"Peter, an apostle of Jesus Christ, To the Pilgrims of the Dispersion in Pontus, Galatia, Cappadocia, Asia, and Bithynia, 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."
Peter starts by reminding his audience of their "foreknowledge of God the Father". When facing a difficult situation, as the Jewish Christians were during the time this letter was written, it is imperative to remember that it is God who has us in that particular situation. We must realize that it is through trials that He conforms us to the likeness of his son, Jesus. During these times, however, temptation to fulfull the lusts of our flesh tends to increase and God knows this. He desires that we would resist our flesh and walk in the Spirit. We experience the most significant growth as Christians when we learn to walk in the Spirit during difficult times. In doing so we make it harder for Satan to hinder our relationship with God, which is what he ultimately wants to do. Additionally, each trial that the Lord brings us through becomes an encouraging reminder during future trials that we WILL face.
The next point that Peter makes is that we are in a process of "sanctification of the Spirit". Sanctification is a lifelong process of becoming like Christ. There are many ways by which God achieves this, but the three that I have found to be most prominent are: the reading of His word, revelation by the Holy Spirit and trials. I believe that all three of these are neccessary components of the sanctification process. We must read His word in order to learn what God is like, what He wants us to do, and what He wants us to avoid. We need the Holy Spirit to help us understand what we read and to show us how to apply it in our daily lives. Trials are neccessary because they give us opportunities to trust in God's promises. The more we learn to trust God during difficult times, the more we become like Christ. It has been my personal experience that when times are good I pray all the time, I read the Bible all the time, and I am loving towards my wife and others. However, as soon as things take a turn for the worst, I find it difficult to pray, difficult to read the Bible, and difficult to be loving towards my wife and others. I believe that this is the result of having the completely wrong perspective. Instead of asking "why, Lord?" we should be saying "thank you, Lord!". For the reason He has us in that particular trial is not to punish us, but to refine us. We tend to pray for deliverance, expecting God to deliver us immediately, but when it doesn't happen we feel defeated and praying becomes more difficult. Instead, we should be praying for God's will to be done and we should thank him for the work he is going to be doing in us. If we have this perspective, then it becomes easier to pray, easier to read the Bible, and easier to love one another. Instead of being miserable, we are rejoicing and Jesus is glorified through that. We need to remember that we are representatives of Jesus and everyone is watching us to see how we react to tough situations. How glorious it is when they see us go through trials completely trusting that God is using it for good. Then when we make it through we give all the glory to Him and demonstrate to our peers that Jesus is faithful all the time! Peter, in making this statement, is trying to give his audience the correct perspective by reminding them that they are being sanctified and that the sanctification process involves suffering. They should feel blessed that God has chosen them and honored to suffer for the one who suffered for them. We too can have this perspective by abiding in God's word and trusting Him with our lives. He will show us over and over again that He is faithful and trustworthy.
Peter then says "for obedience and sprinkling of the blood of Jesus Christ". This is so important! Obedience is something that many people overlook. They assume that the sacrifice of Jesus gives us a license to sin. It is true that Jesus has essentially gotten us off the hook for all of our past, present, and future sins, but only if we really believe in our hearts that Jesus is the son of God, that he bore God's wrath on our behalf, and that he was raised from the dead on the third day. Whether or not someone actually believes that is between them and God. 1 Samuel 16:7 says "For the Lord does not see as man sees; for man looks at the outward appearance, but the Lord looks at the heart". Anyone can say that they believe in Jesus, but He is not interested in lip service, He is intersted in our hearts. Repentance (turning away from sin and towards Jesus) and obedience to God's commands are essential in showing God that we really really believe in His son. The willingness to deny ourselves and to seek only to do what is pleasing in the sight of the Lord is what separates the true Christians from the rest. In the case of Peter's letter, he is stressing the importance of obedience especially during trials. We must remember though that our salvation is not because of anything we did. It was a free gift from God, given out of grace. We did not deserve it. Our sins have been freely washed away by the sprinkling of Jesus' blood and it should be our natural response, if we really believe and accept the sacrifice that God made of His only begotten son, that we seek to live holy, righteous, God-pleasing lives. It should be our natural response to repent of our sins and to be obedient to the commands of our all knowing, all powerful Father in Heaven even during difficult times. Paul says in Philippians 1:6 "being confident of this very thing, that He who has begun a good work in you will complete it until the day of Jesus Christ". This good work that Paul speaks of is the conformation to the image of Jesus. Romans 8:28-29 says "And we know that all things work together for good to those who love God, to those who are the called according to His purpose. For whom He foreknew, He also predestined to be conformed to the image of His son". So Peter is absolutely correct in encouraging those who are suffering to continue to be obedient. Paul says in his letter to the Philippians that sanctification is a life long process that will not be completed until we see Jesus again. He writes in his letter to the Romans that ALL things are worked for the good of those who love God and that we are being conformed to the image of Jesus. We can then conclude that our entire life will be a series of trials through which we must learn obedience because the person whose image we are being conformed to was obedient during the biggest trial in history! As Paul said in Philippians 2:8 "And being found in appearance as a man, He humbled Himself and became obedient to the point of death, even the death of the cross". We can rejoice in knowing that the victory is already won. Jesus paid the price, we are free! Now all we have to do is trust that Jesus, who dwells in us, will see us through any trial that we might face.
Lastly, Peter says "Grace to you and peace be multiplied". You will find this greeting, or something similar to it, in the letters of Paul, Peter, John, and Jude, which make up most of the New Testament. I find it very interesting that these apostles make it a point to inform their audience of the grace by which the letter was written. Grace is one of the most important characteristics of God and it should become a dominant characteristic of all Christians. By grace we have been saved therefore by grace we shall live. Hebrews 12:28 says "Therefore, since we are receiving a kingdom which cannot be shaken, let us have grace, by which we may serve God acceptably with reverence and godly fear". What does it mean to have grace? I think God demonstrated it perfectly by sending His son to die for the sins which we committed. He sent Jesus to take the punishment that we deserved. He did this even though we had rejected Him and done just about everything that is detestable to Him. He gave us life and we spat in His face. I cannot think of anyone more deserving of the worst possible punishment imaginable than us. But God did something that no one else would have done. He showed us GRACE! So let that be a reminder to all of us when we don't feel that someone is deserving of our love or our help or our kindness. If we want to show others the nature of Christ, then we need to live by grace, it is as simple as that. So the next time someone hurts you, offends you, or wrongs you remember God's grace. Don't give them what they deserve, but rather what they are undeserving of and let them see Jesus in you!
The last thing Peter says in the greeting of his letter is "peace be multiplied". He is basically telling a group of people who are being persecuted, tortured, and killed for their devotion to Jesus to have peace about their situation. Not only that, he is also telling them that if they are already at peace about it that their peace should be multiplied. How can you have peace when you are in the seemingly worst situation of your life? Philippians 4:6-7 says "Be anxious for nothing, but in everything by prayer and supplication, with thanksgiving, let your requests be known to God; and the peace of God, which surpasses all understanding, will guard your hearts and minds through Christ Jesus". The only way we can have peace about our situation is by asking God for it. This ties in with what I mentioned earlier about praying during difficult times. James 4:2 says "Yet you do not have because you do not ask". If in the midst of a trial you feel defeated and cease to pray, then you are only making things harder for yourself. Instead, approach God in prayer and supplication with thanksgiving, then you will receive peace that is so amazing it cannot even be described.
I hope this writing has blessed you and has given you a greater understanding of God's powerful word. Please feel free to leave your comments below.
Your Servant,
Jason Kiddoo