Elect Exiles

Have you ever wanted to time travel? If you could, where would you go?

I have been fascinated with the idea of time travel for years, ever since I was introduced to the concept back in the 1980s. I was 7 years old. It was 1989. This was when I first became acquainted with Doc Brown and Marty McFly. If you’re not familiar, I’m referring to the movie “Back to the Future” which was a hit in the 1980s.

Well, the passage this morning sort of does some time traveling. It alludes to an event that took place in the past, that solidifies our future, and influences how we live now in the present. This thing that happened in eternity past informs how we live today.

But before we dive into the passage, time travel with me back one week. One week ago, last Sunday, was Easter Sunday morning. Pastor Joe preached from John 11 which tells us about the moment when Jesus raised Lazarus from the dead. Lazarus had been sick and pastor Joe highlighted for us the fact that Jesus intentionally delayed showing up, which allowed enough time for Lazarus to die.

This wasn’t in spite of Jesus’ love for them… no, it was precisely because Jesus loved them that he did this. Jesus knew that waiting, and allowing Lazarus to die, would be best for them in the long-term, so he waited.

Cities Church, Jesus loves you. And because he loves you, he may wait to intervene. He may intentionally take you through unimaginable suffering and loss and pain and grief, but he will be with us. God will sustain us.

We Should Expect Suffering

We should expect to face suffering and persecution in this life. And that is why the book of 1 Peter exists. Today, we are launching into a new sermon series on the book of 1 Peter. This letter is specifically written for Christians seeking encouragement and wisdom as we seek to navigate seasons suffering and persecution.

Suffering is the main theme of this letter. However, before that, Peter gives us a brief but powerful introduction. That’s what we’re going to look at this morning… just the first two verses of 1 Peter. The end of verse 2, it ends with a prayer from the apostle Peter… it’s simple, “May grace and peace be multiplied to you.” Peter is asking for grace and peace. And that’s what I’d like to do this morning before diving more into the passage.

Let’s pray and we’ll look at them together.

Father in heaven, thank you for this letter. We are thankful that the Spirit of God inspired this letter from Peter. And we are grateful that, by your providence, this letter has been preserved, that we still have it all these years later, so that we can read it and learn from it. I ask you, Lord, please use this sermon and our time together this morning as means of sanctification in our lives; strengthen us, and mold us into being more like Jesus. Lastly Lord, I ask, as Peter did oh so many year ago, that grace and peace be multiplied to your people today. I ask all these things in the matchless name of Jesus, Amen.

We Are Elect Exiles

Okay, let’s look at verse one.

Peter, an apostle of Jesus Christ,
To those who are elect exiles of the Dispersion in
Pontus, Galatia, Cappadocia, Asia, and Bithynia.

First thing we learn, this letter is written by the apostle Peter to Christians scattered all throughout various parts of the Roman Empire. These regions and provinces that he mentions here, are all in what would be modern-day Turkey. And he refers to these Christians as “elect exiles.” So immediately, I want to ask myself: What does it mean to be “elect” and what does it mean to be an “exile?”

Let’s tackle “exile” first.

The ESV uses the word exile, and that’s fine, but based on the original Greek words in this passage, I think a better translation might be “stranger” or “foreigner.” Or maybe even “refugee.” The NASB translates it: “those who reside as strangers.” The NLT renders it this way: “God’s chosen people living as foreigners.”

Peter is writing to a group of people living in land that is strange to them. We as Christians, we live in this world, but this world is strange to us, because it is not our homeland. We are strangers in this land. We’re sojourners. The apostle Paul, in Philippians chapter 3, speaks about our citizenship being in heaven.

So, we’re exiles… strangers in this land. But not only that, but we are also elect. Which simply means chosen. God has elected us, he has chosen us, or selected us. Often times in the Old Testament the Jewish people were referred to as God’s chosen people. Multiple times in this letter, Peter borrows Old Testament language to speak about Christians.

We are the elect exiles.

Well, then, Peter goes on to describe these “elect exiles” with three key phrases, and in doing so, he demonstrates the incredible unity of the Trinity. Look at verse 2 with me:

according to the foreknowledge of God the Father,
in the sanctification of the Spirit,
for obedience to Jesus Christ and for sprinkling with his blood.

These three prepositional phrases are describing the term “elect.” We are elected in accordance with “the foreknowledge of God the Father,” we are elected “in the sanctification of the Spirit;” and for what reason are we elected?… “for obedience to Jesus Christ and for sprinkling with his blood.”

Let’s look at each of these three phrases.

According to the Foreknowledge of the Father

First: “according to the foreknowledge of God the Father.”

What does this mean?

Some people claim that the foreknowledge of God means that God is looking down corridor of time to see what men do. He sees who will pick him and he elects people based on their selection of him.

There are many genuine Christians that believe this, and in many cases these Christians genuinely love the bible, and they love Jesus, I’m not doubting that. But, I must say boldly this morning, their conclusion on this term is misguided, and I’ll explain why. I’ll give you three reasons why their understanding of foreknowledge is flawed.

God Does Not Look into the Future to Learn

Number one: God has never looked into the future and learned anything.

God is omniscient. The bible is clear, over and over and over again, God knows everything. There are dozens of passages of Scripture that make this clear. God knows all things. Therefore, there is no reason for God to look into the future and learn anything.

This understanding of foreknowledge, articulated by some Christians, violates and undermines the doctrine of God’s omniscience.

No One Seeks God

Second, if God waited to see who selected him first, he’d be waiting a long time. No human would ever choose God. The prophet Isaiah tells us that “We all like sheep have gone astray. Each one of us has turned to his own way.” The apostle Paul tells us in Romans that no one seeks God.

If all God did was wait and see who picked him, then no one would pick him. And Jesus knows this, he taught us this:

In John 6:44, Jesus says, “No one can come to me unless the Father who sent me draws him.”

Later in that same chapter, in verse 65, Jesus says, “No one can come to me unless it is granted him by the Father.”

Foreknowledge is Personal

Third, foreknowledge does not mean foresight. The Greek word that we translate as “Foreknowledge” here in 1 Peter is a very personal word, meaning, it always refers to people, not events or data. It refers to a personal love relationship.

This is the same language used to speak of the love between a husband and a wife. We see this in Genesis 4 speaking of Adam & Eve. We see this in Matthew 1 when speaking of Joseph and Mary. This is the language God uses to speak of his relationship with Abraham (cf. Gen 18).

Then we see this same language and same concept in Amos 3:2, God is speaking to Israel: “You only have I known.” Okay, if foreknowledge just means foresight, then this verse makes no sense. Is God merely saying, “you Israel, you are the only nation I am familiar with? All the rest, I’m ignorant of.” Is that what he’s saying?

No, what God is saying to Israel is: I love you in a way that is very different than the rest of the nations. I have loved you in ways that I have not loved the Egyptians or Babylonians or Assyrians. God is saying to Israel, I have foreknown you, you the ones I have chosen to love! When God says he has known a group of people, he is saying he has loved them and chosen to be intimate with them.

When we see that he has foreknown us, then we know that he has chosen to love us and be intimate with us, before I even existed on this planet.

Here in the opening verses of this letter, God is saying that there is a group of people that he has known for a long time, long before they were even born, before the foundations of the world, he chose them to be the ones he set his love upon. Believers in Jesus. That’s me and you! Cities Church, that’s you.

If you are here this morning and you trust in Jesus, if you genuinely love God, it’s because he chose you first, in eternity past, and the fact that he chose you is what causes you to even want to love him back. The apostle Paul teaches this clearly in Ephesians 1:4-5:

“He chose us in him before the foundation of the world, that we should be holy and blameless… In love he predestined us for adoption to himself as sons through Jesus Christ.”

Before the world began, he singled you out, he circled your name, and he chose to love you!

We are elect exiles, chosen and known by God.

Our Election

Now, it’s important to remember, this choice God made was unconditional, there is nothing in you that made him elect you. Nothing. There is nothing in me that me attractive to God. Nothing.

We do not know why or how God chooses. That is only for God to know. And he does not owe us an explanation. He is God, he is free to do whatever he pleases. God is not obligated to explain himself to us. I know this isn’t always easy to understand or embrace, but we must trust that he is good.

Also, I’ve had people say, “Well, this does not seem fair” or they say something like, “I don’t like that.” To that I respond by saying we must remember that if God does something that we don’t like, it is not God who is wrong. If our opinion does not line up with God’s opinion, it is not God that must change his mind.

We do not fully understand how God’s foreknowledge works, but we do indeed know this: our election is not because we have earned it, because we have not; and it’s certainly not because we deserve it, because we certainly do not. The reality is no one deserves to be foreknown by God.

In addition, a lot of people downplay the gravity and ugliness of sin. They say things like, “We are not so bad that God would need to do this? We can choose God.”

With all due respect, I must say, the bible teaches otherwise. We are all sinners. We defied the living God. We are all corrupt. We have all been hostile toward God and have blasphemed his name. We all deserve death and hell.

We were all on God’s bad side, you could say, We were on the naughty list. We all deserve condemnation. One-hundred percent of us deserve the full wrath of God. As hip-hop artist LeCrae has said, we’re “mere sinners owed nothing but a fierce hand.”

But God, who is rich in mercy, abounding in steadfast love, he has chosen to intervene in the human story and save some, and for that we say, PRAISE BE TO GOD!

How does this impact suffering? God’s commitment to us is clearly not related to anything we could do, so no matter what we face, we can be confident in his commitment to us.

Sanctification in the Spirit

So that was the first phrase: according to the foreknowledge of God. The second phrase that describes the “elect exiles” is: in the sanctification of the Spirit. Here we learn that the Spirit of God is the source of our sanctification. The father choses us and has foreknown us. And then the Spirit cooperates with the Father to bring sanctification to those the father has for known.

Here we see perfect cooperation, unity, and harmony between the members of the Godhead. The father foreknows those who will be in his family, and the Spirit does the work to bring them into the fold. The Holy Spirit brings us to faith in Christ. He enables us to be converted.

The Father has foreknown us and has given us to Jesus, the Son. And it is the Spirit that goes and works on their hearts, at the direction of the Father, drawing us to Jesus.

The Spirit gives us the ability to believe—something we do not have on our own. But it does not stop there. The Spirit continues to work on us and he is the chief architect of our sanctification. The Holy Spirit guides us through the lifelong process of becoming more and more like Jesus.

How does this impact suffering?

We know that there is no situation that the Spirit cannot use in our lives, for our good, for our growth. No matter what I face, no matter how painful it may be, I know the Holy Spirit can and will use it for my good. One of the most famous verses in the New Testament is Romans 8:28 which states, “…for those who love God, all things work together for good.” 

For Obedience to Jesus Christ and For Sprinkling With His Blood

 This leads us to the third phrase Peter uses to describe the elect exiles, and there’s two parts to this one: for obedience to Jesus Christ and for sprinkling with his blood.

The first part of this phrase is straight forward, I have been elected so that I would be obedient to Christ.

Now, Jesus taught us many things, but the first and primary way we obey Jesus to genuinely believe in him. John 14:1: “Let not your hearts be troubled. Believe in God; believe also in me.” Secondly, obedience to Christ is best demonstrated through loving others. Jesus says in John 15:16-17: “You did not choose me, but I chose you and appointed you that you should go and bear fruit. These things I command you, so that you will love one another.” We are elect exiles so that we would obey Jesus.

So, recap, we are chosen according to the foreknowledge of God, we are chosen in the sanctification of the Spirit, by the work of the Spirit, and we are chosen for the obedience to Jesus Christ, so that we would genuinely believe in him and genuinely love one another, and finally, we are chosen “for the sprinkling with his blood. That phrase that Peter use is a little unique: for sprinkling with his blood.

There is some disagreement among bible scholars as to precisely what Peter meant here, but most biblical scholars agree that this phrase is alluding to Exodus 24. In that chapter of Exodus, we see the Old Covenant being officially inaugurated, this was an agreement between God and the Israelites.

And at this inauguration, the people committed to be loyal to God, and the inauguration included animal sacrifices. So, Moses drains the blood from the animals. He sprinkles half of the blood onto the altar. And then, later, he sprinkles the other half of the blood onto the people. This confirmed that Old Covenant.

With this in mind, we have a better understanding of what Peter is communicating. When we enter covenant with God we pledge our loyalty to Jesus, and as we do that, God declares that the blood of Jesus is applied to us—for the forgiveness of our sins.

How does this impact my suffering?

Suffering hurts, but reminders of my guilt being alleviated brings me great joy in the midst of suffering.

Also, because Jesus has already defeated death, I am free to be weak. I don’t have to put on strong front.

Often times there’s shame attached to our sufferings, even if it wasn’t caused by our own choices or sin. I once heard a pastor put it this way: “Amid our glorious ruin, Jesus is strong, so we’re free to be weak; there’s no need to hide anything or pretend to be strong. Jesus already won, so we’re free to be honest and we’re even free to lose. Jesus was a somebody, so we can be a nobody. Jesus was extraordinary, so we do not need to feel the pressure, we are free to be ordinary; Jesus has succeeded on our behalf, so we are even free to fail.”

Lastly, the sprinkling of Jesus’ blood is a profound reminder that redemptive things come from suffering. Jesus suffered greatly, which brought about the salvation of many. Therefore, when I suffer, I can be confident that God will use it for redemptive purposes in my life, and in the lives of those around me.

In closing, I say this: Whenever you are suffering, remember that the members of the Trinity (Father, Son, and Spirit), they are all cooperating to sustain you.

The Father foreknows, the Spirit sanctifies, and the Son cleanses through his blood.

The Table

And that brings us to this table. The greatest meal of the week, where we remember what Jesus did, how he suffered, so that we could be forgiven of our sins. That’s what brings us back to this table every single week. To remember what Jesus did on our behalf.

In just a moment our pastors are going to pass out these elements—the bread and the cup. This is open to all elect exiles here with us. If you have trusted in Christ, you are welcome to partake with us this morning.

However, if you are here this morning, and you are not a follower of Christ, if you have not surrendered to him, then today we would ask that you let the elements pass by, don’t take one, and instead of taking communion this morning, I would encourage, I implore you, take Christ instead!

This is the body and blood of Jesus. His body is the true bread. His blood is the true drink. Let us serve you.