Posts from March 2023

Peter declares in 2 Peter 1:3 that it is God who supplies everything we could ever need to live satisfying and contented lives. In a world where many people believed in and worshipped imaginary “gods” who never actually existed or had any power to aid anyone (cf. Acts 17:24-31), Peter is emphasizing to Christians that there is NO “other” source of blessings to equip us to cope with the challenges of life in this world. The blessings and benefits God…

“Love covers a multitude of sins.” The words of 1 Peter 4:8 actually command Christians to “grasp” or “hold onto” fervent love toward fellow-Christians, and then states that such love covers – hides or veils – a “multitude,” many sins (the definite article “the multitude” is not present in the Greek text). The love in view here is “agapé,” the Christ-like care that puts another’s welfare ahead of our own, and if Peter is not directly quoting from Proverbs 10:12,…

The middle section of Peter’s first letter (chapter 3) begins with an instruction to Christian women that much of our modern society considers outrageously offensive and “sexist:” “…wives, be in subjection to your own husbands…”. What this socially-aggrieved response does not generally take into consideration is the overall thematic context of the Holy Spirit’s instruction; the instructions in chapter three continue the theme that actually began at 1 Peter 2:11. This theme speaks to the motivation of each group addressed…

In 1 Peter 2:11-12, the Holy Spirit sets up a contrast between the typical Gentile approach to life in the first century and the attitude God desires to see in His children. The heathen perspective of the Greco-Roman society was that it was “normal” (even expected and “desirable”) for a person to embrace and indulge every physical desire, and yield to every temptation. Hedonism was the standard for human behavior throughout most of the Gentile world, and self-restraint was seen…

If the “key” thought in Peter’s first letter is suffering, then the point of Christians enduring suffering lies in the commandment of 1 Peter 1:15-16 where Peter quotes Leviticus 20:7 and applies these words to Christians as a contrast to our former manner of life (1 Peter 1:14). In Leviticus, Mo- ses was commanding the children of Israel to avoid ANY participation in idolatry, and by referencing that commandment, Peter was effectively equating a life apart from God – where…