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1 Peter 1

Peter grounds hope amid trials and the call to holiness in God’s mercy, Christ’s resurrection, and the enduring gospel.

Peter addresses believers scattered across five regions of Asia Minor, calling them chosen people living as foreigners. He praises God for the new birth and lasting inheritance secured through Jesus Christ’s resurrection, while acknowledging the grief of their trials. He then describes how prophets searched into this salvation and how the gospel has reached his readers. On that basis, he calls them to hope, holy conduct, reverent fear, and love for one another.

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1Peter, an apostle of Jesus Christ, to the chosen ones who are living as foreigners in the Dispersion in Pontus, Galatia, Cappadocia, Asia, and Bithynia,
2according to the foreknowledge of God the Father, in sanctification of the Spirit, that you may obey Jesus Christ and be sprinkled with his blood: Grace to you and peace be multiplied.
3Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, who according to his great mercy caused us to be born again to a living hope through the resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead,
4to an incorruptible and undefiled inheritance that doesn’t fade away, reserved in Heaven for you,
5who by the power of God are guarded through faith for a salvation ready to be revealed in the last time.
6In this you greatly rejoice, though now for a little while, if need be, you have been grieved in various trials,
7that the proof of your faith, which is more precious than gold that perishes, even though it is tested by fire, may be found to result in praise, glory, and honor at the revelation of Jesus Christ—
8whom, not having known, you love. In him, though now you don’t see him, yet believing, you rejoice greatly with joy that is unspeakable and full of glory,
9receiving the result of your faith, the salvation of your souls.
10Concerning this salvation, the prophets sought and searched diligently. They prophesied of the grace that would come to you,
11searching for who or what kind of time the Spirit of Christ which was in them pointed to when he predicted the sufferings of Christ and the glories that would follow them.
12To them it was revealed that they served not themselves, but you, in these things, which now have been announced to you through those who preached the Good News to you by the Holy Spirit sent out from heaven; which things angels desire to look into.
13Therefore prepare your minds for action. Be sober, and set your hope fully on the grace that will be brought to you at the revelation of Jesus Christ—
14as children of obedience, not conforming yourselves according to your former lusts as in your ignorance,
15but just as he who called you is holy, you yourselves also be holy in all of your behavior,
16because it is written, “You shall be holy, for I am holy.”
17If you call on him as Father, who without respect of persons judges according to each man’s work, pass the time of your living as foreigners here in reverent fear,
18knowing that you were redeemed, not with corruptible things like silver or gold, from the useless way of life handed down from your fathers,
19but with precious blood, as of a lamb without blemish or spot, the blood of Christ,
20who was foreknown indeed before the foundation of the world, but was revealed in this last age for your sake,
21who through him are believers in God, who raised him from the dead and gave him glory, so that your faith and hope might be in God.
22Seeing you have purified your souls in your obedience to the truth through the Spirit in sincere brotherly affection, love one another from the heart fervently,
23having been born again, not of corruptible seed, but of incorruptible, through the word of God, which lives and remains forever.
24For, “All flesh is like grass, and all of man’s glory like the flower in the grass. The grass withers, and its flower falls;
25but the Lord’s word endures forever.” This is the word of Good News which was preached to you.
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Key verses
1 Peter 1:3God’s mercy and Jesus Christ’s resurrection establish the living hope that anchors Peter’s teaching about suffering and salvation.
1 Peter 1:14Peter connects the readers’ identity as obedient children with a break from the desires that shaped their former lives.
1 Peter 1:22The call to love from the heart brings Peter’s teaching on holiness into the readers’ relationships with one another.
Where this chapter reaches

Romans and Hebrews share this chapter’s teaching that redemption comes through Christ’s blood, linking salvation with his death and God’s gracious action. John shares the theme of new birth, while 1 John connects birth from God with love for fellow believers.

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Questions people ask about 1 Peter 1

What does “living hope” mean in 1 Peter 1:3?

Peter ties living hope to God’s mercy and Jesus Christ’s resurrection from the dead. Its future includes an inheritance that cannot decay and salvation to be revealed. This hope coexists with grief in trials; the passage grounds confidence in God’s power to guard believers through faith.

Who are the foreigners in 1 Peter 1?

Peter addresses chosen believers in Pontus, Galatia, Cappadocia, Asia, and Bithynia, regions of Asia Minor. The terms foreigners and Dispersion describe their scattered, outsider position. The opening does not settle each reader’s ethnic background or legal status. Verse 17 also describes their present life as a time of living as foreigners.

What does it mean to be holy in 1 Peter 1?

Peter connects holiness with God’s own character and extends it to all behavior. He names obedience in place of former desires, reverent fear before the impartial Father, and earnest love for fellow believers. These commands follow his account of God’s mercy and redemption through the precious blood of Christ.

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Cross-reference data from OpenBible.info (CC BY). Scripture from the World English Bible (public domain). Arc diagram after Chris Harrison and Christoph Römhild (2007).