1 Peter 1:2
elect according to the foreknowledge of God the Father, in sanctification of the Spirit, for obedience and sprinkling of the blood of Jesus Christ: Grace to you and peace be multiplied.
Truth to Learn
God chose us to be saved.
Behind the Words
“Elect” is translated from the Greek word eklectos, meaning “one who is selected or chosen.” It is from the verb eklegō, which means “to select or chose through thoughtful and deliberate consideration.”
The word translated “foreknowledge” is translated from prognōsis, a compound word made up of pro, meaning “before” and a form of ginōskō, which means “to know.” Hence, it means “to have knowledge or recognition of something before it occurs.”
Meaning Explained
I’m going to take a risky walk across some thorny ground on today’s verse. Not because I believe this verse is unclear or not corroborated by the rest of scripture (which it most certainly is), but because the whole doctrine of election, of God’s choosing us to be saved, is much argued. The Biblical Scholar Albert Barnes once said the following in reference to the Apostle Paul’s teaching on election:
There is no doctrine that is usually so unpopular; none that is so much reproached; none that is so much abused. There is none that people desire so much to disbelieve or avoid; none that they are so unwilling to have preached; and none that they are so reluctant to find in the Scriptures. Even many Christians turn away from it with dread; or if they “tolerate” it, they yet feel that there is something about it that is especially dark and forbidding. Not so felt Paul. He felt that it laid the foundation for eternal praise; that it presented glorious views of God; that it was the ground of confidence and hope; and that it was desirable that Christians should dwell upon it and praise God for it.
Peter, here, makes no excuse for God’s actions but states very simply that we are, “chosen according to the foreknowledge of God …” He does not state what it was that God foreknew about us. Some have speculated that he foreknew who would accept his offer of salvation and, therefore, chose them, but if that were true then it would no longer be God’s choice, would it? We don’t know what it was about us that God foreknew which caused him to choose us. What we do know is that it isn’t fair! If God were fair we would get what we deserve, eternity in the lake of fire.
God the Father is only one part of the Godhead who was involved in our salvation, however. The other two members of the Godhead were involved as well. The Father chose, the Spirit sanctified, that is, He made us holy and pure, He set us apart and baptized (placed) us into the body of Christ (I Corinthians 12:13) resulting in obedience, and Jesus, the Son, sprinkled us with His blood, marking us as His own and ceremonially cleansing us of our sin. All this, and much more, occurred when we were saved.
Application
Nothing is so humbling and so motivating to service than the realization that God chose me to be His child, not because I deserved it, but simply because He decided to.
In God’s service, for His glory,
Copyright © 2008 Will Krause. All rights reserved.
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