to the chosen ones who are living as
strangers in the Dispersion
in Pontus, Galatia, Cappadocia, Asia, and Bithynia,
1:2 according to the foreknowledge ofGod
the Father,
in sanctification of the Spirit,
that you may obey Jesus Christ and be sprinkled in his
blood:
Grace to you and peace be multiplied.
The Father - Future Salvation
1:3 Blessed be the God and Father of our
Lord Jesus
Christ,
who according to his great mercy
became
our father again
to a living hope through the resurrection of Jesus Christ from
the dead,
1:4 to an incorruptible and undefiled
inheritance
that doesn't fade away, reserved in heaven for you,
1:5 who by the power of God are
guarded through faith for a salvation
ready to be revealed in the last time.
The Son - Present Anticipation
1:6 Wherein you greatly rejoice, though now for
a little while,
if need be, you have been put to grief in various trials,
1:7 that the proof of your faith,
which is more precious than
gold that perishes
even though it is tested by fire, may be found to result in
praise,
glory, and honor at the revelation of Jesus Christ--
1:8 whom not having known you love; in whom,
though now you don't see
him,
yet believing, you rejoice greatly with joy unspeakable and full of
glory--
1:9 receiving the result of your faith, the
salvation
of your
souls.
The Holy Spirit - Past Revelation
1:10 Concerning this salvation, the prophets
sought and searched
diligently,
who prophesied of the grace that would come to you,
1:11 searching for who or what kind of time the
Spirit of Christ,
which was in them, pointed to, when he predicted the sufferings of
Christ,
and the glories that would follow them.
1:12 To them it was revealed,
that not to
themselves, but to
you, did they minister these things, which now have been announced to
you
through those who preached the gospel to you by the Holy Spirit
sent out from heaven; which things angels desire to look into.
Discussion Questions
vs 1 How are the receivers of this letter described and how can you
relate
to such a description?
vs 2 What roles do the Father, Son, and Holy Spirit play in our
salvation?
vs 3-5 What terms being used here are associated with "family"?
What is the living hope?
What parallels do you see with Matt 6:19,20?
vs 6-9 How much has your anticipation of going to heaven satisfied
your desire for happiness?
How can trials cause artificial faith to develop into real faith?
How have trials caused your faith to grow?
What kind of responses to trials give glory to God?
What salvation have you experienced?
vs 10-12 How has viewing yourself as being a part of God's story
motivated
you to live the Christian life?
How might you identify with Christ in His purpose and sufferings?
Comments
Strangers in the World
1Pet 1:1 Peter, an
apostle of Jesus Christ, To God’s elect, strangers in the world,
scattered throughout Pontus, Galatia, Cappadocia, Asia and Bithynia
It was likely Peter was addressing Jews who had become Christians
dispersed among the nations. Notice James address his letter in a
similar manner. "James, a servant of God and of
the Lord Jesus Christ, To the twelve tribes scattered among the nations"
Jam 1:1 However realize that just as when Paul addressed a
letter to a particular group, the application of that letter was not
particular to that group but to the whole of the Christian community
even today, likewise concerning these letters addressed to Jewish
Christians. Realize that while we may come from different ethnic
backgrounds, "there is no distinction between
Jew and Greek" Rom 10:12 "There
is neither Jew nor Greek, slave nor free, male nor female, for you are
all one in Christ Jesus." Gal 3:28 And so this letter
finds application among all the Christian community.
Three times Peter brings up the word "stranger" in this letter
reminding us that we are all foreigners here just sojourning for a
time. This is not our home. We are like Jesus who said, "Foxes have holes and birds of the air have nests, but
the Son of Man has no place to lay his head." Mt 8:20
Our place of rest is in not found in the world, but in Christ and his
kingdom. "Our citizenship is in heaven. And we
eagerly await a Savior from there, the Lord Jesus Christ" Php
3:20
Chosen for Obedience
1Pet 1:2 who
have been chosen according to the foreknowledge of God the Father,
through the sanctifying work of the Spirit, for obedience to Jesus
Christ and sprinkling by his blood: Grace and peace be yours in
abundance.
By "God's foreknowledge" Peter is not saying that God simply
predicted that we would be chosen. Rather he's talking about God
pre-planning our being chosen. His plan was in place from the beginning,
as it is written that the "Lamb that was slain
from the creation of the world." Rev 13:8 or as Peter
says in verse 20 "foreordained before the
foundation of the world" From the beginning God planned that a
category of people, which now we call "Christians" or "saints" or
"saved" or "elect" or simply "chosen", to have a destiny in accordance
with the grace offered in the gospel. If a person ends up in that
category, they are reckoned and spoken of as being one of the elect. A
person enters that category through faith in Christ. And what foreknowledge but the foreknowledge of our faith was the basis of God's choice.
One aspect of being a Christian is effect that the Holy Spirit has on
such a person. At the end of Peter's first sermon in Acts chapter 2 he
said, "Repent and be baptized, every one of you,
in the name of Jesus Christ for the forgiveness of your sins. And you
will receive the gift of the Holy Spirit." Acts 2:38 Paul
writes, "We ought always to thank God for you,
brothers loved by the Lord, because from the beginning God chose you to
be saved through the sanctifying work of the Spirit and through
belief in the truth." 2Th 2:13
The sanctifying work of the Spirit leads one to obey the Lord Jesus
Christ. And "those who are led by the Spirit of
God are sons of God." Rom 8:14 Paul says that "Through him (the Lord Jesus Christ) and for his name’s sake, we received grace and
apostleship to call people from among all the Gentiles to the obedience
that comes from faith." Rom 1:5 There's an obedience
that comes from faith - an obedience prompted by the Holy Spirit of
whom Jesus said, "When he comes, he will convict
the world of guilt in regard to sin and righteousness and judgment"
John 16:8
The sprinkling of his blood is an allusion to the sacrificial system,
even to the origins of Passover where Moses
"By faith he kept the Passover and the sprinkling of blood, so
that the destroyer of the firstborn would not touch the firstborn of
Israel." Heb 11:28 But now we have come "to Jesus the mediator of a new covenant, and to the
sprinkled blood that speaks a better word than the blood of Abel."
Heb 12:24 For "God presented him as
a sacrifice of atonement, through faith in his blood." Rom
3:25
Hope in light of Christ's Resurrection
1Pet 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
The resurrection of Christ forms the basis of our faith and thus of our
hope. For it gives us solid eyewitness evidence that the gospel is
true. Nicodemus came to Christ with such reasoning saying, "Rabbi, we know you are a teacher who has come from
God. For no one could perform the miraculous signs you are doing if God
were not with him." John 3:2 And in his second letter
Peter writes, "We did not follow cleverly
invented stories when we told you about the power and coming of our
Lord Jesus Christ, but we were eyewitnesses of his majesty." 2Peter
1:16 Luke records concerning Jesus' resurrection, "After his suffering, he showed himself to these men
and gave many convincing proofs that he was alive. He appeared to
them over a period of forty days and spoke about the kingdom of God." Acts
1:3 This is essential to the gospel. For faith in Christ is not
wishful thinking like that of other religions. It is based upon the
testimony of miracles. Paul writes that this is of first importance, "For what I received I passed on to you as of first
importance: that Christ died for our sins according to the Scriptures,
that he was buried, that he was raised on the third day according to
the Scriptures, and that he appeared to Peter, and then to the Twelve.
After that, he appeared to more than five hundred of the brothers at
the same time, most of whom are still living, though some have fallen
asleep. Then he appeared to James, then to all the apostles, and last
of all he appeared to me also." 1Cor 15:3-8 The
eyewitness testimonies of the resurrection of Christ form the solid
basis upon which to believe in Christ. And as such it is through the
resurrection of Christ that we have come to believe in him and
consequently have been born again.
Imperishable Inheritance
1Pet 1:4 and
into an inheritance that can never perish, spoil or fade— kept in
heaven for you
Both the obtaining and maintaining of earthly treasures is
unpredictable, and thus Paul instructs Timothy, "Command
those who are rich in this present world not to be arrogant nor to put
their hope in wealth, which is so uncertain" 1Tim 6:17a,
and they are corruptible and we can't take them with us. Jesus said, "Do not store up for yourselves treasures on earth,
where moth and rust destroy, and where thieves break in and steal. But
store up for yourselves treasures in heaven, where moth and rust do not
destroy, and where thieves do not break in and steal." Mt
6:19,20 But the fact these riches are in heaven indicates that we
don't have them presently. They are to be experienced in the future,
though reckon them ours like money in an IRA account.
Shielded
1Pet 1:5 who
through faith are shielded by God’s power until the coming of the
salvation that is ready to be revealed in the last time.
Just as our inheritance is secured in heaven, so is our fate, if indeed
we are in the faith. On the judgement day we will be saved from the
wrath of God. For "since we have now been
justified by his blood, how much more shall we be saved from God’s
wrath through him!" Rom 5:9 So we
"wait for his Son from heaven, whom he raised from the dead— Jesus, who
rescues us from the coming wrath." 1Th
1:10 And "not only so, but we ourselves,
who have the firstfruits of the Spirit, groan inwardly as we wait
eagerly for our adoption as sons, the redemption of our bodies. For in
this hope we were saved." Rom 8:23,24a So there is to
be salvation from the consequences of sin - both from the judicial
wrath it incurs and from its very presence and corrupting influence
upon us. But we still await "the last time" - that eschatological event
known as "the day of the Lord."
Joy in the Midst of Trials
1Pet 1:6 In this
you greatly rejoice, though now for a little while you may have had to
suffer grief in all kinds of trials.
There's both saddness and joy in the Christian life. These go together.
There are trials that cause us grief. But our hope makes us joyful. For
that which we hope is not dependent upon the circumstances we may have
to face in life. And when you think about eternity, our life here is
indeed just a little while. "Therefore we do not
lose heart. Though outwardly we are wasting away, yet inwardly we are
being renewed day by day. For our light and momentary troubles are
achieving for us an eternal glory that far outweighs them all. So we
fix our eyes not on what is seen, but on what is unseen. For what is
seen is temporary, but what is unseen is eternal." 2Cor 4:16-18
Trials Reveal Faith
1Pet 1:7 These
have come so that your faith— of greater worth than gold, which
perishes even though refined by fire— may be proved genuine and may
result in praise, glory and honor when Jesus Christ is revealed.
There is a faith that doesn't
save. One type of faith that doesn't save is a faith that doesn't
endure. Paul writes, "By this gospel you are
saved, if you hold firmly to the word I preached to you. Otherwise, you
have believed in vain." 1Cor 15:2 Jesus said, "The one who received the seed that fell on rocky
places is the man who hears the word and at once receives it with joy.
But since he has no root, he lasts only a short time. When trouble or
persecution comes because of the word, he quickly falls away." Mt
13:20,21 But a faith that endures through trials proves itself to
be genuine.
Receiving Salvation
1Pet 1:8,9 Though you
have not seen him, you love him; and even though you do not see him
now, you believe in him and are filled with an inexpressible and
glorious joy, for you
are receiving the goal of your faith, the salvation of your souls.
"Now faith is being sure of what we hope for and
certain of what we do not see." Heb 11:1 While it had
been a privilege to have seen and walked with the resurrected Christ
as Peter did, Jesus said, "blessed are those who
have not seen and yet have believed." John 20:29 For
our faith today is in a sense greater than that of Peter in that while
we believe based upon eyewitness testimony, we believe without having
seen for ourselves.
"Receiving" here is neither in the active nor passive voice. It is in
the middle voice, which in Greek means to do something for your own
sake. There is participation involved in receiving the goal of your
faith. And that participation is the exercise of your faith. And faith
has a goal, an end, a purpose, the salvation of your soul. The point of
believing the gospel, the point of putting your faith in Christ, is
that you may be saved. "Receiving" is in the present tense rather
than the future tense. True they will be saved, but what Peter is
saying is that it is evident that they have embraced the gospel in the
expressions of their faith. And "as God’s fellow
workers we urge you not to receive God’s grace in vain." 2Cor
6:1, but rather to consider the implications of your faith and live
it out.
Messianic Prophecies
1Pet 1:10,11 Concerning
this salvation, the prophets, who spoke of the grace that was to come
to you, searched intently and with the greatest care, trying
to find out the time and circumstances to which the Spirit of Christ in
them was pointing when he predicted the sufferings of Christ and the
glories that would follow.
Prophecying concerning the coming of Christ started in Genesis just
after the fall. God spoke to the serpent, the devil,
"I will put enmity between you and the woman, and between your
offspring and hers; he will crush your head, and you will strike his
heel." Gen 3:15
Later Daniel prophecied, ""Seventy ‘sevens’ are decreed for your people and
your holy city to finish transgression, to put an end to sin, to atone
for wickedness, to bring in everlasting righteousness, to seal up
vision and prophecy and to anoint the most holy. Know and understand
this: From the issuing of the decree to restore and rebuild Jerusalem
until the Anointed One, the ruler, comes, there will be seven ‘sevens,’
and sixty-two ‘sevens.’ It will be rebuilt with streets and a trench,
but in times of trouble. After the sixty-two ‘sevens,’ the Anointed One
will be cut off and will have nothing." Daniel 9:24-26a
"sevens" refers to weeks of
years: 7x7 + 62x7 = 483 years. In 445 BC Artaxerxes issued a decree to
allow the Jews to establish worship and Jewish law in Judah. That was
the issuing of the decree. The book of Nehemiah records it. 69 weeks is
483 days.(69 weeks X 7 days in a week). If you consider a "prophetic
day fora year" principle, you would add 483 years from the date of the
decree in 445 BC. If it began in 445 B.C., and you add to that four
hundred and eighty-three years, to the exact month (because we know
that the month in which the edict to rebuild Jerusalem was issued was
the Hebrew month Nisan, which corresponds about to our April), then it
brings us down to April, 32 A.D., which includes adjustments due to the
ancients using 360 day/year, which would be really made it 476 years,
and also adding one year because there is no year zero. Know of
anyone claiming to be the Messiah who was cut off in April, 32 AD?
Consider Isaiah 53 concerning the Messiah part of which says, "He was despised and rejected by men, a man of
sorrows, and familiar with suffering. Like one from whom men hide their
faces he was despised, and we esteemed him not. Surely he took up our
infirmities and carried our sorrows, yet we considered him stricken by
God, smitten by him, and afflicted. But he was pierced for our
transgressions, he was crushed for our iniquities; the punishment that
brought us peace was upon him, and by his wounds we are healed. We all,
like sheep, have gone astray, each of us has turned to his own way; and
the LORD has laid on him the iniquity of us all." And he goes
on to mention the circumstances of Christ's burial.
Or consider the circumstances mention in Psalm 22, a Psalm
which Jesus quoted on the cross, a Psalm written 1000 years prior to
his crucifixion and yet containing details fulfilled the very day of
his death.
Prophecy Revealed
1Pet 1:12 It
was revealed to them that they were not serving themselves but you,
when they spoke of the things that have now been told you by those who
have preached the gospel to you by the Holy Spirit sent from heaven.
Even angels long to look into these things.
There are things mentioned in the Old Testament by the prophets which
are relevant to the preaching of the gospel today, some of which I
mentioned in my comment on the previous verses. What is hidden in the
Old is revealed in the New. The gospel is not new. For it is "the gospel he promised beforehand through his
prophets in the Holy Scriptures."Rom 1:2 that
Paul preached. The Church is "built on the
foundation of the apostles and prophets, with Christ Jesus himself as
the chief cornerstone." Eph 2:20
And now "we have the word of the prophets made
more certain, and you will do well to pay attention to it, as to a
light shining in a dark place, until the day dawns and the morning star
rises in your hearts." 2Peter 1:19 But also "you must understand that no prophecy of Scripture
came about by the prophet’s own interpretation. For prophecy
never had its origin in the will of man, but men spoke from God as they
were carried along by the Holy Spirit." 2Peter 1:20,21
This not to say that prophecies are not be to interpreted. Certainly
they are to be interpreted. That is the point. Both the prophets
themselves and even angels attempt to interpret prophecies. But the
origin of Biblical prophecies are not man-made, but come from the Holy
Spirit.
Interesting that angels, including fallen angels, don't have the whole
scope. Seems the gospel is being revealed to them progressively just as
with us. This verse also tells us that angels long to look into these
things. It's one of the few verses which expresses angel's desires.
(Want to attract angels? Hold a Bible study!) We may in fact know more
than they do in this regards.
ADDITIONAL COMMENTS
vs 2 To be "elect" or "chosen" is to be put
into a special
category
- that of the redeemed, those born of God. Such election is not
arbitrary,
but in accordance with God's foreknowlege. But "foreknowledge" of what?
It could be simply God's foreknowledge of our response to the gospel -
essentially the foreknowledge of our faith in Christ. The Holy Spirit
sets
one apart and causes one to be born of God, receiving a permanent
indwelling
of the Spirit, which affects one's attitudes and behaviors. This occurs
after one believes. "Having believed, you were marked in him with a
seal, the promised Holy Spirit."Ephesians 1:13 Being born
of
the Spirit one is both justified by the blood of Christ who is Savior,
but also one is led into a life of obedience to Christ as Lord. The
word
for "obedience" is derived from the word "to listen". It is a listening
type of obedience, like when parents say to their children "listen to
me!"
The elect pay attention to what God says and obey it.
vs 3-5 The section from vs 3-12 is very similar in style to
Paul's
doxology in Ephesians
1. Peter speaks of being born again which reminds us of Jesus's
statement in John 3:3"I tell you the truth, no one can see
the
kingdom of God unless he is born again." Birth occurs at a point in
time and is an irreversible event. Have you been physically born? Have
you been born once? That seems obvious. But what if I ask, have you
been
twice? Have you been born of the flesh and also been born of the
spirit?
Are you equally confident? And let me ask this. Are you afraid of
becoming
physically unborn? That makes no sense. For once a person is born he
cannot
become unborn. Similarly could we not say the same of spiritual birth?
Peter plays on the irreversible aspect of this new birth and the
inevitability
inherent in the promise to communicate a confident hopeful anticipation
of the future for the elect.
Jesus' resurrection was the affirmation of our hope. But it was also
a picture of our future. For death is not the end. A greater life is to
come free from corruption and sin. And it is permanent. Today people
build
up their lives only to end up experiencing corruption, decay and death.
But this is not our destiny. We have a reservation in heaven. (Have you
made a reservation? If not you may get thrown out!)
Once saved, alway saved? Yes indeed! But what if one goes on to live
a lifestyle of sin or loses faith in Christ? It doesn't happen!"No
one who is born of God will continue to sin, because God's seed remains
in him; he cannot go on sinning, because he has been born of God."1John
3:9 and verse 10 goes on to indicate that this can be a measure of
a person's election. The word "cannot" in 1John 3:9 is also the
same Greek word for "power" that Peter uses in verse 5. The
elect
have lost the ability to live a lifestyle of sin because of the nature
of the new birth. Thus those who fall away in a lifestyle sense
indicate
that they had never been born of God to begin with. "They went out
from
us, but they did not really belong to us. For if they had belonged to
us,
(ONCE
SAVED) they would have remained with us; (ALWAYS SAVED) but
their
going showed that none of them belonged to us." 1John 2:19
This
concept has come to be known as The Perseverance of the Saints, meaning
that having been born of God, it is inevitable for the elect to
continue
on in the faith and in a lifestyle consistent with that of a child of
God.
vs 6-8 Christians should have both a sense of joy in view of
our destiny, but also a sense of burden while we are here. Consider
Jesus.
He was not a sort of light hearted fellow skipping down the road
throwing
rose pedals in the air. He was serious, sober, and somber. "He was
despised
and rejected by men, a man of sorrows, and familiar with suffering.
Like
one from whom men hide their faces." Isaiah 53:3 The way he
treats his apostles is the way he treats the church. He calls them to
give
up their lives for the sake of the advancement of the kingdom of God
and
puts them in situations in which they are subjected to all kinds of
trials.
But then again this is how God the Father treated His Son as well. So
we
have an example to follow.
Depending on one's level of cooperation, trials can both reveal and
purify one's faith. Gold is purified by fire in that the dross rises to
the surface. (Burn the 'ell out of "gold" and you have "God"!) The
dross
rising to the surface can make the surface look ugly until one removes
this dross. So also in the Christian life, going through trials can
bring
our sinfulness to the surface. But if it's on the surface it is more
easily
dealt with. Thus the purifying of the Christian life may look ugly on
the
surface, but it purfies inside. Those who are not faced with such
trials
may look clean on the surface, but may be corrupt inside just as Jesus
spoke of the Pharisees and teachers of the Law, "You are like
whitewashed
tombs, which look beautiful on the outside but on the inside are full
of
dead men's bones and everything unclean. In the same way, on the
outside
you appear to people as righteous but on the inside you are full of
hypocrisy
and wickedness." Matthew 23:27,28
A Christian's love for Christ is not as the world's idea of love -
that
of simply feeling a feeling. But rather Biblical love is revealed by
obedience
to Christ's commands even in the midst of such trials, as it is
written:
"This is love for God: to obey his commands."1 John 5:3
And
"Whoever
has my commands and obeys them, he is the one who loves me."
John
14:21 And "You are my friends if you do what I command."John
15:14
vs 9 Are the elect already saved or are we in the process of
salvation? Both are true. For "salvation" is multfaceted. Having been
born
of God, we are justified. We are given a destiny which is inevitable.
We
are eternally secure from the wrath of God. Thus we can speak of
positional
salvation as already having been accomplished. But our experience of
that
salvation is ongoing. For though we've been saved from sin, we are in
the
process of being delivered from our innate sinfulness, for example - a
salvation which is not going to be completely realized until our
resurrection.
vs 10-12 Justification by faith was available during Old
Testament
times. Paul speaks of Abraham being justified by faith in Romans
4:2-3"If,
in fact, Abraham was justified by works, he had something to boast
about--
but not before God. What does the Scripture say? Abraham believed God,
and it was credited to him as righteousness." And similarly also
with
King David in Romans 4:6-8"David says the same thing when
he
speaks of the blessedness of the man to whom God credits righteousness
apart from works: "Blessed are they whose transgressions are forgiven,
whose sins are covered. Blessed is the man whose sin the Lord
will
never count against him." And there are other examples of where the
New Testament authors acknowledge that justification by faith was
active
in Old Testament times. Since the promise in Genesis 3:15 God
had
always maintained a covenant of Grace with mankind.
Furthermore, in Galatians 3:16,17 Paul associates the New
Covenant
which Christians are under as simply an extension of the covenant made
with Abraham. "The promises were spoken to Abraham and to his seed.
The Scripture does not say "and to seeds," meaning many people, but
"and
to your seed," meaning one person, who is Christ. What I mean is
this: The law, introduced 430 years later, does not set aside the
covenant
previously established by God and thus do away with the promise."
But if such justification was already available, then what salvation
were the prophets seeking? There are a few aspects of the New Covenant
which are different than the previous covenants of grace which can
mostly
be characterized by the word "revealed". Previously
justification
by faith was not explicit but implied. Similarly, although Isaiah 53 is
clearer than other Messianic passages, the role of the Messiah as the
atoning
sacrifice for sin was also not explicit but implied, even allegorically
throughout the Old Testament. Even Jesus' apostles hadn't grasped that
concept until the resurrection.
But there is another aspect that Christians may not realize that
also
is revealed under the New Covenant. There is a revealed righteousness
of
the believers. There is a behavior and attitude among true believers in
Christ that was not generally characteristic even of the righteous
saints
of Old Testament times. Jeremiah writes of the New Covenant, of which
the
author of Hebrews takes note saying, "This is the covenant I will
make
with them after that time, says the Lord. I will put my laws in their
hearts,
and I will write them on their minds." Then he adds: "Their sins and
lawless
acts I will remember no more."Heb 10:16,17 There are two
aspects
of this covenant. One aspect has to do with justification - the
forgiveness
of sins. And by "forgiveness of sins" I mean a forgiveness so complete
that God actually forgets that we had sinned. But there is another
aspect
of the covenant, which is commonly referred to as "sanctification". And
by this I mean the progressive development of Christlikeness. This is
salvation
from our innate sinfulness, which will culminate in its complete
removal
upon our resurrection.
Under the Old Covenant, no one was born of God in the sense in which
they are under the New. And although prophets had a special empowerment
of the Holy Spirit, no one had ever received the permanent indwelling
of
the Holy Spirit in the sense that Christians have since
Pentecost.
Even during his human life, none of Jesus' apostles had received the
Holy
Spirit as it is written: "Up to that time the Spirit had not been
given,
since Jesus had not yet been glorified."John 7:39 But
Peter,
having been given the keys to the kingdom, opens the gates of heaven
intiating
the announcement of the New Covenant at Penetecost saying: "Repent
and
be baptized, every one of you, in the name of Jesus Christ for the
forgiveness
of your sins. And you will receive the gift of the Holy Spirit. The
promise
is for you and your children and for all who are far off-- for all whom
the Lord our God will call."Acts 2:38,39
The general receiving of the Holy Spirit had been unheard of before.
The Holy Spirit causes one to be born of God (John 3:5; John 1:12)
It is permanent. (Ephesians 1:13) And it has an inevitable
effect
on one's behavior such that the Christian loses the ability to live a
lifestyle
of sin (1John 3:9,10) and makes one's life of faith
characterized
as obedient to God and overcoming the world (1John 5:3-5). This
was not true of Old Testament saints. And thus the lifestyle of Old
Testament
saints, particularly their sinfulness, should not be the model for the
Christian life. But rather Christ himself should be the model for the
Christian
life. And this living a holy life will be Peter's emphasis next.
1Peter 1:1-12
RAP
1:1 Peter, an apostle of Jesus Christ
To God's elect scattered like mice.
Throughout Pontus and Cappadocia,
Galatia, Asia, and Bithynia, 2 Chosen by God as He did foreknow,
Sanctified by the Spirit from your head to your toe.
Who helped you to hear and so to obey
The gospel of Christ, which is really the way
His blood alone did cleanse you from sin
And so Grace and peace he did for you win. 3 Praise be the God, the Father above
Who gave us new birth because of his love
And now we have hope to be raised from the dead.
Just as Jesus was raised, that's what he said. 4 Inheriting things that cannot spoil or fade
Kept in heaven for you, the ones who obeyed. 5 Who by faith are shielded by God's power and might
Until the Lord comes when the time is just right. 6 In this you really have been overjoyed,
Despite all the trials you could not avoid. 7 That your faith may be tested like gold in the fire
Faith that is true has a value much higher
For from it comes praise and honor and glory
When Jesus comes back we'll hear the whole story. 8 You love him by faith though him you can't see
By faith you have joy full of glory. 9 For you are receiving your faith's final goal
Which is to be saved and to be made whole. 10 Of this salvation the prophets did write
Asking the Spirit during the day and the night 11 To reveal to them what manner of time
(Oops! Can't think of a really good rhyme)
They wanted to know the time and the place
Christ would suffer and then glory embrace
What they saw, you now see 12 When they spoke the words of prophecy
Which you heard from the message of love
By the Spirit of God sent from heaven above
Even angels long to look into these
It seems they can't do so with much ease.