1 message. Large Christian library. Who wrote this message?

1:1,2 Peter, Apostle of Jesus Christ, to the strangers scattered in Pontus, Galatia, Cappadocia, Asia and Bithynia, chosen ones,
2 According to the foreknowledge of God the Father, through sanctification of the Spirit, unto obedience and sprinkling of the blood of Jesus Christ: Grace and peace be multiplied to you.
All God's servants, called by God at certain moments of all times, considered themselves strangers and strangers on earth, for they “go home” to God, and are not looking for home in this world. The true homeland for Christians was God's expected future world order. Although it may also be said here that some Christians did not live on the territory of their historical homeland, but were scattered throughout the territory of Galatia, Asia, Cappadocia, etc.

According to foreknowledge- From the very beginning, God had a plan to redeem His people, not according to the flesh, but according to the Spirit, and to find for Himself children born of the word of God and through the redemption of the blood of Jesus.

The chosen ones (anointed ones) knew about their calling in the Old Testament from the mouth of the Lord through the angels or from His prophets. For the New Testament, Peter explained the principle of election somewhat different: according to the foreknowledge of God the Father (not just God, for the New Testament speaks of the possibility of adoption) - all those redeemed by the blood of Christ are sanctified through the anointing of the holy spirit. All the chosen ones of God know about the anointing with the holy spirit as evidence of election - 2 Cor. 1:21,22

1:3,4 Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, who according to His great mercy has regenerated us to a living hope through the resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead,
4 to an inheritance incorruptible, undefiled, and unfading, kept in heaven for you,
The expression “God and Father of Jesus Christ” shows that Christ himself cannot be his own God and Father. Here we are talking about Jehovah - the God of Israel, who resurrected Christ and thereby gave hope to all Christians to be transformed from a mortal sinful person - into one worthy of eternal life, so to speak - to be reborn to a new life and to the inheritance that is stored in heaven for Christians. Whoever tries to repeat the path of Christ with his life has hope of resurrection even in death (he will repeat the “path” of Christ even after death).

In the expression " the inheritance is kept in heaven for us “- it is not said that Christians will certainly be in heaven. But it is said that LEGACY is kept for all Christians in heaven, and this inheritance is eternal life with God.
That is, from heaven, from the Highest, they should expect that inheritance that “will be given out” from heaven at a certain time on an individual basis. This verse cannot be used to teach that the anointed ones will be in heaven.

1: 5 being kept by the power of God through faith unto the salvation ready to be revealed in the last time
The inheritance from heaven will be “distributed” to believers who, through the help of the power of God, will be able to achieve salvation. And the secret of this salvation is ready to be revealed in Lately (recently, not earlier) Not about the future lately for this age - here we speak. And about the fact that until this moment, until recently, it was impossible for the mystery of the coming of Christ and salvation through him to be revealed and become understandable to many through Christ himself and his apostles. Like the phrase " there has been a rainy trend lately" - means " It has been raining more often recently».

1:6-9 In this you rejoice, having now grieved a little, if necessary, from various temptations,
7 So that the tested faith of your faith, more precious than gold that perishes, though it is tested by fire, may be found to result in praise and honor and glory at the revelation of Jesus Christ,
8 Whom, having not seen, you love, and Whom, not having seen before, but believing in Him, you rejoice with joy unspeakable and full of glory,
9 Finally attaining through your faith the salvation of souls.
The main thing that we all need to know about salvation is to understand that we will have to endure some sorrows associated with serving the Lord; we cannot do without them. Trials will melt us down and turn our faith into precious gold, which at the moment of melting, although it looks like it is perishing, is in fact only cleared of unnecessary impurities. And the fact that we will become treasures of God will serve our praise, glory and honor on the day of the second appearance of Christ on earth ( in future, not now), in which we Christians believe without seeing it. It is this strong faith of ours, which has passed all the tests successfully, that will be for us the guarantee of our salvation for the future.

But why are faith and sorrow needed now, although salvation is in the future? - the question arises. Because trials will force us to change and form qualities characteristic of a person of the new world order. And in bliss and relaxation, it is impossible to form them: perseverance, firmness of convictions, patience, integrity, etc. - are born only in trials. And tried and tested Christians are worth their weight in gold to God.

But this does not mean at all that you should artificially create temptations for yourself and then selflessly fight them. But if trials associated with completing the Christian career arise in our lives, and we successfully endure them, remaining faithful to Jehovah, then we gain experience in resisting sin. And next time (if one happens), we will be ready for this kind of test and will have a much greater chance of not falling into sin.

You can also cite this simile: faith is a gold coin, but it can be real or fake. How can you find out? Only after subjecting it to testing, for example, dipping a coin in vinegar, if it does not darken, the gold is real. It’s the same with our faith: we can find out what kind of “test” it is only during trials.

Having gold items is highly desirable for many: they do not deteriorate, do not rust, do not tarnish or rot, but even gold can dissolve in the so-called “royal vodka”. But strong faith of the “highest standard” in a Christian cannot be “dissolved” by anything; having it is even more desirable.

1:10,11 To this salvation belonged the investigations and investigations of the prophets, who foretold the grace appointed for you,
11 searching to what and to what time the Spirit of Christ who was in them indicated, when He foretold the sufferings of Christ and the glory that would follow them.
It is this salvation for Christians through faith in Christ and his way that all the prophets predicted under the influence of the spirit of Christ or the spirit of the anointed in them ( Christ – chosen one, anointed one, here we are not talking about Jesus Christ, but about the anointed prophets ), by research trying to understand what the suffering of Christ means, preceding the glory of salvation, who and when should face it?

1:12 It was revealed to them that it was not they themselves, but us, who served that which has now been preached to you by those who preached the gospel by the Holy Spirit sent from heaven, into which the angels desire to penetrate.
The only thing they managed to understand then was that all this would happen in the future and with someone else, and not with them, and they prophesied BEFORE Christ. And we, Christians, will now be able to see for ourselves the fulfillment of that mystery of the grace of salvation through Christ’s suffering, which the prophets predicted and which even the angels would like to know. If, of course, we follow the path of Christ.

1:13 Therefore, (beloved), having girded the loins of your mind, being watchful, have complete hope in the grace given to you at the appearing of Jesus Christ.
Therefore, let us strain our minds, let us stay awake and rely only on faith in the grace of salvation, which became possible thanks to the appearance of Christ on earth. Here it is recommended to always keep your brain turned on and reflect on how to act correctly from God’s point of view. And not be guided by what our heart tells us or what our “seventh sense” and intuition tell us.

1:14-16 As obedient children, do not be conformed to the former lusts that were in your ignorance,
15 But following the example of the Holy One who called you, be holy in all your actions.
16 For it is written: Be holy, for I am holy
Until we knew God's standards from Scripture, many things did not seem sinful to us, for we were ignorant of His point of view. Now we know how to live, and if we are obedient children, then we will try to act according to our current knowledge.

Therefore, let us leave our previous way of life, which consists of unrighteous lusts, and take the example of the Holy Christ, who called us to serve God. We need to be holy in everyone actions and without reserve (and not in individual ones, allowing ourselves little pranks), for this is the call of God - to be holy and like Him in holiness, for He is holy (if we are servants of Jehovah, then we must reflect His holiness, and man - Christ showed us what this means and how it is possible in reality)

1:17 And if you call Father the One who impartially judges everyone according to their deeds, then spend the time of your pilgrimage with fear,
If you call yourself a milk mushroom, get into the box: if you call an impartial Judge Father, then beware of doing bad things before such a Judge during your wanderings on earth - from the moment of calling until death. For the one who calls God Father is required as if he were a son. And God judges not by the words “I love you, God,” but by deeds that either correspond to these words or not.

And since those who are God’s are strangers and strangers in this world, they should be afraid, so that in the world Satan will not pass for “his own,” for him, for the entrenched and settled “natural” inhabitants of this age. So that we do not become such wanderers - Christians who behave like “our own” in this world.

1:18-20 Knowing that you were not redeemed with corruptible things, silver or gold, from the vain life handed down to you from your fathers,
19 but with the precious blood of Christ, as of a lamb without blemish and without spot,
20 destined before the creation of the world, but appeared in the last times for you
Knowing that Christ was executed for our opportunity to be saved. For this purpose he was appointed even before the creation of the world ( before Adam and Eve had children, Gen 3:15 ), and appeared recently ( was here not long ago). His blood is more precious than gold, with it he paid for our lives as Christians, and not for the worldly hectic life that our earthly parents awarded us.
Keep this in mind and value the blood of the Lamb in action.
The life of a Christian is paid for very dearly, therefore it cannot be wasted and burned at random: an honest person does not squander what he gets very dearly.

And by HOW a person who knows about Christ’s sacrifice disposes of his life, one can find out how much he actually values this sacrifice.

If we compare our life, for example, with a purchased product, then when you think that you got it very cheaply, almost for nothing, then you don’t feel sorry: well, if it disappears, then the product will disappear, let's throw everything away.
But we’ll quickly put an expensive product in the refrigerator, and we’ll spare no effort to prepare something exceptional from it, and we’ll definitely find time for this, we’ll even put some things aside for the sake of it.

1:21 who through Him believed in God, who raised Him from the dead and gave Him glory, so that you may have faith and hope in God
Christ appeared on earth so that through him they would believe in God; it was God who resurrected the executed Christ and showed us his glory of salvation in the resurrection, so that we would all have the opportunity to believe God in relation to our future glory of salvation, looking at the example of the risen Christ. ( What is meant here is not precisely the similarity of Christ’s resurrection in spirit. We are talking about the very fact that God brought Christ to life, which means we can hope for this too if we follow the path of Christ)

1:22,23 By obedience to the truth through the Spirit, having purified your souls to unfeigned brotherly love, constantly love one another with a pure heart,
23 [as] born again, not of corruptible seed, but of incorruptible, by the word of God, which liveth and abideth forever
From now on, our task is to be obedient to the truth (the word of God) and constantly, throughout our lives, to love one another, as befits those reborn from the incorruptible seed - from the word of God, capable of reviving and renewing. And not in the way that children born from the corruptible parental seed “love” and their words, who we used to be BEFORE our spiritual rebirth.

1:24,25 For all flesh is like grass, and all the glory of man is like the flower of the grass: the grass withered, and its flower fell away;
For those born from the corruptible seed of the parent will wither and wither ingloriously and without salvation, but the seed of God (the word) abides forever, therefore, those born from the word of God will also not wither and wither forever. Feel the difference, dear ones, and do not cling to this world in which there is no salvation, but become obedient to the word of God in everything.

25 But the word of the Lord endures forever; and this is the word that was preached to you. The principles set forth in the New Testament will be in God's new world order and throughout eternity.

“The first letter of the Holy Apostle Peter is the most concise statement of the Christian faith and the way of life to which it calls. This is an example of a “pastoral epistle.” With these words begins his beautiful commentary on the First Epistle of Peter Sesla Speke

“Pastoral” - this is how this letter of Peter can be characterized. The Apostle seeks to strengthen and console the Christian churches in Asia Minor, anticipating the beginning of a turbulent era of persecution. These storms are still raging today: in India, where a crowd of Hindus destroys a Christian church built with great difficulty in the poorest neighborhoods of Bombay; in most communist countries, where a person who professes Christ is deprived of the opportunity to receive an education or get a job and is most often sent to prison. Many English-speaking countries find it difficult to imagine anything like this. Perhaps we simply do not notice the signs of the times. In reality, not a single Christian escapes suffering, and every believer will suffer at least to a small extent for Christ. Peter speaks to all of us when he speaks of present suffering and future glory.

Peter's pastoral letter encourages us by instructing us. The needs hidden within every person shape his deepest beliefs. What do we hope for? Peter speaks of Jesus Christ, our sure hope now and always. Throughout the letter the apostle encourages us to remember what God has already done and to hope for what He will do for us through Jesus Christ. Peter speaks not so much about the actions and words of Jesus, who was with him in the boat, but about the meaning of His life, death, resurrection and ascension. Peter's testimony of the life of Jesus is reflected in the Gospel of Mark

In his message, he shows how important the life story of the One who calls us to take up our cross and follow Him is for us.

1. For whom was the message written?

If this is so, then the indicated territory narrows, since the regions of Galatia and Asia were significantly smaller than the provinces that bore the same names. The possible significance of this narrowing is that some areas where Paul carried out active missionary activity remain outside it (for example: Antioch of Pisidia, Iconium, Lystra, Derbe). Paul was kept from visiting Bithynia by the Holy Spirit - perhaps this area was intended for someone else. The early Church historian Eusebius suggests that Peter himself could have been directly involved in the evangelization of the places he names (Acts 16:7)

Obviously, Peter had reason to appeal to the Christians of these, and not any other provinces or regions (he does not mention Lycia, Pamphylia or Cilicia - the provinces lying south of the Taurus Mountains). Therefore, the assumption that he is referring to those areas in Asia Minor in which his own ministry played a large role, and not the missionary activity of Paul, seems quite convincing.

Pontus and Bithynia, located on the Black Sea coast, are named separately, despite the fact that they were united into one Roman province. It has been suggested that Peter starts from Pontus and ends in Bithynia, since this represents the route that Silas or whoever is entrusted with carrying the letter would have to take: the messenger could begin his mission at Amisus, the furthest eastern part of Pontus on the Black Sea, and end it at Chalcedon in Bithynia. From there he would have crossed over to Byzantium, where he had the opportunity to board a ship going to Rome

Although we do not know exactly what “masses of people” or strata of society figured among the Christians of Asia Minor, we are struck by the sense of unity that the Gospel brought with it. As different as their surroundings, these people became the new people of God, a brotherhood, a chosen people scattered throughout the world (1 Pet. 1:1; 2:9,10,17; 5:9).

2. Who wrote this message?

The greeting at the beginning of the letter affirms the authorship of the Apostle Peter - a point that cannot be ignored. It is difficult to agree with the assumption that the Church perceived this as a “harmless literary device”

A large number of other books purporting to be written by Peter were rejected as having nothing to do with the apostle. Since the apostles were recognized as having received from Christ the high authority to found churches, an unworthy claim to this title could not be accepted lightly. One has only to remember how Paul defended his apostolic position, and we will see the special significance that this position had in the eyes of the Church.

Quite early and reliable evidence of this message is contained in various works

The earliest mention of him is found in 2 Pet. 3:1. Clement of Rome (late 1st century) quotes the First Epistle of Peter, although he does not indicate where the quotation comes from. Quotations continue to appear in other early Christian authors. Irenaeus (2nd century) clearly refers the words he quotes to this epistle.

Those who hold that Peter was not the author of this letter offer four main reasons for their view:

First, it is pointed out that the Greek language of the epistle is too impeccable for the former Galilean fisherman (Papias’s phrase that John-Mark was Peter’s “translator” is cited by some researchers as evidence that Peter needed a translator because he did not speak Greek perfectly)

Secondly, it is persistently stated: the persecutions spoken of in the epistle began only after the death of Peter. Thirdly, the epistle contains too many characteristic features of Paul's letters, and therefore Peter is denied authorship. Fourth, many of those who acknowledge the significant difference from Paul's writings insist that 1 Peter contains traditional elements of early Church teaching and contains nothing to prove that it was written by one of Jesus' early disciples.

The last objection can be refuted by considering the purpose of the message. Peter had already testified to the words and deeds of Jesus. John-Mark’s work in “translating” the apostle’s sermons also includes his recording of the testimony of Peter in the Gospel of Mark. The message assumes that the hearers know the story of Christ's life, and Peter focuses his efforts on giving an apostolic interpretation of the gospel. We find such apostolic instruction in the letters of Paul. The indication that 1 Peter shares too many similarities with Paul's epistles can be seen in the light of the consideration that Paul, like Peter, followed the apostle's "pattern of sound doctrine" in his instruction (2 Tim. 1:13). ; cf.: 1 Pet. 2:2 and 1 Cor. 15:1-11)

Indeed, the traditional date for Peter's death during the reign of Emperor Nero predates the major periods of Roman persecution. However, there is nothing in the message that would indicate the beginning of official or major persecution. Rather, it reflected a time of isolated oppression and local persecution, a time when Christians needed to be strengthened and prepared for much greater suffering for Christ in the future

3. In what form is the message written?

The Epistle of Peter, despite its brevity, is very diverse in both form and content. It contains a large number of references and allusions from the Old Testament

For example, Psalm 33 is quoted twice (2:3; 3:10-12), and its theme - hope for those in forced exile - runs throughout the letter

And although we do not find open quotation of the words of Jesus, in the First Epistle of Peter, as in the Epistle of James, the statements of the Teacher are constantly heard

There are suggestions that the First Epistle of Peter is not an epistle at all, but a sermon or catechetical instruction that accompanied the sacrament of baptism

It was even interpreted as a liturgy during the baptismal ceremony

. (The words of the ritual are said to begin at 2:21.) However, Wayne Grudem points out that the message of baptism is not explicitly stated until 3:21, and adds that “the very mention of the beginning Christian way of life does not yet contain an indication of baptism"

Another form, elements of which are found in the epistle, is that of early Christian hymns or confessions of faith.

This possibility cannot be entirely ruled out, but the rhythmic arrangement cited as a characteristic feature of a hymn or creed may simply be an oratorical device used in preaching or teaching.

The most accurate definition of the form of the First Epistle of Peter remains the short conclusion at the end of the letter itself: “I have written these things briefly to you ... to assure you, comforting and testifying that this is the true grace of God, in which you stand” (or “... in which also stand.” , 5:126). The letter is filled with consolation and testimony similar to the apostolic teaching. It can be assumed that this is not the first time Peter teaches these issues. The letter is written in free language; Peter does not piece together information received from others. He speaks with deep understanding and draws on his experience as an apostle of Jesus Christ.

4. When and where was it written?

The “Babylon” from which Peter sends his greetings (5:13) hardly refers to a city in Mesopotamia that was destroyed and abandoned by people. In the Book of Revelation, Rome is called “Babylon” (16:19; 17:5; 18:2), and it is not surprising that Peter also uses this name in a symbolic sense. He thinks of the Christian Church as God's people in exile and dispersion (1:1,17; 2:9–11). For the Old Testament prophets, Babylon was the capital of the world empire and the city of Israel's exile, where the Israelites were strangers and foreigners. Peter's use of the name "Babylon" reminds his listeners that he also shares their fate as exiles.

In addition, the early Church Fathers were confident that Peter and Paul were martyred in Rome. The early Church historian Eusebius quotes Papias and Origen to support this idea

(Papias, bishop of the city of Hierapolis, died in 130).

John-Mark, whom Peter speaks of (5:13), is also mentioned by Paul when he writes from Rome (2 Tim. 4:11; Phil. 23).

Since Peter mentions Mark but says nothing about Paul, it is reasonable to assume that Paul was not in Rome at the time of writing. It is interesting that Paul does not name Peter in his letters, even when he speaks of faithful co-workers “of the circumcision” (Phil. 2:20,21; Col. 4:10,11). According to tradition, Peter came to Rome only at the end of his life

Thus, it is obvious that Peter is writing from Rome after Paul had left it, having been released from his first imprisonment in 62

It seems unlikely that Nero's brutal persecution had already fallen upon Roman Christians. It can be assumed that Peter would somehow point out this circumstance, calling for obedience towards the king (2:13-17). The most likely date for writing the letter is the year 63, when Paul had already left Rome, but Nero’s persecution had not yet begun.

1:1,2

1. The Apostle of the Jews blesses the true people of God

1. He greets them with blessing

In the United States and Great Britain, the production of greeting cards has reached enormous proportions. Foggy photographs of lovers, portraits of little street children, grotesque caricatures - the long exhibition stands are littered with all this. But with all their diversity, postcards have retained traditional forms of expressing greetings. The number of ways to say “Hello” or “Happy Birthday” is very limited.

But Christians, and especially Christian apostles, can see the greeting as more than a mere formality. The first Christians used the traditional formula: “Rejoice!” (James 1:1; Acts 15:23; cf. Acts 23:26)

But Peter, Paul and John turn to the Church with greetings that turn into blessings: the desire to rejoice becomes in the mouths of the apostles a call for grace

The Old Testament formula for such a blessing is pronounced by David: “May the Lord reward you with mercy and truth” (2 Sam. 2:6; 15:20). The New Testament reinforces the meaning of God's mercy and grace. Grace “Reveals in Jesus Christ the effectual love of God toward sinners.”

What turns a greeting into a blessing? Peter answers this question in the words that precede his blessing. He talks about the work of the Holy Spirit. When a minister of the Word of God pronounces a blessing at the end of a service, it is only the work of the Holy Spirit that gives power to his words.

Grace -

it is a gift, and its giver is God. There is nothing magical about our words of blessing; they do not convey grace by their own power or by us saying them. But when such words are addressed in faith to the people of God, God Himself confirms them. They contain something more than a simple wish, even more than a prayer. They proclaim God's favor to those who believe in Christ.

In his conversion, along with grace, the apostle desires

peace. Grace

transforms the greeting of the Greeks,

gives new meaning to the word

greeting the Jews. The Old Testament priests pronounced God's blessing to the people: “May the Lord turn His face toward you and give you peace!” (Num. 6:26). Having sinned, Israel lost this blessing and, having suffered punishment, found itself in slavery. But the prophets indicated that the day would come when God would deliver His people not only from their persecutors, but also from sin (Mic. 7:14–20). God Himself will be their Savior: “Lord! You give us peace; for You also arrange all our affairs for us” (Is. 26:12; cf. Is. 9:16).

Simon Peter, a Galilean fisherman, knew the Prince of Peace about whom Isaiah prophesied. In the upper room at the Last Supper and again after the resurrection, Jesus blessed His apostles and gave them His peace (John 14:27; 16:33; 20:19). It was not about the political peace that the Messiah was supposed to bring. In all the earth, Jesus says, there is nothing that can give or take away peace. The Messiah bestowed it in the perspective of the cross. Jesus brought peace not in spite of the cross, but through it. In the agony of death, He took upon Himself the righteous wrath of God and established peace not only between Jews and pagans, but also between man and God.

2. He welcomes them as the true People of God

After briefly introducing himself, Peter addresses his listeners as the true people of God. They are in a new exile,

scattered

around the world, but

favorites

Sanctified by God

and peeled

sprinkling of blood

Jesus Christ.

Try to feel the full drama of such a description. Peter speaks primarily to the Gentiles, to those who did not belong to God’s chosen people and followed “the vain life handed down ... (to them) from their fathers” (1:18). They led a pagan lifestyle, indulging in “uncleanness, lust (sodomy, bestiality, thoughts), drunkenness, excess in food and drink, and absurd idolatry” (4:3). Peter, as a pious Jew, should have treated the Gentiles with contempt and disgust. Even after becoming an apostle, he was called to serve primarily Jewish Christians. He was sent to "the circumcision" (Gal. 2:7,8). And when the Lord in a vision commanded Peter to eat non-kosher food (Acts 10:14), his shock was great. Only after a vision on the roof, which made Peter take a new look at things, was he ready to go to the house of the pagan Cornelius. There he testifies that the revelation of God forced him to abandon the belief that “it is forbidden for a Jew to associate or associate with a foreigner” (Acts 10:28).

And this was spoken by the apostle who writes to the pagans in Asia Minor (present-day Turkey), welcoming them as the chosen and holy people of God! What could have caused such a dramatic change in this fisherman, Jewish to the core? Of course, Christ. Peter came to understand what it means to belong to God's people: it means to belong to the Messiah, the Son of God.

But the most striking thing is that he calls these pagans

chosen ones

God the Father

(1:2). Israel was God's chosen people. “To Him belong the adoption and the glory and the covenants” (Rom. 9:4). God “set the boundaries of the nations according to the number of the children of Israel; for the portion of the Lord is His people” (Deut. 32:8,9). How can the pagans be called the chosen ones of God?

Let's think about how Peter would answer this question. He would not deny that Cornelius and his household had joined the people of God. They received the same Holy Spirit that came upon the Jewish believers on the day of Pentecost. But perhaps Peter considered the Gentiles to be second-class citizens. He could believe that God decided to add them to the elect only later. When many Jews lost faith, the Lord appointed some pagans to fill the gap.

3. He welcomes them as God's people at peace

What is new in Peter's statement about the possibility of calling the Gentiles the people of God, who are chosen by the Father, sanctified by the Holy Spirit and sprinkled with the blood of the new covenant? To emphasize the unusualness of his statement, the apostle uses two words that turn the whole world of the inhabitants of Asia Minor of that time and ours upside down. He talks about

dispersion

and calls them

aliens

temporary residents, travelers heading to their homeland.

These definitions serve as the key to the entire letter of Peter. The apostle writes a guide for Christian pilgrims. He reminds them that all their hopes lie in their real homeland. They are called to remain strangers and wanderers because their citizenship is in heaven.

John Bunyan's book "The Pilgrim's Progress" can serve as a classic reflection of the theme of pilgrimage - following Christ. However, now Bunyan's hero, the Christian, has more critics than followers. Rushing with all his might to reach the Heavenly City, Christian did not pay special attention to the world through which his path lay. He tried to speak words of encouragement to his companions, but he did not try to preach at Vanity Fair and did nothing to drain the Swamp of Dejection. In Bunyan's defense, it should be said that his own life was better than the image he created. However, how should we understand the pilgrimage of Christians? Should a Christian flee the world, fight it, adapt to it, change it, or is there a deeper meaning to his calling to be a pilgrim?

Of course, this is not the first time these questions have been raised. The listeners of Peter's message also asked themselves these questions. What does it mean to speak of our life in exile, as temporary settlers in a foreign land?

The word "diaspora" ("dispersion") was the traditional designation for the Jews scattered around the world after the expulsion of 585 BC. e.

Although the dispersion of the Jews began with their forced removal by the Assyrians and Babylonians, it increased enormously as a result of voluntary immigration. The Gentiles to whom Peter was writing may have been familiar with this term as it applied to the entire mass of Jews living outside their homeland. It is possible that they themselves did not treat the Jewish Diaspora among them very favorably. Antisemitism was quite common in the Roman Empire. But Peter includes his own people in the diaspora

The First Epistle of Peter belongs to those New Testament epistles called cathedral messages. Two explanations for this name have been proposed.

1. It has been suggested that these letters were addressed to the entire Church in general, as opposed to Paul's letters addressed to individual churches. But it is not so. The Epistle of James is addressed to a specific, although very scattered, community: the twelve tribes scattered (James 1:1). There is no need to prove that the Second and Third Epistles of John are addressed to specific communities, and although 1 John does not specify a specific addressee, it is most certainly written with the needs of a particular community in mind and the dangers that threaten it. The first letter of Peter is itself addressed to the strangers scattered in Pontus, Galatia, Cappadocia, Asia and Bithynia (1 Pet. 1:1). Although these epistles are addressed to a wider circle than the epistles of Paul, they are at the same time united by a specific destination.

2. According to another explanation, these epistles received the name conciliar because they were accepted as Holy Scripture by the entire Church, in contrast to the mass of epistles that had only local and temporary significance, but were not recognized as Holy Scripture. During the period of writing the epistles in question, there was something of a boom in epistles writing in the Church. Many of the epistles written then have survived to this day - such as the epistle of Bishop Clement of Rome to the Corinthians, the epistle of Barnabas, the epistles of Bishop Ignatius of Antioch and the epistles of Polycarp. All of them were highly respected in the churches to which they were written, but were never recognized by the entire Church of that time as conciliar epistles. The Council Epistles gradually took their place in the Holy Scriptures and were accepted by the entire Church. This is where they got their name.

Great message

It is perhaps true that of all the conciliar epistles, the First Epistle of Peter is the most famous: it is loved most of all and read most of all. His charm was never in doubt.

The English theologian Moffatt wrote about him this way: “A charming pastoral spirit shines in any translation of the Greek text.” “Tender, loving, humble, simple” - these four definitions were given by Isaac Walton to the epistles of James, John and Peter, but primarily they apply to the First Epistle of Peter. It breathes pastoral love and a heartfelt desire to help people who were persecuted and for whom much worse awaited. “The message,” Moffat said, “is a call to maintain steadfastness in behavior and simplicity of character.”

The first epistle of Peter has also been called the most touching a product of the era of persecution of Christians. And to this day it is one of the most accessible and understandable in the New Testament and has not lost its charm.

Doubts of our time

Until recently, few people doubted the authenticity of 1 Peter. The French writer Joseph Renan, author of The History of the Origin of Christianity, certainly not a conservative critic, wrote about it: “The First Epistle of Peter is one of the most ancient works in the New Testament, which is almost unanimously recognized as authentic.” But recently, Peter's authorship has become widely disputed. In a commentary published in 1947, F.W. Beer goes even further: “There can be no doubt that Peter - it is a nickname". In other words, F.W. Beer has no doubt at all that this letter was written by someone else under the name of Peter. We will honestly consider this point of view, but first we will state the traditional point of view, which we ourselves accept without any hesitation, namely, that the First Epistle of Peter was written from Rome by the Apostle Peter himself around 67, in the era immediately after the first persecution of Christians under Emperor Nero, and was addressed to Christians living in the provinces of Asia Minor indicated in it. What speaks in favor of this early dating and, therefore, in favor of the fact that its author was Peter?

Second coming

From the message itself it is clear that one of the main thoughts contained in it is the thought of the Second Coming of Christ. To guard Christians for the salvation that will be revealed in the last time (1,5). Those who keep their faith will be spared from the coming day of judgment (1,7). Christians must trust in the grace that will be given to them at the appearing of Christ (1,13); the day of God's visitation is just around the corner (2,12), the end is near (4, 7). Those who participate in Christ's sufferings will also rejoice with Him in the manifestation of His glory (4,13); for it is time for judgment to begin at the house of God (4,17). The author of the letter is confident that he is a sharer in the glory that is about to be revealed (5.1), and when the Chief Shepherd appears, faithful Christians will receive the crown of glory (5,4).

The idea of the Second Coming dominates the message from the very beginning to the end as an incentive to be firm in the faith, valiantly persevere in future suffering and observe the standards of Christian life.

It would be unfair to say that the thought of the Second Coming ever completely disappeared from the Christian faith, but it ceased to dominate it as the years passed and Christ did not return. For example, it is noteworthy that in Ephesians, one of Paul’s last letters, he is not mentioned at all. Based on this, it is reasonable to believe that 1 Peter belongs to an early period, to an era when Christians still lived in anticipation of the return of their Lord at any moment.

Ease of organization

It is clear that 1 Peter was written in an era when church organization was very simple. It does not mention any bishops, who begin to be mentioned in the Pastoral Epistles and become especially famous in the epistles of Bishop Ignatius of Antioch in the first half of the second century. Of the church leaders, only pastors are mentioned. “I implore your shepherds, fellow shepherd” (5,1). Given this, it is also reasonable to assume that 1 Peter belongs to an early era.

Theology in the early church

What is most remarkable is the fact that the theological aspect of the First Epistle of Peter corresponds to the theology of the early Church. In a carefully conducted study, E. T. Selwyn has irrefutably proven that the theological ideas contained in the First Epistle of Peter are completely identical with those ideas reflected in the recorded sermon of Peter in the early chapters of the book of the Acts of the Holy Apostles.

In the early Church, preaching was based on five main ideas. They were formulated by the Englishman Dodd, who made a significant contribution to the study of the New Testament. All services in the early Church, which are recorded in the book of the Acts of the Holy Apostles, were built on these five ideas; these ideas also underlie the worldview of all the authors of the New Testament. A summary of these fundamental ideas is called kerugma, What means notice or a formal announcement made by a herald.

These are the fundamental ideas that the Church proclaimed in its early days. If we consider them separately, one after another, and establish in each specific case, firstly, how they were reflected in the early chapters of the book of the Acts of the Holy Apostles and, secondly, in the First Epistle of Peter, we will make an important discovery: the main the ideas of worship and sermons in the young Church and the theological part of the First Epistle of Peter are exactly the same. We, of course, will not claim that the sermons in the book of the Acts of the Holy Apostles represent a literal record of the sermons preached then, but we believe that they correctly convey the essence of the message of the first preachers.

1. The day of fulfillment is coming, the age of the Messiah has arrived. This is the last word of God. A new order is being established in the new brotherhood (Acts 2:14-16; 3:12-26; 4:8-12; 10:34-43; 1 Pet. 1:3.10-12; 4:7).

2. The new age has come through the life, death and resurrection of Jesus Christ, which is a direct fulfillment of Old Testament prophecies and, thereby, a consequence of the definite plan and foreknowledge of God (Acts 2:20-31; 3:13.14; 10:43; 1 Pet. 1:20.21).

3. Through the Resurrection, Jesus was exalted to the right hand of God and He is the messianic head of the new Israel (Acts 2:22-26; 3:13; 4:11; 5:30.31; 10:39-42; 1 Pet. 1:21; 2 ,7.24; 3.22).

4. The chain of messianic events will soon reach its conclusion when Jesus returns in glory and there will be a judgment of the living and the dead. (Acts 3:19-23; 10:42; 1 Pet. 1, 5. 7.13; 4, 5.13.17.18; 5,1.4).

5. All this serves as a basis for calling people to repentance and offering them forgiveness and the Holy Spirit and the promise of eternal life (Acts 2, 38.39; 3.19; 5.31; 10.43; 1 Pet. 1.13-25; 2.1-3; 4.1-5).

On these five points rests the edifice of preaching in the early Christian Church, as the records of Peter's early sermons in the first chapters of the book of the Acts of the Apostles testify to us. These same thoughts dominate 1 Peter. Their analogy is so consistent that we quite clearly recognize one hand and one spirit.

Quotes from the Church Fathers

One more piece of evidence can be given in favor of the early dating of the First Epistle of Peter: the Church fathers and preachers begin to quote it very early. For the first time, the First Epistle of Peter is quoted with the title Irenaeus, later Bishop of Lyons and Vienne, who lived from 130 to 202. He quotes twice 1 Pet. 1.8,“Whom you have not seen, you love, and whom you have not yet seen, but believe in Him, you rejoice with joy unspeakable and full of glory,” and once 1 Pet. 2.16 as an instruction not to use freedom to cover up evil. But even before that, the Church Fathers quoted the First Epistle of Peter without indicating his name. Clement of Rome wrote somewhere in 95 about the “precious blood of Christ”; this unusual phrase could well have had its source in Peter's statement that we have been redeemed by the precious blood of Christ (1,19). Polycarp, Bishop of Smyrna and disciple of John, who died a martyr in 155, constantly quotes Peter, without, however, calling him by name. Let us quote three passages to show how accurately he conveys Peter's words.

“Wherefore, having girded your loins, serve God in fear... believing in Him, who raised our Lord Jesus Christ from the dead and gave him glory” (Polycarp, Philippians 2:1).

“Therefore (beloved), having girded the loins of your minds...those who through Him believed in God, who raised Him from the dead and gave Him glory.” (1 Pet. 1:13.21).

“Jesus Christ, who laid bare our sins in His body on the tree, Who sinned not, neither was deceit found in His mouth” (Polycarp 8:1).

“He committed no sin, and no flattery was found in His mouth.” (1 Pet. 2:22.24).

“Speak impeccably among the Gentiles” (Polycarp 10:2).

"And lead a virtuous life among the pagans" (1 Pet. 2:12).

There is no doubt that Polycarp quotes Peter, although he does not mention him by name. After all, in order for a book to gain such authority and fame that it is quoted almost unconsciously, for its language to merge with the language of the Church, this requires time. This again points to the early origins of 1 Peter.

Excellent Greek

New Testament scholars are unanimous in their praise of the Greek in which it was written. F. W. Beer writes: “This message is, without a doubt, the work of an educated person, a writer versed in the subtleties of rhetoric, possessing a rich and scientific vocabulary; he is a stylist, and not just an average one, his Greek belongs to the best examples in the New Testament: soft and more literary than the Greek of the highly educated Paul.” Moffat speaks of the message's "flexibility of language" and its author's "love of metaphor." Another scholar says that 1 Peter is unparalleled in the New Testament for its "splendour and consistency of rhythm." Another scholar has compared certain passages in 1 Peter to the works of the Greek rhetorician Thucydides. The language of 1 Peter has been compared in its delicacy to that of the Greek playwright Euripides and to that of Aeschylus in its ability to create new complex words. It is difficult, if not impossible, to imagine Peter writing in such language.

The message itself provides the key to solving this problem. In the short final passage, Peter himself says: “I wrote these things briefly to you through Silvanus.” (1 Pet. 5:12). Through Silouan - dia Silouan - unusual expression. It means that Silouan was Peter's confidant when writing this letter: it means that he was more than just Peter's stenographer.

Let's look at this from two points of view. First, let's ask ourselves what we know about Silouan. (A more complete justification is given in the commentary to 1Pet.5:12). It is most likely that this is the same person as Silvanus in the Epistles of Paul and Silas in the Acts of the Apostles, since Silas is a shortened and more common form of Silvanus. A study of these passages shows that Silas was no mere man, but a leading figure in the life and council of the young Church.

He was a prophet (Acts 15:32); one of the rulers among the brothers at the council in Jerusalem and one of the two chosen to give the council to the church in Antioch (Acts 15:22.27). He was chosen by Paul for his second missionary journey and accompanied Paul to both Philippi and Corinth (Acts 15:37-40; 16:19.25.29; 18:5; 2 Cor. 1:19). He appears in the greetings and in the First and Second Epistles of the Apostle Paul to the Thessalonians (1 Thess. 1:1); 2 Thess. 1.1); he was a Roman citizen (Acts 16:37).

Thus, Silouan was a prominent figure in the early Christian Church. He was less an assistant than a collaborator with Paul; and since he was a Roman citizen, it is at least possible that he was an educated and cultured man, which, of course, was not available to Peter.

Now let's look at this matter from the other side. When Peter, as a missionary who spoke the language of his listeners and readers well, but did not write very well, sent messages to his fellow men, he had two options: write it as best he could, and then give it to a person who spoke the language well to correct possible errors and smooth out the style; or, if he has an employee who has excellent command of the language and whom he could completely trust, outline to him the essence of his message - everything that he wants to tell his readers, so that the colleague puts it in writing.

We can well imagine that this was precisely the role of Silvanus in writing the First Epistle of Peter: he stated in his own words everything that Peter had said, after which Peter read what was stated and added a paragraph of his own.

The thought in the epistle is that of Peter, and the style of Silouan, and thus, although it is written in beautiful Greek, it is not necessary to assert that its author is not the Apostle Peter himself.

Addressees of the message

The letter was written by exiles (a Christian is always only a temporary resident on earth), scattered along the Black Sea coast; in Pontus, Galatia, Cappadocia, Asia and Bithynia.

Almost each of these words had a double meaning: this was the name first of the ancient kingdoms, and then of the Roman provinces on the site of the ancient kingdoms. The territories of the ancient kingdoms and the Roman provinces did not always coincide exactly. Thus, there was no Roman province of Pontus, but the former kingdom of Mithridates, part of which became part of the Roman province of Bithynia, and part of Galatia. Galatia was once a Gallic kingdom that included only three cities: Ancyra, Pesinus and Tavium, but the Romans expanded it into a large administrative region that included parts of Phrygia, Pisidia and Lycia. The kingdom of Cappadocia, practically within its former borders, became a Roman province in 17 AD. Asia was the name of the kingdom that its last king, Attalus III, bequeathed as a gift to Rome in 133 BC. It occupied the central part of the Asia Minor peninsula and was bordered in the north by Bithynia, in the south by Lycidia, and in the east by Phrygia and Galatia.

It remains unclear why these particular areas were chosen, but one thing is clear - they covered a large area with a very large population, and the fact that they are all listed is one of the important proofs of the enormous missionary work carried out by the young Church in addition to the missionary work of Paul.

All these areas are located in the northeast of the Asia Minor Peninsula. Why they are named in this order, and why they are named together, remains a mystery to us. But just one glance at the map shows that the person carrying this message - and it could well have been Silvanus - sailed from Italy and landed at the port of Sinop on the north-eastern coast of Asia Minor, could sequentially travel around these countries in the indicated order and return again to the port of Sinop.

From the message itself it is clear that it was addressed mainly to the pagans. The message does not touch upon the problems of the Law at all, which is always the case if there are Jews among the addressees.

Those to whom the message was addressed acted according to the will of the pagan (1,14; 4,3.4); this is more suitable for the Gentiles than for the Jews. Before they were not a people, they were without mercy, but now they are the people of God (2,9. 10). The name by which Peter calls himself also indicates that the letter was addressed to the Gentiles, because Peter - Greek name. Paul calls him Cephas (1 Cor. 1.12; 3.22; 9.5; 15.5; Gal. 1.18; 2.9.11.14); among the Jews he was known as Simon (Acts 15:14); he calls himself by the same name in the Second Epistle of Peter (1,1). Since he uses his Greek name here, he was writing to the Greeks.

Circumstances associated with writing the message

This letter was written in an era when Christians began to be persecuted. Christians have to endure various temptations (1,6); they are slandered as evildoers (3,16); they are sent a fiery temptation to test (4.12); V suffering they must surrender themselves to God (4,19); they suffer for the truth (3,14); their brothers all over the world endure the same suffering (5,9). Behind this message are trials, a campaign of slander and suffering for the sake of Christ. Can we determine when this was?

There was a time when Christians did not have much to fear from persecution by the Roman government. From the book of Acts it is clear that Paul is repeatedly saved from the wrath of Jews and pagans by Roman officials, soldiers and officials. As the English historian Gibbon put it, officials in pagan countries were the most reliable defense against the rage of those who rallied around the synagogue. The fact is that at the very beginning the Roman government did not see the difference between Christians and Jews. Within the Roman Empire, Judaism was called the Litita religion - permitted religion - and the Jews had complete freedom to worship God according to their own customs. It cannot be said that the Jews did not try to enlighten the Romans on this issue; they did this, for example, in Corinth (Acts 18:12-17). But at one time the Romans saw Christians as only one of the sects of Judaism and therefore did not annoy them.

Everything changed during the reign of Emperor Nero, and we can trace everything almost in detail. 19 July 64 G. The great fire of Rome broke out. Rome, a city with narrow streets and tall wooden buildings, was in danger of being completely wiped off the face of the earth; the fire raged for three days and three nights, was extinguished, and then flared up again with redoubled force. The population of Rome had no doubt at all about who was responsible for the fire and blamed everything on the emperor. Emperor Nero was obsessed with the passion to build and therefore the Romans believed that he deliberately took steps to destroy the city in order to rebuild it. It is impossible to reliably establish Nero’s guilt, but it is quite certain that he watched the raging fire from the Maecenas Tower and expressed his admiration for the splendor of the flame. It was said that people trying to put out the fire were deliberately interfered with, and that people were seen re-lighting the fire when it was about to go out. The Romans were overwhelmed. The ancient boundary markers and tombs of their ancestors disappeared, the temple of the Moon, Ara Maximus, the great altar, the temple of Jupiter, the temple of Vesta, and their household gods themselves perished; all were homeless and “brothers in misfortune.”

People were extremely outraged, and Nero had to look for a scapegoat to divert suspicion from himself. Christians were made this scapegoat. The Roman historian Tacitus puts it this way in Annals 15:44:

Neither human help in the form of gifts from the emperor, nor attempts to appease the gods could drown out the ominous rumors that the fire was lit on the orders of Nero. And so, to dispel the rumors, he laid the blame on a group of people whom the common people gave the name “Christians” and who were hated for the abominations they committed. The founder of this sect, one named Christ, was executed by Pontius Pilate during the reign of Tiberius, and the terrible superstition, although suppressed for a time, grew again not only in Judea, where this plague originated, but even in Rome, where it gathers and everything shameful and terrible is practiced.

It is clear that Tacitus had no doubt that Christians were innocent of the fire of Rome and that Nero simply chose them as a scapegoat.

How could it be that Nero chose Christians and why was it even possible to assume that they could be to blame for the fire of Rome? There are two answers to this.

1. Christians have already been victims of slander.

a) People associated them with the Jews. Anti-Semitism is not a new thing, and therefore it was not difficult for the Roman crowd to associate any crime with Christians, that is, Jews.

b) The Last Supper was held in secret, at least in a certain sense: only members of the Church had access to it. And some expressions associated with it, such as: “eating someone’s body” and “drinking someone’s blood” provided enough food for the slander of the pagans; This was enough for rumors to spread that Christians were cannibals. At times, rumors grew, saying that Christians had killed and eaten a pagan or a newborn. Christians greeted each other with a kiss of love (1 Pet. 5:14); the meeting of Christians was called agape - feast of love; this was enough for rumors to spread that Christian meetings were vicious orgies.

c) Christians have always been accused of “destroying family ties.” There was a certain amount of truth in this, because Christianity did become a sword that split families, with some family members becoming Christians and others not. A religion that split families into hostile camps was bound to become unpopular.

d) Christians spoke about the coming of a day when the world would perish in flames. The pagans must have heard many Christian preachers talking about the destruction of all things in fire (Acts 2, 19.20). It was not difficult to blame the fire on the people who said such things. There were many other things that could be falsely turned against Christians if anyone wanted to take malicious revenge on them.

2. History tells us that many noble women of Rome turned to Judaism. The Jews did not hesitate to use such women, setting their spouses against Christians. We see an excellent example of this behavior in what happened to Paul and his companions in Antioch in Pisidia. It was through such women that the Jews then acted against Paul (Acts 13:50). Two of Emperor Nero's palace confidants were Jewish proselytes: Alethur, Nero's favorite artist, and Popea, his second wife. It is quite possible that the Jews influenced Nero through them so that he would take action against the Christians.

Be that as it may, the blame for the fire was placed on Christians and wild persecution began against them. Enormous masses of Christians died a terrible, sadistic death. By order of Nero, Christians were coated with pitch and set on fire, turning them into living torches to illuminate his gardens; they were sewn into the skins of wild animals and hunted by hunting dogs, which tore them apart alive.

The Roman historian Tacitus writes about it this way:

Their death was accompanied by various types of bullying. Dogs tore them, covered with animal skins, they were nailed to crosses or set on fire so that they served for night illumination when daylight faded. Nero provided his gardens for such a spectacle. He himself prepared the spectacle in the circus, disguised as a charioteer and mingling with the crowd or standing to the side in a chariot. So even in relation to criminals; deserving of extreme and demonstrative punishment, a sense of compassion was awakened; for Christians were destroyed not at all for the public good, as it might seem, but to satisfy the cruelty of one person (Annals 15:44).

The same terrible story is given by another Christian historian, Sulicius Severus, in his Chronicle:

In the meantime, and the number of Christians had grown greatly, it happened that Rome was destroyed by fire. Nero was at Antiia at that time. But the general opinion blamed the hatred for the fire on the emperor, and everyone believed that he thus wanted to gain glory for himself by building a new capital. Nero, no matter how hard he tried, could not escape the accusation that the fire was started on his orders. And he turned the accusations against Christians, and therefore the most terrible tortures fell on the innocent. New types of death were invented: people sewn into animal skins died, devoured by dogs, others were crucified on a cross or killed by fire; many were used for this purpose: when the day approached sunset, they were supposed to die, serving as illumination at night. Thus, wild cruelty was shown towards Christians, subsequently their religion was prohibited by law, and in the future Christianity was constantly outlawed.

These persecutions, it is true, were at first confined to Rome, but they opened the way to persecutions in other places. The English theologian Moffat writes:

When Nero's wave passed through Rome, its splashes fell on the distant provincial shores; the publicity of the torture made Christians known throughout the empire, it was soon heard by the inhabitants of the provinces, and if they ever wished to do something similar to Christians unfaithful to the emperor, they only need to obtain the approval of the proconsul and choose an outstanding student as a victim.

Since then, Christians have always been in danger. Crowds in Roman cities knew what had happened in Rome; In addition, slanderous stories about Christians were constantly circulating. There were times when the crowd thirsted for blood and many rulers indulged their bloodthirsty tastes. Christians were threatened not by Roman court, but by lynching.

The danger was constant; years could pass quietly, but suddenly some spark would cause an explosion and with it horror. It was at such a time that the First Epistle of Peter was written, and in the face of these events, Peter calls on people to hope, take courage and live that wonderful Christian life, which alone can show the falsity of the slander spread against them, which underlies the laws directed against Christians. The first letter of Peter was not written against any theological heresy, but in order to breathe courage into the hearts of believers in the face of danger.

Doubts

We have fully presented the arguments that Peter is indeed the author of the epistle that bears his name. But, as we have already said, quite a few good scientists believed that this work could not belong to him. Although we do not share these doubts, for the sake of fairness we present this view below as it is presented in the chapter on 1 Peter in B. G. Streeter's book The Young Church.

Strange silence

Bigg writes, “No book in the New Testament is attested earlier, better, or more thoroughly than 1 Peter.” Eusebius, the great scholar and historian of the Church who lived in the fourth century, cites the First Epistle of Peter among the books accepted by all in the early Church as part of the Holy Scriptures (Eusebius: Church History 3.25.2). But there is something to note here.

a) To confirm that the First Epistle of Peter was universally accepted, Eusebius quotes from ancient authors, which he never does when speaking about the Gospels and the Epistles of Paul. The very fact that in relation to the First Epistle of Peter Eusebius was forced to provide this evidence indicates that he felt the need to substantiate his statements, while in relation to other books of the New Testament such a need did not exist. Did Eusebius himself have any doubts? Or were there people who needed to be convinced? Perhaps the general acceptance of 1 Peter was not so unanimous?

b) In his book The Canon of the New Testament, Westcott emphasized that although no one in the early Church disputed the right of the First Epistle of Peter to have a place in the New Testament, only a few Church Fathers quoted it, and what is even more surprising, only a few of the early Church Fathers in the west and in Rome. For example, Tertullian quoted Holy Scripture very often. He has 7,258 quotations from the New Testament and only two of them are from 1 Peter. But, if this letter was written by Peter, and even in Rome, one would expect that it was well known in the Western church.

c) The oldest known official list of books of the New Testament is the Muratorian Canon, which received its name from the name of Cardinal Muratori, who discovered it. This is the official list of the books of the New Testament accepted by the Church in Rome around 170. And now, strange as it may seem, the First Epistle of Peter is not in it at all. It may be argued that the Muratorian canon, as it has come down to us, is corrupted, and that originally it could have contained an indication of the First Epistle of Peter. But such an argument largely refutes the following consideration.

d) The first letter of Peter was absent from the New Testament of the Syrian church before 373. It entered there only after the creation around 400 of the Syriac version of the New Testament, known as Pescito. We know that to the Church, which spoke the Syriac language, the books of the New Testament were brought from Rome by Tatian when he went to Syria in 172 and founded the church in Edessa. Therefore, it can be argued that the Muratorian canon, as it has come down to us, is correct and that until 170 the First Epistle of Peter was not included in the New Testament of the Roman Church. But this is surprising if Peter wrote it, and even in Rome.

If all these facts are put together, it seems that there have been some strange omissions in connection with the First Epistle of Peter and that it is not as firmly attested as previously thought

1 Peter and Ephesians

Moreover, there is a definite connection between 1 Peter and Ephesians. There are many close parallels between them in thought and expression, for which we have selected a few examples to demonstrate.

Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, who according to His great mercy regenerated us by the resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead.” (1 Pet 1.3)

Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, who has blessed us with every spiritual blessing in the heavenly places in Christ.” (Eph 1.3)

Therefore (beloved), having girded the loins of your mind, being watchful, have complete hope in the grace given to you at the appearing of Jesus Christ (1 Pet 1:13)

Stand therefore, having girded your loins with truth, and having put on the breastplate of righteousness. (Eph 6:14)

(Jesus Christ) destined before the foundation of the world, but who appeared in the last times for you (1 Pet 1.20)

Because He chose us in Him before the foundation of the world (Eph 1.4)

(Jesus Christ), who, having ascended into heaven, is at the right hand of God, and to whom the angels and authorities and powers were subjected (1 Pet 3:22)

(He) raised Him from the dead and seated Him at His right hand in the heavenly places, above all principality, authority and power. (Eph 1:20-21)

In addition, it should be noted that there are great similarities in the instructions to slaves, husbands, and wives in both epistles.

It has been suggested that 1 Peter quotes from the Epistle to the Ephesians. Although the Epistle to the Ephesians was written in 64, Paul's letters were collected and published only around 90. If Peter also wrote in 64, how could he have known Ephesians?

There are several answers to this.

a) Instructions to slaves, husbands and wives were the usual moral instruction to all converts in all Christian churches. Peter did not borrow them from Paul at all; they both drew from a common source.

b) All the similar passages cited can be fully explained by the fact that in the early Christian Church certain phrases and thoughts were of a universal nature. So, for example, the phrase “Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ” was part of the pious language in the early Church, which both Peter and Paul knew and used, without any thought of borrowing. c) Even if there was a borrowing, this does not prove that the First Epistle of Peter was borrowed from the Epistle to the Ephesians. It is quite possible that the borrowing went the other way, because the First Epistle of Peter is written much simpler than the Epistle to the Ephesians.

d) And finally, Peter may have borrowed from the Epistle to the Ephesians, if both apostles were in Rome at the same time and Peter saw Paul's Epistle to the Ephesians before he was sent to Asia Minor and discussed the ideas expressed in it with Paul.

The claim that it quotes from Ephesians seems to us unfounded, vague, and even erroneous.

Your fellow shepherd

An objection was also expressed due to the fact that Peter supposedly could not write such a sentence: “I beseech your shepherds, fellow shepherd.” (1 Pet. 5:1). It was argued that Peter could not call himself a shepherd. He was an apostle and had completely different functions than shepherds. The Apostle was distinguished by the fact that his activity and power were not limited to any one church community; his writings and instructions were distributed throughout the Church, and the pastor was the leader of a separate church community.

And this is absolutely fair. But we must remember that among the Jews it was the shepherds who enjoyed the greatest honor. Shepherds enjoyed the respect of the entire society, and society expected from him decisive help in solving their problems and justice in resolving their disputes. Peter, as a Jew, would not have considered it at all inappropriate to be called a shepherd; By calling himself so, he apparently sought to avoid the necessity of asserting his rights and authority, inextricably linked with the title of apostle, and kindly and courteously placed himself on the same level as the people to whom he wrote.

Witness to the Passion of Christ

Objections are also expressed in connection with the fact that Peter could not call himself a witness of the suffering of Christ, because immediately after the arrest of Christ in the Garden of Gethsemane, all His disciples left Him and fled (Matthew 26:56). With the exception of His beloved disciple, none of them witnessed the Crucifixion (John 19:26). Peter could call himself a witness of the Resurrection and, indeed, this was part of the title of apostle (Acts 1:22), but he was not a witness to the Crucifixion. Peter does not say that he witnessed the Crucifixion, but only that he witnessed the suffering of Christ. Peter really saw the suffering of Christ caused to Him by the lack of understanding of people, he saw Him in the painful moments of the Last Supper, in mental anguish in the Garden of Gethsemane, he saw the mockery of Him in the courtyard of the high priest (Mark 14:65) the torment in Jesus' gaze when He looked at Peter (Luke 22:61). Only indifference and petty critics can challenge Peter's right to declare that he witnessed the suffering of Christ.

Persecution for the name of Christ

The main argument in favor of the late writing of the First Epistle of Peter is seen in the fact that it mentions persecution. It is argued that from this epistle it follows that even at that time it was a crime to be a Christian, and that Christians were judged only for the fact of their faith, without any offense on their part. The First Epistle of Peter says that Christians are slandered because of the name of Christ. (4,14) and that they have to suffer for being Christians (4,16). They also claim that the persecution reached such a scale only after 100, and before that time the persecution was supposedly justified only by accusations of atrocities, as in the time of Nero.

Without a doubt, the law of 112 is meant here. At this time, Pliny the Younger was proconsul in Bithynia. He was a friend of Emperor Trajan and used to communicate all his problems to him in anticipation of help in solving them. So, he wrote to the emperor about his attitude towards Christians. Pliny the Younger was quite confident that Christians were law-abiding citizens and did not commit any crimes. He wrote:

They have a custom of gathering together on a certain day and until dawn sing in different verses a hymn to Christ as God; they promise each other not for criminal purposes, but in order to avoid theft, robbery and adultery, never to break their word and not refuse to pay bail if required.

Pliny the Younger was happy with all this, because when Christians were brought to him, he asked them only one question:

I asked them if they were Christians. Those who confessed, I asked again, threatening them with punishment. Those who persisted, I ordered to be taken away and executed.

Their only crime was that they were Christians.

Trajan responded to this that Pliny the Younger did the right thing, and that anyone who apostatized Christianity and proved this by making a sacrifice to the gods should be immediately released. From the letters of Pliny the Younger it is clear that there were many denunciations against Christians, and Emperor Trajan even decreed that anonymous denunciations should not be accepted and not allowed to proceed (Pliny the Younger: “Letters” 96 and 97).

It is argued that the First Epistle of Peter presupposes the state of things as it was in the time of Trajan.

This question can be resolved by tracing the pattern of increasing persecution and establishing the reasons that prompted the Roman Empire to do so.

1. According to Roman custom, religions were divided into two categories: religiones lycite - permitted, legal religions recognized by the state that every person could practice, and on religions illicite - prohibited by the state, the administration of which automatically placed a person outside the law, made him a criminal and an object of persecution. It should be noted, however, that the Romans were very tolerant in matters of religion and allowed any religion that did not destroy public morality and order.

2. Judaism was religious lyceum - permitted religion and at first the Romans, quite naturally, did not make any distinction between Judaism and Christianity: Christianity was for them only one of the sects of Judaism and any hostility between them, as long as it did not affect the Roman government, was considered an internal matter of the Jews. That is why in the very first days of the existence of Christianity it was not threatened by any organized persecution: it enjoyed throughout the entire Roman Empire the same freedom that was granted to Judaism, because it, too, was looked upon as at the Religious Lyceum.

3. The actions of Emperor Nero changed the situation radically. The Roman government realized that Judaism and Christianity were different religions. It is true that Emperor Nero initially persecuted Christians not because they were Christians, but because they set fire to Rome, but nevertheless, the fact remains that at this time the Roman government realized that Christianity was an independent religion.

4. From this it immediately and inevitably followed that Christianity is a forbidden religion and that every Christian is outside the law. From the works of the Roman historian Suetonius Tranquillus, who gives a kind of list of laws issued by Nero, it is clear that this is exactly what happened.

During his reign, many abuses were prohibited and strictly punished, many laws were issued, luxury was limited, national festivities were replaced by the distribution of food, in taverns it was forbidden to sell boiled food, except for vegetables and herbs - previously they sold any food there. Christians were punished, adherents of a new and harmful superstition, the amusements of charioteers were prohibited, who, citing the long standing, believed that they had the right to rush at full speed and, for fun, deceived and robbed passers-by. Pantomime actors and their fans were expelled from the city.

We have quoted this passage in its entirety because it proves that in the time of the Emperor Nero, the punishment of Christians became a common practice of the police, and by the time of the Emperor Trajan it was already a crime to simply be a Christian. At all times after Emperor Nero, a Christian could be tortured and killed simply for his faith.

This does not mean, however, that the persecution was consistent and constant, but it does mean that a Christian could be executed at any time if it was in the interests of the police. In some places a Christian could live his whole life in peace, while in another place outbreaks of persecution and persecution could be repeated every few months; everything depended, to a large extent, on two reasons: firstly, on the local ruler himself, who could either leave the Christians alone or use the law against them; secondly, from informers, even if the ruler did not want to start persecuting Christians. When he received denunciations against Christians, he had to act. And it also happened that when the crowd was thirsty for blood, the massacre of Christians began to decorate the Roman holiday.

The position of Christians in relation to Roman law can be shown by a simple modern example. There are a number of actions that are in themselves illegal. Let's take, for example, such a trifle as illegally stopping a car, which can go unpunished for a long time, but if traffic police officers decide to spend a week monitoring compliance with traffic rules, or such a violation will lead to serious consequences, or someone complains in writing about the facts of such violation, the law will come into force and appropriate fines and penalties will be imposed. Christians throughout the Roman Empire were in the same position—they were all lawbreakers. Maybe in some places no measures were taken against them, but a kind of sword of Damocles was constantly hanging over them. No one could know when some kind of denunciation would come against them; no one could know when the governor or ruler would take appropriate action on such a denunciation; no one knew when he would die. And this situation has not stopped since the persecution of Nero.

Now let's look at the situation reflected in the first letter of Peter. Readers and recipients of the message suffered from various trials (1,6); their faith may be subjected, like metal, to the test of fire (1,7). It is clear that they have just gone through a campaign of slander in which ignorant and unfounded accusations were made against them (2,12; 2,15; 3,16; 4,4). They were at the center of a wave of persecution directed against them (4,12.14.16; 5,9). They still have to suffer and they should not be surprised by this (4,12). But such suffering should give them a feeling of bliss, for they suffer for the truth (3,14.17), and the consciousness that they participate in the sufferings of Christ (4,13). There is no need to attribute this situation only to the era of the Emperor Trajan: this was the situation in which Christians found themselves every day in all parts of the Roman Empire from the very moment their true position was established during the persecutions of Nero. The scope of the persecutions reflected in the First Epistle of Peter is not at all determined by the era of Emperor Trajan and, therefore, there is no reason to attribute the writing of the letter specifically to it.

Honor the King

We will look at some more arguments from people who cannot agree that Peter is the author of the epistle. They argue that in the situation that prevailed during the era of Emperor Nero, Peter could not write such lines: “Be subject therefore to every human authority, for the Lord: whether to the king, as the supreme authority, or to the rulers, as those sent from him to punish criminals and for encouragement of those who do good..., fear God, honor the king" (1 Pet. 2:13-17). But the fact is that exactly the same point of view is expressed in Rome. 13.17. The entire New Testament, with the exception of Revelation, in which Rome is damned, teaches that Christians should be faithful citizens and, by their excellent behavior, prove the falsehood of the charges brought against them (1 Pet. 2:15). Even in times of persecution, a Christian recognized his duty to be a good citizen, and as the only defense against persecution, he could prove by his high citizenship that he did not deserve such treatment.

Sermon and message

What is the view of those who cannot believe that Peter was the author of the letter?

First, it has been suggested that the opening greeting (1,1.2) and final greetings (5,12-14) are later additions and not parts of the original message.

It has even been suggested that 1 Peter, as we have it today, was composed of two separate and completely different letters. At 4.11 a doxology is placed, which usually comes at the end of the epistle, and therefore it is assumed that 1,3-4,11 — This is the first part included in the general message. This portion of 1 Peter is believed to be a sermon given during baptismal procedures. It really talks about baptism that will save us (3,21), and advice to slaves, wives and husbands (2,18 — 3, 7) would be very appropriate where people join the Christian Church directly from paganism and enter into a new Christian life.

It is further suggested that the second part of the message is 4,12 — 5,11, represents the main part of a separate pastoral letter, written to strengthen and comfort the flock in an era of persecution (4,12-19). At such times, pastors played a very important role; the strength of the Church depended on them. The author of the pastoral letter expresses concern that self-interest and arrogance are creeping into the souls of the flock (5,1-3) and calls on his flock to faithfully perform their duty (5,4). According to these people, the First Epistle of Peter is composed of two completely independent parts - a sermon at a baptismal ceremony and a pastoral letter from the era of persecution of Christians, to whom Peter allegedly had no message.

Asia Minor, not Rome

If the First Epistle of Peter is in one part a sermon for the procedure of baptism, and in the other a pastoral letter of the era of persecution of Christians, then the question arises about where it was written. If Peter did not write the letter, then there is no need to connect it with Rome, why the Roman church did not know and did not study it.

Let's compare some facts.

a) Pontus, Galatia, Cappadocia, Asia and Bithynia (1,1) are situated in Asia Minor and are located around Sinop.

b) The first to quote a significant part of the First Epistle of Peter is Polycarp, Bishop of Smyrna, and Smyrna is located in Asia Minor.

c) Certain phrases in 1 Peter immediately bring to mind similar phrases in other books of the New Testament. IN 1 Pet. 5.13 The church is called “chosen,” and in 2 John 13, The church is described as a "chosen sister." And in 1 Pet. 1.8 This is what it says about Jesus: “Whom, having not seen, you love, and whom, having not yet seen, but believing in Him, you rejoice with joy unspeakable and full of glory.” And this, quite naturally, turns our thoughts to the words of Jesus spoken to Thomas in the Gospel of John: “Blessed are those who have not seen and yet have believed”

(John 20:29). The author of the First Epistle of Peter calls on shepherds to shepherd the flock of God (1 Pet. 5:2). And this turns our thoughts to the words of Jesus, spoken to Peter: “Feed My sheep.” (John 21:15-17) and to the farewell instruction given by Paul to the elders of Ephesus to shepherd the Church of the Lord and God, of which the Holy Spirit has made them stewards (Acts 20:28). In other words, 1 Peter evokes the Gospel of John, the Epistles of John, and Paul's Letter to the Ephesians. The Gospel of John and the Epistles of John were written in Ephesus, which is located in Asia Minor.

One gets the impression that the First Epistle of Peter is connected primarily with Asia Minor.

The Reason for Writing the First Epistle of Peter

If we assume that 1 Peter was written in Asia Minor, what could be the reason for its writing?

It was written during the era of persecution of Christians. From the letters of Pliny the Younger we learn that in 112. there was severe persecution in Bethany, and Bithynia is listed among the provinces to which the letter was addressed. It can be assumed that the letter was written to inspire courage in the hearts of Christians. It may well be that at that time in Asia Minor someone came across these two texts and sent them in the name of Peter. No one would look at it as a fake. In both Jewish and Greek practice there was a custom of attributing books to great authors.

Author of the First Epistle of Peter

If the First Epistle of Peter was not written by Peter himself, is it possible to determine who its author was? Let's go through some of its most important features.

Above we assumed that it was written in Asia Minor. As can be seen from the message itself, its author was supposed to be shepherd and witness the sufferings of Christ (1 Pet. 5:1). Was there a person in Asia Minor who met these requirements? Papias, who was Bishop of Hierapolis in Phrygia about 170 and who spent his life collecting information about the early days of the Christian Church, gives the following account of his methods of investigation and sources:

I will not hesitate and will write down for you, along with my comments, everything that I learned with suffering and remembered with suffering from pastors and elders, having verified the accuracy... and also if anyone has met people who were truly followers of pastors or elders, I asked about the sayings of the shepherds... what Andrew and Peter, or Philip, or Thomas, or James or John or Matthew, or any other of the disciples of the Lord said, and also what Aristian or the presbyter John, the disciples of the Lord, said... For I believe that everything I learned from books will not bring me as much benefit as the utterance of a living voice that was still with us.

Here we are talking about a shepherd named Aristian, who was a disciple of the Lord and, therefore, a witness to the suffering of the Lord. Doesn't this connect with the First Epistle of Peter?

Aristian of Smirnsky

In the "Apostolic Constitution" we find the name of one of the first bishops of Smyrna - Ariston - the same as Aristian. Well, who is the first to quote the First Epistle of Peter? None other than Polycarp, the later Bishop of Smyrna. But this is the most natural thing that Polycarp quotes, one might say, a pious classic work of his native church.

Let us turn to the messages to the seven churches in the Revelation of John and read the letter to the church in Smyrna:

Do not be afraid of anything that you will have to endure. Behold, the devil will cast you from among you into prison to tempt you, and you will have tribulation for ten days. Be faithful until death, and I will give you the crown of life (Rev. 2:10).

Perhaps this is the same persecution that was reflected in the First Epistle of Peter? And perhaps it was precisely this persecution that was the reason for the writing of a pastoral letter by Aristian, Bishop of Smyrna, which later became part of the First Epistle of Peter?

B. G. Streeter thinks so. He believes that the First Epistle of Peter was composed of a sermon and a pastoral epistle written by Aristianus, Bishop of Smyrna. The pastoral letter, according to Streeter, was originally written to comfort and encourage Christians in Smyrna when the church was threatened by the persecutions mentioned in Revelation in 90 AD. This work of Aristian became a classic, pious and beloved work in the Smyrna church. More than twenty years later, cruel persecution broke out in Bithynia and spread throughout the northern part of Asia Minor. Then someone remembered Aristian’s message and his sermon, thought that this was exactly what the Church needed in the era of trials of that time, and sent them out under the name of Peter, the great apostle.

Apostolic Letter

We have fully presented two views on the authorship, dating, and origins of 1 Peter. No one disputes the originality of B. G. Streeter's theory, nor the arguments of the proponents of a later date, which must be taken into account. We believe, however, that there is no reason to doubt that the epistle was written by Peter himself, shortly after the great fire of Rome and the persecution of Christians, to encourage the Christians of Asia Minor to stand firm at a time when the approaching wave of persecution threatened to overwhelm them and carry away their faith .

1 Epistle of Peter Clowney Edmund

1. For whom was the message written?

Pontus, Galatia, Cappadocia, Asia and Bithynia are the provinces or regions where the Christians to whom the letter is addressed lived. If these names are used to designate Roman provinces, then in general the indicated territory covers all of Asia Minor north of the Taurus mountain range, which runs along the southern coast. It would have included most of modern Turkey. It is possible, however, that the apostle is speaking of certain regions and not of the official provinces. If this is so, then the indicated territory narrows, since the regions of Galatia and Asia were significantly smaller than the provinces that bore the same names. The possible significance of this narrowing is that some areas where Paul carried out active missionary activity remain outside it (for example: Antioch of Pisidia, Iconium, Lystra, Derbe). Paul was kept from visiting Bithynia by the Holy Spirit - perhaps this area was intended for someone else. The early Church historian Eusebius suggests that Peter himself may have been directly involved in the evangelization of the places he names (Acts 16:7). Obviously, Peter had reason to appeal to the Christians of these, and not any other provinces or regions (he does not mention Lycia, Pamphylia or Cilicia - the provinces lying south of the Taurus Mountains). Therefore, the assumption that he is referring to those areas in Asia Minor in which his own ministry played a large role, and not the missionary activity of Paul, seems quite convincing.

Pontus and Bithynia, located on the Black Sea coast, are named separately, despite the fact that they were united into one Roman province. It has been suggested that Peter starts from Pontus and ends in Bithynia, since this represents the route that Silas or whoever is entrusted with carrying the letter would have to take: the messenger could begin his mission at Amisus, the furthest eastern part of Pontus on the Black Sea, and end it at Chalcedon in Bithynia. From there he would cross to Byzantium, where he could board a ship bound for Rome.

The geographic areas whose inhabitants Peter addressed were a “fantastic conglomeration of territories”: coastal areas, mountain ranges, plateaus, lakes and river systems. The population was even more varied. It consisted of people with “different origins, ethnic roots, languages, traditions, beliefs and political developments.” Galatia got its name from the name of the tribe that lived in this area; until the 4th century the Gaulish language was still spoken there. Luke mentions the language of Lycaonia, which was spoken by the inhabitants of Lystra (Acts 14:11). There were quite a lot of Jews in Asia Minor. Jews from Cappadocia, Pontus, and Asia were also in Jerusalem during the Feast of Pentecost and heard Peter preach (Acts 2:9). Those of them who converted to Christianity, returning to their provinces, could well begin to spread the Gospel there.

If the spread of the Christian faith in these regions followed the pattern of Paul's missionary policies, we can assume that the first churches were founded in urban centers and that Jewish believers (along with Gentile Judaism ["God-fearing"] followers) formed the original core of numerous house churches and communities. A significant part of the population, however, were peasants; the center of Asia Minor was dotted with many settlements of various tribes, where Roman culture practically did not reach. The Christian gospel first found an active response among these Asia Minor tribes. The dramatic events that happened to Paul and Barnabas in Lystra reflect the unique reception of the Gospel in areas that were very little touched by the spirit of Hellenism (Acts 14:8-18).

Peter's heartfelt words about the Church allow us to conclude that the apostle is addressing the entire Church, and not just any particular group of the Christian community. He writes not only to those who were “strangers” in these lands in the literal sense, not only to Jewish believers. This last consideration has long remained a subject of debate. If Peter was writing to the converted Jews, then it is obvious that these were Jews who had long ago departed from their commandments, since he speaks of “the vain life handed down to you from your fathers” (1:18), and the depravity of their way of life, which consisted of that they “acted according to the will of the pagans, indulging in uncleanness, lust (sodomy, bestiality, thoughts), drunkenness, excess in food and drink, and absurd idolatry” (4:3). If these words describe the Jews, then what was their fall! But even if they led the lifestyle of perfect pagans, it is unlikely that Peter would say that such a lifestyle was handed down to them from their fathers. All the more incomprehensible would be the surprise of our pagan neighbors that the Jews who had apostatized from their faith returned to the moral precepts of Judaism. This is why it may be taken for granted that Peter was writing to churches which he believed to be largely Gentile. The fact that the apostle often turns to Scripture shows in him a man who received the usual education for a Jew, but this in no way testifies to the same background among his listeners. Paul's letters to the predominantly Gentile churches are also replete with quotations from the Old Testament.

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1. This Epistle Was Really Written by Paul The early church never questioned the authenticity of the three Pastoral Epistles. The first references to them are found in the Corinthian letter of Clement of Rome, dated 95 AD. e., in the letters of Ignatius and Polycarp,

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For what purpose was the message written? From the above it is clear that there are different points of view regarding the purpose of the message. This is discussed in more detail in a number of commentaries on 1 Pet. For the purposes of this commentary, we consider it sufficient to dwell on the words of Peter,

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Where and when was this message written? Jude does not provide any information about his whereabouts during the period of writing the letter. From 1 Cor. 9:5 We know that the Lord's brothers traveled widely preaching the gospel, so any assumptions we make will be speculative.

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19. Pilate also wrote the inscription and placed it on the cross. It was written: Jesus of Nazareth, King of the Jews. 20. This inscription was read by many of the Jews, because the place where Jesus was crucified was not far from the city, and it was written in Hebrew, Greek, and Roman. 21. The high priests

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2. Did what is written about in the Bible actually happen? People never commit evil so completely and with such readiness as when they do it for religious reasons. Blaise Pascal Anyone who reads the biblical accounts of the conquest of Canaan today inevitably wonders:

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When was the Gospel of Thomas written? Most of the codices that make up the Nag Hammadi library date from the second half of the 4th century, although the contents of many of these books are, of course, older. The codex containing the Gospel of Thomas probably belongs to the first

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ORIGINAL MESSAGE, WRITTEN BY CLEMENT, METROPOLITAN OF THE RUSSIAN, FOM?, NICKNOW OF SMOLENSK, INTERPRETED BY ATHONASIUS MNICHOM Lord, bless, father! Honor the scripture of your love, even if it were not fast, it was considered and in the rite of remembrance, s? I marveled at the prudence

The apostle describes those to whom he writes and greets them (vv. 1, 2), blesses God for their rebirth to the living hope of eternal salvation (vv. 3-5), shows them that in the hope of this salvation they have great reason to rejoice, although they have experienced momentary difficulties and tribulations for the testing of their faith, which should produce inexpressible and glorious joy, v. 6-9. This is the very salvation which the ancient prophets foretold, and into which the angels desired to penetrate, v. 10-12. He calls them to chastity and holiness, based on the precious blood of Christ, the price of man's redemption (v. 13-21), and to brotherly love, based on their regeneration and the excellence of their spiritual condition, v. 22-25.

Verses 1-2. The header contains three parts:

1. Named Peter. His first name was Simon, and Jesus Christ gave him another name, Peter, meaning stone, in praise of his faith, and as a sign that he would be one of the eminent pillars of the Church of God, Gal. 2:9.

2. According to his rank, Apostle of Jesus Christ. This word means one sent, ambassador, messenger, one who is sent in the name of Jesus Christ for His work; but in a more strict sense it is the highest rank in the Christian Church. 1 Corinthians 12:28: Some God appointed first apostles in the Church... Their dignity and excellence is this: they were chosen directly by Christ Himself; they were the first witnesses and then preachers of the resurrection of Christ and the entire gospel dispensation; they had excellent, extraordinary gifts; had the power to perform miracles, not at all times, but when it pleased Christ; they were initiated into all truth and were gifted with the spirit of prophecy; had the power and right to judge more than all others; each apostle was an ecumenical bishop in all churches and over all ministers. Peter with humility:

(1) Establishes his dignity as an apostle. It follows that a person has the right to recognize himself, and sometimes is obliged to defend the gifts given to him by God. To claim what we do not have is hypocrisy, and to deny what we have is ingratitude.

(2) Mentions his apostolic duties, which give him the right and call upon him to write this epistle. Note; all, and especially ministers, must take very seriously the authority and calling they have received from God. This will be their justification to others and will give them inner support and consolation in all dangers and disappointments.

II. Those to whom this message was addressed are described.

1. External conditions of their life - Aliens scattered in Pontus, Galatia..., and beyond. These were mainly Jews, descendants of the Jews (according to Dr. Pridex), resettled from Babylon to the cities of Asia Minor by order of the Syrian king Antiochus about two hundred years before the coming of Christ. It is likely that Peter, being the apostle of the circumcision, was among them and converted them to Christ, and that he subsequently wrote this letter to them from Babylon, where many Jews lived at that time. At present, poverty and sorrow were their lot.

(1.) The best of God's servants, in periods of difficult circumstances permitted by Providence, may find themselves scattered, forced to leave their native places. Those whom the whole world was not worthy of had to wander through deserts and mountains, through caves and gorges of the earth.

(2) Special attention is to be given to the persecuted and scattered servants of God. Such were the subject of the apostle's special care and compassion. We must show respect to the saints according to their merits and their needs.

(3) The worth of virtuous people should not be judged by their actual external condition. In this case they were a number of excellent people, beloved of God, and yet they were strangers, scattered in the world, poor; the eye of God was over them wherever they were, and the apostle, showing tender concern for them, wrote to them for the purpose of instruction and consolation.

2. Their spiritual state is also described: ... chosen according to the foreknowledge of God the Father ... and further. These poor strangers, despised and oppressed in this world, were nevertheless very valuable in the eyes of the great God, and occupied the most honorable position that can be had in this world, for they were:

(1) Chosen according to the foreknowledge of God the Father. Election happens either to serve, so God chose Saul to be king (1 Samuel 10:24), and our Lord says to His apostles: ...Have I not chosen you twelve? (John 6:70);

or to belonging to the Church, to having special privileges; so Israel was God's chosen people (Deuteronomy 7:6): For you are a holy people to the Lord your God; The Lord your God has chosen you to be His own people out of all the nations that are on the earth; or to eternal salvation: ...God has chosen you from the beginning through sanctification of the Spirit and faith in the truth for salvation, 2 Thessalonians 2:13. By election, as here mentioned, is meant the gracious determination of God to save some, and to bring them, through Christ, by appropriate means, to eternal life.

This election is said to take place according to the foreknowledge of God the Father. Foreknowledge can be understood in two ways.

Firstly, As simple foreknowledge, foreknowledge or understanding of a future event before it occurs. This is how mathematicians can accurately predict the time of a solar eclipse. God has such foreknowledge; He penetrates with one powerful glance into everything that was, what is and what will someday be. But such foreknowledge is not the cause causing this or that event, although it is quite definite; mathematicians who predict an eclipse cannot cause this eclipse with their prediction.

Secondly, Foreknowledge sometimes signifies counsel, determination, and approval (Acts 2:23): Now, according to the express counsel and foreknowledge of God... The death of Christ was not only foretold, but foreordained, v. 20. Let us here use the second sense of the word, and the verse would then read thus: Chosen by the counsel, predestination, and independent grace of God.

The Apostle adds - according to the foreknowledge of God the Father. By the Father we must here understand the first Person of the blessed Trinity. There is a certain order among these three Persons, although there is no superiority; they are equal in power and glory, all their actions are coordinated. Thus, in the work of man's redemption, election is attributed to the Father, reconciliation to the Son, and sanctification to the Holy Spirit, although in none of these actions does any one Person participate so completely as to exclude the participation of the other two. In this way the Persons of the blessed Trinity are most clearly revealed to us, and we learn what we owe to each of them.

(2.) They were chosen by sanctification of the Spirit, to obedience and sprinkling of the blood of Jesus Christ. The purpose and final result of election is eternal life and salvation, but before this can be accomplished, every elect person must be sanctified by the Holy Spirit and justified by the Blood of Christ. God's determination of human salvation is always carried out through sanctification from the Spirit and sprinkling with the Blood of Jesus. By sanctification here is meant real sanctification, beginning with regeneration, by which we are renewed in the image of God and made new creatures, and continuing in the daily exercise of holiness, in the constant, ever-increasing mortification of sins, and in living for God in all the duties of the Christian life. , which is expressed here in one word - obedience, which includes all Christian duties. Some believe that by the Spirit the apostle means the spirit of man, the object of sanctification. The Old Testament, or typical, sanctification did not produce anything more than the cleansing of the flesh, but the New Testament affects the spirit of man and cleanses it. Others, with greater reason, believe that the Spirit here means the Holy Spirit, the author of sanctification. He renews the mind, mortifies our sins (Rom. 8:13), and produces His excellent fruit in the hearts of Christians, Gal. 5:22,23. Sanctification by the Spirit involves the use of means. Sanctify them through Thy truth: Thy word is truth, John 17:17. To obedience. This word relates to the previous phrase, and indicates the purpose of sanctification, which is to bring stubborn sinners to obedience, to general obedience, to obedience to the truth and the gospel of Christ: Having purified your souls by obedience to the truth through the Spirit, v. 22.

(3) They were also chosen to be sprinkled with the blood of Jesus Christ. According to God's determination they were intended to be sanctified by the Spirit and cleansed by the merits and blood of Christ. Here is a clear allusion to the typical sprinkling of blood during the time of the law, the language of which the Jewish converts understood very well. The blood of the sacrifice had to not only be shed, but also sprinkled with it as a sign that the blessings associated with it were attributed to the person who offered the sacrifice and imputed to him. So the Blood of Christ, the great and all-sufficient sacrifice, typified by the Old Testament sacrifices, was not only shed, but must be sprinkled with it and each of the elect Christians must partake of it, so that in His Blood through faith they may receive forgiveness of sins, Rom. 3:25. This sprinkling of blood justifies a man before God, Rom. 5:9; seals the covenant between God and us, of which the Lord's supper is a sign, Luke 22:20; cleanses us from all sin (1 John 1:7) and gives us access to heaven, Heb 10:19. Please note:

God has chosen some for eternal life, some, not all; individuals, not denominations.

All who are chosen to eternal life as the end are chosen to obedience as the means to that end.

Without sanctification by the Spirit and sprinkling of the Blood of Jesus there will be no true obedience in life.

In the matter of human salvation, there is agreement and cooperation of all three Persons of the Trinity, their actions are coordinated with each other: whom the Father has chosen, the Holy Spirit sanctifies him to obedience, and the Son redeems and sprinkles him with His blood.

The doctrine of the Trinity lies at the basis of all revealed religion. If you deny the deity of the Son and the Holy Spirit, you invalidate the atonement of the One and the gracious works of the Other, and thus destroy the foundation of your own security and comfort.

1. Grace is the independent favor of God with all its manifestations: forgiveness, healing, support and salvation.

2. Peace. All kinds of peace may be meant here: domestic, civil, church peace, and spiritual peace with God, accompanied by a sense of it in our own conscience.

3. There is also a petition or prayer here concerning these blessings, that they may increase; this means that these blessings have already occurred to some extent, and Peter wants them to continue, increase and improve. Remember:

(1) Those who have spiritual blessings have a sincere desire to impart them to others. God's grace is generous, not selfish.

(2.) The best blessing we can wish for ourselves or our friends is grace and peace, and their increase, which is why the apostle so often includes prayers for these things at the beginning and end of his epistles.

(3) Where there is no true grace, there cannot be true peace, first grace and then peace. Peace without grace is simply an absurdity, but grace can be present even when peace is temporarily absent, as it was, for example, with Heman when he was confused by great fear, and with Christ when He was in great struggle.

(4) As the first gift of peace and grace, so is the increase of them from God. Where He gives true grace, there He will send it in even greater measure, and every good person earnestly desires the improvement and multiplication of these blessings both to himself and to others.

Verses 3-5. We have come to the main part of the message, which begins I. With congratulations to the believers, in the form of thanksgiving to God, on their high and blessed position. The other epistles begin in a similar manner, 2 Cor. 1:3; Eph 1:3. Here we see:

1. Fulfilling the duty of blessing God. By recognizing his superior and blessed position, a person thereby blesses God.

2. The object of this blessing, described by the relation He has to Jesus Christ: the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ. The three names of one Person given here signify His threefold ministry.

(1) He is the Lord - King of the universe.

(2) Jesus is the High Priest, or Savior.

(3) Christ the prophet, anointed with the Holy Spirit and filled with all the gifts necessary for the instruction, guidance and salvation of His Church. The God thus glorified is the God of Christ's human nature and the Father of His divine nature.

3. The reason obliging us to the duty of blessing God; it lies in His great mercy. We owe all our blessings, in particular rebirth, not to our own merits, but to the mercy of God. He has regenerated us, and this deserves our gratitude to God, especially considering what fruit it produces within us - the excellent gift of hope, hope not vain, not dead, not that perishing hope that worldly people and hypocrites have, but a living hope, strong , life-giving and enduring, as hope should be, having such a solid foundation as the resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead. Let's remember:

(1.) The condition of a true Christian is never so bad that he has no great cause for glorifying God. Just as a sinner always has a reason to weep, despite his prosperity in this life, so a virtuous person, experiencing many difficulties, nevertheless has a reason to rejoice and praise God.

(2) In our petitions and thanksgivings we must address God as the Father of our Lord Jesus Christ; it is only through Christ that God accepts us and our ministry.

(3.) The best of men owe their best blessings to the abounding mercy of God. All evil in the world comes from human sin, and all good comes from God's mercy. Rebirth, as well as everything else, is attributed quite clearly to the great mercy of God; we exist solely by His grace. Read about the nature of regeneration in John 3:3.

(4) Regeneration produces a living hope of eternal life. Every unconverted man is a man without hope, and all his pretensions to any such thing are but presumption and presumption. The true hope of a Christian is that to which the Spirit of God regenerates a person; This birth is not from nature, but from grace. Those born to a new, spiritual life are also born to a new, spiritual hope.

(5) The excellence of the Christian's hope is that it is a living hope. The hope of eternal life keeps the true Christian alive, encourages him, supports him, and leads him to heaven. It gives strength and inspiration for work, patience, perseverance and loyalty to the end. The illusory hopes of the unregenerate are vain and short-lived; the hope of the hypocrite dies with him, Job 27:8.

(6) The resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead is the basis of the Christian's hope. The resurrection of Jesus Christ is the act of God as Judge and the Son as conqueror. His resurrection proves that the Father accepted His death as the full price of our redemption, that He was victorious over death, hell, and all our spiritual enemies; moreover, it is a guarantee of our own resurrection. Since there is an inextricable connection between Christ and His sheep, they will be resurrected by the power of His resurrection as their Head, and not by the power of Him as the Judge. We have been raised with Christ..., Col 3:1. From all this we can conclude that Christians have two solid and unshakable foundations on which to build their hope for eternal life.

II. After congratulating his readers on their regeneration and hope of eternal life, the apostle goes on to describe this life as an inheritance; this was the most appropriate turn of phrase for these people, for they were poor, persecuted, and probably deprived of their earthly inheritance, which they possessed by right of birth; to alleviate this sorrow, the apostle tells them that they are restored to a new inheritance, incomparably better than what they lost. Moreover, most of them were Jews and were very attached to Canaan, the land of their inheritance, bequeathed to them by God Himself; they considered their expulsion from God's inheritance as a severe punishment, 1 Samuel 26:19. To console them, the apostle reminds them of the wonderful inheritance laid up for them in heaven, such that in comparison with it the land of Canaan was but a pale shadow. Notice here:

1. Heaven is the indisputable inheritance of all the children of God; All who are born again are born to an inheritance, just as a man makes his children his heirs: If children, then heirs..., Rom 8:17. God gives His gifts to everyone, but the inheritance only to His children; all who become sons and daughters of God by being born again and adopting sons receive the promise of eternal life, Heb. 9:15. This inheritance is not our acquisition, it is God's gift, it is not a reward deserved by us, but the fruit of grace, which first makes us children of God, and then bequeaths this inheritance to us according to a firm, unchangeable covenant.

2. Four excellent qualities of this inheritance:

(1) It is incorruptible and in this sense like its Creator, called incorruptible God in Rom. 1:23. All corruption is a change from better to worse, but heaven does not change and does not end, the heavenly house is eternal and its owners will abide in it forever, for this corruptible must put on incorruptibility..., 1 Cor 15:53.

(2.) This inheritance is pure, as is the great High Priest who now possesses it, holy, free from evil, blameless..., Heb. 7:26. There is no place for sin and suffering, those two great defilements that spoil the world and distort its beauty.

(3) It does not fade, but always retains its strength and beauty, always remains incorruptible and gives joy and pleasure to the saints who possess it, without causing them the slightest fatigue or displeasure.

(4) Kept in heaven for you. This phrase tells us

That the inheritance is glorious, for it is in heaven, and everything that is in heaven is glorious, Eph. 1:18.

That it is securely guarded and preserved until the day when we take possession of it.

Those for whom this inheritance is reserved are described not by their names, but by their distinctive characteristics: for you, or for us, or for everyone who is born again... to a living hope. This inheritance is reserved for them and them alone, and all others are forever excluded from it.

III. Since this inheritance is described as a future distant in time and space, the apostle admits that there may still remain in the minds of these people some doubts or worries, as if they might fall on the way. “Although this bliss is reserved in heaven, we still live on earth and are subject to many temptations, sufferings and infirmities. Is our position so safe that we can be sure that we will definitely come there? To this Peter replies that they will be guarded and led there; they will be protected from all harm and destructive temptations that might prevent them from safely attaining eternal life. The heir of earthly wealth is not sure that he will live to see the use of it, but the heirs of heaven will certainly be brought to their goal in complete safety. The blessing promised here is safety: you are kept, and God keeps you; the internal means employed for this purpose are our own faith and industry; the purpose for which God preserves us is our salvation; the time when we will reach a happy end and completion of all things is the last time. Please note:

1. God cares so tenderly for His children, that He not only gives them grace, but also preserves them to glory. The fact that they are observed means both the presence of dangers and the removal of them; they may be attacked, but they will not be defeated.

2. The preservation of the regenerated to eternal life is the work of God's power. The greatness of this task, the number of enemies and our own infirmities are such that no power except the almighty is able to preserve the soul to salvation; therefore the Holy Scriptures often present the salvation of man as the work of God's power, 2 Cor. 12:9; Rom 14:4.

3. Compliance with the power of God does not at all exclude the efforts of the person himself and his concern for his own salvation; both God's power and human faith are necessary, which includes a sincere desire to be saved, trust in Christ based on His invitations and promises; vigilant care to please God in everything and avoid everything that offends Him; rejecting temptations, looking to rewards and constant diligence in prayer. By such patient, active, conquering faith, with the assistance of the grace of God, we are kept to salvation; faith is the excellent guardian of the soul on its way through the state of grace to the state of glory.

4. This salvation is ready to be revealed in the last time. There are three statements here concerning the salvation of the saints:

(1.) That it is already prepared and stored in heaven.

(2.) That although it is ready, yet it remains in a great measure hidden, not only from the ignorant and blind world, which never takes an interest in it, but even from the heirs of salvation themselves. ...It has not yet been revealed what we will..., 1 John 3:2.

(3) That it will be fully revealed at the last time, or at the last day of judgment. The gospel has brought life and immortality, but this life will be revealed in all its glory on the day of death, when the soul is admitted into the presence of Christ and beholds His glory; and after this there will be an even greater and final revelation of the blessedness of the saints on the last day, when their bodies will be resurrected and united with their souls, when judgment will be completed on angels and men and Christ will clearly glorify His servants in the face of the whole world.

Verses 6-9. The first words of this passage, about this, refer to Peter's previous discussions about the excellence of the present condition of believers and about their great hopes for the future. Rejoice in this, having now been grieved a little, if necessary, by various temptations, v. 6.

I. The apostle acknowledges that they are in great distress, and offers them remedies to alleviate their afflictions.

1. Every true Christian always has something in which he can find great joy. Great joy involves more than inner peace or comfort; it is expressed in facial expression and behavior, but especially in praise and gratitude.

2. A good Christian finds the main source of joy in the spiritual, heavenly, in his relationship to God and heaven. This is the great joy of every sound Christian; it arises from his treasury, which contains objects of the greatest value, and the right to them is guaranteed to him.

3. The best Christians, who have reason for great joy, may nevertheless be subject to great difficulties due to many temptations. Any misfortunes are temptations, or tests of faith, patience and fidelity. They rarely come one at a time, more often there are many of them, and they attack from different sides, all together creating great sorrows. Like all people, we are subject to personal and family sorrows. Our duty to God as Christians causes frequent sorrows: our compassion for the unfortunate, the dishonor of the name of God, the disasters of His Church, and the destruction of the human race due to its own madness and God's retribution, causes almost constant sadness in noble and pious souls. I have great sorrow and continual torment of my heart, Rom. 9:2.

4. The grief and sorrow of good people are short-lived, although they can be very cruel, they do not last long. Life itself is short-lived, and the sorrows associated with it cannot survive it; the brevity of any misfortune greatly moderates its severity.

5. Great sorrows are often necessary for the good of a Christian: ... having now grieved a little, if necessary... God does not grieve His children according to His will, but acts with prudence, in accordance with our needs. Sorrows are useful, nay, absolutely necessary, for this is the meaning of this expression: it must be so; Therefore, no one should be shaken in these tribulations: for you yourselves know that this is how we are destined, 1 Thessalonians 3:3. The sorrows that burden us will never come to us unless we need them, and will never last longer than necessary.

II. The apostle explains for what purpose afflictions are sent to them and what reason they have to rejoice in them, v. 7. The tribulations of the righteous are intended to test their faith. The essence of this test comes down to ensuring that faith turns out to be more precious than gold that perishes, although it is tested by fire. The result of this test will be praise and honor and glory at the appearing of Jesus Christ. Note:

1. The tribulations of serious Christians are designed to test their faith. God allows His children to suffer in order to test them, and not to crush them, for their benefit, and not for their destruction; trial, as the word means, is an experiment carried out on a person, or an examination of him through tribulation, in order to determine the value and strength of his faith. It is primarily faith that is tested, and not other virtues, since the test of faith is, in essence, a test of everything good that is in us. Our Christianity depends on our faith; if it is lacking, then there is no other spiritual good in us. Christ prayed for His apostles, so that their faith would not fail; if faith stands, everything else will stand firm; The faith of virtuous people is tested for the purpose that they themselves may find consolation in it, so that God may be glorified through it, and others may benefit from it.

2. Faith tested is far more precious than tested gold. There is a double comparison here: between faith and gold, and also between the trials of both. Gold is the most precious, pure, useful and durable of all metals; faith occupies the same place among Christian virtues; it remains until it brings the soul into heaven, and then passes into the glorious eternal possession of God. The test of faith is much more precious than the test of gold; in both cases, purification occurs, impurities are separated and valuable properties of the tested objects are revealed. But gold, when tested by fire, does not increase or multiply, but rather decreases; faith is confirmed, improved and multiplied in adversity and in the opposition it encounters. Gold eventually perishes - perishing gold, but faith never does. I have prayed for you, so that your faith will not fail...Luke 22:32. The test of faith will lead to praise, honor and glory. Honor is, in fact, the respect that one shows to another; This is exactly the honor that the saints will receive from God and people. Praise is an expression of this respect; Christ will express the praise of His children on the great day: Come, ye blessed of My Father... Glory is the radiance with which a person who has been worthy of honor and praise will shine in heaven. Glory and honor and peace to everyone who does good...Rom 2:10. If tried faith is to praise, honor and glory, let it make you value it as more precious than gold, although it is tested in tribulations. However you evaluate them, faith and gold, from the point of view of real benefit or final result, you will find that this is really so, although the world considers it an unheard-of paradox.

4. Jesus Christ will appear again in glory, and when He appears in this way, the saints will appear with Him, and then their virtues will shine forth; and the more they have been tried, the more brightly will they shine. The trials will end soon, but the glory, honor and praise will last for all eternity. This should reconcile you to your present afflictions: they are producing for you eternal glory in an exceeding abundance.

III. He approves of the faith of these early Christians for the following two reasons:

1. Because of the superiority of the object of their faith, the invisible Jesus. The apostle saw our Lord in the flesh, but these scattered Jews had never seen him, and yet they believed in him, v. 8. It is one thing to believe in God, or in Christ (as demons believe), and another thing is to believe in Him, that is, to submit, trust in Him and expect from Him all the promised benefits.

2. Because of the wonderful fruits, or manifestations of them, faith, love of joy, their joy was so great that it surpassed any description: You rejoice with joy unspeakable and glorious. Let's remember:

(1) The Christian's faith deals with things revealed but unseen. Feelings operate with tangible, present things; the mind has abilities of a higher order, through deduction it can deduce consequences from causes and predict events; but faith rises even higher: based on trust in revelation, it gives us confidence in many things that cannot be known either by feelings or by reason; faith is confidence in the unseen.

(2) True faith never stands alone, but produces intense love for Jesus Christ. True Christians have a sincere love for Jesus because they believe in Him. This love is manifested in the highest reverence and passionate attraction for Him, in the willingness to die to be with Him, in sweet thoughts of Him, in joyful service to Him and in suffering for Him, and so on.

(3) Where there is true faith in Christ and love for Him, there is, or perhaps there is, inexpressible and glorious joy. This joy is inexpressible, it cannot be described in words, it is best known through experience; this is glorious, heavenly joy. The most perfect of Christians are already here on earth experiencing joy, in which there is much from heaven and future glory; by faith they overcome all causes of sorrow and find the best causes for joy. Although good people sometimes walk in the dark - this is often due to their own mistakes and ignorance, or a dejected state of mind, or sinful behavior, or some sad event that deprives them of peace for a time - yet they have reason to rejoice in the Lord and rejoice in the God of their salvation, Hab 3:18. The first Christians could rejoice with unspeakable joy, because every day they achieved the goal of their faith, the salvation of souls (in English translation - Translator's note), v. 9. Note:

What blessing did they achieve: the salvation of their souls (the most noble part of their being, identical to the whole person);

this salvation is here called the goal of their faith, the goal by which the work of faith is completed: when faith helps the soul to achieve salvation, then its work ends and it ceases forever.

The apostle speaks of the present tense: you now, at the present time, achieve the goal of your faith, and further.

The word used here alludes to sports games where the winner achieved, or received from the judge of the competition, a crown or reward for his victory; so the salvation of the soul was for these Christians the reward that they sought, the crown for which they labored, and the goal towards which they strove and were getting closer and closer every day. Let us remember: First, Every faithful Christian daily achieves the salvation of his soul; salvation is a continuous process, beginning in this life, uninterrupted by death, and continuing throughout eternity. These believers possessed the firstfruits of heaven on earth in the form of holiness and heavenly thoughts, the fulfillment of their duties before God and communication with Him, in the form of a pledge of inheritance and testimony of the Spirit of God. Convincing the oppressed people of this was very right; in this world they were among those who lose, but the apostle reminds them of what they have achieved; although they lost in lower blessings, they nevertheless gained the salvation of the soul. Secondly, It is lawful for a Christian to make the salvation of his own soul his aim; the glory of God and our own happiness are so connected that if we constantly seek one, we achieve the other.

Verses 10-12. The apostle characterized those to whom he wrote, and explained to them what excellent advantages they possessed; now he shows them what confirmation he had for his statements. Since they were Jews and deeply revered the Old Testament, he appeals to the authority of the prophets in order to convince them that the doctrine of salvation through faith in Jesus Christ was not a new doctrine, but the very one to which the research and research of the prophets related. Please note:

I. Who carried out these careful studies; these were prophets, that is, those whom God inspired to speak or do something extraordinary, beyond their own efforts and abilities, such as predicting future events and revealing the will of God as directed by the Holy Spirit.

II. The subject of their studies is salvation and the grace assigned to you: the general salvation of people of all nations through Jesus Christ, and especially the salvation offered to the Jews, the grace assigned to them from Him who was sent only to the lost sheep of the house of Israel. They foresaw glorious times of light, grace, and consolation awaiting the Church, and this aroused in the prophets and righteous men a desire to see and hear what happened in the days of the gospel.

III. How they researched and conducted research. These are strong and expressive words, reminding us of how miners dig very deep and break through not only the soil, but also the stone to extract ore; so these holy prophets burned with a desire to know and applied corresponding zeal in their researches of the grace of God, which was to be revealed in the days of the Messiah; the fact that they were inspired by God did not make their diligent research unnecessary, for, notwithstanding the supernatural assistance from God, they were obliged to use all the ordinary methods of improvement in wisdom and knowledge. Daniel was a man greatly loved and inspired by God, and yet he kept the number of years by books, Dan. 9:2. Even the prophets' own revelations required their study, thought, and prayer, for many prophecies had a double meaning: their first purpose was to indicate the people and events of the near future, but their ultimate purpose was to describe the person and sufferings of Christ or His kingdom. Note:

1. The doctrine of the salvation of man through Jesus Christ has been the subject of the study and admiration of the greatest and wisest men; the greatness of the subject of study and their own interest in it prompted them to enter into it with great care and seriousness.

2. The manifestations of God's mercy and grace towards others have the same effect on a good person and cause the same satisfaction in him as those applied to himself. The prophets found the highest delight in the anticipation of the grace that was to be revealed at the coming of Christ to both Jews and pagans.

3. Whoever wants to know this great salvation and the grace shining in it must diligently seek and explore; if this was necessary for the prophets, inspired by the Spirit of God, then much more for us, so weak and incapable of reasoning.

4. The grace that came with the Gospel surpasses everything that came before; the gospel dispensation is more glorious, clearer, more intelligible, more extensive, and more effectual than any that ever preceded it.

IV. What questions were mainly explored by the ancient prophets; they are given in Art. 11. Jesus Christ was the main subject of their research; What interested them most about Him was this:

1. His humiliation and death and their glorious consequences: ...Christ's sufferings and the glory that followed. These studies were to lead them to an understanding of the entire Gospel, the essence of which is that Jesus Christ was delivered for our sins and rose again for our justification.

2. When and at what time the Messiah was supposed to appear. Doubtless these holy prophets had a sincere desire to see the days of the Son of Man; therefore, after the fact, the next question upon which they meditated was the time of its fulfillment, so far as the Spirit of Christ within them gave His instructions to them concerning this matter. The nature of the time was also subjected to their serious research: whether it would be calm or anxious, a time of peace or war. Remember:

(1) Jesus Christ existed before His incarnation, for His Spirit already then dwelt in the prophets, therefore He whose Spirit it was also existed at that time.

(2) The doctrine of the Trinity was not completely unknown to the righteous of the Old Testament. The prophets knew that they were inspired by the Spirit that was in them; they knew that it was the Spirit of Christ and therefore different from Christ Himself: just as here we see several persons, so from other parts of the Old Testament we can draw conclusions about the Trinity.

(3.) The actions here attributed to the Holy Spirit prove that He is God. He pointed out, revealed and announced to the prophets, foreshadowed the sufferings of Christ many hundreds of years in advance, with many specific circumstances accompanying them; He also testified, that is, gave proof of the certainty of this event, inspiring the prophets to speak about it, to work miracles in confirmation of it, and to inspire the faithful to believe in it. These actions of the Spirit of Christ prove that He is God, since He possessed omnipotence and infinite knowledge.

(4) The example of Jesus Christ teaches us that we must serve and suffer before we can receive eternal glory. So it was with Him, and the servant is not greater than his Master. The time of suffering is short, but the glory is eternal; let the sufferings be however cruel and severe, they will not hinder us, but will produce for us eternal glory in immeasurable abundance.

V. The success with which their research was crowned. Their holy desires for enlightenment were not neglected, for God gave them revelation sufficient to calm and comfort their souls. It was revealed to them that these events should not happen in their time, but nevertheless they are all true and definite and should be realized in apostolic times: Not to themselves, but to us; and we must, under the unerring guidance of the Holy Spirit, proclaim this to the whole world. What the Angels want to penetrate, and beyond.

Here are represented three categories of students, or investigators, of the great work of salvation of the human race through Jesus Christ:

1. Prophets who carried out research and research.

2. The apostles, who consulted the prophecies, witnessed their fulfillment, and through the preaching of the Gospel proclaimed to others what they themselves knew.

3. Angels, who especially zealously sought to penetrate into these questions. Remember:

(1.) Eager pursuit of the knowledge of Christ and our duty to Him is sure to be crowned with success. The prophets were rewarded with revelations. Daniel applied diligence and acquired knowledge; Christians of Berea searched the Scriptures - and became established in the faith.

(2) The holiest and best of men are sometimes refused their lawful and pious requests. The desire of the prophets to know more about the time of Christ's appearance to the world than they were allowed was both legal and pious, but they were denied this. The prayers of good parents for their wicked children, the prayers of the poor for deliverance from want, and the prayers of good people from death are completely legitimate and pious, but even these just requests are often refused. God is more willing to respond to our needs rather than to our requests.

(3) To be more useful to others than to himself is an honor for a Christian, and something he should practice. Prophets served others, not themselves. None of us lives for ourselves, Rom 14:7. Nothing is more contrary to human nature, as well as Christian principles, than to make yourself your goal and live only for yourself.

(4) Although God gives revelations to His Church gradually, in parts, they are all in complete agreement with one another; the teaching of the prophets and the teaching of the apostles are completely consistent with each other, since they come from the same Spirit of God.

(5) The effectiveness of the gospel ministry depends on the Holy Spirit sent from heaven. Evangelism is the ministry of the Spirit, its success determined by His actions and blessings.

(6) The mysteries of the gospel and the methods of man's salvation are so glorious that the blessed angels ardently desire to penetrate into them; they diligently, carefully and inquisitively examine them, with deep attention and admiration they consider the whole plan of the redemption of mankind, in particular the questions discussed by the apostle: what the Angels wish to stoop down to penetrate, like the cherubim constantly bowing to the mercy seat of the ark.

Verses 13-23. Here the apostle addresses his exhortations to those whose glorious condition he above described, and thereby teaches us that Christianity is a doctrine of godliness, designed to make us not only wiser, but better.

I. He calls them to watchfulness and holiness.

1. Therefore, having girded the members of your mind..., v. 13. He seems to want to say: “Therefore, since you have been awarded such an honor, such a distinction, described above, gird up the loins of your mind. You must walk the path, run the distance, fight and do great work; just as a traveler, runner, warrior and worker select and gird their long and loose clothes so that they do not restrict their movements, in order to be agile and fast, so you must gird your mind, your inner man with his inclinations: gird them, collect them so they don’t hang loosely and carelessly around you; curb their extreme manifestations, and let the loins, that is, the strength and energy of your mind, be tense in the performance of your duty; free yourself from everything that may hinder you, and remain steadfast in obedience. Be vigilant, that is, be vigilant against all spiritual danger and all spiritual enemies, be moderate and modest in matters of food, drink, clothing, entertainment, in all matters and in all your conduct. Be chaste both in your views and in your practical life, humble in your judgment of yourselves.” Have complete confidence in the grace given to you at the appearing of Jesus Christ. Some refer these words to the final judgment, meaning that the apostle was directing their hope to the final revelation of Jesus Christ; but it seems more natural to understand them in the following sense (so they can be translated): “Put your confidence fully in the grace which is given to you in, or through, the revelation of Jesus Christ, that is, through the Gospel, having revealed life and immortality. Trust completely, without any doubt, in the grace now offered to you in the Gospel.” Let's remember:

(1) The chief business of the Christian is to rightly govern his heart and mind; The first command of the apostle is to gird up the loins of the mind.

(2) The best Christians need a wakefulness call. The readers of the epistle who are reminded of this were excellent Christians; this is required of the elders (1 Tim. 3:2), of the elders (Titus 2:2), young women must be taught this, and young men must be exhorted to be chaste, Titus 2:4,6.

(3) The work of a Christian does not end with entering a state of grace; he must expect even greater grace and strive to master it. Having passed through the narrow gate, he must follow the narrow path, girdling the loins of his mind for this purpose.

(4) A firm and perfect trust in God's grace in the performance of our duty is fully compatible with the most diligent efforts; we must have full confidence, and at the same time gird up our loins, and take energetic action upon the work before us, encouraged by the grace of Jesus Christ.

2. Like obedient children..., Art. 14. These words can be considered as a rule of holy living, including the positive part - “You are to live as obedient children adopted by God into His family and regenerated by His grace” - and the negative part - “...Do not be conformed to the former lusts who were in your ignorance." They can also be understood as an argument for holiness based on a comparison between what they were in the past (living in lust and ignorance) and what they have become now (obedient children). Let's remember:

(1) The children of God must prove themselves to be such by their constant and complete obedience.

(2) The best of God's children once lived in lust and ignorance; there was a time when they adapted all their life plans to their wicked desires and wicked lusts, because they were completely ignorant of God and themselves, Christ and the gospel.

(3) After conversion, people become completely different from what they were before. These are people of a different character and style of behavior, not the same as they were before; their inner mood, manners, speech and behavior are very different from before.

(4) The lusts and follies of sinners are the fruits and signs of their ignorance.

3. But, following the example of the Holy One who called you..., v. 15, 16. A very sublime rule is given, supported by strong arguments: ...be holy in all your actions. Who is capable of this? And yet it is demanded in strict terms, supported by three reasons, based on the calling of God's grace, on His command - it is written, and on His example - "Be holy, for I am holy." Let's remember:

(1.) God's grace in calling the sinner is a powerful motive to holiness. It is the great mercy of God that by His grace we have been actually called from the state of lost sinners to the possession of all the blessings of the new covenant; and great mercies are great obligations, they not only enable us, but oblige us to be saints.

(2) Perfect holiness is what every Christian should desire. Here is a double rule of holiness:

Regarding the area it should cover: it should be comprehensive. We must be holy, and in all our actions; in all civil and spiritual matters; in any conditions - favorable and unfavorable; in relationships with all people - with friends and enemies; in all relationships and business dealings we must be holy.

Regarding the model of holiness: we must be holy as God is holy, imitating Him, although we can never be equal to Him. He is completely, unchangeably, and eternally holy, and we should strive for that state. Contemplation of God's holiness should oblige us to strive for the highest degree of holiness attainable to us.

(3) The Word of God is the truest rule of Christian life, and according to this rule we must be holy in all our actions.

(4) The Old Testament commandments must be studied and obeyed also in the times of the New Testament; Demanding holiness from all Christians, the apostle cites the commandment of Moses, taught to him several times.

4. And if you call Father the One who impartially judges everyone according to their works..., v. 17. The Apostle here expresses no doubt that his readers can call God their heavenly Father, but, on the contrary, assumes that they can all undoubtedly call Him so, and on this basis urges them to pass the time of their pilgrimage with fear: “If you acknowledge the great God as your Father and Judge, then you should spend your time on earth with fear.” Let's remember:

(1.) All good Christians consider themselves strangers and strangers in this world, wandering in a far country, and going to the country to which they properly belong, Ps. 39:13; Hebrews 11:13.

(2) The entire time of our wandering here on earth must be spent in the fear of God.

(3) For those who can truly call God their Father, it is not at all wrong to honor Him as Judge. Holy confidence in God as Father and reverent fear of Him as Judge are completely compatible; it is reverence for God as Judge that makes Him dear to us as Father.

(4) The judgment of God will be without partiality: each according to his works. No external relationship with God will protect anyone; Jews can call both God Father and Abraham father, but God will be impartial, will not show favor to them for personal reasons, but will judge them according to their deeds. On the great day of judgment it will be the works of men that will reveal their true character; God will make the whole world know who belongs to Him by their works. We are called to faith, holiness and obedience, and our works will show whether we live up to this calling or not.

5. Having called upon them to pass the time of their pilgrimage with fear, on the ground that they call God the Father, the apostle adds another argument (v. 18): Knowing that you were not redeemed with corruptible things, silver or gold, etc. With these words he reminds them, (1.) That they are redeemed, that is, acquired again by paying a ransom to the Father.

(2) That the price paid for their redemption was not corruptible silver or gold... but the precious Blood of Christ.

(3) That they have been redeemed from the vain life handed down to them from their fathers.

(4) That they know about it and cannot hide behind ignorance regarding this great matter: Knowing.

Let's remember:

Contemplation of our redemption should be a constant and powerful stimulus to holiness and the fear of God.

God expects the Christian to live according to what he knows, so we are in dire need of being reminded of what we already know, Ps. 39:5.

Neither gold, nor silver, nor any other perishable things of this world are capable of redeeming a single soul. They are often snares, temptations and obstacles to a person's salvation, but in no way can they acquire it or contribute to it; they are perishable and therefore cannot redeem an incorruptible, immortal soul.

The blood of Jesus Christ is the only price for the redemption of man. The redemption of man is something real and should not be understood in some figurative sense. We have been ransomed for a price, and this price is fully in keeping with the subject of the ransom, for it is the precious Blood of Christ; it is the blood of an innocent Person, a Lamb without spot or blemish, which the Passover lamb represented, and an infinite Person, who is the Son of God, which is why this blood is called the Blood of God, Acts 20:28.

Christ’s intention in shedding His most precious Blood was to redeem man not only from eternal death beyond the grave, but also from the vain life in this world. A vain life is an empty, frivolous, petty life, which contributes neither to the glory of God nor to the honor of religion, nor to the conversion of sinners, nor to the peace and satisfaction of a person’s own conscience. Not only open wickedness, but also a vain, useless life poses a great danger.

A person’s life can have the appearance of being pious, can be justified by references to antiquity, customs, traditions, but, despite all this, remain completely vain. The Jews had much that they could refer to in defense of all their institutions, and yet their life was so vain that only the Blood of Christ could redeem them from it. The antiquity of customs is not a reliable criterion of truth, and the decision is not wise: “I will live and die this way, because my forefathers lived and died this way.”

6. Having mentioned the price of redemption, the apostle proceeds to questions concerning the Redeemer and the redeemed, v. 20, 21.

(1.) The Redeemer is further described not only as a Lamb without spot or wrinkle, but also as one predestined before the foundation of the world, foreordained or known. When they talk about God's foreknowledge, they mean more than simple foresight or speculative assumption. Foreknowledge of God means an act of the will, a determination of what is to happen, Acts 2:23. God not only foresaw, but predestined and decreed that His Son should die for man, and this decree was before the foundation of the world. The beginning of time and the beginning of the existence of the world coincide; before the beginning of time there was nothing but eternity.

Appeared in the last times for them. He revealed Himself as God's ordained Redeemer. He was revealed by His birth, by the testimony of the Father, by His own works, and especially by His resurrection from the dead, Rom. 1:4. “This happened in the last days, the days of the New Testament and the Gospel, for you - you Jews, you sinners, you who suffer; you have consolation in the appearing of Christ if you trust in Him.”

Like being raised from the dead by the Father and receiving glory from Him. In the resurrection of Christ, considered as an act of power, all three Persons participated, but as an act of justice it belongs only to the Father, who, as Judge, freed Christ and raised Him from the grave, glorified Him and declared to the whole world through His resurrection from the dead that He is His Son, lifted Him up into heaven, crowned Him with glory and honor, clothed Him with all power in heaven and on earth, and glorified Him with the same glory that He had before the creation of the world.

(2.) The redeemed are here described as having faith and trust, the foundation of which is Jesus Christ: “By him you have believed in God, who is the author, the comforter, the support, and the perfecter of your faith; you now have faith and trust in God as reconciled to you through Christ the Mediator.”

(3) From all that has been said we should learn:

God's decision to send Christ as Mediator was an eternal, just and merciful decision, although it does not justify the sin of crucifixion, Acts 2:23. God had a special mercy in mind for His people long before He gave them any revelation of that mercy.

Recent times are happier compared to previous centuries. With the appearance of Christ, everything increased significantly - the clarity of light, support for faith, the effectiveness of rituals, the measure of consolation. Our gratitude and our service should be consistent with these graces.

The Atonement of Christ belongs only to true believers. The universal begging for salvation is recognized by some, rejected by others, but no one claims that the death of Christ will save absolutely everyone. Hypocrites and unbelievers will perish forever, despite the death of Christ.

God in Christ is the ultimate object of the Christian faith, which has its strong support in the resurrection of Christ and the glory that followed.

II. Peter calls them to brotherly love.

1. He supposes that the Gospel, to which they submitted through the Spirit, had already exercised its purifying effect on their souls, and produced in them at least an unfeigned brotherly love; therefore he urges them to a higher degree of love, that they may continually love one another from a pure heart, v. 22. Remember:

(1) There can be no doubt that every sincere Christian purifies his soul. The apostle takes this for granted: having purified your souls. The purification of the soul involves the presence of great impurity and depravity that defiles it, and the removal of this defilement. Neither the Levitical purification of the law nor the hypocritical purification of the outward man can do this.

(2) The Word of God is a great instrument in the work of cleansing sinners: By obedience to the truth... purifying your souls. The Gospel is called truth in contrast to images and shadows, errors and lies. Truth can purify the soul if it is obeyed, John 17:17. Many hear the truth but are never cleansed by it because they do not submit and submit to it.

(3) The Spirit of God is great, performing the cleansing of the human soul. The Spirit convinces the soul that it is unclean, endows it with virtues that both adorn and purify it, such as: faith (Acts 15:9), hope (1 John 3:3), fear of God (Ps 33:10) and love for Jesus Christ. The Spirit arouses our efforts and makes them successful. The Spirit's help does not replace our own efforts; these people purified their souls themselves, but they did it through the Spirit.

(4) The souls of Christians must be purified before they can love one another with unfeigned love. There are such passions and inclinations in human nature that without divine grace we are unable to properly love either God or each other; there is no love except from a pure heart.

(5) It is the duty of all Christians to love one another sincerely and fervently. Our love for each other must be sincere and genuine, and at the same time it must be ardent, constant and comprehensive.

2. The apostle continues to urge Christians, on the principle of their spiritual relationship, that they are bound to love one another continually from a pure heart; they were all regenerated, not from corruptible seed, but from incorruptible... From this we learn:

(1) That all Christians are born again. The Apostle speaks of this as something which is common to all earnest Christians, and which has brought them into a new and intimate relationship with each other, through their new birth they have become brothers.

(2.) The word of God is the great means of regeneration, James 1:18. Regenerating grace is imparted through the gospel.

(2) The new, second birth is much more desirable and superior than the first. The apostle indicates this by expressing preference for the incorruptible seed over the corruptible. From the corruptible seed we become children of men, and from the incorruptible seed we become sons and daughters of the Most High. The comparison of the Word of God with a seed teaches us that, although it is insignificant in appearance, it is nevertheless remarkable in its effect; although it remains hidden for some time, it eventually grows up and bears excellent fruit.

(4) The regenerate should love one another from a pure heart. Brothers by nature are also obliged to love each other, but this duty is doubled when there is also a spiritual relationship: they obey the same master, enjoy the same privileges, and are engaged in the same business.

(5) The Word of God lives and abides forever. It is the living word, or living word, Hebrews 4:12. The Word of God for the spiritual life is the means of sustenance, it gives rise to the spiritual life and then sustains it, encouraging and impelling us to duty, until it leads to eternal life; it abides; it remains eternally true and abides forever in the hearts of the regenerate.

Verses 24-25. Having described the excellence of the renewed spiritual man as being born again, not of corruptible, but of incorruptible seed, the apostle now shows us how vanity is the natural man with all his ornaments and advantages: For all flesh is like grass, and all glory of man is like the flower of the grass. ..; and nothing can make a person solid, existent, except rebirth from an incorruptible seed, from the Word of God, transforming him into a most excellent creation, the glory of which not only does not fade like a flower, but shines like an angel; and this word is daily offered to you in the preaching of the Gospel. Let's remember:

1. Man, even in his highest flourishing and glory, still remains a fading, disappearing, dying creation. In itself, being flesh, it is grass. He is like grass in his birth, in his life on earth, and in his decline, Job 14:2; Isaiah 40:6,7. And together with all his glory, he is like a flower on the grass; his intelligence, beauty, strength, courage, wealth, fame - all this is just like the color of grass, quickly drying up and falling off.

2. The only way for this perishing creation to become strong and incorruptible is to accept the word of God, for it remains eternal truth and preserves the one who receives it for eternal life and will remain with him forever.

3. Prophets and apostles preached the same doctrine. Isaiah and other prophets conveyed in the Old Testament the same word that the apostles preached in the New.

1. For whom was the message written?

2. Who wrote this message?

3. In what form is the message written?

4. When and where was it written?

1:1,2

1. The Apostle of the Jews blesses the true people of God

1. He greets them with blessing

2. He welcomes them as the true People of God

3. He welcomes them as God's people at peace

Great message

Doubts of our time

Second coming

Ease of organization

Theology in the early church

Quotes from the Church Fathers

Excellent Greek

Addressees of the message

Circumstances associated with writing the message

Doubts

Strange silence

1 Peter and Ephesians

Your fellow shepherd

Witness to the Passion of Christ

Persecution for the name of Christ

Honor the King

Sermon and message

Asia Minor, not Rome

The Reason for Writing the First Epistle of Peter

Author of the First Epistle of Peter

Aristian of Smirnsky

Apostolic Letter

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