A New Birth into Joyous Suffering

     The theme of Christian rebirth or baptismal initiation into a life of discipleship is so sustained in 1 Peter that some scholars have proposed that it is a series of baptismal liturgies.  My own guess is that the letter reflects a tradition earlier and less formal than all that.  Yet, I acknowledge that the Apostle left us a series of discrete reflections about the new birth which all seamlessly teach about the consequence of baptismal experience. There is not a more theologically rich and sustained reflection about the meaning of the new birth anywhere.  Baptism reenacts the gospel and it thus acts as a hermeneutical key for understanding Christian life in an inhospitable culture where the church is seen as a continued Israel—chosen, diaspora exiles in a foreign culture. 

    The letter begins in 1 Peter 1:1-5:

To God's elect, strangers in the world, scattered throughout Pontus, Galatia, Cappadocia, Asia and Bithynia, 2 who have been chosen according to the foreknowledge of God the Father, through the sanctifying work of the Spirit, for obedience to Jesus Christ and sprinkling by his blood: Grace and peace be yours in abundance.

3 Praise be to the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ! In his great mercy he has given us new birth into a living hope through the resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead, 4 and into an inheritance that can never perish, spoil or fade — kept in heaven for you, 5 who through faith are shielded by God's power until the coming of the salvation that is ready to be revealed in the last time.

      Here the Apostle insists that the God whom we know in Jesus has always planned for us baptismal obedience. The washing of rebirth is then an act of faith in God’s initiative to be distinguished from any magical or self-righteous attempts to manipulate God or covenantally earn his favor. Christ’s offering in the heavenly temple sprinkles us with his cleansing power that we otherwise simply do not have.  Regeneration is then only possible by the gracious self-offering of God.  It connects us to the work of the Spirit who sets believers apart.  Only being ushered into a connection with the Spirit who pervades all life will give life to our spirits.

     This new-birth or rebirth is what Jesus spoke of in John 3 when he spoke of being born again or born from above.  In that context he spoke of the necessity of being born of the water and of the Spirit.  1 John 5:6 says that our relationship with Christ came by water and blood — Jesus Christ. He did not come by water only, but by water and blood. And it is the Spirit who testifies, because the Spirit is the truth. 7 For there are three that testify: 8 the Spirit, the water and the blood; and the three are in agreement.  Thus, when we are baptized we are birthed into a mystical heavenly-temple reality.  This is not accomplished by water only as if ritual could ever manipulate God. It is rather the ordained ritual expression of faith we have in Christ’s blood to cleanse—and in the Spirit’s power to testify to our spirit that we are God’s children.  Faith in Christ’s blood, mystical encounter with Christ’s Spirit and the testimony of the church’s ritual washing all work together to assure a person that God has and always will rescue them from death and dying.   

      From Christ’s crucified side flowed the living water of the heavenly temple; from his pierced Temple flowed blood that renews covenant; his resurrected body breathed the Holy Spirit upon his followers.  Thus, Titus 3:6 says we participate in a washing of rebirth and renewal by the Holy Spirit, 6 whom he poured out on us generously through Jesus Christ. 

     Most importantly for interpreting 1 Peter, 1 Peter 3:21 says this water symbolizes baptism that now saves you also — not the removal of dirt from the body but the request for a good conscience toward God. It saves you by the resurrection of Jesus Christ, 22 who has gone into heaven and is at God's right hand.  Again, the physical bath is important because in it we express and are saved "through [our] faith in the gracious power of God, who raised him from the dead."

      So in speaking of new birth made possible by the plan of the Father, the transforming work of the Spirit and the blood of Christ, Peter is not merely pointing to a religious initiation ceremony but to a mystical encounter which ushers in renewed spiritual realities from the eternal heavenly dimension. 

      In this lesson I explore how 1) the mystical rebirthing gives living hope in a world where hope routinely dies. 2) It bestows the kind of inheritance, assurance and significance that cannot spoil or fade because it is guarded and stored in the heavenly temple treasury.  3) This secures the believers eternal destiny in the face of deadly threats in that a believer has a place in herself that injustice and tragedy cannot touch—eternity has taken up residence and protects the entire soul.  4) These realities make it possible for there to be a hope and joy in the midst of many kinds of losses and dishonor.  It is then that Christian witness can no longer be passed off as a self-serving business. Such joy in suffering cannot help but arrest the world as somehow coming from another dimension.

Here is the link for the sermon: 

1 Peter 1:3-12 Birth into Joyous Suffering