1 Peter 1:3-5 meaning

Having completed the letter’s address and salutation, Peter now begins his introduction. In the introduction of his letter, Peter begins with praise: Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ (v. 3). 

In this praise, he recognizes the eternal relationship between God the Father and God the Son, the Lord Jesus Christ. Then he honors an attribute of God who acts according to His great mercy (v. 3). 

The Greek word translated mercy “eleos” refers to God’s compassion and kindness toward someone in need. God’s mercy is described as great, meaning God has a huge amount of mercy which is necessary to bring sinful people with a sin nature into a right relationship with God. It is God in His mercy who has caused us to be born again. 

This means God, despite our sin, wooed us to put our faith in Christ and be born again. The concept of being born again is used twice by Peter (1 Peter 1:3, 23) and refers to the work of God creating a new nature to dwell within us at the time we believed in Christ (1 Corinthians 5:20). Jesus introduced this concept to the religious leader Nicodemus and chastised him for not already understanding it (John 3:3, 3:10). We are born again when we have sufficient faith to believe on Jesus. 

The illustration of saving faith which Jesus gave Nicodemus was the faith the children of Israel had who believed Moses enough to simply look at the bronze snake on the pole in the wilderness. The people had been bitten by vipers and were dying. Moses told the people if they would have enough faith to look at a bronze snake lifted up on a pole, they would not die physically. Similarly, Jesus said all who have enough faith to look at Him raised up (on a cross) would not die spiritually, but have eternal life (John 3:14-15). 

One of God’s goals in giving believers a new nature is so they can have a living hope (v. 3). Biblical hope refers to the confident expectation of future blessings based on the character and promises of God. This hope is described as living “zao.” The Greek word “zao” is used seven times by Peter in this letter (1 Peter 1:3, 23, 2:4, 5, 24, 4:5, 6) and refers to something animated by God. That the hope is animated indicates that it creates actions, the life being lived is different and distinct as a result of this living hope.

This living hope is made possible through the resurrection of Jesus Christ. 

If Christ had not risen from the dead, their hope would be dead, their faith worthless, and they would remain unforgiven (1 Corinthians 15:12-19). However, Peter points out that Jesus Christ did rise from the dead so believers can have a living hope. This is a hope that has life, a hope that is real and leads to a real result. The result the living hope of Jesus’s resurrection leads to for those who believe in Him is the hope that we too will be resurrected and gain a new, spiritual body (1 Corinthians 15:44). 

In addition to the promise of a future resurrection, another of God’s goals in giving believers a new nature and a living hope is for them to obtain an inheritance (v. 4). The Greek word translated inheritance is “kleronomia” and means a possession. 

There are two kinds of inheritance that God gives to believers. The first kind of inheritance is a gift inheritance which is given to believers when they believe in Christ and are born again (Ephesians 1:14). This gift inheritance guarantees believers that they will be in heaven when they die. This inheritance is unconditional; God is and will always be the inheritance of every believer (Romans 8:17a). 

A second kind of inheritance is a reward inheritance which is given to a believer as a compensation for faithful, sacrificial service during his life on earth. This reward inheritance is granted to believers when they believe, but only possessed by those believers who are faithful. This follows the pattern of the inheritance God granted to Israel when He gave the land to Abraham’s descendants (Genesis 15:18). Over four hundred years later, the first generation out of Egypt had the opportunity to possess their inheritance but refused due to unbelief (Hebrews 3:19). The promised inheritance was possessed by the second generation who entered the land.

Similarly, each believer is granted an inheritance to reign with Christ (Ephesians 1:11, 14). But that inheritance is possessed by living in faithful service and overcoming as Jesus overcame (Hebrews 4:11-13, Revelation 3:21). Each believer will have their life evaluated at the Judgement Seat of Christ (Romans 14:10, 2 Corinthians 5:10, see also Colossians 3:24, Ephesians 5:5, Acts 20:32). 

Peter asserts that this is an inheritance which is 

•    imperishable (“aphtharton” meaning immortal and cannot be destroyed) 
•    and undefiled (“animoton” meaning pure and cannot corrupted by sin) 
•    and will not fade away (“amaranton” meaning it cannot lose its pristine quality) 
•    reserved (“tererememen” meaning to cause to continue, to preserve) in heaven (God’s eternal dwelling place) 
•    for you (the born again believers that Peter is addressing) (v. 4).

This inheritance includes the permanent gift inheritance from God. This would be encouraging to Jewish believers who were enduring persecution. They can be assured that in spite of their circumstances or even their choices, their inheritance as a child of God is secure in Christ. Our position in Christ, our inheritance of being born into His family is an unconditional gift. 

It also applies to the reward inheritance. That inheritance is secured and waiting for Peter’s audience. It only remains for them to possess it through faithful obedience. This would be a great encouragement to the believers who had lost their earthly inheritance of land and homes as they had to relocate from Jerusalem to various regions in Asia Minor because of persecution. 

Not only was their inheritance secure, but also the believers themselves were secure because they were the ones who are protected by the power of God (v. 5). It is God’s power (Greek “dynamei”) which speaks of His dynamic, miracle-working authority. This power assures these believers are protected “phouroumenous,” which means to “provide security,” “guard,” “protect,” and “keep.” 

Each believer has the inner testimony of the Holy Spirit to assure them they are God’s child (Romans 8:15-16). We are protected by the power of Jesus to remain as His child. We also have available to us the power of the Holy Spirit to lead us and enable us to overcome sin and possess our reward inheritance (Romans 8:17b, Colossians 3:23).

The protection that God provides comes through faith. The word through “dia” indicates that faith is the means or instrument by which God’s power protects both believers and their gift inheritance. This is the same point Paul makes when he encourages believers concerning spiritual warfare, to protect themselves with the shield of faith (Ephesians 6:16). 

When a person puts their faith in Jesus Christ, from that time on God permanently protects him. This includes his gift inheritance (going to heaven when he dies). This makes a believers’ salvation from the penalty of sin eternally secure. But God also protects our reward inheritance. The question is whether we will avail ourselves of that protection. 

God’s secure protection looks to the future for a salvation to be revealed in the last time (v. 5). The word salvation, “soterian,” simply means “deliverance.” Context determines what is being delivered from what. In this case what is being delivered is not a soul being saved from spiritual death, because that is something that occurs at the moment of initial belief. This salvation refers to a deliverance that occurs in the last time, likely referring to the time of the final judgement. 

We can see another instance where the word salvation refers to a future event from Paul’s letter to the Romans. After exhorting the Romans to live faithfully in obedience to Christ, he says:

“Do this, knowing the time, that it is already the hour for you to awaken from sleep; for now salvation is nearer to us than when we believed” (Romans 13:11). 

We can see from this Romans verse that the “salvation” being referred to is getting closer by the day, meaning it is a future deliverance. We see in the verse that each day, each believer is getting further from the time when they “first believed.” Therefore, the “salvation” being referred to in this verse from Romans is the time when each believer will be saved/delivered from this body of death and given a new, resurrected body. 

Similarly, the word “salvation” can refer to deliverance from death, danger, disease, a wasted life on earth, or the lake of fire, depending on the context. An example of this is when the verb form of the Greek word translated here as “salvation” is translated “I will get well” spoken by a woman who was healed, delivered from sickness by Jesus (Mark 5:28). 

The Bible speaks about three tenses of salvation: 

•    Past tense — I have been saved from the penalty of sin (Romans 4:3). This happens when we first believe (John 3:14-15). 
•    Present tense — I am being saved from the power of sin when I walk in the power of the Spirit (Romans 5:9-10, Galatians 5:16, 6:8-9) and 
•    Future tense — I will be saved from the presence of sin (Romans 8:18, 13:11). 

In this context, the salvation Peter has in mind is the believer’s future deliverance from the corruption of this fallen world. This is when believers will receive their reward inheritance for how they have lived their lives on earth. We know this because Peter tells us this is a salvation ready to be revealed in the last time. The last time refers to the end of this age, when all things will be judged. 

This salvation ready to be revealed at the end of the age will include Jesus’ return in the clouds to resurrect all who have died believing in Christ. Jesus will also give all the believers alive a glorified resurrection body (1 Thessalonians 4:13-18). It will also include Jesus returning to earth to set up a messianic kingdom (Revelation 20:4). All of this is part of God delivering His creation from the effects of the Fall of Man and restoring it to its proper design.

Another aspect of the end of the age (the last time) will be an event called the Judgment Seat of Christ (Romans 14:10, 2 Corinthians 5:10). This is when each believer will be evaluated by Jesus for what they did for Him while living on earth, and receive the rewards Jesus has promised for those who walk in His ways (1 Corinthians 3:10-15, 2 Corinthians 4:17, Hebrews 2:9-10). We can reasonably consider this judgement as the actual end of our lives here on earth, as it will be there that we gain the full culmination of our earthly lives.