1 Peter #1

Peter

God’s Chosen People (Deut 7:6)

ssic4071

Living as Foreigners (Heb 11:13)

Trinity represented - Father, Spirit, Jesus Christ

Chose You Long ago

More and More grace and peace

Praise is the way to start off

Born again - not just a believer

By His Great Mercy

Obeyed

Raised from dead

Great Expectation

Priceless Inheritance

Kept in Heaven

Pure, undefiled, beyond the reach of change or decay

Faith - protecting

Salvation a now and future thing

The Reveal!

Wonderful Joy Ahead

Endure Trials

Trials show if faith is genuine

I am feeling led to preach this without any notes and just do an expository teaching verse by verse.

1 Peter 1:1–9 NLT

This letter is from Peter, an apostle of Jesus Christ. I am writing to God’s chosen people who are living as foreigners in the provinces of Pontus, Galatia, Cappadocia, Asia, and Bithynia. God the Father knew you and chose you long ago, and his Spirit has made you holy. As a result, you have obeyed him and have been cleansed by the blood of Jesus Christ. May God give you more and more grace and peace. All praise to God, the Father of our Lord Jesus Christ. It is by his great mercy that we have been born again, because God raised Jesus Christ from the dead. Now we live with great expectation, and we have a priceless inheritance—an inheritance that is kept in heaven for you, pure and undefiled, beyond the reach of change and decay. And through your faith, God is protecting you by his power until you receive this salvation, which is ready to be revealed on the last day for all to see. So be truly glad. There is wonderful joy ahead, even though you must endure many trials for a little while. These trials will show that your faith is genuine. It is being tested as fire tests and purifies gold—though your faith is far more precious than mere gold. So when your faith remains strong through many trials, it will bring you much praise and glory and honor on the day when Jesus Christ is revealed to the whole world. You love him even though you have never seen him. Though you do not see him now, you trust him; and you rejoice with a glorious, inexpressible joy. The reward for trusting him will be the salvation of your souls.

Peter

Simon Peter is one of the most colorful characters in the New Testament. He wrote two warm, rich New Testament letters which bear his name.

Background

Peter was on of the first men called to follow Jesus. He lived in Capernaum, located on the Sea of Galilee, where he worked as a fisherman. Peter was an ordinary man who said what he thought. A man of mixed emotions, he was sometimes unstable. He wanted to do good, but he did not have the ability to do so. Yet he had an intimate friendship with Jesus.

Name

His given name, Simon, means “the reed.” Jesus gave him the name Peter, which means “rock,” or literally, “a piece of rock.” His pilgrimage with Jesus was the story of grace, transforming him from an unstable reed blown about by the wind to a rock—a mighty witness for the gospel of Jesus. Peter died a martyr’s death in Rome under the order of Emperor Nero. Tradition tells us he was crucified upside down, a man who gave his life for the One he had earlier denied.

Date

Peter’s first epistle was probably written from the city of Rome, which he figuratively called Babylon (1 Peter 5:13). It is believed that Peter wrote this letter as well as the second one toward the latter part of his life. The early church fathers and preachers of the second century often quoted from the writings of Peter, including Irenaeus, Clement of Rome, and Polycarp, who was martyred in Asia Minor in A.D. 155.

Purpose

The purpose of 1 Peter was to encourage the believers in Asia Minor (modern-day Turkey) to remain steadfast in the face of persecution.

The key word in First Peter is suffering. It is used 15 times, underscoring God’s grace to help believers endure persecution for the cause Christ. The key verse is 4:1: “Since Christ suffered in his body, arm yourselves also with the same attitude, because he who has suffered in his body is done with sin” (NIV). So this book is a book of encouragement to the persecuted church.

Peter begins the letter by calling himself “an apostle of Jesus Christ to God’s elect” (1:1 NIV). He is writing to those who “have been chosen according to the foreknowledge of God the Father, through the sanctifying work of the Spirit, for obedience to Jesus Christ and sprinkling by his blood” (v.2, NIV). Believers are saved by the foreknowledge of God the Father, through the sanctifying work of the Holy Spirit that separates them from sin unto the Lord, and for the purpose of obedience to Jesus Christ. This is a tremendous outline of the work of salvation. Believers are God’s elect, living as strangers in the world, yet placed here by God for His purpose.

Historical context

Peter was writing to believers who were under intense persecution by the Roman government. It is important to understand how persecution developed in the middle part of the first century, and how it continued until the time of emperor Constantine, who made Christianity, the official religion of the Roman government. The persecution of the church by the Roman government began under emperor Nero in AD 64 at which time Paul was enduring his first imprisonment in Rome, the great fire of Rome broke out that year lasting for three days then it started again with greater intensity the people of Rome blamed Nero. No one actually knows exactly what caused the fire, but it is certain that Nero watched it burn from the roof of his palace, and it is said he was charmed by the loveliness of the flames to divert attention away from himself. Nero needed a scape goat, so he selected the Christians. He put out the word that the church had started the fire as an insurrection against Rome while the persecution of AD 64 was confined to Christians in the city of Rome their existed a fear that the persecution would spread to other areas. This was the context the first Peter he was writing to believers who had seen the outbreak of persecution and the imprisonment of Christians that would lead to the martyrdom of believers.

Spiritual highlights, 

Purpose in suffering

Sometimes when One reads about suffering in the Bible, all suffering gets merged together because everybody goes through difficulties in life, financial setbacks, marital problems, abandonment disease, and the loss of a loved one or all experiences of suffering, but the kind of suffering addressed by Peter came because of commitment to Jesus Christ while One can use Peter‘s principles and apply them to any area of suffering. It is important to understand what these believers were enduring in the first century when Peter wrote this letter as one attempts to put this letter into perspective, Peter‘s message of encouragement can be heard it begins in verse three with praise which is a wonderful way to begin with people who are undergoing tough times 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 and into an inheritance that can never perish, spoil or fate kept in heaven, for you who threw faith or shielded by God‘s power until the coming of the salvation that is ready to be revealed in the last time (vv. 3-5NIV). What an encouragement to know that when persecution is breaking out, believers are shielded by God‘s power God is in control and he has a purpose in the believer’s life through suffering that is not to say God causes suffering. Suffering comes as a result of living in a world that is imperfect because of the influences of sin Peter tells how to deal with suffering at any level “in this you greatly rejoice“ verse six NIV, the first step in maintaining an attitude of praise The I’m sorry. The first step is maintaining an attitude of praise. Trials come “so that your faith of greater worse than gold, which parish is even though refined by fire, may be proved genuine and they result in praise glory and honor when Jesus Christ is refilled “verse seven in IV what a marvelous truth that transcend this historical context, believers can rejoice in all kinds of trials because they come to refined light gold is refined so that they might be proved genuine. John F. Kennedy in his book. Profiles of courage said that great crisis produced great men and great deeds of courage that statement is not altogether true. The truth is that great crisis provide the opportunity for the development of great men and women and the performance of great deeds, but the crisis of life do not make a person they simply review what is in the heart. Some people say trials always make people stronger, but that is not necessarily true. Either some people grow weaker in their faith they can’t eat they can even become bitter or angry. It is what One does with trials that makes the difference believers cannot control the persecution and the suffering, but they can’t control their hearts and attitudes. Peter wrote “dear friends do not be surprised at the painful trial. You were suffering as though something strange were happening to you, but rejoice that you participate in the sufferings of Christ so that you may be overjoyed when his glory is revealed“ (4:12 NIV).

(A Journey Through the New Testament, David C. Cooper, D. Min)

CHOSEN

Deuteronomy 7:6 “For you are a holy people, who belong to the Lord your God. Of all the people on earth, the Lord your God has chosen you to be his own special treasure.”

Lexham Context Commentary: New Testament The Apostle Peter to the Scattered Disciples of Jesus the Messiah (1:1–5:14)

Peter writes a manifesto on Christian identity and ethics to struggling believers in Asia Minor. He addresses his readers as “elect strangers” and acknowledges the trials they are facing, yet reminds them that their identity and hope for the future are grounded in the work of the Triune God through the atonement and resurrection of Jesus Christ. Peter accentuates for his audience their special place in salvation history as a new, elect community, founded on the elect Rock; yet Peter also encourages them toward holy living. The epistle repeatedly focuses on Christian suffering and interaction with outsiders, while occasionally touching on the believer’s obligation toward others in the church. No matter what their social station in life, the Anatolian Christians must be “do-gooders” imitating their precious Savior Jesus Christ even in the midst of suffering, while showing forth God’s praises both in the church and to a lost world around them.

1 Peter 1:1 “This letter is from Peter, an apostle of Jesus Christ. I am writing to God’s chosen people who are living as foreigners in the provinces of Pontus, Galatia, Cappadocia, Asia, and Bithynia.”

1 Peter 1:1–2 KJV 1900

Peter, an apostle of Jesus Christ, to the strangers scattered throughout Pontus, Galatia, Cappadocia, Asia, and Bithynia, Elect according to the foreknowledge of God the Father, through sanctification of the Spirit, unto obedience and sprinkling of the blood of Jesus Christ: Grace unto you, and peace, be multiplied.

1 Peter 1:2 “God the Father knew you and chose you long ago, and his Spirit has made you holy. As a result, you have obeyed him and have been cleansed by the blood of Jesus Christ. May God give you more and more grace and peace.”

1 Peter 1:3–4 “All praise to God, the Father of our Lord Jesus Christ. It is by his great mercy that we have been born again, because God raised Jesus Christ from the dead. Now we live with great expectation, and we have a priceless inheritance—an inheritance that is kept in heaven for you, pure and undefiled, beyond the reach of change and decay.”

1 Peter 1:5 “And through your faith, God is protecting you by his power until you receive this salvation, which is ready to be revealed on the last day for all to see.”

1 Peter 1:6 “So be truly glad. There is wonderful joy ahead, even though you must endure many trials for a little while.”

1 Peter 1:7 “These trials will show that your faith is genuine. It is being tested as fire tests and purifies gold—though your faith is far more precious than mere gold. So when your faith remains strong through many trials, it will bring you much praise and glory and honor on the day when Jesus Christ is revealed to the whole world.”