What a blessing to live on this side of the cross.
Bible Study Ideas and Commentary for 1 Peter 1:3-12
Welcome to 1 Peter, Peter's beautiful encouragement to stay committed to your faith in Jesus, especially when things are hard. In this first lesson, we are introduced to Peter's primary theme: because Jesus is our sacrifice of atonement, we are now God's holy people, and therefore we should live in holiness. It's a fitting follow-up to our study of Leviticus.
because you are receiving the goal of your faith, the salvation of your souls. (1:9)
We Studied This Passage in 2016 ...
I stuffed a lot into that post:
There, you will find more information about
Faith, hope, and love
Speaking in code
Christianity and culture
A bit about election and foreknowledge
A bit about regeneration
Inheritances in the Bible
Getting Started: Things to Think About
In honor of starting a new quarter, let me offer up more ideas than you can use. Maybe you can set one of these aside for use in the future (1 Peter tends to hammer the same themes over and over, and for good reason).
Do You Realize How Blessed You Are?
This is the friendlier cousin to "Get Off My Lawn!" The older your group is, the more likely you can do a "what are positive changes you have seen over your lifetime?" For younger groups, you'll probably have to bring in a history book or something.
Here are some things that came to mind:
2007 - the iPhone and the Kindle
2000 - civilian GPS
1997 - WiFi
1983 - the personal computer
1972 - the first video game
1957 - the polio vaccine
1927 - television
1903 - the airplane
1885 - the car
1879 - the light bulb
1876 - the telephone
1857 - the passenger elevator
Yes, I had to look up the dates. Yes, there's some kind of argument about most of those dates.
Here's my point: what are things you find incredibly important in your life, and when were they invented? Have you ever thought about the people who lived before your important invention? Just based on inventions alone, I think we live more comfortably today than the wealthiest and most powerful people in the world just one hundred years ago! It's absolutely amazing what we have access to. Two weeks ago, in the dead of winter, I went to the grocery store and bought a bag of oranges. No, not oranges -- Cuties -- oranges that are small, easy to peel, and don't have any seeds. How spoiled am I!
Truth be told, that's not the half of it. So many times during our study of Leviticus, I said something like, "On this side of Jesus ..." And that's one of Peter's driving points in 1 Peter: how blessed we are to get to hear the full story of salvation in Jesus. We will read in this week's passage that even angels longed to know what we all know.
Do we realize how blessed we are to live on this side of Jesus?
The First Baptist Church Angle
FBC members can work in our upcoming building campaign. Our first buildings were built without air conditioning. We still have the old radiator lines visible in our sanctuary! Until 2000, church members had to cross a street to go from Sunday School to church. Before we purchased the dry-cleaner building, Drive-Through Nativity construction involved a lift to get the set pieces out of the upstairs of the Warehouse. And so on. These changes have made things easier/better/safer for church members. What else can you think of?
FBC Request: Pray for Our Campaign
In our Sunday School folders, our classes all have a list of prayer prompts related to our capital campaign. During your prayer time, please also use those prompts!
Big Family Reunions (especially of Blended Families)
Movies like to pick on the awkwardness that can happen in a big multi-family event (like a wedding or a reunion) where the different families really don't have a lot in common. I was thinking of My Big Fat Greek Wedding, but the internet also pointed out Meet the Fockers and Monster-in-Law. Have you ever had an awkward experience at a wedding or a family reunion? What happened and how did you handle it?
(Leadership warning: be uber-sensitive. Some families haven't been able to work through their differences, and it's still awkward. Don't assume anything and don't push anything.)
In Peter's day, the new Christians who were working together to build the first churches had come from every possible background -- economic class, religious background, native language, etc. -- and it could be awkward. Part of the message of 1 Peter is that what unites them in Christ is far stronger than what divides them by their human differences.
"I Didn't Sign Up for This"
I think I've used a version of this in the past few years, but I couldn't find it in my notes. What is something you got involved in only to find out it was more difficult/expensive/dangerous/etc. than you expected? We've all had experiences in which our takeaway was "I didn't sign up for this".
These usually go one of two ways:
You stuck to it and realized that the hard work was worth it.
You decided that this wasn't what you wanted to be a part of and dropped out.
The first can be an uplifting version of "No Pain, No Gain". These can be great to share to encourage group members who are struggling with things like a new workout program, diet, job, or school program. You can band together to help one another push through the hard steps.
The second can get dark quick. Hulu just released a new series called How I Escaped My Cult (dropped on February 21). It looks rough, and I don't know that I would enjoy it. Be circumspect with those kinds of stories.
That takes me back to the beginning of Shelly and my relationship. She was a brand-new Christian, and I was pretty new to it. After we got married, our lifestyle change was so dramatic that some of our friends and family worried that we had gotten involved in a cult. And to really feed the narrative, we both quit our jobs and moved away to go to a thing called "seminary". Looking back, I can understand their red flags!
And to be honest, things were tough for us. For multiple years, we were working four (five?) jobs between us while I went to school. Micah had real health trouble related to some delivery trouble Shelly had involving the Wichita hospital. Not coming from a conservative Christian background and having no network, we felt out of place. It never crossed our minds to quit -- we were too bought in -- but sometimes I marvel at how our younger selves handled some very difficult situations.
What does all of this have to do with 1 Peter? Everything! One of the dominant themes of 1 Peter is not quitting Christianity when it gets hard. And things had gotten hard for those early Christians. When Peter wrote this letter (more on this below), it might have been during persecution started by Emperor Nero. These were just ordinary people living in the Roman Empire, they had chosen to follow Jesus, and all of a sudden their livelihoods (and maybe lives) were being threatened (by the authorities? by former peers?). Anyone might say, "I didn't sign up for this." Peter was simply helping them see that suffering for Jesus was worth it. The gain was infinitely greater than the pain, so to speak.
This Week's Big Idea: Introducing 1 Peter!
Because people like to argue about everything when it comes to Christianity and the Bible, you will find people offering different ideas about all of this. This is what I believe the facts to be about 1 Peter.
Author
Peter the apostle. Skeptics say that the Greek is too polished for an "uneducated fisherman". But this is a man who has been preaching around the empire for his entire adult life; can't we give him the ability to grow as a communicator? (And in any case, it sounds like he used the scribe Silas, like Paul did.) (More about this below.) All of the early church leaders believed Peter to be the author. If you need more info, I linked two great Acts lessons about Peter at the bottom.
Date
Peter was executed by Nero somewhere between 64 and 68 AD. The Great Fire of Rome in 64, and Nero's scapegoating of the Christians, kicked off the first widespread persecution of Christians, so many trustworthy scholars have this letter being written in that 64-65 range. Peter also was aware of Paul's letters, so this must have been written after them.
This leads to another common complaint about the authorship -- Nero's persecution wasn't that widespread, and Peter's letter was directed at a pretty far-flung part of the empire. The first waves of empire-wide persecution were under Domitian (in the 90s) and Trajan (in the early 2nd century), so Peter couldn't have been the author.
But nowhere does Peter talk about an "empire-wide persecution" or even a specific kind of persecution at all (more about this below), so there's no reason to force this letter to be later than the 60s.
Recipients
Peter wrote this letter to the "exiles" in northern Asia Minor.
This seems to be different from Paul's approach. Paul wrote to specific churches, often churches that he was personally connected to -- his Missionary Journeys took him through southern Asia Minor and Greece. Paul often mentioned people by name.
Not Peter. He wrote to an amorphic, unnamed group of believers. This is often the last argument against Peter's authorship -- why would a pastor like Peter write a generic letter to people he doesn't name? And if he didn't know them personally, why write a letter to them at all? (And was northern Asia Minor evangelized by the 60s?)
To me, it's as simple as understanding that Peter was probably in Rome when he wrote this letter. Tradition has him in Rome with Mark during Nero's reign until his execution. The persecution against Christians was far worse in Rome than anywhere else. If Peter felt the need to give Rome the codename "Babylon" (5:13) as a layer of protection to the person carrying the letter, why would we expect him to identify anyone by name? (Yes, he identified Silas and Mark by name, but they were with him in Rome, so, yeah.) And if these churches in northern Asia Minor didn't have sturdy apostolic connections, Peter might have felt a pastoral responsibility to send them a letter of encouragement. Maybe he had gotten word about events in that location. Or maybe Peter had personally evangelized that area!
Remember from our study of Acts
that we don't hear anything else about Peter after his escape from prison, just that he left Jerusalem. It only makes sense that he began to travel the empire (probably discreetly, knowing the target on his back).
1 Peter Following Leviticus
1 Peter makes for an excellent follow-up to our study of Leviticus (not that you would know that from the Lifeway material). Here are the two key topics in 1 Peter:
Jesus is the atoning sacrifice that reconciles Christians to God.
Christians should live that reconciled life in holiness to God.
Sound familiar?
Theme 1: Peter wants his readers to understand what Jesus accomplished on the cross. That knowledge is the foundation of true Christianity and necessary for building a healthy church.
Theme 2: Peter wants his readers to live in such a way that reflects their new life in Christ. We are now the "chosen people" and "royal priesthood" and "holy nation" (again, sound familiar?), so we need to live like it.
Theme 3: Peter wants his readers to understand that because Jesus suffered, His followers will suffer as well. Christian suffering is nothing to fear, and it's an opportunity to witness.
Outline
Every resource offers a different outline. Here is a simple one from the Holman Bible Dictionary:
Greeting (1:1-2)
Called to Salvation as Exiles (1:3-2:10)
Bringing Glory to God in a Hostile World (2:11-4:11)
Persevering through Suffering (4:12-5:11)
And this wouldn't be much of an introduction if I didn't share the Bible Project video!
Part 0: The Greeting (1 Peter 1:1-2)
Peter, an apostle of Jesus Christ: To those chosen, living as exiles dispersed abroad in Pontus, Galatia, Cappadocia, Asia, and Bithynia, chosen 2 according to the foreknowledge of God the Father, through the sanctifying work of the Spirit, to be obedient and to be sprinkled with the blood of Jesus Christ. May grace and peace be multiplied to you.
For as quick as it would be to read (apart from their hard-to-pronounce names), go ahead and work these verses in. They set up the entire letter.
First -- point out the Trinity:
God's plan
Christ's sacrifice
the Spirit's activity
This is a go-to passage when trying to explain the "distinctions" in the Trinity.
Second -- don't shy away from "chosen" and "foreknowledge". This is going to come up more than once in our study. Peter wants his readers to understand and believe that everything that has happened has been according to God's perfect plan. I.e., their suffering is not a mistake or accident, not has God lost control. We are to trust God through every trial we face.
Third -- the "chosen" "exiles". Whereas Leviticus hammers home the idea that God chose the Israelites to be His people, Peter realizes that now God's chosen people are all who have come to salvation in Jesus. The "new Israel" so to speak. Peter is also one of these exiles. Remember that his imprisonment (at the same time as James's execution) was part of a wave of persecution in Jerusalem that forced many Jewish Christians to leave town. Now they've been scattered, and where they have gone, they have shared the gospel with their new neighbors, leading to Gentiles coming into the fold.
Part 1: The Hope of a New Life in Christ (1 Peter 1:3-5)
3 Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ. Because of his great mercy he has given us new birth into a living hope through the resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead 4 and into an inheritance that is imperishable, undefiled, and unfading, kept in heaven for you. 5 You are being guarded by God’s power through faith for a salvation that is ready to be revealed in the last time.
At the bottom of this post, I talk about the idea of an inheritance. You might bring that up here, or you might wait to close the lesson time with that.
If you thought Paul's letters were dense with theology, you probably weren't prepared for this fully armed and operational Galilean fisherman! Assuming this letter was written in the 60s, Peter has had 30 years of preaching and moving to develop his deep understanding of who Jesus is and what Jesus did. He firmly believes that Jesus Christ is the divine Son of God, and God raised Him from the dead as proof that God accepted Christ's sacrifice.
Another Leviticus connection: remember how God sent fire from heaven to consume the first sacrifices in the Tabernacle, demonstrating His acceptance of them?
And all Peter can do in his reflections is burst out in praise. Ask your group to list and explain the various blessings Peter highlights:
God's mercy
new birth
living hope
inheritance kept in heaven
guarded by God
salvation
How does Peter describe those, and what do you understand them to mean?
Just to be safe, let me point out the connection with persecution and suffering. Our inheritance is in heaven where it cannot be stolen or destroyed by earthly agents of persecution. Plus, God Himself guards believers -- not necessarily from every earthly woe, but for a future salvation. This is another way of saying, "Don’t fear those who kill the body but are not able to kill the soul; rather, fear him who is able to destroy both soul and body in hell." (Matt 10:28)
So, wait -- I thought we had salvation now?
Realize that to someone who is facing persecution, Christianity may not "feel" very saved or victorious. This report from Monday (2/24) is horrifying:
No one "saved" those Christians from beheading, right? Okay, good, you already know where I'm going with this. For Peter and the apostles, salvation was a past event, a present reality, and a future promise -- all at the same time.
As a Christian, we were "saved" at some point in our past. When we trusted in Jesus for salvation, we were reconciled to God, the Spirit "moved in" to our lives, and we began the process of spiritual transformation (justification). Our eternal salvation was immediately secured, and nothing would be able to take it away from us.
As a Christian, we are in the process of being "saved" from the power of sin, the pull of our past life, and the temptations of the world (sanctification). Every day we live, we have access to the power of the Spirit to "put to death" our old self and "put on" our new self. This will be a big point of emphasis for Peter in this letter.
As a Christian, we will one day go to be with Jesus (after our body dies or Jesus returns), which is the final thing we think about in salvation (glorification). No matter what happens to us in this life, we have an eternity in heaven with Jesus to look forward to. We don't experience that now because God has something for us to do in this life on this good earth.
Does that make sense? Peter thinks about salvation in all of these senses.
At the bottom, I talk about "inheritance". A lot of people focus on leaving a "material inheritance" for their kids and grandkids. And that's great! But if it's material, it can be stolen, corrupted, or destroyed. But the inheritance that Jesus has given us cannot be stolen, corrupted, or destroyed. The "FDIC of salvation" is Almighty God. To Peter, this is the greatest encouragement any Christian -- especially one who is suffering for his faith -- can hear.
Let this wonderful old Watermark song be an encouragement to you:
Part 2: The Faith that Perseveres through Suffering (1 Peter 1:6-9)
6 You rejoice in this, even though now for a short time, if necessary, you suffer grief in various trials 7 so that the proven character of your faith—more valuable than gold which, though perishable, is refined by fire—may result in praise, glory, and honor at the revelation of Jesus Christ. 8 Though you have not seen him, you love him; though not seeing him now, you believe in him, and you rejoice with inexpressible and glorious joy, 9 because you are receiving the goal of your faith, the salvation of your souls.
Now let's cut to the chase about this "persecution". Peter doesn't actually talk about "religious persecution" per se in this letter; he talks about "suffering as a Christian" or "suffering for doing good". Yes, religious persecution is by definition "suffering as a Christian", but "suffering as a Christian" can come in many forms beyond what we might think of as Nero-driven Roman-Empire-experienced persecution.
What are the sorts of "griefs" you have suffered as a Christian that aren't what you would call "persecution"? This can be as simple as
Your former peer group now shuns you because you don't want to go to a certain party with them.
Life in the office has gotten icy because you have disapproved of a questionable business practice or decision.
A family member is mad at you because you have confronted them about a sinful lifestyle.
Things like that. That's not persecution, but it's suffering for being a Christian.
Maybe these Christians in northern Asia Minor are suffering precisely because they are a tiny minority -- there aren't many of them, so there isn't much support. Maybe that's why Peter wrote this letter to them to encourage them -- "stay the course; don't give up; it's worth it in the end" -- because they didn't have anybody else to do that.
I know from talking with many of you that you were surprised at some of the "trials" that happened to you after you became a Christian, some of the interpersonal problems that appeared when you actively tried to live out your faith. That was happening to these Christians, and they may not have had a strong church family (or any church family) to support them, help them, answer questions, give advice.
If you've ever talked to a missionary or church planter, you know how difficult it is for the first Christian in a village, how much opposition they can face (especially if the region is dominated by a different religion). I'm sure it can be tempting to give up or walk away.
Not only is Peter telling them not to do that, he encouraged them that such trials are actually opportunities to develop and strength their faith.
Pick the topic that will connect the best with your group:
Starting a new job or business
Getting married or having a first child
Joining a sports team or starting a workout
Adjusting to life after a big move, change in family
Or something big, important, and difficult
How did you handle the trials inherent in that thing, and did those trials make you stronger?
Making it through a trial/challenge always makes us stronger/more effective/better prepared/etc., and that will make the next trial easier to navigate, but that doesn't make this trial easier to endure. But Peter wants to stick to it -- it's worth it!
I remember listening to one of Timothy Keller's sermons that eventually became part of his book The Meaning of Marriage. I was incredibly moved by this line:
Within this Christian vision of marriage, here's what it means to fall in love. It is to look at another person and get a glimpse of what God is creating, and to say, "I see who God is making you, and it excites me! I want to be part of that. I want to partner with you and God in the journey you are taking to his throne. And when we get there, I will look at your magnificence and say, 'I always knew you could be like this. I got glimpses of it on earth, but now look at you!'
That transformation is not easy, nor is it smooth, nor is it without major hiccups. But it is worth it. Why? Because of the future, because of tomorrow.
And that's what Peter is trying to get across to his readers: don't solely focus on the here and now when it comes to suffering; think about the future -- think about eternity.
To me, verses 8 and 9 are some of the most beautiful lines ever written. Memorize them, soak on them, and try to figure out how you can explain them in a few sentences.
Those verses should be talking about us and about our experience with salvation. How well do those verses reflect your walk with Jesus?
This is an opportunity to slow down with your group:
how much joy are they experiencing right now?
how strong is their belief right now?
does their life reflect love and faith as Peter describes?
If anyone is struggling with any of those things, encourage them to be faithful in Sunday School these next months -- Peter wants to help them work through their struggles and enjoy the glorious new life in Christ that Jesus has made available to them.
Over and over again, Peter comes back to the wonderful. eternal truth that our salvation in Jesus is precious and priceless. We should live every day like "the luckiest man on the face of the earth". Lou Gehrig gave this famous speech after his diagnosis with ALS, and it is moving in all the right ways. But goodness -- he considered himself lucky (I'll just say blessed because that's what he meant) because he got to play baseball. We have eternal salvation in Jesus! Our joy for living should be greater than even his.
Part 3: Know How Blessed You Are! (1 Peter 1:10-12)
10 Concerning this salvation, the prophets, who prophesied about the grace that would come to you, searched and carefully investigated. 11 They inquired into what time or what circumstances the Spirit of Christ within them was indicating when he testified in advance to the sufferings of Christ and the glories that would follow. 12 It was revealed to them that they were not serving themselves but you. These things have now been announced to you through those who preached the gospel to you by the Holy Spirit sent from heaven—angels long to catch a glimpse of these things.
This, of course, is where I got the one idea for an icebreaker above. Peter wants to give every encouragement possible to his readers. "Yes, things are tough for you, but you live in a world in which you have been told what Jesus came to do!"
This leads back to a topic I have used many times -- what did we do to deserve being born in the United States, living in an area where we had access to the gospel, maybe even families who faithfully shared gospel truths with us, and now have the freedom to worship together and study God's Word together?
And the answer is, as always, we don't know. We could have been born in a culture that has minimal access to the gospel. We could have been born 3,000 years ago in Assyria.
But that's not how God worked things out. We can't change the circumstances of our salvation, nor should we want to. We should simply be grateful to God that He put us where we are and that we are saved (if indeed you are a Christian). And then we should live in such a way as to spread that message as far as possible, or support those missionaries who are doing that in places we cannot go.
Peter's thought exercise is astounding. Try to imagine what Ezekiel or Isaiah or even John the Baptist would think if they saw this side of Pentecost! But they didn't. All of their messages were for the benefit of those who would come after them. And in Peter's case, he's talking about us. What an incredible privilege and blessing to live on this side of the cross, on this side of Pentecost, on this side of the publication of the Bible.
Don't get a big head about it! But Peter wants us to be encouraged by it. He was writing to a group of believers who -- by virtue of their tough life circumstances -- may have been doubting how much God loved them or was caring for them. Don't doubt God's love! It has been demonstrated by the crucifixion and poured out into our hearts by the Spirit. This is a letter of encouragement to persevere and keep the faith.
I hope you are looking forward to a regular dose of encouragement as we study 1 Peter!
But don't worry, Peter will also kick us in the pants when needed. Some of these believers had clearly become timid, and some had fallen back into the lifestyle patterns of the people around them. But keeping the faith means continuing to live out the faith.
This week, though, let's keep the focus on the blessing of salvation. Do we appreciate it as much as Peter wants us to?
Closing Thoughts: What Kind of Inheritance Are You Leaving?
We are in the middle of what's called "The Great Generational Wealth Transfer". In the coming years, Baby Boomers will be handing down $90 trillion (!!) in assets to their kids and grandkids. This has resulted in many, many think pieces and handwringing. Some scholars think this will fundamentally change society for the worse. Most scholars think it won't really have a big impact because most of that wealth is controlled by a very small percentage of Americans, so it won't really affect you or me directly. If you really, really want to know more about this topic, here's a YouTuber who does a pretty good job of explaining mind-numbing economic concepts in real-person language.
But here's the point that I think Peter would want us to be clear about. Tangible wealth is a find thing to pass down as an inheritance. But is that the only thing we are worried about passing down to our kids and grandkids? Or even the most important thing?
Peter would hope not. What is the most important inheritance we could leave for future generations?