টীকা বর্তমানে শুধুমাত্র ইংরেজিতে উপলব্ধ। বাংলা অনুবাদ চলছে।
1 Peter 1 — Begotten Again Unto a Living Hope
Peter writes to believers scattered as strangers, blessing God who has begotten them again to a living hope through the resurrection of Jesus Christ, to an inheritance incorruptible and reserved in heaven. Though grieved by trials, their tested faith is more precious than gold. They love a Christ they have not seen. The prophets searched into this salvation. Therefore be holy, for He is holy, having been redeemed by the precious blood of Christ.
“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.”
— 1 Peter 1:3
- v.1-12 A living hope and a tested faith
- v.13-21 Be holy, for He is holy
- v.22-25 Born again by the living word
The trial of your faith... more precious than gold. Faith tested by trials is refined like gold in fire — the fire does not destroy it but purifies and proves it. Tested faith is worth more than the most precious metal.
Trials have a purpose — they refine faith into something that will be found unto praise and honour and glory when Christ appears. The suffering believer is not being punished but proven; the fire is the refiner's, not the destroyer's.
Whom having not seen, ye love. The believer loves a Christ never seen with physical eyes — a love that is real though the object is unseen. Faith perceives what sight cannot.
Joy unspeakable and full of glory. The joy of faith surpasses words and is already touched with the glory to come. This joy is possible amid trials (v.6) because its source is the unseen but living Christ, not visible circumstances.
A quotation from Leviticus (11:44) — the call to holiness grounded in God's own holiness. The standard of the believer's conduct is the character of God Himself: Be ye holy; for I am holy.
Holiness is not optional decoration but the believer's calling, rooted in whose they are. Children resemble their Father. Those redeemed by a holy God are to reflect His holiness in all manner of living (v.15).
The precious blood of Christ. The redemption price was not silver or gold (v.18) but the blood of Christ — infinitely precious because it is His. The cost of our redemption measures our worth to God and the gravity of sin.
A lamb without blemish and without spot. The Passover and sacrificial imagery — Christ is the spotless Lamb whose blood redeems. Only a flawless sacrifice could atone; Christ alone was without sin, the perfect Lamb foreshadowed by every Old Testament offering.
When trials come, read them through verse 7: they are the refining fire that proves your faith more precious than gold. The fire is not meant to consume you but to purify what is genuine. Ask, in the hard season, not only "how do I escape this?" but "what is this refining in me?" The faith that comes through fire will be found unto praise and glory when Christ appears — so endure the furnace as gold endures it, trusting the Refiner's hand.
The chapter overflows with Christ — the living hope rests on His resurrection (v.3), the tested faith awaits His appearing (v.7), the unseen Christ is loved and rejoiced in (v.8), and the redemption is by His precious blood as the spotless Lamb (v.19). Even the prophets searched to understand the sufferings of Christ and the glory to follow (v.11). He is the foundation of the hope, the object of the love, the price of the redemption. The scattered, suffering believers are anchored entirely in Him.
Begotten us again unto a lively hope. The new birth produces a living hope — alive, active, growing, unlike the dead hopes of the world. Its ground is the resurrection of Jesus Christ.
Christian hope is not wishful thinking but confident expectation, anchored in a historical event — the resurrection. Because Christ rose, the believer's hope is alive. A dead Christ gives a dead hope; a risen Christ, a living one.