1 Peter

Experiencing the grace of God through suffering: strangers and pilgrims with a living hope.

Peter writes to “the strangers scattered throughout Pontus, Galatia, Cappadocia, Asia, and Bithynia” (1:1)—believers, many of them Jewish, displaced and harassed for their faith, and about to face worse. His letter is one of encouragement: they have been begotten again unto a lively hope by the resurrection of Jesus Christ, to an inheritance incorruptible, reserved in heaven for them, and they are kept by the power of God (1:3–5).

Peter moves from salvation to submission to suffering. Because believers are a chosen generation, a royal priesthood, an holy nation, a peculiar people, they must live as strangers and pilgrims, abstaining from fleshly lusts and submitting to government, masters, and husbands for the Lord’s sake. When they suffer unjustly, they follow the example of Christ, who suffered for us, “leaving us an example, that ye should follow his steps” (2:21).

The fiery trial is coming, but it should not be thought strange. Believers who suffer as Christians glorify God, and elders must feed the flock of God willingly until the chief Shepherd appears. The letter ends with a call to cast all care upon Him and to resist the devil, “stedfast in the faith,” knowing that the God of all grace will perfect, stablish, strengthen, and settle them after they have suffered a while (5:7–10).

Writer: Peter the apostle
Written: From “Babylon,” about AD 63–64, before Nero’s persecution fully broke out.
Name: Peter means a stone or rock.

Title and authorship

The first epistle general of Peter. Petros means “a stone” or “rock”—a little rock, not the Rock (Matthew 16:18; Deuteronomy 32:4). Christ gave Simon this name (John 1:42).

Simon Peter, the apostle, wrote the letter (1:1) with the help of Silvanus (5:12). Peter’s name appears more than 160 times in the New Testament. His letters fulfill Christ’s commission to feed His sheep (John 21:15–17), and his ministry was especially to the circumcision (Galatians 2:7–8).

Historical background

Written from “Babylon” (5:13), about AD 60–64, before the full outbreak of Nero’s persecution. Babylon may be literal (the large Jewish community in Mesopotamia) or a cryptic name for Rome.

Scattered strangers in the provinces of Asia Minor—Jewish believers and proselytes displaced by persecution, with Gentile believers among them.

Nero’s persecution

In July AD 64 a fire destroyed much of Rome. Rumors blamed Nero, who diverted suspicion to the Christians. The Roman historian Tacitus records that many were arrested and put to death with mockery—covered with the skins of beasts and torn by dogs, or crucified and burned as torches at night.

The provinces

Pontus, Galatia, Cappadocia, Asia, and Bithynia covered most of Asia Minor north of the Taurus mountains. Jews from several of these regions were present at Pentecost (Acts 2:9), and some of Peter’s readers may have traced their faith to that day.

Silvanus

Silvanus (Silas) was a leader in the Jerusalem church and Paul’s companion on the second journey. Peter wrote “by Silvanus” (5:12), probably as his secretary or courier. Mark, whom Peter calls “my son,” was with him (5:13).

Key passages

1 Peter 1:18–19

Redeemed not with corruptible things but with the precious blood of Christ, as of a lamb without blemish.

1 Peter 2:9

A chosen generation, a royal priesthood, an holy nation, a peculiar people.

1 Peter 4:12–13

Think it not strange concerning the fiery trial; rejoice as partakers of Christ’s sufferings.

1 Peter 5:10

God’s grace establishes believers beyond their present suffering.

Outline

1:1–2:10 · Grace in salvation

Living hope produces holiness, love, growth, and a new identity as God’s people.

2:11–3:12 · Grace in submission

Public life, work, marriage, and fellowship become settings for faithful conduct.

3:13–5:14 · Grace in suffering

Christ’s example guides endurance, service, shepherding, and humble dependence.

Original language

παρεπίδημος (parepidemos, G3927) — “stranger, pilgrim”

A resident foreigner living temporarily in a place not his home. Peter’s readers were displaced physically, and all believers are strangers in this world because their citizenship is in heaven.

ἐλπὶς ζῶσα (elpis zosa, G1680) — “lively hope”

A living hope, begotten by the resurrection of Christ. It is not wishful thinking but a confident expectation grounded in a living Lord.

ἱεράτευμα (hierateuma, G2406) — “priesthood”

A body of priests. Every believer is a priest who offers spiritual sacrifices (2:5) and shows forth the praises of God (2:9). There is no special priestly class in the Church.

πύρωσις (purosis, G4451) — “fiery trial”

A burning, a refining fire. Like gold tried in the fire, faith is proved genuine through trials (1:7).

ποικίλος (poikilos, G4164) — “manifold, divers”

Many-colored, of various kinds. The believer faces “manifold temptations” (1:6), but God’s grace is also “manifold” (4:10)—a grace for every color of trial.

Doctrinal study

Kept by the power of God

The inheritance is reserved in heaven for believers, “who are kept by the power of God through faith unto salvation ready to be revealed in the last time” (1:4–5). Both the inheritance and the heir are guarded.

Christ’s suffering and ours

Christ suffered for sins, the just for the unjust, to bring us to God (3:18). His suffering was substitutionary—He bore our sins in His own body on the tree (2:24)—and exemplary, showing how to suffer wrongfully without reviling (2:21–23).

Baptism and the ark

Peter says the like figure of Noah’s ark “doth also now save us”—not the putting away of the filth of the flesh, but the answer of a good conscience toward God, by the resurrection of Jesus Christ (3:20–21). Water did not save Noah; it destroyed the world. The ark saved him. Baptism is a figure of salvation, not its cause.

Commentary notes

Names for believers

Peter calls believers obedient children (1:14), newborn babes (2:2), living stones (2:5), a holy and royal priesthood (2:5, 9), a holy nation, a peculiar people (2:9), strangers and pilgrims (2:11), Christians (4:16), the righteous (4:18), the elect of God (1:2), the people of God (2:10), and the flock of God (5:2).

Grace in three settings

God’s grace in salvation (1:3–2:10): living in hope, holiness, and harmony. God’s grace in submission (2:11–3:12): to authorities, masters, husbands, and one another. God’s grace in suffering (3:13–5:14): Christ as Lord, His attitude, His glory, His return, and His grace.

Peter’s transformation

The man who denied Christ three times now calls believers to stand firm in suffering, and the man who cut off a servant’s ear now teaches submission and meekness. The one who was told to feed the sheep now shepherds the flock of God.

Christ in the book

  • The Lamb without blemish and without spot (1:19)
  • The living stone, the chief corner stone (2:4–7)
  • The sinless sufferer and example (2:21–23)
  • The Shepherd and Bishop of souls (2:25)
  • The chief Shepherd who shall appear (5:4)

Applications

Historical

  • Peter’s first letter to believers scattered by mounting persecution, encouraging them to stand firm in the grace of God.
  • Peter writes to dispersed believers whose faith places them under pressure in their surrounding society.
  • The approach of wider Roman persecution gives special urgency to preparing believers for fiery trial.

Doctrinal

  • The Lord’s third letter (after Hebrews and James) to scattered Jewish saints, with special application to the believing remnant in the Tribulation, persecuted in and around “Babylon” after the revealing of the man of sin.
  • Christ’s suffering provides both the saving foundation of hope and the pattern of righteous endurance.
  • The baptism language in 3:20–21 presents a figure of salvation through Christ’s resurrection and distinguishes its significance from the physical action of water.

Devotional

  • God’s grace is sufficient for every situation of life. A believer who tries to “tough it out” in his own strength will quit; only God’s grace carries him through suffering.
  • Peter directs those who suffer unjustly to maintain a good conscience before God and follow Christ’s example of patient, righteous conduct.
  • Use gifts to serve others as a steward of grace, and cast cares on the God who cares.
  • Shepherd God’s people willingly and by example, refusing domination and self-interest.

Answering the critics

First Peter has been accepted almost without challenge throughout church history; few debates over its authorship exist on record.

Perhaps Rome, infatuated with Peter as its supposed first pope, left the letter alone. Its content, however, undercuts Rome: Peter calls himself a fellow elder (5:1), Christ the chief Shepherd (5:4), and all believers a royal priesthood (2:9).