New King James 1Peter, an apostle of Jesus Christ,

To the pilgrims of the Dispersion in Pontus, Galatia, Cappadocia, Asia, and Bithynia, ²elect 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

New American Standard ¹Peter, an apostle of Jesus Christ,

To those who reside as aliens, scattered throughout Pontus, Galatia, Cappadocia, Asia, and Bithynia, who are chosen ²according to the foreknowledge of God the Father, by the sanctifying work of the Spirit, to obey Jesus Christ and be sprinkled with His blood: May grace and peace be yours in the fullest measure

New Living Translation 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 lands of Pontus, Galatia, Cappadocia, the province of Asia, and Bithynia. ²God the Father chose you long ago, and the Spirit has made you holy. As a result, you have obeyed Jesus Christ and are cleansed by his blood.

May you have more and more of God’s special favor and wonderful peace.

One of the beauties of studying the Word of God verse-by-verse is you get to see the nuggets of verses like one and two of I Peter 1 that otherwise you might want to quickly pass over as simply an introduction. And you get to see the connection here of these two verses.

Remember that Peter is speaking to believers who are now "aliens, strangers and pilgrims" even in their homeland. To be rejected where you were once accepted, to be left out where you were once included, to feel strangely alone where you once felt like family and friends, this does something to your self esteem, to your identity, to your sense of being. Well, God knew that so through Peter he affirms these believers that while they may not be the choice of the world, they are the chose of God.

The doctrine of the election is one of the most difficult in the Word of God and while I want to deal briefly with this doctrine, I don’t want to lose the impact of Peter’s writing. Peter, here, did not write about the election to debate it but to delight in it.

We can’t understand how God can know who will be saved and who will not and yet that foreknowledge not interfere with man’s on personal responsibility. Yet, no one is saved without having been chosen by God and this choice was made not on the merit of our goodness. This choice was made before the foundation of the world – before Adam and Eve. So it had nothing to do with your goodness, your character, or your ability to be something good for God.

We wonder if it is fair that God already knows who will be saved and they are destined for salvation while some will not be saved and they are destined for eternal judgment.

But the very fact that we question it is an indication of our own fallen human nature. God is just and righteous whether we understand it or not.

I know the doctrine of election is not a man made doctrine because we’d never come up with a doctrine that we couldn’t understand and that didn’t make us look good.

Isaiah 55:8 "For my thoughts are not your thoughts, nor are my ways My ways," says the Lord.:

God is just. We are not in a position to determine whether God is just or not. He is perfectly just in Himself, of Himself, for Himself, from Himself, by Himself.

Justice is measured by what God does for whatever He does is just and justice is whatever He does.

How can we honestly question the justice and goodness of God by questioning how some can go to hell according to his foreknowledge and some to Heaven when no one deserves to be saved any way?

The precious promise that God chose us before the foundation of the world. God chose us!!

John 15: 16 "You did not choose Me, but I chose you."

Romans 16: 13 "Chose in the Lord"

II Thessalonians 2:13 "Chosen to salvation"

Ephesians 1: 4 "Chosen before the foundation of the world."

II Timothy 1:9 "who has saved us and called us with a holy calling, not according to our works, but according to His own purpose and grace which was given to us in Christ Jesus before time began."

I believe the remaining balance of verse two describes the life of the elect.

The reason you can’t feel "normal" around the people you once associated yourself is that you have a different Spirit and it clashes with their spirit.

The elect walks in obedience to Jesus.

Hebrews 5:8 reminds us that "Jesus learned obedience by the things which he suffered." We learn that obedience is the right way.

Hebrews 5:9 "And having been perfected, He became the author of eternal salvation to all who obey Him,"

The word here is "they are sprinkled with blood." This is not the reference to the Day of Atonement and the blood required for the forgiveness of sin for the year, but the sprinkling of blood. The Old Testament reveals a few occasions when people were sprinkled with blood. Leviticus 14 when a leper was cleansed, and in Exodus 29 when Aaron and his sons were consecrated to the priesthood.

When we don’t walk in total obedience, we have His blood to cleanse us. I John 1:9

Since this is not the reference to the Day of Atonement, I believe it means the blood keeps us clean and consecrates us as priest to God.

The two fold blessing here is common in almost every pastoral letter of Paul and Peter. Grace and peace.

What grace that God chose us before we chose Him!

What peace! Since God chose me before I did anything to choose Him, then I can’t do anything to cause Him to change His mind. My salvation is secure in Him, not me.

The Amplified Bible says at this point: "May grace (spiritual blessing) and peace be given you in increasing abundance (that spiritual peace to be realized in and through Christ, freedom from fears, agitating passions and moral conflicts).

The Message reads of verses 1-2: I, Peter, am an apostle on assignment by Jesus, the Messiah, writing to exiles scattered to the four winds. Not one is missing, not one forgotten. God the Father has his eye on each of you, and has determined by the work of the Spirit to keep you obedient through the sacrifice of Jesus. May everything good from God be yours!

Now that’s a boost that will last for eternity!