(Note: In the past, my Scripture notes on this blog have tied in with the particular book of the Bible which our denomination has selected to emphasize that winter. However, in recent weeks, I’ve been so blessed by reading the epistles of First and Second Peter, I’ve decided to focus on them for a time. As any pastor can tell you, I do this more for my own benefit and edification. If, however, readers find a use for these notes, you’re certainly welcome to use them any way you please. No permission required.)
The First Epistle of Peter begins with an interesting juxtaposition of two unusual expressions:
“Peter, an apostle of Jesus Christ, to God’s elect, strangers in the world….”
Think of that: you are the elect of God; you are strangers in this world.
Then, as if to underscore this paradox, the apostle continues:
“…scattered throughout Pontus, Galatia, Cappadocia, Asia and Bithynia, who have been chosen….”
You are dispersed and scattered, but you are chosen.
Honored royally by God, treated disdainfully by the world. That’s almost always been the case with the Lord’s faithful. It is today in many places throughout the world.
So, we are the elect? Is that what you are telling us, Peter?
Yes, but be careful here. People have gone to town on this concept and never been seen again. They have used it as a springboard into the stratosphere and are still sailing out through the wild blue yonder, no longer being grounded in reality or the clear teachings of Scripture.
Let’s not make Scripture say what it doesn’t say.
“Elect according to the foreknowledge of God the Father, through the sanctifying work of the Spirit, for obedience to Jesus Christ and sprinkling by the blood.”
Believers are God’s elect, His chosen.
That’s an Old Testament designation originally for the Jews and in the New Testament applied to all who are in Christ. Far from that being a change in God’s plan, we see it as the culmination of His purpose from the beginning. Jesus Christ is the fulfillment and embodiment of every Old Testament prophecy concerning the salvation of Israel.
Later in this same short epistle, Peter writes of believers,
“But you are a chosen people, a royal priesthood, a holy nation, a people belonging to God.” (2:9)
Is it important to think of ourselves as the chosen of God?
If I may be allowed to quibble a little here, I suggest we omit the word “the” and just be “chosen of God,” and not “the chosen.” When we keep the article, it reads as though we’re claiming some kind of exclusivity. Better to simply say that all who are in Christ are chosen.
This is a concept of significance which has meaning only to believers and is completely misunderstood and even offensive to the world. To outsiders, to say we are “chosen” reeks of conceit, a putdown of all other religious groups. Let the typical television journalist pick up on a pastor using this designation of believers and he would never hear the last of it.
Every society has its elite, its A-List, those upper crust powers-that-be who lord it over lesser mortals. We think of Leona Helmsley who ruled over a hotel empire and spoke of “the little people” as those who had to pay taxes. The very concept of a chosen group is offensive.
God is not addressing the world as though to say, “See that group? Those Christians over there? They are my chosen.”
Through the Apostle Peter, God is comforting believers who are undergoing severe stress, opposition, and persecution and reminding them how special they are to Him. Jesus said, “In the world you will have trouble, but take heart! I have overcome the world.” (John 16:33)
The night He was arrested, Jesus prayed for His disciples, “…the world has hated them, for they are not of the world any more than I am of the world.” (John 17:14)
As the chosen, we are secure in Heavenly matters; as strangers we are insecure in earthly matters.
There is a kind of balancing act involved here. There are qualifying and explanatory terms that apply to our choseness.
Believers are chosen and elected and selected….
…according to God’s foreknowledge….
…through the sanctifying work of the Spirit….
…for obedience to Jesus…
…and (for) sprinkling by his blood.
All the Trinity is involved in our salvation and our identify as believers.
Foreknowledge: none of this has happened without God being on the job. Not our salvation and certainly not our rejection by the world. God has set up the kingdom that all who are in Christ are His chosen. He foreknew that it would be this way.
God knew in advance that a) believers would be His chosen, b) that the Holy Spirit would sanctify them and set them apart from the world, c) that they would thereafter obey the Lord Jesus and d) be cleansed by the precious blood of Christ.
Where I disembark from the “foreknowledge train” is when anyone claims that God decided “I’ll choose this person and reject that one.” “Whosoever will, let Him come” forever stands as a major emphasis throughout God’s Word.
Sanctification: the moment we believe, the Holy Spirit begins the process of transforming us into citizens of the Heavenly Kingdom. This ongoing process is not finished until we stand before the Lord and “see Him as He is.” When that happens, the Apostle John declares, “we shall be like Him.” (I John 3:3) We call the end of sanctification “glorification,” when this human body is made into a glorious one like the Lord Himself.
We are daily being sanctified, becoming like Jesus. “We…are being transformed into His likeness with ever-increasing glory, which comes from the Lord, who is the Spirit.” (II Corinthians 3:18) That’s the plan. Anyone who is not experiencing this metamorphosis is missing out on a basic aspect of salvation and should go back and “examine himself to see if he is in the faith” (II Corinthians 13:5).
Obedience: Man is not saved by his obedience but is saved “unto” obedience. A person is not inducted into the military by obeying a military code; however, once he/she is sworn in, they are expected to obey the rules and all officers.
Here’s how Paul placed obedience in its proper setting: “…not of works, lest any man should boast. We are…created in Christ Jesus that we should bring forth good works….” (Ephesians 2:8-10)
Jesus told His disciples, “If you know these things, blessed are you if you do them.” (John 13:17) Again and again, He taught that the proof of their love was their obedience to His teachings (John 14:15, 21, 23; 15:10).
Paul wrote the Corinthians, “For this purpose I wrote to you, that I might know the proof of you, whether you are obedient in all things.” (II Cor. 2:9)
Sprinkling: in the Old Testament the blood was sprinkled as a part of cleansing of sin and of consecrating priests to the work of the Lord. Doubtless, both images are in Peter’s mind here. But it’s the blood of Christ, not of bulls and goats. In fact, a little later, Peter positively sings with His appreciation for the blood of Jesus:
“For you know it was not with perishable things such as silver or gold that you were redeemed from the empty way oflife handed down to you from your forefathers, but with the precious blood of Christ, a lamb without blemish or defect.” He adds, “He was chosen before the creation of the world….” (I Peter 1:18-20)
So, Christian, you who are having it rough in this world, let’s not be moping around as though you have lost your best friend.
Let’s not have any of this “woe is me” and “where is God?” God is on duty, exactly where He has always been. Furthermore, you are right where He said from the beginning you would be: always in trouble in this world, always “bearing in your body the death of the Lord Jesus” (II Cor. 4:10).
Jesus kept telling the disciples, “I send you out like sheep among wolves…. Be on guard against men; they will hand you over to the local councils and flog you in their synagogues…. Brother will betray brother to death, and a father his child…. All men will hate you because of me.” (Matthew 10)
Plain, isn’t it? And yet, we keep getting surprised by the world’s treatment of us.
Peter even warns us of that. “Dear friends, do not be surprised at the painful trial you are suffering, as though something unexpected were happening to you.” (4:12)
(Confession: The NIV has the word “strange” where I inserted “unexpected,” which is the point the apostle is making. In “Word Meanings in the New Testament,” Ralph Earle translates “think it strange” as “to be surprised.”)
That’s who you are.
And to you, “grace and peace be yours in abundance.”