While studying for tonight I found this list of the problems the first readers of Peter’s letter seem to be dealing with. I thought it was interesting how well this lined up with the things many of us face on a daily basis. Things like this remind us of how connected we are with believers who have gone before us, and of how applicable the writings of the Apostles are for us today!
Problems it seems the recipients of 1 Peter were facing:
1. Physical and psychological persecution (1:6-7; 2:15; 4:12, 16-17, 19; 5:10)
2. General social ostracism and exclusion (1:17; 3:16; 4:4)
3. Potential familiar pull from the past-former pagan way of life (1:14, 18)
4. Surrounding, seductive non-/anti-Christian worldview and lifestyle (2:11; 4:2-4)
5. Tensions and inconsistent behavior within the fellowship (1:22; 4:8-11; 5:2-3, 5)
6. Spiritual doubts about the reliability of God’s promises and the future (1:3-5; 5:10)
7. Satan’s constant, deadly temptations and trials (5:8-9)
–by Ernst Wendland