In this you rejoice, even if
now for a little while you have had to suffer various trials, so that the
genuineness of your faith—being more precious than gold that, though
perishable, is tested by fire—may be found to result in praise and glory and
honor when Jesus Christ is revealed. vvs. 6-7
To sum things up to date, Peter is greeting the Jewish believers in the section of modern-day Turkey that seems to be his area of missionary responsibility. He leads with God, not Jesus, supporting the idea of a Jewish audience, using God as the entry point into their religious thinking. From there, Peter lays out what the promise of salvation is, through the last sentence.
But it
seems that the actual experience of Peter’s readers is not as positive. Peter is seeking to give interpretation to
the suffering that they have undergone, looking from a present to a future
view.
In this you rejoice, They rejoice in the promise of God’s new birth
into a living hope as outlined in the last sentence.
even if now for a little
while you have had to suffer various trials, This line seems to get at the reason
for Peter’s letter, a letter of support and interpretation of the persecution
they are receiving for their faith.
so that the genuineness of
your faith—being more precious than gold that, though perishable, is tested by
fire— Persecution, Peter
is arguing, makes their faith more real-not something of convenience, but a
refined commodity of great value.
may be found to result in
praise and glory and honor when Jesus Christ is revealed. The readers are being assured
of the reward for their faithfulness, looking forward to when it shall be
revealed.
This letter was written before the Fall of Jerusalem,
before the faithful were scattered to the four winds of the Empire. This sentence and the last carry an immediacy
about the end times, when ‘it shall be revealed’. Jesus was very clear that the date of His
return was not known on earth, but the expectation of Jesus’ return is very
strong in this writing.
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