Presentation 01
Introduction
Peter wrote this epistle as a mature apostle. It has been viewed as a
partial fulfilment of the commission given him by the risen Jesus in Jn.
21.17, 'feed my sheep'. In other words the epistle is pastoral in nature.
Is was written to Christians in Asia Minor possibly to those not reached
by Paul [Acts 16. 6-7]. It is
addressed to the ‘Diaspora’ –
a technical term used to describe Rome
Asia Minor
the scattered Jewish nation.
However, the church had also been
Ephesus
Lystra
scattered by persecution and so
the term is equally applied to
Christians who had been
scattered in this way.
Jerusalem
Introduction
The epistle seems to have been written before Nero's persecution,
which began A.D. 64 and was confined to Rome.
The official persecution of Christians by the
state did not start until A.D. 110 [this is
described in Pliny's letter to Trajan].
It would appear from 2.13-14 that
the persecution of the church,
though not official, was
nevertheless that of a society which
had the backing of local government
who in turn were opposed to Christians
and their value system.
The church continues to be persecuted in
our own day.
The Structure of the Book
1v1-2
1v3-5
1v6-9
1v10-12
1v13-21
1v22-2v3
2v4-12
2v13-17
2v18-25
3v1-7
3v8-17
3v17-22
4v1-6
4v7-11
4v12-19
5v1-11
5v12-14
Salvation: grounded in the Godhead
Salvation: accomplished in their hearts
Salvation: confirmed by their suffering
Salvation: anticipated through history
Salvation: outworked in their lives
Salvation: and the Word of Truth
Living Stones - Chosen People
Submission to the State
Submission to Superiors
Wives and Husbands
The Believer and Suffering
Christ’s Victory
Responding to Christ’s Victory
Living for God
Suffering for Christ
Elders and Young Men
Final Greetings
Salvation: Grounded in the Godhead
Peter offers his credentials. He writes as an ‘apostle’ - ‘a sent one’.
The word ‘apostolos’ is sometimes used in a wider sense than that of
the 12 apostles in the N.T. cf. Rom. 16.7.
The 12 apostles of which Peter was one were
uniquely equipped by Jesus to be authoritative
expositors and recorders of the gospel. Jn 14.26....
Peter addresses Jewish and Gentile converts
as 'God's elect'. cf. Eph. 1.3-5. God chooses and
calls men and women out of the world and into
fellowship with himself. Unlike man, when God
chooses he has no regrets.
See also Rom 8.28-30....
Salvation: Grounded in the Godhead
Peter points out that all three persons of the Godhead are involved in
the work of salvation. This diverse yet complimentary involvement has
caused theologians to coin the expression ‘The Economic Trinity'.
1. The Plan is the Father’s who chooses us.
2. The Sacrifice is made by the Son who executes
the plan by his death upon the cross.
3. The Application is made by the Spirit who
Sanctifies. The Holy Spirit applies the saving
work of Christ. His purpose is to make us like
Jesus. He does this by creating within our
hearts a new nature capable of obedience
and then he goes on to encourage us to
become an obedient people.
Salvation: Grounded in the Godhead
Moses sprinkled the blood of an animal sacrifice upon Israel thus
sealing the covenant relationship between Israel and God. Ex.24.3ff
The blood of sprinkling spoke of a ceremonial
cleansing and a covering for sin. The message
of the O.T was, ‘blood makes clean....’ and
‘sacrificial death brings blessing’.
Note also the use of sprinkled blood by the
High Priest on the day of atonement Lev 16.
The ‘sprinkling’ Peter describes refers to the
blood of Jesus under the New Covenant. It does
much more: it secures our forgiveness, it cleanses
our conscience and creates access into the
presence of God for every believer, cf Heb.9.11-14
Salvation: Grounded in the Godhead
Peter encourages his readers by pointing out
that their salvation was grounded in the work of
all three persons of the Godhead.
God the Father has an eternal purpose for each
on of them. God the Son died upon the cross to
deal with ever barrier, including their sin, which
might frustrate God’s glorious purpose. God the
Holy Spirit makes that purpose a reality by
outworking it in the lives of God's people.
Salvation: Grounded in the Godhead
Peter's opening salutation is a Christian adaptation of a common first
century greeting. The word ‘grace’ was not used in this way outside of
the Christian community. Christians used it
because they had been overwhelmed and
mastered by God’s undeserved favour. They
realised that the very best that they could
wish for another was that God would be
gracious to them.
The word ‘peace’ had a deeper significance in
Christian letter writing than in common usage.
Only the Christian can truly be at peace because
Jesus by his death has made peace possible.
God and sinners are reconciled! Eph.2.14-18
Salvation:
Peter cannot think of God's provision of salvation without
launching into praise v3. The root meaning of the expression
'praise be' is ‘to speak well of’ and this is precisely what Peter
does here.
The salvation which he describes is unearned and
Undeserved, rooted in the mercy of God.
It is decisive, revolutionary, irreversible – it is
a ‘new birth’. Simply put, becoming a Christian
involves a spiritual birth. Cf. Jn.3.3.
Think about it, once you have been born you
cannot be unborn. How wonderfully reassuring
that knowledge is.
Salvation:
The new birth opens up a door into a world of grace marked by a ‘living
hope’. Psychologists tell us men need hope to cope with the future.
Many human hopes are bitterly disappointing. Some are unrealistic, like
the student who hopes for a good degree but never studies.
Some hopes are uncertain because of circumstances beyond our control
cf. The hard working farming whose hopes of a good harvest
are destroyed by a flood.
Or think of the young couple who hope
for years of happy marriage but then one of
Them meets with a fatal injury.
Our most reasonable human hopes seem fragile like a
jig-saw broken up before it is complete. Hopelessness
caused H. G. Wells to write,
'Life is a huge ugly joke barging across the universe’.
Salvation:
Against this background Peter speaks of a hope that is certain.
The Christian inheritance is described in the following manner. It is:
1. Imperishable. It cannot be spoiled by our death.
2. Undefileable. It cannot be ruined by evil, neither by our own
wickedness, nor that of others.
3. Unfading. It is not damaged by the passing of time but
remains everlastingly fresh and sweet. The hopes
of this world fade with the passing of time and
human expectancy grows dim.
In contrast, John Bunyan, with this Christian
hope in mind wrote,
'the thoughts of what I am going to lie
like a glowing coal on my heart.'
Salvation:
By unpacking the secure salvation of God into which his readers had
entered, Peter contrasts it with those things men hold dear in this life.
Things which spoil and do not stand the test of time.
For hundreds of years the Parthenon in the Acropolis in
Athens was described as the most beautiful building
in the world. Today the polluting atmosphere
from road traffic has caused considerable
Damage, as has an explosion which tore a
great chunk out of its side, when it was
used as a munitions store!
The inheritances of this world fade
and lose their splendour.
Salvation:
Many children have developed the art of flower pressing as a hobby.
Flowers are selected because of the intensity and brilliance of their
colours. They are then pressed flat inside a heavy book. But years later,
when they look at their pressed flowers, the colours are muted and
have lost their original brilliance and appeal.
Joseph Turner a famous water-colour
artists from the UK has many of his
works in the National Gallery. They are
seldom on display. Why? Because both
daylight and artificial light cause the
paintings to fade.
Their beauty does not last!
Salvation:
But the Christian’s inheritance is different. Death cannot separates us
from it. It can't be spoiled or loose its attractiveness with the passing
of time. Why? Because its kept in heaven, untainted by the processes
decay. cf. Jas. 5.1-3, Matt.6.19-21.
Someone may ask, “What’s the point of our inheritance
being secure if we are not secure? The pressure of
persecution might force me to give up”.
Peter responds in v5 'you who through faith are
shielded by God's power'. He uses a military
expression, which describes sentry duty in the
Roman army. The Christian is not surrounded by
a line of Roman soldiers, but by God omnipotent.
From the time a person puts his faith in Christ he
is in the safest place in the universe!
Salvation:
The phrase 'waiting until the coming of the salvation that is ready to
be revealed‘ v5 reminds us that we can use three verb tenses to speak
of salvation.
'I have been saved. I am being saved. I will be saved'.
1. Salvation begins, when God by his Spirit regenerates
our hearts creating faith to trust in Christ.
2. Salvation is being outworked constantly in our lives
as we co-operate with the Spirit and obey his
promptings.
3. When Christ returns this process of
salvation will end for ‘when we see him we
will be like him’. We will be glorified!
This is the glorious goal of our salvation
that Peter encourages his readers to grasp.