Chosen in Christ - A Biblical Exposition of 1 Peter 1

CHOSEN IN CHRIST - A BIBLICAL EXPOSITION OF 1 PETER 1

By Ezekiel Kimosop

INTRODUCTION 

First Peter is the first of two Epistles attributed to Apostle Peter. It was primarily written to encourage Jewish believers to remain steadfast in their faith amidst trials and afflictions. It is instructive that the place of writing was concealed. Some Bible scholars say that the reference to Babylon in 1 Peter 5:13 suggests that Peter may have been in hiding or that he was careful to conceal his location because of the persecution of Christians at the time.[1] 1 Peter 1 conveys the apostle’s opening address to Jewish Christians in the ancient cities of Asia Minor that are listed in the passage. The letter was therefore intended for circulation among the listed locations or towns.

Internal evidence reveals that these believers were undergoing persecution on account of their Christian faith (vv. 6-9). Bible scholars believe that the dispersal mentioned by Peter could be directly related to and historically consistent with the Jerusalem persecution described in Acts 12 that saw the martyrdom of Apostle James and the arrest and imprisonment of believers, including the writer himself (Acts 12:1-19).

PASSAGE STRUCTURE 

The passage consists of the traditional epistolary salutation section (vv. 1-2), a doxology or praise on the heavenly heritage of God’s covenant people in Christ (vv. 3-12) and a closing section that captures the author’s call to faithful Christian living and trust in God’s promise in His word (vv. 13-25). We shall briefly examine the three sections in turns below.

THE SALUTATION 

“Peter, an apostle of Jesus Christ,

To the pilgrims of the Dispersion in Pontus, Galatia, Cappadocia, Asia, and Bithynia, 2 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” (NKJV).

In this brief salutation section of the passage, Peter conveys his opening statement. He introduces himself by his name and by his apostolic title – Peter an apostle of Jesus. This is the traditional epistolary statement that is also found in his second letter (2 Peter 1:1). It identifies the author and reveals his apostolic authority. His apostolic oversight over his audience is implied from the address. The pilgrims were members of his Apostolic See at Jerusalem. Some consider Peter’s introduction of himself as “an apostle” as tinged with humility given Jesus’ affirmation of his higher apostolic stature in John 21:15-19.[2] Peter’s restoration was a personal experience and Jesus’ exhortation on feeding the lambs and tending the sheep cannot be exclusively ascribed to Peter alone. It was a core apostolic mandate vested in all the apostles, including Paul who was called into the apostolic office much later (1 Corinthians 9:1-18).

The pilgrims can rightly be described as members of the Jewish Christian community in the Diaspora. Some say that Peter’s use of the term “pilgrims” was in reference to all believers including Gentiles. This view is however not supported by the text, in my view.  The writer was one of the three prominent Christian leaders in the Jerusalem church along with Apostle John and James the brother of the Lord, who is credited with the authorship of the Letter of James (Galatians 2:6-10; James 1:1-2). It is instructive that Apostle James was martyred during the early period of the Jerusalem persecution (see Acts 12: 1-2). Secondly, Peter’s apostolic influence in the wider Gentile territory is insignificant.

RECIPIENTS 

The Letter is addressed to Jewish believers who are metaphorically described as “pilgrims of the Dispersion”. This suggests that they were possibly part of the Jewish Christians who fled the Jerusalem persecution by Herod. The use of the word “pilgrims” to describe these believers is consistent with their circumstances as aliens in their destinations. It is also consistent with the import of the transience of earthly life for the believer as compared to the life to come (cf. Psalm 90:10-12; Matthew 16:26; Mark 8:36). Scripture elsewhere teaches that the Old Testament saints confessed that they were strangers and pilgrims on the earth (Hebrews 11:13). The mention of the five regions in Asia Minor is perhaps indicative of their prominence as predominant locations of Jewish Christian presence rather than an exhaustive list.[3]

ELECTION OF BELIEVERS IN CHRIST

Peter further describes these Christians as “elect according to the foreknowledge of God the Father, in sanctification of the Spirit, for obedience and sprinkling of the blood of Jesus Christ.” (v.2). Two important features relating to believers are captured in this statement – God’s foreknowledge of their election and the method by which this process was achieved. First, we can infer that the election of believers in Christ was conceived in God’s eternal omniscience and His foreknowledge because God sees the end from the beginning. He is the Alpha and Omega (Revelation 1:8); the immutable God – the same yesterday today and forever (Hebrews 13:8).

The second feature of the election of believers relates to the manner in which it was actualized at God’s appointed time. Notice that the statement in v.2 is syntactically unbroken, implying that the process of election is encapsulated in the activities outlined in the entire text and should therefore be construed in its composite sense. God’s foreknowledge is actuated in the atonement of Jesus Christ. It is not causative but futuristic in this context. The activities relating to the election should therefore be consolidated and should be read together in the text. This is one statement where all the members of the Trinity are identified as acting in concert. Here is how....the Father conceived the election in His eternal omniscience even as the Son supplied the atonement by His incarnate coming and the Spirit sanctifies the believer in obedience.

The sanctification of the believer is a broader theological term that contemplates the working of the Holy Spirit beginning with the drawing of the sinner into conviction of sin upon the proclamation of the gospel (cf. John 16:18, Acts 2:37) and into obedience to Christ as a new creation set apart from the sinful world (2 Cor. 5:17). The sprinkling of the blood of Jesus relates to the atonement, the ritual cleansing of sin and the covenant affirmation in His sinless blood (cf. Exodus 24:6-8). The Greek word eklektos is a participle of the verb eklegomai which can be employed as a noun or an adjective depending on the grammatical context.[4] Its application in 1 Peter 1:2 is in its plural sense, indicating that the believers were collectively foreknown as a community of God’s chosen people, a body of God’s faithful people (cf. 1 Peter 2:9). This does not however override the calling of each individual or the obligation of each believer in responding to Christ. Each believer that comes to Christ adds to the number of this community as they are admitted to Christ through His saving grace (1 John 1;12, 3:16-17; Ephesians 2:8-9). The calling demands an individual response and the result is the corporate constitution of believers in Christ as His Church. 

Why was the election in accordance with the foreknowledge of God the Father?

This is because it was in God’s divine omniscience and foreknowledge that He would establish for Himself a people through the redemption works of Christ (Titus 2:11-14, 1 Peter 2:6-9). The reference to sanctification and the Levitical ritual sprinkling of blood is descriptive of both the efficacy and preeminence of Christ’s atonement in the election of believers. Christ’s blood was intended for the cleansing of sin and for maintaining covenant faithfulness in those that come to Christ (1 John 1:8-10, cf. Heb. 9:13, 11:28, 12:24). The phrase “according to the foreknowledge of God” recognizes God’s divine provision in the election. The Greek feminine noun πρόγνωσιν [prognosis] is best translated as “knowing beforehand”. The election of God’s people was therefore conceived in the eternal omniscience of God but the means by which this would be achieved was provided by God at a time when His divine clock synchronized with human history in the incarnate coming of Jesus Christ, the Lamb of God, as the atonement of God (John 1:29). Peter’s statement in 1 Peter 1:2 should be exegetically synthesized with Paul’s statement in Ephesians 1:3-5 that says “Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, who has blessed us with every spiritual blessing in the heavenly places in Christ, 4 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, 5 having predestined us to adoption as sons by Jesus Christ to Himself, according to the good pleasure of His will.” 

Again, the election of believers in Paul’s context is exclusively in Christ as outlined in Ephesians 1:4-5. It is by God’s grace available in Christ’s atonement that sinners are drawn to Christ. This points to the individual election of each believer through repentance and forgiveness of sin as a prelude to the constitution of the corporate body of believers – the church (John 3;16-17). Notice further that the adoption of believers is by the gospel of Jesus Christ (John 1:12; Eph.1:5). This is further highlighted in 1 Thessalonians 1:4-5 where the election of believers is tied to the preaching of the gospel.

Biblical theology in its holistic essence attests that no believer was chosen beforehand outside the works of the cross! The choosing of believers in Him [Christ] before the foundation of the world should therefore be construed and interpreted in its proper theological context as taught in Scripture. It should be consistent with God’s foreknowledge in 1 Peter 1:2 that we earlier examined. As Wayne Jackson aptly opines, election involves God’s redemptive plan, Christ’s sacrificial death, the Holy Spirit’s revelation of truth and man’s obedience.[5] This could not have occurred prior to or outside the work of the cross.

Additionally, nothing in the two passages we have examined above suggests or implies that God secretly determined beforehand the specific number and identity of those to be redeemed or that His atonement in Christ is limited to a given number of sinners who were unconditionally elected beforehand. The election process should therefore be distinguished from the implications of causative determinism, the notion that God causatively predetermined both the number and the means by which those He called in Christ would be identified. This doctrine is advanced by sections of deterministic soteriological groups under the presupposition of unconditional election of a specific group of sinners by God to the exclusion of the rest who, according to deterministic theology, were arbitrarily denied God’s saving grace and predestined to eternal damnation. While the proponents of this doctrine purport to uphold God’s sovereignty in the election of believers, my view is that they inevitably impugn and misrepresent God’s character and distort the divine essence and substance of His redemption plan outlined in Scripture.  God's redemption plan is encapsulated in His revelation in Scripture and this reveals His loving grace for all sinners without discrimination (John 3:16-17, 2 Peter 3:9). 

The Bible authoritatively reveals and proclaims that the atonement of Christ is the exclusive means by which God’s election of His saints is achieved in the singular and corporate contexts. I am persuaded that no sinner could have been chosen for salvation outside Calvary. The individual election of a sinner is therefore conditional to the sinner’s response to God’s grace as taught in Scripture. The sinner must repent of sin upon conviction by the Holy Spirit in order to receive God’s forgiveness and assurance of eternal life. This opportunity is open to any sinner who hears the gospel proclaimed.

D.A. Carson, a leading Reformed scholar observed that the atonement unapplied saves no one. In other words, salvation is conditional to the sinner receiving the atonement by faith. This places into question the theological substance of the limited atonement doctrine advanced under Calvinism. 

God’s sovereignty and human free will are mystically embedded in the process of election. Neither can be discounted. Several passages of Scripture reveal that God sovereignly permitted man's exercise of free will in relating with God. Notice the moral in the Parable of the Wedding Feast (Matthew 22:1-14). The king gave an open invitation but there was a condition attached that had to be satisfied by those to be admitted to the feast. This underlies the expulsion of the man who did not adorn the wedding clothes! The parable metaphorically addressed Israel’s rejection of God’s offer of salvation in Christ, as a result of which God turned to the Gentiles with the gospel.

It is also instructive that no text of Scripture affirms the notion that some sinners or either irresistibly saved against their will or arbitrarily excluded from the influence of God’s saving grace. John Wesley observed that “the true predestination, or fore-appointment of God is that he that believeth shall be saved from the guilt and power of sin… They who receive the precious gift of faith, thereby become the sons of God; and being sons, they shall receive the Spirit of holiness, to walk as Christ also walked. Throughout every part of this appointment of God, promise and duty go hand in hand.” [6]

John 1:12 says of believers, “But as many as received Him, to them He gave the right to become children of God, to those who believe in His name.” The sinner must willingly receive the gift of God’s saving grace in Christ. It is neither imposed nor ascribed to him unbeknown under a divine decree. Similarly, no section of Scripture teaches or implies that God has selectively excluded some sinners from the influence of His saving grace. 2 Peter 3:9 says “The Lord is not slack concerning His promise, as some count slackness, but is longsuffering toward us, not willing that any should perish but that all should come to repentance.”

God’s foreknowledge is consistent with His knowledge of the future based on His divine essence rather than the causative control of every event or activity in it. God’s foreknowledge in this context cannot be divorced from His revealed will in other sections of Scripture that assign man the free will choice for obedience in response to the gospel. He gave Adam and Eve a free will choice for obedience and outlined the consequences of their disobedience (Genesis 2:16-17, 3:2-6). Scripture elsewhere reveals that God gave His covenant people a choice for obedience. Joshua 24:15 says “And if it seems evil to you to serve the Lord, choose for yourselves this day whom you will serve, whether the gods which your fathers served that were on the other side of the River, or the gods of the Amorites, in whose land you dwell. But as for me and my house, we will serve the Lord.” (NKJV). In Judges 2, the Bible reveals that the people of Israel willfully rebelled against God and were punished by God for their disobedience.

There are numerous other illustrations in the Bible that demonstrate God’s conditional offer of salvation to those who turn from evil. In Genesis 7, we learn that Noah warned the people of his day about God’s judgment even as he built the ark. The fact that the people refused to give heed to Noah’s exhortation is affirmed in the New Testament Scripture (Luke 17:27, 2 Peter 2:5). God finally shut the door of the ark when His appointed time came and the wicked people perished in the floods for forty days (Genesis 7:17). In Genesis 19, Lot warned the people of Sodom and Gomorrah about the coming judgment but only his wife and two daughters heeded his prophetic voice. The rest perished in their rebellion. Those who perished in both cases had a chance for redemption which they willfully forfeited! God gave the wicked people of Nineveh 40 days as the final window of His grace before His wrath was directed to them. When they repented, God's wrath was appeased and they were spared (Jonah 3-4). 

God’s dealing with sinners in Christ is predicated on the same terms. It is based on a free will response to the invitation in Christ through the appeal of the gospel (John 3:16-17, Romans 10:8-13). Peter’s sermon during the day of Pentecost was punctuated by a significant question from his audience. Acts 2:37-38 says “Now when they heard this, they were cut to the heart, and said to Peter and the rest of the apostles, “Men and brethren, what shall we do?”38 Then Peter said to them, “Repent, and let every one of you be baptized in the name of Jesus Christ for the remission of sins; and you shall receive the gift of the Holy Spirit.” The sinner must respond to the gospel. This is a condition that God demands of every sinner.

Romans 10:10-12 says “For with the heart one believes unto righteousness, and with the mouth confession is made unto salvation. 11 For the Scripture says, “Whoever believes on Him will not be put to shame.” 12 For there is no distinction between Jew and Greek, for the same Lord over all is rich to all who call upon Him. 13 For “whoever calls on the name of the Lord shall be saved.” (NKJV). This passage affirms the conditional offer of election to every sinner.

Ephesians 2:8-9 says “For by grace you have been saved through faith, and that not of yourselves; it is the gift of God, 9 not of works, lest anyone should boast.” This text recognizes the synergy between God’s saving grace and the sinner’s response through faith in the process of salvation. Salvation may arithmetically be described as consisting of the operation of God’s grace 100% and the sinner’s responsibility 100%.  The unconditional election doctrine obfuscates this revelation in its attempt at discounting and expunging the moral obligation of the sinner.

Exhortation on the heavenly heritage of God’s covenant people in Christ.

In the second section of the passage of 1 Peter 1:3-12, the writer proceeds to encourage his audience. This section can be described as a celebration of God’s investiture on believers through His redemption works in Christ. Several adjectives are employed in describing the heavenly heritage awaiting those who are in Christ – living hope (v. 3­) that is incorruptible, undefiled and reserved in heaven (v.4). Meanwhile, believers are kept or preserved by God through faith as they await Christ’s coming (v. 5).  This truth should inspire believers to persevere trials and afflictions (vv. 6-9). The believers are further reminded of their privileged status as God’s chosen people who have experienced God’s saving grace in Christ Jesus in their time, something that the saints of old and the holy angels heard and earnestly sought after but did not receive or experience (vv. 10-12). This again is a soothing exhortation for people who faced great suffering on account of their Christian faith.

Exhortation to Godly Living and Trust in God’s word.

The final section of this passage carries the writers closing appeal. He calls upon believers to gird up their loins of their minds, a figure of speech describing their firmness and decisiveness in their Christian convictions in view of the afflictions that they were undergoing even as they look forward to their spiritual heritage in Christ when He will be revealed (vv. 13-16).  

The call to godly Christian living extends to vv. 17-18 where God’s atonement in Christ is described as precious and incomparable to the world’s top precious metals – gold and silver. Christ is the sacrificial Lamb whose sinless blood was without blemish and was therefore acceptable to God for the atonement. Jesus was foreordained by God before the foundation of the word for the redemption of souls (vv. 19-21). This statement should be understood in the context of the statement in v. 2 read together with Ephesians 1:4 that we discussed in the first section of the passage. It is not suggestive of causative determinism in the election of believers. It is an affirmation of God’s divine foreknowledge in the provision of redemption for sinners.

Peter concludes his exhortation in the first chapter through the closing statements in vv. 22-25. The Jewish believers are reminded of one paramount Christian obligation - that they should love one another with sincere hearts (v.22). This exhortation is intended to build their Christian fellowship even as they struggled with external threats and afflictions by enemies of the Christian faith. A Christian community should not neglect this godly duty (cf. Hebrews 10:25). Believers were begotten by God’s word, a reference to the gospel message by which they were drawn to faith. The word is here metaphorically described as an incorruptible seed, thus underscoring the fidelity of God’s word in growing communities of faithful people through the ages. The writer uses a poetic Old Testament text from Isaiah 40:6-8 to firm up his exhortation (v.24) and concludes with a closing statement touching on the pre-eminence of God’s word in sustaining believers in obedience. 

CONCLUSION & MORAL APPLICATION

The passage of 1 Peter 1 underscores the significance of our redemption in Christ that was conceived in God’s eternal omniscience and fulfilled in Christ’s incarnate coming as the Lamb of God that takes away the sin of the world. Peter speaks to believers today who face various circumstances of difficulty and challenges and especially those undergoing Christian suffering. The Bible encourages us to keep our focus on the hope of God’s faithfulness in Christ Jesus no matter what may arise. We learn that such circumstances are merely for a season, that there is a greater hope awaiting us in Him who was pierced for us. There are no ideal conditions for  Christian living in this world. We are reminded that in all ages of human civilization, God’s remnant such as Joseph, Daniel, have always suffered for their convictions but in all these circumstances they received divine approval. We should therefore cherish our calling in Christ and treasure God’s word and submit to God’s leading at all times. We should also encourage one another in love and exhortation in the way of Christ. We should fix our eyes on Christ no matter how painful the suffering may be. We are to draw strength in the assurance of His eternal word that never fades away.

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[The writer is a PhD candidate in theological studies at Africa International University, Nairobi Kenya. He is a pastor with an Evangelical church and an Associate Member of the Insurance Institute of Kenya]

© Ezekiel Kimosop 2022

References:

               [1] John MacArthur, “Bible Introductions – 1 Peter”, MacArthur Commentary on 1 Peter 1, https://www.blueletterbible.org/Comm/macarthur_john/bible-introductions/1peter-intro.cfm. Accessed 12 August 2022.

               [2] Arthur J. Mason, Ellicott's Bible Commentary, Vol. VIII (Grand Rapids, Michigan: Zondervan Publishing House, 1959), p. 387.

               [3] See Ellicott’s Commentary for English Readers on 1 Peter 1:1-2.

               [4] http://helpmewithbiblestudy.org/9Salvation/ElectionEklektos.aspx accessed 9 August 2022.

               [5] Wayne Jackson, “1 Peter 1:1-2 – Foreknowledge” in Christian Courier, https://www.christiancourier.com/articles/856-1-peter-1-1-2-foreknowledge accessed 10 August 2022.

              [6] John Wesley's Notes on the Bible, Christian Classics Ethereal Library, https://www.ccel.org/ccel/wesley/notes.i.xxii.ii.html. accessed 10 August 2022.