1 Peter 1: 1-9 Study
Sermon Starter 1 Peter
The letter is addressed to the “elect” (eklektois), and in the Greek text the term “elect” actually modifies the term “strangers” (parepidēmois), so we can translate “elect strangers” or “elect pilgrims.” To speak of his readers as elect means that they have been chosen by God.
They are not aliens literally; they are sojourners because they are elected by God, because their citizenship is in heaven rather than on earth.
Divine election reminds the readers that they have status, not because they are so worthy or noble but because God has bestowed his grace upon them. Hence, they have the energy to counter accepted cultural norms and to live in accord with God’s purpose
The location of the readers is communicated in the words “scattered throughout Pontus, Galatia, Cappadocia, Asia and Bithynia.” The term “scattered” (diasporas) could be translated literally as “of the Dispersion” (NRSV). The term “dispersion” was often used of Jews who lived outside Palestine, who were scattered from their homeland because of their sin (Deut 28:25; 30:4; Neh 1:9; Ps 146:2; Isa 49:6; Jer 15:7; 41:17; cf. also Jdt 5:19; 2 Mac 1:27; Ps Sol 8:28; 9:2). In the New Testament the word is used in only two other places, in both cases probably referring to Jews who were outside the land (John 7:35; Jas 1:1). In this instance, however, the word probably is used metaphorically. Peter was not writing to Jews but primarily to Gentiles, and hence he was hardly suggesting that they were the dispersed of Israel in the literal sense. And yet he signaled again that they were the people of God, who joined with believing Jews in the promises given to Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob. Dispersion belongs with the word “strangers” in that it communicates again that believers are distinct from the world
The word “know” in Hebrew often refers to God’s covenantal love bestowed upon his people (cf. Gen 18:19; Jer 1:5; Amos 3:2).
Therefore, when Peter said that believers are elect “according to the foreknowledge of God the Father,” he emphasized God’s sovereignty and initiative in salvation. Believers are elect because God the Father has set his covenantal affection upon them
The foreknowing work of God and the sanctifying action of the Spirit result in human obedience and the sprinkling of Christ’s blood. This interpretation is the most satisfying. It separates the noun “obedience” and the phrase the “sprinkling of the blood of Jesus Christ.” The first refers to human obedience; and the second, to Christ’s work of cleansing and forgiveness.
Two different sides of conversion are contemplated—the believers’ obedience to the gospel and Christ’s cleansing and forgiveness. What Peter said here is important. Conversion is not merely an intellectual acceptance of the gospel, nor is it faith with a blank slate. Conversion involves obedience and submission to the gospel, what Paul called the “obedience of faith” (Rom 1:5; 16:26).
To what does the sprinkling of blood refer? In the Old Testament the sprinkling of the blood is used for the cleansing of a leper (Lev 14:6–7), for the sprinkling of priests in ordination (Exod 29:21), and the sprinkling of the blood when the covenant with Moses was inaugurated (Exod 24:3–8).
Sanctification, obedience, and the sprinkling of blood are three different ways of describing the conversion of believers in this context. Further, Exod 24:3–8 is the most probable background to the passage. The covenant is inaugurated with sacrifices in which blood is shed and sprinkled on the altar (Exod 24:5–6). The people pledge obedience to the God of the covenant (Exod 24:3, 7). The promise to obey matches the obedience Peter noted in the first part of the eis clause. Moses then sprinkled the people with the blood, stating, “This is the blood of the covenant that the LORD has made with you” (Exod 24:8). The blood of the covenant signifies the forgiveness and cleansing the people needed to stand in right relation with God. We see, then, that entrance into the covenant has two dimensions: the obedient response to the gospel and the sprinkling of blood.
God’s peace is a result of his grace and signifies the holistic sense of well-being that belongs to those who are in a right relation with God. Peter prayed that both grace and peace would be multiplied in the lives of his readers, asking God to fill them with his grace and peace.
The NIV rightly understands the participle lypēthentes as concessive (“though … you may have had to suffer grief”). Selwyn mistakenly identifies it as causal,33 but this implies that suffering is intrinsically joyful, instead of seeing that suffering is valuable only for the benefits it brings. Suffering is still painful or it would not be described as suffering. Believers rejoice despite suffering because they know that it will not persist forever. It strikes “now” (arti) and “for a little while” (oligon), but it will be swallowed up by the eschaton. Hence, when Peter said “a little while,” he was not promising that suffering on this earth will be brief.35 The difficulty is brief when compared to future glory, but it may endure for a lifetime. The diverse nature of the suffering is conveyed in the phrase “all kinds of trials.”
Peter added the interesting phrase “if necessary” (NASB, ei deon), translated by the NIV “had to.” The idea is that the sufferings believers experience are not the result of fate or impersonal forces of nature. They are the will of God for believers (cf. 1 Pet 4:19). The New Testament regularly sees sufferings as the road believers must travel to enter into God’s kingdom (cf. Acts 14:22; Rom 5:3–5; Jas 1:2–4). We should not deduce from this that sufferings are somehow enjoyable or that a specific reason should be assigned to each suffering; nor should we minimize the evil actions of others in inflicting suffering (Acts 2:23). Peter assured his readers, however, that God is working out his plan even in their anguish.
1:7 Why is it God’s plan for Christians to suffer? Verse 7 provides the reason. Sufferings function as the crucible for faith. They test the genuineness of faith, revealing whether or not faith is authentic. If faith proves to be real, the believer will receive “praise, glory and honor” when Jesus Christ returns. The idea is quite similar to Wis 3:5–6: “Having been disciplined a little, they will receive great good, because God tested them and found them worthy of himself; like gold in the furnace he tried them, and like a sacrificial burnt offering he accepted them” (NRSV). Also, “For gold is tested in the fire, and those found acceptable, in the furnace of humiliation” (Sir 2:5, RSV). Again we see the indissoluble connection between faith and faithfulness. Those who truly believe will persist in their faith, continuing to trust in God when difficulties occur. In a parenthesis authentic faith is contrasted and compared with gold. I understand, then, “of greater worth than gold, which perishes” as appositional to “the genuineness of your faith” (NRSV, to dokimion hymōn tēs pisteōs), and not as the predicate of the verb “be found” (NRSV, eurethē). Approved faith is more valuable than gold because the latter is temporary and perishes. But faith is also compared to gold, for like gold it is refined and proved through fire. Peter reminds believers again that the test may be intense and stringent. Life as aliens is anything but easy, and yet by God’s grace the lives of believers are filled with joy, not gloomy moaning.