# 1 Peter 01 π: A Living Hope
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[[-1 Peter Overview]] | [[1 Peter 02]]
> [!info] Table of Contents
> [[#π Scripture Text (NET)]]
> [[#π Verse-by-Verse Commentary]]
> [[#π€ Interesting Facts / Historical and Cultural Insights]]
> [[#π§ Chapter Summary]]
> [[#βοΈ Christ in This Chapter]]
> [[#π Key Observations / π Life Application]]
> [[#π¬ Discussion Questions]]
> [[#βοΈ Key Verses to Remember]]
> [[#π Related Passages]]
> [[#π Devotional Reflection]]
> [[#π Internal Notes]]
## π Scripture Text (NET)
(The NET Bible: New English Translation. Biblical Studies Press, 2005)
[[#Verse 01.]] From Peter, an apostle of Jesus Christ, to those temporarily residing abroad (in Pontus, Galatia, Cappadocia, the province of Asia, and Bithynia) who are chosen
[[#Verse 02.]] according to the foreknowledge of God the Father by being set apart by the Spirit for obedience and for sprinkling with Jesus Christβs blood. May grace and peace be yours in full measure!
## The Hope of Eternal Life
**Principle**: We have an eternal hope.
[[#Verse 03.]] Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ! By his great mercy he gave us new birth into a living hope through the resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead,
[[#Verse 04.]] that is, into an inheritance imperishable, undefiled, and unfading. It is reserved in heaven for you,
[[#Verse 05.]] who by Godβs power are protected through faith for a salvation ready to be revealed in the last time.
[[#Verse 06.]] This brings you great joy, although you may have to suffer for a short time in various trials.
[[#Verse 07.]] Such trials show the proven character of your faith, which is much more valuable than goldβgold that is tested by fire, even though it is passing awayβand will bring praise and glory and honor when Jesus Christ is revealed.
[[Testing of God (What are Tests)]]
[[#Verse 08.]] You have not seen him, but you love him. You do not see him now but you believe in him, and so you rejoice with an indescribable and glorious joy,
[[#Verse 09.]] because you are attaining the goal of your faithβthe salvation of your souls.
[[#Verse 10.]] Concerning this salvation, the prophets who predicted the grace that would come to you searched and investigated carefully.
[[#Verse 11.]] They probed into what person or time the Spirit of Christ within them was indicating when he testified beforehand about the sufferings appointed for Christ and his subsequent glory.
[[#Verse 12.]] They were shown that they were serving not themselves but you, in regard to the things now announced to you through those who proclaimed the gospel to you by the Holy Spirit sent from heavenβthings angels long to catch a glimpse of.
### A Call to Holy Living
**Principle**: Living as though you are a kingdom of priests. Live in the Light.
[[#Verse 13.]] Therefore, get your minds ready for action by being fully sober, and set your hope completely on the grace that will be brought to you when Jesus Christ is revealed.
[[#Verse 14.]] Like obedient children, do not comply with the evil urges you used to follow in your ignorance,
[[#Verse 15.]] but, like the Holy One who called you, become holy yourselves in all of your conduct,
[[#Verse 16.]] for it is written, β.β
[[#Verse 17.]] And if you address as Father the one who impartially judges according to each oneβs work, live out the time of your temporary residence here in reverence.
[[#Verse 18.]] You know that from your empty way of life inherited from your ancestors you were ransomedβnot by perishable things like silver or gold,
[[#Verse 19.]] but by precious blood like that of an unblemished and spotless lamb, namely Christ.
[[#Verse 20.]] He was foreknown before the foundation of the world but was manifested in these last times for your sake.
[[#Verse 21.]] Through him you now trust in God, who raised him from the dead and gave him glory, so that your faith and hope are in God.
[[#Verse 22.]] You have purified your souls by obeying the truth in order to show sincere mutual love. So love one another earnestly from a pure heart.
[[#Verse 23.]] You have been born anew, not from perishable but from imperishable seed, through the living and enduring word of God.
[[#Verse 24.]] For
[[#Verse 24.,]]Β As the Scriptures say,Β
βPeople are like grass;
Β Β Β Β their beauty is like a flower in the field.
The grass withers and the flower fades. [[Isaiah 40]]
[[#Verse 25.]] . And this is the word that was proclaimed to you.
## π Verse-by-Verse Commentary
**Verse 1-3. God establishes our hope in Christ.**
###### Verse 01.
- Peter- calls himself an apostle of Jesus Christ. He announces his writing authority. As an old man, he is comfortable with his status as a "sent one" for the Gospel.
- "__Living as foreigners-__" Peter is likely not only writing to the Jewish people who have been dispersed throughout the Roman world, but he is writing to all who call themselves Christians. As he states later, he sees Christians as having true citizenship in Heaven.
###### Verse 02.
- All three of the Trinity are present in salvation:
- - Father- Chose to save.
- Holy Spirit drew us to Himself (holiness).
- Jesus made it possible.
- __Grace and Peace__- Grace is the unmerited favor of God. Peace is the settled state of the soul after receiving grace.
###### Verse 03.
- We are saved by God's great mercy, not our own effort.
- Because of the salvation that comes through the finished work of Jesus Christ, we now have a living hope. This means a hope that is flexible, breathes, and has life. It is not rigid and is unable to fit within our lives. It stretches and moves. It can accompany us, survive storms, and guide us through any valley.
**Verse 4-5. God guards our hope as an inheritance**.
###### Verse 04.
- Priceless inheritance- Peter may be reflecting on the inheritance and promise God gave to the nation of Israel in the form of Canaan. This promise could be taken away or fall into disrepair. He is saying the hope of salvation cannot be taken, stolen, lost, and never grows stale. Our inheritance is eternal life with God.
###### Verse 05.
- Protecting- The Greek word is a military term. The mental picture is an army outpost being guarded and protected. Peter is saying God's power protects what He has given us. There is nothing that can overwhelm God; therefore, there is nothing that can remove our promise of eternal life.
**Verse 6-9. God matures our hope through trials**.
###### Verse 06.
- What we know about trials from the following verse:
- They have the capacity to bring gladness.
- They end in wonderful joy for those who have their trust in the Lord.
- They will come.
- They do not last into eternity. They are only in this life.
- A little while- Peter is saying they are nothing when considering the length of eternity.
###### Verse 07.
- __Trials show the genuineness of our faith__- Trials show us how valuable faith (confidence) in God can be. Trials show us how powerful God is and how solid our faith can stand in adversity. An untried faith is an untrustworthy faith.
- __Tested like gold__- It was common to heat gold or other precious metals to draw out all that was impure. The purpose was to make the gold as pure as possible. This made it more valuable.
- __Revealed to the whole world__- Possibly two-fold. (1) As more and more people come to know the Lord. (2) The second coming of Christ.
###### Verse 08.
- __You love Him even though you have never seen Him__- Possibly Peter is thinking back to when Jesus told Thomas that it is more blessed for those who believe without seeing Jesus in person.
###### Verse 09.
- Trust = salvation.
**Verse 10-12. God establishes our hope in Christ**.
###### Verse 10.
- The prophets saw only the pieces of God's plan. It would be like seeing an unfinished jigsaw puzzle. You see the pieces, but you don't know how they all fit together. We are blessed to see how it all worked out to fulfill the plan of Jesus. This gives us hope that the rest will happen too.
###### Verse 11.
###### Verse 12.
- Even the angels were excited to see how God would redeem His creation. If they are excited, how much more should we be when we see God moving in our lives?
- Fold Up Our Sleeves and Get To IT.
- __"Therefore,"__ The NLT uses the word "so," but the most literal translation is "therefore." This word works best because Peter is making a summation of all that has come before. In light of what we know, he tells us to get moving. We are to think clearly, get holy, and put all our hope in God.
###### Verse 13.
###### Verse 14.
- "God's children"- We are to think of God as our Heavenly Father, and the goal of children is to be like their parents. Peter is saying we should be like Him and then explains what this means. We are to walk away from our old sinful patterns and embrace the ways of God.
###### Verse 15.
- There has been a lot of confusion about what it means to be holy as God is holy. The primary meaning of holy in this passage is to be different. When God tells the nation of Israel to be holy in Leviticus, He is telling them to do all He commands so they will be different than the other nations. Being different means we are also working toward complete wholeness, but it first means being different.
###### Verse 16.
###### Verse 17.
- "temporary residents"- Peter reminds the churches that their primary citizenship is Heaven. Therefore, it is okay if we never feel completely at home here. There is something in all of us that longs to be fully "home" with the Lord.
###### Verse 18.
- "ransom"- We often overlook the fact that this word originates from the slave trade. This is where someone had to pay for the freedom of a slave. This was not given away. There was a price for freedom, which was not possible. Jesus paid a high price for our salvation.
###### Verse 19.
###### Verse 20.
- The plan of God- God had a plan in place to rescue us all the way back to the beginning.
###### Verse 21.
###### Verse 22.
###### Verse 23.
- Peter ends this section with reminding us that we can completely trust all these promises because they come from God. He made the Heavens and the Earth. He sustains it all by His will. Therefore, He is strong enough to keep His Word to us.
###### Verse 24.,
###### Verse 24.
###### Verse 25.
## π€ Interesting Facts / Historical and Cultural Insights
1. Peter writes to believers in five Roman provinces in Asia Minor (1:1): Pontus, Galatia, Cappadocia, Asia, and Bithynia, all in modern Turkey.
2. The order of the provinces in 1:1 may follow the route a letter carrier would travel.
3. The Father, the Spirit, and Jesus Christ are all named in 1:2, showing the Trinity at work in salvation.
4. The word for born again (*anagennaΕ*) appears in the New Testament only in 1 Peter (1:3, 23).
5. Peter describes our inheritance with three Greek words that each begin with the same "a" sound: imperishable, undefiled, and unfading (1:4).
6. The word for protected in 1:5 (*phroureΕ*) is a military term for guarding a city with a garrison.
7. Gold was refined by heating it until impurities rose to the surface and could be removed (1:7).
8. "Get your minds ready for action" (1:13) is literally "gird up the loins of your mind," picturing a person tucking up a long robe to move quickly.
9. "Be holy, because I am holy" (1:16) quotes Leviticus 11:44-45.
10. Peter's closing words in 1:24-25 quote Isaiah 40:6-8.
## π§ Chapter Summary
> [!note] π± Still growing. This section is on its way.
## βοΈ Christ in This Chapter
Christ is our living hope, raised from the dead (1:3) and revealed as the spotless Lamb who ransomed us with His precious blood (1:18-19). The prophets searched for Him, and the gospel announces Him (1:10-12; Luke 24:27).
## π Key Observations / π Life Application
> [!note] π± Still growing. This section is on its way.
## π¬ Discussion Questions
1. Peter says God has given us a living hope and an inheritance that cannot fade (1:3-4). How does that hope change the way you face today?
2. Trials prove the genuineness of faith like fire refines gold (1:6-7). What has a past trial revealed about your faith?
3. Peter calls us to be holy because God is holy (1:15-16). What does being set apart look like in your home, work, or friendships?
## βοΈ Key Verses to Remember
- π verse 3: God has given us new birth into a living hope through the resurrection of Jesus.
- π verses 6-7: Trials test our faith the way fire refines gold.
- π verses 15-16: Be holy in all you do, because God is holy.
- π verses 18-19: We were ransomed not with silver or gold, but with the precious blood of Christ, the spotless Lamb.
- π verse 23: We have been born again through the living and enduring word of God.
- π verses 24-25: The grass withers and the flower falls, but the word of the Lord endures forever.
## π Related Passages
- π 1:2 β Ephesians 1:4-5 β Chosen in Christ before the foundation of the world.
- π 1:3 β John 3:3-5 and Titus 3:5 β Born again through the washing and renewal of the Spirit.
- π 1:4 β Matthew 6:19-20 and Colossians 1:5 β Treasure and hope stored up in heaven.
- π 1:6-7 β James 1:2-4 and Romans 5:3-5 β Trials produce endurance and proven character.
- π 1:7 β Job 23:10 and Zechariah 13:9 β Refined like gold in the fire.
- π 1:10-12 β Luke 24:25-27 β The prophets spoke of the Messiah's suffering and glory.
- π 1:13 β Luke 12:35 β Be dressed for action with your lamps burning.
- π 1:16 β Leviticus 11:44-45 and 19:2 β Be holy, for I am holy.
- π 1:18-19 β Exodus 12:5 β The Passover lamb without blemish.
- π 1:19 β John 1:29 β The Lamb of God who takes away the sin of the world.
- π 1:20 β Revelation 13:8 β The Lamb slain before the world was made.
- π 1:22 β John 13:34 β Love one another as I have loved you.
- π 1:23 β James 1:18 β He gave us new birth by the word of truth.
- π 1:24-25 β Isaiah 40:6-8 β The grass withers, but the word of God stands forever.
- π [[2 Corinthians 04#Verse 17.|2 Corinthians 4:17]] - Light momentary affliction prepares an eternal glory.
- π [[Romans 08#Verse 17.|Romans 8:17]] - Heirs of God and fellow heirs with Christ.
- π [[John 20#Verse 29.|John 20:29]] - Blessed are those who have not seen and yet believe.
- π [[Hebrews 09#Verse 14.|Hebrews 9:14]] - The blood of Christ cleanses our conscience.
- π [[Isaiah 53#Verse 07.|Isaiah 53:7]] - Like a lamb led to the slaughter.
## π Devotional Reflection
π SOAP: [[1 Peter 01 - SOAP|βWhatβ not βWhyβ]]
### Outline
**Big Idea**: The Blessing of the Furnace
**Point 1**: The furnace needs a name change.
**Point 2**: The furnace is invisible to others.
**Point 3**: The blessing of the furnace.
## π Internal Notes
[^1]: [[Series_BAssurance_1_1Peter1.1-12]]
[[SeriesOverview-Blessed Assurance (1 Peter)]]