Life Inside and Out

The first chapter of the epistle focuses attention on the inner life of a Christian. It emphasizes the mighty work of God in imparting that life to a sinner's soul, and urges the use of that power in the development of Christian living, both within and without. Above all, Peter was emphasizing that there would be only one constant, for the apostles would soon be gone from the world. That constant was to be found in the Scriptures, and Peter taught that they were the result of God's miraculous activity. Just as there can be no real acts of brotherly kindness and charity without a genuine inner life, so there can be no genuine inner life as a Christian without the foundation of the Holy Scriptures.