1 Peter 1:1-12
Notes
Transcript
Background
1 Peter is the first letter that we have from the Apostle Peter in the New Testament. The overall theme of the book is that believers should follow Christ’s example by joyfully enduring persecution.
1 Peter, an apostle of Jesus Christ, To those who reside as aliens, scattered throughout Pontus, Galatia, Cappadocia, Asia, and Bithynia, who are chosen
2 according to the foreknowledge of God the Father, by the sanctifying work of the Spirit, to obey Jesus Christ and be sprinkled with His blood: May grace and peace be yours in the fullest measure.
AUTHOR
AUTHOR
1 Peter was attributed by the early church to the Apostle Peter, who identifies himself in verse 1.
There is some debate against this by modern liberal scholarship, but their arguments fall flat against early church attestation.
Based on the topic of persecution, and knowing Peter’s history from early church fathers, Peter was most likely in Rome when he wrote this.
Why does all of this matter? Because if the Apostle Peter was not the author, then the author was deceptive and this book should be ignored.
Furthermore, it calls into question the reliability of the entirety of Scripture.
RECIPIENTS
RECIPIENTS
Peter identifies his recipients plainly, which would most likely be composed of Gentile believers in Asia Minor.
The recipients are “chosen,” language commonly used to identify believers in Jesus Christ. This was inherited from the faith’s Hebrew roots.
6 “For you are a holy people to the Lord your God; the Lord your God has chosen you to be a people for His own possession out of all the peoples who are on the face of the earth.
Jesus appropriated this concept in His description of His disciples.
16 “You did not choose Me but I chose you, and appointed you that you would go and bear fruit, and that your fruit would remain, so that whatever you ask of the Father in My name He may give to you.
17 “This I command you, that you love one another.
18 “If the world hates you, you know that it has hated Me before it hated you.
19 “If you were of the world, the world would love its own; but because you are not of the world, but I chose you out of the world, because of this the world hates you.
This concept continues throughout the New Testament.
4 just as He chose us in Him before the foundation of the world, that we would be holy and blameless before Him. In love
5 He predestined us to adoption as sons through Jesus Christ to Himself, according to the kind intention of His will,
God, being outside of time, knew before creating the world who among humanity would accept Christ and who would reject Him.
Knowing this, God ordained that those who accept Christ would receive all the promises that come with the plan of salvation.
29 For those whom He foreknew, He also predestined to become conformed to the image of His Son, so that He would be the firstborn among many brethren;
30 and these whom He predestined, He also called; and these whom He called, He also justified; and these whom He justified, He also glorified.
Of course, it is by the blood of Christ that any of this is possible, having justified us as our High Priest by sprinkling us with His blood.
Peter also acknowledges that the “chosen” are sanctified by the Spirit who dwells within them.
Being “sanctified” is being made like Christ (conformed).
We receive grace and peace through the saving work of the Godhead.
We receive grace and peace through the saving work of the Godhead.
Notice that in becoming more like Christ, we obey Him. This is what sanctification looks like.
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,
4 to obtain an inheritance which is imperishable and undefiled and will not fade away, reserved in heaven for you,
5 who are protected by the power of God through faith for a salvation ready to be revealed in the last time.
The theme continues in what God has done for us.
We are “born again,” receiving new life through Christ’s resurrection.
3 Jesus answered and said to him, “Truly, truly, I say to you, unless one is born again he cannot see the kingdom of God.”
1 Whoever believes that Jesus is the Christ is born of God, and whoever loves the Father loves the child born of Him.
This is made possible by Christ’s resurrection.
11 But if the Spirit of Him who raised Jesus from the dead dwells in you, He who raised Christ Jesus from the dead will also give life to your mortal bodies through His Spirit who dwells in you.
We are granted and will obtain an inheritance in heaven as being children of God: salvation.
13 But we should always give thanks to God for you, brethren beloved by the Lord, because God has chosen you from the beginning for salvation through sanctification by the Spirit and faith in the truth.
14 It was for this He called you through our gospel, that you may gain the glory of our Lord Jesus Christ.
God’s salvation will be revealed at the end of this age, when Christ returns.
28 so Christ also, having been offered once to bear the sins of many, will appear a second time for salvation without reference to sin, to those who eagerly await Him.
6 In this you greatly rejoice, even though now for a little while, if necessary, you have been distressed by various trials,
7 so 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;
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.
Notice that though salvation is promised, that does not mean that this life will be without troubles.
The trials that come our way are a means of testing us and refining us.
9 “And I will bring the third part through the fire, Refine them as silver is refined, And test them as gold is tested. They will call on My name, And I will answer them; I will say, ‘They are My people,’ And they will say, ‘The Lord is my God.’ ”
If we understand God’s methods, then we ought not shrink from the trials that come in life.
3 And not only this, but we also exult in our tribulations, knowing that tribulation brings about perseverance;
4 and perseverance, proven character; and proven character, hope;
Our hope is in the return of Jesus Christ.
30 “And then the sign of the Son of Man will appear in the sky, and then all the tribes of the earth will mourn, and they will see the Son of Man coming on the clouds of the sky with power and great glory.
31 “And He will send forth His angels with a great trumpet and they will gather together His elect from the four winds, from one end of the sky to the other.
10 As to this salvation, the prophets who prophesied of the grace that would come to you made careful searches and inquiries,
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.
Peter references the Old Testament prophets who predicted the Messiah’s coming and sufferings.
We learned a bit about this when we studied 2 Peter, that the Spirit moved within men to reveal future things.
2 in the first year of his reign, I, Daniel, observed in the books the number of the years which was revealed as the word of the Lord to Jeremiah the prophet for the completion of the desolations of Jerusalem, namely, seventy years.
3 So I gave my attention to the Lord God to seek Him by prayer and supplications, with fasting, sackcloth and ashes.
The angel Gabriel answers Daniel’s prayer by giving revelation of the future.
24 “Seventy weeks have been decreed for your people and your holy city, to finish the transgression, to make an end of sin, to make atonement for iniquity, to bring in everlasting righteousness, to seal up vision and prophecy and to anoint the most holy place.
25 “So you are to know and discern that from the issuing of a decree to restore and rebuild Jerusalem until Messiah the Prince there will be seven weeks and sixty-two weeks; it will be built again, with plaza and moat, even in times of distress.
26 “Then after the sixty-two weeks the Messiah will be cut off and have nothing, and the people of the prince who is to come will destroy the city and the sanctuary. And its end will come with a flood; even to the end there will be war; desolations are determined.
Notice that atonement is made for sin in this prophecy. This is part of Messiah being “cut off.”
10 But the Lord was pleased To crush Him, putting Him to grief; If He would render Himself as a guilt offering, He will see His offspring, He will prolong His days, And the good pleasure of the Lord will prosper in His hand.
11 As a result of the anguish of His soul, He will see it and be satisfied; By His knowledge the Righteous One, My Servant, will justify the many, As He will bear their iniquities.
12 Therefore, I will allot Him a portion with the great, And He will divide the booty with the strong; Because He poured out Himself to death, And was numbered with the transgressors; Yet He Himself bore the sin of many, And interceded for the transgressors.
Times are given, which are accurate.
Notice also that there will be war and distress. Tribulation awaits us in the future.
29 “But immediately after the tribulation of those days the sun will be darkened, and the moon will not give its light, and the stars will fall from the sky, and the powers of the heavens will be shaken.
Christ will return and bring about the salvation that is promised us.
God’s promise of a future salvation is certain.
God’s promise of a future salvation is certain.
Peter concludes by declaring that the fulfillment of all of God’s promises is found in the gospel that he and others have been preaching.
APPLICATION
APPLICATION
We receive grace and peace through the saving work of the Godhead.
God’s promise of a future salvation is certain.
Next week, we will continue through 1 Peter.
Communion: We practice open communion, which means if you are a believer in the Lord Jesus Christ, you may join the church in taking the Lord’s Supper. Communion is a practice of remembering what Christ has done by eating and drinking, and we are told that we must examine ourselves in the taking of communion, so that we do not eat the bread or drink the cup of the Lord in an unworthy manner. Take this time to examine yourself before we take communion together.
23 For I received from the Lord that which I also delivered to you, that the Lord Jesus in the night in which He was betrayed took bread;
24 and when He had given thanks, He broke it and said, “This is My body, which is for you; do this in remembrance of Me.”
25 In the same way He took the cup also after supper, saying, “This cup is the new covenant in My blood; do this, as often as you drink it, in remembrance of Me.”
26 For as often as you eat this bread and drink the cup, you proclaim the Lord’s death until He comes.