Study Guides

The Apostle Paul wrote this letter to the church in Corinth that at the time was growing and wrestling with what it meant to be faithful followers of Jesus in a metropolitan city. Corinth, a port city located along a major trade route, was a financial, cultural, and political hub of its time. Because of this, people with different political, ethnic and religious backgrounds converged to this city and the church reflected this diversity. It was this dynamic that provided unique challenges and o

"For most of the time in this letter we have been aware of persecution coming from surrounding non-Christian culture. Part of it will have been unofficial, simply involving ordinary people sneering, criticizing, ostracizing or using occasional violence. Some of it, though, will have been official, as the local authorities took a hand and made life difficult for the Christians. How easy it will have been, as it still is, for the Christians then to demonize their visible, human opponents, to reg

The most common term for church leaders in the New Testament is elders, which was the typical form of leadership in the churches. The word “Presbyterian” comes from the Greek word presbyteros, which refers to the form of church government that is led by elders. In this passage, Peter reminds the elders of responsibilities that have been entrusted to them, which include shepherding the flock and exercising oversight (v.2). He explains that Jesus himself is the chief Shephe

“As the letter draws to a close, Peter reminds his readers that they should not be astonished when they suffer. God is using the suffering to purify the church; therefore they should unreservedly give themselves to God in their suffering.” (From the ESV Study Bible)

Purpose

To understand how suffering can deepen our hope in J

As Christians reflect and think deeply about the hope of the gospel, they can’t help but live differently. This is because Jesus’ life, death and resurrection opens the door to a new future that Christians see a glimpse of through Jesus’ resurrection from the dead. In the same way, those who belong to Jesus also experience that same power of God for new life—both here and now and in the life that is to come. Through the power of the Holy Spirit, Christian community can

“Like the Messiah, we must put on the mental armor that will make us strong to face the suffering which we may have to face. And here suffering is given yet another meaning. Suffering, it seems, brings about a particular transformation of character. It makes you re-evaluate your whole life. Sometimes it happens that someone who had a potentially fatal stroke or heart attack makes a remarkable recovery; in such cases peopl

“God’s calling of the Christian appears in a marvellous contrariness. Opposition and hatred cannot thwart the life of blessing. Even when Christians are cursed, they bless. This is how Christians ‘get even’. They pay back evil with good, insults with blessing. This, of course, was the teaching of Jesus, as well as his example (1 Peter 2:23). ‘But I tell you: Love your enemies and pray for those who persecute you, that you may be sons of your Father in heaven.&rsqu

“[In Peter’s day], quite a few Christians were slaves, as you might expect granted that the gospel of Jesus gives dignity and self-worth to all those who believe it. Peter addresses these Christian slaves. Instead of telling them (as we might prefer) that they should rise up in revolt against their masters, he tells them to obey, and to show respect. And he stresses this, not only when the masters in question are kindly and fair-minded, but also when they are unjust… 

March 14, 2021 Read

Taken from The Early Christian Letters by N.T. Wright:

“As the letter goes on, we realize that Peter is not imagining for a moment that [living under authority] will be easy, or that the authorities will always and instantly respect followers of Jesus. Far from it. The Christians will be called to suffer, to suffer greatly, to suffer unjustly—after the pattern of Jesus himself. But all that happens within this solid advice, to which the moral and social

Taken from The Message of 1 Peter by Edmund Clowney:

“Those who belong to God as his people can have no abiding city here. Like Abraham, they are strangers and pilgrims, even while they live in the world which they will inherit at last. Peter asks his “dear friends” to abstain from sinful desires, as strangers in a sinful world. The verb to abstain fits the calling of strangers. It means literally ‘to distance’ themselves from ‘fl

In Jesus’ day, the Temple in Jerusalem was the center of religious life and worship. It was the place of God’s dwelling where worshippers would come to meet with God and to offer prayers and sacrifices. It was a magnificent building that stood as a witness for all the nations to God’s special presence with his people. But in this passage, Peter uses the image of “living stones” to illustrate that together, believers are God’s new temple and God’s true

In this passage, Peter continues to press deeper into the implications of the new life that comes through Jesus. Back in 1:3, he lays the foundation for this argument. He writes that for those who place their faith in Jesus, God causes them to be born again to a living hope through the resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead, to an inheritance that is imperishable, undefiled, and unfading. To be a Christian is no less than to receive new spiritual life that comes from the “imperishabl

“If we are wise, we regularly take a car to be serviced, so that anything which is starting to go wrong can be put right. In the same way, we need to remind ourselves frequently, seriously and thoroughly who we really are. Unless we do that, the insidious messages we get from the world around (that we are who we are because who our parents were, where we live or how much we earn) will eat away at us like rust into a car.” (from NT Wright on 1 Peter 1:1-2:3)

Peter calls his

It is natural for Christians to associate God’s love for them with keeping them from trials and suffering. For parents, this is what they would often wish for their own children. Yet that is not what we see in the passage or in the experience of Christians throughout history. Peter insists that Christians can suffer various trials to the benefit of their faith and to the glory of God. Such sufferings can strengthen faith, produce hope in God, and help them to take hold of what he has pro

Here in this passage, Peter introduces “hope” as the Central theme of his letter. He blesses God because he has given Christians new life and has guaranteed their future glory. This enables them to live with purpose and joy, even in the midst of hardships and suffering. No matter what is happening in the world around them, Christians can have the strength to live with confidence in God and in his future for them. Peter reminds them of the foundation of this hope, which is the resur

Peter who identifies himself as the author of this letter was one of Jesus' closest disciples. He writes this letter to comfort and to encourage fellow Christians to stand firm in their faith as they experience suffering and persecution as followers of Jesus. He points them towards the certainty of the hope that they find in Jesus Christ, and specifically, to the ways that they are already receiving the promises of God here and now through the death and resurrection of Christ.

Peter en