Introduction to 1 Peter
Philip Lee
The Author
Have you ever thought that it would be so much easier to trust Jesus, to live a life completely devoted to Him, to avoid the temptations to sin if you could just spend some time with Him face-to-face? It is easy to think that, but the Bible is full of stories of men who experienced God in the Old Testament or walked with Jesus in the New Testament but remained deeply flawed, committed grievous sin, still struggled with faith. There is perhaps no greater example in the entire Bible than Peter, a man whose life recorded in the Scriptures alternates between incredible boldness and faith in one instance followed by seemingly unbelievable failures the next.
The life of Peter serves as a great encouragement to followers of Christ. Being a follower of Christ does not mean that we are perfect. Just as Peter did on numerous occasions, we will sin, we will lack faith, we will deny Christ with our words or actions. Peter always repented of his sins when he realized his sin and Jesus always forgave and restored him when he did. In the same way, God always stands ready to forgive and restore us when we confess and repent of our sins.
Peter seems an unlikely choice to be the first among the apostles, yet in every list of the twelve apostles he is listed first (Matthew 10:2-4, Mark 3:16-19, Luke 6:13-16, Acts 1:13). He was not trained religiously. In fact, Acts 4:13 says that he was “untrained and uneducated.” He and his brother Andrew ran a fishing business in the town of Capernaum along the Sea of Galilee, where he owned a home (Mark 1:16-29, Matthew 4:18-19). Andrew, who was previously a disciple of John the Baptist, was also one of the twelve and the gospel of the apostle John records that it was Andrew who introduced Peter to Jesus saying, “We have found the Messiah” (John 1:40-42). Peter’s birth name was Simon, but it was at this first meeting that Jesus said, “You are Simon the son of John; you shall be called Cephas.” Cephas is the Aramaic (Peter’s native language) word for “rock”. The Greek word is Peter.
Throughout the gospels Peter is referred to as Simon, Peter, and Simon Peter. Interestingly, the name Simon is often used after his failures. In The Bible Exposition Commentary on 1 Peter Warren Wiersbe says, “Peter was a man with three names. Nearly fifty times in the New Testament, he is called ‘Simon’; and often he is called ‘Simon Peter.’ Perhaps the two names suggest a Christian’s two natures: an old nature (Simon) that is prone to fail, and a new nature (Peter) that can give victory. As Simon, he was only another human piece of clay; but Jesus Christ made a rock out of him!”
In Matthew 16:17-19, after Peter confesses that Jesus is “the Christ, the Son of the Living God,” (v. 16), it is recorded: “And Jesus said to him, “Blessed are you, Simon Barjona, because flesh and blood did not reveal this to you, but My Father who is in heaven. I also say to you that you are Peter, and upon this rock I will build My church; and the gates of Hades will not overpower it. I will give you the keys of the kingdom of heaven; and whatever you bind on earth shall have been bound in heaven, and whatever you loose on earth shall have been loosed in heaven.”
This humble fishermen, prone to impulsive verbal and physical outbursts, often lacking in faith, is the man whom Jesus chose to be the first among His disciples, part of his inner circle along with James and John (Mark 5:37; 9:2), and the rock upon which He would build His church. Jesus builds his kingdom through forgiven but not yet perfect men and women, who, like Peter, sometimes display great faith and sometimes commit great sin.
In John 21:15-17 Jesus asked Peter three times if Peter loved Him, three times Peter answered yes, and three times Jesus told Peter to take care of His sheep. The number three is not insignificant in light of the fact that Peter denied Jesus three times on the night of His arrest.
Following the ascension of Jesus back into Heaven, Peter was clearly the leader of the apostles and the early church. He took the lead in choosing a replacement in the 12 for Judas (Acts 1:15-26). He was the preacher on the Day of Pentecost when the Holy Spirit came down and 3,000 souls believed in Jesus and were baptized (Acts 2:1-42). In Acts 3-4 Peter boldly preached the gospel even facing the threat of imprisonment and beatings. In Acts 5 he brought about the first case of church discipline before being beaten and thrown in prison. In Acts 9 he raised Tabitha from the dead. In Acts 10-11 God used Peter to open the gospel to the Gentiles through his encounter with Cornelius. The historical account of Peter’s life in the Bible concludes in Acts 15 at the Jerusalem Council.
According to church tradition, Peter’s life ended in Rome around 65-66 AD under the persecution initiated by Nero. Tradition holds that Peter was crucified upside down, at his request, claiming that he was not worthy to be put to death in the same manner as Jesus. He probably wrote 1 Peter from Rome shortly before his death, most likely in 62-64 AD.
Questions Surrounding Peter’s Authorship
As with every book of the Bible, there are scholars who challenge the authenticity of the book. Those scholars raise four objections to Peter’s authorship: 1) it is not listed in the Muratorian Fragment, a list of canonical books compiled in Rome between 180-200 AD, 2) the Greek is too polished for an “uneducated” (Acts 4:13) fisherman from Galilee, 3) it is too similar to Paul’s writings in Romans and Ephesians, and 4) the description of persecution in 1 Peter better fits a later date, such as Emperor Trajan (AD 98-117).
Those objections do not give serious reason to doubt Peter's authorship. According to B.F. Westcott in A General Survey of the History of the Canon of the New Testament the Muratorian Fragment is damaged and is missing at least one line of text. Peter was not completely uneducated, but rather untrained in a Jewish rabbinical school. Being from Galilee he was likely bilingual in Aramaic and Greek from an early age. 1 Peter 5:12 also suggests that Peter used Silvanus (Silas) as a scribe in composing the letter, which would account for both the high level Greek and the similarities to Paul’s writing, as Silas was also Paul’s missionary companion and scribe. Finally, 1 Peter does not seem to suggest empire-wide persecution, as he would not be likely to stress submission and honor to government authorities under such a scenario. The persecution Peter refers to was more likely coming to a limited degree from local governments but to a greater degree from individuals.
There is nothing in 1 Peter or from outside sources that causes doubt in Peter’s authorship.
The Original Recipients
1 Peter is written to “those who reside as aliens scattered throughout Pontus, Galatia, Cappadocia, Asia, and Bithynia” (1:1). These areas were provinces in the Roman Empire located in modern day northern Turkey. It is not known how the gospel spread to these regions as there is no record of Peter or anyone else ministering there. Paul ministered in parts of Galatia and Asia, but is not recorded visiting Pontus, Cappadocia, or Bithynia. He was actually forbidden by the Holy Spirit from going to Bithynia (Acts 16:7). It is possible that the churches Peter was writing to were founded by early Jewish converts who had spread out from Jerusalem, but this is not certain.
Peter used a number of Old Testament quotations and allusions in this letter leading some scholars to believe that his original audience was primarily Jewish converts to Christianity. Other passages in the letter seem to indicate a predominately Gentile audience. In 1:14 he warns the readers against conforming to former lusts which were theirs in ignorance. Jewish converts would not have been ignorant of God’s Law. In 2:9-10 Peter tells them that they are now a people, in fact the people of God, where they formerly were not a people. A Jewish audience would have already believed that they were the people of God. Also, in 4:3 he tells them the time is past to pursue the desires of the Gentiles. It therefore seems likely that Peter was writing to a mainly Gentile audience.
The believers who received Peter’s letter were believers suffering for their faith. In her commentary on 1 Peter Karen Jobes writes, “Virtually all commentators understand the persecutions referred to in 1 Peter to be sporadic, personal, and unorganized social ostracism of Christians with varying intensity, probably reinforced at the local level by the increasing suspicions of Roman officials at all levels.” These were believers whose transformed lives had left them out of step with the surrounding culture and even their own families.
Cities, trade guilds, and families all worshipped their own gods and expected their members to do the same. Worship of such false gods often involved immoral practices contrary to the teachings of Jesus. The Christians who abandoned such practices were seen as counter-cultural, denied job opportunities, and even cut off from their families.
The Bible is full of promises that following Jesus will result in persecution. Jesus Himself said in John 15:18-21, “If the world hates you, you know that it has hated Me before it hated you. If you were of the world, the world would love its own; but because you are not of the world, but I chose you out of the world, because of this the world hates you. Remember the word that I said to you, ‘A slave is not greater than his master.’ If they persecuted Me, they will also persecute you; if they kept My word, they will keep yours also. But all these things they will do to you for My name’s sake, because they do not know the One who sent Me.” Paul wrote in 2 Timothy 3:12, “Indeed, all who desire to live godly in Christ Jesus will be persecuted.”
It’s important to understand that Peter was not writing to people who were suffering because of sin, but were suffering for their faithfulness to Jesus Christ. The recipients of Peter’s letter were not facing government endorsed persecution at this time, but personal persecution from people around them who didn’t understand why they were different, didn’t understand why they wouldn’t engage in the same sinful acts that they had previously and everyone else still did. Government persecution has existed in various places throughout church history and continues in many places around the world today, though the persecution most believers around the world suffer is not at the hands of government; rather, it comes from friends, family, co-workers and bosses, neighbors, etc. who ridicule, discriminate against, or even commit violence against believers because of their faith.
Purpose
The purpose of 1 Peter was to encourage the suffering believers to remain strong in the faith. The key to the book is found in the first two verses: “Peter, an apostle of Jesus Christ, To those who reside as aliens, scattered throughout Pontus, Galatia, Cappadocia, Asia, and Bithynia, who are chosen according to the foreknowledge of God the Father, by the sanctifying work of the Spirit, to obey Jesus Christ and be sprinkled with His blood: May grace and peace be yours in the fullest measure” (emphasis mine).
The issue of how and why God chose people for salvation has been greatly debated throughout church history. One thing is clear though, Scripture clearly teaches that before the foundation of the world God chose a people for salvation (Eph. 1:4). Some have claimed, based on Romans 8:29-30, that God’s choice was based on foreknowledge of who would believe, but there is little Scriptural basis for that belief beyond those verses and the knowing in Romans 8:29-30 indicates intimate personal knowledge. The teaching of Scripture from Genesis through Revelation indicates that God chooses people as part of a sovereign plan. Those that are chosen are not chosen because of anything good or deserving that exists within them, but only because it pleases God to bestow love and mercy upon them and grant them salvation.
What those who believe in election and those who do not can agree on is that with salvation comes an expectation of obedience. In verse 1:16 Peter quotes the often repeated statement of God from Leviticus (11:44; 19:2, 20; 20:7) “You shall be holy for I am holy.” To be holy is to be set-apart, completely free from sin. The process of becoming less like our old selves and more like Christ is called sanctification and it is the Holy Spirit that brings about that change in our lives (Romans 8:12-13). Obviously in our fleshly bodies we will never be completely free from sin but that should be the goal and desire of every believer. In Exodus 19:6 God told the people of Israel that they were to be to Him “a kingdom of priests and a holy nation.” In chapter 2 Peter applies this to New Covenant followers of Christ. Just as the nation of Israel in the past was to be holy, set-apart, a display of God’s love, mercy, compassion, justice, etc. for all the world to see; followers of Jesus should be a display of God’s character to the unbelieving world around them wherever they are, and in whatever circumstances they find themselves.
Peter reminds the believers that they are on display for the unbelieving world to see and encourages them to stand firm in the faith, enduring the hardship in the present time with an eye on the future reward. He begins the letter with an explanation of the joy and privileges that come with being chosen to obey. The bulk of the letter details some of the challenges of being chosen to obey in society, the workplace, the home, and through suffering. The letter concludes with a reminder of some of God’s expectations for His chosen people and the expectation of a reward for those chosen people.
