Chosen for Obedience
Chosen and destined by God the Father and sanctified by the Spirit for obedience to Jesus Christ. (1 Peter 1:2)
1 Pet. 1:1-9; Ex. 19:5, 6a; Dt. 5:29; Mt. 7:21; Jn. 14:28 and 15:10, 11
What Is God Saying?
Peter probably wrote this from Rome. Note that Babylon in 5:13 is the code name for Rome. He addressed the five churches in the Northern region of present-day Turkey. It was not a good time to be a Christian, thanks to Nero. Christians everywhere must have felt weary, plagued by nagging doubt and a mood of discouragement in their struggle with the hostile environment in which they lived. Peter knew what was happening and what might happen to Christians in that world.
His first word to them was a clear trumpet call. It also supports the Doctrine of the Trinity. He is saying, ‘See what you are. Then be what you are and do what you ought to do.’ We will scarcely find a more succinct, yet all-inclusive definition of a Christian. Hear it in your heart. Live it in your life. Learn it by heart.
How Does This Apply To Us?
If ever the Holy Scriptures spoke to its own time and ours, it is in the letters of Peter. The world was and is trying to squeeze the Christian into its mold. Perhaps many of us are not now suffering for obedience to Christ, but who can deny that we are living in a world in which obedience to Jesus Christ is thought to be something ranging from mild ignorance to wild insanity? God's plan for human life and a drift into moral chaos are poles apart. Approaches to life such as secular humanism have no interest in concepts such as sanctification by the Spirit or obedience to Jesus, yet these are essential components of the Christian life.
Peter reminds us that in the world, we will suffer if we are obedient to Christ; we will be thought peculiar. The world is caught in the pull of evil like a boat nearing the brink of a waterfall. Refusing the rope (the hope) sent from God in Jesus Christ, disaster waits at the bottom of the falls. However, for all God's people who through Christ have ‘died to sin and live to righteousness,’ there is hope for the future. We have the greatest happiness in this life and sublime joy in Heaven.
Pray With Me
Heavenly Father, it is a sacred privilege to be chosen by you. It is wonderful beyond all understanding. Yet I must not only rejoice in that you have chosen me, but I must also understand that to be chosen is to be responsible. I am set apart by the Spirit for obedience to Jesus Christ. ‘You did not choose me, but I chose you and appointed you that you should go and bear fruit and that your fruit should abide.’ With the psalmist, I say, ‘Such knowledge is too wonderful for me. It is high, I cannot attain unto it.’ Yet, there it is—a hand that lifts, a voice that commands, a love that will not let me go. Such grace can only be accepted in reverent and holy wonder and calls for gratitude that is too full and too deep for words.
Today, let me move beyond the wonder of being yours into the joy of a daily, practical walk with Christ.
In the name of Him who said, ‘If you keep my commandments, you will abide in my love.’ Amen.
Moving On In The Life of Prayer
Obedience to Jesus Christ will include prayer. He said to his disciples, ‘When you pray,’ not ‘If you pray’ (Luke 11:12). He told them, ‘Always to pray and do not lose heart’ (Luke 18:8). There is a close connection between praying and resisting discouragement. If we forget or lose that connection, we need to reconnect.
