Scripture Passage—1 Peter 1:1–2

  1. Why the letter was written
    1. It was written to encourage believers to endure intense persecution.
    2. Peter writes to us.
    3. Peter admonishes us to suffer as Christians, not as law-breakers.
  2. The basics Peter calls us back to
    1. Peter writes to the elect—the chosen of God according to the foreknowledge of God.
    2. We are elect, chosen in sanctification—the carrying-out of the counsel of God through the Holy Spirit.
    3. The final purpose of God is our restoration from our fallen state.
  3. The place and value in God’s plan of the Sprinkling of Blood
    1. The purpose of the triune God
      1. The purpose of election is to give us a share in Christ, and through Him, we can approach the Father Himself.
      2. Because of sin and the resultant enmity between God and man, reconciliation was needed—the sprinkling of the blood of Jesus Christ.
      3. The blessings from the sprinkling of the blood:
        1. No more are we strangers; no more are we afar off. —Ephesians 2:11–13
        2. We are no longer separated, but we have access to God.—Hebrews 10:19–21
        3. We have no more guilt.—Hebrews 9:14
        4. We are cleansed from all sin.—1 John 1:6–7
      4. The sprinkling of blood is what Christ has done for and to us; obedience is what is expected from us.
        1. He who receives the blood receives with it His life and His utter disposition of obedience.
        2. If you desire the benefit, you must submit yourself to an obedience of faith, and this must characterize your entire life.
        3. One who truly experiences the power of the blood will manifest it by a life of obedience.
    2. The power by which the purpose was attained
      1. God the Holy Spirit executes the divine purpose: He reveals and makes known the Father and the Son, imparts the life of God, and maintains the holiness of God. Hence, He is called the Spirit of Sanctification.
      2. It is impossible for us to render the obedience God demands. That is why He gives us the Holy Spirit.
      3. The Holy Spirit renews out heart, our inward nature and fills us with His holy and heavenly power, so that it becomes possible for us to be obedient.
    3. The counsel in which everything originated
      1. The whole plan of redemption is solely according to the purpose of God the Father who works all things for the counsel of His own will.—Ephesians 1:11
      2. The Great Playwright put it in His eternal plan: On center stage is His Son to act it out, and the light of application from the Holy Spirit applies it to us.

Related Scripture:

  • Revelation 13:8
  • Philippians 2:8–9
  • Philippians 1:6

Take Home Points

  • Rejoice in what God has done for you through his Son and applied by the power of the Holy Spirit.
  • You have confidence because you know who has thought out this plan; you know who carried it out in the sprinkling of the blood; you know who has sent the Spirit from heaven to you; and you have His promise that He will just as surely carry it out and bring it to completion.
  • Take your place before God in complete reverence and dependence.
  • Give God the glory, and let the fullest dependence upon Him be the keynote of your life of faith.
  • You are elect unto obedience.

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