Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, which according to his abundant mercy hath begotten us again unto a lively hope by the resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead, to an inheritance incorruptible, and undefiled, and that fadeth not away, reserved in heaven for you, who are kept by the power of God through faith unto salvation ready to be revealed in the last time. . . . that the trial of your faith, being much more precious than of gold that perisheth, though it be tried with fire, might be found unto praise and honour and glory at the appearing of Jesus Christ: whom having not seen, ye love; in whom, though now ye see him not, yet believing, ye rejoice with joy unspeakable and full of glory: receiving the end of your faith, even the salvation of your souls. Of which salvation the prophets have inquired and searched diligently, who prophesied of the grace that should come unto you: . . . Wherefore gird up the loins of your mind, be sober, and hope to the end for the grace that is to be brought unto you at the revelation of Jesus Christ; . . . The word of the Lord endureth for ever. And this is the word which by the gospel is preached unto you. 

First Peter is a letter of encouragement to early Christians. In the midst of affliction they are to take heart, as their trials will surely culminate in salvation. The writer strengthens his message with vivid descriptors of the new birth—“lively,” “incorruptible,” “undefiled,” “that fadeth not away.”

One source remarks that the author “could assure his audience that their divine protection was not sporadic or incidental. Rather, they were being guarded steadily and constantly by nothing less formidable than God’s power.”