Fathers

1 Peter 1

Tap a verse to read the Fathers. Press and hold, then drag, to make a card.

Peter, an apostle of Jesus Christ, to the chosen ones who are living as foreigners in the Dispersion in Pontus, Galatia, Cappadocia, Asia, and Bithynia, according to the foreknowledge of God the Father, in sanctification of the Spirit, that you may obey Jesus Christ and be sprinkled with his blood: Grace to you and peace be multiplied. Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, who according to his great mercy caused us to be born again to a living hope through the resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead, to an incorruptible and undefiled inheritance that doesn’t fade away, reserved in Heaven for you, who by the power of God are guarded through faith for a salvation ready to be revealed in the last time. Wherein you greatly rejoice, though now for a little while, if need be, you have been grieved in various trials, that the proof of your faith, which is more precious than gold that perishes even though it is tested by fire, may be found to result in praise, glory, and honor at the revelation of Jesus Christ— whom, not having known, you love. In him, though now you don’t see him, yet believing, you rejoice greatly with joy that is unspeakable and full of glory, receiving the result of your faith, the salvation of your souls. Concerning this salvation, the prophets sought and searched diligently. They prophesied of the grace that would come to you, searching for who or what kind of time the Spirit of Christ, which was in them, pointed to, when he predicted the sufferings of Christ, and the glories that would follow them. To them it was revealed, that they served not to themselves, but to you, in these things, which now have been announced to you through those who preached the Good News to you by the Holy Spirit sent out from heaven; which things angels desire to look into. Therefore prepare your minds for action. Be sober, and set your hope fully on the grace that will be brought to you at the revelation of Jesus Christ— as children of obedience, not conforming yourselves according to your former lusts as in your ignorance, but just as he who called you is holy, you yourselves also be holy in all of your behavior; because it is written, “You shall be holy; for I am holy.” If you call on him as Father, who without respect of persons judges according to each man’s work, pass the time of your living as foreigners here in reverent fear, knowing that you were redeemed, not with corruptible things, with silver or gold, from the useless way of life handed down from your fathers, but with precious blood, as of a lamb without blemish or spot, the blood of Christ, who was foreknown indeed before the foundation of the world, but was revealed in this last age for your sake, who through him are believers in God, who raised him from the dead, and gave him glory, so that your faith and hope might be in God. Seeing you have purified your souls in your obedience to the truth through the Spirit in sincere brotherly affection, love one another from the heart fervently, having been born again, not of corruptible seed, but of incorruptible, through the word of God, which lives and remains forever. For, “All flesh is like grass, and all of man’s glory like the flower in the grass. The grass withers, and its flower falls; but the Lord’s word endures forever.” This is the word of Good News which was preached to you.

About · Privacy · Credits · Support VRSZ

What the Fathers say

1 Peter 1:13

Eastern Fathers

Oecumenius

Therefore, gird up the loins of your mind, be sober, and hope perfectly for the grace that is to be brought to you at the revelation of Jesus Christ, For this reason, an exhortation is brought forth from those things which were previously held in honor. …

Commentary on 1 Peter ↗

Polycarp of Smyrna

"Wherefore, girding up your loins," "serve the Lord in fear" and truth, as those who have forsaken the vain, empty talk and error of the multitude, and "believed in Him who raised up our Lord Jesus Christ from the dead, and gave Him glory," and a throne at His right hand. To Him all things in heaven and on earth are subject. Him every spirit serves. He comes as the Judge of the living and the dead. His blood will God require of those who do not believe in Him. …

Epistle to the Philippians 2 ↗

Western Saints

Bede

Wherefore girding the loins of your mind, etc. Because it is promised to you, he says, that you shall see the revelation of Jesus Christ after this life, which angels now see, the greater the grace promised to you, the more diligently you ought to strive to be worthy to receive it. He girds the loins of his mind, who also restrains it from wandering thoughts. …

Commentary on the Catholic Epistles ↗

Bonaventure

From Christ is the fruit of grace. This fruit of grace is fourfold: it consists in steadying the soul through faith, blessing it through divine love, lifting it up through hope, curbing it through divine fear. Peter speaks of the second: "Therefore, having girded up the loins of your understanding, be sober and set your hope completely on that grace which is brought to you in the revelation of Jesus Christ." For sanctification consists in this, that virtues, which are the loins of the mind, are transformed in God.

Collations on the Hexaemeron, Collation 18 ↗