1 Peter 2

William Barclay's Daily Study Bible - 1 Peter 2:16

2:16 You must live as free men, yet not using your freedom as a cloak for evil, but as the slaves of God. Any great Christian doctrine can be perverted into an excuse for evil. The doctrine of grace can be perverted into an excuse for sinning to one's heart's content. The doctrine of the love of God can be sentimentalized into an excuse for breaking his law. The doctrine of the life to come can be perverted into an excuse for neglecting life in this world. And there is no doctrine so easy... read more

William Barclay

William Barclay's Daily Study Bible - 1 Peter 2:17

2:17 Honour all men; love the brotherhood; fear God; honour the king. Here is what we might call a four-point summary of Christian duty. (i) Honour all men. To us this may seem hardly needing to be said; but when Peter wrote this letter it was something quite new. There were 60,000,000 slaves in the Roman Empire, everyone of whom was considered in law to be, not a person, but a thing, with no rights whatever. In effect, Peter is saying, "Remember the rights of human personality and the... read more

William Barclay

William Barclay's Daily Study Bible - 1 Peter 2:18-25

2:18-25 Servants, be subject to your masters with all respect, not only to those who are good and equitable, but also to those who are perverse, for it is a real sign of grace when a man bears pains in unjust suffering because of his consciousness of God. It is to live like this that you were called, because Christ too suffered for us, leaving behind him an example that we should follow in his steps. He did no sin nor was any guile found in his mouth. When he was insulted, he did not return... read more

William Barclay

William Barclay's Daily Study Bible - 1 Peter 2:18-25

Into this situation came Christianity with its message that every man was precious in the sight of God. The result was that within the Church the social barriers were broken down. Callistus, one of the earliest bishops of Rome, was a slave; and Perpetua, the aristocrat, and Felicitas, the slave-girl, met martyrdom hand in hand. The great majority of the early Christians were humble folk and many of them were slaves. It was quite possible in the early days that the slave should be the president... read more

William Barclay

William Barclay's Daily Study Bible - 1 Peter 2:18-25

But Christianity did not leave the matter in that merely negative form. It introduced three great new principles into a man's attitude as a servant and a workman. (i) Christianity introduced a new relationship between master and man. When Paul sent the runaway slave Onesimus back to Philemon, he did not for a moment suggest that Philemon should set Onesimus free. He did not suggest that Philemon should cease to be the master and that Onesimus should cease to be the slave. What he did say was... read more

William Barclay

William Barclay's Daily Study Bible - 1 Peter 2:18-25

(1) The Shepherd Of The Souls Of Men In the last verse of this chapter we come upon two of the great names for God--the Shepherd and Bishop of our souls--as the King James Version has it. (i) God is the Shepherd of the souls of men. The Greek is poimen ( Greek #4166 ) and shepherd is one of the oldest descriptions of God. The Psalmist has it in the best-loved of all the Psalms: "The Lord is my shepherd" ( Psalms 23:1 ). Isaiah has it: "He will feed his flock like a shepherd: he will... read more

John Gill

John Gills Exposition of the Bible Commentary - 1 Peter 2

INTRODUCTION TO 1 PETER 2 This chapter consists of exhortations, in general, to a holy life; and, in particular, to obedience to superiors. It begins with an exhortation to lay aside various vices, which were unbecoming regenerate persons, 1 Peter 2:1 and, agreeably to their character, as new born babes, to express a desire after the Gospel, which is commended from its nature, being comparable to milk; and from its quality, being reasonable, sincere, and unmixed; and from the end and... read more

John Gill

John Gills Exposition of the Bible Commentary - 1 Peter 2:1

Wherefore, laying aside all malice ,.... Since the persons the apostle writes to were born again, and therefore ought to love one another, he exhorts them to the disuse of such vices as were disagreeable to their character as regenerate men, and contrary brotherly love; he dissuades them from them, and advises to "lay them aside", either as weights and burdens, which it was not fit for new born babes to carry; see Hebrews 12:1 or rather as old worn out clothes, as filthy rags, which should... read more

John Gill

John Gills Exposition of the Bible Commentary - 1 Peter 2:2

As new born babes ,.... The Syriac version renders it, "be ye simple as infants"; and as if it was a distinct exhortation of itself, and from that which follows; though it seems rather to be descriptive of the persons spoken to, and a character of them, under which the apostle addresses them; which carries in it a reason strengthening the exhortation after given: he takes it for granted that they were begotten again, according to the abundant mercy of God, and born of incorruptible seed, by... read more

John Gill

John Gills Exposition of the Bible Commentary - 1 Peter 2:3

If so be ye have tasted that the Lord is gracious. Reference is had to Psalm 34:8 , "O taste and see that the Lord is good"; and the Syriac version here adds, "if ye have seen": by the Lord is meant, the Lord Jesus Christ, as the following words show, who is gracious and amiable, and lovely in his person; who has a fulness of grace in him for his people; has displayed his grace towards them, in engaging for them as a surety, in assuming their nature, obeying, suffering, and dying in their... read more

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