Standing in God's Grace as Chosen Outcasts
Notes
Transcript
Handout
Emperor Nero was a narcissistic leader of the world during the infancy of Christianity. Historian Tom Holland reports that he, “killed his own mother, kicked his pregnant wife to death…and he was, dressed like a woman, married to a man.” In addition, following a drunken party in the city of Rome, he set the city on fire and used the Christians as scapegoats — blaming them for the devastation. Christians were not only killed, but they were exiled from Rome and many were fleeing for their lives. [Holland, Tom, Dominion: How the Christian Revolution Remade the World, p. 98]
I Peter 1:1-2 - They are “elect exiles”
1 Peter 1:1–2 (KJV 1900)
1 Peter, an apostle of Jesus Christ, to the strangers scattered throughout Pontus, Galatia, Cappadocia, Asia, and Bithynia, 2 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.
Peter writes to these Christians with an express purpose. I Peter 5:12
12 By Silvanus, a faithful brother unto you, as I suppose, I have written briefly, exhorting, and testifying that this is the true grace of God wherein ye stand.
Peter wrote to convince these persecuted Christians that this is the TRUE GRACE OF GOD.
For these Christians, the persecution, verbal slander, and injustices were disorienting from the grace of God; but today, we often do not have this level of suffering that causes us to ask such an important question about the grace of God.
What is the true grace of God and how do we are we standing in it?
Some think that living according to God’s grace as a chosen outcast means hyper-separatism. The problem with hyper-separatism is that Peter is teaching these people how to live within communities where they are feeling pressure. He is not teaching them to withdraw into hyper-separatism.
Some think that living according to God’s grace as a chosen outcast means assimilation - produce as few waves as possible and be comfortable. The problem with complete assimilation is that Peter is teaching people how to live Christlike in the midst of a culture that is un-Christlike. Thus, you should expect — rightly so — a clear distinction between the values of your life and that of the surrounding culture.
Some think that living according to God’s grace as a chosen outcast means to suppression — suppression of grief we feel or experience. Suppression of the feeling of loss. Suppression of any expression of grief — in favor of acting like everything is perfect. The problem with suppression is that Peter directly deals with the difficulty that the Christians are suffering. There is no cover up.
Some think that living according to God’s grace as a chosen outcast means dependence upon dispensationalism. The problem is that when this view is taken to an extreme, it leads to people who chalk up society to the increasingly perilous times and soon return of Jesus; hence, there is often NOT real, deep thoughtful consideration on how to live intentionally right now.
Prop:
Prop:
Stand in the true grace of God as chosen outcasts.
Stand in the true grace of God as chosen outcasts.
Kid’s Pause: God’s grace is not just something you receive when you get saved, but it is something that helps you to live life when life is not fun.
What does “standing in the true grace of God mean? Standing in the true grace of God means that you:
(1) Believe who you are as a chosen outcast. (I Peter 1:1-2)
(1) Believe who you are as a chosen outcast. (I Peter 1:1-2)
Holland, “Their [Christians] delight in posing as aliens, as transients, made a boast out of what should properly have been a cause of shame.” [Ibid, 116]
Standing in the true grace of God requires a confrontation with who you really are. Peter accomplishes this first by:
(a) Identifying himself in a particular way:
(a) Identifying himself in a particular way:
as Peter, the Greek name given to him by Jesus when he was called as a disciple. In addition, Peter identifies himself as this messenger or apostle. In this way, Peter is showing how he too was chosen by the Lord. Peter was chosen to carry the message of Christ’s gospel.
(b) Identifying those who are elect exiles:
(b) Identifying those who are elect exiles:
as Peter speaks to the recipients he uses two terms which are typically used in the Old Testament nation of Israel.
God had chosen his people Israel from among the other nations. Deuteronomy 14:2
2 For thou art an holy people unto the Lord thy God, and the Lord hath chosen thee to be a peculiar people unto himself, above all the nations that are upon the earth.
God is also the One who sent his people into exile through judgment by other nations.
As Peter uses these terms, he is immediately connecting the New Testament believers with an Old Testament identity of God’s people. This is another way of affirming that the One true God is their God.
Is the one true God your God?
It is also a way of immediately saying to these Christians who are in suffering that God is in control.
When circumstances are not so good, do you have more confidence in your ability to control or God’s sovereign care?
In particular, Peter is implicitly confirming that being chosen is just as much a part of his will as being outcast.
App: Parents, as much as you want your children to be received by peers, you must understand that being a Christian is not only a call to be chosen of God but also simultaneously a call to be an outcast. So, learn ways to train your children to understand acceptance through the gospel.
Many of us are ok with being God’s chosen, but are you ok with being an outcast relative to society?
App: Young adults, some of you are dying to become perceived as normal in society — you want the career, the house, the car, the night life…etc but do not give your life to these pursuits. As chosen of God, it is expected that you will be an outcast relative to society.
Kid’s Pause: Children, what do you believe about you? Do you believe what God says about you?
Recap: Believe who you are as a chosen outcast
If there is any truth that can bring comfort to someone who may question God’s goodness, it is the next truth.
(2) Believe how you became a chosen outcast. (I Peter 2:2)
(2) Believe how you became a chosen outcast. (I Peter 2:2)
In this verse, Peter reveals how someone became chosen:
(a) You become chosen according to the foreknowledge of God the Father
(a) You become chosen according to the foreknowledge of God the Father
We must not mistake the term foreknowledge to simply mean that God passively knew what was going to happen. The term means that God planned and participated.
The NT understanding of God’s foreknowledge of his people indicates that God did not simply observe them or have information about them at some prior time in history. Instead, God chose them according to (κατά, kata), or consistent with, his plan and purpose long before God formed a people to be his own. NT New Testament - Jobes, K. H. (2005). 1 Peter (p. 68). Grand Rapids, MI: Baker Academic.
Cross references: Acts 2:23, Romans 8:29 In both cases the word is used with the activity of God.
23 Him, being delivered by the determinate counsel and foreknowledge of God, ye have taken, and by wicked hands have crucified and slain:
29 For whom he did foreknow, he also did predestinate to be conformed to the image of his Son, that he might be the firstborn among many brethren.
Objection: Peter is not arguing about God’s sovereignty versus free will. He is not trying to prove Calvinism or Arminianism or any - ism. Peter is simply trying to ground hurting, persecuted people in the truth that God chose them, and that means He cares and is in control.
Illustration: Lest you think it was Joseph’s brethren who sent him to Egypt, it was not they but God who sent Joseph down into Egypt.
So this brings up the question, “What did the Father foreknowingly do or plan or participate in so that we could be chosen outcasts?
Now the word for elect or chosen is used two other times in Peter, and it is important to note these. I Peter 1:20, 2:4.
20 Who verily was foreordained before the foundation of the world, but was manifest in these last times for you,
4 To whom coming, as unto a living stone, disallowed indeed of men, but chosen of God, and precious,
God sent the CHOSEN One — Jesus Christ. Jesus is the One who is pure in heart. He is the approved One.
Illustration: The significance of this can be illustrated from an Old Testament story. I Samuel 16:1-13
The language of the Lord is helpful here. When Eliab comes before Samuel, the Lord says (I Samuel 16:7).
7 But the Lord said unto Samuel, Look not on his countenance, or on the height of his stature; because I have refused him: for the Lord seeth not as man seeth; for man looketh on the outward appearance, but the Lord looketh on the heart.
Then through the procession Jesse’s sons, you hear the narrator say, “The Lord hath not chosen these...” The Lord was looking for one who could be anointed with the Spirit for the deliverance of His people.
This is the idea that Peter is communicating here, but in Peter’s case, he is referring to the perfect Chosen One — the Elect Jesus. Thus, God participates or plans to make a body of chosen outcasts by first approving, choosing, exposing the divine favor of Jesus Christ.
But if Jesus was the Chosen One, how is he also an outcast? This is the other time Peter uses the word. I Peter 2:6—8.
6 Wherefore also it is contained in the scripture, Behold, I lay in Sion a chief corner stone, elect, precious: and he that believeth on him shall not be confounded. 7 Unto you therefore which believe he is precious: but unto them which be disobedient, the stone which the builders disallowed, the same is made the head of the corner, 8 And a stone of stumbling, and a rock of offence, even to them which stumble at the word, being disobedient: whereunto also they were appointed.
Peter quotes Psalm 118:22, showing that Jesus is the Cornerstone who was rejected. But who planned all of this out? Psalm 118:23 is so important for context of what Peter is trying to get across.
22 The stone which the builders refused
Is become the head stone of the corner.
23 This is the Lord’s doing;
It is marvellous in our eyes.
Application:
Application:
This is what it means to stand in the grace of God - that God has planned, pursued, sacrificed and saved me as one of his chosen.
App: [Unbeliever] You may still be objecting to Christianity, but there is only One Person who can cause you to make sense of suffering, who has redeemed suffering for his good purposes, who has willingly entered into our suffering so that He might save us to himself for eternity — that is Jesus Christ.
(*) Do you believe that it is right to be a chosen outcast because you are trusting in the Chosen Outcast?
(b) You become chosen through the sanctification of the Spirit
(b) You become chosen through the sanctification of the Spirit
This phrase is a reference to the operation of the Holy Spirit when the word of God was initially preached to these chosen outcasts.
The Spirit of God powerfully used the word of God to set apart the people of God. I Peter 1:23-24, I Thessalonians 1:5
Application:
Application:
This is what it means to stand in the grace of God - that God has effectively accomplished this work in my own heart by His Spirit without which I would not have understood and could not have believed in Jesus Christ.
Kid’s Pause: We become chosen by God and an outcast to society through the work of God the Father, God the Son, and God the Holy Spirit.
Recap: Believe who you are, Believe how you became who you are...
Application/Conclusion:
Application/Conclusion:
(3) Behave purposefully as a chosen outcast. (I Peter 1:2) - obedience and sprinkling of blood
(3) Behave purposefully as a chosen outcast. (I Peter 1:2) - obedience and sprinkling of blood
In this verse Peter is showing why you have been chosen. Exodus 24:3-8
(a) for obedience
(b) and sprinkling of blood
to be in committed covenant with Jesus Christ, who shed his blood to bring you into covenant. - I Peter 2:9
9 But ye are a chosen generation, a royal priesthood, an holy nation, a peculiar people; that ye should shew forth the praises of him who hath called you out of darkness into his marvellous light:
App:
Standing in the grace of God means that, if you are in Jesus Christ, then you must consider all true suffering in light of God’s grace to you.
Standing in the grace of God means that, if you are a teen, your life is not about drowning out suffering in thoughtless activities but life is about daily believing who you are, how you became who you are, and behaving accordingly.
Standing in the grace of God means that, grandparents, your priority in life is not primarily to leave your family with a comfortable living when you are gone. Your priority is to teach your family that they are strangers, pilgrims in this world.
Are you standing in the true grace of God by believing who you are, believing how you became who you are, and behaving purposefully?
Illustration: Exodus 12:30-39