The group to whom he is writing are the elect of God. This is important to remember as we work through 1 & 2 Peter. His audience is the elect and chosen of God. These are the true regenerated believers of God who have been sovereignly chosen by God grace and mercy! (Ephesians 1:4). The elect exiles are truly exiles on this earth with Heaven being are home guaranteed (Rev 17:14)

We can look at the resurrection of Christ with a greater hope and assurance. Since He was resurrected from the dead as the first fruits, we who are born again have the promise that we shall be resurrected as He was at His coming to finally see hope complete.

Peter reminds these exiles of the living hope and the inheritance that is theirs because of the mercy of God. He encourages them to rejoice in this fact. He wants them to keep in their minds the good news and the future hope they have because as he is going to tell them, trials are coming and are necessary. This applies to us today as well. We know that trials have come and will come, but we are to rejoice and remember that we are exiles and that we have an inheritance that is being kept for us and we are being kept for our inheritance.

Peter is telling them the trials are coming and that the trials are necessary, but for them to remember what he had just told in the preceding verses: rejoice, you were born again to a living hope and have an inheritance that is being kept for you in Heaven.This world is temporary, but your inheritance is imperishable, undefiled, and will never fade away! God values your faith more than your temporary comfort, so know that the trials will come! God loves His children and values their faith so much that He will put them in the crucible to refine it!

We know that the hope of this world and the hopes spoken of in the Bible are not the same. The hope of the Bible and the promises of God are of full assurance to the believer. Faith is linked to this assurance which is an anchor for the soul.

The true and Holy God has called the believers to be holy and set apart for Him. While we are exiles in this world we are to renew our minds and set our hope on our inheritance that we are to receive as we will declare to the God who rescued…... .Holy, Holy, Holy!

The more we begin to understand who God is and the magnitude of His holiness, the more we would reverence and fear God. The more we reverse we fear and reverse God, the less we will sin.

Jesus paid the price for His sheep. This was a personal and absolute transaction. He would receive and redeem all whom He purchased on the cross. Jesus did not come to purchase all people, because if He would have redeemed all people by His blood on the cross, all people would be rescued and set free. Christ’s blood on the cross purchased everyone He intended to redeem and not one more or one less. Chris does not pay to redeem someone and then gets cheated and fails to not gain possession of that person. In the previous verse we see to whom Peter is talking to, those who call Him as Father.

The Gospel is the power of God unto to salvation (Romans 1:17) The call of the Gospel rings out across the planet, but the life changing Word of God and His Gospel will only take root in the cultivated soul of His elect. Since we don’t know who the elect are we evangelize like everyone we meet is and all that hear the Gospel and believe with a sincere heart of true contrite repentance, will find a perfect Savior! If you are a Christian, then know that prior to you hearing and believing the Word of God, God Himself was preparing the soil of your soul so that the truth of His Word would be the greatest news ever!

Malice, deceit, hypocrisy, and slander are all from our natural man that is unregenerate and are actions that the devil displays. To go against these things (malice, deceit, hypocrisy, envy, slander) mentioned in this verse is to go against our fallen nature. That is why it takes the super nature of regeneration to begin to produce actions that are opposite to our fallen naturel. It is only after we are born again can we then begin to lay these things aside as we are becoming more conformed to the image of God. If you are a Christian, put these things down and never pick them up again!

Peter is not meaning that we are to be content with basic and surface level understanding of the Bible. In other passages of scripture, those who are new or young in the faith are partaking of the “milk” of the Bible instead of the “meat.” Just as infants drink milk and are not ready for meat, the same goes to new converts who partake of the milk at first and then as they grow in their faith, they will begin to be partakers of the meat or rather the deeper things of God and His Word. The milk or surface level things of His Word are meant for infants in the faith, but sadly many people who have been Christians for a long time are still on the milk of the Word. The Bible repeatedly states that those who are partaking of the milk or surface level things of God despite how long they have been a Christian are infants. God commands us to continue to grow in the grace and knowledge of the Lord (2 Peter 3:18) and being surface level is not what the Bible commands for a Christian.

We can only let our light shine if He has called the light into our souls. To His people, He has made His face shine upon us and lifted His countenance upon us (Numbers 6:24-26) and the ultimate completion of Him shining His light upon and in us will be in our eternal home!

When we are treated unjustly, we are not to repay evil with evil, but are to give all vengeance to God who will always bring perfect vengeance and vindication to those who suffer unjustly (Romans 12:17-21),(Luke 18:1-8). No suffering is without purpose!

The lashes that Jesus took on his body was punishment that He was taking in our place. The injuries from the whip and the lashings looked like stripes on His back and those stripes were the punishment He took in our place. It is by those stripes and His blood that we escape the punishment and penalty of sin. Every lash of the whip, every punch, every slap, every scourge, the crown of thorns, every bone, nails in the hands and feet, the crucifixion, and the wrath of God was what we deserved. However, Christ came to die in the place of His sheep. The Good Shepherd came to lay His life down for His sheep (John 10:11) and the unblemished blood of the Lamb as a result of His stripes and wounds, would be the spiritual healing for His elect.

The Good Shepherd willingly laid down His life for the sheep (John 10:11) and bore their sins in His body (1 Peter 2:24) and as a result of what the Shepherd did in His life and in His death, verse 25 is possible.

The Bible does not tell husbands to love your wife as Christ loved the Church and to be ready to lay your life down for her only when she is submissive. The Bible does not tell wives to only be submissive when your husband loves them like Christ loves the Church. Husbands are to love their wives like Christ loved the Church even when she isn’t submissive and does not display a quiet and gentle spirit. Wives are to be submissive to their husbands even when he doesn’t love her as he should. Each is commanded to be obedient in their roles as unto the Lord even if the other person is not fulfilling their role.

Our words are either a sword or a stitch. We can make and open wounds or we can stitch wounds with our words. However, the greatest stitch and healing of wounds is not our words, but the words of God! (Psalm 147:3)

God welcomes the prayers of His children. Our prayers do not change God’s mind. God has ordained all things that will come to pass by His sovereign decree before the foundation of the world and our prayers do not change His plan A. However, God has ordained our prayers and He uses them as instrumental causes to bring about His sovereign plan. Our prayers are included in the providential plan of God’s sovereign decree. Prayer does not change the will of God, but as we grow in sanctification, it will change us to submit to the will of God.

Peter is going to then instruct every believer not only to sanctify Christ as Lord in your heart, but also to be ready at all times to make a defense of the gospel and an account for the hope that is within us. The question that must be asked is: what do you believe and why do you believe it?

The spirit that raised Christ, will raise us one day. Since Christ has been resurrected from the dead our hope is living. This is the hope that we are called to be always ready to make a defense.

Peter wants to reassure his readers that no matter who or what comes against you or no matter what comes in our lives, we can have peace knowing our God is on His throne ruling and reigning as we speak. After his mission and work was completed, Christ ascended into Heaven. He is the supreme ruler and sovereign God over all the universe. Everything and everyone is in subjection to Him.

Christ suffered in this world. Isaiah 53 is the chapter on the suffering servant which is referring to Christ. Peter has already stated in this epistle that Christ has suffered for us as an example (1 Peter 2:21). Not only did Jesus suffer unjustly, but the ultimate suffering in the flesh was His death on the cross

We are closer to Heaven than we have ever been. We are inching closer and closer to our glorification and the completion of our salvation. Therefore, we don’t lose heart, but rather set our thoughts and attention on our inheritance that awaits even in the middle of suffering. While we wait eagerly for the redemption of our bodies in glory, we are to continue to grow in sanctification, for this is the will of God.

Think about the love of God upon you. Think about all the sins He has covered. Think about His compassion and patience He has had on you, even though you have disobeyed the sovereign holy God of the universe. Think about when you sin, He is always ready to forgive His people. Think about the sacrificial love He has shown. We are to love like He loves

At the end of this verse, Peter breaks out in a doxology with a declaration that God be glorified. In the Old Testament, the Hebrew word for “glory” was the word kavod. This word carried the meaning and idea of the weightiness of God in regards to His being and to His intrinsic glory. The Greek word “doxa” is where we derive the word “glory.” This is where the word doxology comes from, meaning that we give glory, praise, and worship to God. Throughout the Bible, the authors of the books of the Bible burst out into doxology in the middle of their writings when they consider the glory of God. The greater knowledge and theology of who God is, the greater praise and glory will be given to God. Higher theology=higher doxology.

It is hardest to trust Him when trials and suffering are on us. We feel the weight of the sufferings, but we must remember that God is good and faithful and the sufferings of this present time are not to be compared with the glory that is to be revealed in us (Romans 8:18). The glory that will be revealed will be in our eternal home and all suffering, tears, mourning, death, and pain will be gone (Revelation 21:1-7). We will know every trial, judgment, and suffering was worth it!

Although the Bible refers to the elders as those who are called by God to shepherd the flock of God, we must remember that all the sheep are God’s sheep. Christ is referred to as the Chief Shepherd. He is addressing the elders who are called to shepherd His sheep and ensuring them that those who are faithful to their position and calling as shepherds of His sheep on earth, will receive an unfading crown of glory when the Chief Shepherd appears!

Why would He want us to cast our anxieties on Him? He cares for us! No one has or ever will care for you more than God! God cares for you! Let that sink in!

Satan will accuse us continually. We have no problem being accused of things that are not true. However, what about when what he accuses us of is true? This is a tactic that he uses to discourage and cause doubt in believers. Questions and doubts may arise in our minds from such accusations such as “How could a Christian really do that?” or “How could God ever forgive me?”