1 Pedro 1:1-2

1 Peter 1:1-2

Analysis:—Title and salutation of comfort

1Peter, an apostle of Jesus Christ, to the strangers1 scattered throughout Pontus, Galatia, Cappadocia, Asia, and Bithynia. 2Elect according to the foreknowledge of God the Father, through sanctification of the Spirit,2 unto obedience and sprinkling of3 the blood of Jesus Christ: Grace unto you, and peace, be multiplied.

EXEGETICAL AND CRITICAL

1 Peter 1:1.—On the meaning of Peter, see notes on Matthew 16:18.

Apostle, a messenger of Jesus Christ, speaking and acting in his Master’s name. The qualifications necessary to the apostolic vocation may be learned from the speech of Peter at the election of an apostle. Acts 1:21-22. They had to be the constant attendants of Christ during the whole of His ministerial career, as He said to the twelve: “Ye have been with me from the beginning,” John 15:27; cf. Luke 24:18, in particular, witnesses of His resurrection and ascension, Acts 2:33; Acts 3:15; Acts 5:32; Acts 10:41. They had to testify of the great facts of salvation and to found Churches, to teach and to preach, to exhort and warn, to threaten and rebuke, to intercede and to oversee, and to carry the message of the cross to Jews and Gentiles, Acts 10:39; Act 4:19; 2 Corinthians 5:20; Philippians 1:7; Philippians 1:17; Colossians 2:8. To this end they had been especially called and chosen, separated and sent forth by the Lord Himself and endowed with extraordinary gifts by the Spirit, Acts 13:10-11; Acts 5:5; Acts 5:11; Acts 2:4; Mark 16:17-18; 1 Corinthians 5:5; John 20:22.

Elect, in Peter’s sense of the word, are such as are incorporated in the chosen generation (1 Peter 2:9) and belong to the purified people of God, to the children of Abraham who have become believers in Jesus. The final cause of this election is free grace, its end salvation, and its condition penitent faith. Acts 3:19; Acts 2:38; Acts 2:21; 1Pe 1:4; 1 Peter 5:10. The word is used in a different sense in Matthew 22:14; Ephesians 1:4; Acts 9:15.

Strangers, παρεπιδήμοι denotes persons, residing with others for a short time in a strange place, not citizens, but denizens, cf. Genesis 47:9; Leviticus 25:23; Hebrews 11:13. Weiss would take it figuratively of the pilgrim-state of Christians on account of the next word, cf. 1 Peter 1:17; 1 Peter 2:11; but the explanation “to the elect denizens of the dispersion” is more simple. Such a compression of literal and figurative definitions so nearly related in Sound, would hardly be intelligible with out some further definition. Jdt 5:20; 2Ma 1:27.

Dispersion (διασπορά) was the current phrase used to designate Jews living in Gentile lands, i. e. residing out of Palestine. cf. John 7:35; James 1:1. This shows plainly who were the readers of the epistle: they were believing Jews, here and there joined by a few Gentile converts. This was the field confided to the care of Peter, Galatians 2:7, while the sphere of Paul’s labours lay among the Gentiles. Origen, Jerome and Epiphanius, testify that Peter was mainly engaged in preaching the Gospel to the Jews in the countries here specified. Such is the opinion of many among the more ancient commentators, e. g. Eusebius, Didymus, Œcumenius, who are followed by Grotius, Calvin and others: (vide Introduction).

Pontus, the extreme north-eastern province of Asia Minor, so called from the Black Sea, on which it borders towards the North; it was there that Aquila, a companion of Paul probably founded a Christian Church. Acts 18:2.

Galatia, westward of Pontus, derives its name from the Gauls, a Celtic tribe, which had left its seat on the left bank of the Rhine for Thrace and Greece and had afterwards gone as far as Asia Minor. Paul planted Christianity there. Acts 16:6.

Cappadocia lies South of Pontus; Jews of Cappadocia were present at the first Christian Pentecost and heard the declaration of the great works of God.

Asia describes the province, which under the Romans comprised the maritime districts of Mysia, Lydia and Caria with the interior Phrygia.

Bythinia is the extreme north-western district of Asia Minor.

1 Peter 1:2—According to the foreknowledge of God, should be connected with elect: it denotes not mere prescience and precognition, the object of which is indeed not mentioned, but both real distinction and foredecreeing. So 1 Peter 1:20; Acts 2:23. God knew such as are His from before the foundation of the world and ordained them unto salvation, cf. John 10:14; Acts 4:28; Romans 8:29; [“πρόγνωσις hic non præscientiam, sed antecedens decretum significat ut et Acts 2:23 : idem sensus qui, Ephesians 1:4.”—Grotius.—M.]

In sanctification of the Spirit.—This relates, as well as the other parts of this verse, to election. The order, by which alone the Divine decree can effect its end in us, is this, that we are sanctified by the Spirit of God. So Paul in 2 Thessalonians 2:13 : “God hath chosen you to salvation through [ἐν ἁγιασμῷ πνεύματος.—M.] sanctification of the Spirit.” This expression comprises all the gracious influences of the Holy Ghost, from His first gentle knockings to the sealing of grace. The reference of the work of our salvation to the Holy Trinity, which is unmistakably implied in this verse, excludes the application of πνεῦμα to the spirit of man.

[In Sanctification—Jesus Christ.—“Il vous a séparés effectivement d’avec eux, non pas en vous sanctifiant comme il fit le peuple d’ Israël au désert, d’une sanctification externe et corporelle seulement, lorsqu ‘il le fit arroser du sang de la victime, qui ratefia par sa mort l’alliance de la loy; mais en vous consacrant d’une sanctification intérieure et spirituelle lorsque par la vertu de sa vocation il vous a amenés a l’obéisance de son Evangile et a recevoir l’aspersion du sang de Jesus Christ épandu pour l’établissement de l’alliance de grace en rémission des pêchés.”—Amyraut.—M.]

Obedience, in the sense of Peter, includes the two ideas, to believe revealed truth and to perform the duties which it imposes on us. Obedience of the Divine commandments presupposes faith in their obligatoriness and the justice of God; faith claims obedience as its fruit, just as itself (i. e. faith), according to its inmost nature, is an act of obedience. Peter, according to his Old Testament stand-point, views both conjointly. cf. 1 Peter 2:7-8; 1Pe 1:14; 1 Peter 1:22; 1Pe 3:1; 1 Peter 4:17; Acts 3:22-23; Acts 5:32; with Paul the fundamental claims of faith and obedience become separate, Romans 10:5-9, without any misconception of the ethical element of faith, Romans 10:16; Romans 10:21; Romans 11:30; Romans 1:5; Romans 2:8 2 Thessalonians 1:8; 2 Corinthians 10:5.

Unto sprinkling of the blood of Jesus Christ,—ῥαντισμός corresponding to the Hebrew verbs זָרַק and נָזָה occurs only twice in the N. T., here and Hebrews 12:24. The altar of burnt offering, the altar of incense, the vail of the Most Holy place and the ark of the covenant (Leviticus 1:5; Leviticus 5:9; Leviticus 4:6-7; Leviticus 4:17-18; Leviticus 16:14-19) were sprinkled with blood in token that the holy vessels, which became, as it were, also infected with the poison of sin—(by the uncleanness of those who surrounded them)—stood in need of purification. At the sacrifice of the covenant a two-fold sprinkling took place, viz.: that of the altar with one-half of the blood and that of the people with the other. Exodus 24:6-8; cf. Hebrews 9:18-20. This implied not only that both needed purifying, but also that the altar and the people belonged together, and that the remission of sins might fall to the latter. But the sprinkling of the people did not take place until they had declared themselves ready to comply with all the demands of the Divine Law without any exception whatsoever. Exodus 24:3; Exodus 24:7; nor must the circumstance be overlooked that the sanctification of the unclean people unto communion with the Holy God must have gone before, Exodus 19:10. As in the Old Testament the sprinkling of blood followed upon the sanctified people engaging themselves to implicit obedience, so this passage maintains that the members of the covenant-people of the New Testament are elect unto obedience and unto sprinkling of the blood of Jesus. It is only by the obedience of faith and our firm purpose to subject ourselves to the claims of the Divine Law, that we are made partakers of the atoning virtue of the blood of Jesus. If we stand in God’s covenant of grace with the honest endeavour of doing His will, God is pleased to make us ever anew partakers of the virtue of the blood of Jesus, and to cover therewith all the failings and infirmities which still cleave to our obedience as well as to forgive us the sins which are still mingled with it, provided we repent of them and seek for peace. We do not attempt to determine whether the words of our Lord at the institution of the Holy Supper had an essentially determining influence on the view of Peter, (as Weiss, p. 273, assumes as certain) but its reference to the conclusion of the covenant in the Old Testament is undeniable. [The three persons of the Holy Trinity cöoperate, according to the Apostle, in the work of our salvation.—M.]

Grace is here not a Divine attribute, but a gift, as is apparent from its connection with peace, cf. 1 Peter 4:10; 1Pe 5:10; 1 Peter 3:7; 1Pe 1:10; 1 Peter 1:13. It is the gift of justification and sanctification, from which flows peace in, and with God and forthwith also peace among men, cf. Rom 1:7; 2 John 1:3; Judges 2:0. In the last passage as at 2 Peter 1:2, occurs also πληνθυνθείη. The epistle of Nebuchadnezzar written after his deliverance, Dan. 3:31, has in the Greek translation of the LXX. an almost identical introduction. The multiplying relates both to its virtue and to the feeling and taste thereof, cf. Romans 5:5.

[Wordsworth remarks: “This salutation of the Apostle from Babylon recalls to the mind the greeting sent forth from the same city to all its provinces, by the two Kings of two successive dynasties,—the Assyrian and the Medo-Persian—under the influence of the prophet Daniel, and other faithful men of the first dispersion. They proclaimed in their royal Epistles the supremacy of the One True God, the God of Israel. ‘Nebuchadnezzar, the King, to all the people, to you peace be multiplied.‘ (εἰρήνη ὑμῖν πληθυνθείη, Daniel 4:1). Darius the King wrote to all people, “To you peace be multiplied,” (Daniel 6:25).

Daniel and the three children turned the hearts of Nebuchadnezzar and Darius, and moved them to declare the glory of the true God in letters written ‘to all people.’ The apostle St. Peter now carries on the work of the ancient prophets, and writes an epistle from Babylon, by which he builds up the Christian Sion in all ages of the world (of. 2 Peter 1:1-2. and 1 Peter 1:13), and proclaims to all, ‘Peace be multiplied unto you.’—M.]

DOCTRINAL AND ETHICAL

1. Peter refers to his apostleship, not with a view to making it a ground of superiority to other teachers, but in order to remind his readers of the great responsibility attaching to, and consequent upon, the disregard of his exhortations and consolations. Because he is the ambassador of Christ, we should hear him as we would Christ Himself, cf. Luke 10:16; 1 Thessalonians 4:8. He calls himself an elder among elders, 1 Peter 5:1.—Wherever no positive proof can be given of an immediate election and calling to and qualification for the apostolate as emanating from our Lord Himself, its claim is unwarranted and untenable.—This is also true where secular authority is allied to the spiritual office (cf. Matthew 20:25-28) and where it is attempted to control the faith and conscience of men (cf. 2 Corinthians 1:24; 1 Corinthians 4:1).—[The claims of Rome are illustrative of the second and third points, those of the Irvingites of the first.—M.]

2. The Apostles were not vicegerents and representatives of Christ, much less the Pope of Rome.3. The glorious title and state of real Christians, to be called ‘elect’. It is an unspeakable mercy to be selected from the mass of so many thousands of the lost, from the communion of their guilt and punishment, from the power of unbelief, sin and seduction. Distinguish between “elect” and “called.” Calling reveals the decree of election. The end of election in the New Testament differs from that in the Old.

4. The Christian’s real home is heaven; here below we are guests and strangers, as David confesses: “I am both, thy pilgrim, (here below) and thy citizen (above)”, Psalms 39:13. [This is Luther’s version, but it is doubtful whether the antithesis of pilgrim and citizen is warranted by the original Hebrew, תּוֹשָּׁב is rather a denizen than a citizen; the Jews of the dispersion were denizens, not citizens.—M.]. The time of his sorrowful pilgrimage is brief, as contrasted with the eternal glory of his imperishable home. 1Pe 1:4; 1 Peter 5:10; 1 Peter 2:11. cf. Hebrews 11:13.

5. The call of Divine grace has its proper seasons and hours in nations as well as in individuals. According to Acts 16:6-7, the Spirit forbade Paul and Timothy to preach in proconsular Asia and Bithynia, but soon after the hour of grace struck also for those provinces passed over at the first. On his return from Europe, Paul declared the word of the Lord Jesus to the Jews and Greeks in Asia by the space of two years, Acts 19:10. He or other servants of Christ must have planted a Church in Bithynia.

6. The state of salvation of believers is not the result of some sudden manifestation of the loving will of God, sprung up in the course of time, but the effect of His eternal decree and fore-determination. It is a work participated in by the three persons of the Holy Trinity and redounding to their glory. God the Father elects unto salvation in Christ and prepares salvation; God the Son gives reality to election by His life, suffering and death; God the Holy Ghost appropriates and applies to the souls of penitent sinners the salvation procured by Jesus Christ.—He that places himself under the discipline of the Holy Ghost and suffers himself to form the resolution, “All that the Lord hath said will we do, and be obedient,” as Israel said of old, Exodus 24:7, is mysteriously sprinkled with the blood of Christ, his sins are covered, he is regarded as pure and holy in Christ, and enabled to render priestly service to God and to be found without spot before Him, 1 John 1:7. In the New Testament, spirit and blood appear to be intimately related to each other, John 6:53, etc., Romans 3:24-25; Romans 8:1; 1 John 5:6.

7. Peace is a glorious fruit of grace where it is received into the heart, cf. Romans 1:7. The salutation of peace contains the sum-total of the gospel. Luther says: “Peace is the favour of God which now begins in us but must work more and more and multiply unto death. If a man knows and believes in a gracious God, he has Him; his heart finds peace, and he fears neither the world nor the devil, for he knows that God, who controls all things, is his friend, and will deliver him from death, hell and all calamity; therefore his conscience is full of peace and joy. This is what Peter desires for believers; it is a right Christian salutation, with which all Christians should greet one another.”

HOMILETICAL AND PRACTICAL

The servants of Christ find consolation and protection in the fact that they are sent of the Lord.—The motto of Israelites indeed: “I am a guest on earth.”—The sublime consolation to belong to God’s elect people;—[to be a member of the Church, ἐκκλησία.—M.]. The reason of our election resides not in man but in the free grace of God.—The unmistakable tokens of election.—Sprinkling with the blood of Christ, the precious treasure of the elect.—The work of grace carried on by the Holy Trinity in the saint’s heart.—The blessed end for which we are called.

Starke:—Peter was an Apostle of Jesus Christ, but not the visible vicegerent of Christ on earth.—A true pastor cannot forget those whom he has begotten in Jesus Christ; if he is unable to comfort them orally, he does it by letter.—He who is a stranger in a country needs not on that account be sad; it is enough that he has secured a fair heritage in Christ. The more he perceives this, the less will he be attached to the world and the more will he long for his heavenly fatherland.—In the election of grace the decree of God is not absolute, but it takes place because persevering faith in Jesus Christ is foreseen.—Grace and peace belong together, and must not be confounded with nature and assurance; grace brings peace and peace testifies of grace. None can desire any thing more precious than grace and peace; he that hath them is happy for time and for eternity.

Footnotes:

[1] 1 Peter 1:1. [The German Version, in stricter conformity to the Greek, “To the elect strangers in the dispersion in.”—M.]

Cod. Sin., omits Ἀσίας.—M.]

1 Peter 1:2; 1 Peter 1:2. [German, “in sanctification through the Spirit.” Greek, “in sanctification of the Spirit.”—M.]

1 Peter 1:2; 1 Peter 1:2. [German “with.”—M.]