1 Peter

1 Peter 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. Goppelt rightly observes that God’s election is what accounts for their being exiles.

1, 2 Peter, Jude I. Opening (1:1–2)

Those who understand themselves as God’s elect have the ammunition to resist the norms and culture of the society they inhabit. 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.8 Hence, they have the energy to counter accepted cultural norms and to live in accord with God’s purpose.

1 Peter: An Introduction and Commentary (1. Salutation: Peter the Apostle to Sojourners in God’s Eternal Care (1:1–2))

The phrase ‘chosen sojourners’ thus becomes a two-word sermon to Peter’s readers: they are ‘sojourners’, not in an earthly sense (for many no doubt had lived in one city their whole lives), but spiritually: their true homeland is heaven (cf. Phil. 3:20) and any earthly residence therefore temporary. Yet they are ‘chosen’ sojourners, ones whom the King of the universe has chosen to be his own people, to benefit from his protection, and to inhabit his heavenly kingdom.

I & II Peter, I, II & III John, Jude A. Greeting (vv. 1–2)

Peter says to these people, “Take courage. Wherever you live geographically, in Christ you are part of God’s elect. He chose you.”

I & II Peter, I, II & III John, Jude A. Greeting (vv. 1–2)

Peter’s initial desire was to give the believers a lift, an encouraging word. His emphasis in these first two verses should most likely be translated: “To the chosen ones who are strangers in the world, scattered … according to the foreknowledge of God the Father.”