Peter
introduced himself as “an apostle of Jesus Christ”, and
addressed his letter to the Christians who were “scattered
abroad” throughout areas of “Asia”. In chapter one
and verse two of his letter, Peter shared how these Christians were
the “elect according to the foreknowledge of God” where we
read:
Elect
according to the foreknowledge of God the Father, through
sanctification of the Spirit, unto obedience and sprinkling of the
blood of Jesus Christ: Grace unto you, and peace, be multiplied.
The
verse begins, “Elect according to the foreknowledge of God the
Father,...” Peter began with the word, “Elect” which
means “picked out, chosen or selected” “according” or
“down from, through out, toward and along” “to the
foreknowledge” which means “forethought or pre-arrangement”
“of God” which refers to “the Godhead, trinity which is
comprised of God the Father, Christ the Son and the Holy Spirit”
“the Father” who is “the generator or male ancestor and
the originator and transmitter of anything”. God the Father chose
these people to whom Peter wrote because He knew in advance who would
receive Him as Savior and Lord.
The
verse goes on to say, “... through sanctification of the
Spirit, unto obedience and sprinkling of the blood of Jesus Christ:”
Peter continued, “through
sanctification” which means
“consecration and purification” “of the Spirit”
which refers to “the third person of the triune God, the
Holy Spirit, coequal, coeternal with the Father and the Son”,
“unto obedience”
or “compliance or submission shown in observing the requirements of
Christianity” “and sprinkling”
which means “blood of sprinkling serving to purify” “of
the blood” or “blood shed by
violence, slaying or murder” “of Jesus”
whose name means “Jehovah is Salvation” “Christ”
which means “anointed Messiah”. The reason God “elected”
these followers was because Jesus gave them access to Himself by the
“consecration and purification” “of the Holy Spirit”
of God by Jesus “sprinkling
His blood” and being
“obedient” to the
plan of Salvation which God designed.
Finally
the verse says, “Grace unto you, and
peace, be multiplied.” Finally
Peter wrote, “Grace”
which means “that which affords joy,
pleasure, delight, sweetness, charm, loveliness, goodwill,
loving-kindness and unmerited favor”
“unto you”
which refers to “the Christians who are scattered abroad” “and
peace”
which means “tranquility, harmony, concord, security, safety,
prosperity and felicity”, “be
multiplied”
or “increased and abounded”. This typical greeting for Peter's
day which included both the Greek greeting “charis” and the
Jewish greeting “eirēnē”
was Peter's way of desiring the best for the Christians to whom he
was writing.
When
we think through these words of Peter, we might find it interesting
to think that God “chose” people, and we may wonder if there are
people whom He does “not choose”. God knows all, and He knows in
advance who will receive Him as Savior and Lord. Jesus paid the
“sacrifice” for
our salvation by shedding His blood upon the cross and dying for our
sins, and He opened the door for “whosoever will”
to receive and come unto Him. May the Lord help us to know Jesus and
His “election” of
us as we study more of Peter's words.
Next
time Peter will shares about being “begotten again”,
so read ahead, and we shall join together then.
Until
tomorrow…there is more…
Look
for the daily devotional book “Equipped for Battle – From
Generation to Generation”, the marriage book “So, You Want to Be
Married”, and the new devotional “One Year in the Sermon on the
Mount” in all major bookstore sites, http://www.amazon.com
; http://www.barnesandnobles.com
; download to e-books, and find it locally at
www.mrzlc.com/bookstore.
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