1 Peter 1

The First Epistle is founded on the doctrine of the Heavenly calling (I do not say on that of the Church, which is not brought before us here), in contrast with the portion of the Jews on earth. And thus it presents Christians-and in particular Christians among the Jews-as pilgrims and strangers on the earth. The conduct suited to such persons is more largely developed than the doctrine. The Lord Jesus, who was Himself a pilgrim and a stranger here, is presented as a pattern in more than one aspect. At the same time, both Epistles pursue the righteous government of God in all its phases, from the beginning to the consummation of all things, in which the elements melt with fervent heat, and there will be new heavens and a new earth, in which righteousness shall dwell.
Nevertheless, in presenting the heavenly calling, the Apostle necessarily presents Salvation, the deliverance of the soul, in contrast with the temporal deliverances of the Jews.
The following is the description which the Spirit gives of these believers. They are elect; and that, according to the foreknowledge of God the Father. Israel was a nation elected on the earth by Jehovah. Here, it is those, who were foreknown of the Father: The means by which. their election is carried out, is Sanctification of the Holy Ghost. They are really set apart by the power of the Spirit. Israel was set apart by ordinances; but these are sanctified unto the obedience of Jesus Christ and for the sprinkling of His blood. That is to say, on the one hand, to obey as He obeyed; and on the other, to be sprinkled with His blood, and thus to be perfectly clear before God. Israel had been set apart for the obedience of the law, and for that blood which, while it announced death as the sanction of its authority, could never cleanse the soul from sin.
Such was the Christians’ position. The Apostle wishes them grace and peace-the known portion of believers. He reminds them of the blessings with which God had blessed them; blessing God who had bestowed on them. Believing Israelites knew Him now, not in the character of Jehovah, but as the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ.
That which the Apostle presents as the fruit of His grace, is a hope beyond this world, not the inheritance of Canaan, appropriate to man living on the earth, which was the hope of Israel, and is still that of the unbelieving nation. The mercy of God had begotten them again for a living hope, by the resurrection of Jesus Christ from among the dead. This resurrection showed them a portion in another world, and the power which brought man into it, although he had been subjected to death he would enter it by resurrection, through the glorious triumph of the Savior, to share an inheritance that is incorruptible, undefiled, and that fadeth not away. The Apostle is not Braking of our resurrection with Christ: he views the Christian as a pilgrim here, encouraged by the triumph of Christ Himself in resurrection; which animated him by the consciousness that there was a world of light and happiness before him, and a power which would bring him into that world. Consequently, the inheritance is spoken of as "reserved in Heaven." in the Epistle to the Ephesians, we are seated in the Heavens in Christ; and the inheritance is that of all things of which Christ Himself is heir. But the Christian is also in fact a pilgrim and a stranger on the earth; and it is. a strong consolation to us, in our pilgrimage, to see this heavenly inheritance before us, safely kept in the Heavens; and the resurrection of Jesus, as a certain pledge of our own entrance into it.
Another inestimable consolation is added. if the inheritance is preserved in Heaven for us, we are kept by the power of God all through our pilgrimage, that we may enjoy it at the end. Sweet thought!-we, kept here below, through all our dangers and difficulties, and, on the other hand, the inheritance there, where there is no defilement or possibility of decay.
But it is by moral means that this power preserves us (and it is in this way that Peter always speaks): by the operation in us of grace, which fixes the heart on objects that keep it in connection with God and with His promises (compare 2 Peter 1:4). We are kept by the power of God THROUGH FAITH. It is-God be praised!-the power of God Himself; but it acts by sustaining faith in the heart; maintaining it, in spite of all temptations, above all the defilements of the world, and filling the affections with heavenly things. Peter, however, always occupied with the ways of God respecting this world, only looks at the share that believers will have in this ‘salvation, this heavenly glory, when it shall be manifested; when God will, by this glory, establish His authority in blessing on the earth. It is, indeed, the heavenly glory, but the heavenly glory manifested, as the means of the establishment of the supreme government of God on earth, for His own glory, and for the blessing of the whole world.
It is salvation, ready to be revealed in the last times. This word "ready" is important. Our apostle says, also, that the judgment is ready to be revealed. Christ is glorified personally, has conquered all His enemies, has accomplished redemption. He only waits for one thing, namely, that God should make His enemies His footstool. He has taken His seat at the right hand of the Majesty on high, because He has accomplished everything. It is the actual salvation of souls-the gathering together of His own, which is not yet finished (2 Peter 3:9,15); but when once all they who are to share it are brought in, there is nothing to wait for as regards the salvation; that is to say, the glory in which the redeemed will appear, nor, consequently, as regards the judgment of the wicked on the earth, which will be consummated by the manifestation of Christ. All is ready. This thought is sweet for us in our days of patience, but full of solemnity when we reflect upon the judgment.
Yes, as the apostle says, we rejoice greatly in this salvation which is ready to be revealed in the last times. We are waiting for it. It is the time of rest, of the earth’s blessing, of the full manifestation of His glory who is worthy of it, who was humbled and who suffered for us; the time when the light and the glory of God in Christ will illumine the world, and chase away all its evil.
This is our portion: abundant joy in the salvation about to be revealed, and in which we may always rejoice; although, if it be needful for our good, we may be in sorrow through divers temptations. But it is only for a very little while-only a light affliction, which passes away, and which only comes upon us if it be needful, in order that the precious trial of faith should have its result in praise and honor and glory at the appearing of Jesus Christ, for whom we are waiting. That is the end of all our sorrows and trials, transitory and light as they are, in comparison with the vast result of the excellent and eternal glory towards which they are leading us, according to the wisdom of God and the need of our souls. The heart attaches itself to Jesus: He will appear. We love Him, although we have never seen Him. In Him, though now we see Him not, we rejoice with joy unspeakable and full of glory. It is this which decides and forms the heart, which fixes it, and fills it with joy, however it may be with us in this life. To our hearts, it is He who fills all the glory. By grace, I shall be glorified-I shall have the glory; but I love Jesus, my heart pants for His presence, desires to see Him. Moreover, we shall then be like Him. The apostle may well say, "unspeakable and full of glory." The heart can desire nothing else; and if some light afflictions are needful for us, we endure them gladly, since they are a means of forming us for the glory. And we can rejoice at the thought of Christ’s appearing; for, in receiving Him unseen, into our heart, we receive the salvation of our soul. This is the object and the end of faith; far more precious than the temporal deliverances that Israel enjoyed, although the latter were tokens of the favor of God.
The apostle goes on to develop the three successive steps of the revelation of this grace of salvation-this full and entire deliverance from the consequences, the fruits, and the misery of sin. The prophecies; the testimony of the Holy Ghost sent down from Heaven; the manifestation of Jesus Christ Himself, when the deliverance, that had been already announced, should be fully accomplished.
It is interesting to see here how the rejection of the Messiah, according to Jewish hopes, already anticipated and announced in the Prophets, necessarily made way for a salvation which brought with it that of the soul likewise. Jesus was no more seen, the earthly portion was not realized by His first coming, salvation was to be revealed in the last times. But thus a salvation of the soul was unfolded, the whole extent of which would be realized in the glory about to be revealed; for it was the spiritual joy of the soul in a heavenly Jesus who was not seen, and who, in His death, had accomplished expiation for sin, and in His resurrection, according to the power of the life of the Son of God, had begotten again to a living hope. By faith, then, this salvation was received -this true deliverance. It was not yet the glory and the outward rest; that salvation would indeed take place when Jesus appeared, but, meantime, the soul already enjoyed, by faith this perfect rest, and, in hope, even the glory itself. Now the prophets had announced the grace of God which was to be accomplished for believers, and. which, even now, imparts to the soul the enjoyment of that salvation; and they had searched into their own prophecies, which they had received by inspiration from God, seeking to understand what time, and what manner of time, the Spirit indicated, when He testified beforehand of the sufferings of Christ, and the glories that should follow. For the Spirit spoke of them both by the prophets, and signified, consequently, more than a temporal deliverance in Israel; for the Messiah was to suffer. And they discovered that it was not for themselves, nor for their own times, that the Spirit of Christ announced these truths with regard to the Messiah, but for Christians. But Christians, while receiving salvation of the soul by the revelation of a Christ seated in Heaven after His sufferings, and coming again in glory, have not received those glories which were revealed to the prophets. These things have been reported with great and divine plainness by the Holy Ghost, sent down from Heaven after the death of Jesus; but the Spirit does not bestow the glory itself in which the Lord will appear. He has only declared it. Christians have, therefore, to gird up the loins of their mind, to be sober, and hope to the end for the grace that (in effect) will be brought to them at the revelation of Jesus Christ. Such are the three successive steps in God’s dealings: the prediction of the events relating to Christ, which went altogether beyond Jewish blessings; the things reported by the Spirit; the accomplishment of the things promised, when Christ is revealed.
That, then; which the apostle presents is a participation in the glory of Christ when He shall be revealed; that salvation, of which the prophets had spoken, which was to be revealed in the last days. But, meantime, God had begotten again the believing Jews to a living hope by the resurrection of Jesus Christ from among the dead; and, by means of His sufferings, had made them comprehend that, even now, while waiting for the revelation of the glory, realizing it in the person of Jesus, they enjoyed a salvation of the soul before which the deliverances of Israel faded away, and might be for gotten. It was, indeed, the salvation "ready to be revealed" in all its fullness; but, as yet, they only possessed it in respect of the soul. But, being detached from the manifestation of the earthly glory, this salvation had a yet more spiritual character; therefore, they were to gird up their loins, while waiting for the revelation of Jesus, and to acknowledge, with thanksgiving, that they were in possession of the end of their faith. They were in relationship with God.
When announcing these things by the ministry of the prophets, God had Christians in view, and not the prophets themselves. This grace was in due time to be communicated to believers; but, meantime, for faith, and for the soul, the Holy Ghost, sent down from Heaven, bore testimony to it. It was to be brought at the revelation of Jesus Christ. The resurrection of Jesus Christ, which was the guarantee of the accomplishment of all the promises, and the power of life for their enjoyment, had begotten them again unto a living hope; but the right to enjoy the effect of the promise was founded on another truth. To this the exhortations conduct us. They were to walk as obedient children, no longer following the lusts that had led them in the days of their ignorance. Called by Him who is holy, they were to be holy in all their conversation, as it is written. Moreover, if they called on the Father, who, regardless of appearances, judged according to every one’s works, they were to pass the time of their sojourn here in fear. Observe here, that he is not speaking of the final judgment of the soul. In that sense, "the Father judgeth no man, but has committed all judgment to the Son." The thing spoken of here is the daily judgment of God’s government in this world, exercised, with regard to His children. Accordingly, it says, "the time of your sojourn here." It is a judgment applied to Christian life. The fear spoken of is not an uncertainty as to salvation and redemption. It is a fear founded on the certainty that one is redeemed; and the immense price, the infinite value of the means employed for our redemption-namely, the blood of the Lamb, without blemish and without spot- is the motive for fearing God during our pilgrimage. We have been redeemed, at the cost of the blood of Jesus, from our vain conversation; can we, then, still walk according to the principles from which we have been thus delivered? Such a price for our deliverance demands that we should walk with circumspection and gravity before the Father, with whom we desire to have intercourse, both as privilege and spiritual relationship.
The apostle then applies this truth to the Christians, whom he was addressing. This Lamb had been ordained in the counsels of God before the world was made; but He was manifested in the last days for believers: and these are presented in their true character; they believe in God by Jesus-by this Lamb. It is not by means of the creation that they believe: although creation is a testimony to His glory, it gives no rest to the conscience, and does not tell of a place in Heaven. It is not by means of Providence, which, even while directing all things, yet leaves the government of God in such profound darkness. Nor is it by means of the revelation of God on Mount Sinai under the name of Jehovah, and the terror connected with a broken law.
It is by means of Jesus, the Lamb of God, that we believe; observe that it is not said, "in Him," but by Him in God. We know God as the One who, when we were sinners and dead in our trespasses and sins, loved us, and gave this precious Savior to come down even into the death in which we were; to take part in our position, as lying under this judgment, and die as the Lamb of God. We believe in God who, by His power, when Jesus was there for us-in our stead-raised Him up from the dead, and gave Him glory. It is in a Savior-God, therefore, a God who exercises His power in our behalf, that we believe by Jesus, so that our faith and our hope are in God. It does not say in something before God, but in God Himself. Where, then, shall any cause for fear or distrust arise as regards God, if our faith and hope are in Himself? This changes everything. The aspect in which we view God Himself is entirely changed, and this change is founded on that which establishes the righteousness of God in accepting us as cleansed from all sin, the love of God in blessing us perfectly in Jesus, whom His power has raised from the dead and glorified. Our faith and our hope are in God Himself.
This places us in the most intimate of relationships with the rest of the redeemed: objects of the same love, washed by the same precious blood, redeemed by the same Lamb, they become-to those whose hearts are purified by the reception of the truth through the Spirit -the objects of a tender brotherly love, a love unfeigned. They are our brethren. Let us, then, love one another fervently, with a pure heart. But this is based on another essential, vital principle. It is a new nature which acts in this affection. If we are redeemed by the precious blood of the Lamb without spot, we are born of the incorruptible seed of the Word of God, which lives and abides forever. For the flesh is but grass; the glory of man, as the flower of grass. The grass withers, its flower falls, but the Word of the Lord abides forever. This is the Word of the Gospel which has been preached unto us. It is an eternal principle of blessing. The believer is not born after the flesh, to enjoy temporary rights and blessings, as was the case with a Jew, but of an incorruptible seed, a principle of life as unchangeable as the Word of God Himself. The prophet had told them so, when comforting the people of God, all flesh, the nation itself, was but withered grass. God was unchangeable, and the Word which, by its immutable certainty, secured divine blessings to the objects of God’s favor, wrought in the heart to beget a life as immortal and incorruptible as the Word which is its source.
Thus cleansed, therefore, and born of the Word, they were to put off all fraud, hypocrisy, envy, slander; and, as new-born babes, to seek for this milk of the understanding, in order to grow thereby; for the Word is the milk of the child, as it was the seed of its life; and we are to receive it as babes, in all simplicity; if in truth, we have felt that the Lord is good and full of grace. It is not Sinai (where the Lord God declared His law from the midst of the fire, so that they entreated not to hear His voice any more), to which I am come, or from which the Lord is speaking. If I have tasted and understood that the Lord acts in grace, that He is love towards me, and that His Word is the expression of that grace-even as it communicates life-I shall desire to feed on this milk of the understanding, which the believer enjoys in proportion to his simplicity; that good Word which announces to me nothing but grace, and the God whom I need as all grace, full of grace, acting in grace, as revealing Himself to me in this character -a character which He can never cease to maintain towards me.
I now know the Lord Himself: I have tasted that Which He is. Moreover, this is still in contrast with the legal condition of the Jew, although it is the fulfillment of that which the Psalms and the Prophets had declared: the resurrection, having plainly revealed in addition a heavenly hope. It was they themselves who were now the spiritual house, the holy priesthood. They came to the Living Stone, rejected, indeed, of men, but chosen of God and precious, and they were built up on Him as living stones. The Apostle delights in this word "living." It was to him the Father had revealed that Jesus was the Son of the Living God. No one else bad then confessed Him as such, and the Lord told him that, on this rock, i.e., on the person of the Son of God in power of life (manifested in the resurrection, which declared Him to be such), He would build His Church. Peter, by his faith, participated in the nature of this living rock. Here, then (2:5), he extends this character to all believers, and exhibits the holy house built on the Living Stone which God Himself had laid as the chief corner-stone, elect and precious. Whosoever believed in Him should not be confounded.
Now, it was not only in the eyes of God that this Stone was precious, but in the eyes of faith, which - feeble as the possessors of it may be - see as God sees. To unbelievers, this Stone was a Stone of stumbling and of offense. They stumbled at the Word, being disobedient, to which also they were appointed. It does not Say that they were appointed to sin, nor to condemnation but these unbelieving and disobedient sinners, the Jewish race, long rebellious, and continually exalting themselves against God, were destined to find in the Lord of grace Himself a rock of offense; and to stumble and fall upon that which was to faith the precious Stone of salvation. It was to this particular fall that their unbelief was destined.
Believers, on the contrary, entered into the enjoyment of the promises made to Israel, and that, in the most excellent way. Grace-and the very faithfulness of God-had brought the fulfillment of the promise in the person of Jesus, the minister of the circumcision for the truth of God to fulfill the promises made to the fathers. And, although the nation had rejected Him, God would not deprive of the blessing those who-in spite of this difficulty to faith and to the heart-had submitted to the obedience of faith, and attached themselves to Him who was the despised of the nation. They could not have the blessing of Israel with the nation on earth, because the nation had rejected Him; but they were brought fully into the relationship with God of a people accepted of Him. The heavenly character which the blessing now assumed, did not destroy their acceptance according to the promise; only they entered into it according to grace. For the nation, as a nation, had lost it; not only long ago by disobedience, but now by rejecting Him who came in grace to impart to them the effect of the promise.
The Apostle, therefore, applies the character of "holy nation" to the elect remnant, investing them, in the main, with the titles bestowed in Ex. 19 on condition of obedience, but here in connection with the Messiah - their enjoyment of these titles being founded on His obedience, and on rights acquired by their faith in Him.
But the privileges of the believing remnant being founded on the Messiah, the Apostle goes farther, and applies to them the declarations of Hosea, which relate to Israel and Judah when re-established in the fullness of blessing in the last days, enjoying those relationships with God into which grace will bring them at that time.
"Ye are," he says, "a chosen generation, a royal priesthood, a purchased people." These are almost the words of Ex. 19. He goes on: "Which in time past were not a people, but are now the people of God; who formerly had not obtained mercy, but have now obtained it." These are the words of Hos. 2. This sets before us, in the most interesting way, the principle on which the blessing is founded. In Exodus, the people were to have this blessing if they exactly obeyed the voice of God. But Israel had not obeyed, had been rebellious and stiff-necked, had gone after strange Gods, and rejected the testimony of the Spirit: yet; after their unfaithfulness, God Himself had laid in Zion a stone, a chief corner-stone, and whosoever believed in Him should not be confounded. It is grace, that when Israel had failed in every respect, and, on the ground of obedience, had lost everything, God should bestow on them by Jesus, through grace, that which was promised them at first on condition of obedience. In this way all was secured to them. The question of obedience was settled-on Israel’s disobedience-by grace, and by the obedience of Christ; the foundation laid by God in Zion But this principle of grace abounding over sin-by which is shown the inability of disobedience to frustrate the purposes of God, for this grace came after the completion of disobedience -this principle, so glorious and so comforting to the convinced sinner, is confirmed in a striking way by the quotation from Hosea. In this passage from the prophet, Israel is presented, not merely as guilty, but as having already undergone judgment. God had declared that He would no more have mercy (with regard to His patience towards the ten tribes); and that Israel was no longer His people (in His judgment on unfaithful Judah). But afterward, when the judgment had been executed, He returns to His irrevocable purposes of grace, and allures Israel as a forsaken wife, and gives her the Valley of Achor - the valley of trouble, in which Achan was stoned, the first judgment on unfaithful Israel after their entrance into the promised ]and-for a door of hope. For judgment is changed into grace, and God begins all afresh upon a new principle. It was as though Israel had again come out of Egypt, but upon an entirely new principle. He betroths her to Him forever, in righteousness, in judgment, in grace, in mercy, and all is blessing. Then He calls her "Ru-hama," or, "the subject of mercy;" and "Ammi," "my people." These, then, are the expressions which the Apostle uses, applying them to the remnant who believed in Jesus, the stumbling-stone to the nation, but the chief corner-stone from God to the believer. Thus, the condition is taken away, and instead of a condition we have blessing after disobedience, and after judgment the full and assured grace of God, founded (in its application to believers) on the person, the obedience, and the work of Christ.
It is affecting to see the expression of this grace in the term "Achor." It was the first judgment on Israel in the Land of Promise, for having profaned themselves with the forbidden thing. And there it is that hope is given: so entirely true is it that grace triumphs over justice. And it is this which has taken place in the most excellent way in Christ. The very judgment of God becomes. in Him the door of hope, the guilt and the judgment having alike passed away forever.
Two parts of the Christian life-so far as it is the manifestation of spiritual power-result from this, in the double priesthood, of which the one answers to the present position of Christ on high, and the other; anticipatively, to the manifestation of His glory on earth: the priesthoods of Aaron and of Melchizedek. For He is now within the veil, according to the type of Aaron; hereafter He will be a priest on his throne; it will be the public manifestation of His glory on earth. Thus, the saints exercise "a holy priesthood" (verse 5), to offer up spiritual sacrifices of praise and thanksgiving. Sweet privilege of the Christian, thus brought as near as possible to God; he offers -sure of being accepted- for it is by Jesus that he offers them - his sacrifices to God.
This part of the Christian life is the first, the most excellent, the most vital, the source of the other (which is its expression here below); the most excellent, because, in its exercise, we are in immediate connection with the divine objects of our affections. These spiritual sacrifices are the reflex, by the action of the Holy Ghost, of the grace which we enjoy; that which the heart returns to God, moved by the excellent gifts of which we are the object, and by the love which has committed them to us. The heart (by the power of the Holy Ghost) reflects all that has been revealed to it in grace; worshipping the Author and Giver of all, according to the knowledge we have of Himself through this means: the fruits of the heavenly Canaan in which we participate, presented as an offering to God: the entrance of the soul into the presence of God, to praise and adore Him.
This is the holy priesthood, according to the analogy of the priesthood of Aaron, and of the temple at Jerusalem which. God inhabited as His house.
The second priesthood of which the Apostle speaks is, to show forth the virtues of Him who has called us out of darkness into His marvelous light. Its description is taken, as we have seen, from Ex. 19. It is a chosen generation, a holy nation, a royal priesthood. I only allude to the Melchizedek priesthood to show the character of a royal priesthood. Priests, among the Jews, drew near to God. God had formed the people for Himself; they were to show forth all His virtues, His praises. Christ will do this perfectly’ in the day of His glory. The Christian is called to do it now, in this world. He is to reproduce Christ in this world. It is the second part of his life.
It will be noticed that the first chapter of this Epistle presents the Christian as animated by hope, but under trial-the precious trial of faith. The second chapter presents him in his privileges, as of a holy and royal priesthood, by means of faith.