1 Peter 1
Greetings from Peter
1This letter is from Peter, an apostle of Jesus Christ.
I am writing to God's chosen people who are living as foreigners in the lands of Pontus, Galatia, Cappadocia, the province of Asia, and Bithynia. 2God the Father chose you long ago, and the Spirit has made you holy. As a result, you have obeyed Jesus Christ and are cleansed by his blood.
May you have more and more of God's special favor and wonderful peace.
The Hope of Eternal Life
3All honor to the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, for it is by his boundless mercy that God has given us the privilege of being born again. Now we live with a wonderful expectation because Jesus Christ rose again from the dead. 4For God has reserved a priceless inheritance for his children. It is kept in heaven for you, pure and undefiled, beyond the reach of change and decay. 5And God, in his mighty power, will protect you until you receive this salvation, because you are trusting him. It will be revealed on the last day for all to see. 6So be truly glad![a] There is wonderful joy ahead, even though it is necessary for you to endure many trials for a while.
7These trials are only to test your faith, to show that it is strong and pure. It is being tested as fire tests and purifies gold--and your faith is far more precious to God than mere gold. So if your faith remains strong after being tried by fiery trials, it will bring you much praise and glory and honor on the day when Jesus Christ is revealed to the whole world.
8You love him even though you have never seen him. Though you do not see him, you trust him; and even now you are happy with a glorious, inexpressible joy. 9Your reward for trusting him will be the salvation of your souls.
10This salvation was something the prophets wanted to know more about. They prophesied about this gracious salvation prepared for you, even though they had many questions as to what it all could mean. 11They wondered what the Spirit of Christ within them was talking about when he told them in advance about Christ's suffering and his great glory afterward. They wondered when and to whom all this would happen.
12They were told that these things would not happen during their lifetime, but many years later, during yours. And now this Good News has been announced by those who preached to you in the power of the Holy Spirit sent from heaven. It is all so wonderful that even the angels are eagerly watching these things happen.
A Call to Holy Living
13So think clearly and exercise self-control. Look forward to the special blessings that will come to you at the return of Jesus Christ. 14Obey God because you are his children. Don't slip back into your old ways of doing evil; you didn't know any better then. 15But now you must be holy in everything you do, just as God--who chose you to be his children--is holy. 16For he himself has said, "You must be holy because I am holy."[b]
17And remember that the heavenly Father to whom you pray has no favorites when he judges. He will judge or reward you according to what you do. So you must live in reverent fear of him during your time as foreigners here on earth. 18For you know that God paid a ransom to save you from the empty life you inherited from your ancestors. And the ransom he paid was not mere gold or silver. 19He paid for you with the precious lifeblood of Christ, the sinless, spotless Lamb of God. 20God chose him for this purpose long before the world began, but now in these final days, he was sent to the earth for all to see. And he did this for you.
21Through Christ you have come to trust in God. And because God raised Christ from the dead and gave him great glory, your faith and hope can be placed confidently in God. 22Now you can have sincere love for each other as brothers and sisters[c] because you were cleansed from your sins when you accepted the truth of the Good News. So see to it that you really do love each other intensely with all your hearts.[d]
23For you have been born again. Your new life did not come from your earthly parents because the life they gave you will end in death. But this new life will last forever because it comes from the eternal, living word of God. 24As the prophet says,
"People are like grass that dies away; their beauty fades as quickly as the beauty of wildflowers. The grass withers, and the flowers fall away.
25 But the word of the Lord will last forever."[e]
And that word is the Good News that was preached to you.
Footnotes:
a. 1 Peter 1:6 Or So you are truly glad.
b. 1 Peter 1:16 Lev 11:44-45; 19:2; 20:7.
c. 1 Peter 1:22 Greek can have brotherly love.
d. 1 Peter 1:22 Some manuscripts read with a pure heart.
e. 1 Peter 1:25 Isa 40:6-8.
4 comments:
Morning guys,
I hope that everyone, and I do mean everyone, can get back on track this week. No excuses, right. I am trying to spur you guys on here.
1 Pet 1
I should just repaste the entire chapter here. So many things to touch on here! I was recntly having a conversation with y older brother and we were talking about these exact verses and I could not remember exactly where they were. Found em! It is very difficult to explain why and how we should behave during trials and tribulation, but it is pretty clear here again.
7These trials are only to test your faith, to show that it is strong and pure.
Nuf said. I have some work to do!!
This one drove a stake into my heart, and to be honest, only a miracle from God may make this ione happen.
15But now you must be holy in everything you do, just as God--who chose you to be his children--is holy. 16For he himself has said, "You must be holy because I am holy."
WOW, quite the charge here fellas. I guess I am the only one who struggles here :)
Note the fear part and the reverent below. He did not say live and occasionaly think about God
17...So you must live in reverent fear of him during your time as foreigners here on earth.
Finally, do we do this????
So see to it that you really do love each other intensely with all your hearts.
Father, bless these men. Help them to be consistent in reading and sharing your word. Build up each one of us so we can be strong and pure in our faith and holy in all that we do as we live in reverent fear and truly love one another with all our hearts.
In Christ,
cas
cas, definitely agree...lots of stuff in here. to me, there was a lot of stuff in here that gives me hope for what the future has in store. at the same time, it can be really overhwleming. how can i be as pure as God wants me to be? honestly, it can get tiring. I have heard it said that being a Christian is a Full Time job. I believe this. It is tough and challenging. In terms of being holy, I fail over and over. this verse is an eye opener..."He will judge or reward you according to what you do." i usually think that they "key" is to love God and know Jesus died and rose and is my Saviour. But this verse really makes me think that i am being judged not just on that belief, but on what i do even as a Christian. This is scary.
Father, help each of use not to tire. To be able to pick up the cross over and over and feel strength and rejuvenated. Let us not lose joy that comes from knowing you. And give us strength to live holy as you would want us to. Amen.
I second what both CAS and timmcd6 have said. There is indeed alot is this first chapter.
versus 13 and 14 really touch my heart.
(13) So think clearly and exercise self-control. Look forward to the special blessings that will come to you at the return of Jesus Christ. (14) Obey God because you are his children. Don't slip back into your old ways of doing evil; you didn't know any better then.
I need to paste these versus on my forehead. So often, I do not exercise self-control and it is probably because I am not thinking clearly (or with my wordly mind). And as a result, do things as I used to and knowing that it is not of God.
Lord, thank you for your continous grace and watching over me. Touch my heart and mind. Amen.
Have a Bless day,
Fellas
1 Pet 1
I agree with everyones comments and struggle mightily with a lot of these things daily. My life is all about balance, and I find myself pushing for a long time, then trying to squeeze out a little relaxing personal time, as if my trials are over, when they really aren't...
7These trials are only to test your faith, to show that it is strong and pure. It is being tested as fire tests and purifies gold--and your faith is far more precious to God than mere gold. So if your faith remains strong after being tried by fiery trials, it will bring you much praise and glory and honor on the day when Jesus Christ is revealed to the whole world.
This verse says to me that we are more precious to God than gold, and look at what He has to put gold through to become pure. Our trials will only be tougher to become like Christ. We need to take heart in the fact that we will meet Christ when we are done and pure.
Thank you Father for the love that You share with me through these trials. Help me to focus on completing these trial by conforming my whole life to You, not just a few minutes a day or on Sundays, but each day. Continue to watch over these men and my family and help all of them come to know the love You have for us.
In Jesus' name,
Amen
crb
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