1 Peter 1:1-2 with Book Introduction
Lord’s Day, April 19, 2020
First Christian Church, Owensville, IN
Bart W. Newton, Preaching Minister
Below is only a skeleton outline of main points, Scriptures and quotations of the message presented via Facebook Live on April 19, 2020.
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 (1 Peter 1:1-2, ESV)
Introduction & Background to 1 Peter
• Matthew 5:10: “Blessed are those who are persecuted because of righteousness, for theirs is the kingdom of heaven.” (NIV84)
• 1 Peter has been described s a commentary of Matthew 5:10.
The Author of 1 Peter: Peter the Man (1)
Peter, an apostle of Jesus Christ,…
• Peter, an apostle--special messenger, personally chosen representative of Jesus Christ sent by Christ.
• “Apostle” = Indicates the authority given to him by Jesus for the purpose of the ministry in order to help establish the Church.
From where was 1 Peter written?
• 1 Peter 5:13: She who is in Babylon, chosen together with you, sends you her greetings, and so does my son Mark. (NIV84)
• This “Babylon” was probably the code name for the city of Rome.
When was 1 Peter written?
• Since it is believed that Peter was martyred by the order of Nero between AD 64 and 68, it could not have been written later than AD 68.
Why was 1 Peter written?
• Purpose: To offer hope & encouragement to suffering Christians, particularly the persecuted but not limited to them.
• 1 Peter 5:12: With the help of Silas, whom I regard as a faithful brother, I have written to you briefly, encouraging you and testifying that this is the true grace of God. Stand fast in it. (NIV84)
• There is no specific reference to state sponsored persecution, but there are specific references to persecution:
• 1:6: In all this you greatly rejoice, though now for a little while you may have had to suffer grief in all kinds of trials. (NIV84)
• 2:12: Live such good lives among the pagans that, though they accuse you of doing wrong, they may see your good deeds and glorify God on the day he visits us. (NIV84)
• 3:16: …keeping a clear conscience, so that those who speak maliciously against your good behavior in Christ may be ashamed of their slander. (NIV84)
• 4:12: Dear friends, do not be surprised at the fiery ordeal that has come on you to test you, as though something strange were happening to you. (NIV84)
• Christians were and still are often misunderstood, but so was Jesus Christ.
• What is the one thing that we want and need when we’re hurting, discouraged, depressed, suffering, persecuted, etc.—hope.
• Hope through Christ is mentioned several times in 1 Peter:
• 1:3: Praise be to the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ! In his great mercy he has given us new birth into a living hope through the resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead…(NIV84)
• 1:13: Therefore, with minds that are alert and fully sober, set your hope on the grace to be brought to you when Jesus Christ is revealed at his coming. (NIV84)
• 1:21: Through him you believe in God, who raised him from the dead and glorified him, and so your faith and hope are in God. (NIV84)
• 3:15: But in your hearts revere Christ as Lord. Always be prepared to give an answer to everyone who asks you to give the reason for the hope that you have. But do this with gentleness and respect. (NIV84)
• “This confident hope gives us the encouragement and enablement we need for daily living. It does not put us in a rocking chair where we complacently await the return of Jesus Christ. Instead, it puts us in the marketplace, on the battlefield, where we keep on going when the burdens are heavy and the battles are hard. Hope is not a sedative; it is a shot of adrenaline, a blood transfusion. Like an anchor, our hope in Christ stabilizes us in the storms of life (Heb. 6:18-19); but unlike an anchor, our hope moves us forward, it does not hold us back.” –Warren Wiersbe, Be Hopeful, pp. 14-15
• “It makes little difference how people in our society view Christians. What counts is that we have worth and value in God’s sight.” –Lawrence Richards, 365 Devotional Commentary, p. 1107
To Whom was 1 Peter written? (1:1)
• In general, it’s written to all followers of Jesus.
• Initially it was addressed:
To those who are elect exiles of the Dispersion in Pontus, Galatia, Cappadocia, Asia, and Bithynia…
• To Christians throughout Asia Minor (modern Turkey). Three of the five provinces listed are referred to in Acts 2.
• Peter uses terms previously applied to Old Covenant Israel and applies them to Christians from both Jewish and Gentile backgrounds.
• “To God’s elect…”—people who accept God’s grace by accepting Christ as Savior and Lord.
• Regarding Christians being referred to as “elect’ or “chosen,” which is a NT designation for Christians, Raymond C. Kelcy writes, “[Christians] have been chosen by the Father and have become his own. God’s choice is not arbitrary….God calls many but chooses few…He chose men ‘to be saved through sanctification by the Spirit and belief in the truth’ and calls them through the gospel…When men are not chosen it is not because of God’s unwillingness but because of theirs.” –Raymon C. Kelcy, The Letters of Peter and Jude, p. 18.
• Recipients were Christians from both Jewish and Gentile backgrounds, possibly from predominately pagan background:
• 1:18: For you know that it was not with perishable things such as silver or gold that you were redeemed from the empty way of life handed down to you from your ancestors. (NIV84)
• 1 Peter 4:3-4: 3 For you have spent enough time in the past doing what pagans choose to do—living in debauchery, lust, drunkenness, orgies, carousing and detestable idolatry. 4 They are surprised that you do not join them in their reckless, wild living, and they heap abuse on you. (NIV84)
• Exiles or “strangers in the world, scattered…”
• NLT: I am writing to God’s chosen people who are living as foreigners in the provinces of Pontus, Galatia, Cappadocia, Asia, and Bithynia.
• All Christians are exiles, strangers—temporary residents of earth:
• Ephesians 2:19: “Consequently, you are no longer foreigners and aliens, but fellow citizens with God’s people and member so God’s household,…” (NIV84)
• Philippians 3:20: But our citizenship is in heaven. And we eagerly await a Savior from there, the Lord Jesus Christ. (NIV84)
• Hebrews 11:13-16: 13 All these people were still living by faith when they died. They did not receive the things promised; they only saw them and welcomed them from a distance, admitting that they were foreigners and strangers on earth. 14 People who say such things show that they are looking for a country of their own. 15 If they had been thinking of the country they had left, they would have had opportunity to return. 16 Instead, they were longing for a better country—a heavenly one. Therefore God is not ashamed to be called their God, for he has prepared a city for them.(NIV84)
• Now let’s consider verse 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:
• Did you notice that in this one verse, Peter mentions all Three Persons of our Triune God—The Father, The Holy Spirit, and The Son, Jesus Christ?
• Notice the work of the Trinity:
• We are chosen or elected…
... according to the foreknowledge of God the Father
• “The predestination spoken of here is corporate predestining of a people called into being by their response to Christ. God foreknew that he would send Christ and save those who accepted him.”—Allen & Mark Black, 1 &2 Peter, TCPNIVC, p. 31
in the sanctification of the Spirit…
• Through the Holy Spirit, Christians have been set apart as God’s children and are empowered to continue to grow in holiness—or we could say, to grow in Christ-likeness.
• Oswald Chambers, in his classic devotional, My Utmost for His Highest, writes, “Sanctification means nothing less than the holiness of Jesus becoming mine and being exhibited in my life…Sanctification is an impartation not an imitation.” –July 23
for obedience to Jesus Christ
• Obedience is enabled by the Holy Spirit and is our demonstration of our love for Jesus and our new life in Christ.
• 1 Peter 1:14: So you must live as God’s obedient children. Don’t slip back into your old ways of living to satisfy your own desires. You didn’t know any better then. (NLT)
• Obedience to Christ has to do with the ethics of living in His kingdom and all the duties and responsibilities this new life involves.
• John 14:15: “If you love me, you will obey my commandments.”—Jesus (ESV)
• Psalm 130:4: But you forgive us, so that we should reverently obey you.” (GNT)
• "Obedience to God will result from relationship and will depend on love. We do not coolly choose to obey in order to receive God's affection. It is only when we know that we are loved by God and when we love Him in return that love and trust awaken in us the capacity to obey." --Lawrence Richards, 365 Day Devotional Commentary
and for sprinkling with his blood:
• Exodus 24:7-8: 7 Then he [Moses] took the Book of the Covenant and read it aloud to the people. Again they all responded, “We will do everything the Lord has commanded. We will obey.”
8 Then Moses took the blood from the basins and splattered it over the people, declaring, “Look, this blood confirms the covenant the Lord has made with you in giving you these instructions.” (NLT)
• “Peter also refers to obedience and the sprinkling of blood. He probably chose this unusual language to remind them that they are God’s covenant people. Their covenant is ratified by the sprinkling of blood more precious than that of bulls and goats, the blood of Christ (compare the use of Exodus 24 in Heb 9:13-22).” –Mark & Allen Black, 1 & 2 Peter, The CPNIVNTC, p. 32
• By God’s grace, as Christians, we were chosen by the Father, set apart by the Spirit and covered with the blood of the Son for the purpose of obedience even when we are suffering!
• No wonder Peter writes in his greeting words that are more than mere sentimentalities:
May grace and peace be multiplied to you.
• Amplified: May grace and peace [that special sense of spiritual well-being] be yours in increasing abundance [as you walk closely with God].
• The main theme is simply Jesus. His name appears 21 times in these five chapters.
• And Peter the apostle has been referred to as the apostle of hope.
• The apostle Paul tells us in Colossians 1:26-27 that the mystery hidden for ages and generations but now revealed to his saints… is Christ in you, the hope of glory.(NLT)
“Hope is a wonderful gift from God, a source of strength and courage in the face of life’s harshest trials.
“When we are trapped in a tunnel of misery, hope points to the light at the end.
“When we are overworked and exhausted, hope gives us fresh energy.
“When we are discouraged, hope lifts our spirits.
“When we are tempted to quit, hope keeps us going.
“When we lose our way and confusion blurs the destination, hope dulls the edge of panic.
“When we struggle with a crippling disease or a lingering illness, hope helps us persevere beyond the pain.
“When we fear the worst, hope brings reminders that God is still in control.
“When we must endure the consequences of bad decisions, hope fuels our recovery.
“When we find ourselves unemployed, hope tells us we still have a future.
“When we are forced to sit back and wait, hope gives us the patience to trust.
“When we feel rejected and abandoned, hope reminds us we’re not alone…we’ll make it.
“when we say our final farewell to someone we love, hope in the life beyond gets us through our grief.
“Put simply, when life hurts and dreams fade, nothing helps like hope” Chuck Swindoll, Hope Again, p. xii
• As I thought about Swindoll’s words, I realized that every time the word “hope” is used, it can be substituted with the name “Jesus Christ.”
• Why is He our living hope? Well, remember what Paul wrote to us…
3 … as of first importance what [he] also received:
that Christ died for our sins in accordance with the Scriptures,
4 that he was buried,
that he was raised on the third day in accordance with the Scriptures,
5 and that he appeared to Peter, then to the twelve.
6 Then he appeared to more than five hundred brothers at one time…(1 Corinthians 15:3-6, ESV)
The Lord’s Supper
(Luke 22:19-20; 1 Corinthians 11:26, ESV)
19 And he took bread, and when he had given thanks, he broke it and gave it to them, saying, “This is my body, which is given for you. Do this in remembrance of me.”
• The body of Christ given for us.
(Congregation eats the bread.)
20 And likewise the cup after they had eaten, saying, “This cup that is poured out for you is the new covenant in my blood.
• The blood of Christ poured out for us.
(Congregation drinks the juice.)
Prayer
For as often as you eat this bread and drink the cup, you proclaim the Lord's death until he comes.
Congregation: King Jesus has died. King Jesus has risen. And King Jesus will come again.