{N}1,{/}3 Each word in this paragraph deserves a commentary. They manifest both the hope and the spiritual experience of the recently baptized Christians as persecutions began to intensify.
{C}Joy {/}(6 and 8). The verb used here, to experience joy, is seldom found in the NT. It is not a classic term and should be translated, "feel as if you are in glory." This same term is used when Mary says that her spirit goes beyond its limits with joy (Lk 1,47), as well as when Jesus is filled with the joy of the Holy Spirit (Lk 10,21). This is the joy of the persecuted in the beatitudes (Mt 5,12), and in this letter (4,13), and on the Day of Judgment (Rev 19,7). 
This kind of joy which is experienced in the suffering and contradictions will always be considered as one of the great favors of the Spirit and one of those that especially communicate the "taste" of God.
In raising Christ from the dead he has given us new life and a living hope. 4 The inheritance which does not corrupt nor goes bad nor passes away was reserved to you in heaven, 5

{N}1,{/}8 {C}Living hope{/}. The Greek world scoffed at the concept of hope. It was something for simple persons who did not recognize hope as a mere illusion which reality would expose at some moment. {C}Living hope{/}, which is already experienced in baptism, is bound up with faith in Christ's resurrection. This faith is not merely an opinion, since the Spirit gives its intuition to our spirit. The living Christ is a {C}living hope{/}. John speaks about the living bread in a similar way (Jn 6,51), and the Letter to the Hebrews speaks about a living way (10,20).
{C}Heavenly inheritance{/}: This is the treasure, which does not perish nor go bad, nor pass away with time. 
{C}Does not perish{/}: the Greek word is "incorruptible." The word means precisely: something that does not wither, does not decay. {C}Does not perish, go bad, nor pass away{/}-these three words distinguish what is passing and what remains. Jesus made similar references related to money and voluntary poverty (Mt 6,19; Lk 16,9; 18,22). It is a matter of opting for what is authentic and lasting. Here, the accent is somewhat different. The Church has penetrated the Greek world in which material and earthly things are only a tangible copy of superior realities that exist in the invisible, spiritual world. This inheritance offered to the recently baptized is the true spiritual world about which the wise men speak, which the "mystery religions" popular at that time promised to their followers. In contrast, Christians already experienced an interior transformation through the Spirit.
The reality offered by faith which believers already possess is nothing less than the {C}salvation of their soul{/}. This subject and terminology about "saving one's soul" entered the New Testament with this letter and later became common among Christians. In contrast, in our time "the salvation of souls" has been frequently criticized.
In Hebrew the word {C}soul{/} means primarily "the breath of life." It refers to life, to affective sentiments, and frequently to the person himself. "My soul weeps" means: I weep. Only once in the gospels does Jesus make a reference to the {C}soul{/} in a context in which he distinguishes body and soul-in Mt 10,28. Everywhere else soul designates the person. Jesus invites us to lose our soul, to allow it to deteriorate in order to find it, which means to discover and become our real self as persons in God's world. In the epistles, soul is translated by the word "psyche," referring to the human spirit in general, but especially to the less elevated part of it, that of feelings and practical intelligence. Our most elevated reality not this soul which we have in common with animals, but our spirit.
In this text, the salvation of souls is expressed in Greek terminology (which is very close to the use of these terms in our religious language). It is the hope that is offered to Christians who will have to sacrifice their life in order to remain faithful. The present life is not everything. Nor is the body what is most important, nor happiness that is pursued in this life, nor physical well being, nor human development which culture offers. No, what is interior to the human person is what is essential and it is in this "soul" (to speak as people commonly do) that our entire history is recorded. That is what will enter into the world of eternity. One more comment: We translated: {C}the salvation of your souls{/}, because that is the meaning of the text. But the literal meaning of the Greek is: "the goal of our faith, the salvation of souls".
We will again encounter a reference to {C}souls{/} in James 1,21 and 5,1. Our {C}soul {/}means again that reality which remains alive after death (Rev 6,9; 20,4).
A misunderstanding of this terminology gave rise to a divided concept of the human person and a false spirituality with many negative consequences, beginning with a falsely spiritual concept of human person and to a pessimistic view of the world. Pleasure should be avoided and human values ignored. Social progress should be disregarded and Christians should not become involved in the struggle for a more just world. Holiness would be achieved by abandoning the world, following the life style and priorities of those in religious life. Nothing was more important than prayer and penance.
From our modern perspective we cannot judge those who ignored the difference between the salvation of one's soul and the salvation of persons inserted in an unfinished world. The pace of historical progress was too slow for the people of that age to appreciate the importance of human development. We must recall the severity and many trials of their daily life. Life expectancy was scarcely more than thirty years. Fifty percent of the children died within their first year. Those who survived received no medical care. Many women died in childbirth and were considered to be old at thirty-five.

