Peter's Pen 1st Peter 1:1 (b)

Peter, an apostle of Jesus Christ, To those who are elect exiles of the dispersion in Pontus, Galatia, Cappadocia, Asia, and Bithynia,   (1Pe 1:1)

“Exiles”

Παρεπίδημος;  parepidēmos

Thayer Definition:

1) one who comes from a foreign country into a city or land to reside there by the side of the natives

2) a stranger

3) sojourning in a strange place, a foreigner

4) in the NT metaphorically in reference to heaven as the native country, one who sojourns on earth

Now this is interesting.  The word “exiles” usually makes us think of a people who have been forced out of their home country into another.  I prefer the words stranger or sojourner.  It is absolutely possible that some of the folks to whom the letter was written were forced out of their home countries or provinces.  But Peter is telling us something very important here.

Let me start in a strange place.

These all died in faith, not having received the things promised, but having seen them and greeted them from afar, and having acknowledged that they were strangers and exiles on the earth. For people who speak thus make it clear that they are seeking a homeland. If they had been thinking of that land from which they had gone out, they would have had opportunity to return. But as it is, they desire a better country, that is, a heavenly one. Therefore God is not ashamed to be called their God, for he has prepared for them a city.   (Heb 11:13-16)

The writer here is telling us that even those who had faith in Christ (the Messiah) before He came considered themselves “strangers and exiles” on the earth.  For them, home wasn’t here.

Now before we get too weird let’s get a perspective.  There are two “kingdoms.”  There is the Kingdom of God and the Not Kingdom of God (some call it the Kingdom of Man).  By God’s grace we are:

fellow citizens with the saints and members of the household of God,   (Eph 2:19)

--------------

He has delivered us from the domain of darkness

and transferred us to the kingdom of his beloved Son,

in whom we have redemption, the forgiveness of sins.  (Col 1:13-14)

Citizenship always has its opportunities and obligations.  As citizens of the Kingdom of God our opportunities can be summed up in our being God’s workers, His lights, His representatives here and now.  Our obligations are summed up in our submission to God as our Sovereign.

For many of us, the idea of having a Sovereign or King is unusual and maybe uncomfortable.  We are used to participating in our governance, having a “say.”  So coming to grips with serving an absolute Monarch is outside our experience.  It’s a new thing and one in which we are going to struggle – but He knows that.

One of the verses that I use to help me keep my submission to Him in focus is the following:

Do not love the world

or the things in the world.

If anyone loves the world,

the love of the Father is not in him.   (1Jn 2:15)

This verse helps me remember that my affections, my commitment is not “to” this world but “to” Him.  Though I live here, my affections and my loyalty are first and foremost with Him.  This is not an easy thing and it is normal for us to have to work on it.  I use the following verses to help me in keeping my loyalty where it is best placed:

For all that is in the world--the desires of the flesh and the desires of the eyes and pride in possessions--is not from the Father but is from the world. And the world is passing away along with its desires, but whoever does the will of God abides forever.   (1Jn 2:16-17)

Like those folks we read of in Hebrews, I work on looking to a better country, His Kingdom.  I don’t always do it well but with His grace and mercies and my brothers and sisters I keep plugging away.

I know many of you struggle with this, too.  James tells us that if we draw near to Him, He will draw near to us.  The Spirit, Prayer, the Word, Worship and Fellowship are His provisions for us in this.  The more we take advantage of these opportunities the more we will long for our entrance into that Kingdom not made with hands – His Kingdom.

Peter's Pen 1 Peter 1:1

Peter, an apostle of Jesus Christ, To those who are elect exiles of the dispersion in Pontus, Galatia, Cappadocia, Asia, and Bithynia,   (1Pe 1:1)

OK, think about this.  Peter, under the power of the Holy Spirit, wrote this to you and me.  So, in some way his address to them back then must apply to us now (and tomorrow).

We, believers, are “those who are elect exiles of the dispersion.”  Peter uses a phraseology more familiar to Jewish folks than to Gentile so his original audience was probably a mixture of Jewish and Gentile followers of Jesus.  Two words are important for us (ok - not just two but I’m focused on two).

Elect and Exiles

What’s up with this “elect” thing?  Well, take a look at this –

Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, who has blessed us in Christ with every spiritual blessing in the heavenly places, even as he chose us in him before the foundation of the world, that we should be holy and blameless before him. In love he predestined us for adoption as sons through Jesus Christ, according to the purpose of his will, to the praise of his glorious grace, with which he has blessed us in the Beloved.   (Eph 1:3-6)

Now how that works, I’m not sure.  Can I “explain” it?  Probably not well.  But Paul writes it as fact – not fantasy or fiction, not metaphor or hyperbole, a fact.

So instead of worrying about “how,” what if we just accept it as the truth?  No bells, no whistles, just a truth.

“Us” of course refers to believers and Paul writes that believers were chosen before the foundation of the world.

OK – a little thought on “time.”  With God there is no before or after.  With God there is no yesterday, today or tomorrow.  “Time” is a part of His creation intended to aid us – not Him.  We see time progressively.  God isn’t limited to that – as He says, He Is.  So when Paul refers to, “the foundation of the world,” it is to help us understand God’s sovereignty as well as the assurance we have in Him.

If being “in Him” was dependent upon me – I’d be in real trouble.

Yes, this idea of “the elect,” is a tough one to chew on.  Thousands of books, sermons, lessons, etc. have been produced addressing it, and appropriately so.  But even though I’ve heard them and read them (just some), I still come back to, “God said that through Paul to me.”  What a blessed assurance!

We can struggle in this verse by asking, “Why me?” or “Why not xxxx?”  Well, I may have assurance of my faith but it isn’t for me to have assurance of someone else’s.  Not that the spiritual condition of another is of no consequence but rather that leads me to questions in which I can get lost.  When, in the last chapter of John’s gospel, Peter asks Jesus about John's future, Jesus basically tells Peter that John is not his (Peter’s) concern rather Peter has a calling he is to fulfill as John has his.

“Why” is not a question for which we always find an answer and that can really obsess us.  The danger there is that we become so focused on the whys we get unfocused on our calling and growth. 

A couple of good works to address this issue are:

Chosen By God by R.C. Sproul

Election and Free Will: God's Gracious Choice and Our Responsibility by Robert A. Peterson

Next we will explore the idea of “exiles.”