Welcome back to our study of the New Testament book of I Peter...a book for this moment in history, I believe...this is a message for all churches, including VBVF...

Goal for tonight is to build on what we learned last week about Peter, the book itself, the context, the first recipients of the letter...and begin to understand the message of this book...every book in the Bible is included in God’s word for a reason...let’s try to discover the reason the Spirit gave Peter the words of this letter as we learn who we are in Him...

Let’s review our theme verse...I Peter 4.19...

Therefore let those who suffer according to God's will entrust their souls to a faithful Creator while doing good.

We’ll start again in the text tonight with verse 1 and continue through verse 2...

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.

I hope you had the opportunity this past week to spend some time reading the book...and studying this first chapter...a mentor of mine said several times, “repetition is the price of learning”... there’s no substitute for hiding the word in your heart and mind...

Let’s review...the author is Simon Peter, the leading apostle of the Twelve, commissioned by Jesus...the recipients of the letter are those who are elect of God, chosen in Him before the foundation of the world...Ephesians 1.3-4...

Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, who has blessed us in Christ with every spiritual blessing in the heavenly places, 4 even as he chose us in him before the foundation of the world, that we should be holy and blameless before him.

Yet while believers are the elect ones, chosen in Christ before the world existed, here in this world, we are exiles, foreigners, citizens of a distant country, and not accepted here...John 15.18-19 records Jesus’s teaching on this as He warns the apostles...

“If the world hates you, know that it has hated me before it hated you. 19 If you were of the world, the world would love you as its own; but because you are not of the world, but I chose you out of the world, therefore the world hates you.

Here in the first verse, Peter sets up the main theme of the book: Christians will experience suffering at the hands of the world, the flesh, and the Devil...why? Because we don’t belong here, we are not natives of this place, we are but sojourners...

And we as exiles, ‘parapidemos,’ are scattered, dispersed, by reason of the persecution Luke writes about in Acts 8.1, as Christians left Jerusalem and traveled to the far reaches of the Roman Empire, including modern-day Turkey, location of the five regions mentioned by Peter here in verse 1...

Now we move on to 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: May grace and peace be multiplied to you.

This short verse is a treasure of truth about the work of God in salvation...and it’s just the beginning of the gospel richness we find in I Peter...look carefully...what a beautiful depiction of the Trinitarian God in a single verse...also, Peter identifies the believers, but then continues by describing how they are found in Christ, how they are to live in the present world as the redeemed, and why the Father saved them...and Peter finishes with a heartfelt greeting...

Let’s start with the first phrase, according to the foreknowledge of God the Father

How are believers saved, brought by grace through faith to the state of being redeemed? We can’t overlook the short prepositional phrase at the beginning of this verse, “according to” ... to answer the question, “how is anyone saved?” “how is someone elected?” to use the word in verse one, Peter begins by telling us that the state of being redeemed is accomplished by the description that follows...the election of God is “according to” “in accordance with” a fundamental truth...what is that truth?

It is the foreknowledge of God the Father...

This is a foundational truth because it answers the question mankind has asked since the creation...”How can a person be made right with God? How can I be saved?”

The world has many answers to that question, all of them wrong...what does the world say? o You don’t need to be “saved”...that’s just a religious myth...you are good just like you are...there is no righteous Judge watching over you...you will never be held accountable for your actions by some divine being...just live your best life now while you can, because you only live once...

You are saved by doing good works...help people, be kind, try not to be mean, or lie, or steal...unless you really have to, or unless it helps you...but, you know, just don’t kill anyone...and never judge anyone else or their beliefs or values, because, you know, we’re all right and good in our own ways...except intolerant Christians...

You are saved by being better than the other people that you know or you’ve heard about...you can always say to God, “Well, I’m not as bad as ____________ “ ... because you don’t have to be perfect, just better than the bad people...

But what does the Word of God say?

Romans 3.23: 23 for all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God,

Romans 6.23: 23 For the wages of sin is death, but the free gift of God is eternal life in Christ Jesus our Lord.

Romans 5.8: 8 but God shows his love for us in that while we were still sinners, Christ died for us.

Romans 10.9-10: ...if you confess with your mouth that Jesus is Lord and believe in your heart that God raised him from the dead, you will be saved. 10 For with the heart one believes and is justified, and with the mouth one confesses and is saved.

Romans 8.1: There is therefore now no condemnation for those who are in Christ Jesus.

Romans 5.1: Therefore, since we have been justified by faith, we have peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ.

Don’t believe the lies of the world...apart from Jesus Christ, mankind is lost and in the express lane on our way to hell...and we can’t save ourselves...our Sovereign God must initiate and consummate our salvation, because we can contribute nothing to it...this is a long passage but listen carefully to it...Ephesians 2.1, 3, 4, 8-9...

And you were dead in the trespasses and sins...and were by nature children of wrath, like the rest of mankind. 4 But God, being rich in mercy, because of the great love with which he loved us, 5 even when we were dead in our trespasses, made us alive together with Christ—by grace you have been saved— ... 8 For by grace you have been saved through faith. And this is not your own doing; it is the gift of God, 9 not a result of works, so that no one may boast.

We were dead in our trespasses and sins...”but God” acted when we could not and would not...salvation is only God’s work on our behalf...it is not a cooperative effort between man and God, as many churches present it...let me show you a simple picture that represents the major words we use to identify elements of the salvation of a person...

SLIDE – SALVATION TIMELINE

I show you this because we need to understand it, and it should cause us to praise our Savior God, but also because the word Peter uses here in verse 2, “foreknowledge” which he attributes to God, is the first action we can identify in scripture that results in our salvation...God foreknew us...very close to, if not functionally the same as, Paul’s word “chose” in Ephesians 1, and “elect” in I Peter 1.1 and Romans 8.33 and 9.11...

“Foreknowledge” renders the Gr ‘prognosis’ the noun form of the word ‘proginosko’ a compound word made up of the prefix ‘pro’ meaning “before” – in English we use the prefix “pre” for the same thought – and the common word for knowledge, ‘gnosis’ resulting in the words “gnostic” or “agnostic” or “gnosticism” – to know beforehand

But when the word is used in Scripture, it is used primarily to describe God’s eternal counsel...all that He has considered and purposed to do in human history...it doesn’t mean only to know ahead of time, for God has known all things from eternity...but it describes “those matters which God favorably, deliberately, and freely chose and ordained” quoting from Dr. Spiros Zodhiates...

It’s used of Christ in I Peter 1.19b-21... but with the precious blood of Christ, like that of a lamb without blemish or spot. 20 He was foreknown before the foundation of the world but was made manifest in the last times for the sake of you 21 who through him are believers in God, who raised him from the dead and gave him glory, so that your faith and hope are in God.

“Foreknowledge” describes “the exercise of God’s wisdom and intelligence in regards to His eternal purposes”

The Father foreknew and chose the sacrificial, atoning death of the Lamb of God, Jesus Christ, putting Him to death, and the Father foreknew those whom He would give to the Son as His bride...we see that in Revelation 19.6-8 as well as here in I Peter 1

We see all of salvation from God’s point of view in Romans 8.29-30...

29 For those whom he foreknew (proginosko) he also predestined (proorizo) to be conformed to the image of his Son, in order that he might be the firstborn among many brothers. 30 And those whom he predestined he also called (kaleo), and those whom he called he also justified (dikaioo), and those whom he justified he also glorified (doxazo).

So to return to I Peter 1.2, our salvation is according to the foreknowledge of God...that which He freely chose and purposed to accomplish...

To return to our initial question, this truth about God’s foreknowledge answers the first question: “how are people found in Christ?” because of the foreknowledge of God...

Question: what does it mean to you to understand that God has foreknown and chosen you from eternity? He accomplished our salvation, not us, and not both of us together...

The second question is this: “how are the elect exiles, those whom God foreknew and redeemed, to live in this world?”

That’s answered with Peter’s second statement: in the sanctification of the Spirit,

“Sanctification” renders ‘hagiasmos’ – from the same root word (hagios) that gives us “holy” ... it speaks to both the work of the Holy Spirit to take us from being in Adam and placing us in Christ, setting us apart unto God, but also the holiness which the Spirit is continually producing in us as He transforms us into the image of Christ...

We see it referred to again, this time by Paul in II Thessalonians 2.13...

But we ought always to give thanks to God for you, brothers beloved by the Lord, because God chose you as the first-fruits (or from the beginning) to be saved, through sanctification by the Spirit and belief in the truth.

The emphasis here is the saving work of the Spirit, as He applies the sacrificial death and eternal life of Christ to us...we are saved through sanctification by the Spirit...

The question for us is, “how are we sanctified? How does God make us holy?”

Paul’s prayer for the Thessalonians gives us a clue...it is the work of God Himself...

I Thessalonians 5.23-24... 23 Now may the God of peace himself sanctify you completely, and may your whole spirit and soul and body be kept blameless at the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ. 24 He who calls you is faithful; he will surely do it.

The work that the God of peace does isn’t partial...it’s complete and entire...for He is faithful...and we see more in the marvelous book of Hebrews...Hebrews 13.11-16

11 For the bodies of those animals whose blood is brought into the holy places by the high priest as a sacrifice for sin are burned outside the camp. 12 So Jesus also suffered outside the gate in order to sanctify the people through his own blood. 13 Therefore let us go to him outside the camp and bear the reproach he endured. 15 Through him then let us continually offer up a sacrifice of praise to God, that is, the fruit of lips that acknowledge his name. 16 Do not neglect to do good and to share what you have, for such sacrifices are pleasing to God.

Like the sin offering, Jesus suffered outside the gate, on the cross of Calvary...why? Why did He have to suffer and die as He did? To sanctify (make holy; set apart) the people through His own blood...we are made holy only through the shed blood of Christ...how arrogant of us to think that we could somehow increase in holiness through our works...

So what is our response to this unspeakably precious sacrifice of God to purchase a people for Himself? We are to go to Jesus, identify with Him in His suffering, accept the reproach that was upon Him...and continually offer up a sacrifice of praise to God...and to do good works in His Spirit’s power...not through any effort of the flesh...

In I Corinthians 1.30 we learn this:

30 And because of him (the Father) you are in Christ Jesus, who became to us wisdom from God, righteousness and sanctification and redemption,

Look at the first two words...righteousness and sanctification...how are they related?

Andrew Murray compares the two in his book, “Abiding in Christ”...

Justification comes first by the blood of Christ, then we are continually set apart unto holiness by the Spirit...

Righteousness comes first by the sacrifice of Christ on the cross, then sanctification unto the Lord comes again and again, by the ongoing work of the Spirit...

We are first made right with God, then we are continually set apart unto God by the work of the Spirit...

Christians, even long-time believers, sometimes make the mistake of thinking that yes, we are saved by grace through faith, but then we are perfected in our holiness by our works...God saved us, but now it’s up to us to live for Him...and sometimes we let that thinking stray into believing that the works can originate from within us...Paul completely refutes that deeply flawed thinking in Galatians 3.2-3...

2 Let me ask you only this: Did you receive the Spirit by works of the law or by hearing with faith? 3 Are you so foolish? Having begun by the Spirit, are you now being perfected by the flesh?

We are sanctified through the Spirit...we are not sanctified through trying really hard to live for Jesus, doing all sorts of things to be more, do more...we are sanctified through the Spirit by continuing to yield ourselves to the relentless work of the Holy Spirit, while not grieving Him with known sin in our lives, but drawing near to Him...

The grace through faith that was the way to salvation in the first place is still the way to sanctification today...we are not made more holy because of anything that we do, but simply turning to God in faith with empty hands, acknowledging that in ourselves we are still less than nothing, that all of our good works are as filthy rags, that only in Christ can we be made acceptable in His sight...all in creation that is made holy is made holy because it is fully possessed by God...our path to sanctification is the same...it is only by abiding in Christ that we can grow in closeness and holiness before the Lord...

Are we not commanded to do good works, those prepared for us in Christ Jesus beforehand...yes, we are...but we can’t forget that the only works acceptable to God are those done in His strength, not ours...for His glory, not ours...in His Spirit, not our flesh...

How then should we live as the redeemed? We must draw near to the Holy One if we would be made holy...seek your sanctification in the Spirit, never in the flesh...

Question: what would look different in your life if you took seriously this call to draw near to God in the Spirit?

Now we turn to the final question Peter answers in verse 2...”why did the Father save us?”

What is Peter’s answer? for obedience to Jesus Christ and for sprinkling with his blood...

Let’s examine the first phrase first...why are we saved in order to obey Jesus Christ?

We are to love Him with all our heart, mind, soul, and strength...and those who love Him will obey Him...John 14.15... 15 “If you love me, you will keep my commandments.

Our obedience affirms our relationship to each other as brothers and sisters in Christ...I John 5.1-2... 2 By this we know that we love the children of God, when we love God and obey his commandments.

And there’s a third reason...one that I discovered as I was studying for this, something I hadn’t noticed before...a particular phrase that Paul uses in the first sentence of Romans and in the last sentence of Romans...

Romans 1.1-2a, 5-6... Paul, a servant of Christ Jesus, called to be an apostle, set apart for the gospel of God...2Jesus Christ our Lord, 5 through whom we have received grace and apostleship to bring about the obedience of faith for the sake of his name among all the nations, 6 including you who are called to belong to Jesus Christ,

And the second use is at the very end of the book...

Romans 16.25a, 26b-27... 25 Now to him who is able to strengthen you according to my gospel and the preaching of Jesus Christ ... according to the command of the eternal God, to bring about the obedience of faith— 27 to the only wise God be glory forevermore through Jesus Christ! Amen.

In both cases, Paul uses the phrase “to bring about the obedience of faith” – clearly something Paul wanted to emphasize in both the opening and the close of the book, and something that the Lord desires to see manifested in His church...based on the context in both uses, it doesn’t mean coming to faith, as in the moment of justification as a believer turns from sin to Christ, but instead, it represents the obedience that believers exhibit because of their faith in Jesus...

Let’s return to I Peter 1...the phrase there is for obedience to Jesus Christ...the point I want us to see is that obedience isn’t simply trying harder to obey God’s word, it’s obedience to the Lord that is based on faith in Him...”the obedience of faith”...I believe the obedience that Peter and Paul are both enjoining for the Christian isn’t better rulekeeping, it’s simply walking more closely to the Good Shepherd through faith in Him...for as we believe in Him and His word more fully, we will walk further from sin, and closer to our Lord...believe in all that He says and see if your walk increases in holiness and devotion...

Now, we come to the second reason why the Father set in motion all that was required to save us...for sprinkling with his blood... the antecedent of the pronoun “his” is Jesus Christ...seventeen times some form of the word “sprinkle” and the word “blood” are mentioned in the same verse...in the Old Testament, the words denote the process of purification, of declaring something to be holy...priestly garments, the altar, offerings...but especially the blood of the sin offering sprinkled on the mercy seat as Leviticus 16.14-15a tells us...applied only once a year, on the Day of Atonement, and only by the High Priest...

The book of Hebrews gives us the true meaning of this picture from the Old Testament...

Hebrews 9.13-14...13 For if the blood of goats and bulls, and the sprinkling of defiled persons with the ashes of a heifer, sanctify for the purification of the flesh, 14 how much more will the blood of Christ, who through the eternal Spirit offered himself without blemish to God, purify our conscience from dead works to serve the living God.

The blood of Christ not only atones for our sin, but it does something else the law and ceremony and ritual could never do...it purifies our consciences from works that could not save...dead works...to serve the living God...we understand and experience true forgiveness

Then the author of Hebrews gives us the most beautiful picture of the freedom and surety we have in Jesus...Hebrews 10.19-22...

19 Therefore, brothers, since we have confidence to enter the holy places by the blood of Jesus, 20 by the new and living way that he opened for us through the curtain, that is, through his flesh, 21 and since we have a great priest over the house of God, 22 let us draw near with a true heart in full assurance of faith, with our hearts sprinkled clean from an evil conscience and our bodies washed with pure water.

Question: how can we draw near to Christ in faith and purity?

The message of this verse in I Peter is clear... 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:

Who are we as the elect exiles, the sojourners in this world?

We’re chosen by the Father...not because of anything in ourselves, but simply by His sovereign grace...we’re continually being transformed into the image of Jesus Christ through the ongoing work of the Holy Spirit...we are called and enabled to live lives of obedience to our Lord as we walk in faith, not in the flesh...and we are purified to be in His presence, not through the blood of bulls and goats, but the unspeakably precious blood of the Son of God...

No wonder that grace and peace aren’t just given to us, they are multiplied to us...as King David said in Psalm 23, our cups runneth over...

Bless the Lord, O my soul!