1 Peter 1:3-9
3 Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ! According to his great mercy, he has caused us to be born again to a living hope through the resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead, 4 to an inheritance that is imperishable, undefiled, and unfading, kept in heaven for you, 5 who by God’s power are being guarded through faith for a salvation ready to be revealed in the last time. 6 In this you rejoice, though now for a little while, if necessary, you have been grieved by various trials, 7 so that the tested genuineness of your faith—more precious than gold that perishes though it is tested by fire—may be found to result in praise and glory and honor at the revelation of Jesus Christ. 8 Though you have not seen him, you love him. Though you do not now see him, you believe in him and rejoice with joy that is inexpressible and filled with glory, 9 obtaining the outcome of your faith, the salvation of your souls.
Interpreting the letters of the Apostles in the NT can be a little difficult sometimes. They are often long stretches of run-on sentences (in Greek at least) linked with subordinate clauses (for, since, because, though, into, etc). It's easy to lose track of the main point in the midst of all those subordinate clauses. To help you keep track of the main point I thought I'd share one of the most helpful tools I learned in seminary.
The pdf below is a phrasing diagram that should help you see how everything in this text fits together. It's a little grammar nerdy so dive in as much as you care to. At the very least it should help you get the big picture of what's Peter is saying here. The main clauses are indebted to the left with all the subordinate clauses underneath. This took me quite a while to get the hang of so don't get frustrated if it doesn't make sense at first. Keep working at it and eventually it will click. I would recommend using a more literal translation like the ESV or the NASB for this since they usually make fewer exegetical decisions.
<aside> ✏️ The rest of the week we will dig into this text further, but for today look this over and see if you can make sense of it.
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