1 Peter 1:21 kjv
Who by him do believe in God, that raised him up from the dead, and gave him glory; that your faith and hope might be in God.
1 Peter 1:21 nkjv
who through Him believe in God, who raised Him from the dead and gave Him glory, so that your faith and hope are in God.
1 Peter 1:21 niv
Through him you believe in God, who raised him from the dead and glorified him, and so your faith and hope are in God.
1 Peter 1:21 esv
who through him are believers in God, who raised him from the dead and gave him glory, so that your faith and hope are in God.
1 Peter 1:21 nlt
Through Christ you have come to trust in God. And you have placed your faith and hope in God because he raised Christ from the dead and gave him great glory.
1 Peter 1 21 Cross References
| Verse | Text | Reference |
|---|---|---|
| Rom 10:9 | ...if you confess with your mouth that Jesus is Lord and believe in your heart that God raised him from the dead... | Believing God raised Jesus is essential for salvation. |
| Acts 2:24 | But God raised him up, loosing the pangs of death, because it was not possible for him to be held by it. | God's power overcomes death. |
| Eph 1:19-20 | ...the immeasurable greatness of his power toward us who believe, according to the working of his great might that he worked in Christ when he raised him from the dead... | God's resurrection power is available to believers. |
| Col 2:12 | ...having been buried with him in baptism, in which you were also raised with him through faith in the powerful working of God, who raised him from the dead. | Faith is linked to God's raising Christ. |
| Acts 2:33 | Being therefore exalted at the right hand of God, and having received from the Father the promise of the Holy Spirit, he has poured out this which you yourselves are seeing and hearing. | Christ's glorification includes His exaltation. |
| Php 2:9-11 | Therefore God has highly exalted him and bestowed on him the name that is above every name, so that at the name of Jesus every knee should bow... | Christ's glorification is God's divine act of exaltation. |
| Heb 2:9 | But we see him who for a little while was made lower than the angels, namely Jesus, crowned with glory and honor because of the suffering of death... | Jesus' suffering leads to glory. |
| Jn 17:5 | And now, Father, glorify me in your own presence with the glory that I had with you before the world existed. | Christ's pre-existent glory re-obtained through resurrection. |
| Rom 5:2 | Through him we have also obtained access by faith into this grace in which we stand... | Christ as the mediator of access to God. |
| Eph 2:18 | For through him we both have access in one Spirit to the Father. | Christ as the means of direct access to God. |
| Heb 7:25 | Consequently, he is able to save to the uttermost those who draw near to God through him, since he always lives to make intercession for them. | Christ's ongoing mediatorial role. |
| Mk 11:22 | And Jesus answered them, “Have faith in God." | Direct command to trust God. |
| Heb 11:6 | And without faith it is impossible to please him, for whoever would draw near to God must believe that he exists and that he rewards those who seek him. | Faith in God is fundamental. |
| Jn 14:1 | “Let not your hearts be troubled. Believe in God; believe also in me." | Belief in Christ intrinsically linked to belief in God. |
| Rom 8:24-25 | For in this hope we were saved. Now hope that is seen is not hope... But if we hope for what we do not see, we wait for it with patience. | Hope is for future unseen realities. |
| Heb 11:1 | Now faith is the assurance of things hoped for, the conviction of things not seen. | Defines the relationship between faith and hope. |
| 1 Cor 13:13 | So now faith, hope, and love abide, these three; but the greatest of these is love. | Faith and hope are abiding Christian virtues. |
| Col 1:4-5 | ...since we heard of your faith in Christ Jesus and of the love that you have for all the saints, because of the hope laid up for you in heaven. | Hope as a Heavenly certainty. |
| 2 Cor 1:9 | Indeed, we felt that we had received the sentence of death. But that was to make us rely not on ourselves but on God who raises the dead. | Relying on God who raises the dead, connecting resurrection and trust. |
| Ps 71:5 | For you, O Lord, are my hope, my trust, O Lord, from my youth. | God is the unchanging object of hope and trust. |
| 1 Cor 15:14, 17 | And if Christ has not been raised, then our preaching is in vain and your faith is in vain... And if Christ has not been raised, your faith is futile and you are still in your sins. | Christ's resurrection is the essential foundation of faith. |
| Rom 4:24-25 | ...but for us also, to whom faith will be counted as righteousness, because we believe in him who raised from the dead Jesus our Lord, who was delivered up for our trespasses and raised for our justification. | Resurrection validates justification and ignites faith. |
| Tit 2:13 | ...waiting for our blessed hope, the appearing of the glory of our great God and Savior Jesus Christ. | Christ's return is the blessed hope. |
| Eph 1:17 | ...that the God of our Lord Jesus Christ, the Father of glory, may give you the Spirit of wisdom and of revelation in the knowledge of him... | Emphasizes God as "Father of glory" and object of knowledge. |
1 Peter 1 verses
1 Peter 1 21 Meaning
First Peter 1:21 profoundly illustrates the Trinitarian foundation of a believer's faith and hope. It states that through Jesus Christ, believers trust in God the Father, who validated Christ's sacrificial work by raising Him from the dead and granting Him divine glory. This ultimate act of divine power and vindication serves as the absolute basis, ensuring that the faith and hope of believers are securely fixed on God, rather than on fleeting human efforts or circumstances. The verse reveals a perfect divine sequence, from Christ's completed work to God's affirmation of it, culminating in the believers' grounded spiritual virtues.
1 Peter 1 21 Context
1 Peter chapter 1 speaks to believers facing dispersion and suffering, identifying them as "elect exiles." Peter immediately anchors their identity in divine realities: God's foreknowledge, the Holy Spirit's sanctification, and the precious blood of Christ. He stresses the living hope found in the resurrection of Jesus Christ to an incorruptible inheritance (v. 3-5) and affirms the refining nature of trials on faith (v. 6-9). The passage then highlights the mystery of salvation revealed to prophets (v. 10-12) and calls believers to holiness in response to God's character (v. 13-16). Leading up to verse 21, Peter reminds them of their redemption, emphasizing that it was not by perishable things like silver or gold but "with the precious blood of Christ, like that of a lamb without blemish or spot" (v. 18-19). This Christ, "foreknown before the foundation of the world" (v. 20), was "made manifest in the last times for your sake." Verse 21, therefore, provides the climax of this redemption narrative by showing the secure grounding of their new life, faith, and hope through God's action in raising and glorifying Christ. Historically, this message would counter Roman polytheism and Jewish reliance on ceremonial law, placing trust solely in the triune God as revealed through the resurrected and glorified Son.
1 Peter 1 21 Word analysis
- who through Him: "Who" refers to "you" (believers) from the preceding verses, indicating it is believers who, through Christ, become believers in God. The Greek phrase δι’ αὐτοῦ (di’ autou) emphasizes Christ as the indispensable means or instrument. Without Christ's mediatorial work—His sacrifice, resurrection, and ascension—there would be no genuine, saving belief in God for sinful humanity. Christ bridges the gap.
- are believers: The Greek πιστεύοντας (pisteuontas), derived from πιστεύω (pisteuō), means "to trust," "to be persuaded of," "to place confidence in." It denotes not mere intellectual assent, but an active, continuous state of trusting. This aligns with the call for living faith throughout Peter's epistle.
- in God: The Greek εἰς Θεόν (eis Theon) uses the preposition eis, indicating direction toward and full commitment to God. God the Father is the ultimate object and recipient of the believer's faith. This directly counters any pagan concept where lesser deities or human constructs might be objects of worship.
- who raised Him from the dead: "Who" here clearly refers to God the Father. The Greek ἐγείραντα (egeiranta, from ἐγείρω - egeirō) highlights God's powerful, sovereign act of resurrecting Jesus. This act is the cornerstone of Christian belief, validating Christ's claims, confirming His victory over sin and death, and providing the definitive proof of God's acceptance of His sacrifice. In the Jewish context, resurrection was a central hope for the end times, but here, it's uniquely applied to Jesus, marking Him as distinct.
- and gave Him glory: The Greek δόξαν (doxan, "glory") refers to divine honor, splendor, and recognition. This refers to Christ's ascension to the right hand of God, His enthronement, and supreme exaltation following the resurrection. God the Father did not merely bring Christ back to life but elevated Him to the highest possible status, reflecting His divine nature and completed work. This glory validates not only Christ Himself but also the future hope of glory for believers.
- so that: The Greek ὥστε (hoste) introduces a purpose or result clause. It explicitly links God's actions concerning Christ (raising and glorifying Him) directly to the firm foundation of the believer's faith and hope. It’s a divine strategy that makes faith robust.
- your faith and hope: Πίστιν (pistis, "faith") is conviction and trust in what God has done. Ἐλπίδα (elpida, "hope") is a confident, joyful expectation of future good, based on God's promises and the reality of Christ's resurrection. These two virtues are distinct but inextricably linked; faith provides the conviction for the present, while hope anticipates the future, both stemming from the same divine foundation. They are the essential internal dispositions of the Christian.
- are in God: This repeats and emphasizes the ultimate target. All the work of the Trinity—the Father's plan, the Son's obedience and mediation, the Father's validation of the Son—converges to orient the believer's inner life (faith and hope) entirely towards God. This provides immense security for believers facing uncertainty and persecution, shifting reliance from earthly conditions to divine truth. It implicitly rejects idolatry by redirecting all trust to the One True God.
1 Peter 1 21 Bonus section
The verse powerfully illustrates the Triune God at work in salvation, though the Spirit is not explicitly mentioned in this particular verse. God the Father raised Christ and gave Him glory, fulfilling His redemptive plan. God the Son (Christ) is the indispensable Him through whom believers gain access and become believers. While not stated here, the Spirit is the One who works faith in the heart (cf. 1 Pet 1:2 and Eph 2:8). The objective historical reality of Christ's resurrection and glorification provides the unshakeable foundation for the subjective experience of faith and hope in believers. This firm foundation counters despair and provides confidence in the face of suffering or a fleeting world, grounding salvation in a divine event, not human sentiment. It also reinforces the divine authority and trustworthiness of God.
1 Peter 1 21 Commentary
First Peter 1:21 summarizes the objective reality upon which Christian faith is built. It is a powerful statement about God's sovereign plan of redemption. Believers are not relying on mere human teachings or traditions, but on the profound actions of God the Father, who definitively ratified Jesus Christ's identity and finished work. By raising Jesus from the dead, God declared Christ's victory over sin and death and confirmed His sacrifice as entirely acceptable. The subsequent glorification of Christ—His ascension and enthronement—further cemented His triumph and authority. These historical and divine acts provide the rock-solid ground for all Christian faith and hope. Consequently, believers are called to place their trust and confident expectation not in themselves, their efforts, or earthly powers, but fully and solely in the God who orchestrates such a magnificent salvation. This anchors them in ultimate divine truth and provides unshakeable confidence, especially when enduring trials, persecution, or facing the brevity of life. For instance, when believers experience significant loss, the hope grounded in the resurrecting God prevents despair. When facing a broken world, their faith in God's past actions and future promises offers perseverance.