Our Source of Holiness 1 Peter 1:1-12

Introduction

1. Good evening everyone, I am very grateful to be here today and that you have allowed me this opportunity to both uplift you and to see if there is any gifting I can gift to you today.

2. I am young, far younger than I would have liked before ever coming up here, but Lord willing I hope that the Spirit of God would lead us into all truth together as we look at the epistle of 1 Peter today.

3. Let’s now go to the Lord in prayer for understanding and guidance as we depend upon him.

-Prayer

4. Will you please turn in your bibles with me to 1 Peter 1. If I have one goal for today, its to set the trajectory for the rest of the letter.

5. Often, we get someone to read, but I want to make sure my class who will be watching this will also be able to hear, so allow me to read vv. 1-12 of chapter 1.

-text read

6. Now, when we begin to look at the letter, we begin up front with a great summary of both the writer and his position as well as the position/standing of his audience. In their case, we have both their position/standing of being exiled as well as their physical position in their exile.

A. So we see it was Simon Peter, who was close to christ, and an apostle over the church. He was directly sent by Christ, Matthew 28:16-20 in what we call, “The Great Commission” which we are still imitating to this day. -Now, I do not think Peter is elevating himself too highly here. I am not convinced he thought of himself as “the head of the church,” and that is because if you notice, Peter doesn’t say “THE apostle” but “apostle.” It seems he’s using the authority he has over the flock of God not to rule it over them but in order to best direct them with the instruction and wisdom that the Lord had graced upon him. That’s the stance that Peter takes, that of the “messenger”/apostle or the steward, not the Lord himself.

B. “To those who are elect exiles of the Dispersion” (Q) who are these exiles? (A) Not much is entirely certain, but one thing that is certain is that these are Christians. “Elect” is the word used. As these are all Gentile cities, it makes it hard to say that its only to Jewish Christians or Greek Christians, but considering the work God did in Peter in Acts to bring Jew and Gentile together, I am under the impression hes not making any distinction here. (Q2) What could have caused them to disperse to Pontus, Galatia, and the rest of the cities (what we call modern day turkey, the fringes of the empire)? (A2) Heres what we know. This letter was probably written in the early to mid 60s A.D. Nero during that time, for reasons only a madman could truly know, caused a fire to burn down the city of Rome. Peter is also in Rome during this time which he refers to as Babylon in ch 5. Now listen to this, who would make a better scapegoat for the emperor than a group of people who reject his deity, claim that the Lordship belongs to another king/emperor and that they claim to be the brothers and sisters of this emperor? This is a snapshot of the story behind such a letter.

7. (v. 2) Now Peter writes that these Christians are both elect and exiles in the context/parameter of three prepositions, but really just one plan, The Triune God’s plan. “according to,” “in the,” and “for the.” So we see the audience is both elect and exiled, and not only this, we see the “cause,” the “means,” as well as the “purpose” of their election and suffering.

A. God the Father foreknows. I won’t seek to define foreknowledge today, not because I don’t have an opinion, but because our text doesn’t deal with it specifically. But what the text does imply about foreknowledge is that if it is foreknown, it will most certainly come to pass. Psalm 136:4-5

to him who alone does great wonders,

for his steadfast love endures forever;

to him who by understanding made the heavens,

for his steadfast love endures forever;

Did God’s understanding make the heavens, or did God makes the heavens by His understanding? Obviously God is the doer. God is not passive, but works to accomplish whatever this foreknowledge is referring to. This will show up again later in v. 20 of 1 Peter in the manifestation of Christ. Its the same foreknowledge that caused Christ to be manifest.

Ephesians 2:10

For we are his workmanship, created in Christ Jesus for good works, which God prepared beforehand, that we should walk in them.

“God prepared beforehand” when was this beforehand? I am convinced this beforehand refers to before anything happened at all. Its the same beforehand when God created the heavens.

B. In the sanctification of the Spirit. This obviously must apply to the election of Christians because the Spirit of God sets us apart. The Spirit washes us, creates new desires in us in what we call “the new birth,” and it is the Spirit who separates us as a new people. That’s why we are called “saints” which simply means “the set apart ones.” The less valued part however is the part no one likes, The Spirit sanctifies through the exile. I promise you this, if you count every challenge you face because of Christ as the thing that prepares you to see him, you will understand the sufferings we face as God’s working even if its not of God’s doing.

C. Now “for obedience to Jesus Christ and for sprinkling with his blood” from our western perspective this might seem like its saying for works and for atonement, but its actually just stating the same thing in two ways for two types of people. (Q) How many of you are familiar with the sign of the mosaic covenant? (A) Yes there is circumcision, but that was not the initial sign of the mosaic covenant. The initial sign was that Moses took the blood of Oxen, threw half of it on the altar, and the other half he actually sprinkled upon the people who said before being sprinkled “all that the LORD has spoken we will do, and we will be obedient.” Exodus 24. (Q) So what is the sign of the new testament? (A) yes the blood of Jesus, but I would say that exile is the entering into the covenant as well. This is the symbol that we are sons and daughters of God, is that we go through various trials as Christ did in his life and his death. But we know that this sprinkling of his blood is also one of the symbols of our election, that the blood of Christ also covers our sins and gives us the righteousness of Christ.

8. Then we have our classic greeting used in the epistles to the churches. Except to us, its not just a greeting, but it is an earnest wish from them to us.

9. Moving in to the rest of the passage, I want to ask you (Q) Why does Peter begin this letter about having hope and purity during this time of persecution, begin the letter with the working of God? (A) I am going to submit to you, that what we see in these first 12 verses are the main source, if not the only source of hope and purity that a christian can have. The knowledge of what God has done, is doing, and will do is what Peter finds sufficient to spur the christian on in faith, hope, and love. (Q) You might ask, what about cooperating with the Spirit of God in the way you live? Does that not produce holiness? (A) Peter is not going to deny that’s important. He will give imperatives for the way we live later in the letter, but for right now, its almost as if he knows that these sojourners/exiles simply will not be able to muster enough piety in order to produce the obedience required of them to endure. It has to come from God. Therefore they need to know what God is doing in order to cause these three things faith, hope, and love so that they can truly live in obedience to Jesus Christ.

10. In vv. 3-4 we see another working of God. This is the work that God has done already. Just like earlier there is a Cause statement a means statement and a purpose statement in these two verses.

A. The Father has caused us to be born again to a living hope. Where is the origin of the birth from? The Father. Where is the hope from? The Father. Brethren, your obedience is good, but it cannot produce hope. If you want to have hope, you need to know the Father and you need to know his plan.

B. Now lets look at the means by which we are born again (walking in newness of life/holiness) and have hope. According to his great mercy as well as Through the resurrection of Jesus from the dead. As Christians, we believe that we are saved by grace alone. Its reformation month so let me say it again, God’s mercy on the cross was sufficient to atone for our sins. This IS our faith and it comes from hearing, Romans 10. Our hope is to be raised in Christ, unto newness of life. It is good to desire raises, and more stable jobs, and safer environments, but always remember our hope is for after we die and are long gone. It is not for the things of this earth.

C. Then we have our purpose statement. “to an inheritance...” Is it your inheritance? Not truly, but its kept in heaven for you. You and I were made siblings, co-heirs, to The Lord himself. So that Christ might receive the full reward of his inheritance, His inheritance becomes ours that Christ might be glorified. Its not about you or I, But we reap the benefits through God’s abundant grace. Hear me now, if this sibling language does not grow you love for God and for your brothers and sisters, no amount of works will. This knowledge needs to come first.

11. Now we see a shift in v. 5 Here we have God working in the present. God’s power is the force guarding you. (Q) But doesn’t it say through faith? (A) It was God’s word that spoke the universe into existence. It was the voice of Jesus alone that rose Lazarus from the dead. In the same way, your faith comes from the Word of Christ and by its power. Yes, it is man’s responsibility to believe, but the text is talking about the work of God. In order to share what the text is saying, we must acknowledge that this faith that saves us is being worked in us by God’s power.

12. And if it is God who is guarding us through faith, v. 6, we have reason to rejoice. We don’t have reason to rejoice if God is passive and we have to struggle on our own to maintain our faith through trials. It is because God is guarding us that WE REJOICE IN GOD!

13. As it says in v. 7, God is working, the worker, through testing to present you without impurity. Its tied in with God working in the present. I wanna look at Job 23 for a second.

English Standard Version Chapter 23

“Behold, xI go forward, but he is not there,

and backward, but I do not perceive him;

9  on the left hand when he is working, I do not behold him;

he turns to the right hand, but I do not see him.

10  But he yknows zthe way that I atake;

when he has btried me, I shall come out as gold.

11  My foot chas held fast to his steps;

I have kept his way and have dnot turned aside.

12  I have not departed from the commandment of his lips;

I have etreasured the words of his mouth more than my fportion of food.

13  But he is unchangeable,2 and gwho can turn him back?

What he hdesires, that he does.

14  For he will complete what he iappoints for me,

and many such things are jin his mind.

15  Therefore I am terrified at his presence;

when I consider, I am in dread of him.

16  God has made my kheart faint;

the Almighty has terrified me;

17  yet I am not silenced because of the darkness,

nor because thick darkness covers my face.

Do you see the connection between God being the worker and us being his workmanship? Not only are you being tested like that which is more precious than gold, the skill of the craftsman is also being tested here in how he is able to work every impurity out of the precious metal.

14. “So that the tested genuineness of your faith may be found to result in praise and glory and honor at the revelation of Jesus Christ” The purity of the metal is a testimony to the skill of the craftsman. Have faith that God will bring you through these trials because ultimately it is HIS reputation that is on the line. Ezekiel 36 “It is not for your sake, oh house of Israel, that I am about to act, but for the sake of my holy name, which you have profaned among the nations to which you came.” Faith will be produced in knowing that it is certain that God will vindicate his name regardless of how throughout our lives in the past we have profaned it. Its a promise we have from God, and belief in that promise is faith.

15. This revelation of Christ Jesus at the end of v. 7 launches us into the final working of God in our text, What he will do in the revelation of Christ. Here we see parallelism in two “though” statements. “You do not see him, you do not now see him” Yet simultaneously Peter says of these Christians, and as we will see in the next few verses that it includes us as well, you love him, you believe in him, and you have joy in him that is later to be followed by what you know to be glory. It is because of these three things produced in you through the gospel of Christ, faith, hope and love, that we currently possess something that will be revealed in the future. Look at v. 9 “obtaining the outcome of your faith, the salvation of your souls.”

16. Now we go on to a new thought in v. 10. This looking forward to the revelation of this grace is not new to us. This hope we have was not first ours. It was the prophets who by the Spirit of Christ first longed to know about the revelation of the sufferings of Christ and the subsequent glories. Then v. 12, “It was revealed to them that they were not serving themselves but you.” I do not know if Peter was aware or not, but do you not see that Peter is foreshadowing how these epistles would not just be serving the early church, but would be for our benefit in our sojournings. This, the very culmination of history! “The creation waits with eager longing for the revealing of the sons of God.” Romans 8:19. We have been waiting for this moment since the fall. -And then the angels, witness to the divine council of God, long to look into such a mystery. (Q) Why do we think so seldom of this?

17. This great mystery, revealed to us by the Holy Spirit, who by the way lives in you sealing you for this very day, is more than enough to spur us on in faith, hope, and love as we begin to be confident in the workings of God throughout all of creation. And it is with the knowledge of the working of God that allows us to bless God (back in v. 3) but also to do as Peter would have us do in the rest of the letter. V. 13 “Therefore, preparing your minds for action, and being sober-minded, set your hope fully on the grace that will be brought to you at the revelation of Jesus Christ.”

18. If we want to be holy, if we want to be prepped for obedience to Jesus Christ, then where we begin is not with ourselves, but we look upon Him. How can one believe what he has not heard? How can one have hope when one is not certain of what is to come? But most importantly, how can one love, thus fulfilling the command to love the Lord your God with all your heart, with all your soul, with all your mind, and with all your strength and likewise to love your neighbor as yourself, unless they know of the mercy of God which brought us to him through the cross? You keep this in mind, you meditate on this, and through humility and the Spirit of God, He will begin to prep you for action because in meditating on these truths you ARE prepping yourself for action.

19. It is with this mindset, the sovereign plan of God in salvation, that Peter begins his epistle to prep Christians for the persecution they are about to face from both Rome and in the rest of the world. Knowing God, this knowledge of God and his purposes, as John 17:3 rightly states, is eternal life. It IS our source of Holiness.

20. Let’s Pray