Strangers Scattered in Another World

Background of I Peter

The Author

1 Peter 1:1 KJV 1900

Peter, an apostle of Jesus Christ, to the strangers scattered throughout Pontus, Galatia, Cappadocia, Asia, and Bithynia,

Holman New Testament Commentary: I & II Peter, I, II & III John, Jude 1 Peter 1: Suffering Strengthens

AUTHOR PROFILE: PETER

• Simon, a fisherman, who followed John the Baptist until his brother Andrew introduced him to Jesus

• Name changed to Peter by Jesus, signifying the rock-like character that would ultimately dominate Peter’s personality

• Natural leader and spokesperson for the disciples

• Impulsive, sometimes selfish, and short-tempered

• Emerged as primary figure in the early church after the day of Pentecost

• Traveled widely in ministry

• Tradition indicates he was crucified upside down in Rome during the persecution by the emperor Nero, around A.D. 68

The Rock

His given name was Simeon or Simon.

Jesus Christ gave him the nickname Peter or Cephas.

Here, the apostle uses that nickname to identify himself - and he truly became the rock of the early church.

James, 1, 2 Peter, & Jude 1. The Writer (v. 1a)

To this impetuous fisherman, brother of Andrew, Jesus gave the name “Peter,” from the Greek word (petros) meaning a rock or stone (Mk. 3:16; Mt. 16:18). The Aramaic equivalent (kepha’) is the source of the name “Cephas” (Gal. 2:9), which was most likely the form Jesus first used (Jn. 1:42). Regardless, “Peter” is the name we have come to know him by. And this simple name is the one Peter uses here.

Am I shaken by the events around me?

Is my hope anchored in Jesus Christ?

The Apostle

He secondly identifies himself as an apostle. The word means someone sent on a specific task, but it became the designation of the twelve leaders of the early church and Paul. It signified someone who had seen the risen Christ personally and had previously been taught by Him.

Am I willing to fulfill my mission from God?

1 Peter 1:1 KJV 1900

Peter, an apostle of Jesus Christ, to the strangers scattered throughout Pontus, Galatia, Cappadocia, Asia, and Bithynia,

The Audience

We are strangers and scattered

1 Peter 1:1–2 KJV 1900

Peter, an apostle of Jesus Christ, to the strangers scattered throughout Pontus, Galatia, Cappadocia, Asia, and Bithynia, Elect according to the foreknowledge of God the Father, through sanctification of the Spirit, unto obedience and sprinkling of the blood of Jesus Christ: Grace unto you, and peace, be multiplied.

This identification of the original addressees has two focuses, indicating (1) their place on earth, and (2) their spiritual standing. (Picirilli)

Peter’s letter is an encyclical, addressed to churches in areas in Asia Minor, all contained in modern-day Turkey. The order in which the provinces are listed suggests the order in which a courier would deliver the letter as he traveled roughly in a circle.

Thomas R. Schreiner, 1, 2 Peter, Jude, vol. 37, The New American Commentary (Nashville: Broadman & Holman Publishers, 2003), 49.

the Christians addressed are in a broad geographical area north of the Taurus mountain range in what we now call Asia Minor (present day Turkey). Five place-names are used, apparently all in the official sense identifying four Roman provinces: Bithynia-Pontus, Galatia, Asia, and Cappadocia. (Picirilli)

Strangers

This word (Greek parepidemos) means one who dwells for a while in a place where he is not a part of its people, thus a “sojourner” or “exile”; it occurs elsewhere in the N.T. only below (2:11) and in Heb. 11:13 (“pilgrims” both places). The idea is that Christians are not really part of the people who make up the citizenry of this world but have their permanent home only in the kingdom of Heaven. We are here temporarily, “transitory sojourners yearning for home” (Kelly 41) (Picirilli)

This concept is found in two other passages - one later in I Peter and one in Hebrews:

1 Peter 2:11 KJV 1900

Dearly beloved, I beseech you as strangers and pilgrims, abstain from fleshly lusts, which war against the soul;

Hebrews 11:13 KJV 1900

These all died in faith, not having received the promises, but having seen them afar off, and were persuaded of them, and embraced them, and confessed that they were strangers and pilgrims on the earth.

word (Greek diaspora) means a dispersion, a scattering—as of seed sown, for example. Christians have been dispersed, scattered, sown abroad. Peter does not say for what, but we assume for the sowing of the Word of the gospel.

The New American Commentary: 1, 2 Peter, Jude I. Opening (1:1–2)

Believers are exiles, not because they are displaced from their homeland. Many people in the Greco-Roman world no longer lived in their place of origin. Believers are exiles because they suffer for their faith in a world that finds their faith off-putting and strange.

Am I living as an exile? Or am I clinging and gathering as much baggage as possible?

We all struggle with this. For some of us, this is material possessions, for others, it may simply be the items that carry memories for us, for still others, it is people - friends and family. All of these are good gifts from a Loving God, but we need to hold them loosely - we are pilgrims, strangers in exile.

“Hold everything in your hands lightly, otherwise it hurts when God pries your fingers open.” Corrie Ten Boom

Theme of I Peter

Hope in the midst of suffering.

Holman New Testament Commentary: I & II Peter, I, II & III John, Jude 1 Peter 1: Suffering Strengthens

“Hope is not a sedative; it is a shot of adrenaline, a blood transfusion. Like an anchor, our hope in Christ stabilizes us in the storms of life; but unlike an anchor, our hope moves us forward, it does not hold us back.”

Warren Wiersbe

Do I have hope in God today?

Holman New Testament Commentary: I & II Peter, I, II & III John, Jude 1 Peter 1: Suffering Strengthens

In chapter 1 Peter greets God’s chosen people, calling them to praise God. Although you are experiencing trials of great pain, he told them, through Christ you have a new life. These temporary detours of suffering will actually strengthen your commitment to Christ and your testimony for him. Don’t allow the trauma of the present to blur your vision of your glorious future with Christ in heaven. Don’t allow the trials of the moment to distract you from living a life of obedience to God. Demonstrate this life by reaching out to one another in love.

1 Peter 1:2 KJV 1900

Elect according to the foreknowledge of God the Father, through sanctification of the Spirit, unto obedience and sprinkling of the blood of Jesus Christ: Grace unto you, and peace, be multiplied.

We are saints delivered by the Trinity

This is one of the great passages on the Trinity that demonstrates not only the three persons of the Trinity but also the unique roles that they play in salvation:

The Father planned our salvation

The New American Commentary: 1, 2 Peter, Jude I. Opening (1:1–2)

Foreknowledge does not only mean that God foresaw that they would be his elect aliens. Foreknowledge should be understood in covenantal terms, and the foreknown are those upon whom God has bestowed his covenantal favor and affection.

Jesus Christ purchased our salvation

The New American Commentary: 1, 2 Peter, Jude I. Opening (1:1–2)

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).

The Holy Spirit administers our salvation

The New American Commentary: 1, 2 Peter, Jude I. Opening (1:1–2)

Not only does God the Father foreknow whom the elect will be, but the Spirit is the source of their sanctification

Here sanctification is not speaking of the gradual growth in our Christian life, but of the initial sanctification - the setting apart as holy that occurs at the point of salvation. God the Father planned it, Christ paid the penalty to purchase it, we obey by responding in faith, and the Holy Spirit applies that sanctifying work in our hearts.

Am I thankful for my salvation today?

1 Peter 1:2 KJV 1900

Elect according to the foreknowledge of God the Father, through sanctification of the Spirit, unto obedience and sprinkling of the blood of Jesus Christ: Grace unto you, and peace, be multiplied.

Finally, Peter ends this greeting with a prayer for them- to experience both grace and peace. For God’s grace to be manifest in their lives and their lives to be filled with the peace that passes understanding.

I can think of no better way to end this study than to pray that same prayer upon all of us who are participating.

May the grace of God and the peace of God be multiplied in our lives this week.