Rebecca Skaggs - 1, 2 Peter and Jude Through the Centuries

Just as gold is tried by fire and becomes useful, so also you who live in the world are tried in it. So then, you who remain in it and pass through the flames will be purified. (Shepherd, “Visions” 3.1. FC 1:259: ccel.org)

It is noteworthy that since, most likely, the Shepherd of Hermas was written in Rome around the second century, this author may have had the severe persecution by Nero in mind here.

Athanasius of Alexandria (c. 296–298) has a similar understanding of suffering as present persecution in fire ( Festal Letters , 10: CWS: 70). Also see Bede, Comm ., 1985: 72). It should be noted that there is a hint here of the concept to be developed later in the epistle about the special nature of suffering as a Christian. The concept of suffering is a recurring theme in 1 Peter.

By the time of the Reformation, Luther further explicates the meaning and consequences of being “kept” or “guarded”:

This is his [Peter’s] meaning: So tender and precious a matter is that which pertains to the faith which the power of God (that is with us and with which we are filled) produces in us, that He gives us a correct, clear understanding of all things that respect salvation, so that we may judge all that is on earth, and say, this doctrine is true, that is false; this conduct is right, that is not; this work is good and acceptable, that is evil. (Luther, Comm .: ccel.org)

Arminius addresses the notion of “being kept”: perseverance in good is not from ourselves, it necessitates an action from God through the Holy Spirit. He remarks that if a person who has been born again falls into sin, they cannot repent or rise again “unless they be raised up again by God through the power of his Spirit and be renewed to repentance” (Arminius, ‘Works of Arminius,” vol. 1 online: on 1 Peter 1:5: ccel.org). This expanded into later discussions with Luther, Calvin, and others about whether salvation can be lost.

Some religious groups have interpreted this to mean that salvation cannot be lost. The Mennonite Articles of Faith (1766/1895/1902) declare:

It is therefore contrary to the renewed nature of the believers and in antagonism with it, to sin. Moreover, they are carefully watched over and kept. (Pelikan III, V: 75)

The interest in “hope” and “being kept” during trials quickly lead to the broader concern about the nature of suffering itself: is Peter addressing persecution in particular or is he also treating the sufferings everyone experiences through life? Moreover, does God himself send this grief and sorrow or is it from another source entirely? Many thinkers have addressed this issue through the ages and currently continue to struggle with finding a satisfactory solution.

A number of early writers understand Peter’s idea about the meaning and purpose of suffering in terms of purification for believers and punishment for sinners. For example, John Chrysostom (c. 349–407) distinguishes between the refinement of believers and the punishment of sinners: “The righteous suffer so that they may be crowned [with glory], but sinners suffer in order to bring their sins to full judgment” ( Catena , CEC 44: my tr.).

Other early thinkers understand suffering as “grief,” which ultimately brings about a good result. Origen says, “Read ‘grieve’ in this verse in the sense of ‘suffer’ as in ‘in grief you shall bring forth children’ [Gen 3:16]” ( Exhortation to Martyrdom , 39 CWS: 70). Similarly, Didymus the Blind comments that there are two kinds of grief: “one leads to death and another leads to repentance” (2 Cor. 7:10) ( Comm. on 1 Peter , PG 39: 17: my tr.).

Hilary of Arles conceives of suffering in a different way; that is, in relation to undergoing temptation: “The glory of the redeemed will never fade after they have been raised from the dead, for it will have withstood the fire of temptation” ( Intro. Comm. on 1 Peter , PLSupp 3: 85: ACC). Bede concurs (Comm ., 1985: 78).

By the time of the Reformation, Luther comments, “This grief shall last but a little while; afterward ye shall be exceeding glad, for this salvation is already prepared for you” ( Comm. on Peter and Jude , 1990: 42). He also emphasizes the role of suffering as necessary for the purification process:

The fire does not take away from the gold, but it makes it pure and bright, so that all dross is removed. So God has imposed the cross upon all Christians, that they might thereby be purified. ( Comm .: ccel.org)

Calvin elaborates on the metaphor of gold as a refining process involving two phases:

Gold is, indeed, tried twice over by fire; first when it is separated from its dross, and then, when a judgment is to be formed of its purity. Both of these processes are suitably applied to faith … so that it becomes pure and clean before God. (Calvin, Comm ., 1963: 235)

John Wesley, on the other hand, understands Peter’s notion of suffering as general distress experienced in daily life. In a sermon he gave on several occasions, “Heaviness Through Manifold Temptations” (Sermon 47, WesleyCenterOnline: ccel.org), he makes an important distinction between this kind of suffering ( lupethentes , literally “distress” or “grief”) and “darkness” which is a result of sin. He interprets this grief as depression or “heaviness” of spirit which is experienced by believers but is not the same as the “darkness” of the sinful state. He points out here that Peter’s readers are obviously believers, not sinners, being “kept” through these trials (v.7), while they possess a “living faith” (v.9), have multiplied peace and grace (v.3), and are rejoicing in the glory of God (v.8). It is clear that believers are undergoing distress. In fact, Wesley feels that, except in some unusual cases, it is actually necessary for believers to endure trials for faith to increase and to confirm the hope of glory.

Later, existential philosopher Søren Kierkegaard (1813–1855) has a unique perspective. In relation to being “tried in the oven” (v.7), he explains that suffering results in strength; at first, we hold on to the hope that it may be avoided, but ultimately the real strength only comes when we realize that no help is coming:

there is nothing cruel about this seriousness, which deals gently with a man and never tempts him beyond his capacity to bear. He has seen what he is going to suffer, he has seen what this love will cost him, “But maybe,” says he, “better times will come, help will yet come, and all may yet be well.” So he does not let go the picture, but advances tranquilly into the suffering whereto he is led. For governance is love; in its indulgence towards this ardent youth it has not the heart to let him understand at once that here there awaits him a disappointment, that he is reckoning without his host. But this he could not yet endure to understand, and therefore (oh, infinite solicitude of love!) he is not able to understand it. He holds out, and by thus holding out he is strengthened, as one is strengthened by suffering.” ( Training , 1978: 189)

Verses 6–8 comprise a small unit around the word “rejoice.” In the LXX, this is a technical term for the eschatological rejoicing of the redeemed in worship (cf. Goppelt, 1993: 90). In the New Testament, this word is used primarily to express the work of the Spirit, particularly at the end of time (see Luke 10:21; Acts 2:46, 16:34; Jude 24; Rev. 19:7). Peter himself uses the term in this way in 4:13. This is the joy associated with coming through the suffering of the purification process. Some of the early writers focus on this rather than on the suffering needed to produce it. For example, Hilary of Arles comments, “Not even a thousand ironclad tongues can sound out the sweetness of the heavenly blessings” ( Intro. Comm. on 1 Peter , PLSupp 3: 85: ACC). Bede remarks: