PREFACE
I have recently finished my expositions on Paul's epistles, which have been a wonderful experience for me, and a pleasure to be able to share them with my wife, children, grandchildren, sisters, and other Christian friends. I thank our heavenly Father for allowing me this time to do my studies and to share them with other believers. I have only 1 & 2 Peter and Jude to complete, and will have finished the entire New Testament. I will use the same format I have used on the other N.T. books of writing the verse out from the Authorized Version (KJV), and then below it I will give my literal translation from the Greek N.T. (LGT). I depend on authorities such as Marvin R. Vincent, A.T. Robertson, Albert Barnes, William Barclay, John Calvin, J. Vernon McGee, The Expositor's Greek Testament, the New English translation of the Bible, and my Analytical Greek Lexicon to help me keep my exposition as factual and exegetical as possible for me. I pray the Lord will bless you as He has me as we study together the wonderful doctrines of our Lord Jesus Christ. I encourage all my Christian brothers and sisters in the Lord to study the Word daily that is to feed on the Word, in order to grow in grace and the knowledge of Truth, and to be able to fully appreciate the wonderful Riches of God's grace. God bless us all and keep us faithfully studying His precious Word.
INTRODUCTION
Peter wrote this epistle after Paul had written his epistles, and he had knowledge of the doctrines Paul had written to the various churches, and that the doctrines were meant for the churches in this age of grace. Paul was the apostle to the Gentiles, but not so exclusive as to ignore the Jews, for in every city he visited, he first went into the synagogues to preach. Peter was the apostle to the Jews of the dispersion after Jerusalem and the Temple were destroyed by Titus in 70 A.D.; these five Roman provinces of Asia Minor were Pontus, Galatia, Cappadocia, Asia, and Bithynia. There is no Biblical or historical proof that Peter ever visited Rome, and even though his name was mentioned first, whenever the apostle's names are mentioned, he was not the "Pope." Only the church in Rome accepts the misconception drawn about "apostolic succession". For after the death of the twelve apostles appointed by our Lord Jesus Christ, there were and are no more apostles. Peter had no authority over the other apostles, nor did he have it over the assemblies he wrote to. Peter, as wells as Paul taught that Jesus Christ was and is forever the only authority the church must answer to, and will eventually give an answer before Christ at His Bema Seat.
I will not go into detail about the various opinions of critics on whether or not Peter wrote this epistle with his own hand, or whether Silvanus (Silas) was his amanuensis, and wrote it for him because Peter was not fluent in the Greek language. There is enough written about Peter in the Gospels and the book of Acts to satisfy my faith, as Barnes notes: "The history of Peter is so fully detailed in the New Testament, that it is not necessary to go into any extended statement of his biography in order to understand an exposition of his epistles. No particular light would be reflected on them from the details of his life; therefore, to their exposition, it is not necessary to have further information of him than what is contained in the New Testament itself." Anyone that wants more information on the introduction to these epistles of Peter should go to a good Bible encyclopedia or the introduction to the epistles of Peter on any good conservative commentary. Most of my children and grandchildren have E-Sword on their computers, which is an excellent tool for this type of information.
Peters main purpose in writing to the Jews of the diaspora is to give them hope in their times of great persecution. Peter deals with some very heavy doctrines, but he always tempers them with hope.
Now, relying on the guidance of the Holy Spirit, I will begin my expositional study of Peter's first epistle.
Share freely but cite the source: http://bbbiblehelps.epizy.com