Lesson 1 – I Peter Chapter 1:1-2

Sometimes when we come across Peter’s name in the Bible, we might have a little smile on our face. I think it’s because most of us can relate to Peter in a very human way, in that we all make mistakes in life just as Peter did. I’ve heard it said that Peter had the affliction of “foot-in-mouth” disease, and we can all relate to that as well.

Doctor Luke heard Peter speak right after the day of Pentecost, and he noted that something extradentary had happened to Peter.

Acts 4:13
“Now when they saw the boldness of Peter and John, and perceived that they were uneducated and untrained men, they marveled. And they realized that they had been with Jesus.”

The men of Peter and John’s day knew all too well that these were just run-of-the-mill fishermen, without any real schooling, but it became obvious to them once they realized that these men had been with Jesus!

I like that! Hanging out with Jesus will make anyone wise and smart. So, we’re going to hang out with Peter for a while, and as we do, by the Holy Spirit, there will be changes in us too.

After Jesus’ ascension into heaven, Peter became the leader of the apostles. Peter is recognized for many things. He was not only an outspoken and passionate disciple, he was also one of Jesus’ closest friends and a pillar of the church.

Peter was strong-willed, enthusiastic, but also impulsive and even bold at times. While Peter had his strengths, he also had his weaknesses. Despite this, the Lord chose Peter, just as He chose Paul. Jesus molded him into exactly who He intended Peter to be. Whether it was stepping out of a boat onto a tossing sea or stepping across the threshold of a Gentile home for the first time, Peter found his courage in Jesus Christ.

Jesus gave him a new name: Cephas (Aramaic) and Peter (Greek), which means “rock” or “stone.” Later, Jesus officially called Peter to follow Him, producing a miraculous catch of fish (Luke 5:7). Right then, Peter left everything behind to follow Jesus (Luke 5:11).

One thing that Peter is credited with is the special insight that he had concerning Jesus’ identity. Peter was the first to call Jesus the Son of the Living God – the Messiah.

Matt. 16:15-16
“He said to them, “But who do you say that I am?” Simon Peter answered and said, “You are the Christ, the Son of the living God.”

It was Peter who left the boat to walk on the water to Jesus (Matthew 14:28-29) and promptly took his eyes off Jesus and began to sink (Matthew 14:30). It was Peter who took Jesus aside to rebuke Him for speaking of His death (Matthew 16:22) and was swiftly corrected by the Lord (Matthew 16:23). It was Peter who suggested erecting three tabernacles to honor Moses, Elijah and Jesus (Matthew 17:4) and fell to the ground in fearful silence at God’s glory (Matthew 17:5-6). It was Peter who drew his sword and attacked the servant of the high priest (John 18:10) and was immediately told to sheath his weapon (John 18:11). It was Peter who boasted that he would never forsake the Lord, even if everyone else did (Matthew 26:33) and then later denied that he even knew Jesus (Matthew 26:70-74). It was Peter who first proclaimed the Gospel on the day of Pentecost (Acts 2:14-47). Peter was also the first one to take the Gospel to the Gentiles (Acts 10:1-48). In a sense, Peter was the foundation of the church.

There are many important lessons we can take away from Peter’s life. One of the biggest lessons is that Jesus uses unlikely heroes. Peter was a fisherman from Galilee, but Jesus called him to be a fisher of men. Peter was willing to leave all he had behind to follow Jesus, and God used him in extraordinary ways. Peter had listened to, eaten with, laughed with, and traveled with Jesus for three years, and this had a long lasting effect on Peter, especially the moment the Holy Spirit indwelt him.

First Peter was written around A.D. 63. This was written to the provinces of Asia Minor (present day Turkey). The Christians there had found out the hard way, that a life lived for Christ can often result in many trials or persecutions. Peter knew that these people needed some spiritual encouragement from him. Peter will explain to them why suffering occurs, and to remind them of their eternal reward that awaits them.

Peter greets us…

I Peter 1:1-2
“Peter, an apostle of Jesus Christ, To the pilgrims of the Dispersion in Pontus, Galatia, Cappadocia, Asia, and Bithynia,elect according to the foreknowledge of God the Father, in sanctification of the Spirit, for obedience and sprinkling of the blood of Jesus Christ: Grace to you and peace be multiplied.”

Peter begins his letter in the same fashion as Paul, by declaring he is an apostle of Jesus Christ. Peter and Paul were the two apostles who had a major impact on the early church. In fact, when you read the New Testament, you’ll see Peter’s name about 210 times and Paul’s about 160 times. Yet with all of the other apostles put together, they’re mentioned only 114 times.

To the pilgrims, or we can say, foreigners, aliens, strangers, or elect exiles… Peter could be speaking to the Jewish Christians who were disbanded at the time, or to any Christians feeling displaced or just lost. This is similar to the Jewish exiles in the Old Testament who weren’t living in their own homeland, but in Babylon. Most likely, Peter is writing to Christians who could be actually running for their lives.

As believers, it’s okay to be described as aliens or foreigners, because this isn’t our homeland, heaven is.

Elect… or those who are chosen… This is a reminder to Peter’s readers, and also to us, that we’re in a chosen community bound for heaven. Peter begins his letter in an unapologetic bold way, by addressing the doctrine of election. Here, he states this truth with no explanation of our sovereign election for what it is, a reality accepted and believed among all the other apostles and in the church. If you discuss “being chosen” with other believers, you’ll find out rather quickly that not everyone holds to the same belief.

Deut. 7:6
“For you are a holy people to the Lord your God; the Lord your God has chosen you to be a people for Himself, a special treasure above all the peoples on the face of the earth.”

Jesus taught on the truth of election…

John 6:37
“All that the Father gives Me will come to Me, and the one who comes to Me I will by no means cast out.”

John 13:18a
“I do not speak concerning all of you. I know whom I have chosen;”

In order to be saved, a person must make the choice to believe. Most believers can point to a time in which they considered the claims of Christ and surrendered to Him. We chose to surrender in faith; if we had not chosen to do so, we could not be saved. However, examining Scripture and looking back on the process of our salvation, we recognize that God’s hand is at work all along the way. For example, we see the conviction of the Holy Spirit; we also see how God was changing our stubborn hearts to enable us to believe; we see the series of events that God arranged so that we could hear the gospel. Hindsight allows us to see just how God pulled us in.

We don’t choose God, He chooses us. For some people, this is a very hard concept to digest, having the crazy notion that we were somehow looking for God. Our human pride tries to say, “I was looking for God and found Him.”

Rom. 3:11
“There is none who understands; There is none who seeks after God.”

This is an absolute; just as “all have sinned and fall short of God’s glorious standard,” “There is none who seeks after God.”

We have a relationship with God because God chose to pursue a relationship with us and win us over.

John 6:44
“No one can come to Me unless the Father who sent Me draws him; and I will raise him up at the last day.”

Jesus points out mankind’s helplessness and total inability to respond to Him apart from God’s sovereign call.

All unbelievers are not able to come to Christ on their own initiative. God has chosen to save some people, and He chose them based on His own purposes, not some “inborn goodness” on the part of the person being saved. If this were true, it would be salvation by works. From eternity past, God has had a large body of believers in mind whom He chose to love.

II Thess. 2:13-14
“But we are bound to give thanks to God always for you, brethren beloved by the Lord, because God from the beginning chose you for salvation through sanctification by the Spirit and belief in the truth, to which He called you by our gospel, for the obtaining of the glory of our Lord Jesus Christ.”

What was the hook by which we were called? It is the Gospel of Christ.

Rom. 10:20
“And later Isaiah spoke boldly for God, saying, “I was found by people who were not looking for me. I showed myself to those who were not asking for me.” (NLT)

We weren’t looking for God, He was looking for us. God chose to save us from our sin…

In Ephesians 1:4-6 Paul describes God as the One who “chose us in Christ.”

“Just as He chose us in Him before the foundation of the world, that we should be holy and without blame before Him in love, having predestined us to adoption as sons by Jesus Christ to Himself, according to the good pleasure of His will, to the praise of the glory of His grace, by which He made us accepted in the Beloved.”

Then in verses 11–14, Paul further explains how God’s choice and our faith work together:

“In him we were also chosen, having been predestined according to the plan of Him who works out everything in conformity with the purpose of His will, in order that we, who were the first to put our hope in Christ, might be for the praise of His glory. And you also were included in Christ when you heard the message of truth, the gospel of your salvation. When you believed, you were marked in Him with a seal, the promised Holy Spirit, who is a deposit guaranteeing our inheritance until the redemption of those who are God’s possession – to the praise of His glory.”

The whole plan of salvation is for God’s glory and for the good of those whom He has chosen to save (the purpose of His will). Contrary to many widespread teachings, the plan of salvation is not about us; it is about God. The moment we think we had anything to do with our salvation, other than believing by faith, we can drift into false doctrine.

According to the foreknowledge of God the Father…

John MacArthur, “One popular explanation for election by those who cannot accept God’s sovereign choice based on nothing but His own will stems from a faulty understanding of foreknowledge. According to that understanding, the term merely means foresight or supernatural knowledge of the future.”

There are those who say that God, in His omniscience (being all knowing), looked into the future to see who would believe in Him and who wouldn’t, then God decided to choose them for salvation. To do this, it gives man some kind of power over God’s sovereignty… it can’t work that way. This would allow man to take some kind of credit for His salvation, thus making salvation works oriented. Remember, our salvation is for God’s glory, not ours.

The Greek word foreknowledge (prog’-no-siss) speaks of having forethought, or pre-arrangement… this refers to God’s eternal, predetermined, loving, and saving intention.

In verse 20, Peter uses a similar expression, “was foreknown,” talking about the fact that God knew from eternity past that He would send Jesus to this earth to save sinners.

The way Peter uses this phrase “cannot” mean that God looked into the future and saw that Jesus would “choose” to die for us. So, in the same way that God the Father foreknew His plan for Christ’s sacrifice from before anything even existed, God foreknew His “elect,” His chosen ones.

One Bible commentary says, “Therefore 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.”

When it’s all said and done, isn’t it nice to know that God called you by name through His Holy Spirit?

In sanctification of the Spirit, or by the sanctifying work of the Spirit,

From eternity past… Can you even contemplate eternity past without it hurting your brain? From eternity past, God decided, God had predetermined to have a relationship with you, and this reality began the moment you were conceived in your mother’s womb.

The instant you placed your faith in Jesus for salvation, is the time when the sanctifying work of the Spirit began in your life. This work of the Spirit will continue as long as you’re on this side of eternity.

Phil. 1:6
“For I am confident of this very thing, that He who began a good work in you will perfect it until the day of Christ Jesus.”

The sanctification process is all about God working in us, being the separating agent between our spirit and the antichrist influences around us. We are set-apart for God’s kingdom and His glory. The sanctifying work of the Spirit is the ongoing process whereby the Holy Spirit works in believers, making their lives holy, separating them from their old ways, and working in them to be more Christlike as each day passes.

The Holy Spirit produces faith, repentance, redemption, and adoption into God’s family.

Rom. 8:16
“The Spirit Himself testifies with our spirit that we are children of God, and if children, heirs also, heirs of God and fellow heirs with Christ, if indeed we suffer with Him so that we may also be glorified with Him.”

The evidence of the Spirit is He sets believers apart from slavery to sin, to becoming bond-slaves of Christ.

By the Spirit, we are no longer children of darkness, but rather children of light. The believer detests sin, and is driven to love and righteousness by the Spirit.

Col. 2:13
“When you were dead in your transgressions and the uncircumcision of your flesh, He made you alive together with Him, having forgiven us all our transgressions, having canceled out the certificate of debt consisting of decrees against us, which was hostile to us; and He has taken it out of the way, having nailed it to the cross.”

Going through the sanctifying work of the Spirit, makes us alive together with Christ.

For obedience and sprinkling of the blood of Jesus Christ, or to obey Jesus Christ and be sprinkled with His blood…

To obey Jesus Christ… no believer should ever recoil at this statement. Going through the sanctification process guides and ushers us into obedience to the Lord. The Greek word for obedience means: compliance, or submission, as well as to listen. It is our responsibility to be submissive to the Word of God.

Exo. 24:7b
“And they said, “All that the Lord has said we will do, and be obedient.”

John 14:15
“If you love Me, keep My commandments.”

Obedience to Christ’s commandments is both a sign and a test of our love for Him.

I John 5:1-3
“Everyone who believes that Jesus is the Christ has become a child of God. And everyone who loves the Father loves His children, too. We know we love God’s children if we love God and obey His commandments. Loving God means keeping His commandments, and His commandments are not burdensome.” (NLT)

We know that there isn’t a believer out there who obeys perfectly or completely, but the true believer longs to have a lifestyle of obedience to God. It’s the exact opposite of being a habitual sinner.

So, what does Jesus really mean when He says, “Keep my commands?” Is Jesus referring to keeping a list of do’s and don’ts like the Ten Commandments, or does He have something else in mind? The words that John uses in the original language are not merely to be understood as obeying a series of moral instructions. When he says these “commands” it encompasses all of Jesus’ words and teachings. We might say, Jesus is the complete package… we want all of Jesus, not just part of Him.

As we read in John’s first epistle, we see a qualifier to genuine redemption…

I John 2:3-6
“And we can be sure that we know Him if we obey His commandments. If someone claims, “I know God,” but doesn’t obey God’s commandments, that person is a liar and is not living in the truth. But those who obey God’s word truly show how completely they love Him. That is how we know we are living in Him. Those who say they live in God should live their lives as Jesus did.” (NLT)

When it comes to obedience to God and His holy written Word, it should seem like a “no-brainer” to most believers, but sadly, it’s not always the case.

The day is coming when all believers will be glorified, this is the realization of the purpose of election… being chosen by God.

Rom. 8:29-30
“For those whom He foreknew, He also predestined to become conformed to the image of His Son, so that He would be the firstborn among many brethren; and these whom He predestined, He also called; and these whom He called, He also justified; and these whom He justified, He also glorified.”

I John 3:2
“Beloved, now we are children of God, and it has not appeared as yet what we will be. We know that when He appears, we will be like Him, because we will see Him just as He is.”

The day of our glorification is indeed coming, many of us are “chomping at the bit” for this to happen. At the end of the White Throne Judgment, when the dust of heaven has settled, and Jesus has presented us to the Father… this is what God had in mind from eternity past when He predetermined to have a relationship with you.

And be sprinkled with His blood…

The sprinkling of the blood goes all the way back to Moses.

Exodus 24:5-8
“He sent young men of the sons of Israel, and they offered burnt offerings and sacrificed young bulls as peace offerings to the Lord. Moses took half of the blood and put it in basins, and the other half of the blood he sprinkled on the altar. Then he took the book of the covenant and read it in the hearing of the people; and they said, “All that the Lord has spoken we will do, and we will be obedient!” So Moses took the blood and sprinkled it on the people, and said, “Behold the blood of the covenant, which the Lord has made with you in accordance with all these words.”

When Moses did this, it demonstrated for the people of Israel that they were secure in the covenant given by God. For God’s elect, their security is found in the Blood of the Christ.

God’s elect find assurances through His Word.

John 6:37-40
“All that the Father gives Me will come to Me, and the one who comes to Me I will certainly not cast out. For I have come down from heaven, not to do My own will, but the will of Him who sent Me. This is the will of Him who sent Me, that of all that He has given Me I lose nothing, but raise it up on the last day. For this is the will of My Father, that everyone who beholds the Son and believes in Him will have eternal life, and I Myself will raise him up on the last day.”

It’s such a blessing for us as believers to know that God keeps His Word, He never changes, and that through His Word we have the assurance and security of our salvation. It is all confirmed by the blood of Jesus, through the New and Everlasting Covenant of God.

Heb. 9:12
“With His own blood – not the blood of goats and calves – He entered the Most Holy Place once for all time and secured our redemption forever.”

When believers were spiritually sprinkled with Christ’s blood, they entered into a covenant of obedience with God, not to be taken lightly. Just as a coin has two sides, the new covenant also has two sides… salvation and obedience. God’s elect, God’s chosen, are saved from death and given eternal life. As a result of this, the believer has the compulsion to live for God and obey Him.

It is the blood of Jesus that has sealed the new covenant and keeps on cleansing the believer through confession when they disobey.

Grace to you and peace be multiplied…

Peter wants whoever reads his letter to have all the rich and wide-ranging blessings that come with being God’s elect. Sadly, many churches today have a tendency to avoid the subject of being part of God’s elect with all of its profound associations. Far too many feel that the doctrine is just too deep, too confusing, or just too divisive. But when we have a true understanding of what election is really all about, the end result will be one of rejoicing.

It’s humbling to know that we had absolutely nothing to do with God’s choice of us.

John 1:12
“But as many as received Him, to them He gave the right to become children of God, to those who believe in His name.”

We’ll close with this from John MacArthur,

“Election is such a powerful truth that when Christians understand it, the practical ramifications of election will transform the way they live their daily lives. Knowing the condition of their election (they reside on earth as spiritual aliens to reach those around them), the nature of their election (it is completely the result of God’s sovereign choice), the source of their election (God set His love on them from eternity past), the sphere of their election (it becomes a reality by the Holy Spirit’s sanctifying work), the effect of their election (loving obedience to Jesus Christ), the security of their election (the covenant of obedience, which ensures divine forgiveness), and the advantages of their election (the many spiritual blessings and privileges available) produces power in believer’s lives that they would otherwise never be able to fully appreciate.”

God is good!!