Resurrection Life in a World of Suffering E-Book

• Herausgeber: Crossway
• Kategorie: Religion und Spiritualität
• Sprache: Englisch

Seitenzahl: 329

Veröffentlichungsjahr: 2018

Beschreibung

"He has caused us to be born again to a living hope through the resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead." 1 Peter 1:3 The book of 1 Peter offers a gospel perspective on our short lives. Originally written to Christians facing intense suffering, Peter's message is one of hope and grace—all centered on the resurrected Christ. Featuring contributions from six popular Bible teachers, this volume will help you better understand the hope-filled message of the book of 1 Peter and experience the resurrection life Jesus offers us today.

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And after you have suffered a little while, the God of all grace, who has called you to his eternal glory in Christ, will himself restore, confirm, strengthen, and establish you. To him be the dominion forever and ever. Amen.

—1 Peter 5:10–11

Resurrection Life in a World of Suffering

Other Books by the Gospel Coalition

Don’t Call It a Comeback: The Old Faith for a New Day, edited by Kevin DeYoung

Entrusted with the Gospel: Pastoral Expositions of 2 Timothy, edited by D. A. Carson

God’s Love Compels Us: Taking the Gospel to the World, edited by D. A. Carson and Kathleen B. Nielson

God’s Word, Our Story: Learning from the Book of Nehemiah, edited by D. A. Carson and Kathleen B. Nielson

The Gospel as Center: Renewing Our Faith and Reforming Our Ministry Practices, edited by D. A. Carson and Timothy Keller

Gospel-Centered Youth Ministry: A Practical Guide, edited by Cameron Cole and Jon Nielson

Here Is Our God: God’s Revelation of Himself in Scripture, edited by Kathleen B. Nielson and D. A. Carson

His Mission: Jesus in the Gospel of Luke, edited by D. A. Carson and Kathleen B. Nielson

The Scriptures Testify about Me: Jesus and the Gospel in the Old Testament, edited by D. A. Carson

Word-Filled Women’s Ministry: Loving and Serving the Church, edited by Gloria Furman and Kathleen B. Nielson

The Gospel Coalition Booklets

Baptism and the Lord’s Supper, Thabiti M. Anyabwile and J. Ligon Duncan

Can We Know the Truth?, Richard D. Phillips

Christ’s Redemption, Sandy Willson

The Church: God’s New People, Timothy Savage

Creation, Andrew M. Davis

The Gospel and Scripture: How to Read the Bible, Mike Bullmore

Gospel-Centered Ministry, D. A. Carson and Timothy Keller

The Holy Spirit, Kevin DeYoung

Justification, Philip Graham Ryken

The Kingdom of God, Stephen T. Um

The Plan, Colin S. Smith

The Restoration of All Things, Sam Storms

Sin and the Fall, Reddit Andrews III

What Is the Gospel?, Bryan Chapell

Resurrection Life in a World of Suffering

1 Peter

D. A. CarsonandKathleen B. Nielson,editors

Resurrection Life in a World of Suffering: 1 Peter

Copyright © 2018 by The Gospel Coalition

Published by Crossway1300 Crescent StreetWheaton, Illinois 60187

All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced, stored in a retrieval system, or transmitted in any form by any means, electronic, mechanical, photocopy, recording, or otherwise, without the prior permission of the publisher, except as provided for by USA copyright law. Crossway® is a registered trademark in the United States of America.

Cover design: Crystal Courtney

First printing 2018

Printed in the United States of America

Unless otherwise indicated, Scripture quotations are from the ESV® Bible (The Holy Bible, English Standard Version®), copyright © 2001 by Crossway, a publishing ministry of Good News Publishers. Used by permission. All rights reserved.

Scripture quotations marked KJV are from the King James Version of the Bible.

Scripture quotations marked NASB are from The New American Standard Bible®. Copyright © The Lockman Foundation 1960, 1962, 1963, 1968, 1971, 1972, 1973, 1975, 1977, 1995. Used by permission.

All emphases in Scripture quotations have been added by the author.

Trade paperback ISBN: 978-1-4335-5700-2ePub ISBN: 978-1-4335-5703-3PDF ISBN: 978-1-4335-5701-9Mobipocket ISBN: 978-1-4335-5702-6

Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data

Names: Carson, D. A., editor.

Title: Resurrection life in a world of suffering : 1 Peter / Donald A. Carson and Kathleen B. Nielson, editors.

Description: Wheaton : Crossway, 2018. | Includes bibliographical references and index.

Identifiers: LCCN 2017031559 (print) | LCCN 2018018161 (ebook) | ISBN 9781433557019 (pdf) | ISBN 9781433557026 (mobi) | ISBN 9781433557033 (epub) | ISBN 9781433557002 (tp)

Subjects:  LCSH: Bible. Peter, 1st--Commentaries--Congresses.

Classification: LCC BS2795.53 (ebook) | LCC BS2795.53 .R47 2018 (print) | DDC 227/.9207--dc23

LC record available at https://lccn.loc.gov/2017031559

Crossway is a publishing ministry of Good News Publishers.

2022-02-11 02:26:52 PM

Contents

Preface

Kathleen Nielson

Introduction

Peter the Expositor: The Apostle’s Use of Scripture in 1 Peter

Juan Sanchez

 1  Born Again to a Living Hope (1 Peter 1:1–12)

Kathleen Nielson

 2  Living Resurrection Life (1 Peter 1:13–2:3)

Jen Wilkin

 3  Remember Who You Are! (1 Peter 2:4–10)

Carrie Sandom

 4  Following Jesus Far from Home (1 Peter 2:11–3:12)

Mary Willson

 5  Sharing Christ’s Sufferings, Showing His Glory (1 Peter 3:13–4:19)

D. A. Carson

 6  A Shepherd and a Lion (1 Peter 5:1–14)

John Piper

Conclusion

Help Me Teach 1 Peter

Nancy Guthrie and John Piper

Contributors

General Index

Scripture Index

Preface

In June 2016, the Gospel Coalition held its third national women’s conference—another conference for women but not all about women! We gathered around the Word of God, with plenary sessions of expositional teaching that took us right through the epistle of 1 Peter in three days. It was a rich feast, as we together received the apostle Peter’s message of resurrection life in a world of suffering.

This book represents the fruit of that conference, combining the voices of women and men who taught the Word and lifted up the Lord Jesus among us. We delight in this combination of speakers, and we rejoice especially to see women encouraged to study and share the Scriptures together—not just at conferences but even more in and through their local church bodies.

In order to help equip readers to study and share the book of 1 Peter among those to whom they minister, we’ve included in this volume more than just a transcription of the conference talks. First, we’re delighted that Rev. Juan Sanchez, pastor and TGC Council member, was willing to write an introduction that lets us get to know “Peter the expositor.” Pastor Sanchez beautifully shows how Peter expounds the Old Testament Scriptures even as he writes the New, setting forth Jesus as the fulfillment of God’s eternal purposes. Many of the following chapters refer rather quickly to Old Testament passages quoted or referenced by Peter, but the introduction carefully demonstrates how the Old Testament context lights up this whole epistle.

Each chapter is followed by reflection questions and by a short section called “Think Like an Expositor,” in which we explore some of the process of expositional study and preparation, using comments from the speakers/authors themselves. Finally, the book’s conclusion consists of a lively and instructive transcript of a workshop interview from TGCW16, on the subject of studying and teaching 1 Peter.

The epistle of 1 Peter speaks to our time in a piercing way. The believers to whom Peter wrote were a scattered and often scorned minority within an empire where Christians were increasingly unwelcome; direct persecution was on the horizon. Believers today can identify—certainly in parts of the world where persecution of Christians occurs regularly, and also in places where Christians increasingly suffer ridicule and intolerance. Peter’s message is one of gospel hope and strengthening grace, all centered in the resurrected Lord Jesus through whom we are born again to a living hope.

May this volume help spread gospel hope—the hope of resurrection life in a world of suffering.

Kathleen Nielson

Introduction

Peter the Expositor: The Apostle’s Use of Scripture in 1 Peter

Juan Sanchez

You’ve likely never heard of the Mystics or the Jays, but they were two musical bands made up of students from the Tuskegee Institute in Alabama. Like most college bands, they didn’t last—at least not as the Mystics and the Jays. In 1968 these two groups decided to come together.1 But, as the story goes, “the members nearly went stir-crazy trying to pick a name for the group, but with no success.”2 Out of frustration, the drummer gave the trumpet player a dictionary and said, “Pick a name.”3 You might more readily know this band as The Commodores, Lionel Richie being its most famous member. Can you imagine making such an important decision as a band’s name simply by opening a dictionary, pointing to a page, and choosing the first word that you see? What if the trumpet player had pointed to commode instead? “Ladies and gentlemen, put your hands together for The Commodes!” No. That wouldn’t work, would it?

Ironically, too many times we approach the Bible in the same way. We may not close our eyes and point to a text, but we might as well. Consider how we “use” the Bible when we take a specific text and directly apply it to ourselves or our situation without any regard for what it meant to the original audience. Because you’re reading this book, I believe you want to be a faithful reader, student, and/or teacher of the Bible. But if we are to be faithful in handling God’s Word, not only will we need to submit ourselves to its authority; we will also need to understand what a particular passage meant to its original hearers and reflect on how the life, death, resurrection, and exaltation of Christ shed light on our text. Only after following this course should we apply a biblical text to ourselves or our audience.

Knowing that we come to the Bible with various assumptions (gender-related, ethnic, denominational, generational, cultural, etc.), we should aim to allow the Scriptures to speak so that we hear only what the Scriptures say—nothing more, nothing less. In fact, as we read and study God’s Word, we should allow Scripture to correct our prejudices and reshape our assumptions whenever necessary. And when we share God’s Word with others, whether in a one-on-one situation, a classroom, or a large group, our conviction should simply be to expose what the Bible says. Our word expositional or expository comes from this conviction. In an expositional or expository message, the point of the text becomes the point of our message, faithfully applied to our hearers.4

As we’ll see, the apostle Peter shares this same conviction regarding Scripture. Consequently, Peter serves as an excellent guide for how to read our Bibles; he exposes how the Old Testament is fulfilled in Jesus and how it applies to believers under the new covenant in first-century Asia Minor. To understand and learn from how Peter, the expositor, handles Scripture, we will seek to answer four questions: (1) What was Peter’s view of Scripture? (2) What did Peter know concerning Scripture? (3) What was Peter’s message in 1 Peter? And (4) how did Peter use Scripture in 1 Peter?

Peter’s View of Scripture

What we call the Old Testament, Peter, along with Jesus, the other apostles, and the early Christians considered their Scriptures: the Law (the first five books of Moses), the Prophets, and the Writings (sometimes “the Psalms” was used to summarize the Writings). The New Testament identifies the Hebrew Scriptures with a variety of combinations of these three descriptions. For example, Jesus said, “Do not think that I have come to abolish the Law or the Prophets; I have not come to abolish them but to fulfill them” (Matt. 5:17). He also said that the whole Law and the Prophets depend on the greatest and second greatest commandments: to love God and to love your neighbor as yourself (Matt. 22:40). In fact, Jesus understood his life, death, resurrection, and exaltation as a fulfillment of the Law of Moses and the Prophets and the Psalms (Luke 24:44). For this reason, Luke writes that “beginning with Moses and all the Prophets, [Jesus] interpreted to [the two disciples on the road to Emmaus] in all the Scriptures the things concerning himself” (Luke 24:27).

As for Peter, even though he walked with Jesus, sat under his teaching, witnessed him heal the sick, and even experienced the display of his glory on the Mount of Transfiguration (2 Pet. 1:16–18), he never dismisses God’s written Word. Instead, he argues that what he witnessed with his own eyes and heard with his own ears only confirmed what had already been written in Scripture—the prophetic Word (2 Pet. 1:19). That’s why Peter encourages his readers to “pay attention” to this prophetic Word, because “no prophecy was ever produced by the will of man, but men spoke from God as they were carried along by the Holy Spirit” (2 Pet. 1:21). Here is Peter’s view of divine inspiration: God spoke through individuals as they were “carried along” by the Holy Spirit.

To be sure, divine inspiration did not end when the Old Testament was completed. Peter and the other New Testament writers were conscious that, under the inspiration of the Holy Spirit, they too were writing Scripture. For example, Peter acknowledges that, though some of the apostle Paul’s writings were hard to understand, they were Scripture nonetheless (2 Pet. 3:16). So, then, not only did Peter view what we call the “Old Testament” as divinely inspired and authoritative; in writing his first letter to the Christians in Asia Minor, he too was under divine inspiration. What Peter says in 1 Peter, God says. But just what did Peter know concerning his Bible?

Peter’s Knowledge of Scripture

It should not be surprising that in light of Peter’s view of Scripture, he knew his Bible well. But not only did Peter have a thorough understanding of the content of the Law, the Prophets, and the Writings; he understood that it all pointed to a greater reality that was fulfilled in Jesus Christ. For Peter, then, the story of Israel does not merely serve as a source for quotations and illustrations. It is the backdrop against which he presents his message to the Christians in Asia Minor.

Peter knew that God created humanity as his image with the express purpose of reflecting his glory and representing his rule on the earth (Genesis 1–2). But Adam and Eve rebelled against God’s rule. And because God is holy and just, he punished them by removing them from his presence. Apart from God, they began to experience increasing sin, rebellion, chaos, and eventual death (Genesis 3). As human sinfulness increased (Genesis 4–5), so did God’s judgment, but so also did God’s grace (Genesis 6–11).

Peter also knew that, despite Adam’s rebellion, God raised up Israel to reflect his glory and represent his rule over the earth. The story of Israel as a nation began with Abraham. Through this man God would bless the world (Gen. 12:1–3). Abraham’s name would be great, and he would become a great nation. Nationhood indicates many descendants, and this many people required a land to dwell in. God promised to provide all these to Abraham (Gen. 12:1–2). The rest of the world would find either blessing or curse based on how they responded to God’s chosen one (Gen. 12:3).

By the end of Genesis, God’s promise of descendants was fulfilled (Ex. 1:1–7); however, a king ascended to the Egyptian throne who did not know Abraham’s descendants. Because he feared their numbers, the new king enslaved them and tried to put an end to their strength. Israel was far from the land God had promised them, and they were in no position to do anything about it. To address the obstacle to obtaining the land, God rescued Israel by his mighty hand (Ex. 12:29–42), and he brought them to himself at Mount Sinai in order to establish the foundation of his relationship with them in a covenant (Exodus 19–24). God reminded Israel that, though the entire world belongs to him, he chose them out of all the nations of the world as his special treasure, his treasured possession (Ex. 19:5). Exodus 19:6 explains what it means to be God’s special treasure: Israel was to be a royal priesthood (kingdom of priests) and a holy nation.

As a royal priesthood, Israel had special access to God’s presence, and they were to serve as mediators to the surrounding nations, showing them what it was like to live under God’s rule. As a holy nation, they were to dedicate themselves solely to God; and this dedication to God would result in a separation from the world. By their holiness, they would provide a witness to the surrounding nations that God alone was their king and that they alone were citizens of his kingdom rule. They were to be distinct from the world in their worship, their dress, their diet, their morality, their sexual practices, their work—everything. By these distinctions, they would show how different was their God from the gods of the surrounding nations and what it was like to live under his gracious rule and care. As they displayed God’s morality and concern for one another, particularly the least among them, they would display to the world the compassion of their God and his kingdom citizens.

Peter knew that God confirmed this special relationship with Israel in a covenant, because this was the covenant that, as a faithful Jew, he had been taught to obey. Exodus 20–24, the Book of the Covenant, explains the obligations of both God and Israel in this relationship. Such covenants also indicated that if either party breached the agreement, the penalty was death. For this reason, blood was often a part of covenant ceremonies. This is precisely what takes place in Exodus 24:7–8. Moses read the Book of the Covenant in the hearing of the people; the people agreed to obey; Moses sprinkled blood on the people, thus consecrating or separating them out of the world for God; and, finally, Moses declared, “Behold the blood of the covenant that the Lord has made with you in accordance with all these words” (Ex. 24:8).

Unfortunately, Peter also knew that the story of Israel was littered with repeated violations of this covenant. Israel entered the land promised by God under Joshua’s leadership (book of Joshua), but it was not until they came under the leadership of King David that they were truly established in the land (1–2 Samuel). Unfortunately, with the exception of a few kings, David’s sons did not live up to David’s name. As a result, the kingdom was torn in two (930 BC). Ten tribes traveled north and established a capital in Samaria, while two tribes, Judah and Benjamin, remained in the south. Because of repeated covenant violations, the two kingdoms began a downward spiral toward destruction (1–2 Kings; 1–2 Chronicles). Though God was slow to anger, in 722 BC God put an end to the northern kingdom by the hands of the Assyrians. And finally, in 587/586 BC, God sent the Babylonians to conquer Jerusalem. In both instances, the people of God were exiled to a foreign land.

Because of the prophetic writings, though, Peter, along with every other Jew, held out hope for the restoration of Israel. Even before the exiles, the prophets announced that God would do something new, something never seen before. God himself would shepherd his people by raising up a faithful shepherd from King David’s line (Jer. 23:1–6; Ezek. 34:1–24; 37:15–28). And God would lead them in a second exodus that would make them forget that the first one had ever happened (Isa. 43:1–19; see also Jer. 23:7–8). All this God would accomplish on the basis of a new covenant, a new relationship (Isaiah 54–56), established on the substitutionary death of the Lord’s faithful, suffering servant (Isa. 52:13–53:12). This new covenant would grant God’s people a new heart, God’s Spirit, and forgiveness of sins; in other words, they would be empowered to obey God (Jer. 31:31–34; Ezek. 36:22–27). The blessings of this covenant would result in a special relationship with God and abundant blessing in his presence (Ezek. 36:28–38).

God promised to return Israel to their land after the exile (Jer. 29:10). But during their exile, Israel was to be a blessing while living in Babylon, seeking the welfare of the city by praying for it, because “in its welfare you will find your welfare” (Jer. 29:7). While in Babylon, Israel was to “build houses and live in them; plant gardens and eat their produce” (Jer. 29:5). God also commanded them: “Take wives and have sons and daughters; take wives for your sons, and give your daughters in marriage, that they may bear sons and daughters; multiply there, and do not decrease” (Jer. 29:6). At the end of seventy years, God raised up Cyrus, king of Persia, to release Israel to return to the land, beginning in 539 BC (2 Chron. 36:22). The Jews rebuilt the temple (book of Ezra) and the city wall (book of Nehemiah), but it became clear that this was not the promised restoration that they had hoped for (Ezra 3:12–13). Something else, some greater restoration was sure to come (Hag. 2:6–9).

By grouping Jesus’s genealogy from Abraham to David (Matt. 1:2–6a), from David to the Babylonian exile (Matt. 1:6b–11), and from the Babylonian exile to Jesus’s birth (Matt. 1:12–16), our New Testament opens by presenting Jesus as the answer to the Babylonian exile: fourteen generations from Abraham to David, fourteen generations “from David to the deportation to Babylon,” and fourteen generations from “the deportation to Babylon to the Christ” (Matt. 1:17). There is a sense, then, that while Jesus has come to rescue his people from the exile once and for all, they are still in exile on this earth until Jesus consummates the kingdom. Peter knew this and picks up on this idea when he calls the Christians in Asia Minor “elect exiles of the Dispersion” (1 Pet. 1:1) and ends his letter with greetings from “She [the church] who is at Babylon” (1 Pet. 5:13). For Peter, then, the Christians in Asia Minor, along with all Christians everywhere, are the people of God in exile awaiting the final restoration of all things.

Peter’s Message in 1 Peter

If we’re to understand 1 Peter, we need to understand something about the world of the Christians in Asia Minor in the first century, Peter’s original audience.5 There is no evidence that Peter wrote his first letter during a time of empire-wide persecution, but it is clear that these Christian brothers and sisters were suffering for what they believed. In this sense, we can say that the experience of the Christians in 1 Peter is much like that of Christians in the West today. Unlike some of our brothers and sisters in other parts of the world who face persecution in the form of war, violence, displacement, torture, and even death, we face cultural discrimination, social pressures, and the potential loss of rights and privileges simply for identifying with Christ. Peter’s readers faced similar pressures, and he writes to encourage them to endure faithfully under these circumstances because “after you have suffered a little while, the God of all grace, who has called you to his eternal glory in Christ, will himself restore, confirm, strengthen, and establish you” (5:10).

We can summarize Peter’s message in 1 Peter in four words: salvation, holiness, suffering, and perseverance. Peter encourages the Christians in Asia Minor to endure suffering faithfully by looking back at the great salvation God has accomplished for them in Christ and looking forward to the future inheritance that awaits them (1:1–12). While on this earth, though, they are sojourners and exiles called to live holy lives in order to provide a faithful witness to the unbelieving world around them (1:13–3:7). And like Christ, they too will suffer. But with Christ, if they endure faithfully, they will share in his victory, vindication, and glory (3:8–4:19). Until then, Peter’s readers are to persevere together under the faithful leadership of elders (5:1–5), as they humble themselves, cast their anxieties upon Jesus, remain in sober watchfulness, and resist the Devil (5:6–11).

Peter’s Use of Scripture in 1 Peter

We don’t have space to identify every time Peter uses the Old Testament in 1 Peter, but we can identify and explain enough references to understand how Peter uses Scripture to encourage his readers to endure faithfully. To be sure, the New Testament authors’ use of the Old Testament raises several questions,6 but for our purposes, let’s keep it simple. It will be easiest to identify Peter’s use of the Old Testament in 1 Peter when he directly quotes the Old Testament. When he does, he cites either a Hebrew text or a Greek translation (the Septuagint, LXX). In many of our English translations, these Old Testament citations are italicized or set apart in a way that we may recognize them easily enough (see 1:24–25; 2:6–8; 3:10–12; 4:18). In at least one instance Peter identifies the citation as Scripture: “For it stands in Scripture . . .” (2:6).

At other times Peter simply alludes to an Old Testament text. Undoubtedly, an allusion is not as easy to identify as a quotation because it is not a direct citation. But often, an allusion sufficiently resembles an Old Testament text or passage to enable us to identify what Old Testament passage it is referring to.7 For example, the language in chapter 2, verse 9, of “a royal priesthood, a holy nation, a people for his own possession” is so similar to what the Old Testament says of Israel in Exodus 19:6 that there is no question, in my mind, that Peter uses the same language and applies it to his readers. So, with these explanations in mind, and using the four words mentioned above (salvation, holiness, suffering, and perseverance), let’s work through 1 Peter to see how the apostle uses the story of Israel to encourage the Christians in Asia Minor.

Exile: The Context for 1 Peter

Peter begins his first letter by addressing his readers as the “elect exiles of the Dispersion” (1:1). This language reminds us of Israel under exile. In the closing of the letter, Peter sends greetings from “She who is at Babylon” (5:13). Peter is likely in Rome, the center of power and government in his day, just as Babylon was the center of power and government at the time of the exile of Israel’s southern kingdom. The entire context of 1 Peter, then, is one of exile, particularly, the Babylonian exile. Peter wants his readers to understand that because they have identified with Christ, they too are “sojourners and exiles” on this earth (2:11), just as those exiled to Babylon under the power and government of King Nebuchadnezzar in the early 500s BC.

Since they don’t belong to this world, the Christians in Asia Minor are likely to face discrimination and persecution at a number of levels. Their own government may take away their rights and privileges (2:13–17). Those under authority could potentially be taken advantage of by those in authority over them (2:18–25). Even Christian wives might face discrimination in their own homes from their unbelieving husbands (3:1–6), while Christian husbands may be tempted not to live with their unbelieving wives in a considerate manner (3:7).

Salvation

1 Peter 1:1–2. During their suffering, Peter encourages his readers to look back at the great salvation the triune God has accomplished for them in Christ and to look forward to the time when this salvation will finally be revealed at the return of Christ. Echoing the covenant ceremony in Exodus 24:3–8, where God defined his relationship with Israel under the old covenant, Peter reminds his readers that they are the people of God with whom God established the promised new covenant. They are not merely exiles; they are “elect” exiles. In other words, they are God’s chosen people. God the Father chose them according to his foreknowledge, his prior love before they even existed (1:2a). Now, this is love! It’s not based on anything in them; it’s based on God’s free choice. And the Holy Spirit applied this salvation to them when he set them apart “in . . . sanctification” (1:2b). Just like Israel of old was consecrated or set apart to God at Sinai in Exodus 24, so too Peter’s readers were set apart by the Holy Spirit.

But notice that they were set apart to God for a purpose, “for obedience to Jesus Christ and for sprinkling with his blood” (1:2c). Again, just like that covenant ceremony in Exodus 24 when Moses sprinkled Israel with the blood of the covenant, so too the new-covenant people of God were sprinkled with the blood of Jesus, the blood of the new and better covenant. Throughout 1 Peter, I understand him to use the language of “obedience” primarily for that initial obedience of faith to the gospel. This is saving faith. Of course, as we’ll see below, initial obedience leads to ongoing obedience.

So, Peter begins his first letter by establishing his readers’ identity as the new-covenant people of God, saved and secured by the triune God. The Father chose them; the Son accomplished their salvation by his blood; and the Spirit applied this salvation to all who believed the gospel. As Peter’s readers persevered in hope of this salvation, they were sojourning toward an inheritance that is “imperishable, undefiled, and unfading, kept in heaven for you, who by God’s power are being guarded through faith for a salvation ready to be revealed in the last time” (1:4–5). Suffering Christians everywhere, then, are encouraged to endure faithfully now by looking back to this great salvation accomplished for us by the triune God and by looking forward with hope to the time when we will receive our eternal inheritance at Christ’s return.

1 Peter 1:10–12. Peter also used the Prophets in a general way to remind his readers that, though they may lose rights and privileges as exiles on this earth, they are a privileged people because they live in a privileged time and experience a privileged salvation (1:10–12). Peter tells his readers that the Old Testament prophets “prophesied about the grace that was to be [theirs]” and that they “searched and inquired carefully, inquiring what person or time the Spirit of Christ in them was indicating when he predicted the sufferings of Christ and the subsequent glories” (1:10–11). In other words, the prophets were looking for Christ, and they were longing for the time when he would appear, because they understood that his sufferings would lead to his people’s salvation and glory. It was through this promised Christ that the restoration of Israel would come.

Though Peter doesn’t cite a specific prophecy, consider just one: Isaiah 53. There is no clearer gospel declaration in the entire Old Testament. Peter reminds his readers that though they may wish to escape suffering and live in a different time, the Old Testament prophets understood that they were serving not themselves, but them: the Christians in Asia Minor and all other Christians under the new covenant (1:12).

We too may wish to live in a different time, an easier time, but Peter reminds us that we are living in a privileged time, and we have experienced a privileged salvation—a salvation the prophets longed for, a salvation that angels marvel over (1:12). Because we are God’s chosen new-covenant exiles sojourning on this earth, we endure Christian suffering now by setting our “hope fully on the grace that will be brought to [us] at the revelation of Jesus Christ” (1:13). But what does waiting faithfully for the revelation of Jesus Christ look like for the Christian?

Holiness

1 Peter 1:16. Having been set apart by the Holy Spirit for initial obedience to the gospel, Peter reminds his readers that they are also set apart for ongoing obedience. Once again, Peter uses the story of Israel as a backdrop for the Christian story. Just as Israel was to be holy because God is holy, so too Peter’s readers are to be holy because “he who called you is holy” (1:15). Peter grounds his command to be holy in the Levitical command, “You shall be holy, for I am holy” (1:16). Although this command is found in various forms in Leviticus (11:44; 19:2; 20:7, 26), D. A. Carson suggests that Peter cites Leviticus 19:2 exactly from a Greek translation of the Old Testament (LXX, Septuagint).8 This citation, then, comes from the Holiness Code (Leviticus 11–26) that contains the laws which taught Israel how to maintain distinction from the surrounding nations in relation to various issues: diet (chap. 11), leprosy (chaps. 13–14), sexual morality (chap. 18), loving your neighbor (chap. 19), regulating worship (chaps. 17, 20–22), and celebrating special feast days (chaps. 23–26). The Holiness Code also contained the promise of forgiveness of sin based on an atoning, substitute sacrifice (Leviticus 16).

So, in this brief citation of Leviticus 19:2 in 1:16, Peter brings this entire Levitical code to mind as a background for the holiness of his readers. Just as Israel was to be different from the surrounding nations to provide a witness to the holiness of their God and the joy of living under his rule, so too Peter’s readers worship the same God. He is still holy. And like Israel of old, they are to be holy because God is holy.

To be sure, Peter does not simply place new-covenant Christians under the old-covenant Holiness Code. That would be to put old wine into new wineskins. Still, the foundation of the Levitical code remains the same—love God and love your neighbor as yourself. So, just as the Holiness Code instructed Israel how to be different from their pagan neighbors to witness to the holiness of their God, so too Peter’s readers are to be different from their world to witness to the holiness of their God, the same God as Israel’s. That’s why Peter urges them “as sojourners and exiles to abstain from the passions of the flesh, which wage war against your soul. Keep your conduct among the Gentiles honorable, so that when they speak against you as evildoers, they may see your good deeds and glorify God on the day of visitation” (2:11–12). The Christian’s “holiness code” is tied to the new covenant and is revealed in our New Testament. We are to obey all that Jesus has commanded us (Matt. 28:20). For the Christians in Asia Minor, this included submission of citizens to the governing authorities (2:13–17), of slaves to masters (2:18–25), and of believing wives to unbelieving husbands (3:1–6), among other things.

1 Peter 1:19. Not only were Peter’s readers to be holy because God is holy; they were to be holy because God had delivered them from their slavery to former sinful ways (1:18a). God purchased their freedom, “not with perishable things such as silver or gold, but with the precious blood of Christ, like that of a lamb without blemish or spot” (1:18b–19). The inheritance of sin from their forefathers points back, ultimately, to our forefather Adam (Genesis 3). Redemption from slavery by the blood of an unblemished lamb reminds us of Israel’s bondage in Egypt (Ex. 12:5–7; Deut. 7:8), but it also points to Old Testament language of deliverance from exile (Isa. 52:3).

Before the initial obedience of faith to the gospel, all are enslaved to sin. Peter reminds his readers that at that time, they walked in futile ways, “living in sensuality, passions, drunkenness, orgies, drinking parties, and lawless idolatry” (4:3). But because they were purchased with the precious blood of Christ (1:19), they are now to “live as people who are free, not using [their] freedom as a cover-up for evil, but living as servants [or better yet, slaves] of God” (2:16). Having been freed from sin’s slavery, Christians are now free to obey God and pursue holiness.

1 Peter 1:24–25. Not only are Peter’s readers freed to pursue holiness because of God’s deliverance; they are also empowered to obey God, pursue holiness, and love one another because they have been born again by the imperishable seed, “through the living and abiding word of God” (1:23). To emphasize the enduring nature of the word of God as the foundation for the new birth, Peter quotes verses 6 and 8 of Isaiah 40 (1:24–25).

In order to understand how Peter uses Isaiah 40:6 in 1:24–25, we need to understand the context of these words in Isaiah 40. In Isaiah 39, God announces the coming Babylonian invasion and the consequent exile of the Jews. Immediately after his word of judgment, God calls on three voices to announce words of comfort to his people in Jerusalem (Isa. 40:1–2).9 The first voice calls for the Lord’s way to be prepared, because he would come and rescue his people from exile, revealing his glory for all to see (Isa. 40:3–5). The second voice announces that while human life is transient (Isa. 40:6–7), “the word of our God will stand forever” (Isa. 40:8). Finally, the last voice announces that the Lord would come in might, and he would shepherd his people, gathering them in his arms, carrying them in his bosom, and gently leading those who are with young (Isa. 40:9–11). After the announcement of exile, then, God comforts his people by reminding them that he himself is coming to rescue them and shepherd them.

What is stunning is that by quoting Isaiah 40, verses 6 and 8, Peter declares that the words meant to comfort the exiles in Isaiah 40 are the words of the gospel that was preached to his readers (1 Pet. 1:25). In other words, the gospel is the announcement of God’s coming to rescue his people from exile and shepherd them as a faithful, caring shepherd. We shouldn’t be surprised by this application, because the Gospels apply Isaiah 40:3–5 to John the Baptist, who prepared the way for the Lord’s promised coming in Jesus (Matt. 3:3; Mark 1:3; Luke 3:4; John 1:23). For now, the Christians in Asia Minor are in exile, as are we, but we have experienced the promised new birth. So, as we Christians await the return of Christ in order to obtain our eternal inheritance, we are empowered to obey God’s commands—to “love one another earnestly from a pure heart” (1:22) because God’s enduring word was preached to us, and we have experienced the new birth that comes by this enduring word.

1 Peter 2:3. Of course, those who receive the gospel and its promises are to continue to grow in salvation by craving both the enduring word and the Lord himself (2:2), precisely because we have already “tasted that the Lord is good” (2:3). In 2:3 Peter references Psalm 34:8. Psalm 34 is David’s response to God’s deliverance when he acted as a madman to escape Achish, king of Gath (1 Sam. 21:10–15).10 The psalm is in two parts. In part 1, verses 1–10, David calls others to join him in praising God for his deliverance. Because David experienced God’s deliverance personally (vv. 6–7), he invites all who would believe to experience God’s goodness for themselves: “taste and see that the Lord is good” (v. 8a). And, of course, all who “take refuge in him” are blessed (v. 8b).

Peter uses this verse, but he states it in the past tense: “if indeed you have tasted that the Lord is good” (1 Pet. 2:3). In other words, the Christians in Asia Minor, as the new-covenant people of God set apart by the Holy Spirit for salvation, have indeed experienced God’s deliverance. As a result, they are to put away “all malice and all deceit and hypocrisy and envy and all slander” (2:1) by growing in their experience of both the enduring word (1:22–25) and the Lord himself. By longing for Jesus, they would continue to “grow up into salvation” (2:2).

1 Peter 2:6–10. One of the harsh realities Christians will face as exiles in this evil world is the rejection of the world—rejection even from those who are closest to us. This is especially the case for those who come to faith in Christ out of another faith background. Regardless, any rejection is hard to stomach. As Christians weigh the temptation to deny Christ in order to gain the approval of the world, we need to hear Peter’s argument in 2:6–10. Peter begins by reminding his readers that when they came to Christ, they came to a Savior who was rejected by his own people (2:4a). And yet he was precious in God’s sight (2:4b).