1 Pet 1:3 “Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ.”
The most high and eternal God is called blessed (benedictus), because in Himself He is most truly holy, glorious, and perfect, most worthy of all praise and honor, and the bestower and preserver of all blessing—that is, of all grace and every good. Therefore, “Blessed be God” means that He is eternally holy in Himself, and that He ought to be blessed, praised, and honored by all.
Concerning Him it is read in Daniel: “Blessed are you, O Lord, the God of our fathers, worthy of praise and exalted above all forever.” Likewise in Ecclesiasticus: “Bless the Lord, exalt Him as much as you can, for He is above all praise; when you exalt Him, be filled with strength, and do not grow weary, for you cannot reach Him.”
Moreover, when it says, “Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ,” this can be referred to the same Person: so that the eternal Father is called the God of Christ according to His humanity, and His Father according to His divinity and eternal generation. Hence Christ Himself said after the resurrection: “I ascend to my Father and your Father, to my God and your God.”
Again, the phrase “Blessed be God” may be referred to the whole most blessed Trinity, which is one God of all, Creator and Lord.
“Who according to His great mercy…”
That mercy is truly immense and is a natural property of Him whose proper work is always to have mercy and to spare. “He has begotten us again unto a living hope”—that is, He has infused into us the hope of eternal salvation, formed and adorned by charity, when He spiritually regenerated us in the font of Baptism, or in the conversion of our mind to Him and the infusion of spiritual grace.
Of this regeneration Christ says: “Unless a man be born again of water and the Holy Spirit, he cannot enter the kingdom of God.”
Or thus: He regenerated us unto a living hope, that is, by the infusion of grace, spiritually regenerating us, He has bestowed upon us an effective confidence of eternal happiness. For faith, hope, and charity are inseparably joined to the infusion of grace, that is, to spiritual regeneration.
“Through the resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead”
That is, through the faith and manifestation of Christ’s resurrection, by which He rose from the place and number of the dead. For by the fact that God the Father raised Christ from the dead and granted us faith and knowledge of His resurrection, He bestowed upon all the faithful the hope of full glorification in soul and body, since the members follow the head and servants follow their Lord.
Through Christ’s resurrection, faith was also restored in His disciples, which they had lost during His Passion.
Hence Albert says: Christ is our head; and it belongs to the nature of a head to pour sense and motion into the members. Therefore, since Christ has risen, we must be made participants in His resurrection. For since head and members are of the same nature, just as in Adam’s sin we all fell, because he was the principle of our bodily origin, so in Christ’s rising we all rise, because He is the head and principle of our spiritual regeneration.
Thus the Apostle writes: “As by a man came death, so by a man came the resurrection of the dead; and as in Adam all die, so in Christ shall all be made alive.”
Thomas likewise teaches that in every genus the first is the cause of the others: thus Christ, the firstborn of the risen, is the cause of our resurrection—instrumentally and exemplarily; while His Passion is the meritorious cause, and the omnipotence of His divinity the principal cause of our resurrection, both spiritual and bodily.
Hence it is said: “He was delivered up for our sins and rose again for our justification.”
1 Pet 1:4 “Unto an inheritance incorruptible…”
He has regenerated us unto a living hope, so that through faith and hope we may obtain after this life a heavenly inheritance, which is eternal beatitude. This inheritance is incorruptible, because it is perpetual—namely, the beatific vision of God and the full enjoyment of Him, which remains forever the same.
In this state there will be no succession of thoughts or desires in what pertains to the essence of happiness; all will be stable and complete.
Of this the Psalmist says: “Behold, the inheritance of the Lord.” And Isaiah and Paul declare that “eye has not seen, nor ear heard, nor has it entered into the heart of man what God has prepared for those who love Him.”
Since through Christ’s incarnation and mysteries we are made adopted sons of God, there belongs to us by grace a share in the heavenly inheritance: “If sons, then heirs—heirs of God and co-heirs with Christ.”
This inheritance is undefiled, because no impurity of sin enters into that happiness; nothing defiled shall enter the heavenly city. It is given only to the purified and worthy.
It is unfading, because it never grows old nor loses its beauty, but remains forever most splendid. As Wisdom says: “Bright and unfading is wisdom.”
It is reserved in heaven for you, prepared in the heavenly paradise as your reward. Hence Christ says: “Father, I will that where I am, they also may be with me, that they may see my glory.”
1 Pet 1:5 “Who are kept by the power of God through faith…”
You are guarded by the omnipotence of the Creator—that is, protected from the enemies of your salvation and preserved in good so that you may persevere to the end.
This preservation is through faith, which is the foundation of all virtues and the principle of spiritual life. Thus God is the principal efficient cause of our preservation, while faith is the formal and instrumental cause. For “the just shall live by faith,” and “without faith it is impossible to please God.”
Faith is also, as John says, “the victory that overcomes the world.”
“Unto salvation ready to be revealed…”
This salvation will be manifested in the last time, that is, on the day of final judgment, when the elect will be fully glorified in soul and body and their glory will be made known to all. Then the difference between the just and the wicked will be clearly seen.
As the Lord says through Malachi: “You shall see the difference between the just and the wicked… for the day is coming, burning like a furnace.”
1 Pet 1:6 “Wherein you rejoice…”
In that final day you shall rejoice exceedingly, so that interior joy will overflow into your bodies.
Although now for a little while you must be saddened by various trials—persecutions, afflictions, and temptations—it is necessary, for “through many tribulations we must enter the kingdom of heaven.”
Yet this sorrow is not disordered grief, but a struggle and affliction, both bodily and interior.
These tribulations are called “little” in three ways:
In comparison with the punishment of the wicked
In comparison with eternal glory
In comparison with what our sins deserve
Thus we should bear them patiently and give thanks to God for His fatherly correction.
1 Pet 1:7 “That the trial of your faith…”
The testing of your faith, more precious than gold tried by fire, will be found unto praise, glory, and honor at the revelation of Jesus Christ.
Just as gold is purified by fire, so the faith of the just is strengthened through trials. What the file is to iron, or the fire to gold, tribulation is to the just man.
1 Pet 1:8 “Whom you have not seen, you love…”
Although you have not seen Christ with bodily eyes, you love Him with infused charity. For He is infinitely lovable as God, and supremely lovable as Savior and benefactor.
Even though love requires knowledge, the faithful know Him through faith and Scripture.
“Believing, you rejoice with joy unspeakable and glorified”
Through formed faith (fides formata, faith working through love), they rejoice with an inexpressible joy, which will be perfected when faith gives way to vision.
Then the elect will see God clearly (per speciem), and their joy will be complete, as the Psalm says: “You will fill me with joy in your presence.”
1 Pet 1:9 “Receiving the end of your faith, the salvation of your souls”
This is eternal happiness, the final goal of faith. For now we believe what is unseen, so that later we may behold it clearly: “Now we see through a glass darkly, but then face to face.”
Finally, to see God clearly is supremely delightful:
because of His infinite beauty
His perfect suitability to the soul
His infinite goodness and holiness
the love with which He is loved by the blessed
His infinite wisdom
Therefore, let us purify our souls and prepare them tirelessly for such a vision. For as it is written:
“Blessed are the pure of heart, for they shall see God.”
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