The theme of 1 Peter is the suffering of the diaspora Jewish Christians. Read the background for this letter in the first article: 1 Peter Suffering (1). There are 4 fairly lengthy section on this suffering and how to endure it: thus 4 articles Suffering 1,2,3,4. But what about the other comments by Paul mixed in with these sections on suffering?

1. 1 Peter 1:¹⁰ As to this salvation, the prophets who prophesied of the grace that would come to you made careful searches and inquiries, ¹¹ seeking to know what person or time the Spirit of Christ within them was indicating as He predicted the sufferings of Christ and the glories to follow. ¹² It was revealed to them that they were not serving themselves, but you, in these things which now have been announced to you through those who preached the gospel to you by the Holy Spirit sent from heaven—things into which angels long to look.” What salvation? He had just told them that after a little while of suffering that they would receive glory and salvation at the revelation of Jesus (His 2nd coming). Therefore they should rejoice even in their suffering. 1:10 comments on that salvation. The prophets in the OT did prophesy of the gracious salvation that the Messiah would bring, of his sufferings and his glorious resurrection. For example, Isaiah 53: But He was pierced for our offenses, He was crushed for our wrongdoings; The punishment for our well-being was laid upon Him, And by His wounds we are healed. He was oppressed and afflicted,
   Yet He did not open His mouth; Like a lamb that is led to slaughter, And like a sheep that is silent before its shearers, But the Lord desiredTo crush Him, causing Him grief if He renders himself as a guilt offering, He will prolong His days, And the good pleasure of the Lord will prosper in His hand. ¹¹ As a result of the anguish of His soul, He will see it and be satisfied;By His knowledge the Righteous One, My Servant, will justify the many, For He will bear their wrongdoings. ¹² Therefore, I will allot Him a portion with the great, And He will divide the plunder with the strong, Because He poured out His life unto death, And was counted with wrongdoers; Yet He Himself bore the sin of many, And interceded for the wrongdoers.” This Messianic prediction has the suffering, death, resurrection, and glory of the Messiah to come 700 years after Isaiah wrote this. The Dead Sea Scrolls confirms that this was written at least 150 years before Jesus was born. A complete copy of Isaiah, the Great Isaiah Scroll, has Isaiah 53 almost verbatim with our earliest Hebrew copy of Isaiah which was 1000 AD. That showed that the prediction in Isaiah 53 were not put in there “after the fact” and that the book was copied accurately through the centuries since the original. But did Isaiah understand his predictions? No. Did Micah understand his prediction that Jesus would be born in Bethlehem (Micah 5:2)? No. Did David understand his prediction of Jesus’ resurrection in Psalm 16:For You will not abandon my soul to Sheol; You will not allow Your Holy One to undergo decay”? No. No doubt these prophets did “careful searches and inquiries” into what the Holy Spirit had inspired them to write. Maybe they meditated on previous scripture. Maybe they asked the Spirit to explain their predictions to them. But they were never told what the “person or time” in which their predictions would be fulfilled. All that was “revealed to them” was that the fulfillment was not for their time or benefit but for the distant future generations. Peter tells the diaspora that they were able to. understand and benefit from the fulfillment of all the Messianic prophecies via the preaching of the gospel (the good news of the death, burial, and resurrection of Jesus which by grace through faith they were saved). What a great privilege! Even the angels never understood God’s plan. Would you rather live in Isaiah’s time period? I don’t think so. We live 2,000 years after God’s plan was completely revealed in the NT in the first century AD. We are even more privileged than the first century diaspora. We have all the letters of the NT explaining this gospel salvation. They were looking for glory and immortality to be given them after a “little while” at the 2nd coming in 70 AD. We have that immortality and assurance that we will live eternally after we die.
2. 1 Peter 1:¹³ Therefore, prepare your minds for action, keep sober in spirit, set your hope completely on the grace to be brought to you at the revelation of Jesus Christ. ¹⁴ As obedient children, do not be conformed to the former lusts which were yours in your ignorance, ¹⁵ but like the Holy One who called you, be holy yourselves also in all your behavior; ¹⁶ because it is written: “You shall be holy, for I am holy.” “Therefore” (based on what went before) Peter tells them how they should live so as not to lose that future salvation. So they were expecting to receive this salvation and immortality at the “revelation of Jesus” (His 2nd coming). Paul said that the believers, some of whom would still be alive at the resurrection, would receive immortality at the resurrection at the end of the Jewish Age in 70 AD (1 Corinthians 15). That glory was “about to be” revealed to them: 5:1 Elders who [are] among you, I exhort, who [am] a fellow-elder, and a witness of the sufferings of the Christ, and of the glory about to be (mello which always means about to happen) revealed.” In 70 AD God would show to the world who the true sons of God were, i.e. the Jewish Christians and not the unbelieving Jews who were rebelling against Rome and would be killed (a million died) in the siege and destruction of the city and the temple. Paul also spoke of this glory “about to be revealed” in Romans 8:¹⁸ For I reckon that the sufferings of the present time [are] not worthy [to be compared] with the glory about to be (mello)revealed in us”. As Gentiles Christians living 2,000 years later, it is hard to understand what 70 AD meant to the Jewish Christians who had been persecuted by their Jewish non believers during the transition period from 30-70 AD. It gave them relief from their persecution from the Jews (1 Thessalonians 1) and showed the world that they were the true children of God. But, they would need to be faithful in order to receive that glory and immortality. They would need to not be conformed (suschématizó: To conform, to fashion oneself according to: from which we get a “schematic”: a drawing or plan that shows the details of how something operates or is put together) to their former lusts which could cause them to fall from grace and lose their future salvation.” The goal: Be ye holy (hagios: Holy, sacred, set apart) as He (God) is holy. God makes us “set apart”, cleansed, “sanctified” (“Hagiazō”: is a verb that signifies the act of making something holy or sacred. It’s derived from the Greek word “hagios” (ἁγιος), which means “holy”. It signifies the process of setting something or someone apart for God’s special use or purpose.” But we are not special if we conform ourselves to the lusts of sinners all around us. Instead, Romans 12:1 I call upon you, therefore, brethren, through the compassions of God, to present your bodies a sacrifice — living, sanctified, acceptable to God — your intelligent service; ² and be not conformed (suschématizó: To conform, to fashion oneself according to) to this age, but be transformed (metamorphoó: To transform, to change form: the word we get “metamorphosis”: Metamorphosis is a biological process that involves a significant change in an organism’s form, structure, or substance during development. It can occur in many animals, including insects, amphibians, fish, mollusks, and crustaceans) by the renewing of your mind, for your proving what [is] the will of God — the good, and acceptable, and perfect.” In other words we go from ugly cocoons to beautiful butterflies. Not by our own good works, but by the sanctifying work of the Holy Spirit. He cleanses us from sin and will keep us clean by the blood of Jesus. So try to keep that new cleansed self as clean from sin as you can. You don’t have to be perfect and sinless, but you should try. The grace of God will take care of the rest. 1 John 1:⁷ and if in the light we may walk, as He is in the light — we have fellowship one with another, and the blood of Jesus Christ His Son doth cleanse us from every sin.” From AI: “Helping us to live for God is what the Spirit’s “sanctifying work” is all about. As Peter indicates, our participation in this can be described mainly as obedience. Sanctification is the moment-by-moment process by which we more and more submit our hearts, minds, and bodies to following Jesus.” 1 Thessalonians 5:23
   Now may the God of peace himself sanctify you completely, and may your whole spirit and soul and body be kept blameless at the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ.” 1 Corinthians 6:11
   And such were some of you. But you were washed, you were sanctified, you were justified in the name of the Lord Jesus Christ and by the Spirit of our God.” Paul quotes from Leviticus “be ye holy for I am holy”. “Be ye holy for I am holy” is a central theme in the Book of Leviticus, specifically found in Leviticus 11:44-45 and 19:2, where God commands the Israelites to be holy, reflecting His own holiness. This signifies a call to live a life dedicated to God, reflecting His purity, righteousness, and separation from the world. The Israelites had just come out of pagan Egypt and God was calling them to be different from the Egyptians and their idolatry and sins. Am I any different from the non Christians around me? Am I still consumed by the lust of the eye, the lust of the flesh, and the pride of life? Would a non Christian look at me and see that I am a special cleansed sinner?