an entire mountain in a matter of months and get all of the gold
out of it. As Christians we ought to be
like those who invented this new mining equipment and be motivated to search
hard and deep to dig out all of the golden nuggets from God’s Word which He has
placed there for our exploration and use.
17.5.
Peter writes here that the angels “bend down” or “stoop” to look into
these things.
17.5.1.Mighty as they are, angels
are very curious of this great work of God in men’s lives.
17.5.2.If beings mighty as angels
are greatly curious, should not we weaker creatures do likewise?
18.
VS 1:13 - “13 Therefore, gird your minds for
action, keep sober in spirit, fix your hope completely on the grace to be
brought to you at the revelation of Jesus Christ.” - Peter begins his
exhortations in this verse
18.1.
It would be a pity if such great truths did not move our hearts to
action.
18.2.
These words come as commands from our commanding general, Peter.
18.3.
Peter writes that we must act upon these truth, and “gird” our minds
for “ACTION.”
18.3.1.When a man would prepare to
do some physical work in Peter’s day, he would take a sash and wrap (or gird)
it around his waist so that he would not be encumbered by his robe. In the same way, Peter writes that we as
Christians need to gear up and discipline our minds for action in serving the
Lord.
18.3.2.Spiritual growth as a
Christian doesn’t come automatically, there are things we must and must not do
if we are to grow.
18.3.3.The real battle in our lives
as Christians is in our minds.
18.3.4.We are called to take every
thought “captive to the obedience of Christ”-
2 Cor. 10:5.
18.3.5.We have been given not a
spirit of fear, but of power, love and a sound mind: 2 Tim. 1:7.
18.4.
Peter says that we are to fix our hope “COMPLETELY” (100%) on the grace
to be brought to us.
18.4.1.It is so easily for us as
Christians to place our “hope” in other things, some of which actually are good
in and of themselves.
18.4.1.1.The career God gave us.
18.4.1.2.Our marriage relationship or
family.
18.4.1.3.Friends and friendships.
18.4.1.4.Material things: possessions, money.
18.4.1.5.Etc., etc., etc.
18.4.2.God wants us to have no
idols before Him.
18.4.3.The key word here is
“COMPLETELY,” which means no combinations of things we hope in are allowed.
18.4.4.Christ is to be our
“sufficiency,” “in whom are hidden all of the treasures of wisdom and
knowledge”- Col. 2:3.
19.
VS 1:14-16 - “14 As obedient children, do not
be conformed to the former lusts which were yours in your ignorance, 15 but
like the Holy One who called you, be holy yourselves also in all your behavior;
16 because it is written, “You shall be holy, for I am holy.”” - Peter enjoins holy
living upon his readers.
19.1.
We are to be obedient because of three motivators:
19.1.1.We are children of our
heavenly Father.
19.1.1.1.We can no longer claim
ignorance of what is right and wrong.
19.1.2.Out of gratitude for the mercy
we have received, we ought to desire to be obedient children.
19.1.3.Because holiness is not an
option for the Christian.
19.1.3.1.Heb 12:14, “14 Pursue
peace with all men, and the sanctification without which no one will see the
Lord.”
19.1.3.2.We are called to be imitators
of the Father who has called us to Himself.
19.1.3.3.We are to “perfect” holiness
in the Lord, 2 Cor. 7:1, “Therefore, having these promises, beloved, let us
cleanse ourselves from all defilement of flesh and spirit, perfecting holiness
in the fear of God”.
19.1.3.4.There is so much compromise
in the world today, but Christ calls to us to come out of the world, 2 Cor.
6:14-18, “14 Do not be bound together with unbelievers; for what partnership
have righteousness and lawlessness, or what fellowship has light with darkness?
15 Or what harmony has Christ with Belial, or what has a believer in common
with an unbeliever? 16 Or what agreement has the temple of God with idols? For
we are the temple of the living God; just as God said, “I will dwell in them
and walk among them; And I will be
their God, and they shall be My people.
17“Therefore, come out from their midst and be separate,” says the Lord. “And do not touch what is
unclean; And I will welcome you. 18 “And I will be a father to you, And you shall be sons and daughters to
Me,” Says the Lord Almighty”.
19.2.
ILLUSTRATION: As an illustration, I heard the story once of a man
who bought a piece of property upon which he planned to build a nice big
house. All that he had to do was to
level the lot and then remove all of the rocks off of it. The leveling process happened pretty
quickly, for he bought a bull dozer and soon had the property level. Then, he had to pick up all of the rocks. Initially, he used the same bull dozer to
pick up all of the big rocks upon the lot.
However, after he had picked up all of the large boulders, this exposed
the fact that there were hundreds of medium size ones. These rocks he began to pick up by hand. However, as he worked for hours picking up
these medium size boulders, this exposed the fact that now he saw that there
were thousands of smaller-sized rocks which he would now have to pick up. Then, as he began to pick up the
smaller-sized rocks, he discovered that there were pebbles too numerous to
count that suddenly were exposed. These
two would have to be picked up, however this effort would take a considerably
longer period to do so. In the same
way, when we first come to know the Lord, He immediately bull dozes the big
sins out of our lives. Then, as we
begin to walk with the Lord and read His Word, the Holy Spirit begins to
convict us of ever increasingly more areas of our lives that don’t match up
with God’s standard of holiness.
Finally, we realize that although we will spend our entire life having
the experience of the Lord revealing even more areas of our life that do not
match up with God’s holiness, we must all throughout be committed to removing
the sin from our life once God has shown to us that it is offensive.
19.3.
To be holy as a Christian is really to be like Christ, Heb. 1:3, “3 And
He is the radiance of His glory and the exact representation of His nature, and
upholds all things by the word of His power. When He had made purification of
sins, He sat down at the right hand of the Majesty on high”.
19.4.
Note here that the Christian is to be holy in “all of his life.”
20.
VS 1:17 - “17 And if you address as Father
the One who impartially judges according to each man’s work, conduct yourselves
in fear during the time of your stay upon earth;” - We Christians will
stand before the Lord to give account of their lives since coming to know
Christ.
20.1.
Here we see in this verse further motivation for living holy lives,
which Peter just admonished us to do.
20.2.
We should have a “healthy respect” for the Lord because of the fact
that He judges impartially (Col. 3:25).
20.2.1.We all as people for some
reason tend to think that we have a personal in with God and that He will
overlook our faults, though others might not be so lucky. However, the Lord promises that He judges
and deals with all people according to the same standards of righteousness.
20.3.
As Proverbs states, the “fear of the Lord” is the “beginning of
wisdom” (the first place we begin in
attaining wisdom).
20.4.
Someone once said that the Lord is more concerned about our holiness
than He is our happiness, and this is definitely true. If we will not deal with our sins
appropriately and discipline our lives to live them as He would have us to live
them then He is going to provide circumstances that will assure that this will
happen, fiery trials.
20.5.
If we judge ourselves rightly, we won’t have to be disciplined (1 Cor.
11:31-32).
20.6.
One thing that we want to keep in mind when we consider coming before
the Bema Seat Judgment of rewards as a Christian is that our judge is also our
Father, our personal attorney is also our Savior Jesus, and Jesus already paid
the penalty for all of our sins.
21.
VS 1:18-19 - “18 knowing that you were not
redeemed with perishable things like silver or gold from your futile way of
life inherited from your forefathers, 19 but with precious blood, as of a lamb
unblemished and spotless, the blood of Christ.” - Peter reminds the
readers how great the cost of their redemption was
21.1.
In these verses, we have yet further motivation for living the holy
lives that Peter admonished us to live earlier.
21.2.
Jesus, the only begotten Son of God, was the highest and most precious
thing that God could give.
21.2.1.In John 3:16, the verse we
are so familiar with, Jesus told us about how great God’s love for mankind was
that He was willing to give His only begotten Son so that we might not perish
but have everlasting life.
21.3.
ILLUSTRATION: For illustration purposes, I would inform you that
Donald Barnhouse makes a general remark in one of his commentaries that it is
possible that at some point in time the offer of redemption may have been made
to the angels who sinned. But, you see
I have a great problem with that idea.
The angels sinned against greater knowledge of God than did man in the
garden of Eden. Therefore, a greater
price than that required for fallen man would have to have been paid in order
to provide just payment for a greater sin.
However, what greater price could ever be paid for sin that God giving
up His only and uniquely begotten Son?
No, I don’t think that redemption could ever have been offered for
angels, for if in order to satisfy the justice of God for man’s sin, He sent
His only-begotten Son to die upon the cross, there is nothing greater that God
could provide! This is an illustration
of just how precious was what was accomplished for us fallen creatures to have
Christ come and die upon the cross in our place to pay the price for our sins!
21.4.
Almost all of the Old Testament animal sacrifices had to be
“unblemished” animals, and these picture Christ, “the lamb without spot or
blemish.” How precious is the blood of
Christ? We cannot even estimate…
21.5.
Next time you are tempted, think about what that very sin caused to
happen to Christ, the precious Lamb of God.
21.5.1.When you think about it,
whenever we are tempted it is as if we are holding the hammer ready to drive a
spike into Jesus’ hand there upon the cross of Calvary and cause Him further
suffering…
21.6.
Peter reminds his readers just how “futile” their life was before
coming to Christ as their Lord and Savior.
All of the things they once valued (such as silver and gold) now mean
nothing to them compared to knowing Christ.
21.7.
The preciousness of the gift of His only begotten son that God gave for
you and I ought to motivate us to be obedient to and serve our heavenly Father
with all of our being.
22.
VS 1:20-21 - “20 For He was foreknown before
the foundation of the world, but has appeared in these last times for the sake
of you 21 who through Him are believers in God, who raised Him from the dead
and gave Him glory, so that your faith and hope are in God.” - It was not a last
second decision, nor an alternate plan to send Jesus to die upon the cross
22.1.
The idea that sending Jesus to the cross was an alternate or last
second plan would be to say that God could make a mistake or have misjudgment .
22.2.
God is omnipotent, omniscient, and omnipresent, and He knew all that
would happen before He created anything, and thus the Lord planned before
creating a single thing that He would send His Son to die on the cross for our
sins.
22.3.
The deity of Christ is seen in that Peter writes that God raised Jesus
from the dead (Jesus said He would
raise Himself from the dead in John 2:19-20).
22.4.
Peter writes that the Christian’s faith and hope is in God, but Jesus
is God! Hoping in Jesus is hoping in
God then.
23.
VS 1:22 - “22 Since you have in obedience to
the truth purified your souls for a sincere love of the brethren, fervently
love one another from the heart,” - The experience of salvation ALWAYS brings a
“sincere” love of the brethren in a person’s life
23.1.
Notice that Peter tells us that we have purified our souls. The Lord expects His people to work out the
things that He is working into their lives (Phil. 2 &3), He doesn’t do that
work for us.
23.2.
Peter exhorts them to have a “FERVENT’ love for their brethren in
Christ.
23.3.
In 1 John, John wrote that if we cannot love our brother whom we have
seen that we cannot love the Lord whom we have not seen. If we don’t love our brothers and sisters in
Christ then John tells us that our very salvation is in question.
23.4.
Paul wrote that the goal of his instruction was love from a pure heart
and a sincere conscience.
23.5.
God’s work in our lives as Christians, you see, is to make us greater lovers,
and thus be like Him.
23.6.
The Church is not a “religious organization,” it is a “spiritual
organism” made up of that which each member of the body contributes.
23.6.1.The various members of the
body respond to the head, but then have an interrelationship with each other.
23.6.2.The many “one-another”
exhortations in the scripture bear this out (example from Romans).
23.6.2.1.Romans 15:7: Receive ye one another.
23.6.2.2.Romans 12:10: Be devoted to one another; give preference to one another.
23.6.2.3.Romans 12:16: Be of the same mind toward one another.
23.6.2.4.Romans 13:8: Owe nothing to anyone except to love one
another.
23.6.2.5.Romans 14:13: Do not judge one another.
23.6.2.6.Romans 14:19: Pursue the things which make for peace and
the building up of one another.
23.6.2.7.Romans 16:16: Greet one
another with a holy kiss/
23.6.3.We in the body of Christ
must then concentrate on growing those attachments of love to one another which
Paul wrote about in Col. 2:19 as being joints and ligaments, “19 ...holding
fast to the head, from whom the entire body, being supplied and held together
by the joints and ligaments, grows with a growth which is from God.”
23.6.4.As Christ the Head ministers
to us, we then minister to “one another.”’
23.6.5.If the body is to be
healthy, then we must constantly remove the pathological attitudes that kill
unity and fellowship in the body.
24.
VS 1:23-25 - “23 for you have been born again
not of seed which is perishable but imperishable, that is, through the living
and abiding word of God. 24 For, “All flesh is like grass, And all its glory like the flower of grass. The grass withers, And the flower falls
off, 25 But the word of the Lord abides
forever.” And this is the word which was preached to you.” - This is Peter’s second use of the phrase “born again”
24.1.
God’s word is always powerful and effective to accomplish exactly what
He sends it for:
24.1.1.Heb. 4:12, ““12For the
word of God is quick, and powerful, and sharper than any twoedged sword,
piercing even to the dividing asunder of soul and spirit, and of the joints and
marrow, and is a discerner of the thoughts and intents of the heart.”
24.1.2.Isaiah 55:11, ““11 So
shall My word be which goes forth from My mouth; It shall not return to Me empty, Without accomplishing what I
desire, And without succeeding in the matter for which I sent it.”
24.2.
The seed that produced our faith in Christ is His Word (Rom. 10:17).
24.3.
We need to come to know how to effectively use the Word of God, which
is the “Sword of the Spirit” (Eph. 6).
24.3.1.We need to study to show
ourselves approved, rightly dividing the Word of Truth (2 Tim. 2:15).
24.3.2.If we will hide His Word in
our hearts it will keep us from sinning
(Ps. 119:11).
24.3.3.Commit verses to memory in
order to be able to powerfully present the gospel.
24.4.
I am not ashamed of the gospel for it is the power of God unto
salvation (Rom. 1:16).
24.5.
The things in this world are transitory and will fade or pass away,
however the word of the Lord will abide forever. Likewise, Jesus said that heaven and earth would pass away but
His words would never pass away.