A Holy People

November 1, 2009

Background Scripture: 1 Peter 1
Lesson Passage: 1 Peter 1:13 – 25

The author of today’s lesson, the Apostle Peter, was a fisherman by trade. It is important to note that so that we look at his writing not as one who was a career theologian but as one who had a most astounding revelation of God through Jesus Christ. Peter, most likely, was the second person to openly state the revelation of Jesus’ true identity during the time of his earthly ministry. Peter’s statement, which Jesus validated had come from the Father in Heaven, was made as Jesus and his disciples came into the coasts of Caesarea Philippi. The first to publically reveal Jesus’ identity was John the Baptist who testified that it was God who revealed it to him. Today’s lesson passage is a summary statement of expected Christian behavior in light of knowing one’s identity in God through Jesus Christ. The passage begins with the word “wherefore”. The word “wherefore” joins today’s lesson to the pretext of Peter’s epistle. The pretext is Peter’s statement of the Christian’s spiritual identity and the process that God used to bring about this identity. First and foremost, Christians are the elect of God because of the Father’s foreknowledge of us. Because the Father knew us before we were, He also knew that we would accept by faith the grace that would be offered to us. Having such wonderful knowledge of us, then the Holy Ghost sanctified us, or set us apart for God’s own purpose, that we might be made obedient to the Father’s will for us. Finally, we were sprinkled with the blood of Jesus to cleanse us from sin. Here in his opening salutation, Peter relates the triune nature of God as he has revealed himself to us: Father, Holy Ghost, and Son, Jesus. It is for this reason that I thought it necessary to state that Peter was a fisherman by trade and not a theologian. God’s nature could only be described as such by one who has had an encounter with God. Our new birth has made us keenly aware of God’s mercy and the ever-present hope He has given us through the knowledge of Jesus’ resurrection. We have been made beneficiaries of the promises of God which are being held in reserve for us in heaven. Furthermore, we who are saved, are being kept “saved” by God’s power so that He might reveal us at the end of time. This speaks to the question of whether a person who is saved can be lost again. Since we are kept by God’s power, if we could lose our salvation, then God by conclusion could not be omnipotent or all powerful. Peter reassures Christians that our salvation is safe in the hands of God. Peter suggested that this knowledge be used as encouragement for Christians who face persecution. A Christian going through persecution should be looked at as gold going through fire. The fire does not harm gold but instead separates the impurities and thereby makes the gold even more precious than before. The uniqueness of our salvation was spoken of by the prophets of old through the Spirit of Christ working in them. Created spiritual beings even desired to know the extent of God’s grace that was to be made available to persons who accept by faith God’s only begotten son, Jesus. It is with this backdrop that we enter into the text of today’s lesson. Christians are a holy people because of what God has done and because of God’s purpose for doing it.

Robert C. Hudson
October 23, 2009