“This letter is from Peter, an apostle of Jesus Christ. I am writing to God’s chosen people who are living as foreigners in the provinces of Pontus, Galatia, Cappadocia, Asia, and Bithyn-ia. God the Father knew you and chose you long ago, and his Spirit has made you holy. As a result, you have obeyed him and have been cleansed by the blood of Jesus Christ. May God give you more and more grace and peace” (1 Peter 1:1-2, NLT).
Do we know the meaning of “atheist”? He is one who believes there is no God.
A theologian said that though many would say they believe in God, but actually they are “practical atheist”!
Meaning there are those who claim that they believe in God, but they live as if there is none.
Do we have here with us who are “practical atheist”?
This time, let us learn to live as true believers, which is our topic as we go through in our text (1 Peter:1-2).
So, how do we live as true believers of God?
But, before we answer that question, let’s remember that we have learned before, Peter was the writer of 1 Peter. We know him so well that he denied Jesus three times. But, before the event of his denials and even before Jesus said he would deny Him, He told Peter:
“Simon, Simon, Satan has asked to sift all of you as wheat. But I have prayed for you, Simon, that your faith may not fail. And when you have turned back, strengthen your brothers” (Luke 22:31-32, NIV).
In 1 Peter, he was writing both to the Jewish and Gentile Christians before A.D. 68. He ad-dressed to the Christians then who were scattered throughout Asia Minor and were suffering local persecutions, which included “insults (4:4, 14) and slanderous accusations of wrong-doing (2:12; 3:16).” Also, “Beatings (2:20), social ostracism, sporadic mob violence, and local police action may have involved as well.”
During that time, ”…churches and individual believers may have been encountering differ-ent degrees of reception or resistance in different places.”
Those were the difficult conditions being suffered by the original readers of 1 Peter and Pe-ter was aware of them. So, he would like to encourage or to strengthen them in the faith. At the very start of his letter, He channeled their thoughts on what God had done to them and live accordingly.
He implied that the Christians then should live or react not according to their trials, but ac-cording to what God did to them. They should not focus on what their persecutors were doing against them and so they should not live as persecuted, oppressed, or threatened. They should live as true believers.
In like manner, in our time, if we also realize that there is God, who extended His grace to us, how should we also live?
I – First, live as an elect (verses 1-2A).
We read, “This letter is from Peter, an apostle of Jesus Christ. I am writing to God’s chosen people who are living as foreigners in the provinces of Pontus, Galatia, Cappadocia, Asia, and Bithynia. God the Father knew you and chose you long ago…” (NLT.)
Again, let’s read the portion that says, “God the Father knew you and chose you long ago…”
Peter pointed out to his suffering readers that it was God the Father who knew them and chose them or elected them. Whether others would regard them as weird, or an outcasts of society, or even criminals, they ought to regard themselves as how God regarded them, as His elect. And he did not only wrote, “God the Father chose you Jewish Christians…” – he did not refer exclusively to the Jews, but he stated, “God… chose you…” meaning, all who were reading his letter then in various areas, including Gentile Christians who were in those places.
Peter would like them to realize who were really they are – not just the persecuted or op-pressed people, not just Jewish or Gentiles, but “God’s elect” or “God’s chosen people.”
When those Christians, then, could read those words, “God’s chosen people,” especially those who were familiar of the story in the Old Testament, they could easily identified themselves with the Israelite slaves in Egypt who were suffering greater oppression than them.
Consider further what Peter wrote, “God the Father knew you and chose you long ago…”
Notice very well this precious truth. Peter reminded or made them to realize that it was God who chose them. They did not become chosen, because they chose or volunteered to be-come His chosen people – unlike the elected officials in our government, who became elected because they even campaigned, for they wanted to become elected.
But, in the case of the Christians, it was God, the Father in particular, who knew and chose them “long ago” – not just during the time they believed or when they began to have their consciousness to know and decide, but “long ago”! This realization would be like a precious gem, especially for the Gentile Christians, because they never considered themselves before as God’s elect.
Now, as chosen ones of God, they should live not accountable to those who persecuted them, but to the One who elected them. They should please more the One who elected them. They should seek His approval in their actions, not the ones who tried to harm them.
A believer, whether Jew or Gentile, persecuted or not, in pleasure or in pain, he should live as an elect.
Christians, today, should realize that God had chosen them. So, they should not only think, but also behave and live as God’s chosen ones. When they plan or do something, they should think of the One who chose them. They should realize that they are accountable more to Him than the society, or institution, or other persons who surround them. They should seek to please Him and win His approval.
Last Monday of the other week, after the flag raising ceremony in Legazpi Police Station, the Officer-In-Charge of the Station instructed and reminded his men what they should do as uniformed personnel. And he emphasized that he would continue to issue commendations to those who made an accomplishment, but he would also enforce punishment to those who would fall short of their duties. He told them that if one could not perform his police responsibilities, he should resign and find another job. He added that some could get angry at him, but he reminded them that he did not choose his position as the OIC. It’s the Regional Command. So, he implied that he is not there to please or pamper the men under him. He did not even seek his own convenience or comfort. And he even slept there, so he could report any-time or be present when his presence is needed by the Regional Command that elected him in that position.
How about us, saints, do we consider ourselves an elect – not just by any military commander or even by the people of our country – but, by the Most High God Himself? If so, do we live accordingly – thinking, planning and living as the elect of God?
Do we consider ourselves accountable to Him?
Do we seek to please Him, or somebody or something else, or even our own selves? Do we pursue the approval of our peers, or the society, or whoever more than the Sovereign Elector?
Are we more interested or concerned of what people will say than what our Heavenly Father, who elected us, will say to us?
And if we are facing difficulties, do we live as beaten or disgraced, or do we live as triumphant as God’s elect?
Do not live as a conformist or hopeless. Live as an elect.
II – Second, live as set apart (part of verse 2).
We read a portion of verse 2, “and his Spirit has made you holy (or sanctified).”
Another thing that Peter pointed out what God did to those suffering Christians: “…his Spirit has made you holy,” as we read in the NLT. In the NIV, it says: “… through the sanctifying work of the Spirit…” No matter kind of treatment or accusations were thrown at them, Peter made them to realize that God, who chose them, had also sanctified or set them apart. And it was the Holy Spirit who set them part, not anyone else nor their own selves.
They were set apart for God’s service and should be obedient in accomplishing what God required of them. He implied that they ought to live as sanctified, as set apart and obedient in doing God’s service, though they suffered opposition or persecution. They ought to realize that they should serve and obey God, even when the going gets tough and difficult. And they ought to live as set apart, even when the life is not smooth and easy.
Today, Christians are also set apart by the Holy Spirit. So, they need also to behave or live as set apart from the other ordinary persons. They should not act as if they are just like the rest in the world. They should not identify themselves with others who easily received the acceptance and praise of the many or majority. They should not be absorbed doing the good things in the eyes of people and neglecting the excellent things in the eyes of the One who set them apart. They should be obedient in doing God’s will.
And even in the midst of difficulties, they should live as sanctified or set apart. They are expected to be obedient not only when it is convenient and easy. He who lives as set apart for God’s service is obedient even unto death, because he believes that his God is worth not on-ly following, but also dying for.
Saints, do we also accept that we are set apart by the Holy Spirit? Then, let’s also live as set apart for His service.
Let’s display it to the world. We are different. We do not just follow everything that this world promoted. We do not just desire anything advertised in the media. We do not even obey our own heart; we lead our heart and obey the One who made it. We obey even in pain or difficulty. Not just at the cost of our gadget, or pride, or whatever, but even at the cost of our present life.
Let’s live as set apart. Every Sunday, we obey the command to worship God while others worship the malls or beaches or whatever. While others promote their outward appearance, perhaps their muscles or beauty, we obey to promote the Goodness of Jesus and His Word. We do not just fill up our spare time with prayer and study of His Word. We obey the prodding of the Spirit to make time for prayer and study of God’s Word.
Let’s live and behave as people who are set apart by God. Let’s find pleasure not just in par-ticipating the ways of this world, but also in seeking pleasure in knowing more our God, growing in the understanding of His Word and in doing the things that would glorify His Holy Name.
III – And finally, live as cleansed (part of verse 2).
We read also a portion of verse 2, “have been cleansed by the blood of Jesus Christ.”
The last, but not the least, that Peter declared what God did to them: they were “…cleansed by the blood of Jesus Christ.” Or, in the NIV, we read: “… sprinkled with his blood.” Their per-secutors could consider them as guilty of something, but in the eyes of the One who chose and sanctified or set them apart, they were sprinkled or cleansed by the blood of Jesus Christ.
Peter made the Christians then to realize that though they were in the midst of persecution, or they would face greater persecution in the future, Jesus Christ had cleansed them by His blood.
And Peter would like them to remember that though they could see some errors in their own life, or others accused them of any wrong doing, valid or not, God had swift away all their sins. So, no matter what kind of harm or provocation they would suffer from others, he implied that they ought to stay “clean” – meaning they ought to avoid every thought or action to dirty what God had made clean. In their case, perhaps, avoid any desire to get even or fight back against those who inflicted harm on them.
Knowing that Christians, today, are also sprinkled or cleansed by the blood of Jesus, we need to have a life that is clean. We should not tolerate any dirt or sin to stay in our life. And we should not welcome any chance that sin would smudge the life that God had cleansed.
Picture in your mind that you have a bucket of water that is not suited for drinking. Then, you have a friend who had a water purifying machine and purified the water and make it potable. Would you intentionally dirty the crystal clear water that you have now? No. You would take every effort that it would stay clean and fit for drinking. If you see any “foreign” particle that accidentally fell into it, you will immediately scoop it out from the water. And the next thing you will do, perhaps, is to cover the opening of the container, so that no dirt could contaminate the water.
That may not perfectly pictured the clean life that we have in Christ, but we could have an idea what we ought to do, if we really behave or live as cleansed by His blood.
Saints, do we really believed that Christ cleansed us from all our sins? If so, should we not also think and live as cleansed by His blood?
We should abhor sin more than the bacteria that would just contaminate the water. We should not just “waste” the precious blood of our Savior that washed all our sins. We may not remove at once some stains in our sinful character, but we don’t have an excuse to let them stay in our life. Already God had cleansed us.
If we have still hatred, envy, lust, pride, bitterness, or even wrong belief, or whatever “bacteria” or “virus” of sin we could detect in our life, scoop it out immediately from purified life that God graciously gave to us. Instead of justifying our shortcoming, let’s repent of it at once. And avoid or prevent anything that would dirty the clean life that we have in Christ.
Let’s live as cleansed. Let’s live as saints
In conclusion, notice the last portion of verse 2, “May God give you more and more grace and peace.”
We could experience “grace and peace” as we realize that God the Father elected us, the Holy sanctified or set us apart, and Jesus Christ has cleansed us.
Let us not just believe it. Let us also live and display it.
Indeed, may God give us more and more grace and peace, as we live as an elect, as we live as set apart and as we live as cleansed.
