Where it fits

First Peter is the twenty-first book of the New Testament, with five chapters. The letter names the apostle Peter as its author, a view most Christians have held through history, though some scholars question it. It is addressed to believers living as “foreigners” (1:1) in five regions of what is now northern Turkey. He sends greetings from “Babylon” (5:13), which most readers take as a code name for Rome, and mentions Silvanus, who may have helped him write or deliver it (5:12). It is traditionally dated to the early 60s AD, around the time of Nero. Read straight through, it takes about 12 minutes.

Who, to whom, and why

The readers were not an important group. They were ordinary believers scattered across the Roman provinces, living as outsiders. Their neighbors found them strange because they no longer joined in the festivals and wild living around them (4:3–4). They were slandered, insulted, and sometimes treated harshly (2:12; 4:14). Peter doesn't tell them to fight back or hide. He tells them who they are.

The letter opens with a blessing for the living hope given through Jesus' resurrection (1:3–9), then calls believers to live holy lives (1:13–2:3). Peter piles up Old Testament titles for them: living stones, a chosen people, a royal priesthood, a holy nation (2:4–10). They are foreigners and exiles in the world, called to live honorably so that outsiders may see their good works (2:11–12). Peter applies this to citizens, slaves, wives, and husbands (2:13–3:7), and then to everyone: be united, sympathetic, loving, and humble, and do not repay evil for evil (3:8–12). Chapters 4 and 5 deal directly with suffering, urge elders to shepherd the flock, and call all believers to humility, trust, and watchfulness (4:12–5:11).

Three ideas to hold on to

1. Believers have a living hope. Because Jesus has risen, they have an inheritance that cannot perish or fade, kept in heaven for them (1:3–4).
2. Suffering doesn't mean God has left. Peter says not to be surprised by the fiery trial, but to share in Christ's sufferings with joy (4:12–13). He holds up Jesus as the one who suffered without revenge (2:21–23).
3. Believers are God's people, whatever the world thinks. Once they were not a people, and now they are God's people. Once they had not received mercy, and now they have (2:9–10).

Passages people ask about

• 1 Peter 2:4–10. Living stones, a royal priesthood, and a people for God's own possession.
• 1 Peter 2:18–25. Instructions to slaves who were suffering unjustly, with Jesus as the model, who “bore our sins” (2:24). Many readers find it hard today. Peter speaks to people who had little power to change their situation and points them to Christ, who suffered unjustly.
• 1 Peter 3:15–16. Always be ready to explain the hope you have, and do it gently and respectfully.
• 1 Peter 3:18–22. A difficult passage about Christ preaching to “spirits in prison” (3:19) and about Noah's flood. Christians have offered several explanations. It helps to read it as part of Peter's main point, that Christ suffered and was vindicated.
• 1 Peter 5:6–11. Throw all your worries on God because he cares for you, and stay alert because the devil prowls like a lion.

How it points to Jesus

Peter was there. He had watched Jesus suffer, had denied him three times, and had been forgiven, and now he calls himself “a witness of the sufferings of Christ” (5:1). He points to Jesus as the Lamb without blemish, whose blood redeems (1:18–19), the Shepherd and Overseer of souls (2:25), and the Chief Shepherd who will appear (5:4). Throughout, Peter says the prophets were pointing to Christ's sufferings and the glories that would follow (1:10–12).

A common misunderstanding

First Peter 3:15 is often used as a command to win arguments. Peter says to be ready to explain your hope, but the verses that follow ask for gentleness and respect, and for a clear conscience, so that those who slander you may be ashamed of their words (3:15–16). Gentleness in the face of hostility is itself part of the witness.