1st Peter Chapter 1 verse 5 Holy Bible

1st Peter 1 : 5 Bible Verse Songs

• The Power of the Cross by Keith & Kristyn Getty

Pulpit Commentary

Pulpit CommentaryVerse 5. - Who are kept by the power of God. "Hereditas servata est," says Bengel, "heredes custodiuntur?" The verb φρουρεῖν, is a military word. "The governor under Areas the king kept [guarded] the city of the Damascenes" (2 Corinthians 11:32); the peace of God shall keep ("guard." Philippians 4:7) the hearts of those who trust in him, - they are guarded by a heavenly host; "The angel of the Lord encampeth around them that fear him;" they are guarded by, or rather, according to the exact rendering, in the power of God. His power is all around them; it is the sphere in which they live and move; no harm can reach them in that all-embracing shelter. Through faith. Faith, the evidence of things not seen, realizes the presence of the heavenly guard, and gives courage and confidence to the Christian when assailed by temptations and dangers; the servant of Elisha feared no more the hosts of Syria, when he saw the mountain full of chariots and horses of fire round about his master. Faith is the instrument by means of which we grasp the Divine strength, so that it is made perfect in our weakness. Unto salvation ready to be revealed in the last time. By "salvation" St. Peter means not merely present deliverance from sin, but everlasting life, the joy of our Lord, the deep, full blessedness of his elect in heaven. Eye hath not seen it yet, it hath not entered into the heart of man. But it is ready to be revealed; the veil which now hides it from us will be withdrawn in the last time, when the last page of this world's history shall have been written, when the number of the elect shall be accomplished, and the eternal purpose of God shall have been fulfilled.

Ellicott's Commentary

Ellicott's Commentary for English Readers(5) Who are kept.--This explains the word "you:" "those, I mean, who are under the guardianship of God's power." Bengel says, "As the inheritance hath been preserved, so are the heirs guarded; neither shall it fail them, nor they it."Through faith.--The Apostle is fearful lest the last words should give a false assurance. God can guard none of us, in spite of His "power," unless there be a corresponding exertion upon our part--which is here called "faith"--combining the notions of staunch fidelity and of trustfulness in spite of appearances. It is through such trustful fidelity that we are guarded.Unto salvation.--These words "unto" arise like point beyond point in the endless vista. "Begotten unto an inheritance, which hath bee reserved unto you, who are kept safe unto a deliverance." This Salvation, spoken of again in 1Peter 1:9, must not be taken in the bald sense of salvation from damnation. Indeed, the thought of the perdition of the lost does not enter at all into the passage. The salvation, or deliverance, is primarily a deliverance from all the trials and persecutions, struggles and temptations of this life--an emergence into the state of peace and rest, as we can see from the verses that follow.Ready to be revealed in the last time.--How such an assurance helps to form the very "faith" through which the treasure is secured! That perfect state of peace, that heavenly inheritance, is not something to be prepared hereafter, but there it is. If only our eyes were opened, we should already see it. It is all ready, only waiting for the great moment. The tense of the word "revealed" implies the suddenness of the unveiling. It will be but the work of an instant to put aside the curtain and show the inheritance which has been kept hidden so long behind it. This, however, will not take place till the exact period (so the word for "time" suggests; comp. 2Thessalonians 2:6), and that period will be the last of the world's history. For such teaching the Hebrews would be well prepared by the Old Testament--for instance, comp. Daniel 12:9; Daniel 12:13--and it was the earliest kind teaching culled for converts out of the "oracles of God" (Hebrews 5:12; Hebrews 6:2). . . .