Peter, an apostle of Jesus Christ,
To God’s elect, strangers in the world, scattered throughout Pontus, Galatia, Cappadocia, Asia and Bithynia, 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.
Praise to God for a Living Hope
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, and into an inheritance that can never perish, spoil or fade—kept in heaven for you, 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. In this you greatly rejoice, though now for a little while you may have had to suffer grief in all kinds of trials. 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. 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.
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. 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.
Be Holy
Therefore, prepare your minds for action; be self-controlled; set your hope fully on the grace to be given you when Jesus Christ is revealed. As obedient children, do not conform to the evil desires you had when you lived in ignorance. But just as he who called you is holy, so be holy in all you do; for it is written: “Be holy, because I am holy.”
Since you call on a Father who judges each man’s work impartially, live your lives as strangers here in reverent fear. 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 forefathers, but with the precious blood of Christ, a lamb without blemish or defect. He was chosen before the creation of the world, but was revealed in these last times for your sake. Through him you believe in God, who raised him from the dead and glorified him, and so your faith and hope are in God.
Now that you have purified yourselves by obeying the truth so that you have sincere love for your brothers, love one another deeply, from the heart. For you have been born again, not of perishable seed, but of imperishable, through the living and enduring word of God. For,
“All men are like grass,
and all their glory is like the flowers of the field;
the grass withers and the flowers fall,
but the word of the Lord stands forever.”
And this is the word that was preached to you.
My Understanding: Peter began his letter to believers in Jesus Christ by addressing them as God’s elect, strangers in the world, scattered throughout… The scriptures teach us that we are chosen by God to be saved, we are called of God, and that we cannot come to Christ Jesus of our own accord. We can only come to faith in Jesus Christ if the Father draws us to Christ Jesus, and only as God gives us the gift of faith and repentance to believe in Jesus. Yet, it also teaches us that God is not willing that any should perish, but that all should come to repentance, and that Jesus Christ died on the cross for the sins of the entire world. So, Peter is speaking to those who have been chosen by God to receive salvation, and who have, by faith, responded to that call to follow Jesus Christ with their lives, as the Holy Spirit of God worked the ministry of repentance, and reconciliation with God in their hearts.
Yet, not only were they called to receive salvation by God’s grace, they (and we) are called to obedience to Jesus Christ and the sprinkling by his blood, through the sanctifying work of the Spirit in our hearts and lives. So many people today cut the gospel short when they leave out repentance and obedience, but they are both part of our salvation. The Spirit of God sanctifies us by setting us apart for God and for his service, and by making us holy in purifying our hearts from sin. The sprinkling by his blood is a phrase that is difficult to understand, and some commentators talk about it in such theoretical terminology that it is difficult to get a practical handle on what it actually means. So, I looked up the Greek word, and it means “purification,” which means that Christ’s blood sacrifice for our sins, as applied to our lives, is not just for the purpose of giving us the hope of eternal life with God, but is for the purpose of purifying (making clean; decontaminating – I like this one) our lives.
Peter not only addressed them as God’s elect, but he also addressed them as strangers in the world. A little further on down in the passage, he exhorted them to live their lives as strangers here in reverent fear of God - our Father and Judge of each man’s work. A stranger is a foreigner, an outsider, a visitor, a guest or an alien. A stranger is also “somebody who does not belong to a specific organization or group; somebody who does not live in a specific house or community but is a visitor or guest; or somebody who is not familiar or acquainted with a particular thing” (Encarta). So, for us to be strangers in the world and to live our lives as strangers here in reverent fear of God, means that we will have the attitude about our lives on this earth, and our actions will bear this out, to where we will see ourselves as aliens here, as those who do not belong, who have our home in heaven with God, and as those who are not closely acquainted or familiar, through life practice, with the sinful and ungodly customs of the people of the world (includes those of the worldly church, too). 1 John 2:15-16 says this on this subject:
Do not love the world or anything in the world. If anyone loves the world, the love of the Father is not in him. For everything in the world—the cravings of sinful man, the lust of his eyes and the boasting of what he has and does—comes not from the Father but from the world.
We are not only to live our lives here on earth as strangers, but we are to do so in reverent fear of God. To fear God means to show him reverence, respect, honor, value, consideration, obedience, loyalty, devotion, faithfulness, admiration, awe and worship. The fear of God is not something taught much these days. Instead, many of today’s churches and leaders teach an image of God that is man-made and that paints God more as a doting and permissive grandfather who lives only to spoil his grandchildren, but never demands respect, honor or obedience. The New Testament teaches just the opposite, for all throughout the NT we are taught the requirements of God on our lives, which include dying to our sins and our old way of living according to the flesh, taking up our cross daily and following Jesus wherever he leads us, losing our lives, i.e. how we want to live our lives, in order to find them in Jesus, turning from our sin, obeying Christ and his commands, being transformed and renewed in our minds by the working of the Holy Spirit in our hearts, and bearing much spiritual fruit, i.e. the outgrowth of a life committed to serving Christ.
The Gospel
In God’s love and mercy for us, he has given those of us, who have accepted his call to salvation by faith, new birth into a living hope. Jesus said that we must be born again if we are to see the kingdom of God. He was speaking of a spiritual birth. Coming to faith in Jesus Christ should be like being born again and beginning all over with a new life, and not just trying to clean up our old lives inch by inch as it suits our purposes and convenience. When we come to faith in Jesus Christ, there should be a radical transformation of our hearts as we turn from our old lives of sin, and we turn to walk in faith and obedience to Jesus Christ. Yet, so many teachers today are leaving out the crucified life entirely from the gospel. As well, this new birth gives us a living hope that can never spoil or fade and that is kept in heaven for us. In other words, the gospel is not about our good works outweighing our bad works so that we hope that one day we will go to heaven, but this hope is a sure thing based upon what Jesus Christ did for us on the cross, and based upon the working of his Holy Spirit in transforming our hearts in making us holy and set apart for God and for his service.
Having this great salvation, and this new birth into a living hope of eternal life, is what encourages us when life throws its curves our way. We can rejoice in our salvation, even when we have to face trials of many kinds, because we know and understand that we are just strangers here on this earth and our true home is in heaven with God. We can endure difficulties, and even great trials, because we know and understand that God has a good purpose for them in our lives, which is to refine our faith with fire, so that it may be proved genuine. I know from experience that when life seems to be going pretty well, it is easy to get complacent and lazy about our walk with the Lord and our testimony for Christ. Yet, when we go through trials, if we respond to them correctly, we are drawn closer in our relationship with Jesus Christ, in our commitments to serve and obey him more fully, and we grow in our compassion and love for others, too.
Because we have been given this great salvation by God’s grace and mercy, we should respond to God’s mercy by living lives that are self-controlled, obedient to Christ and his truth, not conformed any longer to evil desires, fully devoted to Jesus Christ and his will for our lives, having sincere love one for the other, and no longer following the empty lives handed down to us by our ancestors, but following the will of God for our lives and being devoted to Jesus Christ in going wherever he leads us and doing what he wants us to do. As well, we should serve one another by the preaching (sharing) of the gospel, and by sharing our testimonies of faith in Jesus Christ, in binding up the brokenhearted, in proclaiming freedom from sin for those being held captive to sin’s deceitfulness, in comforting those who mourn, and in helping the wayward back into a restored relationship with Jesus Christ.
The Lord’s Anointed / An Original Work / December 16, 2011
Based off Isaiah 61
The Spirit of the Sov’reign Lord on me;
Anointed to preach the Good News;
Sent me to bind up the brokenhearted;
Proclaim freedom for the captives.
He sent me to preach release for pris’ners
Who are walking in sin’s darkness;
Proclaim God’s grace to all men who’ll listen;
And tell them about God’s judgments;
Comfort all who mourn;
Give crowns of beauty;
Oil of gladness and thanksgiving.
They will be called oaks of God’s righteousness,
A planting of our Savior, God,
For the display of our Lord’s splendor, and
They will rebuild God’s holy church.
God will renew them, and will restore them,
And you’ll be called priests of the Lord.
You will be ministers of our God, and
You will rejoice in salvation.
The Lord loves justice;
He is faithful to
Reward those who are seeking Him.
I delight greatly in the Lord;
My soul rejoices in my Savior, God.
He has clothed me with His salvation,
And in a robe of His righteousness.
He has given me priestly garments to
Wear, as the bride of Jesus Christ.
As the garden of our Lord and Savior,
He causes us to grow in Him.
He makes righteousness,
Praise, and thanksgiving
Spring up before all the nations.
http://youtu.be/PSH4DBpc__U
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