Category Archives: Commentaries

The Milk of the Word

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1 Peter 2:2-3

2 like newborn babies, long for the pure milk of the word, so that by it you may grow in respect to salvation, 3 if you have tasted the kindness of the Lord.

Here Peter is comparing new converts, in their spiritual lives, to new infants. I’m not sure how it is with infants in regard to their feeding practice. I assume that they naturally long for milk from their mother. But maybe not. Maybe they have to be coaxed or enticed to taste of the sweet milk. And the more they suck and taste, the more they long for it. Since it seems to be an imperative that a new believer long for the word, it may be that it is not a natural thing. We must develop a taste for it and discover His kindness—so that we may long for it and then “grow in respect to salvation.” That is, that we learn all about our salvation and grow into its fullness.

Putting Aside the Old Flesh

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1 Peter 2:1

1 Therefore, putting aside all malice and all deceit and hypocrisy and envy and all slander,

Though they are born again of the living and enduring seed—of the Word of God, they still must put aside all malice (or wickedness) and all things like deceit, hypocrisy, envy, and slander. Peter knew that being born again didn’t get rid of all evil in one’s life. New believers have a new spiritual life, but still they have the old flesh in them, which must be “put aside,” or “abstained from” (v. 14). 

Purified for A Sincere Love

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1 Peter 1:22

22 Since you have in obedience to the truth purified your souls for a sincere love of the brethren, fervently love one another from the heart,

Here we have an obvious break in the narrative, where Peter turns more toward application. In verses 13-17 he encourages the reader toward obedience and holiness. Now he sharpens the scope toward love of the brethren. As Peter put it, in their obedience to the truth (as obedient Christians) they acted to purify their souls so that they were able to fervently love one another from the heart.

Our Faith and Hope

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1 Peter 1:21

21 who through Him are believers in God, who raised Him from the dead and gave Him glory, so that your faith and hope are in God.

It is through Christ and His sacrifice for us that we are believers in God—who raised Christ from the dead and gave Him glory when He brought Him back to heaven. Hence our faith and hope are to be in God.

The Price of Our Redemption

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1 Peter 1:18-19

18 knowing that you were not redeemed with perishable things like silver or gold from your futile way of life inherited from your forefathers, 19 but with precious blood, as of a lamb unblemished and spotless, the blood of Christ.

In our evaluation of things, seeing what value Christ put on us, that He gave His very life-blood for us (His precious blood; unblemished), this may influence your conduct.

Conduct Yourselves in Fear

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1 Peter 1:17

17 If you address as Father the One who impartially judges according to each one’s work, conduct yourselves in fear during the time of your stay on earth;

If we know that God is our Father and that He will judge us fairly according to our works, we ought to know that He will indeed see everything we have done, whether our works are valuable and enduring, or invaluable and shallow (1 Cor. 3:12-13); thus, we ought to not take lightly what we do—how we conduct ourselves.

Called to be Holy

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1 Peter 1:15-16

15 but like the Holy One who called you, be holy yourselves also in all your behavior; 16 because it is written, “YOU SHALL BE HOLY, FOR I AM HOLY.”

As God’s children we are to be holy as He is holy. Here Peter quotes from Leviticus 11:44; but I think we should also consider God’s original plan for man. In His creation He created man and woman in His own image (Gen. 1:27). Hence, we were created with the desire and capacity to be holy, because that is one of the characteristics of God.

Don’t Be Conformed to the Former Lusts

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1 Peter 1:14

14 As obedient children, do not be conformed to the former lusts which were yours in your ignorance,

As Christians we must be obedient to God. That is our calling and it should be our desire—to please Him in everything. Before we were believers we followed our own desires (our lusts). That is all we knew. We had no other direction in life. The world, and our flesh, is all we knew. God and Jesus were alien to us.

Keeping Our Mind On Heavenly Things

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1 Peter 1:13

13 Therefore, prepare your minds for action, keep sober in spirit, fix your hope completely on the grace to be brought to you at the revelation of Jesus Christ.

A better translation of the first line may be, “Gird up the loins of your mind,” which meant in those days to gather up one’s robes in order to run without hinderances, here applying to one’s thoughts, to keep our thoughts uncluttered or unhindered by the world. To “keep sober in spirit” means to be self-controlled and clear-minded, not given over to worldly and impure thoughts.

As for our hope, I think a better translation here is, “hope to the end, or “to keep your hope on.” The word “completely” I think is confusing. Hence, we are to fix our hope on the grace that will be brought to us when we see Jesus. The idea here is that we are to look more to the future, looking for His coming. Instead of always getting bogged down with all our earthly things, we ought to be keeping our mind on heavenly things.