one28 PodcastMore Than a Greeting
Jonathan Sarr
1 Peter 1:1-2
2009-10-07
one28 Wednesday worship
I.
The Author (v. 1a)
II.The Audience (vv. 1b-2c)
A.
Situation
B. Selection
III.
The Address (v. 2d)
The summer after my fifth
grade year, I had a crush on an older woman. Yeah, she had just graduated from 8th grade,
which made her seem distant, unattainable. She encouraged this crush by exchanging letters with
me that summer. This was a decade
before email, and though we lived about six miles apart, and it took two days
for the letters to get to one another. And yet they were special.
She used to do things like
spray them with perfume and write “S.W.A.K.” over the back seal of the
envelope. When I got one of those
treasures in the mail, I would carefully yet hurriedly – with palms sweating
and chubby little fingers trembling – tear them open to see what she had to say
to me. I can’t remember any of
their contents anymore, but I can only imagine what sorts of pearls of wisdom
and depth of thought were housed in the pretty head of that blond haired
temptress, and then immortalized in ink on precious fragments of Hello Kitty
stationery.
And of course, the first
thing my eyes would fall on would be the salutation. Would it be, “Dear Jonathan?” Or maybe, “Dearest Jonathan?” Or “Hey, Cutie!”
Or some other flirtatious comment that would let me know from the very
outset that I had a special place in her heart?
You see, I could tell my
standing before this girl by the very first powerful words of those
letters. The nouns were powerful,
and the pronouns were perhaps more powerful. The adjectives made all the difference. And we see that to be the case in the
letter that we are studying tonight, as well.
In the very first words of
his letter, Peter has a mine, a wealth of information that offers immediate encouragement,
excitement, and perspective alignment for his readers.
The first two verses of this
book are a salutation. They give
us the Author, the Audience, and a brief Address, which is a blessing to the
readers in the last part of verse two.
On one hand, that is it. It
simply opens the letter before he gets into the real meat of his epistle.
But on the other hand, by his
decision to label them “elect exiles,” he instantly makes the jump to an
offering of theologically rich hope. I believe this requires that we ask why
he would mention divine election in a salutation to a letter that is intended
to offering hope and excited encouragement to his readers.
I’ll let you ponder that
question, because I don’t want to quickly skate over this salutation when it is
written so carefully. Yet it is a
salutation, so let’s consider those three elements together: the Author, the
Audience, and the Address.
1. The AUTHOR
“Peter, an apostle of
Jesus Christ,” (1:1a).
Consistent with the ancient
custom, the first word in the address is the name of the author: Peter. This is very practical; you can see how
this would be helpful in the days before email or even return addresses. It is good to know who is writing, and
who is intended to read that writing from the letter’s onset. And its statement for Peter also helps
to establish his authority in writing to them, and why they should keep on
reading.
Peter was an apostle. The apostles were those who were
personally commissioned by Jesus, having walked with Him and having been
trained by Him. They were charged
with spreading the gospel message and the foundation of the Church. There were
precious few apostles in the world, and they spoke with the authority of Christ
Himself. So when Peter or Paul
open a letter citing first their apostolic authority, it lends tremendous
authority and credibility to their writing.
Peter was the unquestionable
leader of the original twelve apostles.
This is clear from his name always appearing first each time Jesus’
disciples are listed (Mt. 10:2, Mk. 3:16; Lk. 6:10; Acts 1:13). This is further exemplified on a number
of occasions as the other apostles follow him, whether in wisdom or in
foolishness (e.g., going back to fishing after the crucifixion). A leader among equals, he was also the
clear figurehead of the apostles in the post-Pentecost early Church era. The impact of his words on the hearts
of his hearers in the Acts accounts of his preaching clearly reflect a
supernatural authority and power from God (e.g., Acts. 2:10-36; 3:11-26;
10:34-44).
Yet he was not a man without
faults. Especially before Christ’s
crucifixion, he was perpetually putting his foot in his mouth, as it were,
speaking without knowing the actual facts or details – or what would
actually be required of him. Peter
promised adamantly never to deny Christ, even if all of His other followers
were to do so (Matthew 26:35).
This reflects a tremendous level of commitment and faith. Of course, our Lord, knowing all
things, was aware of the truth and what would actually happen. Then, but a short while later, while
Christ was praying at Gethsemane, He spoke to Peter, saying, “So, you men could not keep watch with Me for one hour?” (Matthew 26:40). Peter found himself overcome by the
fleshly need for sleep more than staying awake to pray and keep watch for his
Master and Lord. A few verses
later in Matthew 26:51, Peter is demonstrating such commitment to Christ and
zeal for Him that he cut off the ear of the high priest’s slave. This same Peter who promised never to
deny Christ does so three times in Matthew 26:69-74. We can all identify with Peter’s bitter weeping in 26:75.
Peter loved Christ before and
after Pentecost; that much is certain.
But I can’t help but look at who Peter became in spite of his several
mistakes and verbal blunders and take heart that there’s hope for me. If Peter
could continually hinder his testimony and in a cowardly fashion back down from
confrontation if it meant being identified with Christ, then there may be hope
for me yet!
Perhaps this is much of what
makes Peter so endearing. He was a
fallen person, with a fickle zeal before Christ’s death. With one breath he is promising never
to deny Christ. With the next,
he’s telling a little girl that he never knew Him. Many of us can identify with this perpetual war in our
members and the visible discrepancy between what we know to be right and what
we actually do.
But make no mistake: Peter
became a sold-out, bold, powerful, gracious and Spirit-filled zealot for
Christ. We recalled last week the
account of Peter and the other disciples at Jerusalem in Acts 5. Turn there quickly with me.
READ ACTS 5:27-32; 5:39b-42.
This guy knew how to
live! He was focused on obedience
to Christ and His glory, with no regard for his own personal safety or
comfort. As his audience read the
rest of the letter, they learned that he was calling them to the same level of
commitment, and he had the clear, Spirit-confirmed apostolic authority to do
so.
Let’s move on to the
Audience.
2. The AUDIENCE.
“To those who are elect
exiles of the dispersion in
Pontus, Galatia, Cappadocia, Asia and Bithynia…” (1:1b).
A. The SITUATION
The believers to whom Peter
was writing were scattered throughout Asia Minor in what is modern day
Turkey. Look with me in the back
of your Bibles. If you have a map that says “The Missionary Journeys of Paul”
or something similar, you’ll soon see where we are talking about.
This is a fairly larger area,
and there were a number of churches on the peninsula. In fact, in Revelation chapters 2 and 3 all the churches
that Christ addresses are in Roman provinces in Asia Minor: Ephesus, Smyrna,
Pergamum, Thyatira, Sardis, Philadelphia and Laodicea. Paul wrote letters to
Colossae and Ephesus and visited a number of other congregations throughout the
region. We know then, that there were multiple churches in the area of the
circulation of this letter from Peter.
By AD 54 the Roman Empire had
expanded beyond modern Turkey as far east as what is now northern Iran. It went as far south as Egypt and Saudi
Arabia. Asia Minor was well within
the borders of the Roman Empire, so when a Nero-led persecution of Christians
commenced after the summer of AD 64, the Christians in these Roman provinces
definitely felt the repercussions.
Where the ESV reads “elect
exiles,” the New American Standard renders it “those who reside as
aliens.” An alien is a stranger,
being in one place but of another
place. This was exactly the case
to Peter’s audience. While making
residence in Pontus, Galatia, Cappadocia, Asia and Bithynia, they were
believers whose home was not of this world, but rather in heaven.
The Greek term that is
translated “alien” and “exile” is diaspora. This word means “dispersion.” These are believers who are scattered
about Asia Minor, forced to live lives in a place that is not their home. Their home is in heaven, and they are
stuck here, leading lives of discomfort and persecution. But don’t go too far, here. Peter’s use of the term “exile,” or
“alien” means only that they were scattered about. We infer that, as believers, their home was of another
world.
The same can be said of all
believers. We are scattered
throughout the world, although our home is in heaven. This serves as a helpful reminder for God’s children as we
remember that what we live for is not the physical here and now, but the
spiritual and eternal that we will enjoy forever in heaven. That truth makes us exiles here.
We’ve seen before that the
person who is following Christ and living for Him should not expect comfort in
this world. The lover of Christ ought not to feel comfortable in a world that
hates Him. I admit that at times I
feel perfectly at home in this world.
That should not be the case for the Christian. However, I feel most at home when I among Christians. Where do you feel at home?
B. The SELECTION
While there is nothing
particularly encouraging about being far from your home as an exile, there is
something exhilarating about being an elect exile. Peter’s
readers may be exiles, but they’re elect exiles. The elect are those who are chosen by
God to be His children. It’s as if
to say, “You may be far from home, but you are a child of the King, and when
you get home, it will be sweet and a cause for celebration, and that
inheritance is guaranteed.”
Let’s just take a moment and
think about this. I mean, really
think about it: you are chosen by
God! You are chosen by God!
Why would Peter mention their
election in his opening greeting? It
is easy to offer hope or discouragement in a mere salutation. By greeting some in different ways you
can impact their day and their station: “Hey, good looking?” versus, “Hey,
dogface?” Or better still, “Hey,
champ,” versus, “Hey, second place.”
Labels can be identifiers of status and have great significance. They had to be encouraged to be
reminded from the pen of this hero of the faith that they were brothers in
Christ. They had a salvation that
was certainly awaiting them, and it was guaranteed. Though Rom could take life or limb or family or farm, they
could not steal their souls, and they could be reminded of this by the
endearing words of Peter.
I don’t wish to go too far on
this; Peter was just greeting them in a letter. However, I believe there is great significance in his word
usage here. He was very
intentional in his calling them “elect.”
And he wastes no time getting to it.
Peter is only five Greek
words into the letter as he begins to align their perspectives. Literally translated, the opening line
goes, “Peter, apostle, Jesus, Christ, ELECT!” And the word “elect” is a plural masculine pronoun referring
to his audience, and not himself.
He is barely getting started before he tells them “You are HIS! And while it may stink to be far from
your real home, remember that you will be home soon, so make the most of your
time and opportunities where you are.”
It is worth noting that Peter
does not launch into an apologetic defense of the doctrine of election, which
the modern reader may find interesting.
Some have suggested that to the young believers in his audience, he
didn’t want to overwhelm them with the lofty theological jargon. This doesn’t hold water, though,
because he doesn’t seem to have a problem expanding on deep and profound
doctrine in the rest of the sentence.
I tend to believe that the reason he doesn’t attempt to defend the
doctrine of election here, because it is simply a biblical truth that needs no
defense. If I told you that this
dry-erase board is white, you wouldn’t expect me to launch into some apologetic
defense or explanation because it’s a fact; it needs no explanation. It is simple and indisputable. Neither would I waste my time defending
the obvious and painful truth.
Likewise, Peter makes no apologies here. Further, election is only a difficult doctrine because we
make it difficult, not because it’s inherently difficult to imagine, along with
the rest of THEISM – not just Christianity – that any existing Creator is absolutely
sovereign.
So God had elected Peter’s
readers unto salvation, and exactly how did he do that?
“…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” (1:2a).
We’ll take these one phrase at
a time:
i.
“…according to
the foreknowledge of God.”
If believers are saved
according to God’s foreknowledge, we must know what this foreknowledge refers
to. I believe we can make an
airtight case from the rest of Scripture that this is more than just
prescience, or God’s knowing these things before they happen. But I’d prefer to look no further than
the mind of Peter himself and his own words as we try to understand what he
means in this passage.
If his readers are saved
“according to the foreknowledge of God,” then that foreknowledge must itself
save. Either the Father just
happens to know who is going to be saved, or He chooses whom he will save.
It is no comfort to suffering
Christians to tell them that God has an idea as to what will happen before it
happens unless they are convinced that He is at work in it and is using it for
His purposes.
God knows you will suffer. Big
deal. No, more than that, the
Father is ordaining your suffering for His glory and for your good! That is comforting. You are chosen by Him according to His
foreknowledge and His sovereign, ordaining power.
This is not a matter of looking
into the future, seeing what’s going to happen, and then making His decision
according to His anticipated outcome.
No, this is an ordaining power.
How do we know that Peter means this? Let’s look at what else he has said.
The notion of foreknowledge has
nothing to do with mere prescience, but rather a fore-ordination of specific
workings of God’s sovereign plan. Take
a look at me with something he said in the book of Acts.
Speaking to Jews, he said, in
Acts 2:23, “…This Man, delivered
over by the predetermined plan and foreknowledge
of God, you nailed to a cross by the hands of godless men and put Him to death.”
The Father did not work out Christ’s arrest and crucifixion on the basis
of a plan already existent apart from His ordaining work. Neither are we saved by our own work
apart from God, only to fill Him in on the outcome so He can foreknow it.
Now, if that weren’t enough,
consider his use of the same word in the very same chapter we are studying
tonight. Read with me 1 Peter
1:20-21.
READ 1 PETER 1:20-21.
If Christ was “foreknown before
the foundation of the world,” it’s safe to say that there was nobody around but
the Father and the Spirit. Did the
Father see that Jesus was going to come onto the scene and then work it into
His plan? No, the Son was only
around because the Father sent Him.
MacArthur notes, “In 1:20,
Peter used the related verb ‘was foreknown’ a form of proginosko, in reference to God’s knowledge from eternity past
that He would send His Son to redeem sinners” (20). It would be absurd to
suggest that God based His decision about sending Christ to die for our sins on
the basis of what was already going to happen apart from His influence.
So, why do I belabor this point
about foreknowledge? Because God
doesn’t look ahead and choose the people who are going to become saints; we
become saints because He chose us!
And when Peter sees the evidence of salvation in the lives of his
readers as we’ll see in the next paragraph, he is thrilled to know that that is
the work of the Spirit in them! It
is because he sees spiritual fruit in their lives that he can say, “Hey! You’ve
been chosen by the Father! Isn’t that awesome?”
That our election or choosing
is “according to the foreknowledge of God the Father” “excludes every worthiness on the part of man” (Calvin
25). Literally, being chosen
before our even being born removes from man any opportunity to take any credit
for his salvation on the basis of his own merit or works. Our election occurred before we had
done any righteous deeds, and in spite of the evil deeds we would commit. This is wholly on the basis of God’s
choosing and not our work in any way.
ii.
“…in the
sanctification of the Spirit…”
It is the Spirit who sets us
apart from the world and makes us Holy.
It is the Spirit who works in us to produce righteous fruit.
iii.
“…for obedience
to Jesus Christ”
This is part of the fruit that
is borne out in our lives when we are saved: obedience to Christ. I will not begin to list Christ’s
commands here that we are to obey, but consider that Peter called each of these
readers personally to follow the example of Christ in their response to the
world.
iv.
“…and for
sprinkling with His blood.”
This hearkens back to Peter’s
Jewish roots and Moses’ actions as recorded in Exodus 24:3-8. Here we have the picture of the blood,
and we note its significance. Obviously,
the blood is representative of the sacrifice, as the “life is in the
blood.” When Moses sprinkled the
book of the covenant AND the people with the blood, he was commemorating and
– in a sense – ratifying their commitment to obey by the blood of
the sacrifice. Note that the
sprinkling of the blood was limited to God’s people. Only His chosen were sprinkled with the blood. The same is pictured in the New
Testament. Only Christ’s elect
have been chosen to “be sprinkled with His blood.”
How staggering the truth that
God has chosen who will obey Him and has marked them as His own with the
sprinkling, as it were, of the blood of His own Son. The shed blood of a sacrifice was not only required to pay
for sin, but its sprinkling commemorated the moment and identified those
sprinkled with the sacrifice.
His blood was shed and we bear
that blood, the proof of His sacrifice as a perpetual reminder of our status
before the Father. We are
righteous in Him, and not because of our own righteous deeds, but due to the
sacrifice of Christ.
And this statement completes
the teaching of the Trinitarian work of salvation in these believers’
lives. Read again verse 2:
1
Peter 1:2 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:
And
then he gives the address.
3. The Address (1:2d)
“May grace and peace be
multiplied to you.”
This is a familiar blessing to
his readers that completes his greeting.
I wish we talked more like this, sincerely praying that grace and peace
would be multiplied to one another.
I could use more grace and peace in my life, and I suspect you could,
too.
CONCLUSION
There are no empty or useless
verses in God’s Word. In the pages
of Scripture, all the words count.
It’s my desire during the
concluding remarks in these messages from First Peter to leave you with a
number of questions, and I will do that now.
What does it do for our
perspective to know that we are chosen by God? Does it make this world’s concerns seem greater or
less-significant?
Why would Peter want so badly
for his readers to know that they are chosen by God? I would challenge you this week to meditate carefully on
that thought: if you are a believer, you have been chosen by God. Why did He choose us?
Are we chosen because we are
holy or are we holy because we are chosen?
No Comments Yet