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■ 베드로전서 1장
1. 예수 그리스도의 사도 베드로는 본도, 갈라디아, 갑바도기아, 아시아와 비두니아 에 흩어진 나그네
Peter , an apostle of Jesus Christ , to the strangers scattered throughout Pontus , Galatia , Cappadocia , Asia , and Bithynia ,
2. 곧 하나님 아버지의 미리 아심을 따라 성령의 거룩하게 하심으로 순종함과 예수 그리스도의 피 뿌림을 얻기 위하여 택하심을 입은 자들에게 편지하노니 은혜와 평강이 너희에게 더욱 많을지어다
Elect according to the foreknowledge of God the Father , through sanctification of the Spirit , unto obedience and sprinkling of the blood of Jesus Christ : Grace unto you , and peace , be multiplied .
3. 찬송하리로다 우리 주 예수 그리스도의 아버지 하나님이 그 많으신 긍휼대로 예수 그리스도의 죽은 자 가운데서 부활하심으로 말미암아 우리를 거듭나게 하사 산 소망이 있게 하시며
Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ , which according to his abundant mercy hath begotten us again unto a lively hope by the resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead ,
4. 썩지 않고 더럽지 않고 쇠하지 아니하는 기업을 잇게 하시나니 곧 너희를 위하여 하늘에 간직하신 것이라
To an inheritance incorruptible , and undefiled , and that fadeth not away , reserved in heaven for you ,
5. 너희가 말세에 나타내기로 예비하신 구원을 얻기 위하여 믿음으로 말미암아 하나님의 능력으로 보호하심을 입었나니
Who are kept by the power of God through faith unto salvation ready to be revealed in the last time .
6. 그러므로 너희가 이제 여러 가지 시험을 인하여 잠간 근심하게 되지 않을 수 없었으나 오히려 크게 기뻐하도다
Wherein ye greatly rejoice , though now for a season , if need be , ye are in heaviness through manifold temptations :
7. 너희 믿음의 시련이 불로 연단하여도 없어질 금보다 더 귀하여 예수 그리스도의 나타나실 때에 칭찬과 영광과 존귀를 얻게 하려 함이라
That the trial of your faith , being much more precious than of gold that perisheth , though it be tried with fire , might be found unto praise and honour and glory at the appearing of Jesus Christ :
8. 예수를 너희가 보지 못하였으나 사랑하는도다 이제도 보지 못하나 믿고 말할 수 없는 영광스러운 즐거움으로 기뻐하니
Whom having not seen , ye love ; in whom , though now ye see him not , yet believing , ye rejoice with joy unspeakable and full of glory :
9. 믿음의 결국 곧 영혼의 구원을 받음이라
Receiving the end of your faith , even the salvation of your souls .
10. 이 구원에 대하여는 너희에게 임할 은혜를 예언하던 선지자들이 연구하고 부지런히 살펴서
Of which salvation the prophets have enquired and searched diligently , who prophesied of the grace that should come unto you :
11. 자기 속에 계신 그리스도의 영이 그 받으실 고난과 후에 얻으실 영광을 미리 증거하여 어느 시, 어떠한 때를 지시하시는지 상고하니라
Searching what , or what manner of time the Spirit of Christ which was in them did signify , when it testified beforehand the sufferings of Christ , and the glory that should follow .
12. 이 섬긴 바가 자기를 위한 것이 아니요 너희를 위한 것임이 계시로 알게 되었으니 이것은 하늘로부터 보내신 성령을 힘입어 복음을 전하는 자들로 이제 너희에게 고한 것이요 천사들도 살펴 보기를 원하는 것이니라
Unto whom it was revealed , that not unto themselves , but unto us they did minister the things , which are now reported unto you by them that have preached the gospel unto you with the Holy Ghost sent down from heaven ; which things the angels desire to look into .
13. 그러므로 너희 마음의 허리를 동이고 근신하여 예수 그리스도의 나타나실 때에 너희에게 가져올 은혜를 온전히 바랄지어다
Wherefore gird up the loins of your mind , be sober , and hope to the end for the grace that is to be brought unto you at the revelation of Jesus Christ ;
14. 너희가 순종하는 자식처럼 이전 알지 못할 때에 좇던 너희 사욕을 본 삼지 말고
As obedient children , not fashioning yourselves according to the former lusts in your ignorance :
15. 오직 너희를 부르신 거룩한 자처럼 너희도 모든 행실에 거룩한 자가 되라
But as he which hath called you is holy , so be ye holy in all manner of conversation ;
16. 기록하였으되 내가 거룩하니 너희도 거룩할지어다 하셨느니라
Because it is written , Be ye holy ; for I am holy .
17. 외모로 보시지 않고 각 사람의 행위대로 판단하시는 자를 너희가 아버지라 부른즉 너희의 나그네로 있을 때를 두려움으로 지내라
And if ye call on the Father , who without respect of persons judgeth according to every man’s work , pass the time of your sojourning here in fear :
18. 너희가 알거니와 너희 조상의 유전한 망령된 행실에서 구속된 것은 은이나 금 같이 없어질 것으로 한 것이 아니요
Forasmuch as ye know that ye were not redeemed with corruptible things , as silver and gold , from your vain conversation received by tradition from your fathers ;
19. 오직 흠 없고 점 없는 어린 양 같은 그리스도의 보배로운 피로 한 것이니라
But with the precious blood of Christ , as of a lamb without blemish and without spot :
20. 그는 창세 전부터 미리 알리신 바 된 자나 이 말세에 너희를 위하여 나타내신 바 되었으니
Who verily was foreordained before the foundation of the world , but was manifest in these last times for you ,
21. 너희는 저를 죽은 자 가운데서 살리시고 영광을 주신 하나님을 그리스도로 말미암아 믿는 자니 너희 믿음과 소망이 하나님께 있게 하셨느니라
Who by him do believe in God , that raised him up from the dead , and gave him glory ; that your faith and hope might be in God .
22. 너희가 진리를 순종함으로 너희 영혼을 깨끗하게 하여 거짓이 없이 형제를 사랑하기에 이르렀으니 마음으로 뜨겁게 피차 사랑하라
Seeing ye have purified your souls in obeying the truth through the Spirit unto unfeigned love of the brethren , see that ye love one another with a pure heart fervently :
23. 너희가 거듭난 것이 썩어질 씨로 된 것이 아니요 썩지 아니할 씨로 된 것이니 하나님의 살아 있고 항상 있는 말씀으로 되었느니라
Being born again , not of corruptible seed , but of incorruptible , by the word of God , which liveth and abideth for ever .
24. 그러므로 모든 육체는 풀과 같고 그 모든 영광이 풀의 꽃과 같으니 풀은 마르고 꽃은 떨어지되
For all flesh is as grass , and all the glory of man as the flower of grass . The grass withereth , and the flower thereof falleth away :
25. 오직 주의 말씀은 세세토록 있도다 하였으니 너희에게 전한 복음이 곧 이 말씀이니라
But the word of the Lord endureth for ever . And this is the word which by the gospel is preached unto you .
■ 주석 보기
【벧전1:1 JFB】벧전1:1-25. Address to the Elected of the Godhead: Thanksgiving for the Living Hope to Which We Are Begotten, Producing Joy Amidst Sufferings: This Salvation an Object of Deepest Interest to Prophets and to Angels: Its Costly Price a Motive to Holiness and Love, as We Are Born Again of the Ever-abiding Word of God.
1. Peter—Greek form of Cephas, man of rock.
an apostle of Jesus Christ—"He who preaches otherwise than as a messenger of Christ, is not to be heard; if he preach as such, then it is all one as if thou didst hear Christ speaking in thy presence" [Luther].
to the strangers scattered—literally, "sojourners of the dispersion"; only in 요7:35 and 약1:1, in New Testament, and the Septuagint,시147:2, "the outcasts of Israel"; the designation peculiarly given to the Jews in their dispersed state throughout the world ever since the Babylonian captivity. These he, as the apostle of the circumcision, primarily addresses, but not in the limited temporal sense only; he regards their temporal condition as a shadow of their spiritual calling to be strangers and pilgrims on earth, looking for the heavenly Jerusalem as their home. So the Gentile Christians, as the spiritual Israel, are included secondarily, as having the same high calling. He (벧전1:14; 2:10; 4:3) plainly refers to Christian Gentiles (compare 벧전1:17; 벧전2:11). Christians, if they rightly consider their calling, must never settle themselves here, but feel themselves travellers. As the Jews in their dispersion diffused through the nations the knowledge of the one God, preparatory to Christ's first advent, so Christians, by their dispersion among the unconverted, diffuse the knowledge of Christ, preparatory to His second advent. "The children of God scattered abroad" constitute one whole in Christ, who "gathers them together in one," now partially and in Spirit, hereafter perfectly and visibly. "Elect," in the Greek order, comes before "strangers"; elect, in relation to heaven, strangers, in relation to the earth. The election here is that of individuals to eternal life by the sovereign grace of God, as the sequel shows. "While each is certified of his own election by the Spirit, he receives no assurance concerning others, nor are we to be too inquisitive [요21:21, 22]; Peter numbers them among the elect, as they carried the appearance of having been regenerated" [Calvin]. He calls the whole Church by the designation strictly belonging only to the better portion of them [Calvin]. The election to hearing, and that to eternal life, are distinct. Realization of our election is a strong motive to holiness. The minister invites all, yet he does not hide the truth that in none but the elect will the preaching effect eternal blessing. As the chief fruit of exhortations, and even of threatenings, redounds to "the elect"; therefore, at the outset, Peter addresses them.Steiger translates, to "the elect pilgrims who form the dispersion in Pontus.", &c. The order of the provinces is that in which they would be viewed by one writing from the east from Babylon (벧전5:13); from northeast southwards to Galatia, southeast to Cappadocia, then Asia, and back to Bithynia, west of Pontus. Contrast the order, 행2:9. He now was ministering to those same peoples as he preached to on Pentecost: "Parthians, Medes, Elamites, dwellers in Mesopotamia and Judea," that is, the Jews now subject to the Parthians, whose capital was Babylon, where he labored in person; "dwellers in Cappadocia, Pontus, Asia, Phrygia, Bithynia," the Asiatic dispersion derived from Babylon, whom he ministers to by letter.
【벧전1:1 CWC】[THE LIVING HOPE]
The opening of this epistle reminds us of Paul in its salutation, verses 1 and 2. Here we have the author's name -- Peter, his official designation -- an apostle of Jesus Christ, and a characterization and location of the people addressed -- "strangers scattered throughout" the provinces of Asia Minor named. This last phrase is rendered in the Revised Version, "sojourners of the dispersion," which indicates that they were chiefly Jewish Christians not at home in their own land. But nevertheless, they were at home with God, for they are spoken of as "elect," or chosen ones, and it is interesting to note the operation of the Three Persons of the Godhead in their election -- the Father, the Son and the Holy Spirit. The first, called them, the Second redeemed them, the Third satisfied or set them apart for God forever.
The salutation is followed, as also in Paul's epistles, by the thanksgiving (3-12), which contains as well a statement of the theme of the epistle which w' is, "The Living Hope." Seven things are told us of this Living Hope: (1) Its source, "the abundant mercy of God"; (2) its ground, the new birth, "begotten again"; (3) its means, "the resurrection of Jesus Christ," involving His death, of course; (4) its nature, "an inheritance," etc.; (5) its security, "reserved" for us, "who are kept" for it; (6) its consummation "in the last time," which as is shown later, means not the end of the world, but of the present age which synchronizes with the Second Coming of Christ; (7) its effect, joy, "wherein ye greatly rejoice." This rejoicing is experienced even in the midst of trial (v. 6), because that trial will redound to our "praise, and honor and glory" at Christ's Second Coming. "The end of your faith" (v. 9), means that at which faith aims or in which it results, which the apostle says the believer is now "receiving," now bearing off as a prize in the present earnest of the Spirit he enjoys, in the present peace of reconciliation, in his growing sanctification and eager anticipation of eternal joy.
The closing part of this section (9-12) is a strong declaration of the supernatural character of the Holy Scriptures. The "Salvation" just referred to had been prophesied of in the Old Testament, concerning which its writers had sought and searched diligently. That for which they searched was the time of the sufferings and subsequent glory of Christ. The Holy Spirit had led them to write of that time, and now the same Spirit revealed into them the meaning of what they had written. He instructed them that they had written not for their own age but this age, when that which they had written was being preached in the demonstration of the same Holy Spirit (v. 12). We thus see that the Holy Spirit inspired the Scriptures, reveals their meaning, and accompanies their preaching and teaching, or else that preaching or teaching is in vain.
【벧전1:1 MHCC】This epistle is addressed to believers in general, who are strangers in every city or country where they live, and are scattered through the nations. These are to ascribe their salvation to the electing love of the Father, the redemption of the Son, and the sanctification of the Holy Ghost; and so to give glory to one God in three Persons, into whose name they had been baptized. Hope, in the world's phrase, refers only to an uncertain good, for all worldly hopes are tottering, built upon sand, and the worldling's hopes of heaven are blind and groundless conjectures. But the hope of the sons of the living God is a living hope; not only as to its object, but as to its effect also. It enlivens and comforts in all distresses, enables to meet and get over all difficulties. Mercy is the spring of all this; yea, great mercy and manifold mercy. And this well-grounded hope of salvation, is an active and living principle of obedience in the soul of the believer. The matter of a Christian's joy, is the remembrance of the happiness laid up for him. It is incorruptible, it cannot come to nothing, it is an estate that cannot be spent. Also undefiled; this signifies its purity and perfection. And it fadeth not; is not sometimes more or less pleasant, but ever the same, still like itself. All possessions here are stained with defects and failings; still something is wanting: fair houses have sad cares flying about the gilded and ceiled roofs; soft beds and full tables, are often with sick bodies and uneasy stomachs. All possessions are stained with sin, either in getting or in using them. How ready we are to turn the things we possess into occasions and instruments of sin, and to think there is no liberty or delight in their use, without abusing them! Worldly possessions are uncertain and soon pass away, like the flowers and plants of the field. That must be of the greatest worth, which is laid up in the highest and best place, in heaven. Happy are those whose hearts the Holy Spirit sets on this inheritance. God not only gives his people grace, but preserves them unto glory. Every believer has always something wherein he may greatly rejoice; it should show itself in the countenance and conduct. The Lord does not willingly afflict, yet his wise love often appoints sharp trials, to show his people their hearts, and to do them good at the latter end. Gold does not increase by trial in the fire, it becomes less; but faith is made firm, and multiplied, by troubles and afflictions. Gold must perish at last, and can only purchase perishing things, while the trial of faith will be found to praise, and honour, and glory. Let this reconcile us to present afflictions. Seek then to believe Christ's excellence in himself, and his love to us; this will kindle such a fire in the heart as will make it rise up in a sacrifice of love to him. And the glory of God and our own happiness are so united, that if we sincerely seek the one now, we shall attain the other when the soul shall no more be subject to evil. The certainty of this hope is as if believers had already received it.
【벧전1:2 JFB】2. foreknowledge—foreordaining love (벧전1:20), inseparable from God's foreknowledge, the origin from which, and pattern according to which, election takes place. 행2:23, and 롬11:2, prove "foreknowledge" to be foreordination. God's foreknowledge is not the perception of any ground of action out of Himself; still in it liberty is comprehended, and all absolute constraint debarred [Anselm in Steiger]. For so the Son of God was "foreknown" (so the Greek for "foreordained," 벧전1:20) to be the sacrificial Lamb, not against, or without His will, but His will rested in the will of the Father; this includes self-conscious action; nay, even cheerful acquiescense. The Hebrew and Greek "know" include approval and acknowledging as one's own. The Hebrew marks the oneness of loving and choosing, by having one word for both, bachar (Greek, "hairetizo," Septuagint). Peter descends from the eternal "election" of God through the new birth, to the believer's "sanctification," that from this he might again raise them through the consideration of their new birth to a "living hope" of the heavenly "inheritance" [Heidegger]. The divine three are introduced in their respective functions in redemption.
through—Greek, "in"; the element in which we are elected. The "election" of God realized and manifested itself "IN" their sanctification. Believers are "sanctified through the offering of Christ once for all" (히10:10). "Thou must believe and know that thou art holy; not, however, through thine own piety, but through the blood of Christ" [Luther]. This is the true sanctification of the Spirit, to obey the Gospel, to trust in Christ [Bullinger].
sanctification—the Spirit's setting apart of the saint as consecrated to God. The execution of God's choice (갈1:4). God the Father gives us salvation by gratuitous election; the Son earns it by His blood-shedding; the Holy Spirit applies the merit of the Son to the soul by the Gospel word [Calvin]. Compare 민6:24-26, the Old Testament triple blessing.
unto obedience—the result or end aimed at by God as respects us, the obedience which consists in faith, and that which flows from faith; "obeying the truth through the Spirit" (벧전1:22). 롬1:5, "obedience to the faith," and obedience the fruit of faith.
sprinkling, &c.—not in justification through the atonement once for all, which is expressed in the previous clauses, but (as the order proves) the daily being sprinkled by Christ's blood, and so cleansed from all sin, which is the privilege of one already justified and "walking in the light."
Grace—the source of "peace."
be multiplied—still further than already. 단4:1, "Ye have now peace and grace, but still not in perfection; therefore, ye must go on increasing until the old Adam be dead" [Luther].
【벧전1:3 JFB】3. He begins, like Paul, in opening his Epistles with giving thanks to God for the greatness of the salvation; herein he looks forward (1) into the future (벧전1:3-9); (2) backward into the past (벧전1:10-12) [Alford].
Blessed—A distinct Greek word (eulogetos, "Blessed BE") is used of God, from that used of man (eulogemenos, "Blessed IS").
Father—This whole Epistle accords with the Lord's prayer; "Father," 벧전1:3, 14, 17, 23; 2:2; "Our," 벧전1:4, end; "In heaven," 벧전1:4; "Hallowed be Thy name," 벧전1:15, 16; 3:15; "Thy kingdom come," 벧전2:9; "Thy will be done," 벧전2:15; 3:17; 4:2, 19; "daily bread," 벧전5:7; "forgiveness of sins," 벧전4:8, 1; "temptation," 벧전4:12; "deliverance," 벧전4:18 [Bengel]; Compare 벧전3:7; 4:7, for allusions to prayer. "Barak," Hebrew "bless," is literally "kneel." God, as the original source of blessing, must be blessed through all His works.
abundant—Greek, "much," "full." That God's "mercy" should reach us, guilty and enemies, proves its fulness. "Mercy" met our misery; "grace," our guilt.
begotten us again—of the Spirit by the word (벧전1:23); whereas we were children of wrath naturally, and dead in sins.
unto—so that we have.
lively—Greek, "living." It has life in itself, gives life, and looks for life as its object [De Wette]. Living is a favorite expression of Peter (벧전1:23; 벧전2:4, 5). He delights in contemplating life overcoming death in the believer. Faith and love follow hope (벧전1:8, 21, 22). "(Unto) a lively hope" is further explained by "(To) an inheritance incorruptible … fadeth not away," and "(unto) salvation … ready to be revealed in the last time." I prefer with Bengel and Steiger to join as in Greek, "Unto a hope living (possessing life and vitality) through the resurrection of Jesus Christ." Faith, the subjective means of the spiritual resurrection of the soul, is wrought by the same power whereby Christ was raised from the dead. Baptism is an objective means (벧전3:21). Its moral fruit is a new life. The connection of our sonship with the resurrection appears also in Lu 20:36; 행13:33. Christ's resurrection is the cause of ours, (1) as an efficient cause (고전15:22); (2) as an exemplary cause, all the saints being about to rise after the similitude of His resurrection. Our "hope" is, Christ rising from the dead hath ordained the power, and is become the pattern of the believer's resurrection. The soul, born again from its natural state into the life of grace, is after that born again unto the life of glory. 마19:28, "regeneration, when the Son of man shall sit in the throne of His glory"; the resurrection of our bodies is a kind of coming out of the womb of the earth and entering upon immortality, a nativity into another life [Bishop Pearson]. The four causes of our salvation are; (1) the primary cause, God's mercy; (2) the proximate cause, Christ's death and resurrection; (3) the formal cause, our regeneration; (4) the final cause, our eternal bliss. As John is the disciple of love, so Paul of faith, and Peter of hope. Hence, Peter, most of all the apostles, urges the resurrection of Christ; an undesigned coincidence between the history and the Epistle, and so a proof of genuineness. Christ's resurrection was the occasion of his own restoration by Christ after his fall.
【벧전1:4 JFB】4. To an inheritance—the object of our "hope" (벧전1:3), which is therefore not a dead, but a "living" hope. The inheritance is the believer's already by title, being actually assigned to him; the entrance on its possession is future, and hoped for as a certainty. Being "begotten again" as a "son," he is an "heir," as earthly fathers beget children who shall inherit their goods. The inheritance is "salvation" (벧전1:5, 9); "the grace to be brought at the revelation of Christ" (벧전1:13); "a crown of glory that fadeth not away."
incorruptible—not having within the germs of death. Negations of the imperfections which meet us on every side here are the chief means of conveying to our minds a conception of the heavenly things which "have not entered into the heart of man," and which we have not faculties now capable of fully knowing. Peter, sanguine, impulsive, and highly susceptible of outward impressions, was the more likely to feel painfully the deep-seated corruption which, lurking under the outward splendor of the loveliest of earthly things, dooms them soon to rottenness and decay.
undefiled—not stained as earthly goods by sin, either in the acquiring, or in the using of them; unsusceptible of any stain. "The rich man is either a dishonest man himself, or the heir of a dishonest man" [Jerome]. Even Israel's inheritance was defiled by the people's sins. Defilement intrudes even on our holy things now, whereas God's service ought to be undefiled.
that fadeth not away—Contrast 벧전1:24. Even the most delicate part of the heavenly inheritance, its bloom, continues unfading. "In substance incorruptible; in purity undefiled; in beauty unfading" [Alford].
reserved—kept up (골1:5, "laid up for you in heaven," 딤후4:8); Greek perfect, expressing a fixed and abiding state, "which has been and is reserved." The inheritance is in security, beyond risk, out of the reach of Satan, though we for whom it is reserved are still in the midst of dangers. Still, if we be believers, we too, as well as the inheritance, are "kept" (the same Greek,요17:12) by Jesus safely (벧전1:5).
in heaven—Greek, "in the heavens," where it can neither be destroyed nor plundered. It does not follow that, because it is now laid up in heaven, it shall not hereafter be on earth also.
for you—It is secure not only in itself from all misfortune, but also from all alienation, so that no other can receive it in your stead. He had said us (벧전1:3); he now turns his address to the elect in order to encourage and exhort them.
【벧전1:5 JFB】5. kept—Greek, "who are being guarded." He answers the objection, Of what use is it that salvation is "reserved" for us in heaven, as in a calm secure haven, when we are tossed in the world as on a troubled sea in the midst of a thousand wrecks? [Calvin]. As the inheritance is "kept" (벧전1:4) safely for the far distant "heirs," so must they be "guarded" in their persons so as to be sure of reaching it. Neither shall it be wanting to them, nor they to it. "We are guarded in the world as our inheritance is kept in heaven." This defines the "you" of 벧전1:4. The inheritance, remember, belongs only to those who "endure unto the end," being "guarded" by, or IN "the power of God, through faith." Contrast Lu 8:13. God Himself is our sole guarding power. "It is His power which saves us from our enemies. It is His long-suffering which saves us from ourselves" [Bengel]. Jude 1, "preserved in Christ Jesus"; 빌1:6; 4:7, "keep"; Greek, "guard," as here. This guarding is effected, on the part of God, by His "power," the efficient cause; on the part of man, "through faith," the effective means.
by—Greek, "in." The believer lives spiritually in God, and in virtue of His power, and God lives in him. "In" marks that the cause is inherent in the means, working organically through them with living influence, so that the means, in so far as the cause works organically through them, exist also in the cause. The power of God which guards the believer is no external force working upon him from without with mechanical necessity, but the spiritual power of God in which he lives, and with whose Spirit he is clothed. It comes down on, and then dwells in him, even as he is in it [Steiger]. Let none flatter himself he is being guarded by the power of God unto salvation, if he be not walking by faith. Neither speculative knowledge and reason, nor works of seeming charity, will avail, severed from faith. It is through faith that salvation is both received and kept.
unto salvation—the final end of the new birth. "Salvation," not merely accomplished for us in title by Christ, and made over to us on our believing, but actually manifested, and finally completed.
ready to be revealed—When Christ shall be revealed, it shall be revealed. The preparations for it are being made now, and began when Christ came: "All things are now ready"; the salvation is already accomplished, and only waits the Lord's time to be manifested: He "is ready to judge."
last time—the last day, closing the day of grace; the day of judgment, of redemption, of the restitution of all things, and of perdition of the ungodly.
【벧전1:6 JFB】6. Wherein—in which prospect of final salvation.
greatly rejoice—"exult with joy": "are exuberantly glad." Salvation is realized by faith (벧전1:9) as a thing so actually present as to cause exulting joy in spite of existing afflictions.
for a season—Greek, "for a little time."
if need be—"if it be God's will that it should be so" [Alford], for not all believers are afflicted. One need not invite or lay a cross on himself, but only "take up" the cross which God imposes ("his cross"); 딤후3:12 is not to be pressed too far. Not every believer, nor every sinner, is tried with afflictions [Theophylact]. Some falsely think that notwithstanding our forgiveness in Christ, a kind of atonement, or expiation by suffering, is needed.
ye are in heaviness—Greek, "ye were grieved." The "grieved" is regarded as past, the "exulting joy" present. Because the realized joy of the coming salvation makes the present grief seem as a thing of the past. At the first shock of affliction ye were grieved, but now by anticipation ye rejoice, regarding the present grief as past.
through—Greek, "IN": the element in which the grief has place.
manifold—many and of various kinds (벧전4:12, 13).
temptations—"trials" testing your faith.
【벧전1:7 JFB】7. Aim of the "temptations."
trial—testing, proving. That your faith so proved "may be found (aorist; once for all, as the result of its being proved on the judgment-day) unto (eventuating in) praise," &c., namely, the praise to be bestowed by the Judge.
than that of gold—rather, "than gold."
though—"which perisheth, YET is tried with fire." If gold, though perishing (벧전1:18), is yet tried with fire in order to remove dross and test its genuineness, how much more does your faith, which shall never perish, need to pass through a fiery trial to remove whatever is defective, and to test its genuineness and full value?
glory—"Honor" is not so strong as "glory." As "praise" is in words, so "honor" is in deeds: honorary reward.
appearing—Translate as in 벧전1:13, "revelation." At Christ's revelation shall take place also the revelation of the sons of God (롬8:19, "manifestation," Greek, "revelation"; 요일3:2, Greek, "manifested … manifested," for "appear … appear").
【벧전1:8 JFB】8. not having seen, ye love—though in other cases it is knowledge of the person that produces love to him. They are more "blessed that have not seen and yet have believed," than they who believed because they have seen. On Peter's own love to Jesus, compare 요21:15-17. Though the apostles had seen Him, they now ceased to know Him merely after the flesh.
in whom—connected with "believing": the result of which is "ye rejoice" (Greek, "exult").
now—in the present state, as contrasted with the future state when believers "shall see His face."
unspeakable—(고전2:9).
full of glory—Greek, "glorified." A joy now already encompassed with glory. The "glory" is partly in present possession, through the presence of Christ, "the Lord of glory," in the soul; partly in assured anticipation. "The Christian's joy is bound up with love to Jesus: its ground is faith; it is not therefore either self-seeking or self-sufficient" [Steiger].
【벧전1:9 JFB】9. Receiving—in sure anticipation; "the end of your faith," that is, its crowning consummation, finally completed "salvation" (Peter here confirms Paul's teaching as to justification by faith): also receiving now the title to it and the first-fruits of it. In 벧전1:10 the "salvation" is represented as already present, whereas "the prophets" had it not as yet present. It must, therefore, in this verse, refer to the present: Deliverance now from a state of wrath: believers even now "receive salvation," though its full "revelation" is future.
of … souls—The immortal soul was what was lost, so "salvation" primarily concerns the soul; the body shall share in redemption hereafter; the soul of the believer is saved already: an additional proof that "receiving … salvation" is here a thing present.
【벧전1:10 JFB】10. The magnitude of this "salvation" is proved by the earnestness with which "prophets" and even "angels" searched into it. Even from the beginning of the world this salvation has been testified to by the Holy Spirit.
prophets—Though there is no Greek article, yet English Version is right, "the prophets" generally (including all the Old Testament inspired authors), as "the angels" similarly refer to them in general.
inquired—perseveringly: so the Greek. Much more is manifested to us than by diligent inquiry and search the prophets attained. Still it is not said, they searched after it, but concerning (so the Greek for "of") it. They were already certain of the redemption being about to come. They did not like us fully see, but they desired to see the one and the same Christ whom we fully see in spirit. "As Simeon was anxiously desiring previously, and tranquil in peace only when he had seen Christ, so all the Old Testament saints saw Christ only hidden, and as it were absent—absent not in power and grace, but inasmuch as He was not yet manifested in the flesh" [Calvin]. The prophets, as private individuals, had to reflect on the hidden and far-reaching sense of their own prophecies; because their words, as prophets, in their public function, were not so much their own as the Spirit's, speaking by and in them: thus Caiaphas. A striking testimony to verbal inspiration; the words which the inspired authors wrote are God's words expressing the mind of the Spirit, which the writers themselves searched into, to fathom the deep and precious meaning, even as the believing readers did. "Searched" implies that they had determinate marks to go by in their search.
the grace that should come unto you—namely, the grace of the New Testament: an earnest of "the grace" of perfected "salvation … to be brought at the (second) revelation of Christ." Old Testament believers also possessed the grace of God; they were children of God, but it was as children in their nonage, so as to be like servants; whereas we enjoy the full privileges of adult sons.
【벧전1:10 MHCC】Jesus Christ was the main subject of the prophets' studies. Their inquiry into the sufferings of Christ and the glories that should follow, would lead to a view of the whole gospel, the sum whereof is, That Christ Jesus was delivered for our offences, and raised again for our justification. God is pleased to answer our necessities rather than our requests. The doctrine of the prophets, and that of the apostles, exactly agree, as coming from the same Spirit of God. The gospel is the ministration of the Spirit; its success depends upon his operation and blessing. Let us then search diligently those Scriptures which contain the doctrines of salvation.
【벧전1:11 JFB】11. what—Greek, "In reference to what, or what manner of time." What expresses the time absolutely: what was to be the era of Messiah's coming; what manner of time; what events and features should characterize the time of His coming. The "or" implies that some of the prophets, if they could not as individuals discover the exact time, searched into its characteristic features and events. The Greek for "time" is the season, the epoch, the fit time in God's purposes.
Spirit of Christ … in them—(행16:7, in oldest manuscripts, "the Spirit of Jesus"; 계19:10). So Justin Martyr says, "Jesus was He who appeared and communed with Moses, Abraham, and the other patriarchs." Clement of Alexandria calls Him "the Prophet of prophets, and Lord of all the prophetical spirit."
did signify—"did give intimation."
of—Greek, "the sufferers (appointed) unto Christ," or foretold in regard to Christ. "Christ," the anointed Mediator, whose sufferings are the price of our "salvation" (벧전1:9, 10), and who is the channel of "the grace that should come unto you."
the glory—Greek, "glories," namely, of His resurrection, of His ascension, of His judgment and coming kingdom, the necessary consequence of the sufferings.
that should follow—Greek, "after these (sufferings)," 벧전3:18-22; 5:1. Since "the Spirit of Christ" is the Spirit of God, Christ is God. It is only because the Son of God was to become our Christ that He manifested Himself and the Father through Him in the Old Testament, and by the Holy Spirit, eternally proceeding from the Father and Himself, spake in the prophets.
【벧전1:12 JFB】12. Not only was the future revealed to them, but this also, that these revelations of the future were given them not for themselves, but for our good in Gospel times. This, so far from disheartening, only quickened them in unselfishly testifying in the Spirit for the partial good of their own generation (only of believers), and for the full benefit of posterity. Contrast in Gospel times, 계22:10. Not that their prophecies were unattended with spiritual instruction as to the Redeemer to their own generation, but the full light was not to be given till Messiah should come; it was well that they should have this "revealed" to them, lest they should be disheartened in not clearly discovering with all their inquiry and search the full particulars of the coming "salvation." To Daniel (단9:25, 26) the "time" was revealed. Our immense privileges are thus brought forth by contrast with theirs, notwithstanding that they had the great honor of Christ's Spirit speaking in them; and this, as an incentive to still greater earnestness on our part than even they manifested (벧전1:13, &c.).
us—The oldest manuscripts read "you," as in 벧전1:10. This verse implies that we, Christians, may understand the prophecies by the Spirit's aid in their most important part, namely, so far as they have been already fulfilled.
with the Holy Ghost sent down—on Pentecost. The oldest manuscripts omit Greek preposition en, that is, "in"; then translate, "by." The Evangelists speaking by the Holy Spirit were infallible witnesses. "The Spirit of Christ" was in the prophets also (벧전1:11), but not manifestly, as in the case of the Christian Church and its first preachers, "SENT down from heaven." How favored are we in being ministered to, as to "salvation," by prophets and apostles alike, the latter now announcing the same things as actually fulfilled which the former foretold.
which things—"the things now reported unto you" by the evangelistic preachers "Christ's sufferings and the glory that should follow" (벧전1:11, 12).
angels—still higher than "the prophets" (벧전1:10). Angels do not any more than ourselves possess an INTUITIVE knowledge of redemption. "To look into" in Greek is literally, "to bend over so as to look deeply into and see to the bottom of a thing." See on 약1:25, on same word. As the cherubim stood bending over the mercy seat, the emblem of redemption, in the holiest place, so the angels intently gaze upon and desire to fathom the depths of "the great mystery of godliness, God manifest in the flesh, justified in the Spirit, seen of angels" (딤전3:16). Their "ministry to the heirs of salvation" naturally disposes them to wish to penetrate this mystery as reflecting such glory on the love, justice, wisdom, and power of their and our God and Lord. They can know it only through its manifestation in the Church, as they personally have not the direct share in it that we have. "Angels have only the contrast between good and evil, without the power of conversion from sin to righteousness: witnessing such conversion in the Church, they long to penetrate the knowledge of the means whereby it is brought about" [Hofman in Alford].
【벧전1:13 JFB】13. Wherefore—Seeing that the prophets ministered unto you in these high Gospel privileges which they did not themselves fully share in, though "searching" into them, and seeing that even angels "desire to look into" them, how earnest you ought to be and watchful in respect to them!
gird up … loins—referring to Christ's own words, Lu 12:35; an image taken from the way in which the Israelites ate the passover with the loose outer robe girded up about the waist with a girdle, as ready for a journey. Workmen, pilgrims, runners, wrestlers, and warriors (all of whom are types of the Christians), so gird themselves up, both to shorten the garment so as not to impede motion, and to gird up the body itself so as to be braced for action. The believer is to have his mind (mental powers) collected and always ready for Christ's coming. "Gather in the strength of your spirit" [Hensler]. Sobriety, that is, spiritual self-restraint, lest one be overcome by the allurements of the world and of sense, and patient hopeful waiting for Christ's revelation, are the true ways of "girding up the loins of the mind."
to the end—rather, "perfectly," so that there may be nothing deficient in your hope, no casting away of your confidence. Still, there may be an allusion to the "end" mentioned in 벧전1:9. Hope so perfectly (Greek, "teleios") as to reach unto the end (telos) of your faith and hope, namely, "the grace that is being brought unto you in (so the Greek) the revelation of Christ." As grace shall then be perfected, so you ought to hope perfectly. "Hope" is repeated from 벧전1:3. The two appearances are but different stages of the ONE great revelation of Christ, comprising the New Testament from the beginning to the end.
【벧전1:13 CWC】"Wherefore" at the beginning of this lesson shows that as the result of what has gone before something is expected. They who have been begotten again to this Living Hope have obligations arising from it.
1. The first is Hope (13-16). The difference between "hope" in verse 13 and that in verse 3 is, that there it represented the believer's standing or position before God in Christ, and here his experience and exhibition of it. Having been begotten again unto a Living Hope, he is now to hope for it with all sobriety and concentration of mind. As he does so hope it will affect his character and conduct (14), for no longer will his daily life be run in the mould of his former desires in sin, but will be holy as God is holy (15, 16).
2. The second is Fear (17-21), godly fear, of course, not the fear of a criminal before a judge, but that of an obedient child in the presence of a loving father. Two motives are given for it, one, the thought of judgment, (17), and the other, the cost of our redemption (18, 19). The judgment is not to determine the question of salvation, which is settled for believers as soon as they accept Christ, but to determine their fidelity as disciples and the place of reward awaiting them in glory.
3. The third is Love (22-2:3). Believers have "purified their souls," not in an absolute experimental sense, but in the judicial sense that they now have a right standing before God. This they did "in obeying the truth" of the Gospel, which they were enabled to obey "through the Spirit"; in other words, by the aid of the Holy Spirit. Being in this position they are able to "love one another," and being able to do it imposes the obligation to do it. (22). The thought is extended in the next verse which reveals that believers are "brethren" in that they have all been "born again" by the one "seed," which is the incorruptible Word of God. The "love" they are to exercise toward one another is defined in the opening verses of chapter 3, and in order to obtain the strength to exercise it they are to draw on the Word of God. That which instrumentally brought them into life will sustain them in it continually (2, 3).
4. The fourth is Praise (4-10. The Lord Jesus Christ referred to in verse 3, is "a Living Stone," Whose life has been communicated to believers, making them "living stones" (5). They thus form a spiritual temple, and, abruptly changing the figure, they are the "priesthood" in the temple. As such they have spiritual sacrifices to offer (5), the chief of which is to "show forth the praises of Him Who" redeemed them (9, 10).
These four obligations of "The Living Hope" are referred to as the "upward" ones in the sense that, with one exception, they are due to God directly. The exception is that of "Love" which is due to God indeed, but exercised indirectly through the brethren. The obligations following in the epistle are for the most part outward toward the world, and inward toward one another as fellow-believers, fellow-members of the family of God or of the Body of Christ.
【벧전1:13 MHCC】As the traveller, the racer, the warrior, and the labourer, gathered in their long and loose garments, that they might be ready in their business, so let Christians do by their minds and affections. Be sober, be watchful against all spiritual dangers and enemies, and be temperate in all behaviour. Be sober-minded in opinion, as well as in practice, and humble in your judgment of yourselves. A strong and perfect trust in the grace of God, is agreeable with best endeavours in our duty. Holiness is the desire and duty of every Christian. It must be in all affairs, in every condition, and towards all people. We must especially watch and pray against the sins to which we are inclined. The written word of God is the surest rule of a Christian's life, and by this rule we are commanded to be holy every way. God makes those holy whom he saves.
【벧전1:14 JFB】14. From sobriety of spirit and endurance of hope Peter passes to obedience, holiness, and reverential fear.
As—marking their present actual character as "born again" (벧전1:3, 22).
obedient children—Greek, "children of obedience": children to whom obedience is their characteristic and ruling nature, as a child is of the same nature as the mother and father. Contrast 엡5:6, "the children of disobedience." Compare 벧전1:17, "obeying the Father" whose "children" ye are. Having the obedience of faith (compare 벧전1:22) and so of practice (compare 벧전1:16, 18). "Faith is the highest obedience, because discharged to the highest command" [Luther].
fashioning—The outward fashion (Greek, "schema") is fleeting, and merely on the surface. The "form," or conformation in the New Testament, is something deeper and more perfect and essential.
the former lusts in—which were characteristic of your state of ignorance of God: true of both Jews and Gentiles. The sanctification is first described negatively (벧전1:14, "not fashioning yourselves," &c.; the putting off the old man, even in the outward fashion, as well as in the inward conformation), then positively (벧전1:15, putting on the new man, compare 엡4:22, 24). "Lusts" flow from the original birth-sin (inherited from our first parents, who by self-willed desire brought sin into the world), the lust which, ever since man has been alienated from God, seeks to fill up with earthly things the emptiness of his being; the manifold forms which the mother-lust assumes are called in the plural lusts. In the regenerate, as far as the new man is concerned, which constitutes his truest self, "sin" no longer exists; but in the flesh or old man it does. Hence arises the conflict, uninterruptedly maintained through life, wherein the new man in the main prevails, and at last completely. But the natural man knows only the combat of his lusts with one another, or with the law, without power to conquer them.
【벧전1:15 JFB】15. Literally, "But (rather) after the pattern of Him who hath called you (whose characteristic is that He is) holy, be (Greek, 'become') ye yourselves also holy." God is our grand model. God's calling is a frequently urged motive in Peter's Epistles. Every one that begets, begets an offspring resembling himself [Epiphanius]. "Let the acts of the offspring indicate similarity to the Father" [Augustine].
conversation—deportment, course of life: one's way of going about, as distinguished from one's internal nature, to which it must outwardly correspond. Christians are already holy unto God by consecration; they must be so also in their outward walk and behavior in all respects. The outward must correspond to the inward man.
【벧전1:16 JFB】16.Scripture is the true source of all authority in questions of doctrine and practice.
Be ye … for I am—It is I with whom ye have to do. Ye are mine. Therefore abstain from Gentile pollutions. We are too prone to have respect unto men [Calvin]. As I am the fountain of holiness, being holy in My essence, be ye therefore zealous to be partakers of holiness, that ye may be as I also am [Didymus]. God is essentially holy: the creature is holy in so far as it is sanctified by God. God, in giving the command, is willing to give also the power to obey it, namely, through the sanctifying of the Spirit (벧전1:2).
【벧전1:17 JFB】17. if ye call on—that is, "seeing that ye call on," for all the regenerate pray as children of God, "Our Father who art in heaven" (마6:9; Lu 11:2).
the Father—rather, "Call upon as Father Him who without acceptance of persons (행10:34; 롬2:11; 약2:1, not accepting the Jew above the Gentile, 대하19:7; Lu 20:21; properly said of a judge not biassed in judgment by respect of persons) judgeth," &c. The Father judgeth by His Son, His Representative, exercising His delegated authority (요5:22). This marks the harmonious and complete unity of the Trinity.
work—Each man's work is one complete whole, whether good or bad. The particular works of each are manifestations of the general character of his lifework, whether it was of faith and love whereby alone we can please God and escape condemnation.
pass—Greek, "conduct yourselves during."
sojourning—The outward state of the Jews in their dispersion is an emblem of the sojourner-like state of all believers in this world, away from our true Fatherland.
fear—reverential, not slavish. He who is your Father, is also your Judge—a thought which may well inspire reverential fear. Theophylact observes, A double fear is mentioned in Scripture: (1) elementary, causing one to become serious; (2) perfective: the latter is here the motive by which Peter urges them as sons of God to be obedient. Fear is not here opposed to assurance, but to carnal security: fear producing vigilant caution lest we offend God and backslide. "Fear and hope flow from the same fountain: fear prevents us from falling away from hope" [Bengel]. Though love has no fearIN it, yet in our present state of imperfect love, it needs to have fear going ALONG WITH It as a subordinate principle. This fear drowns all other fears. The believer fears God, and so has none else to fear. Not to fear God is the greatest baseness and folly. The martyrs' more than mere human courage flowed from this.
【벧전1:17 MHCC】Holy confidence in God as a Father, and awful fear of him as a Judge, agree together; and to regard God always as a Judge, makes him dear to us as a Father. If believers do evil, God will visit them with corrections. Then, let Christians not doubt God's faithfulness to his promises, nor give way to enslaving dread of his wrath, but let them reverence his holiness. The fearless professor is defenceless, and Satan takes him captive at his will; the desponding professor has no heart to avail himself of his advantages, and is easily brought to surrender. The price paid for man's redemption was the precious blood of Christ. Not only openly wicked, but unprofitable conversation is highly dangerous, though it may plead custom. It is folly to resolve, I will live and die in such a way, because my forefathers did so. God had purposes of special favour toward his people, long before he made manifest such grace unto them. But the clearness of light, the supports of faith, the power of ordinances, are all much greater since Christ came upon earth, than they were before. The comfort is, that being by faith made one with Christ, his present glory is an assurance that where he is we shall be also, 요14:3. The soul must be purified, before it can give up its own desires and indulgences. And the word of God planted in the heart by the Holy Ghost, is a means of spiritual life, stirring up to our duty, working a total change in the dispositions and affections of the soul, till it brings to eternal life. In contrast with the excellence of the renewed spiritual man, as born again, observe the vanity of the natural man. In his life, and in his fall, he is like grass, the flower of grass, which soon withers and dies away. We should hear, and thus receive and love, the holy, living word, and rather hazard all than lose it; and we must banish all other things from the place due to it. We should lodge it in our hearts as our only treasures here, and the certain pledge of the treasure of glory laid up for believers in heaven.
【벧전1:18 JFB】18. Another motive to reverential, vigilant fear (벧전1:17) of displeasing God, the consideration of the costly price of our redemption from sin. Observe, it is we who are bought by the blood of Christ, not heaven. The blood of Christ is not in Scripture said to buy heaven for us: heaven is the "inheritance" (벧전1:4) given to us as sons, by the promise of God.
corruptible—Compare 벧전1:7, "gold that perisheth," 벧전1:23.
silver and gold—Greek, "or." Compare Peter's own words, 행3:6: an undesigned coincidence.
redeemed—Gold and silver being liable to corruption themselves, can free no one from spiritual and bodily death; they are therefore of too little value. Contrast 벧전1:19, Christ's "precious blood." The Israelites were ransomed with half a shekel each, which went towards purchasing the lamb for the daily sacrifice (출30:12-16; compare 민3:44-51). But the Lamb who redeems the spiritual Israelites does so "without money or price." Devoted by sin to the justice of God, the Church of the first-born is redeemed from sin and the curse with Christ's precious blood (마20:28; 딤전2:6; 딛2:14; 계5:9). In all these passages there is the idea of substitution, the giving of one for another by way of a ransom or equivalent. Man is "sold under sin" as a slave; shut up under condemnation and the curse. The ransom was, therefore, paid to the righteously incensed Judge, and was accepted as a vicarious satisfaction for our sin by God, inasmuch as it was His own love as well as righteousness which appointed it. An Israelite sold as a bond-servant for debt might be redeemed by one of his brethren. As, therefore, we could not redeem ourselves, Christ assumed our nature in order to become our nearest of kin and brother, and so our God or Redeemer. Holiness is the natural fruit of redemption "from our vain conversation"; for He by whom we are redeemed is also He for whom we are redeemed. "Without the righteous abolition of the curse, either there could be found no deliverance, or, what is impossible, the grace and righteousness of God must have come in collision" [Steiger]; but now, Christ having borne the curse of our sin, frees from it those who are made God's children by His Spirit.
vain—self-deceiving, unreal, and unprofitable: promising good which it does not perform. Compare as to the Gentiles, 행14:15; 롬1:21; 엡4:17; as to human philosophers, 고전3:20; as to the disobedient Jews, 렘4:14.
conversation—course of life. To know what our sin is we must know what it cost.
received by tradition from your fathers—The Jews' traditions. "Human piety is a vain blasphemy, and the greatest sin that a man can commit" [Luther]. There is only one Father to be imitated, 벧전1:17; compare 마23:9, the same antithesis [Bengel].
【벧전1:19 JFB】19. precious—of inestimable value. The Greek order is, "With precious blood, as of a lamb without blemish (in itself) and without spot (contracted by contact with others), (even the blood) of Christ." Though very man, He remained pure in Himself ("without blemish"), and uninfected by any impression of sin from without ("without spot"), which would have unfitted Him for being our atoning Redeemer: so the passover lamb, and every sacrificial victim; so too, the Church, the Bride, by her union with Him. As Israel's redemption from Egypt required the blood of the paschal lamb, so our redemption from sin and the curse required the blood of Christ; "foreordained" (벧전1:20) from eternity, as the passover lamb was taken up on the tenth day of the month.
【벧전1:20 JFB】20. God's eternal foreordination of Christ's redeeming sacrifice, and completion of it in these last times for us, are an additional obligation on us to our maintaining a holy walk, considering how great things have been thus done for us. Peter's language in the history corresponds with this here: an undesigned coincidence and mark of genuineness. Redemption was no afterthought, or remedy of an unforeseen evil, devised at the time of its arising. God's foreordaining of the Redeemer refutes the slander that, on the Christian theory, there is a period of four thousand years of nothing but an incensed God. God chose us in Christ before the foundation of the world (엡1:4).
manifest—in His incarnation in the fulness of the time. He existed from eternity before He was manifested.
in these last times—고전10:11, "the ends of the world." This last dispensation, made up of "times" marked by great changes, but still retaining a general unity, stretches from Christ's ascension to His coming to judgment.
【벧전1:21 JFB】21. by him—Compare "the faith which is by Him," 행3:16. Through Christ: His Spirit, obtained for us in His resurrection and ascension, enabling us to believe. This verse excludes all who do not "by Him believe in God," and includes all of every age and clime that do. Literally, "are believers in God." "To believeIN (Greek, 'eis') God" expresses an internal trust: "by believing to love God, going INTO Him, and cleaving to Him, incorporated into His members. By this faith the ungodly is justified, so that thenceforth faith itself begins to work by love" [P. Lombard]. To believeON (Greek, "epi," or dative case) God expresses the confidence, which grounds itself on God, reposing on Him. "Faith IN (Greek, 'en') His blood" (롬3:25) implies that His blood is the element IN which faith has its proper and abiding place. Compare with this verse, 행20:21, "Repentance toward (Greek, 'eis,' 'into,' turning towards and going into) God and faith toward (Greek, 'eis,' 'into') Christ": where, as there is but one article to both repentance and faith, the two are inseparably joined as together forming one truth; where "repentance" is, there "faith" is; when one knows God the Father spiritually, then he must know the Son by whom alone we can come to the Father. In Christ we have life: if we have not the doctrine of Christ, we have not God. The only living way to God is through Christ and His sacrifice.
that raised him—The raising of Jesus by God is the special ground of our "believing": (1) because by it God declared openly His acceptance of Him as our righteous substitute; (2) because by it and His glorification He received power, namely, the Holy Spirit, to impart to His elect "faith": the same power enabling us to believe as raised Him from the dead. Our faith must not only be IN Christ, but BY and THROUGH Christ. "Since in Christ's resurrection and consequent dominion our safety is grounded, there 'faith' and 'hope' find their stay" [Calvin].
that your faith and hope might be in God—the object and effect of God's raising Christ. He states what was the actual result and fact, not an exhortation, except indirectly. Your faith flows from His resurrection; your hope from God's having "given Him glory" (compare 벧전1:11, "glories"). Remember God's having raised and glorified Jesus as the anchor of your faith and hope in God, and so keep alive these graces. Apart from Christ we could have only feared, not believed and hoped in God. Compare 벧전1:3, 7-9, 13, on hope in connection with faith; love is introduced in 벧전1:22.
【벧전1:22 JFB】22. purified … in obeying the truth—Greek, "in your (or 'the') obedience of (that is, 'to') the truth (the Gospel way of salvation)," that is, in the fact of your believing. Faith purifies the heart as giving it the only pure motive, love to God (행15:9; 롬1:5, "obedience to the faith").
through the Spirit—omitted in the oldest manuscripts. The Holy Spirit is the purifier by bestowing the obedience of faith (벧전1:2; 고전12:3).
unto—with a view to: the proper result of the purifying of your hearts by faith. "For what end must we lead a chaste life? That we may thereby be saved? No: but for this, that we may serve our neighbor" [Luther].
unfeigned—벧전2:1, 2, "laying aside … hypocrisies … sincere."
love of the brethren—that is, of Christians. Brotherly love is distinct from common love. "The Christian loves primarily those in Christ; secondarily, all who might be in Christ, namely, all men, as Christ as man died for all, and as he hopes that they, too, may become his Christian brethren" [Steiger]. Bengel remarks that as here, so in 벧후1:5-7, "brotherly love" is preceded by the purifying graces, "faith, knowledge, and godliness," &c. Love to the brethren is the evidence of our regeneration and justification by faith.
love one another—When the purifying by faith into love of the brethren has formed the habit, then the act follows, so that the "love" is at once habit and act.
with a pure heart—The oldest manuscripts read, "(love) from the heart."
fervently—Greek, "intensely": with all the powers on the stretch (벧전4:8). "Instantly" (행26:7).
【벧전1:23 JFB】23. Christian brotherhood flows from our new birth of an imperishable seed, the abiding word of God. This is the consideration urged here to lead us to exercise brotherly love. As natural relationship gives rise to natural affection, so spiritual relationship gives rise to spiritual, and therefore abiding love, even as the seed from which it springs is abiding, not transitory as earthly things.
of … of … by—"The word of God" is not the material of the spiritual new birth, but its mean or medium. By means of the word the man receives the incorruptible seed of the Holy Spirit, and so becomes one "born again": 요3:3-5, "born of water and the Spirit": as there is but one Greek article to the two nouns, the close connection of the sign and the grace, or new birth signified is implied. The word is the remote and anterior instrument; baptism, the proximate and sacramental instrument. The word is the instrument in relation to the individual; baptism, in relation to the Church as a society (약1:18). We are born again of the Spirit, yet not without the use of means, but by the word of God. The word is not the beggeting principle itself, but only that by which it works: the vehicle of the mysterious germinating power [Alford].
which liveth and abideth for ever—It is because the Spirit of God accompanies it that the word carries in it the germ of life. They who are so born again live and abide for ever, in contrast to those who sow to the flesh. "The Gospel bears incorruptible fruits, not dead works, because it is itself incorruptible" [Bengel]. The word is an eternal divine power. For though the voice or speech vanishes, there still remains the kernel, the truth comprehended in the voice. This sinks into the heart and is living; yea, it is God Himself. So God to Moses, 출4:12, "I will be with thy mouth" [Luther]. The life is in God, yet it is communicated to us through the word. "The Gospel shall never cease, though its ministry shall" [Calovius]. The abiding resurrection glory is always connected with our regeneration by the Spirit. Regeneration beginning with renewing man's soul at the resurrection, passes on to the body, then to the whole world of nature.
【벧전1:24 JFB】24. Scripture proof that the word of God lives for ever, in contrast to man's natural frailty. If ye were born again of flesh, corruptible seed, ye must also perish again as the grass; but now that from which you have derived life remains eternally, and so also will render you eternal.
flesh—man in his mere earthly nature.
as—omitted in some of the oldest manuscripts.
of man—The oldest manuscripts read, "of it" (that is, of the flesh). "The glory" is the wisdom, strength, riches, learning, honor, beauty, art, virtue, and righteousness of the NATURAL man (expressed by "flesh"), which all are transitory (요3:6), not OF MAN (as English Version reads) absolutely, for the glory of man, in his true ideal realized in the believer, is eternal.
withereth—Greek, aorist: literally, "withered," that is, is withered as a thing of the past. So also the Greek for "falleth" is "fell away," that is, is fallen away: it no sooner is than it is gone.
thereof—omitted in the best manuscripts and versions. "The grass" is the flesh: "the flower" its glory.
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