To an inheritance incorruptible, and undefiled, and that fadeth not away, reserved in heaven for you,

1 PETER 1:4KJV
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1 Peter 1:4 (KJV)

What does 1 Peter 1:4 mean?

1 Peter 1:4 describes a promised inheritance for believers that can never decay, become impure, or disappear, because it is kept safe in heaven for them. The verse emphasizes the lasting and untouched nature of what God has prepared for those who trust Him.

Peter, one of Jesus’ closest followers, is writing to Christians who are scattered and facing difficulties. He reassures them that, despite their present troubles, there is something secure and unspoiled waiting for them with God. This inheritance is described in strong terms to highlight its permanence and purity, contrasting it with earthly things that can be lost or ruined.

The Greek behind 1 Peter 1:4

  • ἀφθαρτος (aphthartos, "incorruptible"): This word means something that cannot decay or perish. Peter uses it to stress that the inheritance God gives is not like things on earth that eventually break down.
  • ἀμίαντος (amiantos, "undefiled"): This word means unstained or pure. It emphasizes that the inheritance is untouched by anything that could spoil or pollute it.
  • ἀμάραντος (amarantos, "fadeth not away"): This word means unfading, like a flower that never withers. It adds to the sense that this inheritance is lasting and beautiful forever.
  • τετηρημένην (teterēmenēn, "reserved"): This word means kept or guarded. Peter is saying that this inheritance is being actively protected by God in heaven, making it absolutely secure.

Why 1 Peter 1:4 matters

  • 1 Peter 1:4 clears up the idea that what God promises is vulnerable to loss or corruption; Peter goes out of his way to show that this inheritance is completely secure.
  • The verse connects to the wider passage by offering hope to people facing hardship, reminding them that their future with God is untouched by the troubles of this world.
  • Peter’s choice of words highlights the contrast between earthly possessions, which are temporary, and what God gives, which is permanent and pure.

Where else these words appear

“undefiled” Greek G283 · used in 4 verses

  • Hebrews 7:26 For such an high priest became us, who is holy, harmless, undefiled, separate from sinners, and made higher than the heavens;
  • Hebrews 13:4 Marriage is honourable in all, and the bed undefiled: but whoremongers and adulterers God will judge.
  • James 1:27 Pure religion and undefiled before God and the Father is this, To visit the fatherless and widows in their affliction, and to keep himself unspotted from the world.

“incorruptible” Greek G862 · used in 7 verses

  • Romans 1:23 And changed the glory of the uncorruptible God into an image made like to corruptible man, and to birds, and fourfooted beasts, and creeping things.
  • 1 Corinthians 15:52 In a moment, in the twinkling of an eye, at the last trump: for the trumpet shall sound, and the dead shall be raised incorruptible, and we shall be changed.
  • 1 Peter 1:23 Being born again, not of corruptible seed, but of incorruptible, by the word of God, which liveth and abideth for ever.

“inheritance” Greek G2817 · used in 14 verses

  • Matthew 21:38 But when the husbandmen saw the son, they said among themselves, This is the heir; come, let us kill him, and let us seize on his inheritance.
  • Acts 7:5 And he gave him none inheritance in it, no, not so much as to set his foot on: yet he promised that he would give it to him for a possession, and to his seed after him, when as yet he had no child.
  • Ephesians 1:18 The eyes of your understanding being enlightened; that ye may know what is the hope of his calling, and what the riches of the glory of his inheritance in the saints,

“reserved” Greek G5083 · used in 68 verses

  • Matthew 19:17 And he said unto him, Why callest thou me good? there is none good but one, that is, God: but if thou wilt enter into life, keep the commandments.
  • John 17:15 I pray not that thou shouldest take them out of the world, but that thou shouldest keep them from the evil.
  • 2 Peter 3:7 But the heavens and the earth, which are now, by the same word are kept in store, reserved unto fire against the day of judgment and perdition of ungodly men.