1 Peter 1:2

1 Peter 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.”

Is there anything better than being chosen? Whether it’s a game of kickball in 3rd Grade or the love of your life saying, “I choose you forever”; being selected – another word for elected – is one of life’s great pleasures. This verse begins by stating the unbelievable truth that God the Father has chosen us. Contemplate that for a moment: the perfectly Holy God has chosen you; sinful, prideful, and selfish you.

Why has He chosen us? God has chosen us to be His children, co-heirs with Christ, AND to do His work on earth. We tend to forget that as God’s children, we have a responsibility to obey Him…

A word about “foreknowledge”. That term means that God knows what will happen before it occurs. God lives outside of time. He experiences yesterday, today, and tomorrow just like we experience right now (this is a probability – we don’t really know how God works). So as you are deciding what to do after lunch today, God knows what you will do because He is not bound by time.

This is a way many people explain election and predestination. God doesn’t make someone follow Him, He simply knows who will choose to follow Him – that group becomes the elect. This verse seems to follow this thought. Peter states that because of God’s foreknowledge, we have been chosen.

“through the sanctifying work of the Spirit,”

Sanctification. That is a great spiritual word! What does it mean? Let me start with this: “sanctification” is the same Greek word as holiness, “hagios”, which means separation. In short, sanctification is the process by which we become holy; separated for Christ.

Sanctification is the work of the Holy Spirit – we cannot sanctify ourselves, no matter how good or obedient we are – it is God’s work within us. I believe the Holy Spirit is kind of overlooked; here are some other things He does: convicts the world of sin (John 16:7-11), reveals truth (John 16:13), gives us Spiritual gifts (1 Cor. 12); produces fruit in our lives (Gal. 5:22-23); the Holy Spirit is also our helper, comforter, an guide.

“for obedience to Jesus Christ and the sprinkling of his blood:”

You and I have been chosen by God for the purpose of being obedient to Jesus and to be forgiven by His sacrifice. Christ’s redeeming and forgiving work has been accomplished, but it is our work to obey His teaching, confess our sins and repent so that we might receive forgiveness of our sins. How are you doing with that? Is there sin in your life that needs to be confessed? You will find no peace until you do…

Some great background from my commentary… “The reference to obedience and sprinkling takes us back to the inauguration of the covenant at Sinai, especially Exod. 24:7-8: ‘Then he [Moses] took the Book of the Covenant and read it to the people. They responded, ‘We will do everything the Lord has said, we will obey.’ Moses then took the blood, sprinkled it on the people and said, ‘This is the blood of the covenant that the Lord has made with you in accordance with all these words.’”

“Grace and peace be yours in abundance.”

“Grace and peace” is a little bit like “Aloha” – it can be used as a greeting or a conclusion. Either way, it is an amazing blessing to speak over someone. “Grace” is God’s unmerited love toward men, and the beginning and end of the Gospel – and peace is the culmination of God’s grace. Peter prays abundant grace and peace over the readers of his letter –which includes us! My you feel God’s grace and peace today…