John Calvin Commentary 1 Peter 1:3

"Blessed [be] the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, who according to his great mercy begat us again unto a living hope by the resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead," — 1 Peter 1:3 (ASV)

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.