Enduring persecution for the sake of Christ is a cause for joy, because the Lord is a faithful Creator who will send His Spirit to comfort those who suffer according to His will.

Just like you can't show up drunk to a shootout at the OK Corral, you must be sober-minded to live the Christian life in a world hostile to the gospel.

So whatever persecution and suffering should come our way, Peter wants us to assure us that we are secure in Christ.

Peter encouraged wives to be subject to their husbands for their own physical protection, for their own spiritual growth, and for the sake of their husband’s souls. 

How are we to live in a culture and society in which we are exiles and sojourners?  In humble submission, pursuing holiness, and bearing witness to our Savior.

For those who have been born again, our lives are not simply characterized by repenting and renouncing sin, our lives are also characterized by positive growth that takes place in community.

Peter begins to weave the glorious truth of the gospel of Jesus Christ together with the implications and applications for the Christian life of holiness flowing from that good news.

Our hope is not in ourselves or in our circumstances.  Our hope is in the grace of God.  And that grace is ours.

Peter seeks to encourage and instruct Christians who are navigating and living in a world in which they do not fit or belong.

The final words of Jacob and Joseph (and Genesis) include prophesies given, professions made, purposes identified, and promises to which they were clinging.