1 Peter 1:4Meaning & Commentary from the Church Fathers

Yet here, according to the course of the speech, what is meant properly is eternal blessedness in the future heavenly Kingdom of Christ, “kept in heaven.”

For here on earth Christians are only strangers and sojourners. There, in heaven, they will be full citizens and will enter completely into the inheritance of the spiritual treasures of blessedness.

The superiority of this inheritance, or treasure, over every earthly inheritance, or treasure, is depicted by the following exalted traits.

First, it is incorruptible. It is subject to no damage, corruption, or destruction, as all earthly treasures are (Mt 6:19-20). Therefore it is an eternal and unceasing inheritance.

Second, it is undefiled. In it there is a complete absence of every vice, impurity, and sinfulness.

This concept indicates its more inward purity and holiness, while the first indicates rather the outward aspect of its eternity.

In all earthly goods, even the purest, there is inevitably at least a slight admixture of impurity and sinfulness. The goods of the heavenly inheritance are entirely holy.

Third, it is unfading. This concept expresses the most perfect beauty of this heavenly treasure of inheritance.

Here on earth, every beauty belonging to every good is only temporary and fades like the flower of the grass (v. 24; Jas 1:10-11).

There there is no such flowering and fading, but an eternally blooming, unfading beauty.

Thus the inheritance for whose reception Christians have been regenerated is depicted here as eternal, holy, and unchangeably beautiful.

“Kept in heaven for you.” Every earthly inheritance or treasure is unstable and not fully secure from loss. But the heavenly treasure inherited by Christians is completely secured for them, for it is preserved in heaven by the almighty hand of God.

The figure is clearly taken from parents who keep in a safe place the treasures they will leave as an inheritance to their children.

These treasures, as gifts of the Holy Spirit, are given to Christians in part even here on earth.

Yet their complete possession, as far as possible, of the goods of the Kingdom of Heaven will follow there, in heaven.

For this reason these goods are figuratively presented as a treasure kept in heaven, in the spiritual realm of the blessedness of God, righteous spirits, and men.

“For you,” exactly as also for all believers in Christ who are worthy to inherit the Kingdom of Heaven.

Here, in few but powerful words, the greatness of redemption and the blessedness of being a Christian are depicted.

This thought is unfolded further as the chief foundation for consolation amid present and future sorrows.

By calling God blessed, the Apostle uses a doxology customary in the Old Testament. There God was called the God of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob.

Here He is called the Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, who regenerated us and made us sons of God and heavenly heirs (cf. Gal 4:4-7; Rom 8:16).

Regeneration is placed in special dependence upon the resurrection of Jesus Christ because the Apostle knew from his own experience how it enlivened the hope of believers.

It is also because in Christ’s resurrection the beginning of another existence was revealed. This beginning can pour hope into believers’ hearts and establish the most living hope for eternal heavenly life.

That life is free from all the deficiencies of this life and filled with unending blessedness.

The last time, for which believers are kept by the power of grace and faith, is the time indicated by the Lord. It is the end of the present world and the revelation of the life to come (cf. Mt 24:3; 28:20).

Then the destiny of all will be finally decided, and the righteous will receive the Kingdom prepared for them from the foundation of the world.

“Israel is My firstborn son” (Ex 4:22), the Lord Himself said to Pharaoh. Happy were the Israelites, having the Lord as Father. Yet New Testament believers are no less happy.

God, the Father of the Lord Jesus Christ, who begot Him before all ages, is also the Father of believers in Christ. According to His great mercy, He begot them and granted them new spiritual life in the mystery of baptism.

Those who received the grace of spiritual birth in this mystery received the right to be called children of God. They are those “who were born, not of blood, nor of the will of the flesh, nor of the will of man, but of God” (Jn 1:12-13).

With adoption by God comes the right of inheritance. To Old Testament believers, in the person of their forefather Abraham, the promise was given to inherit the land of Canaan. In due time this promise was fulfilled.

The promise of inheritance is also given to New Testament believers as sons of God by grace. God begot them “unto a living hope through the resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead.”

By living hope is meant here the object of hope, namely the inheritance of heavenly good things, as is said further on.

As sons of God by the grace of spiritual regeneration, believers in Christ are animated by a living hope of receiving this inheritance promised to them.

The living quality, or unshakable vitality, of this hope is conditioned by Christ’s resurrection. By His resurrection Christ laid the foundation of our resurrection: “Christ has risen from the dead, and has become the firstfruits of those who have fallen asleep” (1 Cor 15:20).

Christ rose in glory and ascended into heaven with a glorified body. Participation in this glory awaits all who truly believe in Christ.

By His resurrection He renewed for them the ascent into heaven, so that in heaven they might receive the promised inheritance of eternal glory and blessedness in communion with Christ (Rom 8:17).

This inheritance is incomparably more precious than the inheritance of earthly promises given to the people of the Old Testament. In contrast to the latter, it is an incorruptible inheritance, because it is eternal.

It is undefiled and pure, because there is no sin in heaven. The promised land, which fell as an inheritance to the chosen people, was defiled by every kind of sin.

It is unfading, because blessedness in heaven will not diminish. It will never be darkened by anything, but will be an inexhaustible source of joy.

This is truly the unfading crown of glory, as the same apostle says in the same epistle (Rom 5:4).

An earthly inheritance, before one receives it, can perish for various reasons: theft, fire, or the dishonesty of guardians. Nothing of this kind can happen to the inheritance in heaven promised to the sons of God.

It is preserved whole and unharmed, without any danger of loss, for those who “are kept by the power of God through faith for salvation ready to be revealed in the last time.”

It is unknown when the last time will come, the time of the completion of the kingdom of grace and the opening of the kingdom of glory.

Yet it is beyond doubt that sooner or later salvation and blessedness, not only in soul but also in body, must be revealed precisely in that last time for the sons of God who await the inheritance promised to them.

They are kept for this inheritance by the power of God. On the way to this goal they must inevitably meet many obstacles and many temptations, especially from the chief enemy of salvation, the devil.

But they must not lose heart. Faith in the power of God must not leave them for a single minute, for the power of God is made perfect in weakness and protects those who seek support in it from every evil and misfortune.