The Identity of the Chosen

1 Peter 1:1-2

By Stewart McCarter, February 19, 2023

1 Peter 1:1-2

Our identity enables us to withstand trials.

  1. We are the Elect. (Verse 1)
    1. Elect
      1. Elect s another word for chosen. (We were chosen by God like we choose a candidate in an election, chosen = elect)
      2. The Elect are in a dispersion. (The church have been “flung out”. We feel the pain of aloneness, of not being together, struggles, alienation BECAUSE God will bring us all together in the end. In the meantime, we realize we are exiles in this World)
    2. Benefits of the Elect
      1. The elect are chosen by God.
      2. The elect are strangers in the world. Their home is in heaven, and therefore, they are different.
      3. The elect are scattered by God throughout the world to be a blessing to it.
      4. The elect are intimate with God, foreknown before creation in a saving relationship.
      5. The elect are sanctified by the Holy Spirit to be holy and righteous in the world.
      6. The elect are set apart for obedience. Whereas before, they were disobedient to God, now they love and obey his word.
      7. The elect are sprinkled with Christ’s blood. This is a rich allusion that means forgiveness of sins. It means to be set apart as a priest to serve God, to be purified from sin, and to participate in the New Covenant.
      8. The elect are recipients of God’s abundant grace and peace
    3. The elect are also exiles
      1. The elect exiles are not at home when they are in exile. God makes us exile in order to long for home.
      2. The elect exiles are known by God and have a purpose
  2. We are elect for a purpose (verse 2)
    1. The Foreknowledge of God
      1. The word is prognosis
      2. We are confident of the love of God because we have realized faith in Christ in our life.
      3. We can endure exile because of the love of God.
      4. Certainly means that God know who would be saved
      5. In the OT refers to God’s covenantal love of His people. (Genesis 18:19; Jeremiah 1:5; Amos 3:2)
      6. Foreknowledge and preordination are linked in Acts 2:23 23 this Jesus,[a] delivered up according to the definite plan and foreknowledge of God, you crucified and killed by the hands of lawless men.
      7. God foreknows people, not things or objects Romans 8:29. 29 For those whom he foreknew he also predestined to be conformed to the image of his Son, in order that he might be the firstborn among many brothers.
      8. Jesus was foreknown in 1 Peter 1:29 20 He was foreknown before the foundation of the world but was made manifest in the last times for the sake of you
      9. Peter is emphasizing God’ covenantal love for us in the initiative of our salvation.
    2. “The sanctification of the Spirit”
      1. This is a salvific work performed by the person of The Holy Spirit
      2. When we are converted, God makes us His holy, set apart people.
      3. We have God’s presence in our exile. He is with us personally.
    3. Sanctified (especially 6 on the altar, 8 on the people)
      1. (set apart) also idea of purposefulness and cleansed (stripped of all that is not Christ’) Sanctification is accomplished by Jesus blood. (Exodus 24:3-8).3 Moses came and told the people all the words of the Lord and all the rules.[a] And all the people answered with one voice and said, “All the words that the Lord has spoken we will do.” 4 And Moses wrote down all the words of the Lord. He rose early in the morning and built an altar at the foot of the mountain, and twelve pillars, according to the twelve tribes of Israel. 5 And he sent young men of the people of Israel, who offered burnt offerings and sacrificed peace offerings of oxen to the Lord. 6 And Moses took half of the blood and put it in basins, and half of the blood he threw against the altar. 7 Then he took the Book of the Covenant and read it in the hearing of the people. And they said, “All that the Lord has spoken we will do, and we will be obedient.” 8 And Moses took the blood and threw it on the people and said, “Behold the blood of the covenant that the Lord has made with you in accordance with all these words.”
      2. Sanctified for the purpose of obedience (Exodus 24:7). 7 Then he took the Book of the Covenant and read it in the hearing of the people. And they said, “All that the Lord has spoken we will do, and we will be obedient.”
      3. These exiles may not have realized they were obedient. Their obedience was in stating faithful to their salvation in the midst of their suffering which resulted in many coning to faith in Christ. If we can trust God to turn our evil lives into sanctified lives, how much more can we trust to turn our evil circumstances into sanctified circumstances?
      4. Sanctification, obedience, and the sprinkling of blood all refer to conversion of believers. We have the purpose, the means, and the results of Jesus redemptive work in our lives.
  1. Sprinkled with His blood

What about you?

  1. Rejoice and rest in the knowledge that you have been on God’s mind since before the World was created.
  2. Live you life in Christ for what is in the future, not what is in the past. Philippians 3:12-14 12 Not that I have already obtained this or am already perfect, but I press on to make it my own, because Christ Jesus has made me his own. 13 Brothers, I do not consider that I have made it my own. But one thing I do: forgetting what lies behind and straining forward to what lies ahead, 14 I press on toward the goal for the prize of the upward call of God in Christ Jesus.
  3. What in your life can be accounted for by only the presence of the Holy Spirit?