In the opening verses of Peter's first epistle he gives praise to God for the hope of "an inheritance incorruptible, and undented, and that fadeth not away." Evidently he was not referring to some far-off good, for he called it "a lively hope," one based on the example of Christ Jesus, and therefore actively usable.
Peter had this lively hope, for he had proved in many experiences that his heavenly Father has bestowed on man unceasing good, which cannot be corrupted by place or circumstance, denied by mortal beliefs or human will; nor can it ever fade away. He had proved his inheritance to be one of spiritual consciousness, continually active, when by his knowledge of God's presence and protection he healed Aeneas, a man who had been an invalid for eight years, and again, when he restored to life and usefulness a woman named Dorcas. He had also healed many sick people of various diseases, and was himself liberated from prison by the power of understanding prayer.
It might appear in the case of Aeneas that health and activity had been impaired; that in the experience of Dorcas, life had departed; yet Peter, with clear spiritual knowledge, must have seen that interruption or termination of good was impossible to man, whose inheritance is of God, good, alone.
