The First Epistle of Peter

1. The theme of I Pet 1:1-2:10 is salvation I Peter: 1:3 - Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, who according to His abundant mercy has begotten us again to a living hope through the resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead, Beginning here and continuing through verse 5 is a statement of our inheritance, and God (theos) the Father (pater) of our Lord Jesus Christ is central. Why is blessed used here to describe God the Father? Blessed (eulogetos)is used in the sense that Peter eulogizes or speaks well of God, i.e. praiseworthy. Used exclusively of God – II Cor 1:3 Notice the ownership expressed by ‘our’. The First Epistle of Peter “I Peter 1:3-5, The Hope of Our Salvation” 1 January 11, 2015 Bob Eckel

2. according to His abundant mercy according to (kata) is a strong word meaning to impel Define mercy and contrast mercy with grace. Mercy is not receiving what we deserve, i.e. sinners before God. Eph 2:4,5 - But God, who is rich in mercy, because of His great love with which He loved us, even when we were dead in trespasses, made us alive together with Christ (by grace you have been saved), Grace is undeserved favor, i.e. being placed in Christ. Rom 5:17 - For if by the one man’s offense death reigned through the one, much more those who receive abundance of grace and of the gift of righteousness will reign in life through the One, Jesus Christ.) And notice here that His mercy is abundant! has begotten us again to a living hope (1st blessing) Has begotten is an aorist participle pertaining to a once-upon-a-time event that shows up again as a living hope. again – renewed salvation of our second birth (spiritual) vs. first (physical)? John 3:3-5 living might be better translated lively, not dead or dying! hope is almost always something good The First Epistle of Peter “I Peter 1:3-5, The Hope of Our Salvation” 2 January 11, 2015 Bob Eckel

3. Rom 5:5 - Now hope does not disappoint, because the love of God has been poured out in our hearts by the Holy Spirit who was given to us. Exclusive, for those who believe only. Why is the hope living? Rom 8:11 - But if the Spirit of Him who raised Jesus from the dead dwells in you, He who raised Christ from the dead will also give life to your mortal bodies through His Spirit who dwells in you. through the resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead, The basis of our living hope. The resurrection is everything; without which we have nothing! I Pet 1:4 - to an inheritance incorruptible and undefiled and that does not fade away, reserved in heaven for you, What do think of when you think of inheritance (2nd blessing)? Does it depend on what you do or who you are? Rom 8:16,17 - The Spirit Himself testifies with our spirit that we are children of God, and if children, heirs also, heirs of God and fellow heirs with Christ, if indeed we suffer with Him so that we may also be glorified with Him. The First Epistle of Peter “I Peter 1:3-5, The Hope of Our Salvation” 3 January 11, 2015 Bob Eckel

4. Compare an earthly inheritance vs. a heavenly inheritance. Can an inheritance that is earthly change? But God’s inheritance will never change. Eph 1:13,14 - In Him you also trusted, after you heard the word of truth, the gospel of your salvation; in whom also, having believed, you were sealed with the Holy Spirit of promise, who is the guarantee of our inheritance until the redemption of the purchased possession, to the praise of His glory. incorruptible and undefiled and that does not fade away, reserved in heaven for you incorruptible – unable to decay or perish, and this is we. I Pet 1:23 - having been born again, not of corruptible seed but incorruptible, through the word of God which lives and abides forever, undefiled – free from being defiled or soiled. Heb 7:26 - For such a High Priest was fitting for us, who is holy, harmless, undefiled, separate from sinners, and has become higher than the heavens; does not fade away (amarantos) – perennial I Pet 1:24,25 - “All flesh is as grass, and all the glory of man as the flower of the grass. The grass withers, and its flower falls away, But the word of the Lord endures forever.” Now this is the word which by the gospel was preached to you. reserved in heaven for you (3rd blessing) - perfect passive participle The First Epistle of Peter “I Peter 1:3-5, The Hope of Our Salvation” 4 January 11, 2015 Bob Eckel

5. Col 1:5 - because of the hope which is laid up for you in heaven, of which you heard before in the word of the truth of the gospel, II Cor 5:8 - We are confident, yes, well pleased rather to be absent from the body and to be present with the Lord. Compare this reservation to the earthly reservations of this age. I Pet 1:5 - who are kept by the power of God through faith for salvation ready to be revealed in the last time. What does it mean to be kept (present passive) by the power of God? kept – military term used to guard or protect. Identification! John 17:11 - Now I am no longer in the world, but these are in the world, and I come to You. Holy Father, keep through Your name those whom You have given Me, that they may be one as We are. Jude 1:24 - Now to Him who is able to keep you from stumbling, And to present you faultless. Before the presence of His glory with exceeding joy, by God’s inherent power (dynamis) – beyond dynamite in power The First Epistle of Peter “I Peter 1:3-5, The Hope of Our Salvation” 5 January 11, 2015 Bob Eckel

6. Rom 1:16 - For I am not ashamed of the gospel of Christ, for it is the power of God to salvation for everyone who believes, for the Jew first and also for the Greek. through faith for salvation What is faith for salvation? C.I. Scofield – ‘believing what God has revealed’– past, present, future. to be revealed (aorist passive infinitive) in the last time. What is to be revealed inthe last time? Our glorification? I Thess 4:16,17 - For the Lord Himself will descend from heaven with a shout, with the voice of an archangel, and with the trumpet of God. And the dead in Christ will rise first. Then we who are alive and remain shall be caught up together with them in the clouds to meet the Lord in the air. And thus we shall always be with the Lord. Or is this the day of judgment? John 12:48 - “He who rejects Me, and does not receive My words, has that which judges him—the word that I have spoken will judge him in the last day. Rev 21:27 - But there shall by no means enter it anything that defiles, or causes an abomination or a lie, but only those who are written in the Lamb’s Book of Life. The First Epistle of Peter “I Peter 1:3-5, The Hope of Our Salvation” 6 January 11, 2015 Bob Eckel