“…chosen according…by the sanctifying … to obey Jesus Christ
and be sprinkled with His blood: May grace and peace be yours in the fullest
measure.” (1 Peter 1:2c, NASB95)
Coming to the end of verse 2 we find the third person of the
Trinity, and that is the Son, Jesus Christ. Believers are chosen according to
the infinitely complete knowledge of God the Father from before creation just
as He intends or ordains. Our eyes are opened to Him by His Spirit and we are
indwelt, enabled, and grown by the same Spirit who seals us until we enter His
presence forever. Then, in these concluding words of verse two we see both the
work of the Son who brought us back into a relationship with God and His promise
to preserve us.
We read that we are to obey Jesus Christ and be sprinkled
with His blood. The obvious implication here is that Peter’s audience is those
who are the elect or called out ones who have believed and trusted in Christ
for their salvation. Being in that position, this verse is a reminder of the
secure state in which we rest and the response which we are to make. Peter
reminds his readers that they are to obey Jesus Christ, who Himself was
obedient to the Father to the point of death, even death on a cross
(Philippians 2:8).
“For we are His workmanship, created in Christ Jesus for
good works, which God prepared beforehand so that we would walk in them.”
(Ephesians 2:10, NASB95) Paul adds in Ephesians that these works are in
accordance with the will of the Father. He has an intent, and His intent is
being carried out through us obeying. In 1 Thessalonians chapter 1 Paul
commends his readers, reminding them of the power by which they were saved and
of their Lord who they imitate. He wrote of them being an example to other
believers as they saw the faith demonstrated by the way they lived growing from
the hope they had.
"(4) knowing, brethren beloved by God, His choice of
you; (5) for our gospel did not come to you in word only, but also in power and
in the Holy Spirit and with full conviction; just as you know what kind of men
we proved to be among you for your sake. (6) You also became imitators of us
and of the Lord, having received the word in much tribulation with the joy of
the Holy Spirit, (7) so that you became an example to all the believers in
Macedonia and in Achaia. (8) For the word of the Lord has sounded forth from
you, not only in Macedonia and Achaia, but also in every place your faith
toward God has gone forth, so that we have no need to say anything. (9) For
they themselves report about us what kind of a reception we had with you, and
how you turned to God from idols to serve a living and true God, (10) and to
wait for His Son from heaven, whom He raised from the dead, that is Jesus, who
rescues us from the wrath to come.” (1 Thessalonians 1:4–10, NASB95)
It doesn’t take much of a read of Scripture to find that we
are to obey God. This was His intent from the beginning even when He gave
instructions to Adam in the garden. God continually spoke to and directed His people as we see
demonstrated in the commandments He gave through Moses. Through Moses He spoke
to His people Israel and gave them a promise which was conditioned on their
obedience. ““Behold, I am going to send an angel before you to guard you along
the way and to bring you into the place which I have prepared. “Be on your
guard before him and obey his voice; do not be rebellious toward him, for he
will not pardon your transgression, since My name is in him. “But if you truly
obey his voice and do all that I say, then I will be an enemy to your enemies
and an adversary to your adversaries.”” (Exodus 23:20–22, NASB95) God promised
to clear a land for them as His people, but He expected them to do just as He
was instructing them.
Then in the next chapter we read, "(3) Then Moses came
and recounted to the people all the words of the LORD and all the ordinances;
and all the people answered with one voice and said, “All the words which the
LORD has spoken we will do!” (4) Moses wrote down all the words of the LORD.
Then he arose early in the morning, and built an altar at the foot of the
mountain with twelve pillars for the twelve tribes of Israel. (5) He sent young
men of the sons of Israel, and they offered burnt offerings and sacrificed
young bulls as peace offerings to the LORD. (6) Moses took half of the blood
and put it in basins, and the other half of the blood he sprinkled on the
altar. (7) Then he took the book of the covenant and read it in the hearing of
the people; and they said, “All that the LORD has spoken we will do, and we
will be obedient!” (8) So Moses took the blood and sprinkled it on the people,
and said, “Behold the blood of the covenant, which the LORD has made with you
in accordance with all these words.”” (Exodus 24:3–8, NASB95)
God had made a promise and He sealed it with the blood of
animals. The people would inherit the promise if they obeyed the ordinances of
God. The people responded in unison saying, “All the words which the LORD has
spoken we will do!” And then they had half of the blood of an offering
sprinkled on the altar and the other on them with the words, “Behold the blood
of the covenant, which the LORD has made with you in accordance with all these
words.”
Speaking of this first covenant, in Hebrews we read,
"(18) Therefore even the first covenant was not inaugurated without blood.
(19) For when every commandment had been spoken by Moses to all the people
according to the Law, he took the blood of the calves and the goats, with water
and scarlet wool and hyssop, and sprinkled both the book itself and all the
people, (20) saying, “This is the blood
of the covenant which God commanded you.” (21) And in the same way he
sprinkled both the tabernacle and all the vessels of the ministry with the
blood. (22) And according to the Law, one may almost say, all things are
cleansed with blood, and without shedding of blood there is no forgiveness.”
(Hebrews 9:18–22, NASB95) This was how the people came before God before Christ
to confess their sin and seek His forgiveness. But we know that this sacrifice
and the accompanying sprinkling was not perfect, but pointed to the Perfect One
who would come and make the once and forever sacrifice for sin.
This is what we read earlier in Hebrews chapter 9. "(11)
But when Christ appeared as a high priest of the good things to come, He
entered through the greater and more perfect tabernacle, not made with hands,
that is to say, not of this creation; (12) and not through the blood of goats
and calves, but through His own blood, He entered the holy place once for all,
having obtained eternal redemption. (13) For if the blood of goats and bulls
and the ashes of a heifer sprinkling those who have been defiled sanctify for
the cleansing of the flesh, (14) how much more will the blood of Christ, who
through the eternal Spirit offered Himself without blemish to God, cleanse your
conscience from dead works to serve the living God? (15) For this reason He is
the mediator of a new covenant, so that, since a death has taken place for the
redemption of the transgressions that were committed under the first covenant,
those who have been called may receive the promise of the eternal inheritance.”
(Hebrews 9:11–15, NASB95) "… (26) But as it is, He has appeared once for
all at the end of the ages to put away sin by the sacrifice of Himself.”
(Hebrews 9:26, ESV)
The Jews of Peter’s audience would have known the
significance of the sprinkling of blood, but the truth of that sprinkling was
not limited to them. It applied to all who are saved. Unlike the animals who
were brought unwittingly to be sacrificed, the Son of God with full knowledge
gave Himself for us, shedding His blood to cover our sins and to being full and
permanent forgiveness and life. We are not sealed by the blood of an animal,
but by the blood of the Son of God. What man could offer back in the way of
animal sacrifice pointed to what God did for us perfectly. We have been forever
cleansed and called to obedience in response. It is not the other way around.
There is nothing we could have ever done to earn God’s forgiveness. It is a
gift to us from Him at a very high cost. But the great news is that as our high
priest Jesus also lives and sits at the right hand of the Father as the head of
His church providing direction for our lives and interceding on our behalf. This
is the promise of God, and He will not break it.
Establishing the foundation of these truths, Peter went on
to say, “May grace and peace be multiplied to you.” (1 Peter 1:2d, ESV) Peter
began both of his letters with these words, “may grace and peace be
multiplied….” The 1995 New American Standard translation quoted at the
beginning of the post doesn’t read the same, as it rewords the original Greek
while preserving its meaning. Most modern translations, such as the English
Standard Version, the New King James (and old), and the older New American
Standard treat both 1 and 2 Peter 1:2 the same when it comes to these words. Grace
and peace were a common salutation. We see the apostle Paul use this as well,
where he frequently would have near the beginning of his letters “grace to you
and peace from….” The idea is that they would experience the fullness of God’s
grace extended to them and that they might be able to walk at peace with the
peace that they received from God the Father and His Son, Jesus Christ. “to all
who are beloved of God in Rome, called as saints: Grace to you and peace from
God our Father and the Lord Jesus Christ.” (Romans 1:7, NASB95) Intricately
linked together is the gift and the result of living in the assurance of that
gift. The two are inseparable, and they are each founded in the truth that God
has chosen us according to His perfect eternal plan through the power of the
Spirit by the work of His Son.
Grace is a gift, and living according to that grace brings
peace.
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