Aliens (1): We are pilgrims in this world, sojourning through this life (camping out!) until we finally reach our real home in heaven (1:4). Peter reminds us of this reality as he reminds us “[we] reside as aliens” much like his original audience, the Gentile churches,[1] who were scattered throughout Asia Minor. Like them, we also haven’t seen the Lord but we came to believe and love Him (1:8) through the Word (1:23-25). And like them, we live with eyes fixed on heaven (1:13) and our mouths declaring: This is not our home!
Election (2): God regenerated us (1:3), and thus we became strangers in this world, by His sovereign election.[2] Peter underscores this doctrine,[3] explaining divine election as the trinitarian work of God (“God the Father… the Spirit… Jesus Christ”). Our election accords with the eternal plan of the Father (“foreknowledge”)[4]; it is executed by means of the work of the Spirit to sanctify us; and its purpose is to inextricably connect us to Jesus Christ as our Lord (“to obey Jesus Christ”) and Savior (“be sprinkled with His blood”). Peter speaks with one voice alongside Moses, the prophets, Jesus, Paul and James, who all testify that salvation is initiated by God alone[5] and that we must be “born again” (1:3) to be saved. Praise our God who has given life to the dead![6]
[1] This letter was written to Gentile believers (cf. 1:14, 18; 2:9-10; 3:6), who had never seen Jesus (1:8). The internal evidence of 1 Peter shows the recipients to be Gentile believers living in these regions of Asia Minor.
[2] Jesus explains that the world’s hatred toward us is due to God’s choosing us for salvation. Cf. John 15:19.
[3] Both the noun “election” (ek-lo-gē [ἐκλογή]) and the adjective “chosen” (eklektos [ἐκλεκτός]) come from the same Greek verb “choose” or “elect” (ek-le-gō [ἐκλέγω]) in the NT and have no distinction in meaning.
[4] Foreknowledge neither denies or negates God’s active election, which is affirmed here (“chosen”). God’s foreknowledge in election is not merely knowing what man will choose, but the knowledge which God has of the plan that He has already devised (Isaiah 46:10; John 15:16). Our election is the plan of God the Father.
[5] Cf. Deut. 29:4; 30:6; Jere. 32:39-40; Ezek. 36:26-27; John 3:3, 5; 6:44, 65; Rom. 8:28-30; James 1:18.
[6] Peter breaks out in this precise praise immediately afterward in 1:3-12. Cf. also John 5:21, 26; Eph. 2:5.