1:3 According to his great mercy. This emphasizes that salvation is based entirely on God’s loving initiative.

caused us to be born again. Although the verb used here and in 1:23 occurs nowhere else in the New Testament, the thought is found frequently (John 1:12, 13; 3:3–8; Titus 3:5; James 1:18).

living hope. A key word in this epistle is “hope” (1:13, 21; 3:15). In the Bible, hope is not uncertainty or wishful thinking, but a confident expectation of future blessing based on facts and promises. “Living” indicates the undying and permanent character of this hope.