For this series on 1 Peter, I am reading from the English Standard Version, which came out late last year. I was using the New King James, not because I loved it, or agreed with its text, but because I could not find a better translation. [Explain textual traditions.]

I have not worked through the English Standard Version long enough to give a full appraisal, but for the text of 1 Peter, it is a very good translation. It is the first translation I have found that translates the first verse right, and if you miss this, you will miss a significant piece of what Peter is saying.

The King James says: "Peter, an apostle of Jesus Christ, to the sojourners scattered throughout Pontus, etc., Elect according to the foreknowledge of God the Father..." The New King James says: "To the pilgrims of the dispersion in Pontus, etc., elect according to the foreknowledge of God the Father." These make it sound like Peter is saying that their status as pilgrims or sojourners is more or less incidental, but that their election is the focus of God's foreknowledge.

The Revised Standard Version says: "To the exiles of the Dispersion in Pontus, etc., chosen and destined by God the Father." The New American Standards says: "To those who reside as aliens, scattered throughout Pontus, etc., who are chosen according to the foreknowledge of God the Father." These two translations use the word "chosen," rather than "elect" -but they still make it sound like Peter is saying that their status as exiles or aliens is separate from their status as the chosen of God.

Until the ESV, the New International Version was actually the best: "To God's elect, strangers in the world, scattered throughout Pontus, etc., who have been chosen according to the foreknowledge of God the Father." The NIV used both "elect" and "chosen," suggesting that God's elect are in fact strangers in the world. But this translation is too wordy and still doesn't clearly state what Peter is trying to get across.

The English Standard Version says: "To those who are elect exiles of the dispersion in Pontus, etc., according to the foreknowledge of God the Father."

Every previous translation has separated the idea of election from the idea of exile. All previous translations give you the sense that you are elect in spite of the fact that you are an exile--or a sojourner--or a stranger. They suggest that your sojourning or exile is something incidental to your election. The key point is that you are elect, and for now you are also an exile or sojourner. But that is not what Peter is saying. And it's not a question of the Greek being complicated. Peter is saying that it is precisely in your exile that you are elect. Your election and your exile--your sojourning--are bound up together. In other words, it is of the very character of the elect that they are exiles or sojourners.

Peter is going to talk these elect exiles about suffering, about persecution, about what it means to live the Christian life in the context of suffering.

Why does Peter write this letter? And why does address his readers as the elect exiles?

The fact that he refers to them as elect exiles of the dispersion, suggests that he is writing to Jewish Christians. In fact, it would be easy to read "elect exiles of the dispersion" as meaning simply "Jewish Christians." They are elect, they are sojourners in a foreign land, and they are dispersed Jews. But in the context of the whole epistle, we must see that Peter is making a more specific reference. The dispersion referred to those Jews who lived outside of Palestine. Since God had promised the land of Palestine to Israel, any Jew who lived outside of Palestine was considered an exile. They were dispersed abroad, and were waiting to be restored to the Land through the work of the Messiah.

But that's where the problem starts for Peter's readers. Messiah has come. He has accomplished his work. And yet, we are still in exile. We have not been restored to the Land. This was NOT supposed to happen! The prophets had said that when Messiah came, the kingdom of God would be established, and the age of blessing and life would begin. How come we are still being persecuted? Why are we still suffering? Election and Exile don't fit together! If we are the chosen people of God, AND Messiah has come, THEN we should NOT be in Exile any more!

But Peter gently reminds them of who they are in Christ. They are elect exiles according to the foreknowledge of God the Father. They are elect exiles in the sanctification of the Spirit. And they are elect exiles for obedience to Jesus Christ and for sprinkling with his blood.

In other words, the triune God has chosen you to be an exile The Father knew you from the beginning, the Spirit has sanctified you to this end, and Jesus Christ is sprinkling you with his blood. We saw in Exodus 24, that the ratification of the covenant occurred through the sprinkling of the blood of the covenant on the people of God. The consecration of the priests and of the tabernacle involved the sprinkling of blood. Even so, your sanctification by the Holy Spirit, your preparation for obedient service to Christ, involves the sprinkling of the blood of the sacrifice. In chapter 2, Peter will go on to speak of how we are a royal priesthood (2:9), and a spiritual house (2:5).

Because what it means to be an exile has changed. For the Jews, to live outside of the Promised Land--Palestine--was to be in exile. But for Peter, we have a new homeland. We have a new inheritance.

Read 1:3-5 In the Old Testament, the inheritance was seen as the Promised Land. From the beginning there were hints that the inheritance would include the whole earth, but the focus of the Promise was centered on the land of Canaan. But now Peter says that we have "an inheritance that is imperishable, undefiled, and unfading, kept in heaven for you." This is our true homeland. And the fact that we do not presently live there means that we are in exile.

But the very character of our exile has changed. Jeremiah wrote to the exiles in Babylon, encouraging them to be patient in their exile because it would be 70 years until the restoration. Therefore they were to "seek the welfare of the city where I have sent you into exile." The exile of Jeremiah's day was due to the sin of Israel. Their restoration would only come after they returned to the Lord, and turned away from the sins of their fathers. Is this the sort of exile that we face? No! Peter describes the character of our exile in v3-5 Yes, we are awaiting the salvation ready to be revealed in the last time, but we no longer await as sorrowing exiles; we wait as those who have received the new birth, but are still sojourning in a foreign land.

This is why Peter speaks of salvation as a future thing: "Who by God's power are being guarded through faith for a salvation ready to be revealed in the last time."

Does this sound strange? I suspect that most of us are used to talking about the new birth and salvation as though they are the same thing. Why does Peter distinguish between them? It goes back to his concept of elect exiles. We are chosen by God in the sanctification of the Spirit and for the obedience and sprinkling of the blood of Jesus Christ. But we are still exiles in need of deliverance. We have been born again to a living hope through the resurrection of Jesus Christ. But we still await the salvation ready to be revealed in the last time. In other words, Jesus' resurrection is our new birth. His return is our salvation.

The word "salvation" is used in Scripture to refer to various things. Sometimes it is used to refer to a present reality. "Today salvation has come to this house" (Luke 19:9). Sometimes it refers to the ongoing process ("work out your own salvation with fear and trembling"--Phil 2:12). Here it refers to the future deliverance of God's people. We need to keep these various aspects together in our minds. Because Jesus was raised from the dead, we have been saved once for all from the power of sin and death. Because Jesus continues to abide in his church through the power of the Holy Spirit, we are being saved from our enemies that surround us. And at the future revelation of Jesus, we will be saved to the uttermost. And yet, this is all one salvation. And until that final day, we are guarded by the power of God through faith, for a salvation ready to be revealed in the last time.

God's power keeps us through faith. God's power reminds us that salvation is all of God. Yet the power of God works through faith. God does not guard us as prisoners who cannot be trusted. Rather God guards us through the gift of faith. The reason why we will not stray from Christ, is because we believe his promises. Think of anyone you know who has apostatized. Why did they leave the church? In the end, was it not because they lacked faith? Those that lack faith are unprotected from the power of the evil one.

And it is precisely this aspect of faith that Peter focuses on in verses 6-9:

The REASON why God has called you as elect exiles is to test your faith. And yet in the midst of trial and testing, we rejoice. Those of you who have suffered and struggled through the last years, may take comfort in the words of some of the newcomers. Several of the newer families commented at the first roundtable on their delight at finding this church--the teaching, the fellowship, the sense of the body of Christ. This simply shows that even while you have been grieved by various trials, yet you rejoice in your living hope. Grieving and rejoicing are not mutually exclusive. Indeed, you may rejoice in the midst of your trials, because you know that "the tested genuineness of your faith--more precious than gold that perishes though it is tested by fire--may be found to result in praise and glory and honor at the revelation of Jesus Christ." Though you do not now see him, you believe in him and rejoice with joy that is inexpressible and filled with glory, obtaining the outcome of your faith--the salvation of your souls.

The prophets spoke of this salvation. (v10-12) The prophets understood that the only path to glory, is the path of suffering.

Paul speaks about our dying with Christ; that we have died with Christ, and so will we also live with him. Peter talks about suffering with Christ. As we share in Christ's suffering, so also will we share in his glory. Christ could never have obtained glory except through suffering. The route to glory was the way of the cross. The path of salvation is the life of exile.

Suffering is simply an outworking of our participation of our covenantal union with Christ. You as a Christian have died with Christ. We do not die physically, but our physical death is no longer bad because it is the consummation of our union with Christ. Peter is taking the same approach with suffering. WE have covenantally suffered with Christ, but our daily suffering takes on new meaning. It is our seal with Christ. The world expects suffering to cause faith to waiver. For a believer, it draws us closer to Christ. Peter is dealing with an existential problem. Christians are suffering, or are facing the prospect of suffering. When they are suffering, they suffer in Jesus. Christians share in the sufferings of Christ which redeems them from sin and rescues them from the world. We follow in his footsteps.

Verses 10-12 are very interesting because they ground the idea of suffering in Christ. The prophecies of the Old Testament regarding Christ's suffering were grace 'for us.' There is an eschatological orientation to the Old Testament prophets. For Peter, the primary purpose of the Old Testament was to tell YOU about Christ. The Old Testament teaches you that the Christ must suffer--and only thus enter glory. If this is true of Christ--the Messiah--then it must also be true of those who are in Christ.

You need to understand that the sufferings that you are undergoing are designed to conform you to the likeness of Christ.

What does Peter mean by suffering? (4:12-19) Not every form of suffering qualifies as suffering for Christ's sake: if your suffering is due to your own sin, Peter says in 2:20 that it is no credit to you! Sickness and physical pain--by itself--is not necessarily suffering as a Christian. These are things that everyone undergoes. Peter is talking about that suffering that is unique to those who follow Christ.

Suffering is pain caused by some evil influence or force. Peter is connecting our suffering with the judgment of God endured by Christ who suffered in the flesh. If you have a splitting headache, that alone does not give you the right to say, "I'm suffering for Christ!" No, it is when--in the midst of the headache--you speak gently to your children, in spite of the temptation to just brush them aside. Suffering for Christ means to patiently endure the scorn and ridicule of the world; it means to resist the temptations of the flesh; it means to stand firm against the wiles of the devil.

Peter's hearers were facing persecution for the sake of Christ. We may never experience the sort of persecution that they faced. Most unbelievers in America could care less about Christians, and have no interest in us whatsoever. We need to remember that our sufferings are very mild indeed! And yet they are still genuine sufferings--which genuinely test our faith!

In whatever trial, in whatever test that you face, God is asking you: do you believe my promises? We do not see him, but we love him. We believe in him, and we rejoice with a joy that is inexpressible and filled with glory. You see, because Jesus sits at the right hand of the Father, because we have been born again to this living hope through the resurrection of Christ, the joy that we share is a glory-filled joy. As we partake of the sufferings of Christ, as we are conformed to his likeness, we also partake of his glory. And so in the midst of the grief, in the midst of the trial, we also share in the glory of Christ. Because for the believer, there is no sorrow, there is no trial that is not also tinged with glory, because we see that the road to glory is none other than the way of the cross.

God has caused you be born again to a living hope through the resurrection of Jesus Christ. And just as his son lived and suffered in exile, so also you must live and suffer in exile, because God is conforming you to his image. Therefore, you elect exiles, rejoice! In the midst of grief, believe the promises of God, though you do not now see him, believe in him and rejoice with a joy inexpressible and filled with glory!

Let us now ask our Savior to lead us through our winding ways.
 

Copyright © 2002 Peter J. Wallace