Chapter One

Inscription and greeting (1–2). Blessing God for the greatness of the work of redemption and the rebirth of mankind (3–5). The grace of rebirth—the source of consolation in sorrows and troubles, which can strengthen faith and love for the Lord Jesus Christ (6–9). The greatness of the grace of Christ and the salvation of people in Christ is revealed from the fact that this salvation is a mystery of God, which is unknown even to the Angels and which was the subject of investigation and study by the Old Testament prophets (10–12). Exhortation to firmness of hope, to holiness of life, and to mutual love (13–25).

1 Peter 1:1. Peter, an Apostle of Jesus Christ, to the sojourners scattered in Pontus, Galatia, Cappadocia, Asia, and Bithynia, chosen, 1 Peter 1:2. according to the foreknowledge of God the Father, in the sanctification of the Spirit, for obedience and sprinkling of the blood of Jesus Christ: grace to you and peace may be multiplied. Already in the opening verses of the epistle, in its inscription and in the greeting of the Apostle to the readers, the general character and spirit of the worldview and theology of the holy Apostle Peter is expressed, namely: the close connection of his teaching with the Old Testament. By calling himself from the very beginning an Apostle of Jesus Christ, Saint Peter does this, of course, with the purpose of lending authority to his word in the eyes of all followers of the Lord Jesus Christ. Upon hearing the word “apostolos,” the readers of the epistle should have remembered that the people called apostles (cf. Matt 10:1-2) speak and act not of themselves and from themselves, but by commission and in the name of Jesus Christ; that by virtue of a special calling they are witnesses of Christ as the Redeemer and Savior of the world (cf. Acts 4:9), and have the duty and authority to establish communities or churches in the name of Christ, to preach and teach about the cross of Christ and the whole work of salvation throughout the world, to impart edification and exhortation, rebuke and prohibition to all people—Jews and Gentiles, upon their reception of the word of the gospel (cf. Rom 1:13 and many others), and in order to achieve the high goals of their worldwide ministry the apostles received special gifts of the Holy Spirit and extraordinary wonder-working powers (Acts 2:4; cf. Mark 16:17). In the mind of the Apostle Peter himself, the representation of apostolic ministry is inseparably united with the analogous ministry of the Old Testament prophets. Saint Theophylact beautifully notes this characteristic of Saint Peter’s understanding of the work of the apostleship, saying: “By the words ‘according to the foreknowledge of God,’ the Apostle desires to show that he, except for the time, is in no way inferior to the prophets, who were themselves sent, and that the prophets were sent—Isaiah speaks of this: ‘to preach good news to the poor he sent me’ (Isa 61:1). But if he is inferior in time, he is not inferior in the foreknowledge of God. In this respect he declares himself equal to Jeremiah, who before being formed in the womb was known and sanctified and appointed as a prophet to the nations (Jer 1:5). And as the prophets, among other things, announced the coming of Christ (for to this they were sent), he explains the meaning of the work of apostleship, that his apostolic work consists in separating. For this is what the word ‘sanctification’ means, for example, in the words: ‘You will be to me a kingdom of priests and a holy nation, set apart’ (Deut 14:2), that is, separated from other nations. So, his apostolic work is—by means of spiritual gifts to separate nations obedient to the cross and sufferings of Jesus Christ, sprinkled not with the ashes of a heifer, when it is necessary to cleanse defilement from association with the Gentiles, but with blood from the sufferings of Jesus Christ.” The readers of the epistle the Apostle calls (v. 1) “the chosen and scattered pilgrims” (ἐκλέκτοις παρεπιδήμοις διασποράς): chosen—in the sense of calling into the Church of Christ (by analogy with the election of the Hebrew people in the Old Testament), “scattered pilgrims”—not only in the narrow, literal sense—meaning Christians from the Jews, living outside their homeland—Palestine, but also in the broader, spiritual or figurative sense—Christians in general, who do not have a lasting city upon the earth (Heb 11:13), in as much as human life on earth is generally called pilgrimage and sojourning, and man, according to biblical understanding, wherever he lives, is a pilgrim and sojourner on the earth; the earth is his temporary dwelling place, while his true homeland is another world—spiritual, heavenly (cf. Gen 47:9; Lev 25:23; Ps 38:13). For this reason, although the word “dispersion” has a technical meaning in the New Testament, denoting Jews who lived outside Palestine among the Gentiles (Jas 1:1; John 7:35), and likewise the word “sojourner” (Hebrew ger, toshab) in the Old Testament meant a person living outside the boundaries of his own homeland, in a foreign land (Exod 12:45; Lev 22:10), but in the Apostle Peter, in the aforementioned non-literal, spiritual sense, Christians in general, not excluding Christian Gentiles (1 Pet 2:10), are called pilgrims and sojourners (1 Pet 2:11), and the time of their life in the world—a time of pilgrimage (1 Pet 1:17). Thus, the Apostle Peter, putting into Old Testament figurative expressions a higher, New Testament meaning, by these words of greeting means all Christians in general, living in the regions enumerated by the Apostle,—in virtue of the fact that they, as Christians, constitute a special people, foreign to the world and Gentiles and having a spiritual, true homeland in the heavens. The regions of the Christians’ residence enumerated by the Apostle are all located in Asia Minor. Namely: Pontus is the northeastern province of Asia Minor, receiving its name due to proximity to the Pontus Euxinus or Black Sea; from Pontus came Aquila, a co-worker of the Apostle Paul in the work of gospel preaching (Acts 18:2). Galatia lay to the west of Pontus, received its name from the Gauls, who had emigrated here from Western Europe, Christianity was here introduced by the Apostle Paul. Cappadocia was located to the south of Pontus; Christians of this province, as well as those from Pontus, were present at the first Christian Pentecost in Jerusalem (Acts 2:9). By the name Asia is meant the so-called Proconsular Asia, consisting of the provinces of Mysia, Lydia, and Caria and embracing all the western coast of the Asia Minor peninsula (Acts 2). Finally, Bithynia occupied the northwestern part of this peninsula (Acts 16:7). After naming the readers of the epistle, the Apostle directly fixes (v. 2) his reverent thought on the greatness of Christian calling. Here he first of all draws the attention of the readers to the fact that their election to salvation took place “according to the foreknowledge of God the Father,” κατὰ πρόγνωσιν Θεοῦ Πατρός. The concept of Divine “foreknowledge,” as has already been mentioned, holds a prominent place in the theology of the Apostle Peter precisely because of the closeness of his worldview to the Old Testament, or because of his particular recognition of the organic connection between the two covenants. At the same time, as the herald of the New Testament, the Apostle in the matter of arranging Christian salvation points to the participation of all three persons of the Holy Trinity: if to God the Father he ascribes “foreknowledge” of salvation, then to the Holy Spirit: “sanctification,” ἐν ἁγιασμῷ Πνεύματος, that is, all the various workings of the Holy Spirit in blessing the spirit and the whole nature of the Christian, and to Christ the Savior—the very accomplishment of the work of salvation, which has this highest goal: “for obedience and sprinkling with blood” (εἰς ὑπακοὴν καὶ ῥαντισμὸν αἵματος) of Jesus Christ. Here are two concepts: “obedience” and “sprinkling with the blood” of Jesus Christ, and both in the understanding of the Apostle are connected with the Old Testament type of the New Covenant—the covenant of the blood of Christ (Matt 26:28; Heb 12:24). The Old Testament event prefiguring the sprinkling with the blood of all entering the Church of Christ was the image or manner of using sacrificial blood at the time of the conclusion by God of a covenant with the Hebrew people at Sinai, when the people were sprinkled with blood: “Moses took the blood (of sacrifice) and sprinkled the people, saying: ‘See the blood of the covenant that the Lord has made with you’ (Exod 24:8; cf. Heb 9:18-20). Thus, just as with blood the covenant of God was concluded with the Hebrew people, so with the precious blood of the incarnate Son of God, shed by him on the cross, the foundation was laid for the New Covenant of God with mankind; and just as through the sprinkling of the Hebrews with sacrificial blood the Hebrew people entered into the covenant and became a holy people of the covenant, so, certainly, to an incomparably greater degree, the sprinkling with the blood of Christ is the grace-giving power for people’s entry into the new covenant with God or into the Church of Christ. The narrative of the book mentioned above (Exod 24) explains also the meaning of another expression of the Apostle: “for obedience.” The matter is that Moses sprinkled with sacrificial blood as a sign of entering into covenant with God only after, when the book of the Covenant was read aloud to all the people, the people gave a solemn promise: “All that the Lord has spoken we will do, and we will be obedient” (Exod 24 and Exod 24:7), that is, the Old Covenant was concluded with the sprinkling of sacrificial blood only on the condition of the people’s obedience to the will of Jehovah, expressed in the Book of the Covenant. In a similar manner the acceptance and entry of people into the bosom of the Church of Christ is accomplished only on the condition of “obedience,” that is, an unconditional readiness of people to accept all Christian teaching with an irrevocable determination to fulfill it in their very life. Having depicted the essence and foundation of the salvation of people in Christ, the Apostle sends the readers a prayerful blessing: “grace to you and peace be multiplied.” “Grace”—because we are saved freely, bringing nothing from ourselves; “peace”—because, having offended the Master, we were among his enemies.” (Saint Theophylact).

1 Peter 1:3. Blessed is the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, who in His great mercy has caused us to be born again through the resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead, to a living hope, 1 Peter 1:4. to an inheritance incorruptible, pure, unfading, kept in heaven for you, 1 Peter 1:5. guarded by God’s power through faith toward salvation, ready to be revealed in the last time. After the greeting to the readers with the depiction of the source of Christian salvation, the Apostle is filled with a feeling of deep heartfelt thanksgiving to God for the redemption of the world and the calling of the Christian readers into the Church of Christ, and pours out his believing feeling in a solemn doxology or blessing, closely reminiscent of a similar blessing of another chief Apostle, Paul, at the beginning of the epistle to the Ephesians (Eph 1:3 ff.). In his blessing to God the Apostle Peter calls God the God and Father of the Lord Jesus Christ, as Christ himself called God not only Father, but also His God (John 20:17), equally the Apostle Paul often called, usually in blessings, God the Father and God of Jesus Christ (Rom 15:6; 2 Cor 1:3; Eph 1:3; Col 1:3). It is possible that the form of blessing is borrowed from the liturgical use of it in apostolic times (cf. Jas 3:9). The very salvation in Christ the Apostle in his blessing characterizes in v. 3 from three perspectives: a) by its source, it is the work of “great mercy” (τὸ πολύελεος) of God, since the salvation of the sinful world and mankind is exclusively the work of the love of God showing mercy (John 3:16); b) by its essential nature it is “rebirth” (ἀναγεννήσας), a gracious regeneration of people into new, spiritual, and eternal life (cf. John 3:3; Titus 3:5; Col 3:1; Eph 1:19); finally, c) by its ultimate goal, salvation in Christ “leads into a living hope (εἰς ἐλπίδα ζῶσαν) through the resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead”: the spiritually dead in falling away from God is reborn through faith in Christ and in union with Christ into new life and receives firm hope for eternal blessed life, and the pledge and foundation of this hope consists of the resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead (Rom 10:9; 1 Cor 15:14). “What does God give? Hope, but not that which was through Moses, about settling in the land of Canaan, which was mortal, but a living hope. Where does it have life? From the resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead. For he, as he himself rose, so gives to those coming to him through faith in him the same power to rise.” (Saint Theophylact). In v. 4 are detailed the very object of Christian hope. This object—“inheritance,” heritage (εἰς κληρονομίαν), that is, by similarity to the promised land of the Old Testament (Gen 15:18),—the spiritual goods of the Kingdom of Christ, inherited by Christians (Matt 5:5; Gal 4:7), especially eternal blessed life in heaven (Heb 9:15), called here by the Apostle Peter “imperishable” (ἄφθαρτον), “undefiled” (ἀμίαντον), “unfading” (ἀμάραντον), that is, the heavenly inheritance awaited by Christians is not subject to any decay and destruction (Matt 6:19-20), pure, holy, and perfect, eternally flourishing and always remaining the same “not laid up on earth, as, for example, for fathers, but in heaven, from which it also has the property of eternity, by which it surpasses earthly inheritance.” (Saint Theophylact). This inheritance, according to the Apostle, “is kept” (τετηρημένη) in heaven for Christians: the image is taken from earthly treasures kept by parents in a safe place for their children. But not only treasures for the believers are preserved in heaven, but they themselves, in fulfillment of the very prayer of the Lord Jesus Christ in his High-Priestly prayer, are preserved, protected by the power of God (cf. Phil 4:7) “through faith toward salvation ready to be revealed in the last time.” And from man himself is required constant vigilance concerning his salvation (Matt 24:42), but given human weakness, the almighty power of God is needed to guard the Christian from many and various enemies and dangers of his salvation. This salvation in its fullness is ready to be revealed “in the last time,” ἐν καιρῷ ἐσχάτῳ, that is, by the New Testament usage of this expression (cf. Matt 13:39; 2 Tim 3:1; Jude 1:18), with the end of the kingdom of grace and the opening of the kingdom of glory, at the second coming of Christ. The expression “ready” gives the thought of the nearness of this last time. “This nearness is understood here, without doubt, in the same sense as in other apostles, namely, that with the first appearance of Christ in the world the last era of the economy of human salvation has begun, during which one must constantly be ready for the second coming of the Lord Jesus Christ for judgment (see Jas 5:7-9).” (His Grace Bishop Michael).

1 Peter 1:6. In this you rejoice, though now for a little while, if it is necessary, you suffer grief in various trials, 1 Peter 1:7. that the testing of your faith, more precious than gold that perishes, though tested by fire, may be found to result in praise and honor and glory at the revelation of Jesus Christ, 1 Peter 1:8. Whom, not having seen, you love; and in whom, though now you do not see him, believing you rejoice with joy inexpressible and full of glory, 1 Peter 1:9. receiving as the end of your faith the salvation of your souls. 1 Peter 1:10. Concerning this salvation, the prophets inquired and searched diligently, those who prophesied about the grace destined for you, The high joy concerning the goods of Christian inheritance, filling the hearts of all true Christians, should pour forth gracious consolation into their souls when sorrow and trouble overtake them. The great teaching on the beneficial meaning of sorrows in the moral life of Christians the Apostle Peter expounds in a way similar to the Apostle James (Jas 1:2 ff.), but also with some peculiarities corresponding to the personal characteristics of the Apostle Peter’s spiritual experience. Namely, he first of all particularly distinguishes the worthlessness—both in duration and in character—of temporal sorrows and trials in comparison with the eternal blessed life prepared for Christians in heaven, and then, more than the Apostle James, seeks to revive in the hearts of readers personal communion with the Lord Jesus Christ through faith in him and love for him as the means or path to that blessedness. “As the teacher in his promise announces not only joy, but also sorrow, saying: ‘In the world you will have tribulation’ (John 16:33), so the Apostle to the word of joy added ‘a little.’ But as this is sorrowful, the latter adds ‘now...’. Or the word ‘now’ should be referred to the joy, in that it will be replaced by future joy, not short-lived, but lasting and infinite. Or the word ‘a little’ should be understood relative to sorrow, in such a manner, if it is necessary now to sorrow a little from various trials.... He adds ‘if necessary,’ teaching that not every believer, nor every sinner is tested with sorrows, and neither the one nor the other is left in them forever. Righteous people who suffer receive crowns for their suffering, while sinners suffer to bear the punishment for their sins. Not all righteous suffer trials, so that you do not consider evil praiseworthy and do not come to hate virtue. And not all sinners suffer trials so that the truth of the resurrection would not come into question, if here on earth everyone still received what was due to them.” (Saint Theophylact). In v. 8 the Apostle, as a new incentive for patient endurance of trials, points to the faith and love of the readers in the Lord Jesus Christ, and this praise the Apostle expresses in the form of a reference to the words of Christ to the Apostle Thomas, that blessed are those who, without seeing Christ, believe in him (John 20:29). The readers of the epistle, having precisely such faith and love in Christ, should draw strength and support from this for their hope in final salvation. “If, he says, without seeing him physically, you love him by mere hearing, what love will you feel when you see him appearing in glory? If the sufferings of Christ have thus bound you to him, what devotion should the appearance of him in unbearable radiance produce in you, when you are moreover rewarded with salvation of souls? If you are to appear before him and be deemed worthy of such glory, then now show conduct corresponding to it and you will fully attain the purpose hoped for.” (Saint Theophylact).

1 Peter 1:11. inquiring what person or time the Spirit of Christ within them was indicating, when he predicted the sufferings of Christ and the glories that would follow. 1 Peter 1:12. It was revealed to them that they were serving not themselves but you, in the things now announced to you through those who preached the gospel to you by the Holy Spirit sent from heaven, into which even angels desire to look. The greatness and glory of Christian salvation are evident from the fact that it constitutes a great mystery of God, which long before its realization was the object of careful investigation and inquiry by the prophets and reverent penetration into it by the Angels themselves. The prophets investigated (cf. Acts 3:24) not only when (τίνα καιρόν), after how many centuries and years the Messiah would come, but also what (ποῖον καιρόν) the character and nature, what were the circumstances and relations of that time. The independence of the prophets in this investigation consisted in the clarification and detailed explanation of the data of revelation. But the sole source of this for the prophets was the Spirit of Christ (τὸ πνεῦμα Χριστοῦ), sent into the world by God the Father through God the Son: “in these words the Apostle Peter reveals the mystery of the Trinity.” (Saint Theophylact). The subject of the prophetic visions and investigations was the sufferings (παθήματα) of Christ the Savior, by which he at his time accomplished the work of human salvation, and the subsequent glory (δόξας—plural), of which all believers in Christ are made sharers. “By speaking of the foresight of the prophets the Apostle impresses upon the readers that they should receive with faith what is announced to them by the prophets, because even children of sense do not despise the labors of their fathers. If they, having nothing to profit from it, searched and investigated, and, having found, set it down in books and left it to us as a kind of inheritance, then we would be unjust if we began to show contempt for their labors. Therefore, when we also announce this to you, do not show contempt, and do not render our gospel vain. Such is the lesson from the foresight of the prophets.” (Saint Theophylact). The highest degree of assessment of the work of human salvation is presented in the Apostle’s concluding remark in v. 12 that into the mystery of the salvation of people and the whole world in Christ the very Angels are eager and strive to penetrate with all earnestness and reverence (cf. Luke 2:14; Eph 3:10).

1 Peter 1:13. Therefore, girding up the loins of your mind, being sober, set your hope completely on the grace that is being brought to you at the revelation of Jesus Christ. 1 Peter 1:14. As obedient children, do not be conformed to the desires of your former ignorance, 1 Peter 1:15. but as he who called you is holy, be holy yourselves in all your conduct. 1 Peter 1:16. For it is written: Be holy, because I am holy. Contemplation of the heavenly height of Christian calling should, first of all, generate in the hearts of believers firm and perfect hope in the grace of Christ that aids their salvation, and then should completely transform their entire life according to the highest Original of God the Father: spiritual alertness (cf. Luke 12:35; Eph 6:14), complete obedience to the Gospel, full abandonment of the sinful habits of pre-Christian life, and, conversely, striving toward the imitation of the holiness of God in accordance with the Old Testament command of God (Lev 11:44). “Some foolish people say that one must conform to circumstances. But as it is foolish to give oneself to the control of circumstances, the Apostle commands that they, whether in knowledge or in ignorance, held to this previously, but now let them conform to him who called them, who is truly holy, and themselves become holy.” (Saint Theophylact).

1 Peter 1:17. And if you call on him as Father who judges each one impartially according to his work, conduct yourselves with fear during the time of your sojourning, 1 Peter 1:18. knowing that you were ransomed not with corruptible things such as silver or gold from the futile way of life handed down to you from your fathers, 1 Peter 1:19. but with the precious blood of Christ, as of a spotless and unblemished lamb, 1 Peter 1:20. designated before the foundation of the world, but revealed at the end of the times for you, 1 Peter 1:21. who through him have faith in God, who raised him from the dead and gave him glory, so that your faith and hope are in God. As new and most powerful incentives to holy living the Apostle now points to the filial relationship of the readers and all Christians with God (v. 17), and then to their redemption by the precious pure blood of Jesus Christ. Filial relationship with God (cf. Matt 5:48), however, requires from Christians a particularly reverent fear of God (cf. Phil 2:12). “Scripture distinguishes two kinds of fear, one—initial, the other—perfect. The initial fear, which is also fundamental, consists in that when someone turns to an honest life out of fear of accountability for his deeds, while the perfect fear consists in that when someone—for the sake of the perfection of love for another, loved with zeal, fears lest he remain indebted in any way to that person, as required by strong love.... For this reason the perfect fear the Apostle Peter exhorts those who listen to him to live in, and he says: By the unspeakable mercy of the Creator God you are accepted into the number of his children; therefore let this fear always be with you, since you have become such through the love of your Creator, and not through your works.” (Saint Theophylact). The sense of the fear of God in the readers the Apostle strengthens by reminding them that their earthly life is a time of sojourning (τῆς παροικίας), which completely corresponds to the earlier (v. 1) and later (1 Pet 2:11) usage of calling the readers pilgrims and sojourners. Another high incentive to holiness of life the Apostle offers further (v. 18–19), pointing to the redemption of people from sin, guilt, and futile life by the precious blood of Jesus Christ, as the lamb without blemish and pure (cf. John 1:29; 1 Cor 5:7); see: Exod 12:5; Isa 53), predestined as a sacrifice for the world and people in the pre-worldly eternity (v. 20, see: Heb 9:5-7) and only in deed realized this predestination in the last, that is, the New Testament time. In v. 21 the Apostle, “having spoken of the death of Christ, adjoins to this also a word about resurrection. For he fears that the newly converted might again fall into unbelief because of the fact that Christ’s sufferings are humiliating. He adds also that the mystery of Christ is not new, but from the beginning, before the creation of the world, was hidden until the appropriate time.... Do not be troubled by the fact that the Apostle Peter here and (repeatedly) the Apostle Paul speak that the Father raised the Lord (Acts 13:37). He speaks thus, using the customary manner of teaching.” (Saint Theophylact).

1 Peter 1:22. Having purified your souls by obedience to the truth through the Spirit, for sincere brotherly love, love one another from a pure heart persistently, 1 Peter 1:23. having been born again, not from corruptible seed but from incorruptible, through the word of God, which lives and abides forever. 1 Peter 1:24. For all flesh is like grass, and all its glory like the flower of grass: the grass has dried up, and its flower has fallen; 1 Peter 1:25. but the word of the Lord abides forever, and this is the word that has been preached to you. From the teaching on the rebirth of Christians by the grace of the Holy Spirit (v. 23, see John 1:12-13) the Apostle draws the conclusion about the necessity for all of the virtue of brotherly love, in its pure form appearing as the fulfillment of the fundamental commandment of Christ the Savior concerning love as the distinguishing mark of Christians (Matt 22:40; Mark 12:31; Luke 10:28; John 13:34). This incentive receives special force in the thought of v. 24–25 about the extreme contrast between fleshly, unregenerate man with his deeds and the man reborn with the imperishable seed of God’s word (v. 23; cf. Jas 1:18), remaining forever (cf. Isa 40:6). Equally eternal should mutual love among Christians for one another remain (1 Cor 13:8). * * * Isa 40:6-8