2.03.02. Aposttolic benediction
II. APOSTOLIC BENEDICTION.
"To the strangers scattered throughout Pontus, Galatia, Cappadocia, Asia, and Bithynia, 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. Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ.” — 1 Peter 1:1-3. the Christians scattered throughout the various provinces of Asia Minor the letter is addressed. The regions enumerated coincide in the main with those in which Paul and his companions founded churches. Did Peter transgress the rule which forbids one missionary to interfere with the sphere and labour of another? No: we may not be able to explain everything, as we are not acquainted with all the circumstances, but we may rest assured there was an understanding between those primitive missionaries. Had Paul by this time been taken away? or had Mark brought word that a letter from Peter to the Asiatic churches would be welcome to the members, and even strengthen Paul’s hands, especially with the Jewish portion of the Christian communities?
These disciples were “ elect [chosen] according to the foreknowledge of God.” What is called the doctrine of Election should not be a stumbling-block to any who acknowledge the divine authority of the Scriptures. There it is, as fully and articulately expressed in the Word of God as it can be in any human creed. The Bible says they were chosen according to the foreknowledge of God; and who shall say they were not? We may well stand in awe on the margin of this unsearchable deep. We may not be able to comprehend it in all its bearings; but there it is. “ Be still, and know that I am God.” This great word should make human hearts bow in deep humility, and accept offered salvation all of grace. And as to inferential difficulties, the freedom and responsibility of men are as clearly revealed as the sovereignty of God.
“Repent ye,” is the commandment; and the sanction follows it, “ Except ye repent, ye perish.” So the sovereignty of God does not stand in the way of his free offer and man’s full responsibility. He knows his own way through the difficulty. These two ends meet in the deep things of God; and “the day” will reveal the meeting-place. Enough for me: he has said, “ Believe in the Lord Jesus Christ, and thou shalt be saved.” Even so, “ Lord, I believe; help thou my unbelief.” In this verse the Father is revealed in connection with election and foreknowledge; the Spirit in connection with the sanctification of believers; and the Son in connection with the sprinkling of the blood that saves. It is parallel with that word in the Lord’s own prayer: “Thine they were; and thou gavest them me: and they have kept thy word “ (John 17:6).
While this beautiful introductory salutation, “ Grace unto you, and peace,” is a formula common to all the apostles, it is also an exact theological definition, rightly dividing the word of truth. The right thing is put foremost here. The living root lies in the ground below, and the fruit-bearing branches tower above it. It is grace first, and peace following it. When God and man meet, it is pardon first, and then a mutual confidence. When he in the Mediator dispenses freely his favour, you in the Mediator draw near without dread. He manifests himself a forgiving Father, and that very thing infuses into your heart the spirit of a trusting child.
“ May grace and peace be multiplied.” In the Old Testament (Isaiah 48:18) there is a promise that his people’s peace “ shall be like a river” — gaining affluents from either side as it flows, and at the last opening out into “ a righteousness like the waves of the sea.”
Now, after the designation of the writer and the readers has been given, the matter of the letter begins, — begins with glory to God in the highest. With remarkable unanimity the sacred writers make this their starting point. From Moses to Peter, the first commandment is glory to God, and the second is duty to men.
There is a distinction maintained in Scripture between “ blessed “ as applied to God, and “ blessed “ as applied to men. Although we are obliged to use the same term for both in our language, they are distinct in the Greek. That which is applied to God means to be pronounced blessed; that which is applied to men means to be made blessed. Of all the aspects and attributes of the great God, that which first leaps to the lips of this apostle is, “ the Father of our Lord Jesus Christ.” How real and vivid was spiritual life in those primitive Christians. Faith really dominated.
Farm and merchandise receded into the background, and the relations of the soul with God and eternity bounded to the front. And mark how Peter finds it possible to draw near to God: he takes refuge in the Mediator. When he sees God as the giver of the unspeakable Gift, he comes forward with boldness. In point of fact, unless we recognize him in that character, we cannot relish him in any. “ Wiik Him, how shall he not freely give us all things?” These men were skilful. They knew where consolation lay; they grasped God by his title of Father of our Lord Jesus, and so were enabled to cling in fond confidence aa dear children.
There is an amazing wealth and grandeur of thought and expression here. Whence hath this man his wisdom? The fisherman is here the vessel chosen and employed by the Spirit to pour out in all its fulness the gospel of the grace of God. The Epistle at this point where it begins to flow is like one of those infant rivers which burst fullbodied at their birth from a great inland sea in which their waters have been gathered. Unlike the waters of Ezekiel’s vision that gathered volume as they flowed, this is a river to swim in the moment that it breaks away from the fountain-head. This testimony from an unleamed Galilean is already a Christian evidence. The book is a witness to itself. Who is this of whom the prophet speaks? — God. In what aspect does the Supreme present himself? — As the Father of our Lord Jesus Christ.
What has he done? — Begotten us again; made us new creatures. From what motive has he acted? — Accordinof to his abimdant mercy. By what means has he accomplished this great change? — By the resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead. To what end in the experience of his people does he thus work? — To a living hope burning in their hearts here, and an inheritance incorruptible beyond the grave. At the opening here made in heaven a great cluster of stars appear. Their united light shines like a sun, and each constituent of the constellation is a separate orb of glory. Nor does the brightness dazzle the sinner’s uplifted eyo, for it is the glory of God streaming from the face of Jesus, mighty to save.