As I have mentioned several times before, it is rare that I write anything directly for this site, and in that sense I don't really "blog" at all. Rather, I am constantly writing books, articles, sermons, and so on. It used to be that people had to wait a while between new releases. At times the wait can be weeks or months, especially if I am working on a book. This site was originally established so that, instead of waiting until a project is finished, I can let my readers follow along as I progress on whatever I am working on.

To chop up long projects this way and to release them in pieces might not make the best blog articles, but this is the way it has to be, because I don't really have the time to work on my regular projects and still write separate articles for this site. Then, again, this site was never intended to have materials especially written for it in the first place. Anyway, some people prefer to wait until I have completed a piece of writing and then read it as a whole. That is fine. But I have been pleasantly surprised at how many of you are willing to follow along and read just a little piece each day from beginning to end, such as with Born Again, even though it was divided into 49 parts. It spans 65 pages in the PDF file (letter size), and 104 pages in paperback (6 x 9).

I am repeating all of this now because I am about to begin another one of these longer projects, a commentary on First Peter, and I would like to remind you of this so that you will know what to expect. What I will try to do to make it easier is to, as much as possible, chop up the text in such a way that the reading for each day forms a meaningful unit, so that it will not seem to begin from nowhere and end in the middle of nowhere, and so that it will have some spiritual value especially for you daily readers. But this also means that the reading will be longer for some days and shorter for some days, depending on how the text is logically divided.

Now let me say something about the commentary itself.

For several years now, I have been telling myself that, if in my lifetime I were to have the time to write on everything that I wish to write about, I will have to be more concise. Practically, the easiest way to do this is just to leave out some of the things that I come up with, both in research or in reflection. But psychologically speaking, this is perhaps the hardest to do. If you think that something is important and should be said, it is hard just to leave it out altogether. I suppose this problem is preferable than having writer's block. And I do pray for insights and ideas, so I am getting exactly what I ask for. But still, like I said, if I were to write on all the things that I want in my lifetime, I will have to exercise restraint.

I say this because the beginning of this commentary on First Peter has already become too long. At first, I intended to divide the text into sections, and then spend only several pages on each section. Each section would then have one to three days worth of materials for this site. This way we would get through First Peter pretty quickly. But right now I am in the middle of 1:8, and the text is already over 30 pages, instead 5 to 10 pages like I wanted. However, not to despair — I will try to chop these into larger chunks for this site, so that it will not take as long to get through them. And looking through the subsequent passages in First Peter, I suspect that I can keep the length under control beginning from 1:10. In future commentaries, I hope to write in shorter sections, but for First Peter, this will have to do.

As with my other commentaries, this book on First Peter is not mainly intended to be a reference work, even if it could be used as such. I will not comment on every verse and clearly mark out the comments that are directed to each verse. Rather, I will divide the text into sections, sometimes rather large sections, and then offer a "free" exposition on each one.

By this I mean that I will take great liberty regarding the length, depth, or even the content of each section, without forcing myself to maintain balance and proportion. Some portions of the text will receive more attention while others might receive none. And rather than offering a detailed grammatical analysis of each passage, I will usually focus on its theological, ethical, pastoral, and devotional aspects instead.

Those who have read my other commentaries probably realize by now the advantages of this particular approach, what it can accomplish, as well as what it is not supposed to achieve, since no commentary can do everything at the same time. Such a work is intended more to be read than simply consulted, although it can serve the latter purpose also. And because it is of this nature, the commentary is well-suited to be studied straight through from beginning to end. It does not have the disconnected feel that often accompanies the more technical references.

Although this commentary is self-contained, it is preferable to have access to some of my other writings. This is because there are some doctrines in First Peter that I have already addressed in other places. Rather than to expound these doctrines all over again, I will more or less restrict my comments to what is in First Peter and point you to my other works for additional explanation (but remember that all footnotes will appear in the official release, in PDF and in print, rather than on this site).

For example, I have discussed in detail the meaning of the word "foreknowledge" (1:2) in Commentary on Malachi, and I have addressed the submission of women (3:1-6) in Commentary on Ephesians and Renewing the Mind. So I do not feel compelled to offer meticulous arguments and documentations on these subjects when writing this new commentary.

And when it comes to the doctrine of election, all of my books mention it, and several of them discuss it at great length. Therefore, I will refrain from providing a full treatment on the topic when it comes up in First Peter. Nevertheless, as election is a controlling doctrine in First Peter, I will still give it ample attention, so that mention of it will not be scarce.

Finally, since from a blog's perspective, this will be a long series of posts, if I ever need to comment on its progress, I will write something on the upper right corner of this site instead of interrupting the series.

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