“Peter, an apostle of Jesus Christ: To those chosen, living as exiles dispersed abroad in Pontus, Galatia, Cappadocia, Asia, and Bithynia, chosen according to the foreknowledge of God the Father, through the sanctifying work of the Spirit, to be obedient and to be sprinkled with the blood of Jesus Christ. May grace and peace be multiplied to you.”
As we begin on the ancient teaching laid by Peter almost 2000 years ago, let us focus on who the letter is addressed to, “To those chosen”. To understand this concept of being chosen, or elect as some version translate, we must look to the Old Testament to get a deeper understanding of God’s electing love. I will direct you to a portion in the Bible that helps us understand the depth of God’s love for us when He chose us; please turn your Bible to Ezekiel 16:4-14 and read.
In this portion of scripture, God is describing to us the condition of Israel when He chose them and then he describes the process of cleaning and clothing them. This is a fine example of the elect or chosen love that comes from God. When we first encountered God, we were not clean. No, we were riddled and polluted with the sins of the world. Our hearts were like stone, filled with corruption, evil and selfish desires. Eyes filled with darkness and no hint of holiness. But God came along in His glory and told us to live through His son.
Now that we have life again, we can start to understand verse 2 in conjunction with the latter portion of the Ezekiel scriptures. The prophet Ezekiel describes how God adorns Israel in fine linens, ornaments and oils. Peter mentions how we are sanctified (cleaned) through the work (actions) of the Spirit, and then we are obedient and sprinkled with the blood of Jesus.
The apostle John clarifies for us the fine linens that we are adorned. We are clothed in righteous acts (Revelation 19:8), confirmed by the prophet Isaiah in his book (61:10). Now, we can understand this more profound revelation of what it means to be chosen by God; He selected us and brought us back to life. Once we are brought back to life, He cleans us with water (baptism) and then anoints us with oil (Holy Spirit), where we are then presented clean and holy dressed in the appropriate clothing (the blood of Jesus).
Through this, we can adjourn with the final robes and jewels of righteous acts through the guidance of His Holy Spirit. Through our obedience to His voice, we can be presented and dressed accordingly on the final day of His coming again! Wow, what a gracious and loving God we have; all we have to do is be obedient to Him. There is nothing we have to do to earn it or accomplish the complex works; we must be obedient to Him. Is that not wonderful?
“Well, hold on a minute. What do I get out of all this?” I hear you saying, well note the close of verse 2, “may grace and peace be multiplied to you.”. For something to be multiplied, you must already have it. You can not multiply zero, but only numbers higher than zero. So for peace and grace to be multiplied, we must already have them. The minute God gives us life again, we get His grace (freedom from the condemnation of sin) and His peace.
In a world where people have no peace, they are stressed, anxious and worried. Who would not want a deep, settled peace from God? People have hearts that constantly bring guilt for how they behave, which leads to irrational behaviours to cover the shame (such as drinking, smoking, spending money, holidays etc.). Tell me, who would not want freedom from that? My friend, that is the beauty of Christ; once you accept Him, you get the foundation of His grace and peace which can only grow when you are obedient to His Spirit!
The more the world tests you, the more peace you have! The more the devil tries to convict you, the more grace you have! As you walk into deeper obedience with God, you get more and more of these blessed spiritual gifts. Praise God from whom all blessings flow!
Read the previous commentary on 1 Peter: An introduction
Read the next commentary on 1 Peter 1: 3-4
