1 Peter: Lesson Two

"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."

Ephesians 1:3

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1 Peter

Good morning! Let's begin our time together with prayer...

"Yes, Father, You are blessed. You alone are worthy of our adoration and praise. We thank You for all that You have done for us. Praise be Your matchless name.

We seek the forgiveness of our sins, Lord, because we know that our iniquities separate us from You and we do not want to be without You, Lord.

Speak to us this day through Your words. Teach us new and exciting things in this wonderful book by Peter. Walk with us today and show us Your love.

In Jesus' name...amen."

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Redemption in Christ

1 Peter 1:3

"Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, who according to His abundant mercy has begotten us again to a living hope through the resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead."

Today we will look into the main idea that Peter is trying to convey throughout this entire book:

Hope through our salvation

"...according to His abundant mercy..."

Here we read that our salvation wasn't based on good works that we do. It wasn't based on anything that God needed to do. Our salvation was and always will be based on His abundant mercy. Peter reminds us of this in verse three.

Please read:

Gal 6:16

Now that we are able to walk according to this rule, we will be partakers of this mercy of the Lord. His love was what initiated our salvation....our redemption. We must never forget that.

"...has begotten us to a living hope..."

I recently was able to substitute teach a class about Hinduism and Buddhism in their history class. As we read about these two religions, we came to the conclusion that both have reincarnation in common. In reincarnation, the soul of a living person lives on in the form of another living thing whether it is animal or human.

As I was explaining this, I told the students how this differs from what we learn from Christianity. I told them that our souls have only 2 destinations: heaven or hell. One Indian girl, who is a Hindu, told me that in Hinduism they have the concept of heaven and hell as well. We then went on to discuss how it is that a person can enter into their heaven or hell and she said it was by Karma.

Good Karma= heaven

Bad Karma= hell

I couldn't go further into the Gospel message due to time issues, but in my mind I thought that this concept leaves the person with no amount of hope since they will not know at death where their soul is headed. They believe it can just keep reincarnating forever. Since the human "essence" isn't passed on from living form to living form, there is no evidence of that person's past existence. How sad. There is no way for a person to know what to do in order to reincarnate "up" or know how to do things correct in order not to reincarnate "down". Buddhism requires that one follow the teachings of Siddhartha, the first Buddha, in order to reach the final stage: Enlightenment.

Nirvana is the Buddhist's heaven, but it is essentially ceasing to exist and becoming "one" with the universe. Where is the hope in that? The universe changes constantly. Why would I want to be a part of something that changes constantly? I already have that here on earth. I have moved 13 times in my life and hate it. To finally be settled somewhere is what all people desire.

I want to be with the One who never changes. He is consistently the same. Forever. To me, being with God represents peace and rest.

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We believers in Christ were given a living hope when Jesus conquered the cross for us.

"..through the resurrection of Jesus Christ..."

He gave us that living hope that yes we will be with Him in paradise as He told the thief on the cross.

John 1:12 & 13

John 3:3-8

Titus 3:5

James 1:18

God has begotten us again to that living hope through the resurrection of Jesus as our Lord and savior. That theme of hope through our salvation will reverberate throughout this book. Look for it and treasure it deep within your heart. Peter is talking to you and about you since you belong to Jesus.

We have that hope that other religions do not possess. We do not rely on our good deeds nor fear our bad deeds regarding our eternal salvation. We have been saved from that hopeless path that leads to nowhere. Our truth lies in what Christ did for us once and for all. Take time today to really think about that and praise His glorious name. He alone is worthy.

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Next time we will look at 1 Peter 1:4-5

Blessings,

Ruth

1 Peter: Lesson One

"And just as He chose us
before the foundation of the world,
that we should be holy and without
blame before Him in love."

Ephesians 1:4

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Hello! Welcome to our first lesson of the wonderful book in the Bible. I am excited to begin studying this letter written by Peter. But first, let's begin with prayer as we seek the Lord:

"Heavenly Father, I pray that you would bless all who are reading this study and speak to our hearts this day. I praise You and Your holy name above all names.
I pray for the forgiveness of my sins for I know my sins separate me from You. I long to hear from You this morning.

In Jesus' name, amen."

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1 Peter

I hope you were able to read through 1 Peter in its entirety before beginning this study in order to understand the main theme and key words of this book. If not, you may want to do that now. Keep in mind what words are constantly repeated by the author and what message is he conveying to the reader.

1 Peter 1:1-3

"Peter an apostle of Jesus Christ, to the pilgrims of the Dispersion in Pontus, Galatia, Cappodocia, Asia, and Bithynia, elect according to the foreknowledge of God the Father in sanctification of the Spirit for obedience and sprinkling of the blood of Jesus Christ: Grace to you and peace be multiplied. Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, who according to His abundant mercy has begotten us again to a living hope through the resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead."

Here we read Peter's greeting to the recipients of his letter. This letter has a true purpose: exhortation and testimony.

Who are the recipients? The elect, the believers of Christ dispersed throughout many regions of the Mediterranean north of Israel. Peter, writing from Rome, calls them "elect pilgrims" to remind them...and us.... that they are in a foreign land for a brief time as they await Christ to take them home.

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Exhortation

"..according to the foreknowledge of God the Father..."

To exhort someone is to urge them to continue or pursue a course of conduct or to admonish them or instruct them. Peter exhorts by reminding his readers that they were chosen for a purpose long before the world was created.

Please read:

Roman 8:29-30

Eph 1:5 & 11

2 Tim 2:19

Peter reminds these believers that God the Father knows them, and has known them since before time.

But how are believers separated from unbelievers by their Good Shepherd?

"...in sanctification of the Spirit, for obedience and sprinkling of the blood of Jesus Christ."

2 Thess 2:13

Rom 1:5

Heb 10:22

In Peter's first few words we are given a picture of the trinity: God the Father, Spirit, and Jesus Christ.

Peter mentions that our redemption and our sanctification was done of the Holy Spirit. We are now sanctified, or "set apart", from sin by the work of the Holy Spirit placed in us at the time of our redemption. Peter reminds us of this fact that our initial act of obedience was faith in Christ Jesus.

John 6:28 & 29

To continue in that faith is our ultimate act of obedience.

Sprinkling of the Blood

Peter mentions the Old Testament custom of sprinkling the blood of the sacrificed animal by the priests in the Holy of Holies.

The appearance of the blood signified the death of the animal....or sacrifice made. In the case of Abel, his blood "cried out from the ground" to God.

Gen 4:10

But Jesus' blood cried out for forgiveness for God's people.

Luke 23:34

Heb 12:24

Through the blood of Christ, we have been redeemed. In the Old Testament ritual of sacrifice, the priest sprinkled the blood of the dead animal onto the participants of the covenant. The death of the sacrifice established the covenant between man and God. The blood on the participants was a sign that they now obtained all rights and privileges and responsibilities of that covenant. They were publicly liable (Geneva Study Bible Commentary, 1995).

Ex 24:8

Now that we have the blood of Christ on us, we are participants of that covenant between man and God. We are now liable. Peter reminds us of this in his opening verses.

Isn't it amazing how much there is in just these first 2 verses alone?? You have been given much to ponder in this first lesson. We will stop here for now. But please read through the entire book one more time keeping in mind what you learned today as you read. You will begin to see Peter's purposes in writing this letter.

We'll continue with 1 Peter 1:3 in our next study......

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Blessings,

Ruth

INTRODUCTION: 1 Peter

"And we know all things work together

for good to those who love God,

to those who are called according to

His purpose."

Romans 8:28

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Good morning! Welcome to this study of 1 Peter. I pray that you will find this study rewarding and fulfilling as we go verse by verse into this wonderful letter written by one of Christ's greatest servants.

I will be using some of Kay Arthur's Precept study on 1 Peter throughout the following weeks, but mostly we will be looking at each verse and cross-referencing the verses through Scripture.

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In this Introduction, I would like to introduce myself. As it says in my profile to the right of your screen, I am a Christian, wife, mother, artist, and friend. I enjoy writing Bible studies because it keeps me in God's word. Otherwise, I might let several days pass without reading the Bible and that is a most dangerous thing! So this study is more for me than for any of you reading it.

But my prayer is that we all take something away from this book about how to endure suffering for Christ. This world is changing and becoming more and more hostile to believers. I feel it is important that we read and learn how to endure through hard times as they are certainly coming.

Let's look a little bit into the context of this book:

Our Author, Peter, was in Babylon when he wrote this letter (5:13) and many scholars believe this as a reference to Rome which was seen as the "Babylon" in Revelation 17:5 &9 (New Geneva Study Bible, 1 Peter Commentary, 1995).

If written in Rome, scholars place the date of the writing at A.D. 60 or 68. Some say that he was crucified upside down in A.D. 68 and this letter was one of his last before his death. But we really do not have an exact date as to when it was written. Better to focus on what was written instead!

Purpose

Peter's letter has a very specific purpose: to encourage persecuted and bewildered Christians and to exhort them to stand fast in their faith through various trials (5:12). How does he do this? By repeatedly reminding Christians that their inheritance awaits them if they endure:

1 Pet 1:3-13

As you read, you can clearly see how Peter was changed by Christ's death and resurrection. Read here and be reminded of how he was when he walked with Jesus and how he was afterwards:

Luke 22:54-62

Acts 2:32-39

You can see the stark difference when you read these two passages. Peter was changed by the events that unfolded after Jesus rose again. Now, in 1 Peter, he wants to use his knowledge and love to encourage those who might be doubting or under persecution for their faith.

How does this apply to your life?

(1 Peter, Precept Ministries, 1990)

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1 Peter

For this first day's assignment, please read through the whole book of 1 Peter. As you read, make note of your impressions of the book. List your insights and answer the following questions?

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  Who is the author and recipient of this book?

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  What can we learn from this book? What is Peter trying to say to his readers?

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  Where are the recipients of this letter? What are their circumstances?

Now, read through the book once again and list any key words you may have discovered. A Key Word is any that may be repeated as they give you clues to the general subject being taught.

What is the main theme of this book?

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After doing this exercise, you are ready to begin studying this book in its proper context!

I am excited to begin! Next time we will look at 1 Peter 1:1-2

Blessings,

Ruth