Welcome to Week 4 of the Summer Reading Plan!

In this final section of Galatians, Paul is nicely wrapping up the main themes of his letter. He contrasts false teachers with true teachers, challenging readers to stay true to the gospel. Again, we see Paul use circumcision, which was a highly debated topic at the time, to get his point across. He boldly states that our focus should be that we are a new creation found in Christ. He goes as far as to say these words:

Paul is saying that the powers of sin and the world have no influence; his focus is to serve Christ. He provides a challenging reminder to us as we seek to live by the Spirit and be servants of Christ. 

Galatians focuses on what it means to be truly and fully Christian. 1 Peter focuses on standing firm in the face of suffering. I love the connection of how when we are living by the Spirit, through the strength of the Spirit, we can face suffering. 

I want to begin with a quick intro to the purpose and background of 1 Peter. The early church was facing intense persecution from the outside, and also from the inside through the influence of false teaching within the church. While this false teaching was mentioned by Paul in Galatians, Peter is going to tackle the topic of outside persecution and guide Christians on how they should respond in these trials. 

The author of this book is—yep, you guessed it—Peter! Peter establishes himself as the author from the very first verse. Peter’s authorship is important to our understanding because he was an eyewitness to the life, teaching, and suffering of Christ. Peter’s teaching has authority and credibility: Who better to speak on the concept of suffering and the suffering Christ endured than someone who witnessed it firsthand? Now, as we enter 1 Peter, I want to give a warning: this section can be considered “theologically heavy” (yay!). The topics and language can bring up some hard questions. I want to challenge you to ask those questions. Don’t be afraid to write out the things you may not understand, and take time to pray and process them. 

As Peter opens, he begins to list his audience. Now, you may be thinking, what are all these places, and what does it have to do with me? It can be easy to glance over names and places in Scripture. The purpose of Peter’s mentioning elect exiles, Gentiles included, holds weight for us today. Peter is referring to these people as figurative exiles. Just as Paul stated that the world was dead to him, so we as believers are living in exile. Our home and hope are not found in the world, but in the eternal hope in Christ. Peter establishes a believer’s role in the world to help us know that we can endure suffering because of future hope in Christ. 

As he continues, the majority of Chapter 1 consists of what I like to call a gospel recap. Most of the New Testament letters will contain a quick recap of the work of Jesus and the impact it has on our lives. Peter is taking the time in these verses to detail God’s character, Jesus’ work on the cross, and salvation, and how that changes our lives. As Peter begins to discuss the persecution and suffering that the readers are being faced with, he calls his readers to rejoice! Now, I don’t know about you, but when I face a trial, the last thing I want to do is rejoice. Yet, it is because of the gospel that we can rejoice, focusing on the future hope and not our current circumstances.

Verse 8 provides the reminder that even though we have not physically seen Jesus, we love Him and can find joy. It reminds me of Galatians 4:9:

As believers, we know God, know the gospel, and know the hope. Even more, we know that God sees us. It is because of this that we can turn from our old ways and rejoice despite suffering. Walking in this reminder changes our perspective. Just as Paul challenged the Galatians not to go back to their sinful ways, Peter challenges his readers not to be conformed to their past sins. The gospel of Jesus radically changes our lives, and here we are challenged to live like it. Peter gives the command, “Be holy, for God is holy.” That is an intense command—how can we compare to the holiness of an all-perfect God? By daily walking in obedience, knowing our identity is in Christ and not the world (vv. 13-14). Peter recaps the work of Christ frequently in this chapter because it is so crucial to our foundation and perspective.

As we as Christians are obedient to the call to holiness, Chapter 2 details how this call impacts our relationships with others and the world as we abide by the word of God. Peter, just as Paul did in Galatians, encourages us to put away our sinful natures. Verse 3 is referring to Psalm 34:8:

I love this connection because Psalm 34 discusses suffering. It is an emotional lament detailing a time of uncertainty. As David in times past reflected and relied on the goodness of God, we as Christians today can have the same hope. 

Peter details how Christians are exiled from the world, a world that rejects the message of Christ. Even though the message is rejected, we are to remain a witness to the gospel and live a life pleasing to God. This is not easy, and it cannot be done in our strength. This is why Peter continues to mention the work of Christ. Praise Jesus, we are not alone and do not have to operate from our strength! As we live as exiles, unlike the ways of the world, people notice that we are different. It poses the question: Are you living in a way that others can see the difference? The section concludes with a reminder that even when we endure suffering and injustice there is comfort that Jesus understands. For Jesus is the perfect sacrifice that He willingly gave for us that we might live in righteousness (v. 24). 

1 Peter contains beautiful reminders of the work of Jesus. It provides us with a reflection of all Christ has done for us and what that means for us as believers. I challenge you this week to reflect on how the reminders of the gospel can change your perspective of hardships, sufferings, and living out your faith.