The Hope of the New Birth - 1 Peter 1:3-5

Introduction

Having introduced himself, greeted his readers, and introduced the Trinitarian perspective he applies throughout this letter, Peter now turns to introduce his first major section, the first of six in the book. This section concerns the new birth, or what it means to be born again, and this section encompasses the first chapter of the book there in your Bible.

Peter is concerned to help his readers in the Disapora, and also by the Holy Spirit to help us understand the new birth and it’s implications for our lives, and he’s going to do that in 9 distinct ways.

The first is by demonstrating the hope of the new birth, or that our new birth secure for us in Christ an eternal glory which we look forward to.

Second, Peter demonstrates that even in the midst of trial and tribulation, the new birth give us reason to rejoice, and so he demonstrates the joy of the new birth.

Third, Peter explains to his readers the foretelling of the new birth, or how the Old Testament saw and spoke of a future in which God’s people would be born again in a new and miraculous birth.

Fourth, Peter gives his first implication of the new birth. This new birth requires sober preparation and discipline as it looks forward to the fulfillment of the hope he explained in verses 3-5.

Fifth is Peter’s second implication: those who are born again are called by God to be holy.

Sixth, because the new birth was brought about at great price, the born again person is called to a third pattern of behavior: Godly fear.

Seventh, Peter takes pains to let his readers know the nature of the work of Christ as he accomplished this new birth.

Eighth, Peter draws a fourth implication from the new birth: fervent, enduring, eternal love for one another.

Finally, ninth, Peter is eager to emphasize the unfailing, enduring quality of the word of God, the vehicle by which the new birth was and is proclaimed to those who are dead in their trespasses and sins.

So with that roadmap for the next two months or so in mind, let’s take a look at the hope of the new birth.

The New Birth

Central to Peter’s argument in this epistle is the concept of the new birth, or being born again.

The phrase, born again, if not the concept that stands behind it, is something that is familiar to most students of Scripture. We often think of being born again as that critical mark of saving faith. That’s what it means to be a Christian after all, is to be born again.

What’s interesting is that this exact phrase is only used in two places in all of the New Testament. One obviously being here in 1 Peter, once here in verse 3 and again in verse 23. The other is the more famous of the two, that being John 3, where Jesus uses the phrase in verse 3 and verse 7.

However, a slight expansion of the terminology leads us to usage of the term by James, as well as by John in his epistles, who use the phrase “born of God.”

Paul speaks into this idea as well, but he prefers the language of “being made alive,” being regenerated.

So we see that, drinking from the fountain of Christ, the New Testament writers see this concept of the new birth as critical to our understanding of Christian identity. For Peter, it’s being born again. For James and John, it’s being born of God. For Paul, it’s being regenerated and made alive.

So we need to define terms at a basic level here before we move on to how Peter specifically applies the truth of the new birth to his exiled readers.

I will submit to the Old Princeton systematician Charles Hodge for a clear and succinct negative and positive definition of the new birth:

Systematic Theology § 2. Nature of Regeneration

By a consent almost universal the word regeneration is now used to designate, not the whole work of sanctification, nor the first stages of that work comprehended in conversion, much less justification or any mere external change of state, but the instantaneous change from spiritual death to spiritual life. Regeneration, therefore, is a spiritual resurrection; the beginning of a new life. Sometimes the word expresses the act of God. God regenerates. Sometimes it designates the subjective effect of his act. The sinner is regenerated. He becomes a new creature. He is born again. And this is his regeneration.

So Peter has in view here this miraculous work of God whereby life is brought forth out of death. But Peter has manifold qualifications and quantifications for this new birth, so let’s continue examining his argument.

Mercy: The Foundation of the New Birth

Centering his argument around the concept of the new birth, or regeneration, Peter asserts the foundation of that new birth as God’s mercy. Peter thus extols the greatness of God’s mercy in causing us to be born again.

The new birth for Peter is a reflection of God’s restraint. God does not pour out death, but pours out life. He does not give us the death and punishment we deserve, but instead gives us new life.

Note further here that Peter emphasized that God caused us to be born again. Keying off on his earlier statement of the sovereign choice of God, Peter is teaching the complete and total sovereignty of God in salvation. To quote the words of God on the mountain to Moses, He will have mercy on whom He will have mercy, and that mercy takes shape in the new birth, as God causes His elect to be born again, breathes new life into their dead souls, and provides them with a sure hope that their new spiritual birth in this life will give way to a new physical birth in the life to come.

Peter and Moses affirm together then the sovereign and monergistic effort of God and God alone bringing about the new birth, and doing so as an act of mercy, as He restrains His hand of judgment and instead offers life.

Again we return to Charles Hodge:

Systematic Theology Regeneration an Act of God

Regeneration is an act of God. It is not simply referred to Him as its giver, and, in that sense, its author, as He is the giver of faith and of repentance. It is not an act which, by argument and persuasion, or by moral power, He induces the sinner to perform. But it is an act of which He is the agent. It is God who regenerates. The soul is regenerated. In this sense the soul is passive in regeneration, which (subjectively considered) is a change wrought in us, and not an act performed by us.

Living Hope: The Telos of the New Birth in Five Aspects

1 Peter: An Introduction and Commentary 1. Joy in Future Heavenly Reward (1:3–5)

It is ‘living’—by so describing it Peter indicates that it grows and increases in strength year by year. If such a growing hope is the expected result of being born again, then perhaps the degree to which believers have an intense, confident expectation of the life to come is one useful measure of progress toward spiritual maturity. It is not surprising that such a hope is particularly evident in many older Christians as they approach death.

Aspect 1: Imperishable Inheritance

Aspect 2: Undefiled Inheritance

Aspect 3: Unfading Inheritance

Aspect 4: Reserved Inheritance

Aspect 5: Heavenly Inheritance

Resurrection: The Means of the New Birth

Sovereign Power: The Security of the New Birth

Blessed Be God: The Response to the New Birth

1, 2 Peter, Jude (1) A Promised Inheritance (1:3–5)

Blessing God, not surprisingly, is rooted in the Old Testament and is a pervasive feature of Old Testament piety. The blessing is not a prosaic introduction but begins the section with joy, a gladness that fills the rest of the passage.

Conclusion

1, 2 Peter, Jude (1) A Promised Inheritance (1:3–5)

A “living hope” is one that is genuine and vital, in contrast to a hope that is empty and vain. The focus, of course, is on the word “hope” itself.11 Those who are suffering persecution in Asia Minor are not dashed to the ground by their troubles. They look to the future with the sure confidence that inestimable blessing awaits them. Nor is their confidence baseless superstition. It is grounded in and secured by the resurrection of Jesus Christ. Their hope, in other words, is the hope of resurrection, triumph over death; hence, whatever happens to them in this world is trivial compared to the blessing of the future resurrection.