1 Peter, Assignment 4, Marianne

I am enjoying this book all the more as I continue reading it. It is a good reminder to me that this faith that we share is the most significant stuff of our existence. Sometimes, in my life, I find that I like life SO much, I am SO blessed, and I almost trip into thinking that this husband and these children are the most significant stuff in the world. The time I have spent back in this bible study with you ladies has really helped me to remember that there is a reason the world keeps spinning, and it has nothing to do with this husband and these children, it has much more to do with Him, His story, and His son.

I guess that is what was impressed on me the most this time reading. Peter lays out the gospel in the first 9 verses, then spends the next 3 emphasizing that this salvation is a big deal. The angels and the prophets longed for information about how God would do all of this. He seems to emphasize that the salvation - the blood spilled sacrifice of Jesus the Christ - was a REALLY significant event.

THEREFORE (i.e. in recognition of this) prepare your minds, your spirit, and your hope on this! Don't get all caught up in the temporary ignorant and sinful lusting that tickled your fancy before you were called. Your life ought to be different out of respect for what God has done.

It is not that God will think us worthy because we act holy as He is holy. I doubt that it is even that acting holy is the goal. The goal, is to proclaim God's excellency, which we do best by action s that show proper reverence for such a serious sacrifice and salvation. Malice and deceit and hypocrisy and envy and slander no longer make sense as our behaviors.

Also, if we say we believe in this God, let us remember that He does not just save, He JUDGES - and impartially.

It seems like Peter is emphasizing that God's will not judge us more lightly because we "saved". He will judge us each, sinner and saint, the same - by our works. Do our works reflect a striving in keeping with the recognition of the significance of His sacrifice, or not? Ultimately, the judgment has been paid by Jesus - but given that, how should we then live?

His instructions seem simple (simple does not mean easy), leave the former lusts, be holy, and love one another sincerely.

I would love more insight into the end of this section about being born again "through the word of God." "The word of God endures forever." "This is the word which was preached to you."
What is "the word of God". So many people casually read it as if it is self-referencing the bible. But clearly it does not mean the 66 books we call the bible. The old testament passages could not have been referencing our modern day bible. Not that the bible does not authoritatively contain the word of God (when properly exegeted), but I don't think that the bible is THE word of God. I don't know if that makes sense...but I would love to hear other's thoughts on it.

1 Peter, Assignment 4

The next two weeks lets read 1 Peter again. Watch for the word "therefore." Then come back and look at chapter one verses 12-25 as a whole more closely (I think we'll spend another assignment or two in this section as well). You might want to revisit our original reflections and questions to watch for. Are there any answers that arise from this passage?

This whole section starts with "therefore". He has just finished summarizing the foundation of their faith and the nature of their salvation and therefore...what?

What ties all the ideas that follow together in this section?
What are the significant behaviors that Peter emphasizes?
Is Peter saying that works ought to follow from our salvation? In what way?
What is the point of our salvation?

Please post by Sunday February 10th.

1 Peter, Assignment 3, Deanna

I'd like to first comment on the word "blessed" (relating to God), even though that appears in verse 3, not in this assignment.

At church we're studying 2 Corinthians. In that letter Paul uses almost the exact (if not the exact) phrase: "Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ." Hearing this part exegeted (is that a word?) in church, I caught the idea that blessed as used in these greetings perhaps meant something like, "Gee, God is sooo good." As if a young woman bought a gift for an older lady, and by way of thanks the older gal said, "Bless you, Dearie." The woman would be recognizing a good deed on the part of another human being. Paul and Peter, recognizing God's goodness made supremely evident by the life and deeds of Jesus, made it a habit to bless God.

A friend of mine also recently exclaimed in my presence, "Bless God's little heart." You kind of had to be there, but I knew she expressed this sort of sentiment (even though she'd likely say God's heart is actuality quite large). She was expressing thanks.

I probably can't add much to what Marianne said about verses 6-12. I was struck this time reading it by the word "you" used throughout. Peter seems to be repeating the reality of the times - what the people there already know: you have been grieved by trials; the genuineness of your faith; though you have not seen him, you love him; though you do not now see him, you believe, obtaining the outcome of your faith, the salvation of your souls; it was revealed to them that they were serving not themselves but you, in the things that have now been announced to you.

I'm thinking here, this wasn't generic exhortation; it was personal. How comforting it must have been, reaching those who believed and who, as Marianne mentioned, were feeling the brunt of physical persecution of some sort.

1 Peter, Assignment 3, Marianne

Welcome back from the holiday break! We are all tardy, but I thought I would kick-start things again.

As I read back through 1 Peter this time around I found I am just beginning to hear the letter in context. It also got me excited about the dialog to follow as we get a little deeper into the letter. Writing it out allowed my imagination to ponder at what it was Peter was doing, how he understood his task, what he was asking of his listeners, and what a task they were faced with.

They greatly rejoice in "this." I am not sure if "this" refers to their inheritance or the salvation ready to be revealed - though they are nearly one and the same.

There is much talk of joy and rejoicing paralleling the language about trials and suffering. Bella's recent post in honor of Coco was similar and I was struck anew at how suffering reveals joy.

It may be cliche, but the talk of trials and suffering being the proof of one's faith was comforting to me. When I look at myself it becomes to easy to over-analyze myself into dust and to fear that perhaps I am still not "saved" due to all the trash that still takes place in my heart. I want the suffering. I want the trials, because if nothing else, they show me what my true commitments are. God, of course, already knows. Persevering when God threatens to take (or does take) the things that are nearest and dearest to me (whether they be people, things, or just ideas about what I wanted life to look like right now, or who I thought I wanted to be) can provide me the assurance that I am called.

I was struck too, though, that these readers were actually suffering physically actually risking something to believe Jesus and his teaching. I feel like I have never suffered. At times, in my younger days, I was actually distressed that I had never been persecuted for my faith, because the new testament seemed to suggest that if you are actually following Jesus, "you will be persecuted," like it is a promise. So...what is persecution? If we are not experiencing it, should that concern us?

The last two verses (10-12) of the assignment seem like a small encouragement from Peter to them that all of history has been leading up to these events which they are experiencing and participating in. It is a reminder of how significant their role was for the story God was writing, and thus a springboard for the admonitions/exhortations about to follow from Peter.

I am looking forward to hearing your insights and questions, and to getting into the meat of the letter. Happy New Years to everyone!

1 Peter, Assignment 3 **updated**

Read 1 Peter again, but this time come back and focus on chapter 1 verses 6-12. It may be easier to follow what Peter is saying if you write the first 12 verses out for yourself.

What is he most concerned with? What does he seem to be addressing first for these scattered believers? Any idea what their suffering and trials are?

The writing style of the biblical authors is so different from our modern one. It makes for long sentences with many references to previous ideas in the sentence. Pay close attention to what words like "this" and "so" refer and to how all the ideas separated by comma's are related.

**Due to the Christmas season, let's move the post-by-date to January 6th.**

1 Peter, Assignment 2, Synposis

In this section Peter makes his introduction and summarizes the gospel as encouragement to the recipients. Perhaps the fact that he summarizes this and sends it out to a dispersed and persecuted church is encouragement in itself as it reminds its recipients that they are not alone.

Questions that remain:
Who are the recipients, jew or gentile or both?
What does "living hope" mean?
Who is the spirit in vs. 2?

1 Peter, Assignment 2, Bella

Just a note to say I did the assignment. Being one of the last to comment on it I feel as if I don't want to be redundant. I can totally visualize Summer sitting in the corner curled up in a chair. I would probably be sitting curled up right next to her, knitting and listening and when pertinent interjecting a thought. It is not that I don't necessarily have more to comment on but after culling through my thoughts I concluded this is the thought that kept tantalizing me.

In 1Peter, 1:3 NAS version: "Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, who according to His great mercy has caused us to be born again to a living hope through the resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead."


In my bible and others like it there is an emphasis on the being born again to a "living hope". In fact the bold title heading of my NAS chapter says "A Living Hope, and a Sure Salvation". I kept on pondering why that phrase "living hope" fascinated me. I think it is because of the emphasis that I have heard/read about the "living hope" being our relationship with Jesus Christ [although I agree with Marianne that it seems an "active" thing] . I think as someone who loves words and the imagery of words the phrase has great presence. He is starting this paragraph as a greeting. But I think that it struck me for the first time possibly, that the idea of relationship with Jesus is not actually even mentioned as a goal in conjunction with this living hope. The living hope seems literally to be a reference to Jesus and yet something more. We have inherited a modern version of Christianity that is rooted very much in American evangelicism with a great emphasis on this idea of a relationship with Jesus. Because of the focus on the modern concept of relationship with people here and now we spin a lot of ideas about what that must look like and then from that modern conception grows a new version of that text. That really the focus is rooted on the living hope being the central message of the gospel and that we are sinners and need salvation from that. It could mean that the phrase living means "alive" but it could also reference "eternal life"...you have been born again through the seed that is imperishable 1:23 "living and abiding word". That we are "as living stones" [2:5] I wanted to clarify that for myself because so many years of rhetoric have clouded the actual meaning of the words. I think I am as guilty as the next in wanting to draw out a picture from a few words and yet maybe it is simply a reference to Jesus as our salvation, our inheritance, imperishable, not fading away and yet I have seen it portrayed as so much more.


I am bringing my little comment focus on the phrase "living hope" not because that is the emphasis of 1Peter[or is it?], but because it points to the frailty/susceptibility of people [myself included] quickly glossing over the true context of a book [historical, theological, etc.] in favor of modern sound bites that capture our imaginations. There is a living hope because of Jesus that did not exist before God extended it. Our hope was death until mercy was shown. But how does that get translated so differently? Hopefully this all makes sense. I do take much comfort in the living hope, life would not have meaning if there was no God, no Jesus, no salvation, no living hope. So, what does "living hope" mean to you?

Thanks again for your thoughts on this subject. I hope you ladies all have a good thanksgiving holiday. I look forward to our next discussion.

1 Peter, Assignment 2, Marianne

I am greatly enjoying hearing all of your thoughts! I apologize for being late, but we had people in town all weekend, and the last show of the season to complete. there is a little more craziness in addition, but I will probably share that on my personal blog later.

Here is my attempt at the passage as I currently understand it:

FROM Peter - an apostle whose primary ministry was to the Jews -

TO those scattered aliens (dispersed Jews who had become believers, plus perhaps the gentiles who were a part of their communities before they scattered and to those who became a part of their community after they scattered),

Who are chosen, according to God's foreknowledge.
(Perhaps God foresaw all of history and accordingly, chose it to be exactly as it is, since he then called it into existence. It is hard for me not to read Divine Determinism in here)

Who are chosen, by the sanctifying work of the Spirit
(this is in caps in the NASB, too. I would have enjoyed hearing Mr. Wierenga's message, because I am having difficulty understanding how this would follow if it were not the Holy Spirit. Somehow the sanctifying work seems a part of choosing us, thus it seems, to me, that it would need to be from God. Perhaps the difference lies in whether we think of the "sanctifying work" as a noun or a verb. I was reading it as a verb, and the doer of the work seems to be the Holy Spirit. But if it is a noun, meaning chosen by the evidence of work done on an individual sanctified spirit, then it would mean something like, we are chosen, by the fact of this changed spirit in ourselves. Oh I hope this distinction is making sense).

Who are chosen, to obey Jesus Christ and be sprinkled with his blood.

(I don't know much about ritual sacrifice, but this language makes me think of being close enough to a sacrifice to have blood get on you. Perhaps like when I cook and grease splatters me, it is because I am invested in being close to what is happening. I am actively participating. It has my focus and attention as evidenced by my proximity. We are chosen to be close, we are chosen to care enough to come to the alter and watch, and to be effected and marked by what happened there. People will see the grease and know I cooked. After attending a sacrifice, people will see the blood on me and know I was close.

What did Jesus command that we are obeying? To love God and neighbor? To go and make disciples? To make my life about a heavenly kingdom? To find my treasure and worth and home there? To have a certain posture toward God? I am so familiar with language about obeying God, but here he says obeying Jesus, and it caught me off guard.)

Blessed be God, (perhaps this is akin to when you do something for someone, and they say "O bless you!" and pretty much mean "you are wonderful!")

Who by His great mercy has caused us to be born again (there's that cause word again).

Born again to a living hope (this makes me think of it being an active hope, something that is forefront in our lives and minds).

Born again through Jesus' resurrection (let us not forget the single most significant work to save us. He was dead and He ROSE. He did this as a tremendous sign that he was no ordinary man. He rose that we might see that God had pointed a finger and said "This is the true Messiah". Without the resurrection there would be no Christianity).

Born again in order to obtain an imperishable, undefiled, and permanent inheritance. (wow, that sounds good. No false pretenses, no vague notions that it might be worthwhile, or that it might go to you, but it might go to your sister)

This inheritance is reserved in heaven for those to whom the letter is written (and I want to think is it the same for all those who believe).

It is reserved for those scattered aliens who are protected by the power of God because of their faith for a salvation to be revealed in the last time. (Interesting that the faith is for a salvation to be revealed. It is not faith for a salvation to be had right now. Perhaps this is pointing at the salvation from our sinful nature and the sinful world. Faith that we will be saved, not faith that we ARE. Our faith is a belief about who God is and what God will do. It is not faith that we have achieved anything. I don't know if that is a meaningful distinction or not)

1 Peter, Assignment 2, Summer

Only two assignments in and I am overwhelmed. After reading the last three posts I’m realizing my lack of education when it comes to understanding even how to approach the Bible. Though I am hopeful that I will be able to learn from the observation and reading I have little hope that I have much to contribute, right now anyway. I was raised in a church where you blindly trusted what was being taught and the Bible was little more than a catalyst for the motivational topic of any given week, teaching life skills. This may explain why I haven’t set foot in a typical church in years. I want to learn, want to understand historical significance and all the other relevant aspects that contribute to fully understanding the word of God. I will listen, I will contemplate and if I do come up with anything constructive to contribute I will. Until then you will have to bear with my silence and know that if we were all sitting sharing tea and discussing these things in person I would be the one snuggled into a corner of a couch, feet tucked up underneath me, nodding my head in understanding and respect.

1 Peter, Assignment 2, Valerie

I'm a day late, but I thought I'd chime in with my thoughts anyway.

I started off with historical background and to that end I, too, glanced at a map to find where exactly Peter was addressing this letter, and found that all the places mentioned are in modern Turkey. There's some debate about when the book was written but most say around 45 AD, and some push it to 61 AD which was the seventh year of Nero's rule. I only mention this because the second date could shed some insight into the suffering that Peter is constantly mentioning.

Although I agree that Peter definitely speaks to the Christian gentiles in this letter, it seem to me that it is primarily addressed to the Jews who are scattered around. My main reason for this thought is because a couple of verses down he talks about the prophets who told them previously about the sufferings of Christ (1:10-11), which I am taking to be the OT prophets, and they addressed their prophesies to the Jews. I think that also fits well with your observation that this audience was used to the concept of blood sacrifice and sprinkling.

Mr. Wierenga's point about the spirit being the inner spirit is interesting, and I like it, but I then don't quite know how to understand what it means to be "chosen according to the foreknowledge of God the Father, through the sanctifying work of the spirit." Is it here implying that the sanctification is an indicator of the chosen-ness of the believer? I'm not entirely sure how to formulate my question here, but I guess I'm wondering how the sanctification flows from the chosen-ness here. It seems like one talks about divine determinism, and the other talks about God's continuing graciousness, and I'm looking for the connection.

I have two questions of v. 3, the first of which is what is the meaning of "bless"? This one always confuses me, because in the definition I have in my head (which is notably ambiguous), one would have to be equal to or greater than God to be able to bless him. So to say, "Blessed be the God and Father..." is crazy talk. The second question is why does he talk about a "living hope"? Is there a concept of dead hope that he is implying? Perhaps in the surrounding culture? Or in the Jew's hope for a hero to free them from Roman rule? Something like that?

I have to close by saying that I really appreciate the encouragement in verse five when he touches on the fact that God is protecting these chosen ones for a salvation to come. It sounds like these guys are going through a lot and so to remind them of the security of their salvation, and the power of God to save them, seems to gently point their perspectives toward eternity.

Oh, and yes, you spelled Wierenga correctly.