Pietisten

Vol. VIII, No. 1 Herald of Awakening and Spiritual Upbuilding Spring 1993

Waldenstrom's Commentary

I Peter 1:3-9 and Waldenström's Commentary

translated by Tommy Carlson

Epistle lesson for the 2nd Sunday of Easter

Dr. Paul Peter Waldenström based his comments on a Greek New Testament text which he translated into Swedish. Tommy Carlson has translated both the Biblical text and Waldenstrom' s comments from the Swedish text, Second Edition, 1892.

Verse 3 - Blessed1 (be) God and our Lord Jesus Christ's father, he who according to his great compassion has given us new birth to a living hope2 through Jesus Christ's resurrection from the dead,3 (Ephesians 1:3; Titus 3:5-7)

  1. About the different meanings of the word blessing, see comments to Matthew 25:34, which are: “To bless can happen in part with words, in part with work and deeds. It happens with words when one (1) calls down God’s grace, help, and so forth over some person (see Matt. 21:9; Luke 6:28; Romans 12:14); (2) expresses the praise and adoration of one’s heart to God (see Luke 1:64, 2:28, 24:53; Romans 1:25; James 3:9); or (3) expresses thanksgiving to God and prays that God’s presence will remain (see Matt. 14:9, 26:26; I Cor. 10:16).” It happens with work and deeds, when one gives a spiritual or bodily good to a person AND DOES THIS IN GOOD MEASURE (See II Cor. 9:5). This is often said about God. See Acts 3:26; Gal. 3:9, 14; Eph. 1:3; Heb. 6:14. This is the meaning here also. The believers are in good measure, yes in every expectation and temporal manner, blessed by god with the Messiah-kingdom’s eternal glory.
  2. By hope one can mean either the hope itself, or that thing for which one is hoping. The latter is the apostle’s meaning here. He calls the hope “living.” What the believer hopes for is not a dead thing but eternal life.
  3. Christ’s resurrection is THE FOUNDATION on which the whole of Christendom rests. Without this there is no Christian belief, no new birth, no living hope.

Verse 4 — as an inheritance,! everlasting and imperishable,2 kept in heaven for you, (Colossians 1:5; II Timothy 1:12)

  1. So that you now have to wait for your inheritance. By inheritance the Apostle means the Messiah-kingdom's glory for which the faithful hopes.
  2. Verbatim: will not fade or whither away. Everything for which one has hoped or won on this earth is corrupted and infected by sin. The Messiah-kingdom’s glory is, on the other hand, incorruptible and untainted.
  3. While the faithful have to wait for this glory until Christ comes again from the heavens, it is portrayed that during the present it is kept for them in the heavens where Christ now resides.

Verse 5 — which in God’s power1 is preserved through faith2 for salvation, which is prepared to be revealed3 at the end of time,4

  1. The Apostle is presenting God's power as a fortification in which the faithful are preserved and well cared for. Compare Psalm 18:2 f. Note: the inheritance is preserved for them in the heavens, and they are preserved so that one day they shall win the inheritance.
  2. It is God’s power that preserves them, and it is through faith that they experience this power of God. It is like a sick person becoming well with medicine. It is the power of the medicine that heals the person who experiences this power when he or she takes the medicine.
  3. Note how salvation here, as everywhere else in the New Testament, is portrayed as a future event. The faithful are converted, are God’s children, and WAIT for salvation. It could in some way be said that they are saved (Eph. 2:8), but only through hope (Romans 8:24).
  4. The end of time is the end of this age. This end, according to the Apostle’s meaning, was near at hand.

Verse 6 — in which you shall rejoice1 since you now, for a little,3 if necessary,4 are being distressed by many temptations, (Romans 8:18; II Cor. 4:17; I Peter 5:10)

  1. The word in the original text expresses a jubilant rejoicing. Such a rejoicing is awaiting the faithful in the heavenly kingdom after the hardships of this age.
  2. Here in this age.
  3. All suffering that the faithful must endure is really insignificant if one compares it to the great glory which is waiting for them. See II Cor. 4:17.
  4. Note: No suffering shall befall the faithful without God’s finding it necessary for them.
  5. Temptation here means the suffering that they must endure for the sake of their faith. Compare Luke 22:28 and the following comments. In these sufferings is the temptation to tire of the race and return to the world.

Verse 7 — in that1 which tests your faith,2 being somethin more valuable than the gold that perishes, is tested by fire, so that it praise and glory and honor4 Jesus Christ’s appearance,

  1. The Apostle states here the purpose of the temptations that they must endure.
  2. Verbatim: your faith’s testing medium. Thereby the Apostle means those temptations that they have to endure. Some Bible scholars translate: The well-tested nature of your faith. This gives a good meaning, but the word use here in the original text does not have that meaning. This occurs in the New Testament (other than here) only in James 1:3.
  3. The purity of gold is tested by fire; faith’s purity is tested through suffering. These sufferings have the same meaning that fire has for gold, and they have higher value because what is being tested is far better than gold.
  4. That is to say, you end up receiving praise, glory, and honor. Everywhere in the New Testament the suffering of the faithful is presented as being of great importance for their future glory.

Verse 8 — whom you love without having seen him; in whom you now believe without having seen him, you rejoice with an inexpressible and glorious joy,1

  1. A glorious joy is a joy in eternal glory. It is IN- EXPRESSIBLE, that is to say, no tongue can express it.

Verse 9 — obtaining your faith’s end, (your) soul’s salvation.

  1. This shall happen at the time of Jesus Christ’s revelation and then shall an inexpressible joy in eternal glory relieve the little grief that you, in this time, must endure.