Key Verse: “To the pilgrims of the Dispersion…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.” I Peter 1:1–2 I Peter: Suffering as outsiders without selling out To read this little letter through in […]
Key Verse: “…kept by the power of God through faith for salvation ready to be revealed in the last time.” Letters are meant for slow reading. People read and re-read them for key phrases and special sentences. You don’t read a letter like a history book or an encyclopedia. Rather, when you open a letter, […]
Key Verse: “…as He who called you is holy, you also be holy in all your conduct, because it is written, ‘Be holy, for I am holy.’” I Peter 1:15–16 Holy—if any single word captures the uniqueness of God and His people, it is this word holy. Holiness, our theology textbooks teach us, denotes separation […]
Key Verse: “But you are a chosen generation, a royal priesthood, a holy nation, His own special people, that you may proclaim the praises of Him who called you out of darkness into His marvelous light;…” I Peter 2:9 A mosaic of metaphors Christ’s church, we have been learning, is a pilgrim people, born unto […]
Key Verses: “Beloved, I beg you as sojourners and pilgrims, abstain from fleshly lusts which war against the soul, having your conduct honorable among the Gentiles, that when they speak against you as evildoers, they may, by your good works which they observe, glorify God in the day of visitation.” 1 Peter 2:11–12 With his address […]
Key Verse: “For this is the will of God, that by doing good you may put to silence the ignorance of foolish men.” 1 Peter 2:15 Advertising by means of a respectful lifestyle In our previous lesson, we learned that the apostle Peter introduced a new section of his letter with a general exhortation that believers must abstain […]
Key Verse: “For to this you were called, because Christ also suffered for us, leaving us an example, that you should follow His steps…” I Peter 2:21 Interlude: motivated by Christ’s example (read 1:21) Peter has exhorted Christian citizens and household slaves to submit to those in authority over them (2:13–20). Christian submission […]
Key Verse: “Wives, likewise, be submissive to your own husbands….Husbands, likewise, dwell with them with understanding…” I Peter 3:1,7 Pilgrims among pagans – at home! When we study the Bible it helps to know something about the cultural, social and religious situation of those to whom the Bible was first written. We must be careful to […]