I Pet 1:18-19ESV
18 knowing that you were ransomed from the futile ways inherited from your forefathers, not with perishable things such as silver or gold, 19 but with the precious blood of Christ, like that of a lamb without blemish or spot.
New American Commentary (Schreiner) sets the stage best for our context. “The purpose of the letter is to encourage believers to stand fast while they endure suffering and distress in the present evil age. Achtemeier says that the letter is intended ‘to strengthen the readers in the ‘now’ of their suffering and persecution by assuring them that the future of glory will transform their present condition as surely as their present situation transformed them from their past.’106 They are encouraged to persevere, knowing that a great reward will be theirs on the day of salvation. Such perseverance is exhibited by living a godly life, living as good citizens, model slaves, gentle wives, and understanding husbands. When believers live in such a way, they indicate that they are placing their hope in God rather than in the joys and comforts of this world. Another way of describing 1 Peter is to say that those who hope and trust in God and in his future reward will have the strength to endure whatever comes their way in the present. When believers set their hope on the future, they reveal that their salvation comes from the cross of Christ, who bore their sins (2:24; 3:18). ” (see footnotes)
NAC delivers you perfectly to the “knowing” being causal in our memory verse. Since we know that we were “ransomed from our futile ways inherited from our forefathers” we should not live as they did, nor should the present suffering deter us from representing Christ well. Peter explains the reason: we were not just ransomed with any perishable thing like silver or gold but with the precious blood of Christ! Paul would agree with our previous memory verse back in 1 Cor 6:19-20. His motivation is stated a little differently because of context because he is not addressing suffering saints but an unruly bunch of believers who were not necessarily acting like believers. His motivation was that effectively they were not their own, because they were bought with a price. Context means a lot. Different audience…same point- glorify God! This makes me think about a similar issue I came across this week in study and I always wondered about it. When you read through 1/2 Samuel and 1/2 Kings why is the narrative pretty matter of factly, “you’re sinning, here’s the consequences” but when you get to 1/2 Chronicles it seems like all the judgment is left out. All 6 books cover the same time frame and the same material but I didn’t realize till this week the Samuel and Kings books were written at the beginning of the exile and Chronicles was written post exile. So the books written at the beginning of the exile reflect a time of repentance and how they had come to be exiled but Chronicles cleans up the reputations of the kings. For example it doesn’t list the Bathsheba incident (1Chron 20) or how Solomon does not seem to finish well but Chronicles pictures him as a success. Now don’t hear me say that there are contradictions because there are not but understanding authorial intent is huge. If you don’t understand the context of why the author is writing to His audience you will not truly understand His intention for your application. So if you’re being disobedient, knock it off you are not your own you were bought with a price. If you are suffering, consider you are in good company the one who paid for your sin suffered as well…He suffered because He loves you, take heart! You are dearly loved
(footnote)
[1] Schreiner, T. R. (2003). 1, 2 Peter, Jude (Vol. 37, p. 45). Nashville: Broadman & Holman Publishers.
106 P. J. Achtemeier, “Newborn Babes and Living Stones: Literal and Figurative in 1 Peter,” in To Touch the Text: Biblical and Related Studies in Honor of Joseph A. Fitzmyer, S.J. (New York: Crossroad, 1989), 235. [1]