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The theme of 1 Peter is how to live faithfully as God’s chosen people in a hostile world. We are called to holiness in daily life, humility in relationships, submission to authority, and perseverance in suffering. Through it all, we are to focus on Yeshua, who suffered for us and left an example for us to follow. Peter assures us that God’s grace will sustain His people, and ultimate victory and glory are certain.

This divinely inspired letter starts with the author identifying himself. This letter is from Peter, an apostle of Messiah Yeshua. Peter is one of the most important people in the New Testament and a central figure in God’s plan of redemption. Once a fisherman from Galilee, he was called by Yeshua to leave his nets and follow Him. Bold and outspoken, Peter often spoke and acted quickly – sometimes in faith, other times in failure.

When Yeshua asked His disciples, “who do you say I am?” it was Peter who boldly confessed that Yeshua was the Messiah, the Son of the living God. It was Peter who walked on water, performed miracles through the Spirit’s power, but also denied Yeshua three times. After the resurrection, Peter was restored and commissioned to teach and care for God’s people. Peter’s life reminds us that God uses ordinary people, imperfect people who are surrendered to Him.

Peter calls himself “an apostle of Messiah Yeshua.” An apostle is one who is sent by Messiah Yeshua – a personal representative, an emissary of the Son of God. As an apostle, Peter was given great authority. He was given the keys of the kingdom, opening the door of salvation to the Jewish people on the day of Shavuot with his great sermon. It was Peter along with John who opened the door of salvation for the Samaritans when they laid their hands on them and they received the Holy Spirit. It was Peter who opened the door of salvation to the Gentiles when he gave the message of salvation to the Roman officer Cornelius and his family and friends. As an apostle, Peter’s words are not mere reflections. They are Spirit‑inspired instructions carrying Messiah’s own authority. Peter’s words are the words of the Lord.

Peter’s primary ministry was to the Jewish people. Writing to the Galatians, Rabbi Paul explained that he was sent to share the message of salvation with the Gentiles, while Peter was given that same responsibility for the Jewish people.

After identifying himself, Peter identifies the people this letter is written to. I am writing to God’s chosen people who are living as foreigners in the provinces of Pontus, Galatia, Cappadocia, Asia, and Bithynia. Peter is writing to God’s chosen people, which I interpret to mean Jewish believers in Jesus, Messianic Jews, the faithful remnant of Israel living in what was then called Asia Minor, which today is modern day Turkey. In the First Century, just as today, more Jewish people lived outside the land of Israel than in the land of Israel. These Messianic Jews were part of God’s chosen people Israel, but now doubly chosen, the chosen of the chosen, because they were chosen to be saved through the Messiah.

This reminds us that the Good News is rooted in God’s promises to Israel and fulfilled in Yeshua, the King of the Jewish people. Every Christian should understand and honor the Jewish roots of our faith, and love Israel and the Jewish people, and pray for our salvation, and honor Paul’s instruction to bring the message of salvation “to the Jewish people first and also to the Gentiles.” Now, even though Peter wrote this letter to Messianic Jews living in Asia Minor, its truths applies to all Christians.

Peter encourages these Jewish believers, who were experiencing trials, with these truths: God the Father knew you and chose you long ago (chosen according to the foreknowledge of God the Father), and his Spirit has made you holy. As a result, you have obeyed him and have been cleansed by the blood of Messiah Yeshua.

Chosen According To The Foreknowledge Of God The Father: Peter assures his people that their salvation was not an accident. God the Father knew them and chose them long ago – before the universe began. In times of trial and hardship, we can have peace and confidence, not doubt, knowing that God knew us before the universe began, and chose us to be saved and become His beloved sons and daughters.

God’s Spirit Makes Us Holy: His Spirit has made you holy. Holiness, set apart holy living, does not come from our own efforts. It comes from the Spirit of God living in us and working in us, setting us apart from Satan, sin and the world, and transforming us into Messiah’s likeness. It is the Holy Spirit who helps us say no to temptation and yes to holy living. Instead of trying to overcome in our own strength, we must yield to the Spirit daily. That means getting close to God and staying close to Him throughout each day and following His leading.

Called To Obedience: As a result, you have obeyed Messiah Yeshua. Obedience isn’t optional. Peter states that believers are defined by obedience to Messiah. Obedience is the evidence of true faith. Obedience is the natural response to Yeshua’s saving work and the Spirit living in us. We show we are saved and have true faith and are true disciples by following Yeshua’s commands. Ask yourself: do I know Messiah’s teachings? Am I obeying Messiah’s teachings? What is God asking me to obey more fully?

Cleansed By The Blood Of Messiah: As a result … you have been cleansed by the blood of Messiah Yeshua. Our sins are not removed by human effort, good works, sacrifices we make, or rituals, ceremonies and traditions – but only by the blood of Yeshua. And His sacrifice cleanses us completely. We are cleansed when we come to faith, and we continue to be cleansed by confessing our sins and turning back to the Lord and living in the Spirit again. When we sin and we’re experiencing guilt and shame, remember that the blood of Yeshua is still able to make us clean. Share this good news with others: cleansing, forgiveness, atonement, reconciliation with God, peace with God, salvation, eternal life – are available through Messiah who shed His blood to make us clean.

The Trinity Is At Work In Our Salvation: Salvation is the work of the Triune God. The Father chooses us, the Son cleanses us and the Spirit sanctifies us. The Father planned our salvation. the Son accomplished it, and the Spirit applies it to our lives. Every person of the Three-In-One God is working to save us. This should lead us to worship, humility and gratitude.

After encouraging the doubly chosen with these great truths, Peter prays for them. May God give you more and more grace (unmerited, undeserved, unearned favor and blessing) and peace (wholeness and completeness). These Messianic Jews had already experience God’s grace and peace. However, they were going through trials. When we’re suffering, grace strengthens us and peace calms us. Grace and peace enable us to endure our trials and be victorious.

Grace and peace are great gifts. Each day, pray for yourself, your family and friends, and everyone who is part of the Shema community, and all of our brothers and sisters around the world, for more and more of God’s grace and peace.

Now we get to the main part of Peter’s letter. All praise to God, the Father of our Lord Yeshua the Messiah. It is by his great mercy that we have been born again, because God raised Messiah Yeshua from the dead. Now we live with great expectation, and we have a priceless inheritance – an inheritance that is kept in heaven for you, pure and undefiled, beyond the reach of change and decay. And through your faith, God is protecting you by his power until you receive this salvation, which is ready to be revealed on the last day for all to see.

Praise To God For New Birth: All praise to God … It is by his great mercy that we have been born again. Peter begins by praising God because being born again comes from His great mercy. We come into this world with a corrupt, sinful nature, a nature that is in rebellion against God, a nature that is incompatible with God, a nature that can’t live forever with God. And we deserve to remain in that old, sin nature. Instead, God the Father gave us a new, godly nature, a nature like His nature, a nature that loves God and wants to obey God, a nature this is compatible with God, a nature that can live forever with God. Being given that new nature is a great work of God that benefits us for eternity. The new birth is a miracle that we should not take for granted. We should frequently think about our new nature and praise God for that. Praise is the proper response to God’s great mercy that results in us being born again.

The New Birth Is Based On Messiah’s Resurrection: It is by his great mercy that we have been born again, because God raised Messiah Yeshua from the dead. If God the Father didn’t raise His Son from the dead, we would go through this life living in our old, sinful nature. And we would die in our sin nature. It is because of Messiah’s resurrection that we are able to be born again and receive a new nature. Because God raised Messiah from the dead, we no longer need to remain trapped in our old, sinful nature. Every day we can live out the reality of having a new nature, live in newness of life, live empowered by the Spirit.

A Priceless Future Inheritance: Now we live with great expectation, and we have a priceless inheritance – an inheritance that is kept in heaven for you, pure and undefiled, beyond the reach of change and decay. An inheritance can be a wonderful thing – or a disappointment. Some inherit much, some little or nothing, and some even inherit debt. But Messiah died and left us the greatest inheritance. This inheritance is unlike any inheritance on Earth. It’s pure and undefiled. It’s beyond the reach of sin, decay or time. It will remain forever fresh, pure and priceless. Knowing that we have this great and imperishable inheritance reserved in Heaven for us, we’re able to store our treasures in Heaven and not on Earth. We’re free from judging success by how wealthy people are. We’re free from envying those with wealth. We can be content with what we have.

God’s Protection Through This Life: And through your faith, God is protecting you by his power until you receive this salvation, which is ready to be revealed on the last day for all to see. Faith is trusting God and God’s Word. Great things happens when we have faith. One of those things is being protected by God’s power – and the Almighty has a lot of power – which means we are very safe and very secure.

Through faith, God protects us by His power until our salvation is fully revealed on the last day. Until our salvation is fully revealed? Aren’t we saved now? Yes, we are saved when we are born again. However, we live in the “already but not yet.” We are saved now, but we will experience a greater salvation – a salvation of mind, body, soul and spirit, a perfection of mind, body, soul and spirit – on the last day.

Satan and the fallen angels, sin, temptation, persecution and trials will challenge us, but the power of the almighty God is there protecting us until we are finally and fully saved. So, when we need help, we ask God for protection – but also trust that He is already protecting us and is committed to protect us to the end. Knowing this helps us endure our trials. Knowing this helps us overcome fear and discouragement and experience peace.

Since salvation is received by faith and protected through faith, let’s cultivate and nurture and strengthen our faith. Remembering the ways God has helped us and others strengthens faith. Reading the Word of God and talking to God throughout the day strengthens faith. Serving your brothers and sisters in Messiah’s Community strengthens faith. Sharing the message of salvation with others strengthens faith.

Now Peter addresses the issue of trials and joy. So be truly glad. There is wonderful joy ahead, even though you must endure many trials for a little while. These trials will show that your faith is genuine. It is being tested as fire tests and purifies gold – though your faith is far more precious than mere gold. So when your faith remains strong through many trials, it will bring you much praise and glory and honor on the day when Messiah Yeshua is revealed to the whole world.

We Can Have Joy Now Because Of The Greater Joy Ahead: So be truly glad. There is wonderful joy ahead, even though you must endure many trials for a little while. Knowing wonderful joy is certain in the future enables us to have joy in the present. Knowing we will be transformed into glorious creatures and enjoy a great inheritance that is imperishable, undefiled, and unfading, reserved for us in Heaven enables us to endure our trials now with joy.

Think of Jacob working for Rachel. Moses tells us: “So Jacob worked seven years to pay for Rachel. But his love for her was so strong that it seemed to him but a few days.” Seven years of hard labor would normally feel long and exhausting, but Jacob’s eyes were fixed on the joy set before him – the day he would marry Rachel. Because of that hope, the years passed quickly.

In the same way, when we feel weighed down by difficulties, we are to look ahead to the wonderful joy promised to us. If Jacob could endure seven years of work with joy for the love of a woman, how much more can we endure a lifetime of trials with joy for the love of our Messiah and the eternal inheritance He has secured for us?

Peter reminds us that our trials last only “for a little while.” Even if they stretch across our whole lifetime, they are still brief compared to eternity. Whatever trials we face – illness, financial hardship, rejection, persecution – they’re temporary and insignificant compared to the eternal joy that awaits us.

We Can Have Joy In Trials Because They Prove Our Faith Is Genuine: These trials will show that your faith is genuine. Trials separate the true from the false. Anyone can say they have faith when life is easy, but when we endure trials we know that our faith is real. And if we endure our trials and we know that our faith is authentic, we experience joy. When trials come, let’s not think of them as God punishing us or abandoning us. Let’s think of them as God enabling us to know that our faith is genuine, that we are real believers – and that knowledge produces joy.

We Can Have Joy In Trials Because They Refine Our Faith: Peter uses the illustration of gold being tested by fire. Fire does not destroy gold. It purifies it. In the same way, faith that is tested comes out stronger, purer, and more beautiful in God’s sight.

There’s a story of a silversmith who was asked how he knew when the silver he was refining was fully purified. He replied, “When I can see my reflection in it.” Trials are the fire God uses to refine us until the reflection of Messiah can be seen more clearly in our lives.

When we’re going through a trial, instead of asking, “Why is this happening to me?,” let’s ask, “What is God purifying in me?” That perspective shifts our pain into a process of growth, giving us joy even in the refining fire.

We Can Have Joy In Trials Because They Lead To Future Honor: So when your faith remains strong through many trials, it will bring you much praise and glory and honor on the day when Messiah Yeshua is revealed to the whole world. A day is coming when God will honor us because of our faith. When Messiah Yeshua is revealed to the whole world with honor and glory, we will be revealed with Him in honor and glory.

Imagine an athlete who trains hard for years, makes sacrifices for his sport, endures injuries and pain, and finally wins the gold medal. When he stands on the podium and receives his medal, all the trials will have been worth it. Faith that endures will one day be honored by God Himself. One day, our Lord will say to us, “Well done, good and faithful servant.” That word of honor will outweigh every difficulty we’ve endured in this life.

Let’s pray: Our Father in Heaven, thank You for the gift of Your Word through Peter, Your servant and representative of Your Son. Thank You that You knew us and chose us long ago, that Your Spirit makes us holy, and that the blood of Messiah Yeshua cleanses us from all sin. We praise You for the miracle of new birth, made possible through the resurrection of our Lord and Savior. Heavenly Father, we rejoice in the priceless inheritance You have reserved for us in Heaven – pure, undefiled, and eternal. Strengthen our faith so that we may trust in Your protection until the day of full salvation. When trials come, help us to see them not as something negative, but as refining fire, proving our faith genuine and transforming us into the image of Messiah. Give us eyes fixed on the joy ahead so that we may endure the struggles of today with hope and joy. Fill us with more and more of Your grace and peace. May our lives shine with obedience, holiness, and love, bringing You glory until the day Yeshua is revealed in honor before all the world, and we are honored with Him. Amen.