WEBVTT 00:00:00.000 --> 00:00:03.480 1 Peter 1, verses 1-2 00:00:30.000 --> 00:00:41.780 The International Organization for Migration, the IOM, which tracks migrations of people throughout the world, 00:00:43.439 --> 00:00:51.480 says that more than a million Syrians, Afghans, Iraqis, and others have fled war and persecution in their homelands and migrated to Europe. 00:00:51.960 --> 00:00:55.079 In addition to these million refugees who made it to Europe, 00:00:55.079 --> 00:01:01.719 almost 4,000 migrants have died while trying to cross the Mediterranean in 2015 alone. 00:01:02.739 --> 00:01:10.259 Just last month, in April 2016, 400-500 refugees drowned in the sea as their ships sank. 00:01:11.120 --> 00:01:15.959 Unwanted in their homelands and unwanted in the foreign lands where they sought refuge, 00:01:16.379 --> 00:01:23.060 they relied on illegal smugglers to take them in secret, and their shoddy ship lost balance and tipped over. 00:01:23.060 --> 00:01:33.260 This sad picture of a ship full of refugees drowning at sea captures the plight that faces all aliens, strangers, and exiles. 00:01:34.000 --> 00:01:38.159 They are different. They are foreign. They do not belong. 00:01:39.840 --> 00:01:46.840 And this is precisely the situation that Peter's audience find themselves in. 00:01:46.840 --> 00:01:54.939 Peter himself would be martyred between 64 and 65 AD under Emperor Nero's persecution of Christians, 00:01:55.200 --> 00:01:58.040 and he is writing this letter shortly before his death, 00:01:58.400 --> 00:02:05.840 in order to comfort persecuted Gentile believers by reminding them of their present identity as God's holy people 00:02:05.840 --> 00:02:10.159 and exhorting them to set their hope on their future inheritance in Christ. 00:02:10.159 --> 00:02:16.319 We know that Peter is writing to Gentile believers because he writes in chapter 1, verse 18, 00:02:16.439 --> 00:02:21.359 of how they were ransomed from the futile ways inherited from their forefathers. 00:02:22.219 --> 00:02:26.319 And in chapter 2, verse 10, he says that they once were not a people. 00:02:26.819 --> 00:02:32.599 And in chapter 4, verse 3, that the time that is passed suffices for doing what the Gentiles want to do, 00:02:32.599 --> 00:02:38.359 living in sensuality, passions, drunkenness, orgies, drinking parties, and lawless idolatry. 00:02:39.599 --> 00:02:43.479 These Gentile believers had shunned their former ways of idolatry and immorality 00:02:43.479 --> 00:02:45.859 and converted with great hope and joy. 00:02:46.400 --> 00:02:49.259 But they were discouraged by the persecution they faced. 00:02:49.840 --> 00:02:52.900 They thought their living conditions would improve when they became Christians, 00:02:53.039 --> 00:02:54.280 but instead they got worse. 00:02:55.560 --> 00:02:58.939 So Peter has these people in mind as he writes his first epistle. 00:02:58.939 --> 00:03:03.840 So as we go through our first sermon series as a church in 1 Peter, 00:03:04.079 --> 00:03:07.280 I want to encourage you to keep this main purpose of Peter in view. 00:03:08.219 --> 00:03:09.979 And in this passage in particular, 00:03:10.500 --> 00:03:12.840 Peter comforts the Gentile believers throughout Asia Minor 00:03:12.840 --> 00:03:19.319 by reminding them that they are elect exiles who have received God's grace and peace. 00:03:20.000 --> 00:03:24.340 I'm going to preach this passage by following this simple outline. 00:03:24.800 --> 00:03:26.219 First, the exiles. 00:03:26.680 --> 00:03:28.379 Second, the elect. 00:03:28.379 --> 00:03:30.799 And third, grace and peace. 00:03:32.979 --> 00:03:34.319 First, the exiles. 00:03:34.500 --> 00:03:37.159 What does it mean that Christians are exiles in this world? 00:03:37.900 --> 00:03:40.620 The concept of exile is a recurring theme throughout the Bible 00:03:40.620 --> 00:03:43.280 because God's chosen people, Israel, 00:03:43.620 --> 00:03:46.180 were exiles and sojourners for much of their history. 00:03:47.139 --> 00:03:49.579 So Deuteronomy 10, 18-19 commands, 00:03:49.580 --> 00:04:11.320 Here, the command to care for sojourners and aliens is rooted in the fact that the people of Israel were themselves once sojourners and aliens. 00:04:11.319 --> 00:04:17.439 And even in the Old Testament, the exile refers to more than just a physical exile. 00:04:17.439 --> 00:04:23.800 After having entered the promised land and conquered Jerusalem and in the midst of making preparations for the temple of God, 00:04:23.959 --> 00:04:25.439 King David prays to God, 00:04:25.439 --> 00:04:31.160 We are strangers before you and sojourners as all our fathers were. 00:04:31.160 --> 00:04:35.680 Our days on the earth are like a shadow and there is no abiding. 00:04:36.000 --> 00:04:38.579 This is from 1 Chronicles 29-15. 00:04:38.579 --> 00:04:43.819 There is embedded in this prayer the idea that all God's people are exiles, 00:04:44.000 --> 00:04:46.079 no matter where and how they live, 00:04:46.479 --> 00:04:50.000 because they are sojourners on earth for a brief time. 00:04:50.279 --> 00:04:52.379 And this is not where they will abide. 00:04:53.339 --> 00:04:56.099 As Paul writes in Philippians 3-20, 00:04:56.299 --> 00:04:59.699 We are exiles on earth because our citizenship is in heaven. 00:05:00.560 --> 00:05:02.419 And as the author of Hebrews writes, 00:05:02.579 --> 00:05:05.620 Christians are strangers and exiles on earth. 00:05:05.740 --> 00:05:07.279 It's from chapter 11-13. 00:05:07.279 --> 00:05:12.659 So Peter is not speaking of a literal exile here, but a spiritual one. 00:05:13.279 --> 00:05:18.619 Believers long for their true home in the new world that is coming and for their end-time inheritance, 00:05:18.979 --> 00:05:23.059 for they do not conform to the values and worldviews of this present evil age. 00:05:23.899 --> 00:05:29.939 You see this also in Peter's reference to Babylon in chapter 5 verse 13. 00:05:30.559 --> 00:05:32.459 Babylon is a codename for Rome. 00:05:32.459 --> 00:05:39.799 In the Old Testament, mentions of Babylon are actual references to Babylon, the nation. 00:05:39.959 --> 00:05:44.519 But since the New Testament writers are removed from the great Babylonian empires, 00:05:44.659 --> 00:05:49.479 they use the name Babylon as a representation of the center of worldly influence, 00:05:49.839 --> 00:05:51.039 which in their day was Rome. 00:05:51.040 --> 00:05:53.800 For example, check Revelation 18. 00:05:54.700 --> 00:05:56.980 Peter himself is an exile in Rome. 00:05:57.100 --> 00:06:00.080 And he writes two exiles as an exile. 00:06:00.700 --> 00:06:04.300 And this status as exiles is fundamental to the identity of the Christian. 00:06:05.120 --> 00:06:08.140 That's why local churches are sometimes called parishes. 00:06:08.840 --> 00:06:13.900 Parish is a word that comes from a Greek word that means to sojourn or live as aliens. 00:06:13.899 --> 00:06:17.879 A church, then, is a group of sojourners and aliens. 00:06:18.579 --> 00:06:22.179 We, as a church, are defined as being exiles. 00:06:23.539 --> 00:06:26.500 This is why Peter warns in chapter 4 verse 12, 00:06:26.620 --> 00:06:31.060 Beloved, do not be surprised at the fiery trial when it comes upon you to test you, 00:06:31.319 --> 00:06:33.299 as though something strange were happening to you. 00:06:34.060 --> 00:06:37.560 It would be strange indeed if we faced fiery trials in our homeland. 00:06:37.560 --> 00:06:43.459 If we belonged here on earth, it would indeed be strange to face marginalization and persecution. 00:06:43.839 --> 00:06:45.519 But we do not belong here. 00:06:45.879 --> 00:06:46.639 We are strangers. 00:06:47.720 --> 00:06:49.560 And because we are strangers already, 00:06:49.720 --> 00:06:53.439 it is not at all strange that we are marginalized, alienated, and persecuted. 00:06:53.959 --> 00:06:56.040 We should not be surprised, then, 00:06:56.220 --> 00:07:00.699 when those who dismay us are elected as political leaders of our nation, 00:07:00.959 --> 00:07:05.100 and we are labeled political losers because we are exiles and this is not our home. 00:07:05.100 --> 00:07:07.360 We should not be surprised, then, 00:07:07.420 --> 00:07:11.080 when the celebrities of our culture flaunt vulgarity and promiscuity 00:07:11.080 --> 00:07:13.879 because we are exiles and this is not our home. 00:07:14.660 --> 00:07:16.480 We should not be surprised, then, 00:07:16.520 --> 00:07:18.480 that the way to get ahead in society, 00:07:18.540 --> 00:07:20.920 in this society, is not by being humble and selfless, 00:07:21.080 --> 00:07:23.220 but by being prideful and selfish. 00:07:23.980 --> 00:07:25.480 That's because we are exiles. 00:07:26.200 --> 00:07:28.000 This is not our home. 00:07:29.360 --> 00:07:31.980 But this reality of exile does not mean 00:07:31.980 --> 00:07:34.820 that we ought to withdraw and isolate ourselves from society. 00:07:35.100 --> 00:07:37.020 Peter continues in verse 1, 00:07:37.460 --> 00:07:41.400 To those who are elect exiles of the dispersion 00:07:41.400 --> 00:07:45.900 in Pontus, Galatia, Cappadocia, Asia, and Bithynia. 00:07:47.220 --> 00:07:51.420 Though we are aliens, we are resident aliens. 00:07:52.020 --> 00:07:54.800 Though we do not belong here, we do live here. 00:07:55.580 --> 00:08:00.040 So Peter's writing to believers who are dispersed throughout Pontus, Galatia, Cappadocia, 00:08:00.520 --> 00:08:01.640 Asia, and Bithynia, 00:08:01.639 --> 00:08:04.000 which are territories within the Roman Empire 00:08:04.000 --> 00:08:05.319 in what is modern-day Turkey. 00:08:06.300 --> 00:08:08.439 And we, Trinity Cambridge Church, 00:08:08.779 --> 00:08:12.659 are elect exiles of the dispersion in East Cambridge. 00:08:12.660 --> 00:08:19.140 Jesus' prayer for His disciples in John 17, 14-18 captures this truth. 00:08:19.139 --> 00:08:21.680 I have given them Your word, 00:08:21.680 --> 00:08:24.479 and the world has hated them because they are not of the world, 00:08:25.120 --> 00:08:26.479 just as I am not of the world. 00:08:27.719 --> 00:08:29.919 I do not ask that You take them out of the world, 00:08:30.199 --> 00:08:32.159 but that You keep them from the evil one. 00:08:32.840 --> 00:08:35.759 They are not of the world, just as I am not of the world. 00:08:36.539 --> 00:08:37.759 Sanctify them in the truth. 00:08:37.879 --> 00:08:38.860 Your word is truth, 00:08:39.179 --> 00:08:40.840 as You sent me into the world, 00:08:40.919 --> 00:08:43.240 so I have sent them into the world. 00:08:43.240 --> 00:08:47.580 We are not of this world, 00:08:47.580 --> 00:08:50.019 but yet we are sent into this world. 00:08:50.600 --> 00:08:54.440 That means we are not to form our own exclusive communities and industries 00:08:54.440 --> 00:08:56.779 at the expense of relationships with unbelievers. 00:08:56.779 --> 00:09:00.899 It is possible in the U.S. where there is an extensive Christian subculture 00:09:00.899 --> 00:09:02.779 to do only so-called Christian things, 00:09:02.879 --> 00:09:04.199 like reading Christian fiction, 00:09:04.399 --> 00:09:05.679 listening to Christian music, 00:09:05.759 --> 00:09:06.819 going to Christian schools, 00:09:06.959 --> 00:09:08.059 wearing Christian clothes, 00:09:08.360 --> 00:09:09.679 playing Christian video games, 00:09:09.779 --> 00:09:11.339 surfing on Christian GodTube, 00:09:11.740 --> 00:09:13.379 and hanging out with Christian friends. 00:09:13.740 --> 00:09:16.240 And none of these things are bad in and of themselves, 00:09:16.480 --> 00:09:20.639 but they can be if we do them as a way to exclude unbelievers 00:09:20.639 --> 00:09:22.439 and separate ourselves from them. 00:09:23.139 --> 00:09:26.339 Because our goal is not to remove ourselves from this world, 00:09:26.340 --> 00:09:27.940 but to redeem this world. 00:09:28.680 --> 00:09:32.280 Our goal is to be a city on a hill that is a model for the world to see, 00:09:32.720 --> 00:09:34.980 not a city on an island. 00:09:36.060 --> 00:09:39.160 We are called to be set apart, but not separated, 00:09:39.460 --> 00:09:41.860 to be distinct, but not distant. 00:09:42.860 --> 00:09:46.899 A Christian is by definition an exile and a stranger. 00:09:49.480 --> 00:09:53.080 But if our identity consisted only of being exiles here on earth, 00:09:53.120 --> 00:09:55.139 it would indeed be discouraging and depressing. 00:09:55.139 --> 00:09:57.319 Why must we live this way? 00:09:57.939 --> 00:09:59.240 Why must we suffer this way? 00:09:59.819 --> 00:10:03.559 Peter gives us hope by telling us that we are not merely exiles, 00:10:03.759 --> 00:10:06.759 but that we are elect as exiles. 00:10:06.860 --> 00:10:08.399 And this brings me to my second point. 00:10:08.539 --> 00:10:10.559 I'm going to talk about what it means to be the elect. 00:10:10.559 --> 00:10:15.519 Immediately after identifying himself in verse 1, 00:10:15.839 --> 00:10:17.639 Peter, an apostle of Jesus Christ, 00:10:17.799 --> 00:10:19.559 he identifies the recipients, 00:10:19.979 --> 00:10:21.819 to those who are elect. 00:10:22.739 --> 00:10:26.099 Our identity as God's elect is prior to 00:10:26.099 --> 00:10:29.939 and even more fundamental than our identity as exiles. 00:10:30.939 --> 00:10:35.239 That's the first thing he tells us about the believer's identity. 00:10:35.240 --> 00:10:39.659 Christians are elect, meaning that we are chosen by God. 00:10:39.919 --> 00:10:42.919 We did not choose him, but God chose us. 00:10:44.139 --> 00:10:47.120 Jesus says to his disciples in John 15, 16, 00:10:47.360 --> 00:10:49.700 You did not choose me, but I chose you. 00:10:50.480 --> 00:10:52.159 And 1 John 4, 19 says, 00:10:52.259 --> 00:10:54.680 We love because he first loved us. 00:10:54.679 --> 00:10:58.679 God's choosing us precedes our choosing him. 00:10:58.879 --> 00:11:01.819 God's love for us precedes our love for him. 00:11:02.579 --> 00:11:04.500 Yes, we must choose him and love him, 00:11:04.620 --> 00:11:08.219 but we can only do that because God first chose and loved us. 00:11:09.059 --> 00:11:11.199 It is very important that we get this order right 00:11:11.199 --> 00:11:15.139 because emphasizing our choice rather than God's choice 00:11:15.139 --> 00:11:18.859 gives more credit and brings more glory to us than to God. 00:11:20.919 --> 00:11:24.219 We see God's decisive action clearly in verse 2. 00:11:24.679 --> 00:11:30.299 We are elect exiles according to the foreknowledge of God the Father 00:11:30.299 --> 00:11:32.620 in the sanctification of the Spirit 00:11:32.620 --> 00:11:36.579 for obedience to Jesus Christ and for sprinkling with his blood. 00:11:38.079 --> 00:11:41.219 We see the redemptive activity of the triune God here. 00:11:42.039 --> 00:11:43.639 The Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit 00:11:43.639 --> 00:11:46.599 all working in concert to redeem his people. 00:11:47.519 --> 00:11:50.299 First, let us turn to the activity of the Father. 00:11:51.139 --> 00:11:54.500 It says that we are elect exiles according to the foreknowledge 00:11:54.500 --> 00:11:55.620 of God the Father. 00:11:56.580 --> 00:11:58.980 This doesn't mean that God knew beforehand 00:11:58.980 --> 00:12:01.000 who would choose him and believe him 00:12:01.000 --> 00:12:02.500 and then chose those people 00:12:02.500 --> 00:12:04.440 knowing that they will eventually choose him. 00:12:04.879 --> 00:12:07.279 See, this logic gets the truth exactly backwards. 00:12:08.000 --> 00:12:10.940 As we noted earlier, Jesus says in John 15, 16, 00:12:11.019 --> 00:12:13.720 You did not choose me, but I chose you. 00:12:14.519 --> 00:12:16.399 And 1 John 4, 19, remember it says, 00:12:16.399 --> 00:12:19.179 We love because he first loved us. 00:12:20.179 --> 00:12:24.079 You see, God's foreknowledge does not merely refer to prescience, 00:12:24.480 --> 00:12:27.959 but includes God's choice and determination. 00:12:29.740 --> 00:12:34.600 In Acts 2, 23, it's the only other place in the entire New Testament 00:12:34.600 --> 00:12:37.079 where the same noun foreknowledge is used. 00:12:37.080 --> 00:12:40.780 And there it says that Jesus was delivered up 00:12:40.780 --> 00:12:45.340 according to the definite plan and foreknowledge of God. 00:12:46.280 --> 00:12:50.020 God's foreknowledge is related to his definite plan. 00:12:50.680 --> 00:12:53.759 His foreknowledge is his foreordination. 00:12:55.139 --> 00:12:58.180 In other words, God's foreknowledge is not merely an awareness 00:12:58.180 --> 00:12:59.840 of what people will do. 00:13:00.120 --> 00:13:02.480 It is a covenantal acknowledgement. 00:13:02.480 --> 00:13:06.820 In Amos 3, verse 2, God says to Israel, 00:13:07.039 --> 00:13:11.300 You only have I known among all the families of the earth. 00:13:11.899 --> 00:13:13.300 This does not mean, of course, 00:13:13.399 --> 00:13:15.899 that God was only aware of the existence of Israel 00:13:15.899 --> 00:13:18.060 and ignorant of all the other people groups on earth. 00:13:18.820 --> 00:13:22.379 He knew Israel in a special covenantal way. 00:13:23.019 --> 00:13:24.060 Israel was his people. 00:13:25.259 --> 00:13:28.700 The same word for knowing is used to refer to conjugal relations 00:13:28.700 --> 00:13:30.420 in Genesis 4, verse 1. 00:13:30.419 --> 00:13:36.059 Adam knew Eve, his wife, and she conceived and bore Cain. 00:13:37.279 --> 00:13:40.120 You see, again, referring to a covenantal relationship 00:13:40.120 --> 00:13:41.539 between husband and wife. 00:13:43.000 --> 00:13:45.979 God's knowledge is not a mere awareness, 00:13:46.299 --> 00:13:48.379 but a covenantal acknowledgement. 00:13:49.639 --> 00:13:51.879 And Peter gives a clue to this understanding later 00:13:51.879 --> 00:13:54.759 in verse 20 of the same chapter, chapter 1, 00:13:54.759 --> 00:13:57.980 where he writes that even Christ was foreknown 00:13:57.980 --> 00:14:00.019 before the foundation of the world. 00:14:01.199 --> 00:14:03.679 Christ, as a member of the triune Godhead, 00:14:04.139 --> 00:14:06.179 was already in relationship with God the Father 00:14:06.179 --> 00:14:07.639 before the foundation of the world. 00:14:08.319 --> 00:14:10.519 And it's because Christ was already foreknown 00:14:10.519 --> 00:14:11.860 before the foundation of the world, 00:14:12.059 --> 00:14:13.559 it says in Ephesians 1, 4, 00:14:14.059 --> 00:14:16.479 that God the Father chose us in Christ 00:14:16.479 --> 00:14:18.879 before the foundation of the world. 00:14:19.559 --> 00:14:20.759 Before we were created, 00:14:21.360 --> 00:14:23.159 before we had done anything good or bad, 00:14:23.159 --> 00:14:26.600 God already knew us and chose us to be His. 00:14:27.819 --> 00:14:29.179 As it says in verse 3, 00:14:29.259 --> 00:14:32.179 the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, 00:14:32.519 --> 00:14:34.600 according to His great mercy, 00:14:34.799 --> 00:14:37.019 has caused us to be born again. 00:14:37.539 --> 00:14:39.639 We are born again into God's family 00:14:39.639 --> 00:14:41.939 so that God the Father is through Christ, 00:14:42.339 --> 00:14:43.079 our Father. 00:14:43.080 --> 00:14:49.340 How else did God make us elect exiles? 00:14:49.800 --> 00:14:51.780 Peter says that we are elect exiles 00:14:51.780 --> 00:14:54.080 in the sanctification of the Spirit. 00:14:54.080 --> 00:14:58.080 When we hear the word sanctification, 00:14:58.259 --> 00:15:00.100 we usually think of the work of the Holy Spirit 00:15:00.100 --> 00:15:03.100 in which He progressively sanctifies us 00:15:03.100 --> 00:15:04.360 to be more like Christ. 00:15:04.860 --> 00:15:07.200 That is what we call progressive sanctification. 00:15:07.860 --> 00:15:09.320 But what is in view in this verse 00:15:09.320 --> 00:15:10.820 is not progressive sanctification, 00:15:11.020 --> 00:15:12.540 but definitive sanctification, 00:15:12.740 --> 00:15:15.700 which is simultaneous with conversion and justification. 00:15:15.700 --> 00:15:19.360 That is an instantaneous act of the Holy Spirit 00:15:19.360 --> 00:15:21.920 that sets believers apart for God 00:15:21.920 --> 00:15:24.220 in such a way that even the vilest sinners 00:15:24.220 --> 00:15:25.220 who repent and believe 00:15:25.220 --> 00:15:27.020 can truly be considered saints. 00:15:27.600 --> 00:15:29.879 That is what this sanctification is referring to. 00:15:30.540 --> 00:15:32.940 You can see this in 1 Corinthians 6, 11 00:15:32.940 --> 00:15:34.860 where Paul tells the Corinthian believers, 00:15:35.400 --> 00:15:37.379 you are washed, you are sanctified, 00:15:37.580 --> 00:15:40.340 you are justified in the name of the Lord Jesus Christ 00:15:40.340 --> 00:15:41.840 and by the Spirit of our God. 00:15:43.259 --> 00:15:45.200 The sanctification in view here 00:15:45.200 --> 00:15:46.700 is something that has already happened 00:15:46.700 --> 00:15:48.100 in a definitive sense. 00:15:48.240 --> 00:15:50.960 It's what God did when we repented 00:15:50.960 --> 00:15:52.140 and believed in the gospel. 00:15:53.060 --> 00:15:54.420 The good news that Christ died 00:15:54.420 --> 00:15:56.780 and rose again to save us from sin and death. 00:15:58.540 --> 00:16:01.520 The Holy Spirit indwelled us and sanctified us 00:16:01.520 --> 00:16:03.080 and this definitive sanctification 00:16:03.080 --> 00:16:06.300 serves as the basis for our progressive sanctification. 00:16:07.960 --> 00:16:10.100 Because we are God's people, 00:16:10.940 --> 00:16:12.600 God's holy people, 00:16:12.600 --> 00:16:15.740 we increasingly reflect His holiness. 00:16:18.360 --> 00:16:20.840 The third prepositional clause says 00:16:20.840 --> 00:16:21.940 that we are elect exiles 00:16:21.940 --> 00:16:23.620 for obedience to Jesus Christ 00:16:23.620 --> 00:16:25.139 and for sprinkling with His blood. 00:16:26.240 --> 00:16:28.000 The obedience in view here also 00:16:28.000 --> 00:16:30.279 is not primarily the ongoing obedience 00:16:30.279 --> 00:16:32.399 of Christians as we seek to do God's will. 00:16:32.399 --> 00:16:38.019 The word obedience is actually not linked to Jesus Christ, 00:16:38.120 --> 00:16:40.159 only the sprinkling of blood is. 00:16:40.659 --> 00:16:41.779 So the King James Version, 00:16:41.899 --> 00:16:43.639 which is usually an inferior translation 00:16:43.639 --> 00:16:45.360 compared to the English Standard Version, 00:16:45.419 --> 00:16:46.480 actually gets this one right. 00:16:46.579 --> 00:16:46.959 It reads, 00:16:46.960 --> 00:16:57.740 So obedience is used absolutely 00:16:57.740 --> 00:17:00.379 to refer to the acceptance of the gospel. 00:17:00.980 --> 00:17:03.440 To attempt to link Jesus Christ 00:17:03.440 --> 00:17:04.900 both to obedience and blood 00:17:04.900 --> 00:17:05.860 would create difficulty 00:17:05.860 --> 00:17:07.340 by making it an objective genitive 00:17:07.340 --> 00:17:08.519 in relation to the first, 00:17:09.000 --> 00:17:10.180 obedience to Jesus Christ, 00:17:10.360 --> 00:17:12.480 and a possessive in relation to the second, 00:17:12.640 --> 00:17:13.519 Jesus Christ's blood. 00:17:13.519 --> 00:17:18.079 Rather, it refers to decisive initial obedience of faith, 00:17:18.200 --> 00:17:19.720 the acceptance of the gospel. 00:17:21.259 --> 00:17:23.259 Peter writes in chapter 1, verse 22, 00:17:23.379 --> 00:17:24.359 that Christians are those 00:17:24.359 --> 00:17:26.139 who have purified their souls 00:17:26.139 --> 00:17:28.119 by their obedience to the truth. 00:17:28.720 --> 00:17:31.339 A parallel verse in 2 Thessalonians 2, 13 00:17:31.339 --> 00:17:32.079 makes this clear. 00:17:32.519 --> 00:17:35.099 But we ought always to give thanks to God for you, 00:17:35.200 --> 00:17:36.619 brothers beloved by the Lord, 00:17:36.960 --> 00:17:39.980 because God chose you as the firstfruits to be saved 00:17:39.980 --> 00:17:42.339 through sanctification by the Spirit 00:17:42.339 --> 00:17:44.279 and belief in the truth. 00:17:45.160 --> 00:17:46.900 We're more familiar with the language 00:17:46.900 --> 00:17:48.079 of believing the truth, 00:17:48.240 --> 00:17:49.819 but the Bible often speaks also 00:17:49.819 --> 00:17:51.200 of obeying the truth. 00:17:51.700 --> 00:17:54.640 Paul similarly speaks of the obedience of faith 00:17:54.640 --> 00:17:58.339 among the Gentiles in Romans 1, 5 and 16, 26. 00:17:59.400 --> 00:18:00.799 So the second statement, 00:18:00.980 --> 00:18:02.599 and for sprinkling with his blood, 00:18:02.680 --> 00:18:03.680 also proves this point. 00:18:04.339 --> 00:18:05.900 The sprinkling with his blood 00:18:05.900 --> 00:18:08.460 alludes back to Israel's covenant with God 00:18:08.460 --> 00:18:10.440 after the Exodus on Mount Sinai, 00:18:11.059 --> 00:18:12.539 where Moses sprinkles the blood 00:18:12.539 --> 00:18:15.440 of the burnt offerings on the altar 00:18:15.440 --> 00:18:16.440 and then on the people, 00:18:16.720 --> 00:18:18.759 saying, this is the blood of the covenant, 00:18:18.940 --> 00:18:19.660 Exodus 24. 00:18:20.579 --> 00:18:22.140 So the sprinkling with his blood 00:18:22.140 --> 00:18:24.340 refers to Christ's atoning work on the cross, 00:18:24.420 --> 00:18:26.700 where all our sins were covered by his blood. 00:18:27.680 --> 00:18:30.079 It is important that we understand faith 00:18:30.079 --> 00:18:31.340 as an act of obedience 00:18:31.340 --> 00:18:32.940 because the two cannot be separated. 00:18:34.079 --> 00:18:35.200 Sometimes people say, 00:18:35.480 --> 00:18:36.120 if you have faith, 00:18:36.240 --> 00:18:37.059 if you believe in Jesus, 00:18:37.160 --> 00:18:37.900 then you are saved. 00:18:37.900 --> 00:18:39.980 Your obedience and good works do not matter. 00:18:40.860 --> 00:18:42.320 There are others who say, 00:18:42.680 --> 00:18:44.740 who think that you're saved by obedience 00:18:44.740 --> 00:18:45.680 and not by faith. 00:18:45.940 --> 00:18:47.600 They say it doesn't matter how much faith you have. 00:18:47.660 --> 00:18:48.720 If you disobey and sin, 00:18:48.759 --> 00:18:49.880 then you cannot be saved. 00:18:51.120 --> 00:18:55.420 Both of these get only partially at the whole truth 00:18:55.420 --> 00:18:57.840 because obedience is required, 00:18:58.200 --> 00:18:59.900 but all our obedience flows 00:18:59.900 --> 00:19:02.320 from the initial obedience of faith. 00:19:02.820 --> 00:19:04.700 If you are an unbeliever, 00:19:04.800 --> 00:19:05.759 this is a crucial point 00:19:05.759 --> 00:19:08.240 because no matter how moral your lifestyle is, 00:19:08.240 --> 00:19:10.720 no matter how many good deeds you perform, 00:19:11.220 --> 00:19:12.480 your lack of faith 00:19:12.480 --> 00:19:15.180 is a decisive act of disobedience 00:19:15.180 --> 00:19:16.480 that separates you from God. 00:19:17.180 --> 00:19:20.660 God created us to be His representatives on earth. 00:19:20.879 --> 00:19:23.140 But if we do everything that He wants us to do, 00:19:23.220 --> 00:19:24.859 without reference to Himself, 00:19:25.220 --> 00:19:27.099 we are not doing His will at all. 00:19:27.099 --> 00:19:31.019 Imagine an ambassador of the United States of America. 00:19:31.879 --> 00:19:34.359 Let's say that he is traveling with all the pomp and prestige 00:19:34.359 --> 00:19:35.799 that comes with being an ambassador 00:19:35.799 --> 00:19:37.559 of the most powerful country in the world. 00:19:38.099 --> 00:19:40.279 He exercises his power, 00:19:40.439 --> 00:19:42.119 confers with other heads of state, 00:19:42.119 --> 00:19:45.899 and makes decisions of national and international import. 00:19:47.000 --> 00:19:49.919 He somehow manages to get Iran and North Korea 00:19:49.919 --> 00:19:51.919 to dismantle their nuclear program. 00:19:52.119 --> 00:19:54.219 He talks to Vladimir Putin. 00:19:54.719 --> 00:19:57.199 He talks him out of his territorial ambitions 00:19:57.199 --> 00:19:58.419 in Ukraine and beyond. 00:19:58.899 --> 00:20:01.739 He does what the President of the United States wants. 00:20:02.559 --> 00:20:04.899 But what if this ambassador 00:20:04.899 --> 00:20:07.299 were not representing the United States of America, 00:20:07.639 --> 00:20:08.599 but only himself? 00:20:08.599 --> 00:20:11.359 Even though he is an ambassador of the United States, 00:20:11.439 --> 00:20:14.039 he acts for himself and speaks for himself, 00:20:14.279 --> 00:20:16.659 and therefore takes all the credit for himself, 00:20:16.819 --> 00:20:18.179 for all his accomplishments. 00:20:19.459 --> 00:20:21.659 This is a great offense to his country 00:20:21.659 --> 00:20:23.439 and a failure of his duty as an ambassador. 00:20:24.399 --> 00:20:26.379 He is exercising his authority 00:20:26.379 --> 00:20:28.399 without proper representation. 00:20:29.159 --> 00:20:31.219 He is not being a faithful ambassador. 00:20:32.279 --> 00:20:34.459 So it says in Hebrews 11.6, 00:20:34.459 --> 00:20:38.379 Without faith, it is impossible to please God. 00:20:39.599 --> 00:20:41.079 In a similar way, 00:20:41.519 --> 00:20:43.519 Christians whose faith is not evidenced 00:20:43.519 --> 00:20:45.039 in their ongoing obedience 00:20:45.039 --> 00:20:46.719 ought not to have false security. 00:20:47.419 --> 00:20:50.000 Because even though we are saved by grace through faith, 00:20:50.339 --> 00:20:54.019 true faith is always accompanied by ongoing obedience. 00:20:55.339 --> 00:20:58.619 Charles Blondin was a famous tightrope walker 00:20:58.619 --> 00:21:00.219 and acrobat in the 19th century. 00:21:01.000 --> 00:21:02.699 Large crowds used to watch him, 00:21:02.959 --> 00:21:05.699 particularly when he was crossing the Niagara Falls. 00:21:05.700 --> 00:21:07.980 There is a story of one time 00:21:07.980 --> 00:21:10.500 when a royal party came over from England to watch it, 00:21:10.720 --> 00:21:14.080 and the party included the Duke of Newcastle. 00:21:14.980 --> 00:21:16.460 And on this particular occasion, 00:21:16.880 --> 00:21:18.080 what Blondin did was, 00:21:18.279 --> 00:21:21.720 having walked across and back on the Niagara Falls, 00:21:21.799 --> 00:21:23.480 he then took a wheelbarrow 00:21:23.480 --> 00:21:26.160 and he wheeled that across and back on a tightrope. 00:21:26.660 --> 00:21:29.000 And there was a huge crowd there cheering for him. 00:21:29.000 --> 00:21:31.279 And so Blondin went up to the party, 00:21:31.380 --> 00:21:32.000 the royal party, 00:21:32.059 --> 00:21:32.420 and he said, 00:21:32.779 --> 00:21:35.039 Look, do you believe that I could put somebody 00:21:35.039 --> 00:21:36.759 in the wheelbarrow and wheel them across? 00:21:37.160 --> 00:21:38.279 And they all said yes. 00:21:38.680 --> 00:21:41.000 The Duke of Newcastle said yes, emphatically. 00:21:41.799 --> 00:21:42.440 So then, 00:21:42.740 --> 00:21:44.799 Blondin turned to the Duke of Newcastle and said, 00:21:45.079 --> 00:21:45.480 Hop in. 00:21:47.119 --> 00:21:48.339 Well, at that point, 00:21:48.400 --> 00:21:50.240 the Duke of Newcastle did not have enough faith. 00:21:50.740 --> 00:21:52.619 Because even though he said he believed 00:21:52.619 --> 00:21:53.660 that he could do it, 00:21:53.660 --> 00:21:56.620 he didn't believe enough to entrust his life 00:21:56.620 --> 00:21:57.920 to the tightrope walker. 00:21:59.279 --> 00:22:01.640 See, that's the kind of faith 00:22:01.640 --> 00:22:03.460 that is involved in being a Christian. 00:22:04.200 --> 00:22:06.920 True faith always leads to action. 00:22:07.460 --> 00:22:11.180 True faith involves an entrusting of your whole life. 00:22:11.519 --> 00:22:13.500 It always leads to obedience. 00:22:15.900 --> 00:22:18.560 So we are elect exiles, 00:22:18.960 --> 00:22:21.160 according to the foreknowledge of God the Father, 00:22:21.460 --> 00:22:23.060 in the sanctification of the Spirit, 00:22:23.059 --> 00:22:24.940 for obedience to Jesus Christ 00:22:24.940 --> 00:22:26.460 and for sprinkling with His blood. 00:22:27.359 --> 00:22:30.000 We are elect exiles by the Father's foreknowledge, 00:22:30.179 --> 00:22:31.460 the Spirit's sanctification, 00:22:31.700 --> 00:22:33.359 and Christ's atonement. 00:22:34.000 --> 00:22:35.759 The Father plans our redemption, 00:22:35.960 --> 00:22:37.799 the Son executes our redemption, 00:22:38.039 --> 00:22:40.359 and the Spirit manifests our redemption, 00:22:40.819 --> 00:22:43.779 and we respond with the obedience of faith. 00:22:46.000 --> 00:22:47.399 And it's important to note 00:22:47.399 --> 00:22:49.279 that we are not exiles in this world 00:22:49.279 --> 00:22:51.339 by virtue of our intrinsic strangeness, 00:22:51.339 --> 00:22:53.399 but we have been estranged from the world 00:22:53.399 --> 00:22:54.659 by virtue of our election. 00:22:55.319 --> 00:22:57.779 It's precisely because we are chosen by God 00:22:57.779 --> 00:22:59.720 that we are not strangers here on earth. 00:22:59.980 --> 00:23:01.859 We are not strangers by race, 00:23:02.000 --> 00:23:02.399 birth, 00:23:02.579 --> 00:23:02.959 custom, 00:23:03.059 --> 00:23:03.839 or circumstances, 00:23:04.059 --> 00:23:06.519 but by the election of the triune God. 00:23:06.519 --> 00:23:09.759 This should give us great hope 00:23:09.759 --> 00:23:11.619 because our strangeness here, 00:23:11.900 --> 00:23:13.339 our foreignness here, 00:23:13.339 --> 00:23:14.980 our alienness here, 00:23:15.119 --> 00:23:17.500 are all because we are no longer strangers 00:23:17.500 --> 00:23:18.639 in the kingdom of God, 00:23:18.740 --> 00:23:21.139 no longer foreigners in the kingdom of God, 00:23:21.200 --> 00:23:23.180 no longer aliens in the kingdom of God. 00:23:23.960 --> 00:23:27.059 And it is this reality that Peter reminds us of 00:23:27.059 --> 00:23:29.720 when he concludes his introduction with the greeting, 00:23:29.720 --> 00:23:33.680 may grace and peace be multiplied to you. 00:23:35.279 --> 00:23:38.860 The standard Greek greeting was greetings, 00:23:39.500 --> 00:23:41.460 as it says in James 1.1, 00:23:41.759 --> 00:23:44.980 a Greek term related to the word grace. 00:23:46.380 --> 00:23:48.819 Jewish people greeted one another 00:23:48.819 --> 00:23:50.480 with the greeting of peace, 00:23:50.900 --> 00:23:52.579 and the Jewish letters often began 00:23:52.579 --> 00:23:54.259 greetings and peace. 00:23:54.259 --> 00:23:58.059 But Paul adapts this standard greeting, 00:23:58.579 --> 00:23:59.259 a well-wishing, 00:23:59.440 --> 00:24:00.480 into a Christian prayer. 00:24:01.220 --> 00:24:03.960 Now greetings is now changed to grace. 00:24:05.839 --> 00:24:08.420 Ephesians 2.8 tells us, 00:24:08.759 --> 00:24:11.500 For by grace you have been saved through faith, 00:24:11.660 --> 00:24:13.259 and this is not your own doing, 00:24:13.339 --> 00:24:14.640 it is the gift of God. 00:24:17.059 --> 00:24:19.680 From this we can see that grace is a gift, 00:24:20.480 --> 00:24:22.480 and that it goes hand in hand with faith. 00:24:22.480 --> 00:24:26.079 It is a gift because we do not earn it. 00:24:26.400 --> 00:24:28.940 Nobody pays someone back after receiving a gift. 00:24:29.779 --> 00:24:32.720 It is related to faith because we receive grace 00:24:32.720 --> 00:24:35.059 through faith rather than through works. 00:24:35.960 --> 00:24:37.799 Faith itself is not work. 00:24:38.200 --> 00:24:39.640 When someone is stuck in a pit 00:24:39.640 --> 00:24:41.079 and unable to rescue himself, 00:24:41.220 --> 00:24:43.500 and someone else comes along and extends his hand out, 00:24:43.579 --> 00:24:43.799 saying, 00:24:43.960 --> 00:24:45.299 Grab my hand and I'll pull you up. 00:24:45.740 --> 00:24:46.799 Grabbing hold of the hand 00:24:46.799 --> 00:24:48.799 and depending on the other person to pull you up 00:24:48.799 --> 00:24:49.539 is not work. 00:24:50.099 --> 00:24:51.519 The person doesn't go around saying, 00:24:51.519 --> 00:24:52.740 Oh yes, I did my part 00:24:52.740 --> 00:24:54.099 and pulling myself out of the pit. 00:24:54.559 --> 00:24:57.379 No, he knows that he was rescued by somebody else 00:24:57.379 --> 00:24:59.139 when he was unable to rescue himself. 00:25:00.839 --> 00:25:02.519 So Ephesians 2.14-15 00:25:02.519 --> 00:25:04.879 speak of how Christ himself is our peace, 00:25:05.180 --> 00:25:06.460 who has made us both one 00:25:06.460 --> 00:25:08.839 and has broken down in his flesh 00:25:08.839 --> 00:25:10.579 the dividing wall of hostility 00:25:10.579 --> 00:25:13.079 by abolishing the law of commandments 00:25:13.079 --> 00:25:14.259 expressed in ordinances 00:25:14.259 --> 00:25:16.019 that he might create in himself 00:25:16.019 --> 00:25:17.859 one new man in place of the two. 00:25:18.000 --> 00:25:18.799 So making peace. 00:25:18.799 --> 00:25:23.339 Biblical peace is not just the absence of conflict, 00:25:23.659 --> 00:25:26.059 but echoes the Old Testament concept of shalom, 00:25:26.419 --> 00:25:28.579 where a person's life with God 00:25:28.579 --> 00:25:29.599 and with everything else 00:25:29.599 --> 00:25:31.059 is in ordered harmony, 00:25:31.319 --> 00:25:33.220 both physically and spiritually. 00:25:33.639 --> 00:25:35.440 It reflects a time when, 00:25:35.680 --> 00:25:36.559 both physically and spiritually, 00:25:36.819 --> 00:25:38.500 all is well. 00:25:38.500 --> 00:25:45.819 And this is how Peter ends the first part of the greeting, 00:25:45.920 --> 00:25:46.819 the beginning of his letter. 00:25:47.319 --> 00:25:50.900 He reminds believers of the grace that came to us 00:25:50.900 --> 00:25:53.119 and the peace now that we have with God 00:25:53.119 --> 00:25:55.140 and through him with one another. 00:25:55.140 --> 00:26:02.680 And that grounds and undergirds the fact 00:26:02.680 --> 00:26:05.400 that we are now elect exiles. 00:26:08.140 --> 00:26:09.280 So as believers, 00:26:09.680 --> 00:26:13.040 we are called to live as elect exiles 00:26:13.040 --> 00:26:16.380 who have received God's grace and peace. 00:26:17.060 --> 00:26:18.640 What a wonderful truth that is. 00:26:19.180 --> 00:26:20.060 Let's pray together. 00:26:20.059 --> 00:26:50.039 Let's pray together.