1 Peter 1:1-2

V.1. Peter, an apostle of Jesus Christ, to the strangers scattered throughout Pontus, Galatia, Cappadocia, Asia, and Bithynia, v.2. 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.

The opening is simple, commensurate with the dignity of an apostle and the message which he proclaimed: Peter, an apostle of Jesus Christ, to the chosen sojourners of the Dispersion of Pontus, Galatia, Cappadocia, Asia, and Bithynia.

The author, using the honoring name given him by Christ Himself, which was to him a greater mark of distinction than the bestowal of many another honor might have been, introduces himself to his readers as one of the number of men whom the Lord had expressly chosen as His messengers and delegates to bring the Gospel of salvation to all men, as an apostle of Jesus Christ, the Savior.

He addresses his letter to sojourners, to strangers of the Dispersion, to people that are far from their real, abiding home, that are wanderers and pilgrims on this earth. By thus reminding his readers from the very start of their real status in this world, the apostle cleverly broaches the thought which is found throughout the letter, namely, that the entire life of all believers here on earth is but a time of preparation for the citizenship in the real Homeland above.

His words concern the entire Christian Church as the true Israel, God’s people of the New Testament covenant, which is still far from the heavenly home. The Christians are a poor small crew, scattered over the whole world, commonly in small communities or congregations. And yet they are the chosen people of God, having been elected by God before the foundation of the world to be His own.

The letter was sent as a general, or encyclical, letter to the congregations which were then existing in various provinces of Asia Minor: Pontus, in the extreme northeastern part, on the Black Sea, Galatia, the large Roman province in the central part, Cappadocia, another inland province, south of Galatia and Pontus, maritime Asia along the Aegean Sea, Bithynia, in the northwestern part, on the Black Sea. In the case of all these provinces we have later information showing that there was a large Christian population in practically this entire district.

The apostle further describes the state of the Christians: According to the foreknowledge of God the Father, in the sanctification of the Spirit, unto the obedience and the sprinkling of the blood of Jesus Christ. The election of the believers has taken place according to the foreknowledge, or, better still, according to the predestination, the resolution of God the Father. The Christians are elected, chosen out of the world, out of the great mass of those for whom the redemption of Christ Jesus was earned, in this way, that God selected, appointed them to be His own before the ages of the world.

There is absolutely no excellence, no merit, on our part. Out of free grace God the Father has from eternity made us the object of His election in Christ Jesus. In His counsel and resolution our election is founded, and therefore no man can pluck us out of His hand.

The resolution, the plan of God was carried out in time in this way, that the Christians are sanctified, separated from the world, consecrated to God. This work, in the majority of cases, was begun in Baptism, but is carried forward throughout the believer’s life, through the agency of the Holy Spirit, who lives in all Christians through faith, who cleanses their hearts from the filth of idolatry and misbelief, as Luther writes.

And the purpose of this predestination, the aim of God’s election, is that the elect should be brought to the obedience of Jesus Christ, that is, to faith. This faith is wrought in their hearts through the application and transmittance of the sprinkling of the blood of Jesus. For the reconciliation of man’s guilt, the forgiveness of sins, has been assured through the shedding of the innocent blood of Christ; our faith rests upon His vicarious work. In this way we are obedient to the Gospel, Rom. 10, 16, and to Christ, 2 Cor. 10, 5; Heb. 5, 9.

Thus the election of God is unto faith; faith was kindled in our hearts as a result of God’s predestination. These things being true, the apostle may well add his salutation that God would now impart to us the grace which His Son has earned for us, and that He would make us the possessors of the peace which passes all understanding, by which we have entered into the relation of sonship to God once more, in rich measure.

Note how strongly the apostle emphasizes in the very beginning of his letter that our salvation is, in every respect, from every side, a work of the Triune God, the three persons of the Godhead being coordinated in this act, as having worked simultaneously, with equal power, and with the same purpose.