John Calvin Commentary 1 Peter 1

Peter, an apostle — What in this salutation is the same with those of Paul requires no new explanation. When Paul prayed for grace and peace, the verb is left out; but Peter adds it, and says, be multiplied. Still, the meaning is the same, for Paul did not wish for the faithful the beginning of grace and peace, but their increase—that is, that God would complete what He had begun.

To the elect, or the elected — It may be asked, how could this be found out? For the election of God is hidden and cannot be known without the special revelation of the Spirit; and as everyone is made sure of his own election by the testimony of the Spirit, so he can know nothing certain of others.

To this I answer that we are not to inquire curiously about the election of our brethren, but ought, on the contrary, to regard their calling, so that all who are admitted by faith into the church are to be counted as the elect; for God thus separates them from the world, which is a sign of election.

It is no objection to say that many fall away, having nothing but a mere appearance; for it is a judgment of charity and not of faith when we deem all those elect in whom the mark of God’s adoption appears. And that he does not derive their election from the hidden counsel of God, but gathers it from the effect, is evident from the context, for afterwards he connects it with the sanctification of the Spirit. Therefore, as far as they proved that they were regenerated by the Spirit of God, so far did he deem them to be the elect of God, for God does not sanctify any but those whom He has previously elected.

However, he at the same time reminds us from where that election flows by which we are separated for salvation, so that we may not perish with the world; for he says, according to the foreknowledge of God. This is the fountain and the first cause: God knew before the world was created whom He had elected for salvation.

But we ought wisely to consider what this precognition or foreknowledge is. For the sophists, in order to obscure the grace of God, imagine that the merits of each are foreseen by God, and that thus the reprobate are distinguished from the elect, as everyone proves himself worthy of this or that lot. But Scripture everywhere sets the counsel of God, on which our salvation is founded, in opposition to our merits.

Hence, when Peter calls them elect according to the precognition of God, he intimates that its cause depends on nothing else but on God alone, for He of His own free will has chosen us. Thus, the foreknowledge of God excludes all worthiness on the part of man. We have treated this subject more at large in Ephesians 1 and in other places.

However, just as in our election he assigns the first place to the gratuitous favor of God, so again he would have us know it by its effects; for there is nothing more dangerous or more preposterous than to overlook our calling and to seek the certainty of our election in the hidden prescience of God, which is the deepest labyrinth.

Therefore, to obviate this danger, Peter supplies the best correction. For though in the first place he would have us consider the counsel of God (the cause of which is in Himself alone), yet he invites us to notice the effect by which He sets forth and bears witness to our election. That effect is the sanctification of the Spirit—indeed, effectual calling—when faith is added to the outward preaching of the gospel, which faith is begotten by the inward operation of the Spirit.

To the sojourners — Those who think that all the godly are called this because they are strangers in the world and are advancing towards the celestial country are much mistaken. This mistake is evident from the word dispersion, which immediately follows. For this term can apply only to the Jews, not only because they were banished from their own country and scattered here and there, but also because they had been driven out of that land which the Lord had promised to them as a perpetual inheritance.

He indeed afterwards calls all the faithful sojourners because they are pilgrims on the earth, but the reason here is different. They were sojourners because they had been dispersed—some in Pontus, some in Galatia, and some in Bithynia.

It is not strange that he designed this Epistle more especially for the Jews, for he knew that he was appointed in a particular manner their apostle, as Paul teaches us in Galatians 2:8. In the countries he enumerates, he includes the whole of Asia Minor, from the Euxine Sea to Cappadocia.

Unto obedience — He adds two things to sanctification and seems to understand newness of life by obedience, and the remission of sins by the sprinkling of the blood of Christ. But if these are parts or effects of sanctification, then sanctification is to be understood here somewhat differently from what it means when used by Paul—that is, more generally.

God then sanctifies us by an effectual calling. This is done when we are renewed to an obedience to His righteousness and when we are sprinkled with the blood of Christ, and thus are cleansed from our sins. And there seems to be an implied allusion to the ancient rite of sprinkling used under the Law.

For just as it was not then sufficient for the victim to be slain and the blood to be poured out unless the people were sprinkled, so now the blood of Christ which has been shed will avail us nothing unless our consciences are cleansed by it.

Therefore, a contrast is to be understood here: just as formerly under the Law the sprinkling of blood was done by the hand of the priest, so now the Holy Spirit sprinkles our souls with the blood of Christ for the expiation of our sins.

Let us now state the substance of the whole. It is this: our salvation flows from the gratuitous election of God, yet it is to be ascertained by the experience of faith, because He sanctifies us by His Spirit. Then, there are two effects or ends of our calling—namely, renewal into obedience and cleansing by the blood of Christ. Furthermore, both are the work of the Holy Spirit. We therefore conclude that election is not to be separated from calling, nor the gratuitous righteousness of faith from newness of life.

Blessed be God. We have said that the main object of this epistle is to raise us above the world, so that we may be prepared and encouraged to sustain the spiritual contests of our warfare. For this end, the knowledge of God’s benefits is of great value; for, when their value appears to us, all other things will be considered worthless, especially when we consider what Christ and His blessings are, for everything without Him is but dross.

For this reason, he highly praises the wonderful grace of God in Christ: namely, that we may not consider it a great sacrifice to give up the world to enjoy the invaluable treasure of a future life, and also that we may not be broken down by present troubles, but patiently endure them, being satisfied with eternal happiness.

Furthermore, when he gives thanks to God, he invites the faithful to spiritual joy, which can swallow up all the contrary feelings of the flesh.

And Father of our Lord Jesus Christ. Understand the words this way: “Blessed be God who is the Father of Jesus Christ.” For, just as in the past, by calling Himself the God of Abraham, He intended to mark the difference between Him and all false gods, so after He has revealed Himself in His own Son, His will is to be known only in Him. Therefore, those who form their ideas of God in His bare majesty, apart from Christ, have an idol instead of the true God, as is the case with Jews and Muslims.

Whoever, then, truly seeks to know the only true God must regard Him as the Father of Christ. For whenever our mind seeks God, unless Christ is thought of, it will wander and be confused until it is wholly lost. Peter also meant to suggest how God is so bountiful and kind towards us, for unless Christ stood as the mediator, His goodness could never be truly known by us.

Who has begotten us again. He shows that supernatural life is a gift, because we are born children of wrath. For if we had been born to the hope of life according to the flesh, there would have been no need to be begotten again by God.

Therefore, Peter teaches us that we, who are by nature destined for eternal death, are restored to life by God’s mercy. And this is, so to speak, our second creation, as it is said in Ephesians chapter 1.

Lively or living hope, means the hope of life. At the same time, there seems to be an implied contrast between the hope fixed on the incorruptible kingdom of God and the fading and transient hopes of man.

According to His abundant mercy. He first mentions the efficient cause, and then he points out the mediating cause, as they say. He shows that God was not induced by any merits of ours to regenerate us to a living hope, because He assigns this wholly to His mercy. But so that He might more completely reduce the merits of works to nothing, he says, great (multam) mercy. All, indeed, confess that God is the only author of our salvation, but they afterwards invent external causes, which detract so much from His mercy.

But Peter commends mercy alone, and he immediately connects the way or manner, by the resurrection of Christ; for God does not reveal His mercy in any other way. Therefore, Scripture always directs our attention to this point. The fact that Christ’s death is not mentioned, but His resurrection is, involves no inconsistency, for death is included. This is because a thing cannot be completed without having a beginning, and he especially highlighted the resurrection because he was speaking of a new life.

To an inheritance—the three words that follow are intended to amplify God’s grace, for Peter (as I have said before) had this object in view: to impress our minds thoroughly with its excellence. Moreover, I consider these two clauses, “to an inheritance incorruptible,” etc., and “to salvation ready to be revealed,” to be in apposition, the latter being explanatory of the former, for he expresses the same thing in two ways.

Every word that follows is weighty. The inheritance is said to be reserved, or preserved, so that we may know that it is beyond the reach of danger. For, if it were not in God’s hand, it might be exposed to endless dangers. If it were in this world, how could we regard it as safe amidst so many changes? So that he might then free us from every fear, he testifies that our salvation is placed in safety beyond the harms that Satan can do.

But as the certainty of salvation can bring us little comfort unless each one knows that it belongs to himself, Peter adds, for you. For consciences will calmly find rest here, that is, when the Lord cries to them from heaven, “Behold, your salvation is in my hand and is kept for you.” But as salvation is not indiscriminately for all, he calls our attention to faith, so that all who are endowed with faith might be distinguished from the rest, and that they might not doubt that they are the true and legitimate heirs of God. For, as faith penetrates into the heavens, so it also appropriates to us the blessings that are in heaven.

Who are kept by the power of God. We are to notice the connection when he says that we are kept while in the world, and at the same time our inheritance is reserved in heaven. Otherwise, this thought would immediately creep in: “What does it avail us that our salvation is laid up in heaven when we are tossed here and there in this world as in a turbulent sea? What can it avail us that our salvation is secured in a quiet harbor when we are driven to and fro amidst a thousand shipwrecks?” The apostle, therefore, anticipates objections of this kind when he shows that, though we are in the world exposed to dangers, we are yet kept by faith, and that, though we are thus near to death, we are yet safe under the guardianship of faith. But as faith itself, through the infirmity of the flesh, often falters, we might always be anxious about tomorrow if the Lord did not aid us.

And indeed, we see that under the Papacy a diabolical opinion prevails: that we ought to doubt our final perseverance because we are uncertain whether we will be in the same state of grace tomorrow.

But Peter did not leave us in suspense in this way, for he testifies that we stand by the power of God, so that no doubt arising from a consciousness of our own infirmity should disquiet us. However weak we may then be, yet our salvation is not uncertain, because it is sustained by God’s power.

Therefore, as we are begotten by faith, so faith itself receives its stability from God’s power. Hence its security, not only for the present but also for the future.

Unto salvation. As we are by nature impatient of delay and soon succumb to weariness, he therefore reminds us that salvation is not deferred because it is not yet prepared, but because the time of its revelation has not yet come. This doctrine is intended to nourish and sustain our hope.

Moreover, he calls the day of judgment the last time, because the restitution of all things is not to be expected before then, for the intervening time is still in progress. What is elsewhere called the last time is the whole period from the coming of Christ; it is so called from a comparison with the preceding ages. But Peter was referring to the end of the world.

Wherein you greatly rejoice, or, In which you exult. Though the termination of the Greek verb is doubtful, the meaning nevertheless requires that we read it as the statement “you exult,” rather than the command “Exult!” In which refers to all that is said of the hope of salvation laid up in heaven. But he is exhorting rather than praising them, for his object was to show what fruit was to come from the hope of salvation—namely, spiritual joy, by which not only the bitterness of all evil might be mitigated, but also all sorrow overcome. At the same time, to exult is more expressive than to rejoice.

But it seems somewhat inconsistent when he says that the faithful, who exulted with joy, were at the same time sorrowful, for these are contrary feelings. The faithful, however, know by experience how these things can exist together, much better than can be expressed in words.

To explain the matter briefly, we may say that the faithful are not logs of wood. Nor have they so divested themselves of human feelings as to be unaffected by sorrow, or to not fear danger, or to not feel poverty as an evil, and persecutions as hard and difficult to bear.

Hence they experience sorrow from evils; but it is so mitigated by faith that they do not cease at the same time to rejoice. Thus sorrow does not prevent their joy but, on the contrary, yields to it. Again, though joy overcomes sorrow, it does not put an end to it, for it does not divest us of humanity.

And so it becomes clear what true patience is: its beginning and, as it were, its root, is the knowledge of God’s blessings, especially of that gratuitous adoption with which He has favored us. For all who raise their minds to this find it an easy thing to bear all evils calmly.

For why is it that our minds are pressed down with grief, unless it is because we have no participation in spiritual things? But all those who regard their troubles as necessary trials for their salvation not only rise above them but also turn them into an occasion of joy.

You are in heaviness, or, You are made sorrowful. Is sorrow not also the common lot of the reprobate? For they are not free from evils. But Peter meant that the faithful endure sorrow willingly, while the ungodly murmur and perversely contend with God.

Hence the godly bear sorrow as the tamed ox bears the yoke, or as a broken-in horse bears the bridle, even if held by a child. God afflicts the reprobate with sorrow, as when a bridle is forcibly put into the mouth of a ferocious and refractory horse; it kicks and offers every resistance, but all in vain.

Thus Peter commends the faithful because they willingly undergo sorrow, and not as if forced by necessity.

By saying, though now for a season, or, a little while, he supplied consolation. For the shortness of time, however hard evils may be, considerably lessens them; and the duration of the present life is but a moment.

Regarding the phrase If need be, this condition is to be understood as a cause. For he intended to show that God does not try His people in this way without reason; for if God afflicted us without a cause, it would be grievous to bear.

Hence Peter drew an argument for consolation from the purpose of God: not that the reason always appears to us, but that we ought to be fully persuaded that it should be so, because it is God’s will.

We must notice that he does not mention one temptation, but many; and not temptations of one kind, but manifold temptations. It is, however, better to seek the exposition of this passage in James 1.