The Cross
1:2 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.
He says three things about being chosen: according to the foreknowledge of God, through sanctification of the Spirit, unto obedience and sprinkling of the blood of Jesus Christ. Election is unto obedience and sprinkling, that is, the purpose or goal is that we might be obedient and sprinkled with the blood of Christ. In one of our hymns we sing,
There is a fountain filled with blood
Drawn from Emmanuel’s veins
And sinners plunged beneath that flood
Lose all their guilty stains
1:11 Searching what, or what manner of time the Spirit of Christ which was in them did signify, when it testified beforehand the sufferings of Christ, and the glory that should follow.
The sufferings of Christ were prophesied. In other words, He came to suffer for us.
1:17 And if ye call on the Father, who without respect of persons judgeth according to every man's work, pass the time of your sojourning [here] in fear:
18 Forasmuch as ye know that ye were not redeemed with corruptible things, [as] silver and gold, from your vain conversation [received] by tradition from your fathers;
19 But with the precious blood of Christ, as of a lamb without blemish and without spot:
What an exhortation! pass the time of your sojourning here in fear
He offers two reasons for this charge:
1) the Father, who without respect of persons judgeth according to every man's work
2) you have been redeemed from your vain conversation
- not with corruptible things, as silver and gold
- but with the precious blood of Christ
This follows the exhortations:
gird up the loins of your mind
be sober
hope to the end
be holy in all manner of conversation
So, Peter is appealing to redemption with the precious blood of Christ as a motivation for holy living. He is very practical.
redeemed . . . from your vain conversation [received] by tradition from your fathers – you were living an empty life, empty of truth and the presence of God; but God has made a way for you to come back to Him. Salvation is leaving the old ways and living a new life of obedience to the Father (v 17), all made possible by the redemption or forgiveness through the blood of Christ.
as of a lamb without blemish and without spot - This is Old Testament imagery, just like the sprinkling of the blood from v 2.
And if ye call on the Father, who without respect of persons judgeth according to every man's work, pass the time of your sojourning [here] in fear – It seems Peter didn’t get the memo: “judgment and fear are out, too negative and scary”.
2:21 For even hereunto were ye called: because Christ also suffered for us, leaving us an example, that ye should follow his steps:
22 Who did no sin, neither was guile found in his mouth:
23 Who, when he was reviled, reviled not again; when he suffered, he threatened not; but committed [himself] to him that judgeth righteously:
24 Who his own self bare our sins in his own body on the tree, that we, being dead to sins, should live unto righteousness: by whose stripes ye were healed.
25 For ye were as sheep going astray; but are now returned unto the Shepherd and Bishop of your souls.
Christ also suffered for us, leaving us an example, that ye should follow his steps
He had just stated in v 20, but if, when ye do well, and suffer for it, ye take it patiently, this is acceptable with God. The suffering of Christ is an example for us to follow when we suffer (persecution) for Him, and in 22 & 23 he describes how Christ endured his suffering. But, there is an element of Christ’s suffering that we cannot follow:
Who his own self bare our sins in his own body on the tree, that we, being dead to sins, should live unto righteousness: by whose stripes ye were healed.
There are two parts to this suffering:
+ Who his own self bare our sins in his own body on the tree – He bore our sins, our sins were placed on Him; He died for us, took our penalty
+ by whose stripes ye were healed – He paid our debt and by His suffering we can be healed, forgiven, cleansed, restored to God, or as he says it, For ye were as sheep going astray; but are now returned unto the Shepherd and Bishop of your souls.
Peter’s view of salvation is very dynamic. Not only is it, you are now returned unto the Shepherd and Bishop of your souls, but also, that we, being dead to sins, should live unto righteousness. Peter sees salvation as not merely, my sins are forgiven, but, I have died to sin (turned away from it) and now live unto righteousness.
3:17 For it is better, if the will of God be so, that ye suffer for well doing, than for evil doing.
18 For Christ also hath once suffered for sins, the just for the unjust, that he might bring us to God, being put to death in the flesh, but quickened by the Spirit:
Once again He sets forth the sufferings of Christ as an example for those who are suffering for him. But he again states that Christ’s sufferings were higher than ours could ever be, For Christ also hath once suffered for sins, the just for the unjust, that he might bring us to God.
The just for the unjust - in our place, suffering our penalty
that he might bring us to God – He didn’t die as an example, He died to save us. Amen!
4:1 Forasmuch then as Christ hath suffered for us in the flesh, arm yourselves likewise with the same mind: for he that hath suffered in the flesh hath ceased from sin;
2 That he no longer should live the rest of [his] time in the flesh to the lusts of men, but to the will of God.
Yet again, Peter sets forth the suffering of Christ as an example for us.
5:1 The elders which are among you I exhort, who am also an elder, and a witness of the sufferings of Christ, and also a partaker of the glory that shall be revealed:
Peter was an eyewitness of the sufferings of Christ.
According to Peter, Christ’s death was substitutionary
Christ suffered for sins
The just for the unjust
He bore our sins in his own body on the tree
His suffering was effectual
sprinkling of the blood (cleanses us)
you were redeemed with the blood
by whose stripes ye were healed
that he might bring us to God
(I noticed that Peter speaks of the suffering of Christ but does not dwell on the details of the agony. It is enough that He died, there is no need to dwell on the details or how bad he hurt etc)
Peter is very practical. While he does speak of salvation through the sufferings of Christ, his emphasis seems to be on the sufferings of the Savior as a motive to holy living and an example for us as we endure suffering. And his presentation of the effectiveness of the sufferings of Christ is dynamic: Who his own self bare our sins in his own body on the tree, that we, being dead to sins, should live unto righteousness: by whose stripes ye were healed. For ye were as sheep going astray; but are now returned unto the Shepherd and Bishop of your souls.
Amen.
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