V. 1. Peter, an apostle of Jesus Christ.
This is the signature of this epistle, in which St. Peter exalts and praises his office, says he is an apostle or legate, not of a king or emperor on earth, but of Jesus Christ, who is one Lord over all, Apost. 10.
But he does not use such a glorious title for his own sake, but first of all because he wants to show by it that he has not penetrated to this high office out of his own choice or presumption, nor out of human counsel, but was ordained to it.
*) This second arrangement is found only in the Wittenberg edition (1556), Vol. I, p. 4836, and in the Erlangen edition, Vol. 52, p. 1. In order to avoid unnecessary repetitions, we have also discussed this second arrangement in the first note to the previous number. See also the preface to this volume.
and called, without means, by Christ the Lord himself; secondly, that one should be sure that his (as well as other apostles') preaching or teaching is God's word, and whoever hears him and believes his testimony hears him whose messenger or legate he is, and shall be saved; but whoever despises him despises him who sent him 2c., Matth. 10.
So now he briefly indicates with these words, "Peter, an apostle of Jesus Christ", that he is commanded to an office, that he should proclaim to all the world forgiveness of sins, redemption from death, righteousness, life and salvation, not by Mosaic law, much less by man's commandment, work, own righteousness, merit 2c., but only through Jesus Christ, who was ordained from eternity and proclaimed by all the prophets, that he should crush the head of the serpent and redeem all generations on earth from the curse; thus he soon condemns in the signature all kinds of teachings that lead away from this Savior and indicate another way to become righteous and blessed before God; he also secretly states that all those who teach such things are not Christ's, but Satan's apostles, be they who they will.
To the chosen strangers back and forth in Ponto, Galatia, Cappadocia, Asia and Bithynia.
This is the heading in which it is indicated to whom St. Peter wrote this epistle, namely, to the Gentiles who lived in these countries, which he names here, who were converted to the Christian faith through the preaching of the Gospel. Otherwise, he would not have written to them, nor would he have exhorted them to continue and increase in the faith. Now the Turk has these lands under him, and in Christ's place the accursed Mahomet is preached and worshipped; but Christians may yet be there. Pontus is a great and wide land by the sea, Cappadocia lies hard by, and almost abuts it. Galatia lies behind it, Asia and Bithynia in front by the sea; all lie toward the east, and are great countries. Paul preached in Galatia and Asia; whether also in Bithynia, I do not know. He did not preach in the other two.
It should be noted that the apostles were sent primarily to the Gentiles, as the prophets were sent to the Jews. This is proven by the fact that they wrote all their epistles to the Gentiles, except those to the Hebrews and St. Jacob. Yes, you say, St. Paul says in Gal. 2 that the gospel to the Gentiles was entrusted to him, but to the Jews to Petro. This does not prevent it, because St. Peter also preached among the Gentiles, Apost. 10, and wrote to them, as this heading and the whole epistle show; therefore he is 1) an apostle to the Gentiles as well as to the Jews 2c.: just as St. Paul also calls himself an apostle to the Gentiles, and yet he also preached to the Jews; indeed, where he found Jews now and then among the Gentiles, he first visited them and preached Christ to them. But where they would not hear him, nor accept his testimony, he turned to the Gentiles, as is seen in the Acts of the Apostles; wherefore Christ also calls him his chosen instrument, who should preach his name, not only among the Gentiles, but also among the children of Israel, Apost. 9.
Therefore St. Paul speaks Gal. 2. about how it was at the same time when St. Peter preached in Judea and he among the Gentiles. For St. Paul had a calling and command to soon travel among the Gentiles and preach the gospel to them (and yet, as I said, he also preached to the Jews from time to time). Peter and the others had a command to go first to the lost sheep of the house of Israel, to whom Christ was promised. Since they had visited them and the small group that St. Paul used to call the remnant, and had converted them to the faith, and the large group remained obdurate and persecuted the apostles fiercely and followed them, they obeyed Christ's command: "Go into all the world" 2c. and turned to the Gentiles.
Therefore, the apostles are actually the fathers and teachers of the Gentiles, and there is nothing to prevent the most prominent of them from remaining among the Jews for a while. For even though they all devoted their entire lives to the Jewish religion, they were
1) "he" is missing in the Wittenberger.
2) Wittenberger: den.
What was it against their epistles being written and coming, not only to and for one people in one little corner of the world, as the Jews were, but to all the Gentiles in the whole wide world, by which they preach to the believers from them, from the same time and place until the end of the world? The evangelists also serve us Gentiles with their Scriptures, for they teach and testify that Christ, the Savior of all the world, appeared and accomplished what was proclaimed of him in the Scriptures, namely, that he redeemed the human race 2c.; item, that the Jews were to be rejected and the Gentiles accepted in their place as God's people, as was done 2c.
They are "strangers" who are called foreigners. But he calls them strangers because they were Gentiles. But because they were now converted to the faith, he does not call them bad strangers, but chosen strangers; as if he should say: You, who were Gentiles and strangers before, who did not know God and had no hope, are no longer so, but are now citizens with the saints and members of God's household 2c., Eph. 2, or, as he speaks here, "chosen strangers", partakers of all heavenly goods in Christ; as he will explain this later with rich, glorious words.
V. 2. According to the providence of God the Father.
So I will say: That you have been chosen, you have not attained by your strength, work or merit, for the treasure is too great, that all men's holiness and righteousness are far too small to attain it; for this you were Gentiles, knowing nothing of God, having no hope, and serving dumb idols; Therefore, without any effort on your part, by pure grace, you come to such unspeakable glory, namely, because God the Father has provided you with it from eternity; so make God's provision quite sweet and comforting, as if He were to say: You are chosen, and remain so, for God, who has provided you, is strong and certain enough that He cannot lack His provision, however far you believe His promise and consider Him to be a faithful God.
From this we are to take this lesson in brief, that the provision is not based on our worthiness and merit, as the sophists pretend, since the devil could make it uncertain and overthrow it at any moment; but it stands in God's hand, and is based on his mercy, which is unchanging and eternal; hence it is also called God's provision, and for this reason it is certain and cannot fail. Therefore, if your sin and unworthiness challenge you, and it occurs to you that you are not provided for by God, item, the number of the elect is small, the multitude of the wicked is great, and you are shocked by the horrific examples of divine wrath and judgment, 2c. then do not dispute long why God does this or that in this way, and not otherwise, if he could well do so, 2c. Nor do you dare to explore the abyss of divine providence with your reason, otherwise you will certainly be misled by it, either despair, or even strike yourself in the open, but stick to the promise of the Gospel, which will teach you that Christ, the Son of God, has come into the world to bless all nations on earth, that is, to redeem from sin and death, to justify and to save, and that he did this by the command and gracious will of God, the heavenly Father, "who so loved the world that he gave his one and only Son, that whoever believes in him shall not perish but have eternal life," Jn. 3. If you follow the advice, namely, recognize first that you are a child of nature's wrath, guilty of eternal death and damnation, from which no creature, either human or angelic, can save you, and then take hold of God's promise, believing that He is a merciful, truthful God, who faithfully keeps (out of pure grace, without any action on our part or merit) what he has said, and therefore sent Christ, his only Son, to make amends for your sin, and to give you his innocence and righteousness, and finally also to redeem you from all kinds of misery and death: Doubt not that thou art among the company of the elect 2c. If one acts in this way (as St. Paul also does), it is exceedingly comforting. If you do it differently, it is terrible 2c.
Through the sanctification of the Spirit.
God the Father, he says, has provided for you to be His chosen children and to be sanctified, not by outward, fleshly holiness of the law, which with all its holiness no one has ever been able to make perfect in conscience, Hebr. 7, 19. 9, 13. 14. Phil. 3, 9. but much less by your pagan ways and idolatrous worship 2c. By what then? By the sanctification of the Spirit, for your hearts are sanctified and cleansed by faith from the filth of idolatry and superstition. To what end?
To the obedience and sprinkling of the blood of JEsu Christ.
You were chosen by God and now sanctified, he says, not to persist and remain in your sins, your former pagan and vain ways, but to continue to be obedient and believe the gospel of Jesus Christ, which proclaims to you that you are sprinkled, not with calf's or goat's blood, Genesis 24:6, 8. 24, 6. 8. Hebr. 9, 19. or with sprinkling water of the ashes of the red heifer, 4 Mos. 19, 9.(Heb. 9:13), as the Jewish people were sprinkled according to the law of Moses, by which alone they were sanctified for outward and bodily purity, but with a far, far better and more delicious sprinkling water, namely with the precious blood of Jesus Christ, the innocent and unblemished Lamb of God, by which you are inwardly sanctified in spirit and conscience and cleansed from all sin, so that you are now true servants of God, both pure in soul and holy in body. 2c.
But this sprinkling happens when the gospel is preached of Christ, that he is the true paschal lamb, who sacrificed himself for the sin of the whole world, gave and shed his body and blood for us all 2c. He who is obedient to the preaching and believes is sprinkled by the right high priest, so that the strangler can do him no harm or harm. The 51st Psalm, v. 9, also says of the sprinkling: "Sprinkle me, O Lord, with hyssop, that I may be clean; wash me, that I may be white as snow.
1) Erlanger: and.
If thou shalt command me, it shall never make my heart clean and white as snow, that I may be loosed from sin, have a good and joyful conscience before thee, be justified, and be saved. Lord, you yourself must be a washer and bather here, and wash and sprinkle with a different water and blood than the Levitical high priests use; otherwise I will remain black, leprous and unclean forever, even though I sprinkle and wash myself every hour.
Here you see that not only St. Peter the apostle, but also the holy prophet David, enlightened by the Holy Spirit, long before and just at the time when the law was in its highest momentum and was most glorious, indicates that the law with its beautiful, glorious worship and ceremonies, of which there were many, such as slaughtering, sacrifices, smoking, washing, sprinkling, etc., could not make the sinner's heart and soul pure, could not have purified the sinner's heart and soul, but all this was only a model and figure of the right sacrifice and sprinkling of blood, which Christ, the right high priest, had to perform himself.
May God give you much grace and peace.
This is the greeting. You are now, he says, obedient to Christ (by whose blood you were sprinkled and thereby made clean from your sins), and believe in him: for this reason you are righteous and holy, and in the grace of God, the heavenly Father, and because you know and believe this, you have a happy, peaceful conscience. But the devil and the world will do you all kinds of harm for the sake of such knowledge and faith, the former with fright and the latter with persecution. Therefore I wish with all my heart that God, the merciful Father, may give you much grace and peace, so that, even though the devil strikes you hard with his fiery arrows and dares to overthrow your faith (for he does not sleep, but goes about like a roaring lion), and the world persecutes, blasphemes and condemns you as heretics, so that you do not allow yourselves to be challenged in this way, but always console yourselves against this horrible sight and sorrow, that God in heaven is merciful to you for Christ's sake, in whom you are
2) Erlanger: Horror.
have a certain 1) and lasting peace. If you want it, let the devil and the world be terrified, angry, persecuted 2c.
Now he sows the epistle with fine, excellent words, speaks of the highest, greatest thing, as an apostle is wont to speak, and says:
V. 3. Praise be to God, the Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, who according to His great mercy has given us a new birth into a living hope through the resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead.
The devil has led the human race into the terrible damage and misery through the fall of Ade, so that all people are conceived and born in sins and therefore have to be subject to the devil's power. Therefore the bodily birth of father and mother cannot bring or give them more than this temporal and transitory life, which is not only full of toil and labor, but also quite short and uncertain, in which we are not safe from death for a moment; and even if it chokes us, there is still no end to the misery, yes, the real plague and torture then begins. For since we are all children of the wrath of nature and enemies of God, we are guilty of eternal death and damnation in addition to our temporal death. In this terrible and unspeakable misfortune are all Adam's children, no one excluded.
Here the question is: What do we do to get rid of such misery, to get along again, to become pious and blessed? Here everyone wants to be a master and to know best how to discuss the matter. If you ask a Jew, he will give you this answer: if he is circumcised and keeps the law, he will be pious and blessed; a monk: if he keeps his order according to his rule 2c.; a Turk: if he does what is written in the Alkoran. In sum, every man (if he is otherwise of sound mind) has these thoughts by nature: that by his own powers, free will, good works and merit, or even above all by the Law of Moses, he will and can not only atone for his sins and appease God's wrath, but also that he will be saved.
1) Erlanger: a conscience.
also acquire God's grace, and attain eternal bliss, and thus heal and banish this murderous damage. Human reason cannot come any higher than this, therefore it cannot think, speak and teach about it in any other way than as said, as we have unfortunately experienced in the papacy.
But the holy scripture speaks much differently about the matter, namely that we can never, neither by our doing nor by our not doing, get rid of sin, escape from death, attain righteousness and salvation, that is, come to the first innocence and righteousness, which Adam lost by the fall, and all of us in him, unless we all become new men, born again and differently, not of father and mother, but of water and the Spirit, John 3:5, Titus 3:5.
This is also what St. Peter teaches here, when he says: You were chosen according to the providence of God the Father, sanctified and sprinkled with the blood of our Lord Jesus Christ 2c. You have come to this, not by your doing or not, but out of pure love and grace God and the Father of our Lord Jesus Christ has chosen you, who were without faith and hope in Him, according to His great mercy, not because of your works or merits, much less because of your sin, born again to a living hope, in which you will certainly have the eternal, heavenly inheritance to wait for, which neither moth nor rust can devour, nor a thief steal from you, for it will be preserved for you in heaven 2c. Now to him who has done the deed, let him also have glory and honor, and be praised and blessed forever. Amen.
But how, or by what means, did such a rebirth take place? "By the resurrection," he says, "of Jesus Christ from the dead"; as if to say: God the Father has born us again, not of corruptible seed (as he will interpret himself afterwards), but of incorruptible seed, that is, of the word of truth, which is the power of God that gives new birth, makes alive and saves all who believe in it, Rom. 1:16. What then is this word? The very word that is preached among you, concerning Jesus Christ, that he died for your sins and for the sins of the world, and rose again the third day, that he might be saved through the power of God.
would be enough for all the sins of the world through his death, and would bring righteousness, life and salvation through his resurrection. Whoever believes such a sermon, namely that Christ died and rose again for his good, the resurrection of Christ has proven its power in him, is thereby born again, that is, created anew in God's image, receives the Holy Spirit, recognizes God's gracious will, has heart, mind, courage, will and thoughts that no other saint of works or hypocrite has, namely that he will not be justified and saved by the work of the law, much less by his own righteousness, but by Christ's suffering and resurrection.
That is called right apostolic preaching. For a true apostle's office is to preach neither the righteousness of men nor the holiness of the law, but the unspeakable grace and mercy of God, who did not spare His only Son, but gave Him up for us all to die an ignominious death on the cross for our sins, and to rise again for our righteousness' sake; as the apostles diligently and mightily practiced such teaching. Look at their epistles, especially St. Paul. Paul, and read their sermons in the Acts of the Apostles by all means, and you will find that all their speeches and words are to the effect that Christ, the Lord, was denied and killed by his own people, to whom he was promised, even though he proved himself mightily with deeds, miracles and signs as the true Lord and Messiah: That God raised him from the dead and made him a Lord and a Christian, so that all who believe in him may receive forgiveness of sins through his name, which they could not receive through the works of the law, Acts 13:38. 13:38; that there is salvation in no other, neither is there any other name given to men, whereby we may be saved 2c.; item, that through him all things which we lost in Adam are made right again, in a better way than we had them in paradise 2c.; item, that through him all things which we lost in Adam are made right again, in a better way than we had them in paradise 2c.; item, that through him all things which we lost in Adam are made right again.In sum, that through him all who believe in him become not only pious and blessed, but also God's children and heirs, and his [Christ's] brothers and fellow heirs, raised up together with him and seated in the heavenly realm 2c. Eph. 2, 6.
This is the blessed, comforting sermon that Christ commanded the apostles to preach to all the world, for the consolation of wretched and anxious consciences; for the gospel, he himself says in Matt. 11:5, is preached to the poor, that is, to those who feel their sin, who are terrified of death, who are sincerely afraid of God's wrath and judgment, and who groan for help and consolation. These cannot hear anything more sweet or comforting than that Jesus Christ, the innocent and unblemished Lamb of God, has taken upon Himself our sin, death and all misfortune, which here afflicts and oppresses us for a time, and there should have tormented and martyred us eternally, letting the law condemn Him as an evildoer and strangle death. But because he was eternal righteousness and life itself, sin and death could not keep him in their power. Therefore he rose again on the third day as an almighty Lord and God, who has the power to give up his life and to take it back again, John 10:18, and overcame all these enemies and took them captive, not for his own person, because he would not have had the right to do so anywhere, but for the sake of us wretched, damned sinners who believe in him, so that they can neither harm nor condemn us for eternity, even though they frighten and torment us at times because we are still alive here.
To a living hope.
That we live on earth is because, after we have believed, we are to proclaim, as he will say later [1 Pet 2:9], the virtues of him who called us from darkness to his marvelous light, so that others may also come to such knowledge and faith through us as we have also received from others; otherwise it would be best that God should leave us to die as soon as we have been baptized and have begun to believe. But because we are on earth, we must live in hope. For although we are certain that through faith we have all the goods of God (for faith certainly brings with it the new birth, filiation, and inheritance), we do not yet possess them sensibly, but await them through hope, which St. Peter, according to Hebrew
way calls a hope of life. We speak according to our language: a living hope, that is, in which we may certainly hope and be sure of eternal life. But the treasure is still hidden and covered so that it cannot be seen; it can now only be grasped with the heart and through faith. Therefore, we must take comfort in the hope that is sure and will not leave us in shame until that day when we will see what we now hope for.
Through this sermon of St. Peter's, first of all, all glory of human powers, free will, good works, of one's own, even of the Law of Moses' righteousness 2c. is violently beaten to the ground. For can we prepare ourselves for grace and attain eternal life by our own works and merits, as the Pope and his sophists and canonists have unashamedly taught and written, and still want to maintain as true: what is it necessary that God, out of pure grace, should have mercy on us, let His only begotten Son become man, die on the cross for our sins, and proclaim repentance and forgiveness of sins in His name among all nations? So I hear that we are not allowed to do anything good? Yes, we have been born again in Christ Jesus for this very reason, that we should not only do good, and now more than ever can do it, but also suffer evil for all our good deeds; of which more hereafter.
On the other hand, St. Peter here further indicates that it is only through Christ, as the one mediator between God and men, that we come to grace and are reconciled to God the Father; for he speaks in clear words that God has reborn us through the resurrection of Jesus Christ 2c. Therefore, what has been taught so far in Christianity about calling upon the saints as if they were our mediators and intercessors, who could intercede and represent us before God and make us worthy of their merit, is false and fictitious, for no reason is found for it in Scripture; for this the honor due to Christ alone would be given to the saints, which is not to be suffered in any way.
St. Paul teaches the same now and then in his epistles. Rom. 5, 1. he says: "Now
we have been justified by faith, so we have peace with God," not through ourselves, but "through our Lord Jesus Christ. Therefore, we must bring Christ with us, come with Him, pay God with Him, and do everything through Him and in His name that we want to do with God. So St. Peter wants to say here: "We are certainly waiting for eternal life, even though we are still here on earth; but through nothing else than that Christ has risen from the dead, has ascended to heaven, and is sitting at the right hand of God. For for this cause he ascended, that he might give us his Spirit, that we might be born again, and now through him 1) stand before the Father, and say: I come and pray before thee, heavenly Father, not that I should rely on my prayer, but in the name of JEsu Christ my HEART, who rose again from death, and now sitteth at thy right hand, representing me 2c., I come and pray 2c.
Now whoever is not satisfied by this comforting teaching of the Gospel, gains a happy conscience and strong confidence in God the Father through Christ, will certainly attain it through the laws of Moses, much less through the commandments of men; for if he cannot take comfort in the fact that Christ came for the sake of sinners, died for them, and shed his blood for them 2c.A thousand times less will he be able to take comfort in his own order, his own righteousness 2c., for what is the holiness of all angels and the suffering and merit of all saints compared to the precious blood of the Lamb of God 2c.? Therefore it hardly serves the saints of works right that they let their hearts be sore all their lives, do many great, hard works, and yet get nothing out of it, because here time and again all toil and labor, and never a happy conscience, and there eternal damnation and hellish torture. If they believed the gospel and let Christ remain the Savior of the world, they would not be allowed to do so. But the world is not to be advised; it is and remains the devil's own, therefore it hates the light and remains in darkness 2c, Joh. 3, 20.
1) Wittenberger: thürsten.
2) Erlanger: love the.
V. 4. to an inheritance incorruptible and undefiled and unfading.
In other words, God has reborn us through the resurrection of Christ, not so that we should be rich, powerful and great lords here on earth (which the bodily birth brings with it, if God wills it), but He has reborn us to a heavenly inheritance, against which all the world's riches, honor and power are nothing. For what the world has, be it ever so precious, solid, beautiful and lovely, is nevertheless transient and so uncertain that one is not sure of it for a moment; moreover, it is unclean, for people abuse it to their own destruction and damnation; about which one soon becomes full and weary. But our inheritance, which is brought to us by regeneration, is first of all imperishable and eternal: therefore we must not worry that it will be damaged or that it will cease to exist; secondly, it is undefiled, that is, it is fine and beautiful, which can never stain us or make us unclean, as temporal goods are wont to do 2c.Thirdly, it is imperishable, that is, it does not wither or decay, nor does it perish like all temporal goods, but remains fresh and green forever; therefore we shall never be weary or tired of it. We do not yet possess such an inheritance, but hope for its certainty.
These are excellent, comforting words, which should make us happy from the bottom of our hearts. But because this our inheritance and treasure, of which St. Peter speaks here, is still hidden, and cannot be comprehended with any sense; for there are not more miserable and worthless people on earth, for the very ones who expect this inheritance through hope must feel the devil's terror in their hearts, and suffer that the world is bitter to them, hates, persecutes and condemns them as the worst of boys, who do all evil. 2c: [so] it can be seen and felt as if they were not only abandoned by all the world, but also by God Himself, therefore it does not seem at all that they should be God's children, who have a better and more glorious inheritance to wait for in heaven, than is the wealth and glory of all kings on earth, yes, the world considers them 1) to be lukewarm.
1) Wittenberger: "helts" - holds them.
They are beggars and fools. This ghastly and horrible sight also hinders their faith and joy, and makes them often feel the contradiction, and think as if God was angry with them, and wanted to push them into the abyss of hell and condemn them.
But all this out of sight, and holding firmly to the words of St. Peter, where he says: God the Father has reborn us through the resurrection of Jesus Christ to an imperishable, undefiled and unfading inheritance, which we do not yet have and possess visibly, but are waiting for in certain hope in his time. Whether the devil does not grant us such honor 2) and therefore makes this life sour for us, and the world hounds us, [there] is nothing to it 3), it will not last forever. We are here for a short time in his inn, where he receives us badly and keeps us, so we may take it for good, be patient and hold fast: this small loss will be well and abundantly repaid to us. This little poverty, little contempt and short sorrow, which he inflicts on us here, will be followed by an eternal, heavenly riches, glory and unspeakable joy and bliss, against which all suffering and hardship, which oppresses us here, 4) is nothing at all. If the children of the world can endure great hardship and suffering, hoping to gain something temporal, why should we not do so much more, who have such a glorious and divine promise of this heavenly and eternal inheritance?
This is what you will keep in heaven.
Your heavenly inheritance, he says, you are quite sure of, even though you do not see it with your eyes, nor do you possess it at present, for it is kept for you and kept in a place where it is safe and remains, namely in heaven, where no one can rob or steal it; and if it is still to be done for a short time, you will not only see it, but also receive it for your own and possess it eternally with glorious and inexpressible joy. When will this happen? At the last time, namely when
2) Wittenberger: such honor not gan.
3) Wittenberger: don't answer.
4) Erlanger: "bin" instead of: hie.
5) "and" is missing m the Erlanger.
Christ will appear in His glory and raise us from the dead. It seems to us that it will be a long time yet, but in the sight of God a thousand years are like a day, yes, like a night watch; also, if we are resurrected on that day and have lain under the earth for a thousand years or even more, it will seem to us like a short time that we have been sleeping in the grave. In addition, our life will pass away as quickly as if it flew away, Ps. 90:10, and death will come upon our necks before we know it.
V. 5: Who by the power of God are kept through faith unto salvation, which is prepared to be revealed in the last time.
To say: It was impossible for you to endure the devil's fierce anger, poison and cunning, and to bear the world's bitter enmity, blasphemy and persecution; But you have a strong supporter and helper, who is called God and the Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, who (for as he began the good work in you, so he must also accomplish it, otherwise it is lost) preserves you by his divine almighty power and might, that you may remain steadfast in the faith of his word, and in the living hope, through patience, await the blessedness prepared for you from the foundation of the world, but still hidden and covered up, certainly shut up and sealed, so that it may remain unharmed and undestroyed; But in his time it will be opened and uncovered in a moment, so that you will have to look at it forever and rejoice in it 2c.
The papists scoff at us, because we practice the doctrine of faith so diligently and make it so high and difficult, as it is not easily grasped and retained; they say, we can do nothing but teach about faith, Christians know beforehand how and what they should believe, Turks and pagans are to be preached the faith 2c. There are also many among us who, when they hear that faith alone, without all works, makes them righteous, they have such a delusion: "Behold, what you hear and read from and in the Scriptures, you believe to be right and true, therefore you have faith; thus they think that the delusion and dream they make for themselves in their hearts is faith.
1) In the original: "one".
But St. Peter teaches here that faith is not a thought or a bad delusion, which a man himself invents, but God's power must be there and work in us, so that we believe, and through faith are preserved and kept to salvation. In this way, St. Paul also speaks of faith in Eph. 1, 17-20: "The God of our Lord Jesus Christ, the Father of glory, grant you," he says, "the spirit of wisdom and revelation" 2c., "that ye may know what is the exceeding greatness of his power toward us who believe (not of our own strength or free will, but) according to the working of his mighty strength, which he wrought in Christ, when he raised him from the dead"; as if to say: That we believe in Christ, and through him have a hearty confidence in God, as in our dear Father, is through his exceeding great power and mighty strength, by which he raised Christ from the dead; by the same he creates and works such faith in us 2c.From this it can be seen that the apostles do not consider faith to be a low, bad art, which can be attained by human strength, and which can be learned as quickly and easily as the works saints think 2c. In his epistles, St. Paul always prays for the Christian communities to whom he writes that God would strengthen and preserve them in the faith, and desires that they increase in the knowledge and faith of Christ, that they may have complete hope 2c. He also confesses for himself that he reckons everything for harm against the exuberant knowledge of Christ JEsu, and yet speaks soon after that, he has not yet grasped it, is also not yet perfect, but he strives for it and chases after the intended goal and jewel 2c. St. Peter also does the same, wishing the faithful that God may give and increase His grace and peace abundantly; item, that they may grow in the grace and knowledge of Jesus Christ, and asking that God of all grace, who has called them to His eternal glory in Christ Jesus, may prepare, strengthen, fortify and establish them.
Therefore, when the wretched papists pretend that every Christian knows well how or what he should believe, 2c. they sufficiently indicate that
They have neither understanding nor experience of what faith is. Also the sure and false Christians, of whom there are always more than of the righteous, have no right report of faith, for they think that if they fall into sin and persevere in it, and only believe, then there is no danger, for faith alone makes righteous without all works; they rely on this, do nothing good, even vile evil, and still want to be Christians, but are much worse than heathens 2c. But we have heard above that faith gives birth to man again and makes him new in heart, courage and mind, who then bears good fruit as a good tree and leads a holy life 2c.; if not, then it is not a true faith.
In sum, the doctrine of faith is unknown to the world, therefore it cannot judge it differently, because it is either a bad, easy art, or error and heresy, and those who confess and accept it, call them seducers and enemies of the church. But St. Peter teaches here that faith is such a precious and noble treasure, to which nothing can be compared, for it gives a right and clear understanding to judge rightly and surely of all things. For he who has been told and told from the Scriptures, and has understood by faith that Christ is the only Savior of the world, without whom and apart from whom no one can be saved from sin and death, nor attain salvation, can soon judge which doctrine is divine and wholesome, which is seductive and devilish, which faith is righteous and which is false, which works are good and which are hypocritical, which state is holy and spiritual, and which is unholy and condemnable, and does not lack; For God's word, by which he is guided, does not let him err. Again, where there is no such knowledge and faith, there can be nothing else but blindness and error; therefore one can also not rightly divide from any thing, is called black white, darkness light 2c., and again, white black, Isa. 5, 20. Hence it is that man now undertakes this, now another work, to atone for sin and to gain God's favor, hence so many foundations, monasteries and so many false services have come about; but all is lost, for Christ alone is the way, the truth and the life; to whom he does not shine, he is the light of the world.
by his word, he must err, accept lies for truth, die in sins and perish.
V. 6 In which you will rejoice, who now for a little while (where it is to be) are grieved in many temptations.
Here the apostle shows how Christians fare in the world. In the sight of God in heaven, they are the dear children of the eternal, heavenly inheritance and certain of blessedness, as said before; but on earth, they are not only sad, afflicted and abandoned, but also have to suffer various temptations from the devil and the wicked world. How are they to blame? This is their greatest sin, that they believe in Christ, and praise and glorify God's unspeakable good deed, shown through him to all the world, namely, that he alone can save from sin and death, make just and blessed; that human reason by its free will, powers, good works 2c. that human reason, by its free will, powers, and good works, may not prepare itself for grace, much less earn eternal life, but with all its thoughts and deeds, be it called and glisten as it pleases, does not reconcile God, but rather angers him, because it does all this without, even against, his word and command, and despises what he has promised and commanded, and chooses something special out of its own devotion. Then the fire comes on, for the world will not and cannot suffer its good opinion, devotion, holiness, and good works 2c. to be punished and condemned, as if they should not count for anything in the sight of God, 1) then goes to, persecutes, and strangles those who say such things, as the worst blasphemers and rebels, and thinks that they are doing God a service by it. Therefore faith is not a drowsy thought in the heart, but he who has it speaks and confesses as he feels it in his heart; because of this he comes to misfortune, as the prophet laments in the 116th Psalm, v. 10: "I believe, therefore I speak. But I am greatly afflicted." Therefore, St. Peter says: "You who are now sad for a little while"; so put faith, hope and the holy cross together, because one follows from the other.
But he does not leave it at that, he does not only say how they will be sad and have to suffer many trials, but he comforts them.
1) Erlanger: should.
and says that it will only last a short time here on earth, and that such sadness and affliction will certainly be followed by eternal bliss, in which they will rejoice forever. That is to say, as the apostles are wont to comfort, they do not speak of temporal peace, rest, and favor of the world, but of the contradiction, namely, that Christians should freely consider that they will have no better than all the saints who have ever been, and the Lord, and the head of all the saints himself, has had. What shall they 1) have? Affliction, strife, sadness, anguish, distress 2c.; so that the Christians' comfort is not in visible, present things, which, though delicious and glorious, are transitory and uncertain, but in invisible and future, yet certain and eternal goods.
It should also be noted that the apostle does not add in vain: "Where it should be"; as he also does in the 3rd chapter, v. 17, where he says: "It is better (if it is God's will) that you suffer for your own good" 2c. For there are many people who put on their own crosses without any need, as is the way of the saints of works, walking, as St. Paul says, according to their own choice, in the humility and spirituality of the angels, having an appearance of great wisdom and holiness through self-chosen spirituality and humility, and by not sparing the body, and not giving honor to the flesh for its need, Col. 2, 23. The papacy has given many such people. But it shall not be, for it is not God's will that you choose for yourself a suffering or a cross out of your own devotion or conceit; but if you do, you are the devil's martyr, not Christ's, and it will be more sour for you to earn hell than heaven for one who suffers for God's sake. But where it should be, that is, if God so sends you that you must suffer for the sake of your confession of faith, accept it, and take comfort in the fact that St. Peter here says that sorrow should last a little while, but blessedness, in which you should rejoice, should be eternal.
V. 7 That your faith may be found righteous and much more precious than that which perishes.
1) Wittenberger: "sollens" - they should. Immediately following: "obs" ----- ob sie.
gold (which is tried by fire), to praise, glory and honor, when Jesus Christ is revealed.
Here he shows with clear words the fruit and benefit of such temptations, which meet the believers both from the 2) tyrants and mobs, saying: They serve to prove the faith, to make it righteous and much more precious than the perishable gold, which is tried by fire. For as fire does no harm to gold, neither does it consume it, nor diminish it, but only benefits it, for it takes away all additions, so that it becomes quite pure and clean: so also the fire or heat of persecution and all kinds of temptation hurts and hurts the old man to such an extent, that those who are exercised by it become sad and sometimes impatient, but the faith becomes pure and clean through it, as gold or silver is refined.
For the Christian life is meant to increase, to become holier and purer. First, we come to faith through the preaching of the Gospel; and through faith we become righteous and holy before God. But because we still live in the flesh, which is not without sin, the same are always stirring up, pulling us back, and preventing us from being as fully holy and pure as we ought to be; Therefore God throws us into the midst of the fire of temptations, sufferings and tribulations, by which we are swept and tried to our end, so that not only sin is killed in us the longer the more, but also faith is proven and increases, so that we become more certain of our cause from day to day, increase in the understanding of divine wisdom and knowledge, so that the Scriptures become clearer and clearer to us, to admonish our own the more powerfully by wholesome teaching, and to punish those who contradict. If the devil had not attacked us so violently with violence and cunning these years ago, we would never have reached this certainty in doctrine; nor would the article of Christian righteousness and the doctrine of faith have become so clear. Therefore, St. Paul says, 1 Cor. 11, 19: "There must be
2) "den" is missing in the Erlanger.
There shall be multitudes among you, that they which are righteous may be manifest among you"; and Christ, Matth. 18, 7: "There must be trouble" 2c.
Nor can we be happy and laugh when we see that the enemies of divine truth are doing everything according to their will and desire, that they have all kinds of pleasure and joy here, are rich, great and mighty, and there is no measure nor end to their defiance and insistence, while we, on the other hand, are poor, miserable and despised. But St. Peter says: If it happens like this, it is good for us, because our faith must be found right through various trials, and we must be strengthened and comforted against such trouble, so that we are not angry with the wicked, but have compassion on them and think: What does it help them, if they are still so rich and happy, and have all the honor and power of the world? How long will they keep it? They are not sure of it for a moment, and before they know it, they will suffer eternally with the rich man, they will not be able to drink a drop of water, and for their short joy they will suffer eternally.
Again, even if we suffer anguish and tribulation here for a little while, we still have peace in Christ, because we have the right treasure, which is better and more precious than all the glory and good of the world, namely his dear precious word, which preaches to us about eternal, heavenly goods, which, as St. Peter says, are preserved for us in heaven. Therefore we may suffer a little while with all the elect, and bear Christ's cross, and be reproached with him, and await with patience his blessed and consoling revelation and appearing, when he shall appear glorious with his saints, and marvelous with all the faithful; then shall our praise, glory, and honor begin and endure forever. Of this we take comfort and boast not only in the hope of the future glory that God will give, but also in the tribulations, knowing that tribulation brings patience 2c. Rom. 5, 3.
V. 8. whom you have not seen, yet love, and now believe in him, though you do not see him.
Here he praises them and gives them a great testimony that they love Christ and believe in him, even though they have never seen him, but only heard about him; and that is the truth of it. For whoever sincerely believes that through Christ's death and resurrection he has been justified from sin and redeemed from death will certainly love him. But if he loves him, the Father loves him again, Joh. 16, 27. But it does not have to be a false, colored love, as the hypocrites have, who serve Christ in a different way than he taught and commanded, namely according to their good opinion and devotion, and pretend that they do it in honor of Christ out of great love that they have for him; but he does not desire such love and honor, even considers it the greatest dishonor and dishonor. Therefore he adds, "You believe in him," indicating what the proper honor is, so that one may know that he loves him, namely, to believe his word. Therefore everything is lost that is done in honor of Christ except faith in him.
And with these words, St. Peter recently indicates that Christian righteousness is to believe in Him and not to see Him, as He Himself says, John 16:10: "The Holy Spirit will punish the world for righteousness' sake, so that I will go to the Father and you will not see me away"; further, that Christ is the true God, for believing and trusting belongs to God alone; now we believe in Christ, so that He can comfort us, help us and save us from all troubles, make us righteous and blessed 2c.item, even though we do not see him, we know and believe that he is with us and in us, Matth. 28, 20, and works everything in us 2c.; lastly, what kind of faith it is by which we are justified and saved before God, namely faith in Christ, that he is our Savior and mediator; thus all superstitions, of which there are countless, are excluded.
V. 8. 9. So shall ye rejoice with joy unspeakable and glorious, and shall bring forth the end of your faith, even the blessedness of souls.
St. Peter speaks here so clearly of the future joy in that life that I almost do not know whether elsewhere in Scripture it is spoken of in such bright, clear words, and yet I cannot say it. Whether, he speaks,
If your honor, joy and happiness are delayed for a while, and you are still living here on earth in shame, sadness and tribulation because of the envy and malice of the devil and the world, do not worry; be patient, it will soon change. Now when you have fallen asleep and are buried in Christ, it is about an hour (as will be your mind in that day), then your joy will begin; it will be so great and glorious, he says, that no heart can sufficiently consider it, much less any mouth can utter it. Therefore, to reckon against it, all the joy that has ever been on earth and still will be, is to reckon a mere child's play. For there is no worldly joy so great and glorious that is not impure and mixed with sorrow, or that is not soon followed by sorrow; therefore Solomon says, Proverbs 14:13: "After laughter comes weeping, after joy comes sorrow." Therefore it 1) cannot endure; for it is not only hindered without interruption with all kinds of misery and plague, but bodily death also finally comes and finishes it, and where there is no faith in Christ, the short, miserable, beggarly joy is followed by eternal death and damnation.
But here it is the other way around: sorrow and suffering turn into joy, which is not only glorious and unspeakable, but in which we will also live forever and be blessed. Therefore remain steadfast in love and faith in Christ, whom you do not yet see, and suffer for his name's sake, as the devil and the evil world pour into you, and you will be richly and gloriously rewarded, for the end of your faith will be eternal blessedness 2c. This cannot be said in words, but must be believed from the heart; otherwise, no matter how much it is said, it will remain a useless wash.
V. 10. For what blessedness the prophets sought and searched 2c.
The blessedness I speak of, which you will receive, is certain, for it has a witness in the holy prophets.
Here St. Peter directs us back to the Holy Scriptures, to see how God, for no merit's sake, but out of mere grace
1) cans - it can.
that he has promised. For all Scripture is designed to save us from our works and to bring us to faith. Therefore it is necessary that we study the Scriptures, so that we may be assured of faith. St. Paul also leads us into the Scriptures when he says Rom. 1:2: "God promised the gospel beforehand through his prophets in the holy Scriptures"; and Rom. 3:21: "The righteousness that comes through faith in Jesus Christ and is valid before God is revealed and testified through the Law and the Prophets.
So we also read Apost. 17, 2. ff., when 2) St. Paul preached the faith in Christ to the Jews in Thessalonica and later in Berea, he spoke to them from the Scriptures, opened them and presented them that Christ had to suffer 2c. And when they heard these things, they searched the scriptures daily, whether it was so, as they were taught of St. Paul. Therefore we should also search the Scriptures, for it is they that testify of Christ (as he himself says Joh. 5, 39; item, v. 46).If you believed Mosiah, you would also believe me, for he wrote about me"), and thus learn to base the New Testament on the Old, and do not give credence to the idle chatterers who despise the Old Testament and say that it is no longer necessary; for we must take the foundation of our faith from it alone, for God sent the prophets to the Jews for this purpose, that they should bear witness to the future Christ. Therefore, the apostles everywhere convicted and overcame the Jews from their own Scriptures that this Jesus, whom they proclaimed to them, was Christ.
So the books of Moses and the prophets are also gospel, because they preached and described the same things of Christ, which the apostles preached and wrote afterwards. But there is a difference between them. For though both are written on paper in the letter, yet the gospel or new testament is not really to be written, but put into a living voice, that it may resound and be heard in all the world; but that it is also written,
2) "there" put by us instead of: that.
was done out of abundance. But the Old Testament was written only in the Scriptures; therefore it is called a letter, and the apostles call it the Scriptures; for it alone pointed to the Christ who was to come. But the gospel is a living preaching of Christ who is coming.
There is also a difference among the books of the Old Testament. First, the five books of Moses are the main part of the Scriptures and are actually called the Old Testament; after them are also histories and books of history, in which are described all kinds of examples of those who kept or did not keep the Law of Moses; third, the prophets, who are based on Moses, and what he has written, further and with clearer words, have elaborated and transfigured. But it is One opinion of all prophets and Mosis.
But that they say that the Old Testament is abolished, you must understand this: First, the difference between the New and Old Testaments is, as we have now said, that the Old pointed to Christ, but the New now gives us that which was promised before in the Old, and was signified by the figures; wherefore the figures are now abolished, because that for which they served is now finished and accomplished, and fulfilled, which was promised in them. Therefore in the new testament there shall be no more distinction of meat, raiment, place, time, 2c. for in Christ there is nothing but a new creature. Also the Jews, who had to keep the difference of food, place and time according to their law, were not saved by it, nor were they therefore commanded to keep it, so that they would become godly before God, but that under such discipline and burden of the law they groaned for Christ, who would put an end to all this.
Furthermore, it is to be noted that in the Old Testament God led two kinds of regiment, by which he subjected himself to rule the people himself, both inwardly in the heart and outwardly in the body and in the goods; therefore he also gave them so many different laws, mixed together. The laws that teach how to govern children, servants, and the home; how to plant, build, borrow, redeem, marry, and fight; how a man may give his wife a divorce; and how a man may give his wife a divorce.
and let them go 2c. To the spiritual government belong those who teach about outward worship, but especially those who teach about faith and love, namely, that one should fear, believe and love God with all his heart 2c. and his neighbor as himself. But now in the New Testament he reigns in us spiritually through Christ; but the bodily and outward government he executes through the temporal authorities. Therefore, since Christ has come, the outward rule has been abolished. God no longer determines our outward person, time and place, but rules us spiritually through the Word, so that we are lords over everything that is outward and are not bound to any bodily thing. But what belongs to the spiritual rule has not been abolished, but still stands, as there are the laws in Moses of the love of God and of one's neighbor. God wants them to be kept and therefore gives the Holy Spirit to His believers so that they can keep them.
In addition, the figures also remained spiritual, that is, that which is spiritually signified by the outward figures, even though it is outwardly abrogated. As that a man divorced his wife and let her go for the sake of adultery, that is a figure and meaning that is now also spiritually fulfilled. For thus God rejected the Jews, because they would not believe in Christ, and chose and accepted the Gentiles. Item, so he still does, if someone does not want to walk in faith, he lets him out of the Christian community, so that he improves himself. Similarly, after the death of her husband, a woman must take her husband's brother and beget children by him, and he must be named after him and be seated in his estate. This, although it has now ceased, is nevertheless a figure that also points to Christ; for he is our brother, died for us and ascended into heaven, and commanded us to make souls pregnant and fruitful through the gospel; so that we keep his name, are called after him, and also enter into his goods. Therefore I must not boast that I convert people, but must ascribe it all to the Lord Christ. So it is with all the other figures of the Old Testament, which would be too long to tell.
So everything that is not external is still in the Old Testament, as there are all the sayings of the prophets about faith and love; therefore Christ also confirms Matth. 7, 12: "All things whatsoever ye would that men should do to you, do ye even so to them: this is the law and the prophets. So Moses and the prophets are also witnesses of the future Christ. So when I preach about Christ, that he is the only Saviour, through whom everyone must be saved, I may take before me the saying Gen. 22:18: "In thy seed shall all the nations of the earth be blessed." From this I make a living voice, and say: Through Christ, who is Abraham's seed, all men must be blessed; from this it follows that in Adam we are all cursed and damned; therefore it is necessary that we believe in the seed, if we want to escape damnation otherwise. From such sayings we must lay a foundation of our faith, and let them remain, that we may see in them how they testify of Christ, that faith may be strengthened thereby. This is what St. Peter wants with these words when he speaks:
V. 10: For what blessedness the prophets sought and searched, pointing to you of the grace to come.
There we see that the dear prophets had a heartfelt desire for the grace and blessedness promised in Christ, and now offered and distributed to us and to all the world through the gospel, which we also certainly expect in hope through patience; they would also have liked to experience the time when it is revealed, and to see and hear that we see and hear, as Christ says Luc. 10:24; but it could not happen to them. But this they did, sighing for it with a hearty desire, and seeking and searching for it with great earnestness and diligence, pleasure and joy, in the promises made to the patriarchs, and explaining and expounding them more abundantly and extensively, and ministering them to us. But they have comforted themselves of the same grace and blessedness which was yet future, and [have] fallen asleep in the faith of Christ to come. This is what St. Peter means when he says: "After what blessedness" 2c.
In the same way St. Paul speaks Rom. 16, 25. 26: "After the revelation of the mystery, which was kept secret from the world, but now is revealed and made known through the prophetic writings. So you will find in the New Testament many sayings taken from the prophets, so that the apostles prove that everything happened as the prophets prophesied. So Christ himself proves from the prophet Isaiah that Messiah is present, when he says Matth. 11, 5: "The blind see, the lame walk, the poor have the gospel preached to them"; as if he should say: As it is written there, so it goes there. Item, so we read Apost. 9, 22. and 17, 2. f. by Paulo, and Cap. 18, 22. by Apollo, how they drove the Jews in and proved by the Scriptures that this Jesus, whom they proclaimed to them, was the true Messiah. For all that the prophets had proclaimed had come to pass concerning Christ. Item, Apost. 13, 46. 1) the apostles prove how the gospel should be preached to the Gentiles so that they would believe. All this took place, and the Jews were convicted and had to confess that it happened just as the Scriptures had said before.
V.11. And have inquired what time and what manner of time the Spirit of Christ which was in them pointed to.
So St. Peter says: "Although the prophets did not actually know the certain and definite time, they did indicate in general all the circumstances of the time and place, such as how Christ would suffer, and what death he would die, and how the Gentiles would believe in him, so that one could certainly know by the signs when the time would be. Also they had the certain prophecy of Jacob the patriarch, that the kingdom of the Jews should first cease, before Christ should come; but the day and certain time, when it should come to pass, was not determined; for it was sufficient in that, when that time should come, that then they might know assuredly that Christ was not far off. The prophet Joel [Cap. 3, 1] also prophesied about the time when
1) In the editions: Act. 15.
The Holy Spirit should come, because he says: "And after this I will pour out my spirit on all flesh"; which saying St. Peter indicates Apost. 2, 17, and proves that he had just spoken of the time and certain persons.
Methinks St. Peter meant especially the prophet Daniel, since he speaks here: "And have inquired what time and what manner of time the Spirit of Christ pointed to" 2c. "Which" means that he calculates the time and determines how long and how many years should be there, Dan. 9, 24. ff.; "which" means that he finely illustrates how it should go and stand in the world at the same time: who should have the supreme rule, or where the empire should be; that Daniel therefore not only announces the time, but also the change, form and nature of the same time 2c.
From all this you see how with great diligence the apostles have always shown the reason and proof of their preaching and teaching from the prophets. Now the pope approaches and wants to deal with us without scripture, and commands that we believe him in the obedience of the church and in the ban. The apostles were full of the Holy Spirit and were sure that they were sent by Christ and preached the true gospel: They did not want anyone to believe them unless they proved it thoroughly from the Scriptures, that it was as they said, so that even the unbelievers' mouths might be shut, so that they could not raise anything against it; and we are to believe the coarse, unlearned heads, who preach no word of God at all, and can do no more than cry out forever: The fathers could not have erred, so the church has not taught and believed differently from us for several hundred years; therefore no account of it may be given.
We can prove this from the Scriptures, that no one will be saved except he who believes in Christ, so that they can say nothing against it; but they will not prove their deed to us with Scriptures, that he will be condemned who does not fast on this or that day 2c.; therefore we do not want to and should not believe them. Now St. Peter goes on to say:
V. 11. 12. and testified beforehand of the sufferings that are in Christ, and of the glory afterward to whom it is revealed.
This may be understood of the two kinds of suffering that Christ and his own suffer, as St. Paul calls the suffering of all Christians Christ's suffering. For as the faith, the name, the word, and the work of Christ are ours, because we believe in him: so his suffering is also ours, and ours because we suffer for his sake. So the suffering of Christ is fulfilled daily in Christians until the end of the world.
So this is our comfort in all our suffering, which is put on us for Christ's sake, that he counts the same for his own suffering; for Apost. 9, 4. He says, "Saul, Saul, why do you persecute me?" when Saul was not persecuting him, because he was too high for him, but was persecuting his believers; item, Zach. 2:8: "He that toucheth you toucheth the apple of mine eye"; and that we are sure that eternal glory will follow suffering. But as Christ, our Lord and Savior, had to suffer before He came to glory, so we will have to follow Him, first taking up the cross and bearing it after Him, and then awaiting eternal glory and joy.
Therefore he says: "God's Spirit, who was in them, testified through them that whoever believes in Christ and confesses him should certainly judge himself according to this, that he must first suffer much, according to the example of his Lord, before he comes to glory. With this, St. Peter comforts all believers so that they do not get angry when they have to suffer all kinds of anguish and hardship, shame, contempt 2c. and despair, as if nothing would come of it, but rather be aware of the fact that all the prophets proclaimed from the revelation of the Holy Spirit that the cross must precede and that glory would certainly follow; for God first makes poor, then rich, first wounds and kills, then he heals and makes whole. The devil does the opposite.
But that we now see the prophets so little
1) suspicious - mindful.
The fact that we do not understand them makes the language unknown to us; otherwise they have spoken clearly enough. Therefore, those who know the language and have the Spirit of God (which all believers have) do not find it difficult to understand them, since they know that all Scripture is directed to teach us about faith, hope, love, patience in trials 2c. Whoever does not know or understand these things, and does not have the Spirit of God, is unfamiliar with the prophetic Scriptures and un-German, although, if one should lack one, it is better to have the Spirit without the language than the language without the Spirit. Although they have a peculiar way of speaking, they mean exactly what the apostles preach, for they have both said much about the suffering and glory of Christ and those who believe in him; as when David speaks of Christ Ps. 22:7: "I am a worm and not a man"; so that he indicates how deeply he is cast down and humbled in his suffering. So also in the 44th Psalm [v. 23] he writes of the Christians that they lament how they are persecuted and strangled by the enemies of the truth, and says: "We are strangled daily for your sake, and are esteemed like sheep for the slaughter" 2c.
V. 12 For they presented it not to themselves, but to us; which is now preached unto you by them that preached the gospel unto you, through the Holy Ghost sent down from heaven.
That is, the prophets would have liked to experience the blessed time of grace, and to hear Christ preaching at the present time, and to see miraculous signs performed, as he himself says in Matth. 13, 17: "The prophets and the righteous have desired to see" 2c. But because it could not be, they were satisfied that they, enlightened by the Holy Spirit, had seen from afar and recognized the grace and blessedness that was to come to all the world through Christ. But because they have left it behind them, they have done it for our good and love, and have been our servants and served us with it, so that we went to school with them and learned the same. How then did it come to us? "Through those who preached the gospel of Christ to you," who have a
The Holy Spirit, whom Christ sent from heaven, opened their understanding so that they could understand the Scriptures and present them to others through preaching and writing. Here we have a strong foundation of faith, so that we can arm ourselves and protect ourselves against all false teaching.
Which the angels also desire to behold.
The apostles proclaimed such great things to us through the Holy Spirit, who came upon them from heaven, so that even the angels delight in beholding them. Then St. Peter tells us to open our eyes and see what the gospel is: we will have pleasure and delight in it, for it holds out to us other goods than all the riches and splendor of the world, namely, how we shall be saved from the power of the devil, freed from sin and death, and become children and heirs of God through Christ. We cannot yet see this with our bodily eyes, but must believe it, that we are partakers and fellow-citizens of the righteousness, truth, blessedness and all heavenly goods that God has; for since he gave Christ, his only Son, the highest good, for all of us, how should he not give us all things with him? Rom. 8:32, namely grace, righteousness, eternal life and blessedness, of which the angels in heaven have all joy and delight. All these things are offered to us through the gospel, and if we believe, we will also have such joy and pleasure. But our joy and pleasure cannot be as perfect as the angel is, because we still live on earth in the devil's kingdom. Now it may well begin in us to feel something of it through faith, but in heaven the joy is so great that no human heart can comprehend it; now when we get there, we will feel it too.
So far St. Peter has indicated what the gospel is for a doctrine, namely, which testifies of Christ, that through his death and resurrection we are born again to an incorruptible inheritance, 2c. and as it was proclaimed before by the prophets, that it should thus come to pass and be preached; points out to us
so into the Scriptures that we may receive comfort and strengthening of faith from it, and so equip and arm ourselves against all the fiery darts of the devil, temptations of the world, melancholy and sadness of heart 2c. Now he continues, exhorting us to adhere to the same preaching of the gospel by faith, and to follow it by love, saying thus:
V. 13. Therefore gird up the loins of your mind.
This is an exhortation to faith, and this is the opinion: Because such unspeakable treasure is proclaimed to you and given to you through the gospel, of which also the angels in heaven rejoice and delight to behold, therefore cling to it, and put your trust in it with all your mind, so that it may be a righteous faith and not a colored or made-up delusion and dream.
St. Peter does not speak here of a bodily girding, as a man girds his sword to his loins, but of a spiritual girding of the mind, which Christ also touched Luc. 12:35, when he says, "Let your loins be girded." In several places in Scripture, loins are called the bodily girding of unchastity; in this way, "gird up your loins" means to curb unchastity and to live chastely. Also, the scripture calls loins, since natural birth comes from the father. Thus we read in Gen. 35, 11. of Jacob that God promises him that kings shall come from his loins 2c., and Apost. 2, 30: David knew that the fruit of his loins should sit on his throne.
But the spiritual girding (of which the apostle says here) goes like this: As a virgin is bodily pure and incorrupt, so the soul is spiritually incorrupt through faith, by which it becomes Christ's bride. But if it falls from faith to false doctrine, it must be put to shame; therefore Scripture everywhere calls idolatry and unbelief adultery and fornication, that is, when the soul clings to the doctrines of men, and so lets faith and Christ fall away. This is what St. Peter means here, since 1) he says to us
1) Wittenberger: that.
to gird up the loins of the mind, as if to say, "Now that you have heard the gospel and have come into the faith, see to it that you continue in it and are not moved by false teaching, so that you do not waver and run back and forth with works.
And here he speaks in a special way, as he says: the loins of your mind. Mind" is what we call "being minded," as when I say, "This seems right to me;" and as St. Paul speaks: Thus we hold it, thus we are minded. In this way he is actually referring to faith, and thus wants to say: "You have created a righteous mind, that one must be justified before God by faith alone; remain in this mind, gird it well, hold fast to it, and do not let yourselves be torn away from it, and you will stand well. For many false teachers shall arise, and set up doctrines of men, to pervert your minds, and to loose the girdle of your faith: therefore be warned, and take heed. The hypocrites, who stand on their works and therefore walk in an honorable, fine life, are so minded that God has to take them to heaven for their works, are puffed up and ride high, stand hard on their mind and conceit, like the Pharisee Luc. 18, 11. f., of whom also Mary says in the Magnificat that she needs the very word that is written here in St. Peter: "He scatters those who are hopeful in their hearts" [Luc. 2, 51].
Be sober.
Sobriety serves the body externally and is the most important part of faith. For even though a man has been justified by faith, he is not yet completely free from evil desires. Faith has begun to subdue the flesh, but it is still stirring and raging in all kinds of lusts that want to come forth again and do its bidding. Therefore the spirit has to work daily to tame and subdue it, and must beat with it without ceasing, and take heed to the flesh, lest it repel faith. Therefore they deceive themselves who say that they have faith, and think that this is enough, and that they have no desire, when they fulfill the lusts of the flesh. Where faith is right
When the body is in a state of disorder, it must attack the body and keep it in check, so that it does not do what it desires. That is why St. Peter says that we should be sober.
But he does not want the body to be ruined or weakened too much, as many are found who have fasted and martyred themselves to death. St. Bernard was also for a time in such foolishness, although he was otherwise a holy man, that he broke off so much from the body that his breath became stinking 1) and could not be with the people; but he came out again afterwards, and also forbade his brothers that they should not hurt the body too much. For he saw well that he had made himself unfit to serve his brothers. Therefore St. Peter demands no more than that we should be sober, that is, break off from the body as far as we feel that it is still too horny. He does not determine a certain time for fasting, as the pope has done, but rather he instructs each person to fast in such a way that he always remains sober and does not load his body with stuffing, so that he may remain sane and rational and fast as much as is necessary for him to fast his body. For it is no good at all to put a commandment on a whole multitude and common people, since we are so unequal among ourselves, one strong and another weak in body, that one must break off much and the other little, so that the body may remain healthy and able to do good.
But that the ruffians fall in, and so want to go well, that they cannot fast and eat meat, is also not right. For these also do not grasp the gospel, and are of no more use than the others, doing no more than despising the commandment of the priest, and yet do not want to gird up their mind and spirit, as St. Peter says, leaving the body its will to remain slothful and lustful. It is good to fast; but that is right fasting, not to give the body more food than it needs to keep it healthy, and let it work and watch, so that the old ass does not become too wanton and go dancing on the ice, and break a leg, but walk in the bridle, and follow the spirit; not,
1) Erlanger: stink.
2) Original: "you".
as those do who fill themselves so full with fish and the best wine from once when they are juicing that their stomachs thirst. 2) That is called here St. Peter sober, and now says further:
And place your hope entirely in the grace that is offered to you.
Christian faith is thus skilful in that it freely places itself on God's word with complete trust, freely ventures on it, and joyfully goes up to it. That is why St. Peter speaks: Then the loins of your mind are girded, and your faith is righteous, if you dare to do it, whatever it may be, good, honor, body or life. So with these words he has very finely described a righteous, uncolored faith. It does not have to be a lazy and sleepy faith or dream, but a living and active thing, that one gives oneself to it with all one's mind and clings to the word, God granting that we may get through fortune and misfortune as we please. When I am about to die, I have to consider Christ freshly, stretch out my neck freely, and defy the Word of God, which cannot lie to me. Faith must go straight through, not be deceived, and put out of sight all things that it sees, hears, and feels. St. Peter demands such a faith, which does not stand in thoughts or words, but in such power.
On the other hand, St. Peter says: Put your hope in the grace that is offered to you; that is, you have not earned the great grace, but it is offered to you freely. For the gospel which proclaims this grace we did not devise nor invent, but the Holy Spirit sent it down from heaven into the world. But what is offered to us? That which we have heard above: He that believeth on Christ, and cleaveth to the word, hath him with all his goods, to be lord over sin, death, the devil, and hell, and to have eternal life. This treasure is brought to our doorstep and placed in our bosom, without our doing or merit, yes, unawares and without our knowledge or thought. Therefore
2) dönen = to swell out.
the apostles, that we should look forward to it with joy. For God, who offers us such grace, will certainly not lie to us.
Through the revelation of Jesus Christ.
God allows no one to offer fine grace except through Christ; therefore, no man should dare to come before him without this mediator, as we have heard enough above. For he will hear no man, except he bring with him Christ his dear Son, whom alone he looks upon, and for his sake they also that cleave unto him. Therefore he wants us to know the Son, as we have been reconciled to the Father through his blood, so that we may come before him. For to this end the Lord Christ came, taking on himself flesh and blood, and clinging to us, that he might obtain for us such grace from the Father. Thus all the prophets and patriarchs were also preserved and saved through such faith in Christ, for they all had to believe in the saying that God said to Abraham: "Through your seed shall all the nations of the earth be blessed." Therefore, as we have said, the faith of the Jews and the Turks is of no account, and of those who stand on their works, and thereby want to go to heaven. Alfo speaks St. Peter: Grace is offered to you, but through the revelation of Jesus Christ, or (to make it clearer) because Jesus Christ is revealed to you.
Through the gospel it is made known to us what Christ is, so that we may know him, that he is our Savior, takes away sin and death from us, and helps us out of all misfortune, reconciles us to the Father, and makes us godly and blessed without our works. Whoever does not recognize Christ in this way must be lacking. For even though you know that he is the Son of God, dead and risen from the dead, and seated at the right hand of the Father, you have not yet rightly recognized Christ, nor does he yet help you; but you must know and believe that he did it all for your sake, to help you. Therefore it is a useless thing what has been preached and taught in high schools, which have not known anything about this knowledge, and have come no further than to consider how painful the suffering of the Lord Christ was, and how he is now
I will sit idle in heaven and have joy with him, but my heart will remain dry and faith will not come alive in it.
The Lord Christ shall not stand for himself, but shall be preached that he is ours. Otherwise, why would it have been necessary for him to come to earth and shed his blood? Since he was sent into the world for this reason, as he says in John 3:17, that the world might be saved through him, he must have done what he was sent by the Father to do. For the sending and going forth from the Father is not to be understood according to the divine nature alone, but according to the human nature and his ministry. As soon as he was baptized, this began, and accomplished that for which he was sent and came into the world, namely, that he should preach the truth, and that he should shew forth this unto us, 1) that whosoever believeth in him should be saved. So he revealed himself and made himself known, and offered grace to us himself.
V. 14. As children of obedience.
That is, present yourselves as the obedient children. Obedience is the name of faith in the Scriptures. But the pope with his high schools and monasteries has also torn apart this little word for us and pointed to their lie, what is written about this obedience, as the saying 1 Sam. 15, 22: "Obedience is better than sacrifice. For since they see that obedience is much praised in the Scriptures, they have taken it to themselves, that they may deceive the people, that they may think that theirs is the obedience of which the Scriptures speak. So they bring us from God's word to their lies and devil's obedience. He who hears the gospel and God's word and believes it is an obedient son of God; therefore, whatever is not God's word, trample it underfoot and do not turn away from it.
And do not stand the same as before, when you lived in ignorance according to lusts.
That is, do not make such gestures with change, as before. Before, you were idolatrous, living in unbelief, unchastity,
1) advertise = to send a message. Cf. Walch, alte Attsg. 3, 1173, § 23: Werbung.
Eating, drinking, greed, pride, anger, envy and hatred; these were evil, pagan things, in which you walked like the blind, not knowing what you had done. Now put away these same evil lusts.
Here you see how he blames ignorance for all the misfortunes that come from it. For where there is no faith and the knowledge of Christ, there remains all error and blindness, so that one does not know what is right and what is wrong. This is how it has been until now; since Christ has perished and been obscured, error has set in; the question of how one could be saved has spread throughout the whole world. That is already a sign of blindness or ignorance, that the right understanding of faith has gone out, and no one knows anything about it anymore. That is why the world is so full of various sects, and everything has been divided, because everyone wants to make his own way to heaven. Out of misfortune we must always fall deeper into blindness, because we cannot help ourselves. That is why St. Peter says: "You have been deceived enough, so now stop, because you have become knowledgeable and have come to a right mind.
V.15. 16. But according to him that hath called you, and is holy, be ye also holy in all your doings. For it is written: You shall be holy, for I am holy.
There St. Peter cites a saying from the Old Testament, Deut. 19, 2. God says: "You shall be holy, for I am holy"; that is, because I am your Lord and God, and you are my people, you shall also be as I am. For a true Lord makes his people like him, and they walk in obedience, and do the will of the Lord. Therefore, as God our Lord is holy, so his people are also holy; therefore we are all holy if we walk by faith.
Scripture does not speak much of departed saints, but of those who live from the earth. So the prophet David boasts Ps. 86, 2: "Lord, keep my soul, for I am holy. But here our scholars have once again reversed the saying and say that the prophet had a special revelation.
that he calls himself holy. Thus they themselves confess that they lack faith and do not have the revelation of Christ; otherwise they would feel it. For he who is a Christian feels such revelation in himself; but those who do not feel it are not Christians. For he that is a Christian enters into fellowship with the Lord Christ in all his goods; and because Christ is holy, he must also be holy, or deny that Christ is holy. If you have been baptized, you have put on the holy garment that is Christ, as St. Paul says Gal. 3:27.
The little word "holy" means that which is God's own and due to Him alone, which we call "consecrated" in German. So now St. Peter says: You have now given yourselves to God as your own, therefore see to it that you do not let yourselves be led again into worldly pleasures, but let God alone rule, live and work in you, so that you are holy, as He is holy.
So far he has described the grace that is offered to us through the gospel and the preaching of Jesus Christ, and taught us how we should hold ourselves against it, namely, that we remain on a pure, unaltered sense of faith, so that we know that no work that we can do or think up can help us anything before God. If one preaches such things, then reason goes and says: "Well, if that is true, then I must not do any good work; so the coarse heads fall on it, and make a carnal freedom out of the Christian being, thinking that they may do what they like. St. Peter meets them here and comes before them and teaches how one must use Christian freedom against God alone. For there is nothing more necessary than the faith that I give God His glory and consider Him to be my God, that He is just, true and merciful. Such faith makes us free from sin and all evil. If I have given such to God, what I then live, I live for the benefit of my neighbor, so that I serve and help him. The greatest work that follows from faith is that I confess Christ with my mouth, testify to him with my blood, and put life where it should be. God is not allowed to do this work either, but I should do it so that my faith may be proven and confessed, so that
other people are also brought to faith. After that, other works follow, which must all be directed to serve the neighbor, which God must do in us. Therefore, it is not valid to raise a carnal being and do what we desire. Therefore, St. Peter speaks:
V. 17 And since ye call upon him the Father, who judgeth without respect of persons, according to every man's work, conduct yourselves with fear all the days of your sojourning.
So St. Peter says: Ye are now come by faith to be the children of GOD, and he is your Father, and have obtained an inheritance incorruptible in heaven (as he said above): now therefore there remaineth no more, but that the cloth be taken away, and that uncovered which is now hid; whereof ye must yet wait until ye shall see it. Forasmuch then as ye are come to the state that ye may cheerfully call God Father, yet is he so just that he giveth to every man according to his works, and regardeth not the person.
Therefore, even if you have the great name of Christian or son of God, you must not think that He will spare you if you live without fear and think that it is enough to boast of this name. The world judges according to the person, so that it does not punish everyone equally, and spares those who are friends, rich, beautiful, learned, wise and powerful; but God does not consider any of them, everything is equal to Him, no matter how great the person may be. Thus in Egypt he slew the first son of Pharaoh the king as well as the first son of the least man. For this reason the apostle wants us to take this judgment to God and to stand in fear, so that we do not boast of the title that we are Christians and rely on it, as if he would be more lenient with us for this reason than with other people. For this also deceived the Jews of old, who boasted that they were Abraham's seed and God's people. The Scripture makes no distinction according to the flesh, but according to the spirit. It is true that he promised that Christ would be born of Abraham, and that a holy man would be born of Abraham.
People come from him; but it does not follow that all who are born of Abraham are God's children. He also promised that the Gentiles would be saved, but did not say that he would save all the Gentiles.
Now there is a question: Since we say that God alone makes us blessed through faith, without regard to works, why does St. Peter say that he does not judge according to the person, but according to works? Answer: What we have taught, how faith alone makes us righteous in the sight of God, is true beyond all doubt, since it is so clear from Scripture that it cannot be denied; that now here the apostle says that God judges according to works is also true; but for this it must certainly be held that where there is no faith, there can be no good works that God gives, and again, that where there are no good works, there is no faith. Therefore, join faith and good works together, so that the sum of the whole Christian life is in the two; not that works do anything for justification before God, but that faith without them does not exist, or is not true faith. Therefore, even if God judges us according to our works, it still remains true that works alone are the fruits of faith, by which one can see where faith or unbelief is. Therefore, God will judge you by your works and convince you that you have believed or not believed. Just as a liar cannot be judged and convicted more accurately than from his words; nor is it evident that he does not become a liar by his words, but was a liar before he told a lie, for the lie must come from the heart into the mouth.
Therefore, understand this saying in the simplest way, that works are fruits and signs of faith, and that God judges people according to such fruits, which must surely follow, so that one may publicly see where faith or unbelief is in the heart. God will not judge whether you are called a Christian or baptized, but will ask you: If you are a Christian, tell me, where are the fruits so that you can prove your faith?
Therefore, St. Peter says: Since you have such a father, who is not according to the per
son, conduct your affairs with fear as long as you live here; that is, fear the Father, not for the sake of chastisement and punishment, as the unbelievers and the devil fear, but lest he forsake you and withdraw his hand; as a pious child fears lest he anger his father and do something that would not please him. This is the fear that God wants to have in us, so that we may guard against sins and serve our neighbor, because we live here on earth.
A Christian, if he believes righteously, has Christ with all his goods as his own, and is God's Son, as we have heard. But the time he is still alive is only a pilgrimage, for the spirit is already in heaven through faith, by which he is lord over all things. For this reason God allows him to still live in the flesh and to walk the earth in his body, so that he may help other people and also bring them to heaven. Therefore we have no other use for all things on earth, except as a sojourner who travels overland and comes to an inn, where he must lie down for the night, and takes only food and lodging from the host, do not say that the host's goods are his 2c. So we should also deal with temporal goods as if they were not ours, and enjoy only as much of them as we need to maintain the body, helping our neighbor with the rest. So the Christian life is only a night's lodging, for we have no lasting place here, but must go where the Father is, namely to heaven; therefore we should not live here in ease, but stand in fear, says St. Peter.
V. 18. 19. And know that you have not been redeemed with corruptible silver or gold from your vain walk after the manner of your fathers, but with the precious blood of Christ.
This is to provoke you, he says, to the fear of God, in which you are to stand, that you may remember how much it has taken for you to be redeemed. Before you were citizens in the world, and sat under the devil; but now God has torn you out of such a state, and put you into another state, that you are citizens in heaven, but strangers and sojourners on earth; therefore lead your way with fear, and see to it that you do not despise these things, and lose the noble, precious treasure,
that God has sent to you to be redeemed, and to come to the glory that you are now God's children.
What then is the treasure that we may be redeemed? Not perishable gold or silver, but the precious blood of Christ, the Son of God. The treasure is so precious and noble that no human mind and reason can comprehend that only a drop of this innocent blood would have been enough for all the sins of the world; nor did the Father want to pour out such abundant grace upon us, and let it stand so much that he allowed his only Son, Christ, to shed all his blood, and gave us the treasure in its entirety. Therefore, he does not want us to throw such great grace to the wind and consider it small, but to be moved to live with fear, so that this treasure will not be taken away from us.
And here it is to be noted that St. Peter says: "You are redeemed from your vain walk according to your father's statutes or ways; for with this he knocks down all the support on which we stand, and think that our thing must be right, because it has been granted from time immemorial, and our forefathers all kept it so, among whom there were also wise and pious people. For thus he says, "All that our fathers established and did was evil; what you learned of worship from them is also evil, that it cost the Son of God his blood to redeem men from it. Now whatever is not washed by the blood is all poisoned and cursed by the flesh. From this it follows that the more a man sets himself to be godly and does not have Christ, the more he hinders himself, and the deeper he falls into blindness and wickedness, and condemns himself by the precious blood.
The outward, gross sins against the other table are still small compared to this, that one teaches how to become pious by our own works and merits, and to worship according to our reason, which are sins against the first table, by which the innocent blood is most dishonored and blasphemed. So the heathen did much greater sin in that they worshipped the sun and the moon and their idols, which they thought was the right worship.
than with other sins. Therefore, human piety is blasphemy and the greatest sin a human being can commit. This is also the way the world deals with it now, namely, that which it considers to be godliness and the highest piety is worse in the sight of God than any other sin, such as being a priest or a monk, and what seems good in the sight of the world, and yet is without faith. Therefore, whoever does not want to obtain grace from God through the blood of Christ had better never appear before God's eyes, for he will only anger His Majesty more and more.
As an innocent and unblemished lamb.
Now St. Peter interprets the Scriptures, for it is a mighty, rich epistle, although it is short; as now, when he has spoken of the vain walk according to the fatherly statutes, he also meets many sayings in the prophets, as in the prophet Jeremiah Cap. 16, 19: "The heathen shall come unto thee from the end of the world, saying: Our fathers have gone about with lies," 2c.; as if St. Peter were to say, "The prophets also proclaimed that you Gentiles should be redeemed from the paternal statutes by the precious blood of Christ," 2c. So here he also wants to point us to the Scriptures when he says: "You are redeemed by the blood of Christ, as an innocent and unblemished lamb"; and transfigures what is written in the prophets and Moses, as Isaiah, Cap. 53, 7: Like a lamb he is led to the slaughter; item, the figure 2 Mos. 12, 2. ff. of the paschal lamb; all this he interprets here, and says that Christ is this unblemished and innocent lamb, through that of which it is written in Ex. 12, 5. to be without blemish, means whose blood was shed for our sin.
V. 20. Who, though provided before the foundation of the world was laid, will be revealed in the last days.
That is, we have not earned it, nor have we ever asked God to shed the precious blood of Christ for us; therefore we can boast of nothing, the glory belongs to no one but God alone; God has promised it to us without any merit on our part, and has also revealed or made known that which He has provided and ordained from eternity, before the creation of the world.
is. In the prophets it was also promised, but in secret and not publicly; but now, after the resurrection of Christ and the sending of the Holy Spirit, it has been publicly preached and sounded throughout the world.
But the last time, of which St. Peter speaks here, is the time of grace, when the gospel is preached in all the world by the apostles after the ascension of Christ, and will continue until the last day. The prophets, apostles and Christ Himself also call it the last hour, not that as soon as after Christ's ascension the last day would come, but because after this preaching of the gospel of Christ no other shall come, and not be revealed and transfigured better than it is transfigured and revealed. For before Christ's future in the flesh, one revelation after another has always gone out; therefore God says Ex. 6:3: "My name, O Lord, I have not made known to them." For the patriarchs, even though they knew God, did not at the same time have such a public preaching of God as went out afterwards through Moses and the prophets. Now no more glorious and public preaching has come into the world than the Gospel; therefore it is the last. All times have now passed away, but now at last it is revealed to us.
On the other hand, it is not long until the end of the world, as St. Peter explains in 2 Peter 3:8, where he says: "One day in the sight of the Lord is like a thousand years, and a thousand years like one day"; thus he wants to lead us from the reckoning of this time, so that we may judge according to the sight of God; since it is the last time, and already has an end; but what still remains is nothing in the sight of God. The blessedness is now already revealed and completed, but God leaves the world still longer, so that His name may continue to be honored and praised, even though it has already been revealed for itself in the most perfect way.
V. 20. 21. For your sake, who through him believe in God, who raised him from the dead and gave him glory, that you might have faith and hope in God.
For our sake (he says) Christ is revealed through the gospel; for neither GOD nor
He needed it, but it was for our benefit that we believed in God, and that not through ourselves, but through Christ, who redeemed us through his holy blood and represents us to God the Father, whom for this very reason he gave into death and raised again, and preached repentance and forgiveness of sins to all the world through his name, so that all who believe in him have access to the Father through him, without which they can never come to him. Thus we have faith in God, and also a hope through the same faith: faith alone makes us blessed, but it must be faith in God; for if God does not help, you are not helped, even if you have the friendship of all men. Therefore you must have God's friendship, so that you may boast that he is your father and you are his child, trusting him more than your biological father and mother, that he will help you in all your needs, and this only through the one Mediator and Savior, the Lord Christ. Therefore he says that such faith does not come from human powers, but God creates it in us, because Christ earned it with his blood, to whom he therefore gave the glory and put it at his right hand, that he created such faith in us by God's power.
So far we have heard how St. Peter admonishes us to gird up the loins of our minds, so that we may remain pure and live by faith; then, since our redemption has cost such a precious treasure, we should walk with fear and not rely on being called Christians, since God is such a judge that he does not ask for anyone, judging one as well as another, without distinction of persons. Now he continues, and concludes the first chapter:
V. 22. And chastise your souls in obedience to the truth through the Spirit.
St. Paul tells Gal. 5, 22. the fruits that follow faith; so St. Peter also says here that a fruit of faith is when we make our souls chaste in obedience to the truth through the Spirit. For where faith is righteous, it casts the body under itself, and compels the air of the flesh; and
Although he does not kill him, he makes him submissive and obedient to the Spirit and keeps him in check. This is what St. Paul means when he speaks of the fruit of the Spirit. It is a great work that the Spirit should have dominion over the flesh, and tame the evil desire which is inborn in us from father and mother; for it is not possible without grace that we should live chastely in marriage, let alone illegitimately.
But why does he say, "Make your souls chaste"? He knows well that the lust of the flesh after baptism remains in us until the grave; therefore it is not enough for one to abstain from the work, and remain chaste outwardly, and let the evil lusts 1) remain in the heart; but one must strive for the soul to be chaste by faith, so that it comes out of the heart, and the soul is free from the evil lusts and desires, and always be beaten with them until it is rid of them.
Here he adds a fine addition, that one should make the soul chaste "in obedience to the truth through the spirit". Much has been preached about chastity, and many books have been written about it; they have said that one should fast so long, one should not eat meat, one should not drink wine, etc., that one may be rid of temptation. It may have helped a little, but it was not enough, for the evil desires of the heart cannot be subdued in this way. St. Jerome wrote of himself that he had prepared his body in such a way that he had become like a Moor; nevertheless, it had not helped, and he had still dreamed how he was in Rome at the singing dance among the metzes. St. Bernard also hurt him very much, corrupted his body so that he stank, as I said above. They had a hard time, and thought they would dampen it with external things; but because it is external, the plaster is only on the outside, not on the inside; therefore it is not enough to dampen the desire.
But here St. Peter has given a proper remedy for it, namely the obedience of truth through the Spirit; as Scripture also does in other places, as Is. 11:5: "Faith
1) Erlanger: evil desire.
will be a girdle of his kidneys"; this is the right plaster that girds the kidneys. It must come out from within, not from without; for it is grown in the blood and flesh, marrow and veins, not on the outside in the cloth nor in the garment; therefore it is not advisable for him to curb lust with external things. The body can be weakened and killed with fasting and work, but the evil desire cannot be driven out with it; faith, however, can dampen it and prevent it, so that it must leave room for the spirit. Thus also the prophet Zacharias speaks of a wine, which Christ has, of which virgins grow, which he gives them to drink. The other wine tends to provoke evil desire; but this wine, that is, the gospel, curbs it, and makes chaste hearts. This is what St. Peter says, that if one grasps the truth with the heart, and is obedient to it through the spirit, this is the right remedy and is the most powerful medicine for it; otherwise you will not find any that could thus quench all evil thoughts. For when this comes into the heart, the evil inclination soon goes away. Try it, whoever wants to, will find it, and those who have tried it know it well. But the devil does not let anyone come to it easily and take hold of the word of God so that it tastes good to him, for he knows well how powerful it is to curb evil desires and thoughts.
So now St. Peter wants to say: If you want to remain chaste, you must grasp "the obedience of the truth through the Spirit", that is, one must not only read and hear the Word of God, but the Holy Spirit must write it in the heart 2c. Therefore it is not enough that one preaches or hears the gospel once, but one must always press on and continue. For such is the grace of the word: the more it is acted upon, the sweeter it becomes; though it be always one doctrine of faith, yet it cannot be heard too much, where there are not hearts too bold and raw. Now the apostle adds:
To undyed brotherly love.
Why should we lead a chaste life? That we may be saved by it? No, but to serve our neighbor. What shall I do to ward off my sin? I
is to grasp the obedience of truth through the spirit, that is, faith in God's word. Why do I resist it? Because I must first tame the body and the flesh through the Spirit, and then I can be useful to other people. Follow on:
And love one another fervently from a pure heart.
The apostles St. Peter and Paul distinguish brotherly love and common love. Brotherhood is that Christians should all be like brothers, and make no distinction among them. For since we all have one Christ in common, one baptism, one faith, one treasure, I am no better than you; I also have that which you have, and am as rich as you. The treasure is the same, though I may have laid hold of it more than thou, so that I have laid hold of it in gold, but thou hast laid hold of it in a poor cloth. Therefore, as we have in common the grace of Christ and all spiritual goods, so we also ought to have in common life and limb, goods and honor, that we may serve one another in all things.
Now he speaks clearly, "In undyed brotherly love." The apostles are fond of this word and have seen that we would be called Christians and brothers among ourselves, but it would be a false, dyed or made-up thing, and would only be glitter. The pope has established much brotherhood in the world, and given many indulgences for it; but they are all lies and deception, which the devil has devised through him and brought into the world, which only fight against the right faith and righteous brotherly love. Christ is mine as well as St. Bernard's, yours as well as St. Francis. Now if someone comes and says that I should go to heaven if I am in this or that brotherhood, say: It is a lie; for Christ cannot suffer it, does not want to have any other brotherhood than the common brotherhood that all believers have among themselves; then you fool come here and want to establish your own. This I would allow to be made, not for the benefit of the soul, but for the benefit of some who would put in one and make a treasure, from which those who would have it would be helped.
So we Christians have all received one brotherhood in baptism; no saint has more of it than I and you. For just as much as he was bought, so much am I bought; God has given as much to me as to the greatest saint; without only that he may have a better grasp of the treasure and a stronger faith than I do.
Love, however, is greater than brotherhood, for it also reaches out to enemies, and especially to those who are not worthy of love. For as faith does its work when it sees nothing, so love also should see nothing, and should do its work most where there seems nothing lovely, but only displeasure and hostility; where there is nothing that pleases me, I should for that very reason put up with it. And this should be done fervently, says St. Peter, with all my heart, as God has loved us, since we were not worthy of love. Now follows further:
V. 23: When they were born again.
Therefore do this: for you are no longer children of wrath, as before (he says), but new men. This was not done by works, but it took birth. For you cannot make the new man, but he must grow or be born; as a carpenter cannot make a tree, but he must himself grow out of the ground; as we were not made the children of Adam, but were born, and brought sin from our father and mother: so also it cannot be by works that we become the children of God, but must also be born again. This is what the apostle wants to say: Because you are now a new creature, you should now also keep yourselves differently and lead a new life. As you lived in hatred before, so you must now walk in love; however, in a contrary way. But how did the new birth happen? Well, as follows:
Not from perishable seed, but from imperishable seed, namely from the living Word of God, which abides forever.
By a seed we are born again; for no thing grows differently, as we see, but from seed. If now the old birth is from a seed, then must be
the new birth can also be from a seed. But what is the seed? Not flesh and blood. What is it? It is not perishable, but God's eternal Word, which gives new birth, life and salvation to those who believe in it.
How does this work? God lets the word of the Gospel go out and the seed fall into the hearts of men. Where it sticks in the heart, the Holy Spirit is there and gives birth anew; there becomes another person, other thoughts, other words and works. So you are completely changed: everything you fled from, you seek, and what you sought before, you flee. In the bodily birth it goes like this: When the seed is received, it is changed, so that there is no more seed. But this 1) is a seed that cannot be changed, it remains eternally; but it changes me, so that I am changed into it, and what is evil in me of my nature even passes away. Therefore it is ever a strange birth and from a strange seed. Now St. Peter speaks further:
For all flesh is like grass, and all the glory of men like the flower of grass. The grass is withered, and the flower is fallen: but the word of the LORD abideth for ever.
This saying is taken from the prophet Isaiah, Cap. 40, 6-8, where he says: "Preach! What shall I preach? All flesh is hay, and all its goodness is like a flower of the field. The hay withers, the flower fades; but the word of our God endures forever." These are the words of St. Peter. For this, as I have said, is a true epistle, and well peppered with scriptures. So now the Scripture says that God's word abides forever. What is flesh and blood is perishable like hay and grass, if it is young, so that it blossoms; item, if it is rich, powerful, wise and pious, so that it grows green (which all belongs to the flower), nevertheless the flower begins to thorn. What is young and beautiful becomes old and ugly; what is rich becomes poor; and so henceforth, and must all fall by the word of God. But this seed cannot perish. Now St. Peter concludes:
1) Wittenberger: dir.
This is the word that is proclaimed among you.
As if to say: You must not open your eyes wide when you come to the word of God, you have it before your eyes; it is the word that we preach. There you can curb all evil desire with it, you must not fetch it far; do not do more than that you catch it when it is preached. For it is so near that it can be heard, as Moses also says Deut. 30:11 ff: "The word which I command thee is not far from thee, that thou shouldest run far after it, or go up to heaven, or pass over the sea: but it is near thee, even in thy mouth, and in thine heart." It is soon spoken and heard, but when it comes into the heart, it cannot die or pass away, nor let thee die; so long as thou cleavest to it, so long dost it keep thee. So when I hear that Jesus Christ died, took away my sin, and purchased heaven for me, and gave me all that he has, then I hear the gospel. The word is soon passed away when it is preached; but when it falls into the heart, and is grasped with faith, it can never fall away. No creature can overthrow this truth; the foundation of hell can do nothing against it, and even if I am already in the devil's jaws, if I can take hold of it, I must come out again, and remain where the word remains. Therefore he says: You must not wait for any other than that which we have preached.
Thus St. Paul also speaks to the Romans, Cap. 1, 16: "I am not ashamed of the Gospel, for it is the power of God that saves.
makes all who believe in it." The word is a divine and eternal power. For though the voice or speech soon vanishes, yet the kernel, that is, the understanding, the truth, which is written in the voice, remains. As when I put a cup to my mouth with wine in it, I drink the wine into it, but do not push the cup down my throat with it. So also is the word that the voice brings: it falls into the heart and comes to life, yet the voice remains outside and passes away. Therefore it is a divine power, yes, it is God himself. For thus he speaks to Moses, Ex. 4, 12: "I will be in your mouth"; and Ps. 81, 11: "Open your mouth wide", preach confidently, speak out until hungry, "I will fill you", I will speak enough there presently. Also John 14:6 says Christ: "I am the way, the truth and the life", whoever clings to this is born of God. So also the seed is God Himself. All this is to teach us how not to be helped by works. Even though the word is small and seems to be nothing, because it comes out of the mouth, there is such an overwhelming power in it that it makes those who cling to it children of God, John 1:12. Our salvation stands on such high ground.
This is the first chapter of this epistle, in which you see how masterfully St. Peter preaches and acts the faith; from this you can see that this epistle is the right gospel. Now follows the other chapter, which will teach us how we should conduct ourselves in works toward our neighbor.