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Living As Chosen Exiles

Part of 1&2 Peter: Standing firm in shifting times
 
 BACKGROUND AND OVERVIEW OF 1 PETER

Written by the Apostle Peter in the early 60’s AD
 - Silvanus (Latin) or Silas (Greek/Aramaic) = Scribe

Written to believers scattered across Asia Minor (Modern-Day Turkey) 

These believers experienced: Social Pressure, Cultural marginalization, growing persecution, and misunderstanding for their faith. 

 PURPOSE OF THE LETTER

Encourage believers to endure suffering 

Ground them in identity before giving instruction 

Teach them how to live holy, hopeful lives in a hostile world. 

 KEY THEME

Hope-filled holiness in a world that doesn’t feel like home. 

 PETER’S UNIQUE 

Denied Jesus 3 times (Luke 22:54-62) 

He was a fisherman called into an entirely new mission (Matthew 4:18-20) 

Faced persecution and imprisonment for preaching the gospel (Acts 4-5) 

1 Peter 1:1–2
 
 Elect – ἐκλεκτοῖς (eklektois) – v.1 
 Means: chosen, selected, set apart. 
 Not just “picked randomly,” but chosen with intention and purpose. 
 Used in the Septuagint (Greek OT) for Israel as God’s chosen people.

 Exiles / Sojourners – παρεπιδήμοις (parepidēmois) – v.1 
 This is the word your group noticed. 
 It means: 
 • Temporary resident 
 • Foreigner 
 • Someone passing through 
 • Someone living in a place that is not their true home 
 It’s not just geographic — it’s identity language.

 “For Obedience To Christ” - hupakoē (ὑπακοή) — “submissive listening, compliance, faithfulness.” (V 2) 
 • This speaks to the lifestyle and allegiance of believers. 
 • God chose these believers so that they would live in faithful obedience to Christ. 
 • Essentially: obedience is the natural outflow of election.

 “for obedience to Jesus Christ and for sprinkling with his blood” 
 • This is deeply Old Testament covenant language. 
 • “Sprinkling” evokes sacrificial rites, especially in Exodus, Leviticus, and the Day of Atonement: 
 • Blood was sprinkled on the people and the altar to signify purification, sanctification, and covenant relationship with God (Exodus 24:8; Leviticus 4:6). 
 • In the New Testament context, it points to Jesus’ sacrificial death: His blood cleanses believers and sets them apart as God’s people (Hebrews 9:13–14; 1 John 1:7). 
 • We are sanctified and made holy by the blood of Christ, just as Israel was set apart by blood in the OT.

 My IDENTITY in Christ comes before my ACTIVITY for Christ 
1 Peter 1:3–5

 Born Again - New Life 
 Living Hope - Hope Anchored In Resurrection 
 Inheritance - Imperishable, Undefiled, Unfading, Kept in heaven 
 Being Guarded - Our Very Identity And Inheritance Are Being Protected

 My HOPE is alive because JESUS is alive 

1 Peter 1:6–7 

 Trials refine my faith, they don’t define my faith 

 1 Peter 1:8–9 

 John 20:27–29 

 Faith is not rooted in SIGHT, but in TRUST 

1 Peter 1:10–12 
 Meaning: 
 What you may take casually, heaven takes seriously. Don’t take it for granted! 
 Encouragement: 
 You are living in the fulfillment of what generations longed to see. Let it be your identity!

 Our IDENTITY is God’s Holy INTENTIONALITY

Takeaway: HE CHOSE ME, SO: MY IDENTITY IS SECURE, MY HOPE IS ALIVE, AND MY CALLING IS TO LIVE SET APART FOR CHRIST.