1 Peter 1:1-22

Matthew Henry's Complete Commentary - 1 Peter 1:1-2

In this inscription we have three parts:? I. The author of it, described, 1. By his name?Peter. His first name was Simon, and Jesus Christ gave him the surname of Peter, which signifies a rock, as a commendation of his faith, and to denote that he should be an eminent pillar in the church of God, Gal. 2:9. 2. By his office?an apostle of Jesus Christ. The word signifies one sent, a legate, a messenger, any one sent in Christ's name and about his work; but more strictly it signifies the highest... read more

Matthew Henry

Matthew Henry's Complete Commentary - 1 Peter 1:3-5

We come now to the body of the epistle, which begins with, I. A congratulation of the dignity and happiness of the state of these believers, brought in under the form of a thanksgiving to God. Other epistles begin in like manner, 2 Cor. 1:3; Eph. 1:3. Here we have, 1. The duty performed, which is blessing God. A man blesses God by a just acknowledgment of his excellency and blessedness. 2. The object of this blessing described by his relation to Jesus Christ: The God and Father of our Lord... read more

Matthew Henry

Matthew Henry's Complete Commentary - 1 Peter 1:6-9

The first word, wherein, refers to the apostle's foregoing discourse about the excellency of their present state, and their grand expectations for the future. ?In this condition you greatly rejoice, though now for a season, or a little while, if need be, you are made sorrowful through manifold temptations,? 1 Pet. 1:6. I. The apostle grants they were in great affliction, and propounds several things in mitigation of their sorrows. 1. Every sound Christian has always something wherein he may... read more

Matthew Henry

Matthew Henry's Complete Commentary - 1 Peter 1:10-12

The apostle having described the persons to whom he wrote, and declared to them the excellent advantages they were under, goes on to show them what warrant he had for what he had delivered; and because they were Jews, and had a profound veneration for the Old Testament, he produces the authority of the prophets to convince them that the doctrine of salvation by faith in Jesus Christ was no new doctrine, but the same which the old prophets did enquire and search diligently into. Note, I. Who... read more

Matthew Henry

Matthew Henry's Complete Commentary - 1 Peter 1:13-23

Here the apostle begins his exhortations to those whose glorious state he had before described, thereby instructing us that Christianity is a doctrine according to godliness, designed to make us not only wiser, but better. I. He exhorts them to sobriety and holiness. 1. Wherefore gird up the loins of your mind, etc., 1 Pet. 1:13. As if he had said, ?Wherefore, since you are so honoured and distinguished, as above, Gird up the loins of your mind. You have a journey to go, a race to run, a... read more

William Barclay

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

1:1-2 Peter, an apostle of Jesus Christ, to God's Chosen People, who are scattered as exiles throughout Pontus, Galatia, Cappadocia, Asia and Bithynia. I am an apostle, and you are chosen, according to the fore-knowledge of God, through the consecration of the Spirit, for obedience and to be sprinkled by the blood of Jesus Christ. May grace and peace be multiplied to you. It happens again and again in the New Testament that the true greatness of a passage lies not only on the surface and... read more

William Barclay

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

What we have just been saying means that the two great titles of which we have been thinking belong to us who are Christians. (i) We are the Chosen People of God. There is uplift here. Surely there can be no greater compliment and privilege in all the world than to be chosen by God. The word eklektos ( Greek #1588 ) can describe anything that is specially chosen; it can describe specially chosen fruit, articles specially chosen because they are so outstandingly well made, picked troops... read more

William Barclay

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

In 1 Peter 1:2 we are confronted with the three great facts of the Christian life. (i) The Christian is chosen according to the foreknowledge of God. C. E. B. Cranfield has a fine comment on this phrase: "If all our attention is concentrated on the hostility or indifference of the world or the exiguousness of our own progress in the Christian life, we may well be discouraged. At such times we need to be reminded that our election is according to the,foreknowledge of God the Father. The... read more

William Barclay

William Barclay's Daily Study Bible - 1 Peter 1:3-5

1:3-5 Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, who, according to his great mercy, has brought about in us that rebirth which leads to a living hope through the resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead, an inheritance imperishable, undefilable, and unfading, kept safe in heaven for us, who are protected by the power of God through faith, until there comes that deliverance which is ready to be revealed at the last time. It will take us a long time to appropriate the riches... read more

William Barclay

William Barclay's Daily Study Bible - 1 Peter 1:3-5

Further, the Christian has entered into a great inheritance (kleronomia, Greek #2817 ). Here is a word with a great history; for it is the word which is regularly used in the Greek Old Testament for the inheritance of Canaan, the Promised Land. Again and again the Old Testament speaks of the land which God had given his people for an inheritance to possess ( Deuteronomy 15:4 ; Deuteronomy 19:10 ). To us inheritance tends to mean something which in the future we shall possess; as the... read more

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