A quick glance at the first few verses of 1 Peter is enough to give us an understanding of Peter’s message to his readers: “hope for the hurting.” According to verse 1, the “hurting” were “those who reside as aliens, scattered throughout” vast regions of the Roman Empire. These Christians were objects of social ostracism, slander, mistreatment, and threats. They needed encouragement. Sitting on a powder keg of potential persecution, these believers were day after day “distressed by various trials” (1 Peter 1:6) and “tested by fire” (1:7). Peter wrote to help them endure suffering and, instead of facing it with grim, somber determination, face it with an attitude of joy! But how?

A Survey of 1 Peter

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