Ch 1 – The new birth
This letter is addressed to all those who are chosen by God yet live scattered throughout the world. You who are like exiles far away from your home country, those who are in Pontus, Galatia, Cappadocia, Asia and Bithynia. You are chosen by the foresight of God the Father, by the transforming work of the Holy Spirit, for obedience to the Son and sprinkling in his blood.
[vs 3] Because of his mercy, God has recreated you. Because Jesus rose from the dead you now have a hope which is very much alive! You have an inheritance now, an inheritance which is waiting for you and has been reserved for you in heaven. You are are also being protected by the power of God as you continue to put your trust in Him. This protective power is what keeps you safe for the the salvation that awaits you and will be unveiled to you when Christ appears.
It’s because of this hope that you are so full of rejoicing, even though your faith has been severely tested by grievous trials. Your faith which is being proven to be genuine is more precious than gold because it will be rewarded by praise, glory and honour from the lips of Christ himself when he finally reveals himself to us.
You are rejoicing because you are receiving the grace prophesied for so long by the prophets; the salvation of your souls!
[vs 13] Considering all of this, think of your life with sober judgement and prepare yourselves for action. Put all your hope in the grace that is being brought to you when Jesus Christ reveals himself.
Now that you are children born for obedience, why would you want to go back to the ungodly passions you once had when you were still ignorant? The one who called you is holy, so you too must become holy in every area of your life.
[vs 17] In fact, if the God who you call upon as Father is also the one who will judge each and every person according to their deeds, should you not let your fear of him shape the way you live for the entire time that you are away from your heavenly home? For you know that you were bought back from your futile way of living with something far more expensive than silver or gold, for you were rescued by the precious blood of Christ, who became our perfect sacrifice.
[vs 22] Now that you have made your souls pure by obeying the truth, you are filled with a love for your brothers which is free from hypocrisy. So love one another earnestly from pure hearts. You were reborn from a seed that does not just wither away but by the living word of God which lasts forever.
Ch 2 – This new life
Considering that this is how you have been born again, get rid of all evil and hypocrisy in your life. Instead, just as newborn babies scream for milk, you too should crave spiritual milk so that you can grow up into the fullness of the salvation you have been given. [vs 3] If you have tasted that your Lord is good, don’t stop drinking!
[vs 4] Christ may have been rejected by men but he is chosen and honoured by God as a ‘living stone’. As you come to the Living Stone, you are also like living stones and you are being built into a temple to host a holy priesthood. This priesthood offers up spiritual sacrifices which are pleasing to God through Christ.
We say He is a ‘living stone’ because it says in Scripture,
“See what I am doing! I am placing a corner stone in Zion whom I have chosen and honoured. Everyone who puts all their trust in him will never be disgraced.”
Which is why he is so precious to you who believe in him. The same cannot be said of those who reject him. Of them it is said,
“The stone which the builders have rejected has become the very head of the corner of the wall”
and He is,
“A stone that makes people stumble and a rock which makes people fall.”
[vs 8] Their stumbling is the appropriate end which God has determined for all who are disobedient to his Word.
[vs 9] Although we speak of these sober judgments for others, you are a people whom God has chosen to be his special possession. You are appointed to be a tribe of kingly priests. Although you come from many nationalities, you have been refashioned into a new and holy nation so that you may shout out the many excellencies of the God who has ransomed you from darkness into the radiance of his light.
[vs 11] Your identity is no longer wrapped up in your citizenship here on earth. In fact, you are merely sojourning through this life. Therefore, keep yourself pure from all the carnal passions which war against your souls. Your purity is not only for your own sake, it is also so that when the unredeemed see your other-worldly kind of lifestyle they will stop antagonizing you and come to glorify God instead.
[vs 13] Although we are citizens of a different kingdom, yet for our Lord’s sake, submit yourselves to every governing authority on earth. This has applications for every area of your lives. To begin with, submit yourselves to the king of your country and to the governors whom he dispatches to praise those who do good and to punish those who do evil.
[vs 15] God wants to silence the foolishness of the unredeemed by the righteousness which they see in you. [vs 16] So don’t use the freedom that you have been given in Christ as a pretext for doing evil. For it is your very freedom that enables you to be a slave to God![vs 17] As those who are called by God to this new freedom: honour all men, love the community of believers, fear God and honour the earthly authorities.
[vs 18] If you are a slave, submit yourself fully to the authority of your masters, and not just to the ones who are kind to you! [vs 19] And what if you should be treated unjustly even though you are obedient to your master? Well, it is no honour if you are punished for doing evil, but if you are mistreated even though you act righteously and you endure the pain and the suffering because you have your minds set on honouring God, you will certainly receive your commendation from God!
[vs 21] In fact, God has called you to this kind of life. Remember that Jesus suffered in a similar way? He suffered not for his own sins but on behalf of your sins. By doing this he has left you with an example to follow. Jesus did not retaliate when people reviled him. He did not threaten when he was suffering. [vs 23] Instead he chose to entrust his life to the true Judge who judges righteously.
[vs 24] Do not ever forget why Jesus took our sins upon himself when he hung upon the cross. He did it so that we could die to a life of sin and live a life of righteousness. His wounds have brought healing to your souls. For you were like sheep being lead astray but now you have returned to the shepherd who watches over your souls.
Ch 3 – Suffering for doing good
[vs 1] In the same way that I have commanded obedience to other kinds of authority, wives also should submit themselves to their husbands. Even if their husbands do not obey the word of the Gospel, they may be won over to Christ without a word by the other-worldly reverence and purity which they witness in their wives. [3]Your adornment should not be outward, with things like hair-styles, jewellery and clothing. The kind of beauty which is precious to God is hidden in the heart. It is the imperishable beauty of a meek and peaceful spirit. This is how the heroic women of old adorned themselves: by putting all their hope in God, by submitting themselves to their husbands, by bearing fruits of righteousness and choosing faith in the face of fear. Sarah is an example of such a woman and you are her children if you follow her example.
[vs 7] In the same way that God honours Christ Jesus, slaves honour their masters and wives honour their husbands, husbands are to honour their wives. They should honour them because they share in the same magnificent inheritance of eternal life. Husbands should show consideration to their wives, especially given the fragile nature of the female frame. If you do this your prayers will not be hindered.
[8] Finally, as a community of believers, be one in mind because you share the same faith. Rejoice with each other, weep with each other. Love your brothers and sisters in the family of faith. Think of yourselves with the humble perspective that God gives. [vs 9] You were called out by God to be a community that blesses those who abuse you. So do not respond to evil with evil, as the world does. When you do this you are blessed by your Father.
As it says in Psalm 34:12-16,
“Those who want to live a long and fruitful life should keep themselves from speaking evil or deceitful things. They should turn away from what is sinful and choose to do good instead. Let the righteous look for peace and live in it. Those who do these things will have their reward from God because his eyes are on those who do what is right and his ears hear their prayers. As for those who continue to live in sin, they will have God for their enemy.”
[13] Who will want to harm you if you are zealous for what is good? But even if you should suffer for doing what is right, you are blessed by God. Whatever you do, do not fear the things that they fear. Do not let your hearts be disturbed, rather sanctify Christ as Lord in your hearts. [vs 15] Instead of retaliation, be ready to give an explanation to anyone who asks you about the hope which you have inside of you and shines through you. Do it in gentleness and respect.
[vs 16] Live a holy life according to a good conscience, so that those who accuse you for being a Christian will be embarrassed by it. It is better to suffer for doing right, if that is God’s will for your life. For it is very reminiscent of Christ’s suffering when you suffer in this way, because he also suffered once. He too suffered as a righteous man on behalf of sinners, in order to bring us back to God. He was put to death in his body but he was resurrected by the Spirit.
[vs 19] It was by the same Spirit that Christ preached to those souls who are now imprisoned. I refer to those who disobeyed his voice in the days of Noah. God was slow to pour out his wrath on them as the ark was being prepared. In the ark, eight souls were saved through the deluge of water. This is a prophetic picture of how baptism now saves you. It is not for cleaning dirt from your body, it is an appeal for God to cleanse your conscience from sin, based upon the resurrection of Jesus.
[vs 22] When Christ was raised, he went into heaven. He is now at the right hand of God, and all angels, authorities and powers have been subjected to him.
Ch 4 – Judgement of the world
[vs 1] The example of Jesus demonstrates to us that the way we think about suffering is crucial in the spiritual war that we are fighting. Suffering can actually help us in our battle with sin because the person who has suffered for the sake of righteousness is done with sin. He demonstrates his intention to live the rest of his days for the will of God and not in the passions of sinful mankind.
[vs 3] It is bad enough that you spent some time participating in the things that the Gentiles choose to do: in unbridled lusts, sinful desires, drunkenness, wild partying, drinking parties and idolatry. They find it surprising that you are no longer following with them in the excesses of their reckless living which results in ruin, and so they slander you.
[vs 5] They will have to give an account of their lives to the one who will judge the living and the dead. In fact this is the very reason that the Gospel was preached to those who are now dead, so that even though they be judged in the flesh as all men are, they might live in the Spirit the way God does.
[vs 7] The end of the world is soon, so be sober-minded and alert as you offer up your prayers. Before you do anything or get busy with anything else, remember to love one another to the fullest extent of your new-found capacity, because love forgives and moves on no matter how many times it be wronged. Host one another in your homes without complaining.
[vs 10] This love should also find expression in the way you minister to one another by the Spirit-empowered abilities that each of you have been gifted with. God has entrusted you with the administration of the precious things of the kingdom, so be good stewards of the diverse grace-gifts that he has given. [vs 11] If the Spirit has empowered you to preach, then speak as though you uttered the very words of God. If it be to serve others in practical ways, then serve others by the strength which God will supply you. The purpose in all of this is that God be glorified in whatever way we serve his people.
[vs 12] You shouldn’t be surprised anymore by the smelting pot of testing that you find yourselves in, as though it were something strange happening to you. [vs 13] Rather, the more closely your sufferings resemble those of Christ, the more you should rejoice. Your sufferings will be rewarded with much rejoicing when his glory is revealed. [vs 14] If you are verbally abused because you belong to Christ, you are blessed. For the Spirit of God rests upon you; his glory rests upon you.
[vs 17] The fiery trials that you are experiencing are the beginning of the judgement of the world. If God’s judgement begins in this way with those who are righteous, how severe will it be in the end for those who are walking in disobedience?! And, “If the righteous are only barely saved in this life, what will become of the sinners?” So let those who are suffering in the will of God entrust their souls to the safekeeping of a faithful creator and continue doing good.
Ch 5 – Humble yourselves
[vs 1] As an elder myself and as a first hand witness of the sufferings that Christ went through, who will also share in the glory to be revealed at the coming of Christ, I appeal to the elders among you: shepherd the flock of God. Watch over them, not out of obligation but because you care in the same way God does. Don’t do it for the money, do it from a genuine passion. Don’t be tyrannical in your leadership of those entrusted to your care, be examples worthy of imitation within your congregation. If you lead in this way you will receive your reward from the chief-shepherd when he reveals himself. Your reward will be a crown of unfading glory.
[vs 5] In the same way, I appeal to you who are younger in the Lord to submit yourselves to the elders. All of you, dress yourselves in humility because “God fights against those who are proud but gives grace to those who humble themselves.” Therefore humble yourselves under the hand of God who has power over all things, so that you will be lifted up in due time. Give all the things you worry about over to him because he takes an interest in your well being.
[vs 8] Watch out! Your enemy, the devil is as a hungry, roaring lion. He walks to and fro seeking out which of you he can pick off and eat. Take your stand against him, with a faith that will not budge. For you know that your brotherhood is experiencing the same kinds of suffering throughout the world.
[vs 10] After having suffered a short time, the God who gives good gifts and has called you into his eternal glory because of your union with Christ, will personally come to you. He will make you perfect, so that there be no defect in you. He will plant you securely, so that nothing can shake you. He will strengthen you so that you be not overcome by all the force brought against you.
[vs 11] All power and kingly rule be to Jesus! Amen
Epiphanies and Orthodoxy 