Apostol § 58h

Peter, an Apostle of Jesus Christ, to the pilgrims scattered throughout Pontus, Galatia, Cappadocia, Asia, and Bithynia, elect according to the foreknowledge of God the Father, through sanctification of the Spirit, unto obedience and sprinkling of the Blood of Jesus Christ: grace unto you and peace be multiplied. Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, who according to His abundant mercy has begotten us again to a living hope through the Resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead, to an inheritance incorruptible and undefiled and that does not fade away, reserved in heaven for you, who are kept by the power of God through faith unto salvation ready to be revealed in the last time. In this you greatly rejoice, though now for a little while, if need be, you have been grieved by various trials, that the trial of your faith, being much more precious than gold that perishes, though it is tested by fire, may be found unto praise, honor, and glory at the revelation of Jesus Christ, Whom having not seen you love. Though now you do not see Him, yet believing, you rejoice with joy inexpressible and full of glory, receiving the end of your faith, even the salvation of your souls. Of this salvation the Prophets have inquired and searched diligently, who prophesied of the grace that would come to you, searching what, or what manner of time, the Spirit of Christ who was in them did signify, when It testified beforehand the sufferings of Christ, and the glories that would follow. Unto them it was revealed that, not unto themselves, but unto us they did minister the things which now have been reported unto you through those who have preached the Gospel unto you by the Holy Spirit sent down from heaven; things into which the Angels desire to look. Therefore gird up the loins of your mind, be sober, and rest your hope fully upon the grace that is to be brought unto you at the revelation of Jesus Christ; as obedient children, not conforming yourselves to the former lusts, as in your ignorance; but as He who called you is Holy, so be you also holy in all your conduct, because it is written, “Be ye holy, for I am Holy.” And if you call on the Father, who without partiality judges according to each one’s work, pass the time of your sojourning here in fear; knowing that you were not redeemed with corruptible things, like silver or gold, from your vain conduct received by tradition from your fathers, but with the precious Blood of Christ, as of a lamb without blemish and without spot. Who indeed was foreordained before the foundation of the world, but was manifest in these last times for you, who through Him do believe in God, who raised Him from the dead and gave Him glory, so that your faith and hope might be in God. Since you have purified your souls in obeying the truth through the Spirit in sincere love of the brethren, see that you love one another fervently with a pure heart, having been born again, not of corruptible seed but of incorruptible, by the Word of God which lives and abides forever, for “all flesh is as grass, and all the glory of man as the flower of the grass. The grass withers, and its flower falls away, but the Word of the Lord endures forever.” Now this is the Word which by the Gospel was preached unto you. Therefore, laying aside all malice, and all guile, and hypocrisy, and envy, and all evil speaking, as newborn babes, desire the pure milk of the word, that you may grow thereby, if indeed you have tasted that the Lord is gracious. Coming unto Him as unto a living stone, rejected indeed by men, but chosen by God and precious, you also, as living stones, are being built up a spiritual house, a holy priesthood, to offer up spiritual sacrifices acceptable to God by Jesus Christ. Therefore it is also contained in the Scripture, “Behold, I lay in Zion a chief cornerstone, elect, precious: and he that believeth on Him shall not be put to shame.”