1Peter 1 CYoung 5.24.24

Peter is addressing a letter to Christians who are referred to as strangers and pilgrims in the world. He emphasizes that Christians should live holy lives and separate themselves from sinners. Peter explains that the elect are chosen by God when they obey the plan of salvation through the sacrifice of Jesus Christ. He clarifies that God's foreknowledge does not mean he controls the choices of individuals. Peter encourages Christians to make their calling and election sure by being diligent in their faith. So tonight, we continue to hang out with Peter for a little while over in 1 Peter 1, and we pick back up with verse 2, because we really started to break down the passages piece by piece. And here in 1 Peter 1, verse 1, we see that Peter, the apostle, is the writer of this letter, and he addresses this letter to saints, alright, but these saints he calls them strangers who have been scattered, alright, and we understand and see the areas that they were scattered through right there in verse 1, they were scattered, and he labels them as strangers because they are Christians who were living among people who did not share their conduct nor their citizenship in heaven, so therefore Christians are referred to in the Bible as strangers and pilgrims in the world, and as strangers and pilgrims, we ought to live holy lives separate from the world, separate from sinners, because we are part of a royal priesthood, a holy nation, which is what we will be getting off into later up in this epistle. And as we continue on to verse 2, it starts off by saying, 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, so yesterday we started to break down this elect according to the foreknowledge of God the Father, and so we had to understand their spiritual condition, alright, and they are the elect according to the foreknowledge of God the Father, so we see that the person's address have been chosen by God when they obeyed the system of salvation by grace through faith, now we had to also come to grips with on yesterday that God does not elect specific individuals and not choose other individuals, he hasn't said before the world began, well, Charles gonna be saved, Mike gonna be saved, and well, Jessica's not gonna be saved, no, even though he has foreknowledge, what God has chosen is the plan and not the man, but all who obey the plan that God has elected by means in which he will come into a covenant relationship with man, that is by the blood of Jesus Christ, all who accept Christ, they are the elect, God elects them. Thank you for using Global Telling. Okay, while we're waiting on Charles, why don't you just go ahead and read, just start with verse 1 and read until he gets back on. Okay, 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. Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, who according to his abundant mercy has begotten us again to a living hope, through the resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead, to an inheritance incorruptible and undefiled, and that does not fade away, reserved in heaven for you, who are kept by the power of God through faith for salvation, ready to be revealed in the last time. In this you greatly rejoice, though now for a little while, if need be, you have been grieved by various trials, but the genuineness of your faith, being much more precious than gold that perishes, though it is tested by fire, may be found to praise, honor, and glory at the revelation of Jesus Christ, whom having not seen you, though now you do not see him, yet believing, you rejoice with joy, inexpressible and full of glory, receiving the end of your faith, the salvation of your souls. Of this salvation the prophets have enclaved... Charles, you back on? Yes, sir. Thank you. So, we see here, as we start off in 1 Peter, and we're talking about this elect according to the foreknowledge of God the Father here in verse 2, and what God has elected is the plan for salvation, alright? So rather than choose specific individuals who alone can be saved, he elected Christ to bear the penalty for sin, is what I'm stating, alright? As God, he is sovereign, so he has a right to choose the means of salvation, and he predestined that forgiveness of sin would be by means of the sacrifice of Christ. So we understand, as we stated last night, that the gospel is then God's power to save, as we see, and God calls us through the gospel. Who does he call? Does he just call Charles, Mike, John, Mary? No, he calls all men and women through the gospel, alright? And that is, by obedience to the gospel, one would purify their souls and be added to God's family by the means that God has elected, alright? And so these specific individuals who Peter was writing to, these are those who have followed God's elected plan to come to God through the sacrifice of his son, and so when they obeyed God's plan, they became the elect, alright? So now we want to continue on and talk about that God's foreknowledge that is involved in salvation, and that's without caution, because Christ's death was not due to Satan's might, but it was by the determined counsel and foreknowledge of God, as we see stated in Acts chapter 2, verse 23, could somebody read that for us? Tim? In Acts, what chapter? Chapter 2, verse 23. Alright. Tim, being delivered by the determined purpose and foreknowledge of God, you have taken by lawless hands, have crucified and put to death. Alright, so we see the apostle Peter, he stands up and he preached the first gospel sermon to the Jews there on Pentecost Day, and he basically tells them that Christ was from God, and it was attested by the miracles and wonders and signs which Christ had done in their midst, and then in the next sentence, I mean in the same sentence, he called them murderers and told them that they had crucified the Lord, they were guilty of crucifying the Lord, but it was by God's foreknowledge that they crucified him. They could not have crucified him if it wasn't God's plan anyway. Alright, so God saw all this before one day of creation ever came to be, before mankind ever came to exist, that his son would be crucified, and he would allow this to take place to secure our redemption. And he elected a plan through that very purpose, that all who would come to him on that basis would be the elect, they would be sons and daughters of God. That is by means which we would have sins remitted. Okay, so God chose the plan, okay, by his foreknowledge, he chose the plan. So we see God the Father, God the Son, and God the Holy Spirit was involved in securing our redemption. Okay, so God had total foreknowledge, he still does have foreknowledge. Now, foreknowledge does not require that one control the choice of others, and this is how some would try to break this plan of predestination down to you, as if God chose the man and not the plan. But just because God has foreknowledge, he still does not leave us with free moral choice. For example, I'm going to give you all an example. On a limited basis, parents can know in advance what foods their children will eat, and they know this without controlling the child's actions. So in the same token, God can foreknow infinitely, and we see from the Bible that fulfilled prophecy is direct proof that he knows beforehand what is to occur. Let's look at Isaiah chapter 42, verse 9. Do you have your word? Okay, Isaiah 42, verse 9. Alright, so it was stated that the former things have come to pass, and new things do I declare. Before they spring forth, I tell you of them. So God has total foreknowledge. And that is what the prophets, when they spoke, they spoke the very words of God that was given to them by the Holy Spirit. And if you look in the Bible, you can see fulfilled prophecy everywhere, which shows us that God has total foreknowledge, and his foreknowledge is infinitely, abundantly, and beyond humans' foreknowledge of the example that I gave you about a parent and a child. But just because God has foreknowledge, he can know without forcing men to act as they do. So what I'm saying is God do not hold us like puppets, forcing our every action to be as he designs. Because if this was so, how could one explain why there's so much crime and immorality in the world? So what I'm stating is when God said before in the human race, long before actual existence, he foresaw that certain persons of their own choice were willingly submitting obedience to him. So individuals who are motivated by God's call of the gospel to obey him are the elect, having been redeemed through his elected plan. And these are the individuals that Peter, the apostle, addresses Jesse Pilcher to. They are the elect. They are those who have been redeemed through God's elected plan. They are the ones who yielded allegiance to Christ and God the father. They obeyed God's elected plan that everybody would be in Christ who would serve him. So it's just like you have the kingdom of God that's been established, and the elect is calling to the rest of the world, the lost, telling them, look, hey, over here, this is where all the saved are gathered. We're on the way to heaven. You need to come and be joined to God's people. You need to be washed in the blood of the lamb. You need to follow God's elected plan that was determined by his foreknowledge way before one day of creation ever came into existence. So let's read 2 Peter chapter 1, verse 10 and 11. Okay, 2 Peter chapter 1, verse 10. Wherefore, the brother brethren, give diligence to make your calling and election sure. For if ye do these things, ye shall never fall. For so an entrance shall be ministered unto you abundantly into the everlasting kingdom of our Lord and Savior, Jesus Christ. Amen. Amen. So we see that they are exhorted to be diligent, to make their calling and election sure. Now, these are Christians that Peter is addressing, the same ones referred to as strangers and pilgrims on the earth and aliens to this earth, those who do not fashion and mold their lifestyle after the fashion of the world, but they become renewed in their mind after that they have been washed in the blood of the lamb. Okay, and these are those who are the elect. God elected them when they obeyed the plan that he had elected before the world began. Now God has foreknowledge to know who will obey or not, but does he leave man without free moral choice? No, he don't. He still gives us a choice. Let's read Philippians chapter 2, verses 12 and 13. Okay. Okay. All right. So we see that individuals who are motivated by God's call of the gospel to obey him are the elect. They have been redeemed through his elected plan, and that's why over here in 1 Peter chapter 1, verse 2, Peter started by saying elect according to the foreknowledge of God the Father. They hadn't been elected before that they had a choice to obey the plan that was elected. They only became the elect because they obeyed God's elected plan to be his son, to have this covenant relationship with God the Father. Okay. And it goes on and it states in 1 Peter chapter 1, verse 2, it states through sanctification of the spirit, all right, unto obedience and sprinkling of the blood of Jesus Christ. So it states through sanctification of the spirit and belief of the truth. Basically, so the word sanctification means to be set apart or consecrated. Well, so what are these Christians set apart for? What are Christians today set apart for? To God's service. Okay. And it's by the eighth death of the Holy Spirit, God's word has been revealed. Let's read 2 Peter chapter 1, verse 21. Tim. All right. The prophecy never came by the will of man, but holy men of God spoke as they were moved by the Holy Spirit. All right. Okay. And since then we understand that God's word was given to holy men through the agency of the Holy Spirit, we know that these men, these are not their thoughts, but these words come directly from one mind, from God. That's why you see that even though several books of the Bible was written, years and years apart and from men of different backgrounds, kings, shepherds, warriors, and things of that nature, and they come from different walks of life, some of them probably never even met each other, but the Bible is in unity. It's in one word, which lets you know that the Bible comes from one mind, and that it's from the mind of God, because had it been from so many different minds of men, then the unity wouldn't be in agreement, and that these men never met or anything of that nature. And since this is the means through which one is called by God through his word, which is the gospel, let's read that in 2 Thessalonians chapter 2, verse 13 or 14. 2 Thessalonians 2, 13 and 14. So we see that God had chose them from the beginning, which states God had chose the plan. That's where he elected the plan, and then it states they were called by the gospel. So, who am I to go and tell a person, hey, God got a calling on your life. Like, you know, as if just like this person is someone special. No, God has a calling on the whole human race. And the way that he calls us is through the gospel of Jesus Christ. Okay? And since this is the means through which one is called by God, it can be said that one is sanctified or purified through the spirit when he believes and obeys the truth. Okay? Of God's word. Let's read 1 Peter chapter 1, verse 22. 1 Peter 1, verse 22. Amen. All right, so Peter tells these individuals that they have purified their souls in obeying the truth through the spirit. And what they obeyed is the word of God that was delivered by the Holy Spirit to holy men. And when they obeyed the word of God, their souls were purified. And why is that? Because they believed and obeyed the truth. They followed God's elected plan in which that he will redeem man from sin. Okay? And that's why it states unto obedience and sprinkling of blood of Jesus. Then 1 Peter chapter 1, verse 2, he stated that through sanctification of the spirit unto obedience and sprinkling of the blood of Jesus Christ. So this lets us know that obedience of faith is man's part in becoming a child of God. That's man's part. So you may say, well, what's God's part? God's part in this process is forgiveness of all sins based on the blood of Jesus. Amen. But obedience is man's part in becoming a child of God. Let's read Romans chapter 1, verse 5. Okay. Through him we have received grace and apostleship for obedience to the faith among all nations for his name. All right. So we see that they received grace and apostleship for obedience to the faith. All right. This is that faith that was once for all delivered, you know. And it states among all nations for his name. So we understand that obedience of faith is man's part in becoming a child of God. Let's read Romans 6, verses 17 and 18. Tim. For God bethanked that though you were slaves of sin, yet you obeyed from the heart that form of doctrine in which you were delivered. And having been set free from sin, you became slaves of righteousness. So these Christians that Paul was right, he told them that though you were the slaves of sin, the same is said. Though you were walking in darkness, now you are walking in light. Well, how did they go from darkness to light? Because they obeyed that form of teaching that was delivered unto them. And like Mike stated on the other night, if you go back up to verse 1 of Romans chapter 6, you can see that form. You have one minute remaining. You can follow that pattern of teaching that was delivered unto them if you read verse 1 through 18 in that context of Romans chapter 6. They followed righteousness. God's means of how that he could declare one righteous. Let's read Romans chapter 16, verse 26. Jimmy Woods. Romans 16, 26. But now it is manifested, and by the scriptures of the prophets, according to the commandment of the eternal God, has been made known to all nations, even to the Jews of this day. So it has been made known unto all nations for the obedience of faith. The obedience of faith is man's part in becoming a child of God. We have to do something. We have to obey. We have to choose to submit to God's elected plan, to be in Christ. Thank you for using Global Telling. And we'll go back to 1 Peter 1, verse 9. John, tell me when Charles gets on. 1 Peter 1, verse 10. Beginning, of which salvation the prophets have inquired and searched diligently to prophesy of the grace that should come unto you. Searching what, or what manner of time the Spirit of Christ which was in them did signify, when it testified beforehand the sufferings of Christ and the glory that should follow. Unto whom it was revealed, that not unto themselves, but unto us who did minister the things which are now recorded unto you by them that have preached the gospel unto you with the Holy Ghost sent down from heaven, which things the angels desire to look into. Wherefore, Lord of the loins of your mind, be sober and hope to the end for the grace that is to be brought unto you at the revelation of Jesus Christ. Amen. Charles, you're on. Yes, sir. Thank you. So we see obedience of faith is man's part in becoming a child of God. And that's why Peter stated in verse 2 in 1 Peter, he said, unto obedience and sprinkling of the blood of Jesus. Let's read 1 Peter 1, verse 14. Alright, so we see that God has elected the plan and not the man. One becomes the elect of God when we choose to follow His elected plan. Okay, when we submit to God in obedience, okay, of faith so that we can become a child of God. So everybody like to say we all are God's children. No, no, everybody's not God's child. God's children are those who do the works of God. And so forth, so forth for the children of the devil. We are the ones who do His work. So in order to become a child of God, we have to submit to God in obedience. Amen. Yeah, God created man. We are His creation. But by what we practice, it determines, it is manifest who is sons of God and who is sons of the devil. It's what 1 John tells us. So we understand that man has a choice. God does not choose specific individuals who will be His. He gave us the plan and man have a choice to obey by obedience of faith to become a child of God or to disobey. Now God's part in this process is forgiveness of all sins based on the blood of Jesus. Let's read 1 Peter 1, verses 18 and 19. Tim? Tim, you there? I was reading to myself. Okay. All right. So we see here that we're God's part in the process. You know, it's forgiveness of all sins based on the blood of Jesus. So we see God the Father's role, God the Son's role, and the Holy Spirit's role in our redemption. So what's man's role in all of this? Is it that God just choose whether or not who will be saved? And if that was the case, then how could He hold anyone accountable for not obeying the gospel? No. Man have a moral choice. Adam and Eve in the beginning in the garden, they had moral choice. They had a choice to obey or disobey. Even though God already had foreknowledge that they were disobeying, He still did not leave them without choice. And with their choices was consequences, whether they obey or disobey. And with their disobedience, it came consequences. And so it's the same today. God has elected the plan and not the man, and He has left us not without free moral choice to be a part of His family or not, to live as strangers or pilgrims on this earth or not. And if we disobey and refuse and reject His offer of salvation through this plan that He has elected, then there will be consequences and judgment. Amen. Okay? So as we continue on in 1 Peter 1 verse 2, He stated, Until obedience and sprinkling of the blood of Jesus Christ. All right? Now, so this is in a figurative way our hearts are sprinkled from an evil conscience by Christ's blood. Let's read Hebrews 10 verse 22. Hebrews 10 verse 22. All right. So it should be emphasized, however, that both Peter and the writer of Hebrews right there connects obedience. I want y'all to pay attention to this. They connect obedience to the time this blood of Jesus purifies. So if one says, oh, you don't have to come in contact with the blood of Christ, you don't have to be united with Christ and His death, burial, and resurrection to be saved, then you are not following the elected plan that God has elected. Okay? You ain't obeying. This is not obedience of faith. You're not doing your part as mankind to come into God's family because Peter and the writer of Hebrews connects obedience to the time this blood of Jesus purifies. So the Hebrew writer connects this sprinkling to the time when our bodies are washed with pure water, as we see there in Hebrews 10 verse 22. So what you're saying, Charles, basically what I'm saying is that when, as an act of faith, one is baptized, he is buried into the death of Christ, as we see in Romans chapter 6 verses 3 through 5. Let's read there. Romans 6, beginning at verse 3. In James version. Amen. So we see there that when, as an act of faith, one is baptized, he is buried into the death of Christ, as Romans chapter 6 verses 3 through 5 just stated. So therefore baptism now saves us. That's why Peter quoted this in 1 Peter chapter 3 verse 21. Because it's the means by which Christ's blood washes away all sins. Let's read 1 Peter chapter 3 verse 21. All right. So baptism saves us. If I got on the phone and talked to him, well, you don't have to be baptized, then I would be lying. Because we see clearly from the Scriptures that it is in this time that you commit an act of faith by being buried with Christ into baptism. And this is when you come in contact with the death, the burial, and the resurrection of Christ. You come in contact with the blood of Christ that remits your sins. Let's read Acts chapter 22 verse 16. Tim? Tim, you've got to take your mute off. Got to take my mute off? Oh, we've got a plan. Okay. 22, 16. And now while you're waiting, arise and be baptized and wash away your sins, calling on the name of the Lord. I was told to the apostle Paul, while you're waiting on, arise and be baptized. But notice that the removal of sin don't come until baptism. Arise and be baptized and wash away your sins, calling on the name of the Lord. And that calling on the name of the Lord is the same as saying by the Lord's authority. So Jesus taught that the removal of sin will come in baptism. It's the way that your sins will be remitted. He had authority to give his teaching. And we see the pattern being obeyed in the book of Acts. Let's read Romans chapter 1 verse 5. I'm sorry, I'm sorry, y'all. Revelations chapter 1 verse 5. David, go ahead. Okay. Revelation 1 verse 5. And from Jesus Christ, faithful witness, the firstborn of the dead, and the ruler of the kings of the earth, to him who loved us and released us from our sins by his blood. All right. So this plan is stated that Jesus loved us. He presented the atoning sacrifice for our sins. And the removal of all sins comes by being washed in his blood. All right. We have to be obedient. And we have to be baptized. All right. We have to be sprinkled from an evil conscience. By what? His blood. We have to have our bodies washed with pure water. Okay. Now as we continue in bringing 1 Peter chapter 1 verse 2 to a close, it ends with grace unto you and peace be multiplied. Okay. So we see this as a typical greeting. And it states grace unto you and peace be multiplied. This is a typical greeting of the apostles of the New Testament, and it has significant meaning, which means to be God's grace, meant to wish the kindness and mercy of God would be upon them, and having God's peace, would wish the tranquility of soul and assurance that one is saved, even in the midst of persecution or afflictions brought on by opposition of others. And why is this important to know? Because we need to know the theme and date of this epistle. The theme, we see that a key word of this letter that we're going to be getting off into is hope. Okay. And I love John so much for giving me that teaching, some pretty good teaching. But hope, to understand the hope of the Christian. It's not the hope of the world that I'm talking about, no. It's not that I hope I graduate this year with honors. I hope that my child decides to go to college. I hope that I don't forget my car keys. No, no, no. This is not that type of hope that is the theme of this letter. It is our living hope of an eternal inheritance, which enables a Christian to patiently suffer for Christ and to do so with rejoicing. And that is why Peter stated what he stated in 1 Peter 1, verses 3 through 9. And I'm going to read back over it. It states, To an inheritance incorruptible. So this hope is based on an inheritance that is incorruptible and what else? Undefiled and what else? And that faded right away. Where is this hope? It's reserved in heaven for you. Who are kept by the power of God. So Christians are kept by the power of God through faith. So you mean to tell me if I don't continue to follow God by faith and obedience, I tear down his fortress of protection? That's exactly what I'm telling you. So we are kept by the power of God through faith unto salvation, ready to be revealed in the last time. Wherein he greatly rejoiced. So he's telling them even though you are in manifest trials and temptations, and it's going to get real severe because if you date this letter, it was wrote in between 64 and 65 A.D. right before the coming destruction of Jerusalem and their whole Mosaic system. Okay? So even though they were going through persecutions as Christians for following Christ and pledging allegiance to a heavenly king, they were fit to even go up even more severe trials because God would use the Romans to bring upon his will on the Jews to shut down Jerusalem and their whole Mosaic system of the sacrifices and that old covenant. Okay? So Peter tells them wherein he greatly rejoiced, though now for a season if need be you are in heaven. It's through manifold temptations that the trial of your faith being much more precious than of gold that perishes, though it be tried with fire it might be found unto praise and honor and glory at the appearing of Jesus Christ. So how can their faith be found with praise and honor? And he's stating that they're going through persecutions and trials and it's going to get even more severe. Why? How can they persevere? Because of this hope that Peter told them that they have, which is an inheritance laid up in heaven. Their faith is not a waste and that it's undefiled and that it's reserved in heaven for Christians who abide in hope. Okay? And then it goes on and states, whom having not seen you love. So even though they had not seen Christ, so we understand that their love for Christ is not based on fleshly lust. They haven't even seen him. And whom though now ye see him not yet believing, so they did this by faith. They follow God by faith and obedience, though they see him not yet believing. Jesus say blessed are they who do not see but yet they believe. Blessed are those who have not seen but yet they believe. Okay? And he stated that ye rejoice with joy unspeakable and full of glory, receiving the end of your faith, even the salvation of your souls. Of which salvation the prophets have inquired and searched diligently, who prophesied of the grace that shall come unto you. So even though the prophets had prophesied and they was led by the Holy Spirit of God and they spoke the very words of God, we know that this wasn't their words because they even inquired and searched diligently, you know, about what or what amount of time the Spirit of Christ, which was in them did signify when it testified beforehand. So they was testifying by God's foreknowledge. What was they testifying? When it testified beforehand the suffering of Christ and the glory that shall follow. So even though the prophets was prophesying about the suffering and the glory of Christ, they didn't even understand when or what time or how God was going to bring this about. This was all spoken by God's determined foreknowledge, which was given to them by the agency of the Holy Spirit. So we see the work of the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit in our redemption. And we see the work of mankind. It is to be obedient to the plan that God has elected. So Peter starts his epistle out with a bang. He drops the bombshell just in the first two verses, as we see. And so tomorrow we will pick up at 1 Peter 1, verses 3, and we will continue on through verse 12. And what we'll be talking about is how the Christians have a living hope and that the object of hope is the eternal inheritance received in heaven. Amen. So what we have seen is that Peter has established in the opening words that salvation is made possible by the combined work of Father, Son, and Holy Spirit. And then tomorrow we're going to see how now that as we go on to verse 3 that Peter now introduces the keynote to this epistle, which is lively hope because this hope is living. It is real. It is active. This hope looks forward to a future inheritance that had been predicted in the past and in the present it gives us courage to persevere. You have one minute remaining. And the reason for hope is the result of having been begotten by the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ through obedience and sprinkling the blood of Jesus Christ. And the source of our hope is based on the resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead. So what I'm telling y'all people is that had he not been raised, we would yet be in our sins. Amen. The object of our hope is the inheritance reserved in heaven. And this inheritance is incorruptible. Amen. Amen. Amen. Amen. Amen. Thank you, Charles. Thank you, Brother Charles. Glory to God.