In this study, we will be walking through these two books chapter-by-chapter and verse-by-verse. Each day, we will read a passage. Then we will focus in on one or two verses from that passage and SOAP it! (S - write out the scripture, O - make observations of what you see in the text, A - write applications from the verses, P - pray about what you've learned).
I'm going to copy my observations from the study here. I know it won't read like a blog. I'm not really writing it for an audience. Forgive! If you get something out of it, I'm pleased! But I'm just really recording my thoughts here.
The first day we read 1 Peter 1:1-5 and SOAPed verses 3 and 4. Here are my thoughts.
1 Peter, an apostle of Jesus Christ,
To the pilgrims of the Dispersion in Pontus, Galatia, Cappadocia, Asia, and Bithynia, 2 elect according to the foreknowledge of God the Father, in sanctification of the Spirit, for obedience and sprinkling of the blood of Jesus Christ:
Grace to you and peace be multiplied.
3 Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, who according to His abundant mercy has begotten us again to a living hope through the resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead, 4 to an inheritance incorruptible and undefiled and that does not fade away, reserved in heaven for you, 5 who are kept by the power of God through faith for salvation ready to be revealed in the last time.
Observations:
First, from verse 1 (not technically in our SOAP passage), this book is written to the elect sojourners. If I apply this description to me, I must remember that I am a traveler, a stranger in this world. I am not at home. I tried to think of traveling and what that's like. I just returned from a short vacation, so I thought about what it felt like to be a traveler, unfamiliar with the surroundings, etc., but I don't think it really captures what Peter is talking about here. In "olden times," travel wasn't typically a "vacation." Most people probably never traveled far from home. And if they did, it was a harsh necessity. They didn't run down to the Bahamas for a week of relaxation. They may have had to emigrate as a result of famine or persecution. They may have had to travel for trade. But it probably wasn't a fun-filled adventure. It probably wasn't brief either. When I travel, it's usually a short trip away from "real life." We stop working, stop doing school, stop our other normal routines for a short time in order to enjoy time with family in a new environment. In those days, they would have lived life along the way. Cooking still had to be done. Livelihoods still had to be earned. Children had to be born! (um... Mary, anyone???) And it was likely a very hard, comfortless thing to be a sojourner. But they would have been sustained by thoughts of home - assuming they were headed back there ultimately.
From verse 3:
according to his abundant mercy - had me thinking of Titus 3:5, "Not by works of righteousness which we have done but according to his mercy, he saved us..."
begotten definition - (1) to procreate or generate (offspring) (2) to cause; produce an effect
The way I read this sentence, it appears that we are begotten to two things: (1) to a living hope and (2) to an incorruptible inheritance
Living hope - I want to think more on these beautiful words. There is more here that I'm not fully grasping... But to continue... The cause for our living hope is the resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead.
Inheritance - It is perfect, permanent, reserved, ENSURED for me.
Verse 5 (not in our SOAP passage) gives us the reason we can rest assured that we can count on our living hope and our incorruptible inheritance: the power of God!
Application: I must live life here on earth, fully, abundantly, but with the knowledge that I'm passing through. Life here is uncertain (corruptible, defiled, and fading away). But my mind should be set on that INcorruptible, UNdefiled, and UNfading inheritance that is waiting for me, kept and ensured by the power of God.
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