1 Peter 1:1-2

Peter, an apostle of Jesus Christ,

To those who are elect exiles of the Dispersion in Pontus, Galatia, Cappadocia, Asia, and Bithynia, according to the foreknowledge of God the Father, in the sanctification of the Spirit, for obedience to Jesus Christ and for sprinkling with his blood:

May grace and peace be multiplied to you.

Outline:

v1 a“Peter, an apostle of Jesus Christ, To those who are elect exiles of the Dispersion”

Our comfort is not in situations but in our identity

• We are the people of God’s divine election (elect)
• We are elected not for this world (exiles)
• We are elected to live in the world (dispersion/diaspora)

Introduction

How many of you have mentors and mentees. How many of you have told “you don’t understand my situation. You are not able to understand what I am going through” ? How many of you would agree to it ?

Many times, may not be always, we have tendency to be comfortable by pointing at our circumstances as an excuse to avoid some level of persecution. Be it at college, office, in government offices, or be it at our homes..

In other words, most of the times we try to derive or imply or define our identity from our circumstances. Once our identity is taken from our circumstances, there onward we try to derive our practical aspects of life, how to live, how to respond to particular situation. How many times we would have told this about some one, “He was born and brought up in that culture. That’s reason he was like that !!! Our culture defines our identity.”

The whole epistle of Peter talks about having Joy in Suffering. Don’t you think this is a self contradictory statement ? How many times have you seen people telling with a smiling face, “I am going through lot of sufferings” ?

Just to avoid confusion, let me differentiate between joy and happiness. Happiness is a good feeling that comes generally based on the circumstances we are in, how the people respond to us etc.. but Joy is something that comes irrespective of the circumstance and mainly by making peace with what you are and who you are and why you are.

You would have remembered James 1:2 “Consider it pure joy, my brothers and sisters, whenever you face trials of many kinds “

We might not be observing this. But many times even we experience this upto certain level in our daily life. Don’t we ? A fathermother suffers for hisher kid. They don’t feel bad because they find joy in doing that. They love to suffer for the sake of their children. Here the joy doesn’t come from the situations, but it comes from who they are, father/mother, its their identity with kid that gives the joy, but not the circumstance that they were in. They might be unhappy though for a while, but it is the joy out of their identity that drives them to suffer.

Well, the struggles mentioned here in the first epistle of Peter are not the consequences our sins. But it is when we suffer for doing what’s good. “For it is better to suffer for doing good, if that should be God’s will, than for doing evil.” 1Peter 3:17, It is suffering for the sake of Christ. When we suffer because we stood for what is right according to the scripture.

If you think you have never faced any disturbance/persecution, may be you need to check if you are in in right path or you are compromising. Even in our daily lives, we feel like we are suffering. And most of the times we feel this because of the circumstances that we are in. Some of you are in college, who struggle to survive in college, some in office struggling to work, some at home struggling to manage the people at home which is toughest for all homemakers. How do we look it this situation through the lenses of the Scripture. What does Bible say about it how we ought to live in this world?

We are going to start a new book which is an epistle written by St. Peter. The disciple of Jesus Christ. God willing I will be continuing this epistle regularly. We’ll be concentrating on first verse alone, though 1st and 2nd are tightly coupled, we can still spend some time on the first verse along with the intro of this book.

"Peter, the apostle of Jesus Christ."

As the letter suggests, the author is Peter. We all know that Peter is a disciple of the Lord Jesus Christ. We know about him as someone who is very active, vibrant, quick tempered. He is one of the closest circle of Jesus (Not because Jesus loved them more than other disciples though). He walked on water with Jesus, He is the first disciples to confess that Jesus is Son of God. At the same time he’s the one was drowned in the same water and was called as Satan by Jesus. He boldly said, he would never leave Jesus and at the same pace he boldly rejected that he never knew who Jesus is. Very interesting character, right ?

He first met incarnated Jesus in boat while fishing. At the end of John’s gospel he again meets Resurrected Jesus while fishing. After that peter was not the same. His encounter with Jesus, and when He was filled with Holy Spirit, we see a different Peter altogether. During the day of Pentecost, when there was so much of confusion, Peter stood up with other disciples and addressed the gathering and 3000 people accepted Jesus Christ as Personal Saviour. Later when Peter and John were going to temple Peter said to the lame man by birth “I have no silver and gold, but what I do have I give to you. In the name of Jesus Christ of Nazareth, rise up and walk!”Acts 3:6. Immediately after that when they were called to the court and were asked not to share the gospel, again peter says “Whether it is right in the sight of God to listen to you rather than to God, you must judge, 20 for we cannot but speak of what we have seen and heard.” Acts 4:19 What a change ?

Probably, if such person writes a letter we might be expecting, how was his life with Jesus, what Jesus used to do when He was with his close circle, how was the experience of walking on water !! But Peter concentrates on what made him the person He is.. The death, burial, and resurrection of Jesus Christ and the hope that one day He will come back. Again and again Peter reminds his audience of who they are and what’s the hope that they have..

When Peter is addressing the audience, he also mentions himself as the apostle of Jesus Christ. The office of the apostle does not and cannot continue, for the apostles were eye-witnesses of Christ’s resurrection. Peter, as an apostle, together with Silas, a prophet, labored with other apostles and prophets to lay the foundation of the church. Together they taught the doctrine that Jesus committed to them in the Spirit. The church is apostolic today to the extent that it remains upon the doctrinal foundation established by the apostles. No-one today can claim the authority of an apostle, either by virtue of ecclesiastical office or charismatic enduement. The work and calling of the apostle are finished in witnessing to the final revelation of God in Jesus Christ. He is the final Prophet, just as he is the final Priest, and Peter writes to bear authoritative witness to him.[1]

Let’s look at the message that Peter, the apostle of Jesus Christ, brings to the people

Our comfort is not in situations but in our identity:

The audience of the people are located in Asia Minor, Modern Turkey. We do not know for sure if the audience are entirely Gentile or Jews. Because of the amount of Old Testament references he has used, the audience are assumed to be Jews. But some of the verses like 1:14, 1:18, 2:9–10, 2:25, 3:6, and 4:3–4 gives an opinion that they are mostly gentile converts. In those days, these people were under Roman government. In provinces all that the Romans required is their ruling and them being in power. Because of that they have given some of the exceptions to the Jews in terms of temple worship. Otherwise Jews were forced to worship Roman empires and Ceaser.

As long as Christians were recognized as branch of Judaism they would have enjoyed such exemptions.[2] But once that relationship is ceased, their legal position is highly under question. Such is the situation where the Christians started some level persecution because of their belief in Jesus Christ. I don’t think believing alone would cause much of the problems to others that they would inflict persecution. But it is following Jesus that made them exposed to the persecution. And Peter is addressing this issue of how to deal such situations and preparing them for even greater suffering and to comfort them in their tough times.

1. We are the people of God’s divine election (elect):

Whenever we write a letter, nowadays we hardly write letters, but at least we write emails now. Sometimes we mention dear sir, respected sir, brother in Christ. The addressing of the receivers will always have an impact on the reader. We see Paul address of his audience in Ephesians as saints. Here we see Peter addressing them as the elect of God. Other versions have “chosen” according to Foreknowledge, or Elect according to Foreknowledge. NRSV says, chosen and destined by God.

Divine election was a characteristic of the people of Israel as a whole (Deut. 4:37, 7:6, 14:2, Is. 45:4, Ps. 105:6, 43) now transferred to the Christian Church as the inheritor of Israel’s calling. We are sons and daughters of Abraham by faith in the New Covenant.

What do we mean by Elect ? God in His Sovereignty has elected few out of His unconditional Grace for His eternal Salvation. It is not we who chose God but its God who chose us even before the creation of the world. Eph 1:4, John 6:44, Rom 8:29. We believe in God, because He chose us first and He gave us His spirit so that we could repent and believe in Him which we call as regeneration. He also gives His Spirit to us as permanent dwelling in us so that we will grow in His knowledge.

I know there are people who say, “No.. No.. even in our sinful nature we would be able to choose the things of God. we would be able to accept Jesus Christ only then HolySpirt dwells in us.” There is group in facebook called “Calvanism vs Arminianism”, who kind of argue on this topic. Whether we can lose our salvation or not. Referring to John 3:16 one person sarcastically posted, “all is not all” for Calvinists. Because they say God chose only few for His eternal salvation. As a response, a person from calvinist camp posted, “elect is not elect, predestination is not predestination for arminians 😉 “

We are not here to have a kind of arguments with this doctrine. We are not here to find out curiously who is elect and who is not. It is not man’s job to find His Secret will about who will be saved and who will be not. But this doctrine of election has lot of comfort for us in our trouble times. God’s sovereign election gives us identity that we are His chosen people, we are His children, and Our salvation is in His hands not in ours. Praise be to God. I generally tell people that “Thank God, my salvation is not in my hand. Otherwise I would have lost it by now ;)” I am not saying. Since we are not controlling our salvation, we can live to please our sinful desires of flesh. If that’s what you are thinking, probably you should need to question your salvation. Because, a truely regenerated person can never enjoy sin for a long time. There will always be a struggle in him with his/her flesh. God’s divine election gives us identity, hope and comfort so that we can have joy in our lives irrespective of our circumstances.

What is our attitude towards God, who chose us for His plans and purposes to have Joy in our lives ? Do we look back at Him in gratitude and worship Him for all the things that He has given us which we don’t deserve ?

How do we treat our fellow believers. Is our identity is seen as God’s chosen people when we deal them ? Does our life reflect His Joy and Peace in us when we involve in others’ life ? May the Lord help us to understand His truth and live as His Chosen people.

2. We are elected not for this world (exiles) :

As we kept reminding us that we are elect of God’s people, God’s divine election also reminds us that one day we will be with Him. Romans 8:29-30 “For those whom he foreknew he also predestined to be conformed to the image of his Son, in order that he might be the firstborn among many brothers. And those whom he predestined he also called, and those whom he called he also justified, and those whom he justified he also glorified.”

There is no U turn after the journey is started. The author calls the audience as elect exiles. NASB says ‘those who reside as aliens’, captures the idea of temporary residence away from one’s homeland, which is same as ‘sojourners’. They are “sojourners”, i.e. uprooted from their old securities and forming an enclave within their surroundings.

In what way they are exiles as God’s chosen people? What does the word exile, remind us first ? Israel right ? Israel were called as exiles when they were taken away from their home land.

But the audience are already in their homeland. They are the localites who accepted Jesus Christ. In what way they are the exiles ? They were exiles because they don’t belong here. As Paul says “But our citizenship is in heaven. And we eagerly await a Savior from there, the Lord Jesus Christ,” Phil 3:20. The author is reminding the audience that they are exiles. They don’t belong there. Though temporarily they make residence there.

I don’t know how many of you were there in hostels. Especially if you are little pampered at home it becomes little tough for us to stay away from home. After my 10th standard, I was put into hostel for +2. Whenever there were some holidays we used to pack our luggage one week before so that we could go home. During this time, we used to get adjusted even if hostel food was not good or things didn’t go well.. Why ? coz we know that these things are temporary.. After few days we’ll be going back to home. This happens even with us also.. When we go to someone’s place with whom we are not comfortable, we adjust there for some time. Why ? we know that that’s not the end. We go back to our home.

Think in this way, When God is calling us exiles, sojourners.. He is telling us, I have chosen you, I have placed you there and you are not going to stay there for long. I will take you home one day. Can we trust in God’s promise and live like a sojourners in this world.

3. We are elected to live in the world (dispersion/diaspora):

As we kept reminding us that we are elect of God’s people and we are elected not for this world. We are not to live here as if we are ignorant of everything that is going on here. That’s not the picture that we should be having in our mind. Rather we are called to live like His children on this earth. Peter is addressing the people as in they are in dispersion or diaspora. NIV says “scattered throughout Pontus, Galatia, Cappadocia, Asia, and Bithynia, who are chosen “ After the scattering of Jews in BC 584 Jews were referred as people in dispersion. That’s where see James 1:1 “James, a servant of God and of the Lord Jesus Christ, To the twelve tribes in the Dispersion: Greetings. “

The Dispersion (diaspora) was a term used by Greek-speaking Jews to refer to Jewish people ‘scattered’ throughout the nations, ‘dispersed’ from their homeland, Israel. Here and in James 1:1, ‘Dispersion’ refers to Christians, but this does not imply that Peter was writing only to Jewish Christians. Rather, the term here has a new spiritual sense, referring to Christians ‘dispersed’ throughout the world and living away from their heavenly homeland (yet hoping some day to reach it). The word thus reinforces the meaning of ‘sojourners’ and adds the idea that they are part of a ‘worldwide’ scattering of Christians.

We are living in this world. When Adam sinned the whole humanity has gone under the curse. He was given a privilege to represent God. But He lost it. There was no way for the man to restore the relationship. We are sinners by birth. No one is born as neutral person. In fact there’s nothing called as morally neutral. We are either good or bad. Not speaking when we have to speak, is being not being neutral. But it is bad. Not doing what we have to do is not being morally neutral. But it is bad again. The Bible says, “No one is righteous, all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God”, Romans 3:23. But Christ has chosen unto His righteous to make us righteous through Jesus. Jesus paid it all on the cross for us. And now we’ve the privilege to represent God again through Christ as His Children. That happens when we are still in this world.

This time God still knew that we would struggle. That’s why He gave us His Holy Spirit to sanctify us. It doesn’t mean that we have no part in sanctification.. Scripture says we are justified by faith. But nowhere in scripture do we see we are sanctified by faith. Rather the scriptures points us to obedience to Christ in our sanctification. We are encouraged to obey Jesus, not because we would gain salvation, but because that’s what we are, His chosen people.

Finally, The church was under persecution for what they believed.. they were not ready to compromise.. the only Christians who are comfortable are those who compromise.. and the cost of compromise is more than standing for it. We are the bearers of Christ’s name. We are here to glorify God. We are expected to live for His glory because that is what we are.

Peter reminds the people to continue to live an uncompromised life for they are the people of God’s divine election, the were the sojourners who are living away from their homeland for a temporary time and they are to live as witness for God so that they faith may be tested.

This is a reminder for us as well. May God help us to live for His glory.

References:

[1] Clowney, E. P. (1988). The message of 1 Peter: the way of the cross (p. 31). Leicester, England; Downers Grove, IL: InterVarsity Press.

[2] Selwyn, E. G. (1946). The First Epistle of St. Peter with Introduction, Notes, and Essays (p. 52). London: Macmillan & Co. Ltd.

[3] Grudem, W. A. (1988). 1 Peter: an introduction and commentary (Vol. 17). Downers Grove, IL: InterVarsity Press.

[4] Davids, P. H. (1990). The First Epistle of Peter . Grand Rapids, MI: Wm. B. Eerdmans Publishing Co.

[5] Marshall, I. H. (1991). The IVP New Testament Commentary Series: 1 Peter Downers Grove, IL: InterVarsity Press.

[6] Calvin, J., & Owen, J. (2010). Commentaries on the Catholic Epistles . Bellingham, WA: Logos Bible Software.