BIG IDEA:
JESUS CHRIST (OUR SUPREME EXAMPLE) COMMUNICATES THRU PETER (HIS
TRANSFORMED MESSENGER) TO US (THE ISOLATED ELECT)
INTRODUCTION:
Thomas Schreiner: The opening greeting in 1 Peter is hardly a customary hello. It is theologically rich and densely packed with themes.
Louis Barbieri: The first section of 1 Peter (1:1–12) forms the foundation for the entire book. In this section, the apostle Peter expresses thanksgiving for the eternal salvation that God offers to every individual. His words form a song, or canticle, of praise to the Creator. An understanding of these verses is essential to our comprehension of the entire epistle.
Erland Waltner: This appeal to Father, Spirit, and Jesus Christ lays the foundation for Peter’s message to believers enduring oppression. While on earth, struggling with false accusations, oppressive masters, imperfect spouses, and taunting neighbors, Peter’s readers are to understand their special place of dignity and destiny in the purposes of God. Their experiences of suffering, affirmed to be temporary, are to be understood in the perspective of a divine presence, a purpose for which they have been chosen, and a purpose to which they are called.
Daniel Doriani: The church is privileged by God; we are his chosen ones. Yet at the same time, and for the same reason, the church is disadvantaged in society. Because believers are God’s chosen people, we are “strangers” or “exiles” in our own world. The word stranger or exile (parepidemos) denotes a temporary resident, a traveler whose stay is measured in weeks or a few months. The term alien (paroikos), used in 1 Peter 2:11, is similar but suggests a long-term resident. It could describe an immigrant from a distant place who has lived in another land for several years, started a career, and found a home. Both terms signify that the person originally belonged elsewhere.
Peter wants believers to realize that we never fully belong in this world. Strangers have no permanent residence. Aliens cannot hold positions of power and rarely enjoy full privileges. This is essential to a Christian’s identity. People in Reformed and Calvinist churches have committed to engage the culture rather than fleeing from it, and rightly so. Yet we must remember that we are exiles and therefore will never be completely at home in this world.
Most commentators believe Peter’s audience consists primarily of Gentiles, not Jews. Peter’s people “were redeemed from the empty way of life handed down . . . from your forefathers” (1 Peter 1:18). For years, they did “what pagans choose to do” (4:3). Their neighbors thought it “strange” when they abandoned their former life of dissipation (4:4). Their lifestyle was manifestly different from the conduct of others in the empire. So most of Peter’s people did not grow up in the covenant. God’s election, salvation, and subsequent sanctification estranged them from their native culture.
I. THE SOURCE OF THE MESSAGE – JESUS CHRIST OUR SUPREME EXAMPLE
II. THE TRANSFORMED MESSENGER – THE APOSTLE PETER
Peter, an apostle of Jesus Christ,
Peter Davids: The author begins by identifying himself as “Peter, an apostle of Jesus Christ.” It is clear whom the title indicates, none other than Simon son of Jonah, from the village of Bethsaida in the northwest corner of the Sea of Galilee (John 1:44), whom Jesus called early in his ministry to be one of his disciples (Mark 1:16-18) and later named an apostle (Mark 3:13-19). Jesus himself had given him the nickname Peter (Cephas in its Aramaic form) or rock, which soon became better known than his given name (John 1:42; Matt. 16:17-18). This “foundational” disciple unselfconsciously identifies himself as “an apostle of Jesus Christ,” that is, a messenger of Christ sent into the world with authority to carry out the will of the one who sent him. The letter is to be seen, not as the pious opinions of a well-wishing friend, but as the authoritative word of one who speaks for the Lord of the church himself.
Wayne Grudem: 1 Peter 5:13 indicates two facts that are consistent with authorship by Peter. It says, ‘She who is at Babylon, who is likewise chosen, sends you greetings, and so does Mark, my son.’ If we understand ‘Babylon’ to refer to Rome, this verse is consistent with evidence from the early church that locates Peter in Rome during the end of his life and connects Peter with Mark.
Thomas Schreiner: The term “apostle” may simply mean “messenger,” but here the idea is that Peter is one of the twelve apostles specially chosen by Jesus himself for that office (Mark 3:13–19 par.). The special function and authority of the Twelve is also communicated by the selection of Matthias in Acts 1:15–26. Grudem notes that “apostle” is the only office where the words “of Jesus Christ” are added, likely indicating the unique authority of the apostolate. What Peter writes, then, is not merely his personal opinion. As an apostle he is commissioned by Christ and writes God’s words to the churches (cf. 1 Cor 2:13; 14:37; Gal 1:8–9; 1 Thess 2:13; 4:8, 15; 2 Thess 3:6, 14; 2 Pet 3:2, 16).
III. THE TARGET AUDIENCE – THE ISOLATED ELECT – THE PERSECUTED CHURCH
A. Isolated in what respect?
to those who reside as aliens, scattered throughout Pontus, Galatia, Cappadocia, Asia, and Bithynia,
Daniel Doriani: These named areas represent millions of people across an area of roughly the size of Turkey or America’s Southwest from Texas to California (about 750,000 square miles). In short, this is a universal letter, not a local letter.
Erland Waltner: The provinces named include what came to be known as Asia Minor. Pontus lay on the south coast of the Black Sea. Galatia made up the central part of Asia Minor. Cappadocia was southeast of Galatia. Asia lay on the east coast of the Aegean Sea and included “the seven churches in Asia” (Rev. 1:4). Bithynia touched the south shore of the Black Sea, west of Pontus. Under Rome, Pontus and Bithynia became one province. Naming them in this order may have suggested that this was to be a circular letter and was to be carried by a messenger (Silvanus, 5:12) from one community to the next in this sequence.
citizens of heaven living as strangers and sojourners in a hostile world
Peter Davids: Peter writes to those who are “sojourners of the diaspora.” The Jews had used the term “dispersion” or “diaspora” to refer to their scattered communities outside Palestine ever since the Exile (cf. the Greek form of Deut. 28:25; Neh. 1:9; and Isa. 49:6); it appears several times in the NT with this meaning (see John 7:35; 11:32). At the time of Peter perhaps a million Jews were living in Palestine and two to four million outside of it, a significant group in the Empire, to be sure. They were spread in communities over the entire Empire, but they belonged to Palestine and hoped (however vaguely or even formally) eventually to return to Palestine (perhaps when the Messiah came). Here in Peter we find a natural transfer of one of the titles of Israel to the church, as we will frequently later (cf. 2:5, 9). The church consists of communities of people living outside their native land, which is not Jerusalem or Palestine but the heavenly city. These people owe their loyalty to that city, from which they expect to receive their king. That their life on earth is temporary and that they do not belong is underlined by the use of “sojourners” (also found in 2:11 and Heb. 11:13): they are pilgrims, foreigners, those who belong to heaven (cf. Eph. 2:19; Phil. 3:20; Did. 9:4; Ep. Diog. 5.9, “they pass their time on earth, but belong as citizens to heaven”).
David Walls: Peter describes the believers to whom he wrote as being strangers who are scattered. They included both Jewish and Gentile people who had become followers of Jesus Christ. They did not live in the heartland of God’s people Israel. Neither did they live close to the mother church of Christianity, also in Jerusalem. Rather, they formed the Diaspora (which derives from the Greek word for “strangers”). That is, they had been dispersed or scattered to other cities and countries all over the world. Specifically, he wrote to believers living in what is now northern Turkey, some five hundred to eight hundred miles from the hometown of God’s people and God’s church. They could easily have felt isolated and insignificant. Peter says to these people, “Take courage. Wherever you live geographically, in Christ you are part of God’s elect. He chose you.”
B. Elect in conjunction with the Work of the Triune God
- Election Planned by God the Father who loves us
who are chosen 2 according to the foreknowledge of God the Father,
John MacArthur: Even though it is the starting point of redemptive history, it may seem startling to begin an epistle with reference to the doctrine of election, yet that is exactly what the apostle Peter does (cf. Eph. 1:1–5 and Titus 1:1–2, where Paul begins the same way). And he does so unhesitatingly, after the opening identifications, with the phrase who are chosen (v. 1). He thus opens his letter by writing of one of the most controversial and hated doctrines and doing so with no self-consciousness, no apology, no effort to palliate, and no explanation of or deferral to opposing arguments. He states this truth of sovereign election for what it is, a reality recognized and believed among the apostles and in the church. Still, today this unquestionably true doctrine is questioned by many and despised by many others. Arthur W. Pink, the British-born Bible teacher and prolific theological writer who died in 1952, wrote this about people’s views of God’s sovereignty and, by implication, the subsidiary doctrine of divine election:
We are well aware that what we have written is in open opposition to much of the teaching that is current both in religious literature and in the representative pulpits of the land. We freely grant that the postulate of God’s Sovereignty with all its corollaries is at direct variance with the opinions and thoughts of the natural man, but the truth is, the natural man is quite unable to think upon these matters: he is not competent to form a proper estimate of God’s character and ways, and it is because of this that God has given us a revelation of His mind, and in that revelation He plainly declares, “My thoughts are not your thoughts, neither are your ways My ways, saith the Lord. For as the heavens are higher than the earth, so are My ways higher than your ways, and My thoughts than your thoughts” (Isa. 55:8, 9). In view of this scripture, it is only to be expected that much of the contents of the Bible conflicts with the sentiments of the carnal mind, which is enmity against God. Our appeal then is not to the popular beliefs of the day, nor to the creeds of the churches, but to the Law and Testimony of Jehovah. All that we ask for is an impartial and attentive examination of what we have written, and that, made prayerfully in the light of the Lamp of Truth. (The Sovereignty of God, rev. ed. [Edinburgh: Banner of Truth, 1961], 19; italics in original)
As Pink’s still-relevant analysis reveals, it is imperative that Christians fully understand and appreciate this most vital and crucial teaching. Peter unfolds the theological and practical implications of divine election under seven headings: the condition of election, the nature of election, the source of election, the sphere of election, the effect of election, the security of election, and the advantages of election.
John MacArthur: Foreknowledge involves God’s predetermining to have a relationship with some individuals, based on His eternal plan. It is the divine purpose that brings salvation for sinners to fulfillment, as accomplished by Jesus Christ’s death on the cross, not merely an advance knowledge that observes how people will respond to God’s offer of redemption.
- Applied by God the Holy Spirit who sets us apart
by the sanctifying work of the Spirit,
Peter Davids: they were chosen “by means of the Spirit’s sanctification,” which is to say that God’s Spirit reached into their lives and made them holy, a chosen people of God. That is, when the Father chose to relate to them he effected this relationship in their lives by means of the Holy Spirit’s sanctifying power (the instrumental “by means of” is sometimes translated “in,” a less clear term), a connection of election and sanctification that Paul also made in the only other use of the phrase in the NT (2 Thess. 2:13; cf. 1 Cor. 6:11, which is similar). While the focus of this passage is on the moment of Christian conversion, expressed in the initiatory act of baptism, the use of the term “sanctification” in the NT indicates not just an unseen cleansing from past sin (something like cleansing from cultic defilement in the OT), but also a life-style that expresses this new relationship to God in practical holiness (e.g., Rom. 6:19, 22; 1 Cor. 1:30; 1 Tim. 2:15). The Spirit does not just clean up an old life but introduces the person to a whole new life, making him or her holy. The Spirit is the Holy Spirit, for he has the character of God. Since the distinctive mark of the NT era is his personal dwelling in the people of God, they will also become holy.
- Intended for our Union with Jesus Christ
that you may obey Jesus Christ and be sprinkled with His blood:
a. Union of obedience
John MacArthur: Obedience to Jesus Christ is the effect or by-product of divine election. Ephesians 2:10 says, “For we are His workmanship, created in Christ Jesus for good works, which God prepared beforehand so that we would walk in them.” For one to obey Jesus Christ, then, is the equivalent of being saved. Paul called it “the obedience of faith” (Rom. 1:5). Believers do not obey perfectly or completely (1 John 1:8–10; cf. Rom. 7:14–25), but nonetheless there is a pattern of obedience in their lives as they through Christ become servants of righteousness (Rom. 6:17–18; cf. Rom. 8:1–2; 2 Cor. 10:56).
b. Union of participation in the New Covenant and its blessings
Peter Davids: The people who have responded to the gospel proclamation have been properly brought into a covenant relationship with God, and that covenant is not the old one of Sinai but the new one based on the blood of Christ himself.
Scot McKnight: In sum, then, Peter sees the electing work of God as leading to the conversion of the disenfranchised sojourners of Asia Minor. Each of the three prepositional phrases in verse 2 is predominantly a reference to conversion, to the act of God’s saving these people. They were effectively called and spiritually made holy, and this election led to their obedience to God’s call and to forgiveness under the new covenant. While the first two emphasize God’s work, the last expression emphasizes the believer’s response.
IV. THE CUSTOMARY GREETING
May grace and peace be yours in fullest measure.
A. Grace – the desire and power to live the Christian life as a gift from God rather than as a result of works
B. Peace – the comfort of being right with God with associated inner blessings
Erland Waltner: While this formal greeting itself is brief, consisting of five simple Greek words, the implication is tremendous. Grace is one of the key words of the letter (1:2, 10, 13; 2:19-20; 3:7; 4:10; 5:5, 10), culminating in the manifesto: this is the true grace of God; stand fast in it (5:12). Peace, and how to find it and live it, likewise becomes a major concern (2:21-25; 3:8-12). One may indeed recognize in grace and peace the inseparable elements of the gospel of Jesus Christ which the writer to the Ephesians also recognized and emphasized (Eph. 2). The prayer of greeting not only desires that the readers may experience grace and peace, but that these may be multiplied for and in them, in abundance.
Thomas Schreiner: God’s peace is a result of his grace and signifies the holistic sense of well-being that belongs to those who are in right relation with God. Peter prays that both grace and peace would be multiplied in the lives of his readers, asking God to fill them with his grace and peace.