1 Peter: Introduction

The Man

Highlights of Peter’s life

Jesus calling Peter by the Sea of Galilee

Peter’s nets are filled with fish, and Peter realizes that he is in the presence of divine power.

And he falls on his face saying, “Leave me alone for I am a sinful man!”

Walks on the water to meet Jesus, suddenly becoming afraid and doubting and sinks like a stone until Jesus raises him up and leads him back to the boat

He is present at the Mount of Transfiguration and blurts out, “Hey, it’s sure a good thing that we are here! Let’s build some tents for you and Moses and Elijah to live in!”

When Jesus ask the disciples who people say that He is, Peter is the one who makes that amazing declaration, “You are the CHRIST! (the Chosen One) the Son of the Living God!”

And then mere moments later, Peter gets rebuked by Jesus for denying that Jesus should ever die

And it’s Peter who is both so zealous about defending Jesus that he whips out a sword and cuts off the ear of a servant, and

It’s Peter who is so scared of another servant’s questions that he denies ever having known the Lord

It’s Peter who runs to the tomb and passes the other disciple and goes inside, so eager is he to see if Jesus really had risen from the dead

It’s Peter who jumps from the boat into the water and swims to shore when He recognizes Jesus standing there, so eager is he to get to Jesus

It’s Peter who, when the Holy Spirit falls on him, becomes a bold preacher in the Book of Acts and one of the most prominent leaders in the early church

It’s Peter who, as tradition goes anyway, goes to a horrific death, declaring his unworthiness to die as Jesus did, so great is his love for his Savior

And more

I am so glad that Scripture gives us Peter to get to know a little bit

And we have noted before that we identify so much with him.

Loving the Lord so much, yet so many times our own fears and baggage gets in the way.

Peter is a simple fisherman from Galilee. A man probably with only basic learning

A hard-working man whose life one day takes an incredible turn

As he is sought out and called by a young rabbi.

And he leaves the fishing trade and enters into a life of traveling, service, and learning

And we see in the Gospels how Jesus loves him, teaches him, mentors and coaches him, restores him. Sometimes rebukes him.

And when the Holy Spirit empowers him, we see just how much he has changed, how much God has done in his life

The Place

It is believed that Peter wrote this letter from Rome not too long before his martyrdom.

The reason that we think this is because of this sort of strange verse at the end of the book:

1 Peter 5:13 “13 She who is at Babylon, who is likewise chosen, sends you greetings, and so does Mark, my son.”

When he says, “She who is at Babylon”, it’s believed that this is sort of a coded reference to the church at Rome, to possibly keep his location a secret in case this letter was intercepted.

The Audience

The elect exiles of the Dispersion in Pontus, Galatia, Cappadocia, Asia, and Bithynia (ESV)

Areas of modern day Turkey

Now, the KJV, translates verse 1 as PETER, an apostle of Jesus Christ, to the strangers scattered throughout Pontus, Galatia, Cappadocia, Asia, and Bithynia,

Which is an ok translation.

However, the ESV translation, I believe is better because it uses this word “Dispersion”.

What the KJV translates as “scattered”, the ESV translates as “Dispersion”.

I know that this is a bit academic, but stick with me for a moment.

The Greek word that Peter uses here is διασπορά (diaspora).

This exact word only appears 3 times in the NT and it is used to refer to the scattering (dispersion) of the Jewish people, God’s chosen people

Scattered away from land of Israel by exile, persecution, and warfare

Who found themselves residing in foreign lands, yet still chosen and loved by God

The other two places that we read this word, διασπορά (diaspora) are

John 7:35 The Jews were looking for Jesus at the feast, and they asked each other, “35 The Jews said to one another, “Where does this man intend to go that we will not find him? Does he intend to go to the Dispersion among the Greeks and teach the Greeks?”

Also in James 1:1 “1 James, a servant of God and of the Lord Jesus Christ, To the twelve tribes in the Dispersion: Greetings.” The KJV says, “To the twelves tribes scattered abroad”

Again, referring to the scattering of the Jews

So when I first read this word “Dispersion” in 1 Peter, I immediately thought that Peter’s audience is Jewish.

But, actually, the Believers in these regions would have been primarily Gentile, with some Jewish Believers mixed in

And what we find is that there is strong evidence to suggest that Peter has both Jewish and Gentile Christians in mind when he is writing.

We will see this as we study the book

And by using the word “Dispersion” in reference to both Jews and Gentiles, Peter is giving us a glimpse of his point of view

That is, that the Church of Jesus Christ, the Believers in Jesus, both Jews and Greeks, are being joined with the nation of Israel, God’s chosen people

Much like the case the Paul makes in Romans 11, showing us how we as Gentile Believers, by faith in Jesus are grafted into Israel, sharing in the promises that God made to them, and the covenants that God made with them

The Message

The message of this letter is pretty straightforward:

Stay strong in suffering. Have hope in the midst of hardship.

The Believers that he was addressing, along with most of the Believers in the Roman empire were expriencing persecution and suffering, not only at the hands of the Rmans, but at the hands of the Jews as well.

And they were often discouraged and confused about what was happening to them.

How do we respond when it seems like everyone is against us? How should we live? Will this persecution last forever?

Peter’s message to them is

Stay strong

Have hope

Live obediently

Realize that there is ultimate deliverance. This suffering, though it seems long and unending really is short in the light of eternity.

Deliverance is coming and there are great blessings in store for those who remain faithful

This is a good message for us today, don’t you think?

So, let’s start 1 Peter 1:1-2

1 Peter 1:1–2 ESV

1 Peter, an apostle of Jesus Christ, To those who are elect exiles of the Dispersion in Pontus, Galatia, Cappadocia, Asia, and Bithynia, 2 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.

Let’s pray

So, we’ve talked a bit about the διασπορά, the diaspora, but now I want to look even closer at how Peter describes them

He calls them elect

And they are elect according to the foreknowledge of God the Father

Election and Foreknowledge

I don’t know what you think about when you hear these words

But I know some of what pops into my mind.

What comes into my mind is that there is a debate that rages around this idea of God electing us, or choosing us.

In my experience in the Mennonite world, I have found the teaching of election to be a bit problematic

There are two sides to this debate, and some sides that are somewhere in the middle, as there usually is with a debate

The one side says that it is God, and God alone who chooses who will hear the Gospel and be saved.

This side will also say that if God chooses you, His grace is irresistible, and you will be saved. You might try to resist His grace, but no human power can overcome God’s will, and so you will give in at some point and be saved.

And then once you are saved, you will continue to be saved. His saving power will keep you, and even though you may stumble and fall, you cannot loose your salvation.

The other side says, “How can that be?”

Do you mean that God has chosen some to hear the Gospel, and some to NOT hear the Gospel? That doesn’t sound right to us

And doesn’t the Bible present us with the idea of mankind having a free will?

Doesn’t God allow us to choose whether or not we are going to follow Him?

“Choose you this day whom you will serve...”

If salvation is a gift, doesn’t that mean that we can reject that gift and throw it away even after we have received it?

And if God has already chosen who will be saved, what about missions? Do we really have to go out and evangelize if that’s the case? I can stay home and watch football, and those who have been appointed to salvation will be saved with or without me!

And if once you are saved, you always will be saved, doesn’t that mean that you can just go out and live how you want?

What about holy living?

In fact, there are some folks out here who believe that every time you sin, you have lost your salvation and need to be “re-saved” if you will

This is the side that we Mennonites have generally come out on.

That, hey, we as people have some role to play in this as well. We have a choice to make when it comes to salvation!

The other side would be more that of Calvinism. You hear it more referred to as “Reformed”.

But this teaching of election has sparked, at best, lively discussions, and, at worse, divisions. because there are strong opinions on both sides.

I think I told you that at my grandfather’s funeral, one of the ministers felt led to warn us of “heresy”.

One saved, always saved was one of those “heresy’s”

On the flip side, when I was a student at Moody, a guy from my floor, a friend that I played a lot of raquetball with, took me out to Pizzeria Uno’s and over Chicago deep dish pizza, he tried to persuade me why I was wrong and why I should be a 5-point Calvinist like him.

Well, I appreciated the pizza, and even though we remained friends and still played raquetball together, he didn’t persuade me to become a 5-point Calvinist.

Well, I won’t pretend to clear up this debate today or ever for that matter, But here’s a few thoughts. I think that we make WAY too much of this debate

And these two sides spend WAY too much time reacting to each other over these points

Because the fact is, I think we are closer to each other than we think

There is not a Calvinist alive who would claim to know whom God has chosen and whom He has rejected.

And so, to a Calvinist, missions and evangelism is still supremely important.

To spread the Gospel with as much urgency as possible so that those whom God has chosen will hear!

That is something that I can get on board with

And there is not a Calvinist alive who would claim that if you are “once saved always saved”, that means you can just go out and live like you want.

On the contrary! If God has chosen you and you are saved, your life will change!

Shall we continue in sin that grace may abound? God forbid!

That’s something that I can get on board with

The second thing that I want to say is, that the fact that we have spent 500 years or more debating the idea of God’s election

might mean that we aren’t going to figure it out and that maybe this is something that could only be conceived in the mind of God

And that we need to relax a little bit and instead of pointing fingers at each other, maybe we need to stand in awe of God

That once again He has come up with something that we can’t figure out!

And the third thing I want to say is, that if you have heard the Gospel and responded, that means he has elected you!

YOU have been chosen

Elect

ἐκλεκτός (eklektos). adj. chosen. Chosen or worthy of choice

Outside the NT, eklektos can refer to things or people chosen by humans, but the NT uses it only for people (and angels) chosen by God; thus, in the NT it primarily refers to believers in Jesus (e.g., 1 Pet 1:1; Rev 17:14).

In the parable of the wedding feast in Matthew, eklektos refers to those who have been brought into the kingdom of God as outsiders, in contrast to those who were invited and did not come (Matt 22:14).

As God’s chosen people, the elect are expected to live in ways that emulate Jesus Christ, God’s First Chosen (Col. 3:12).

English Standard Version Chapter 3

Put on then, as God’s chosen ones, holy and beloved, compassionate hearts, kindness, humility, meekness, and patience,

First Peter 2:9 references OT passages about Israel as God’s “chosen (eklektos) race, a royal priesthood, a holy nation” and applies them to God choosing Christians.

Folks, here is the amazing thing: You and I have been CHOSEN.

Not only that, but chosen according to the foreknowledge of God!

In other words, in agreement with the foreknowledge of God.

This is totally consistent with His character. It is in agreement with who He is!

That means, that before you existed, God knew you would exist and He had already chosen you.

YOU were chosen before time started to be part of God’s eternal plan to redeem the world back to Himself

There is very little that inspires me like this! To know that I am chosen!

We in America like to think that we are individuals. We like to do things “MY WAY”

But all of us recognize the power of being on team

Some of us growing up weren’t very athletic.

When it came time to choose teams to play softball, I was always the last one chosen. And then sent out to stand in right field

That wasn’t really an honor. To be chosen like that

But I also remember being chosen to be a member of the Moody Chorale

To be part of a team of young people with the same goals, the same loves, the same desires.

Part of something bigger. I LOVED that part, probably even more than the singing part.

A lot of the time I felt outclassed, like I didn’t belong. Yet I was fully accepted as a member of the Moody Chorale.

I think of what a young man must feel at the NFL draft, hearing his name called, and putting on the uniform of his team

He has been CHOSEN, ELECTED.

You know, maybe some of us feel kind of like the guy standing out in right field. “Well, I was born. I was in the lineup so God had to choose me”

That couldn’t be farther from the truth!

Before time began, God had already looked into the future and He saw you (pick people out and say names)

He picked you to be part of His plan

He knew that you would hear the Gospel.

He knew that you would respond. He had already chosen you

Ephesians 1:4 “4 even as he chose us in him before the foundation of the world, that we should be holy and blameless before him. In love”

This was not some sort of last minute decision, nor are you His “last choice”.

Nor is it because you earned it somehow.

To be part of the Chorale, I had to audition

To be part of MAF, I had to prove that I could fly a plain

To be part of a sports team, a young man has to prove himself

But not so with God!

On the contrary, it is because of the sovereignty of God that you are chosen. There is no way that you could have earned it because you were chosen before you even existed!

And the fact that we are chosen by God is a major them in 1 Peter.

Why? Because Peter is concerned that we stay strong in the midst of hardship and suffering

Knowing and grasping that we are chosen by God is so important when it comes to staying strong in suffering, temptation, persecution.

You and I know how hard it is to face suffering when we are alone..when we feel like we are the only one who is going through these things

But think how much strength it give us when we realize we aren’t alone! There are others who have faced this and still are facing it!

You know, God hasn’t just chosen me. He has chosen US!

We are in this together with God as our King, our leader, our

And the reason that we were chosen was so that we would be holy

1 Peter 1:2 “2 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.”

But Paul and Peter both say this. That the reason you and I were chosen was so that we would be holy

God’s election and our holiness come as a package deal.

Now, we are going to be talking more about holiness.

But, here, Peter gives us 3 things about holiness

Sanctification of the Spirit

Obedience to Jesus Christ

Sprinkling with his blood.

The NASB says it like this:

2 according to the foreknowledge of God the Father, by the sanctifying work of the Spirit, [a]to obey Jesus Christ and be sprinkled with His blood: May grace and peace be multiplied to you.

It’s upon us who have been chosen and are being made Holy that grace and peace may be multiplied.

Not added to, but multiplied.

If you add 5+5, you get 10. And then if you add another 5, you get 15

But if you multiply 5x5, you get 25. And if you mulitply again by 5, you get 125

May God’s grace and peace be multiplied to you, not just added to you.