1 Peter introduction: Troubling Times

Introduction
The Church in America has not faced any major hardships, relatively speaking, during my lifetime. In many other parts of the world the Church did or does meet under threat of violence, imprisonment and even death. We have experienced no such thing in the United States. What we are facing now are the legitimate regulations and orders by our government to practice social distancing and to stay at home due to the coronavirus, at least they are legitimate thus far. On Friday I posted an article about that on Goddoestherightthing.blogspot.com. Because it is protecting its citizens from covid19, our government has the God-given authority to make such orders. The Church is not being singled out; social distancing and stay at home applies to all individuals, groups and businesses.

The virus has created hardship, however, as we all know. We have had it good for a long time and I’ve often challenged us to consider if the Church in America was making the most of its freedom?  Prior to 2020, many people in America who call themselves Christians didn’t attend church consistently, didn’t do the basics of reading their Bibles or praying daily. And sharing their faith…forget it. There is a tendency when things are easy to take it easy. Right now, we are unable to meet together. The question is, what are we going to do? Will we seek Him with renewed passion or will we fall away into idleness or idolatry?

Today we begin a study of 1 Peter. If you regularly attend our church, you know that before the Easter season, we were working through 1 Samuel. However, with the new situation we are in, we will move to a study of 1 Peter, a letter written to Christians who were suffering hardship.  Peter opens the letter by greeting these brothers and sisters as “pilgrims of the Dispersion.” They were forced to scatter, though in their time of persecution they continued to meet in small groups. This first post will be a bit unusual in that it will focus on the background and setting for the letter titled 1 Peter. During the study to come, let us pray that God will continue to prepare and use us for His service.  Let us now consider God’s call during troubling times.

Troubling Times

Peter, one of the apostles, wrote this letter probably around AD 62-3.  This places it after the closing of the events in Acts.  He encourages his readers with reminders that they are secure in Christ.  Remember now, the original recipients of this letter had to flee from their homes and were still suffering from persecution. They were outcasts and considered the scourge of society. In the face of this, Peter challenges them to be holy and to be a witness to their persecutors. Can you imagine! They are greatly suffering and the Spirit says through Peter, to keep doing the right things, be kind and merciful, and share the love of Christ with those who persecute you. That, my friends, is love. Loving God enough to live in a way that pleases Him regardless of how bad our situation is, and loving the lost enough to put their own lives in danger to tell the lost about Jesus.

We know from history that Christians suffered greatly under Nero’s persecution in the mid 60s, as well as under Domitian (AD 90-95) and Trajan (AD 97-117) but those came after this letter, though it remained a source of encouragement to those who did endure those persecutions.  The timing of this letter suggests that it was probably persecution by the general Roman population who considered Christians suspicious and hostile. This view of Christians was held because believers refused to engage in the immoral practices that where common, or the idolatrous customs of the day, and because they met privately to celebrate Communion. They were often mocked, discriminated against and brought to court on trumped-up charges.

The purpose of the letter is to encourage readers to trust God and be obedient in the hardships they face. Key themes of the letter are that these people were God’s elect (and thus represent Him as His priests), and that they were to do what was right in the eyes of God. After the opening 2 verses, there are three major sections. The first is 1:3 – 2:10 focusing on their privileges and responsibilities as believers in Christ. The second is 2:11 – 4:11 focusing on living a Godly life that was different from their former ways. The third is 4:12 – 5:11 focusing on the reality of living under sufferings and persecutions. Three times Peter refers to the suffering that his readers are enduring. First in 1:6 he mentions “all kinds of trials.” Then in 3:13-17 he mentions suffering for righteousness in general but also malicious verbal attack. Finally in 4:12-19 he talks about a “fiery ordeal” which includes sharing in the suffering of Christ.

The letter begins by saying, “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” (1 Peter 1:1-2).

This is a pretty standard greeting for a NT letter. Peter lists the areas where his recipients lived, and “the Diaspora” was a term used for Jews who were living outside of Israel. John 7:35 mentions this also, saying, “Then the Jews said among themselves, ‘Where does He intend to go that we shall not find Him? Does He intend to go to the Dispersion among the Greeks and teach the Greeks?’” The Greek term is also used in James 1:1 saying, “James, a bondservant of God and of the Lord Jesus Christ, to the twelve tribes which are scattered abroad: greetings.” But it is not just a term used in the NT times, this concept goes way back into the OT and is mentioned in Deuteronomy 30:4, “If your outcasts are at the ends of the earth, from there the Lord your God will gather you, and from there He will bring you back.”

This opening statement mentions the “elect” or “chosen.” There are some Christians who do not hold to the doctrine of election, placing all the responsibility on man and his free will.  I would encourage you to consider the overwhelming evidence in the Bible that God chose to save the elect before Creation, before their rebellion. Read Ephesians 1 and Romans 9. Jesus said in John 15:16, “You did not choose Me, but I chose you and appointed you that you should go and bear fruit.” The Bible tells us that no one seeks after God: “The fool has said in his heart, ‘There is no God.’ They are corrupt, they have committed abominable deeds; there is no one who does good. The Lord has looked down from heaven upon the sons of men to see if there are any who understand, who seek after God. They have all turned aside, together they have become corrupt; there is no one who does good, not even one.” (Psalm 14:1-3; see also Romans 3:10-12). Then 2 Thessalonians 2:13 adds, “But we are bound to give thanks to God always for you, brethren beloved by the Lord, because God from the beginning chose you for salvation through sanctification by the Spirit and belief in the Truth.” The doctrine of election shows up in almost every single Book of the NT. And in the OT, did not God choose Noah, Abraham, David and even the nation of Israel? And was it because of how impressive they were or because they sought after Him? Not hardly.

The Bible makes clear that no one is chosen because they are so great or deserving. Rather, “God has chosen the foolish things of the world to put to shame the wise, and God has chosen the weak things of the world to put to shame the things which are mighty” (1 Corinthians 1:27). We are chosen by God, it is not because of any good that we have done.  It’s not because God saw something in us that made Him save us. There is no room for pride in Christianity, rather complete awe, humility, and thankfulness. Give thanks brothers and sisters in Christ; give thanks as you consider that He chose you and now you are the recipient of His mercy and given the task of going and telling others about His grace. For you and I don’t know who has been chosen so we must treat everyone as though they have been. Everyone does need to hear the loving Gospel, that God the Son, Jesus Christ, came to seek and save that which is lost. Again, if you think it is about your free will, read Romans 9.

Closely related to election, foreknowledge means that God chose certain individuals according to His plan and purpose before the foundation of the world to be the recipients of His blessing. God knew those whom He would chose before He created the world and it was a matter of His will not just a knowledge of man’s future choices (see Psalm 139:15-16; Romans 8:28-29). 

Let’s move on, we could spend weeks on the topic of sanctification which is also mentioned in the opening verses of 1 Peter, but let me say here that it is a work of the Holy Spirit with which we need to cooperate. As soon as God’s call of salvation becomes effectual in our lives, we are declared righteous. We then must yield to the Spirit to actually learn to live that way.

If you spend much time reading the Bible you know that while salvation is by grace, meaning we don’t deserve it or earn it, salvation leads to obedience to Jesus Christ.  Recall those well known verses, Ephesians 2:8-9. But what about the next verse, Eph 2:10? It says, “for we are His workmanship, created in Christ Jesus for good works, which God prepared beforehand that we should walk in them.” As a believer, we are to do the good things God determined for us to do. So then how about James 2:17 which says, “faith by itself, if it does not have works, is dead.”  Paul, James, and Peter are actually in complete agreement here. Good works, that is following the example of Jesus in loving God and others, does not save you, only God’s grace does that. But if you are saved there will be good works because the Spirit will lead you to do what is right. If you say you are saved and yet there is no evidence of that; you need to examine yourself with the Truth of Scripture. Friends, I’ve been in enough different churches to know that there are many people who go to church for years yet there is no evidence that they are truly saved, church attendance does not save you. If you are truly saved, you will either love and obey Him in what you think, say and do, OR God will be bringing His loving discipline upon you to correct you.  If you are not saved, you will be disobedient to Christ, living for yourself, and you won’t care, at least not until it’s too late.

Conclusion

The connection of election, sanctification, and obedience makes clear that salvation is not just an escape from the punishment of Hell; it is the present work of God within a believer to change us and mold us into the image of His Son Jesus Christ so that we live for Him now.  If, as a believer, we use our new liberties and freedoms live for ourselves, if we ignore God and our relationship with Him by neglecting our Bibles, choosing not to pray, refusing to share our faith, and failing to demonstrate love for others, then we will find ourselves being complainers, bitter, self-centered and uncaring about those around us. The temptation to fall into a self-centered routine is very prominent right now while we are all separated due to covid19. A video message is good, but without meaningful interaction with each other it is really easy for us to hide behind a façade. Many Christians in America were quite good at that façade when we could meet, let alone now, hiding behind a computer screen or cell phone.

In this letter from the Holy Spirit through Peter, those original recipients were told that they were strangers in a strange land. As believers in Jesus Christ we no longer belong here, our home is in Heaven. But, while we are still here, we have a serious job to do. Are you taking that job seriously?

I dare say that we could all use some improvement – including me. Folks, I don’t know what the rest of 2020 holds, but all this isolation should motivate us to do what we should have been doing all along, following God’s instruction to trust Him, love Him and love each other and be involved with each other in meaningful ways because that is God’s call for us all the time and certainly now in these troubling times.