1 Peter 1:2

(2) Elect.—A true chosen people. This word marks them off from the rest of the Jewish settlers in those parts. It is an evasion of the difficulty to say that they were elect only in the mass, as a body. The election was individual and personal. God selected these particular Hebrews out of the whole number, and made them Christians; but what He elected them to is abundantly shown in the next words. For all their election they are not certain of salvation, and their title of “elect” implies no more than the fact that God has put them into the visible Church. (See Notes on 1Th_1:4, and 2Pe_1:10.)

According to the foreknowledge of God.—The origin of this election, the aim, and the means employed are now touched upon, and connected with the three Divine Persons respectively. (1) The origin. Their election is not accidental, nor yet something done on the spur of the moment, an afterthought of God. but “according to the foreknowledge of God the Father”—i.e., in execution of His fore-arranged scheme. The word implies not simply a perception of the future, but the forming of a decision. (Comp. the same word in 1Pe_1:20, and in Rom_8:29; Rom_11:2.) Though the thought is common also to St. Paul, St. Peter was familiar with it before St. Paul’s conversion. (See Act_2:23.) (2) The means. The preconcerted scheme of God embraced not only the choice of these particular persons for a blessing, but the lines on which the choice was to work itself out—“in a course of sanctification by the Spirit.” The words and the thought are identical with those of 2Th_2:13, but probably so far differ in exact meaning that there “the Spirit” is the spirit sanctified, here it is the Spirit which sanctifies. (Comp. also 1Th_4:7.) We see that even the blessing of “obedience and sprinkling”—much more that of glory hereafter—is unattainable except in the path of sanctification. (3) The end. That to which God had elected them was not in the first instance the participation of the joys of the post-resurrection life, but the benefits of redemption on this side of the grave. While other “sojourners of the Pontine dispersion” were allowed to remain in the disobedience which characterised the Jews, and trusting to the efficacy of membership in the covenant people, these had, in accordance with God’s plan, been admitted to “obedience”—i.e., the reception of the gospel facts and precepts (see Note on 2Th_1:8), and to the—

Sprinkling of the blood.—This important phrase must be compared with Heb_9:19; Heb_12:24, which passages were, perhaps, suggested by it, unless, indeed, the idea had become the common property of the Church already. There is nothing in St. Paul’s writings to compare with it. As the people themselves are “sprinkled,” and not their houses, the reference cannot be to the Paschal sprinkling (Exo_12:22), but, as in Hebrews, to the scene under Mount Sinai in Exo_24:8, where, once for all, the old covenant was inaugurated by the sprinkling of the people. It was to that same scene that our Lord referred when He said of the Eucharistic cup, “This is My blood of the new covenant.” Thus, “elect unto the sprinkling of the blood,” seems to mean “selected for admission into the new covenant inaugurated by the sprinkling of Christ’s blood.” But whereas the old covenant was inaugurated by sprinkling the people collectively and once for all, the new is inaugurated anew and anew by individual application; so that the Eucharistic cup was not (according to the Quaker theory) to be drunk once for all by the Apostles then present as the representatives of the whole subsequent Church. Neither does this inauguration by sprinkling come but once for all in the individual’s lifetime, but as often as the covenant is broken by his sin he comes to renew it again. Doubtless the participation of the Holy Communion is the act of “sprinkling” here before St. Peter’s mind, it being the one act which betokens membership in the new covenant-people, the new Israel. Of course the application of blood in both covenants rests on the notion of a death-forfeit being remitted.

Of Jesus Christ.—He does not say “of the new testament,” but substitutes the name of the Victim in whose blood the covenant is inaugurated—Jesus. And who is this Jesus? The Christ! The Messiah! As though Israel at Sinai had been sprinkled with the blood of Moses. What a contrast between the other Jews of Pontus, with their Messianic expectations, and these “elect sojourners” sprinkled with Messiah’s blood!

Be multiplied.—This occurs again only in 2Pe_1:2; Jud_1:2. (Comp. Dan_4:1.) It contains an exhortation to progress. There are some good things of which we cannot have too much.

A Bible Commentary for English Readers, edited by Charles John Ellicott (1878–1897) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.

2. elect according to the foreknowledge of God the Father] The word “elect” or chosen belongs, as already stated, to 1Pe_1:1, but the English sufficiently represents the meaning of the Greek. The word and the thought that the disciples of Christ are what they are by the election or choice of God, characterises the whole teaching of the New Testament. Here there is the personal interest of noting that the word is prominent in the Gospel of St Mark, which we have seen reason to connect closely with St Peter’s influence, and in that portion of our Lord’s discourses recorded in it (Mar_13:20; Mar_13:22; Mar_13:27), to which the wars and tumults of Palestine must at this time have been drawing attention. Comp. also the prominence of the thought and of the verbs for “choosing” in Joh_13:18; Joh_15:16; Joh_15:19. The “elect” had, like the “saints” (Act_9:13), become almost a synonyme for Christians (2Ti_2:10; Tit_1:1). And this choice is referred to the “foreknowledge” of God. The word hovers between the meaning of a mere prevision of the future, and the higher sense in which “knowing” means “loving” and “approving,” as in 1Co_8:3, Gal_4:9, and probably Rom_8:29; Rom_11:2. The noun occurs in the New Testament only here and in St Peter’s speech in Act_2:23, and is so far evidence of continuity of character and thought. In what way the thought of man’s freedom to will was reconcileable with that of God’s electing purpose the writers of the New Testament did not care to discuss. They felt, we may believe, instinctively, half unconsciously, that the problem was insoluble, and were content to accept the two beliefs, which cannot logically be reconciled. In the words “the foreknowledge of God the Father,” we find, perhaps, the secret of their acceptance of this aspect of the Divine Government. The choice and the knowledge were not those of an arbitrary sovereign will, capricious as are the sovereigns of earth, in its favours and antipathies, seeking only to manifest its power, but of a Father whose tender mercies were over all His works, and who sought to manifest His love to all His children. From that stand-point the “choice” of some to special blessings was compatible with perfect equity to all. It should be noticed that in Rom_8:29 we have “foreknowledge” as a step in the Divine order prior to predestination, but it may well be questioned whether either Apostle had present to his thoughts the logical solution presented by the Arminian theory, that God, foreseeing the characters of men as they would have been, if not predestined, then predestined them accordingly. On that theory the question may well be asked, What made them such as God thus foreknew? The difficulty is but thrown further back, and it is wiser to accept the conclusion that the problem is insoluble, and that the language of Scripture issues in the antinomy of apparently contradictory propositions.

through sanctification of the Spirit] The word for “sanctification,” for which, perhaps, consecration would be a better equivalent, is used eight times by St Paul, once in the Epistle to the Hebrews (Heb_12:14), here, and not elsewhere in the New Testament. Grammatically the words admit of the interpretation which sees in them the sanctification of the human spirit (genitive of the object), but the juxtaposition of the word Spirit with that of the Father and with Christ, is decisive in favour of the explanation which sees in the construction the genitive of the subject, or of the agent, and finds in the sanctification wrought by the Spirit the region in which the foreknowledge of God finds its completion.

unto obedience and sprinkling of the blood of Jesus Christ] The clause is co-ordinate with that which precedes it, pointing to the end of the election as that points to the sphere in which it worked and the means by which it was to be accomplished. In “obedience” we have the active human side of the result, in the “sprinkling” the Divine side of pardon and acceptance. The word for “sprinkling” is found elsewhere only in Heb_12:24, where, as in this place, it refers definitely to the narrative of Exo_24:8. Moses had sprinkled Israel according to the flesh with the blood of oxen, as being “the blood of the covenant,” that by contact with which they were brought within the covenant of which he was the mediator (Gal_3:19). In like manner, in St Peter’s words, believers in Christ are brought within the new covenant by the mystical, spiritual sprinkling on their souls and spirits of the blood of Jesus, and for that sprinkling God had chosen them with a purpose supremely wise to which no time-limits could be assigned. The same thought, it may be noted, is expressed in St John’s words, that “the blood of Jesus Christ cleanseth us from all sin” (1Jn_1:7).

Grace unto you, and peace, be multiplied] The combination of “grace” and “peace” may be noted as a probable instance of St Peter’s adopting the very phraseology of St Paul, as he found it in the letters with which 2Pe_3:16 (assuming the genuineness of that Epistle) shews him to have been acquainted. In “peace” we have the old Hebrew formula of salutation (Mat_10:12-13): in “grace” (χάρις) probably the substitution of the more definite Christian thought for the “joy” or “greeting” (χαίρειν) which, as in Act_15:23, Jas_1:1, was the customary opening formula of Greek epistles. The addition of “be multiplied” is peculiar to the two Epistles of St Peter (2Pe_1:2), and to the Epistle of St Jude (1Pe_1:2), which presents so many points of contact with the second of those two.

The Cambridge Bible for Schools and Colleges (gen. ed. J. J. S. Perowne; Cambridge University Press, 1878–1918) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.

1Pe 1:2. Elect — Called out of the world, and from a state of ignorance and sin, guilt and depravity, weakness and wretchedness, by the word, the Spirit, and providence of God; and in consequence of obeying the call, by turning to God in true repentance, living faith, and new obedience, chosen — Or accepted of God. For all true believers, or genuine Christians, whose faith works by love, have continually the title of God’s elect in the New Testament. See notes on Rom 8:28; Rom 8:33; Eph 1:4-5. “Election,” says the Rev. J. Wesley, “in the Scripture sense, is God’s doing any thing that our merit or power has no part in. The true predestination, or fore-appointment of God, Isaiah , 1 st, He that believeth shall be saved from the guilt and power of sin. 2d, He that endureth to the end shall be saved eternally. 3d, They who receive the precious gift of faith, thereby become the sons of God; and being sons, they shall receive the Spirit of holiness, to walk as Christ also walked. Throughout every part of this appointment of God, promise and duty go hand in hand. All is free gift; and such is the gift, that the final issue depends on our future obedience to the heavenly call. But other predestination than this, either to life or death eternal, the Scripture knows not of. Moreover, it Isaiah , 1 st, Cruel respect of persons; an unjust regard of one, and an unjust disregard of another. It is mere creature partiality, and not infinite justice: 2d, It is not plain Scripture doctrine, (if true,) but, rather, inconsistent with the express written word, that speaks of God’s universal offers of grace; his invitations, promises, threatenings, being all general. 3d, We are bid to choose life, and reprehended for not doing 2:4th, It is inconsistent with a state of probation in those that must be saved or must be lost. 5th, It is of fatal consequence; all men being ready, on very slight grounds, to fancy themselves of the elect number. But the doctrine of predestination is entirely changed from what it formerly was. Now it implies neither faith, peace, nor purity. It is something that will do without them all. Faith is no longer, according to the modern predestinarian scheme, a divine evidence of things not seen, wrought in the soul by the immediate power of the Holy Ghost; not an evidence at all, but a mere notion. Neither is faith made any longer a means of holiness; but something that will do without it. Christ is no more a Saviour from sin; but a defence, a countenancer of it. He is no more a fountain of spiritual life in the souls of believers, but leaves his elect inwardly dry, and outwardly unfruitful; and is made little more than a refuge from the image of the heavenly; even from righteousness, peace, and joy in the Holy Ghost. According to the foreknowledge of God — That is, speaking after the manner of men; for, strictly speaking, there is no foreknowledge, any more than after-knowledge, with God; but all things are known to him as present from eternity to eternity.” As none but the truly penitent and believing have in Scripture the title of God’s elect, so such may be properly styled, elect according to the foreknowledge of God, because God knows beforehand from eternity who will turn to him in repentance and faith, and who will not; but, as Milton observes,

“Foreknowledge has no influence on their fault,

Which had no less proved certain unforeknown.”

Nor is there any inconsistency between the divine prescience and human liberty; both are true, according to the Scripture; and doubtless God can reconcile them, if we cannot. Macknight explains the clause thus: “The persons to whom the apostle wrote were with propriety said to be elected according to the foreknowledge of God, because, agreeably to the original purpose of God, discovered in the prophetical writings, Jews and Gentiles indiscriminately were made the visible church and people of God, and entitled to all the privileges of the people of God, by their believing the gospel,” namely, with a faith working by love to God and man: “God’s foreknowledge of all believers to be his people,” [that is, true, genuine believers, possessed of living, loving, and obedient faith; for only such are God’s people,] “was revealed in the covenant with Abraham. This the apostle mentions to show the Jews that the believing Gentiles were no intruders into the church of God. He determined, from the beginning, to make them his people. See Rom 11:2, where God is said to have foreknown the whole Jewish nation; and 1Pe 1:20, where the sacrifice of Christ is said to be foreknown before the foundation of the world.” Through sanctification of the Spirit — Through the renewing and purifying influences of the Spirit on their souls; for sanctification implies an internal change wrought in the heart, the first part of which is termed regeneration, Joh 1:13, or a new creation, 2Co 5:17; Tit 3:5; producing, 1st, Power over sin, 1Pe 4:1-2; Romans 6.; over the world, 1Jn 5:4; and the flesh, Rom 8:2. 2d, Devotedness to God and his service in heart and life. 3d, A continually increasing conformity to the divine image. Unto obedience — To engage and enable them to yield themselves up to all holy obedience; namely, both internal, to the great law of love toward God and man, with every holy disposition connected therewith; and external, to all God’s known commands. And sprinkling of the blood of Jesus — That is, through his atoning blood, which was typified by the sprinkling of the blood of sacrifices under the law, in allusion to which it is termed, (Heb 12:24,) the blood of sprinkling. This is the foundation of all the rest, for by this we are, 1st, Introduced into a state of justification and peace with God, being freed from a condemning conscience, put in possession of the Holy Spirit, and rendered capable of obeying, Heb 9:13-14; and hereby, 2d, Our obedience is rendered acceptable to God, which it would not be if it were not sprinkled with his blood, or recommended by his mediation. Grace unto you — The unmerited favour and love of God, with those influences of the Spirit, which are the effect thereof; and peace — All sorts of blessings; be multiplied — Possessed in great abundance.

Joseph Benson's Commentary on the Old and New Testaments (1811–1818) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.

Elect. This word, in the Greek, is in the first verse; the Greek order is "to the elect sojourners of the dispersion." We begin already to notice coincidences with the teaching of St. Paul. St. Paul insists strongly on the doctrine of election; St. Peter holds it no less clearly. Holy Scripture constantly ascribes all that is good in us to the choice or election of God. The sacred writers do not enter into the many difficulties which lie around this central doctrine: they do not attempt to explain its relations to that other great truth, taught in Scripture and revealed in consciousness the freedom of the human will; their statements of the two apparently conflicting doctrines balance, but do not explain, one another; they seem to recognize the fact that we are in the presence of an insoluble mystery; and they teach us by their silence that the proper attitude of the Christian, when brought face to face with mystery, is rest in the Lord, humble childlike confidence in his love and wisdom. According to the foreknowledge of God the Father. St. Peter sets in the forefront of his Epistle the mystery of the blessed Trinity and the Divine plan of human salvation. It is, however, a question whether the words just quoted should be taken, as in the Authorized Version, with "elect" or with "apostle." Many ancient authorities take the latter view. "Thus we should have a description of St. Peter"s apostleship, such as we often read at the opening of St Paul"s Epistle. He was, like St. Paul, called to be an apostle, separated unto the gospel of God; he was chosen before the foundation of the world to be holy and without blame; like St. Paul, he had received grace and apostleship for obedience to the faith among all nations (comp. Rom_1:1, Rom_1:5) There is much to be said in favor of this connection. But, on the whole, the balance of the sentence, and the general usage of similar language in the New Testament, lead us to prefer the common view, and to regard St. Peter"s words as a description of the origin, progress, and end of God"s election. The origin is the grace of God the Father. He chose his elect before the foundation of the world. He predestinated them unto the adoption of children; and that according to the good pleasure of his will. (Eph_1:4, Eph_1:5) It is interesting to note that the substantive "foreknowledge" (prognwsiv) occurs nowhere else in Holy Scripture except in St. Peter"s Pentecostal speech. (Act_2:23) We mark the agreement of St. Peter and St. Paul (comp. Rom_8:29, "Whom he did foreknow, he also did predestinate to be conformed to the image of his Son". (comp. also Rom_11:2 and 2Ti_2:19) Election is according to the foreknowledge of God the Father;" but not simply, as the Arminians taught, ex praevisis meritis; for we cannot separate foreknowledge and predestination; the foreknowledge of an Almighty Creator must imply the exercise of choice and will; what he knoweth, that he also willeth; eligendos facit Deus (in the well-known words of St. Augustine), non invenit. Thus in ver. 20 "foreknown," the more exact rendering of the Revised Version must imply the "foreordained" of the old translation. But that foreknowledge is the foreknowledge of God the Father, the Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, but our Father also. He careth for his children; we must trust in him. The potter makes one vessel for honor, another for dishonor; but he makes none for destruction. A veil of awful mystery hangs round the relations which exist between the Almighty and his creatures; but "God is Love." Through sanctification of the Spirit; rather, in, as in the Revised Version. We have the same words inv, 2Th_2:13. The word ajgismo which St. Peter uses here, is almost peculiar to St. Paul; it occurs eight times in his Epistles; once in the Epistle to the Hebrews; but elsewhere only here in the New Testament. Like other verbals of the same form, it may have either an active or a passive meaning. Perhaps the former is the more suitable here. God"s election places the Christian in the sphere of the sanctifying influences of the Holy Spirit; he lives in the Spirit, he walks in the Spirit, he prays in the Holy Ghost; and the blessed Spirit sanctifieth the elect people of God: he worketh in them that holiness (aJgiasmon) without which they cannot; (see Heb_12:14) they have their fruit, the fruit of the Spirit, unto holiness. (aJgiasmon Rom_6:22) The fundamental idea of the Hebrew vwOdq; which is represented by the Greek word agiov, seems to be, "separation, purity," though some connect it with vd"j; and regard it as meaning originally "fresh, new, young," and so "pure, shining, bright". (see Delitzsch, on Heb_2:11) By the word "spirit" we might, if we took the words apart from the context, understand the spirit of man, which is sanctified by the Holy Spirit of God; but the context shows that St. Peter is thinking of the work of the three blessed Persons of the Holy Trinity. Unto obedience. Obedience is the work of the Spirit; for the fruit of the Spirit is love, and "if a man love me, he will keep my words." Thus election has its origin in the foreknowledge of the Father; it is wrought out in the sanctifying influences of the Spirit as its sphere, and it issues in,active obedience. Obedience is the sign and test of God"s election: "By their fruits ye shall know them." The end of election is obedience first, then everlasting life. And sprinkling of the blood of Jesus Christ. The word rJantismov, sprinkling, occurs also in Heb_12:24 (comp. also 9:19). In both places there is an evident reference to the events related in Exo_24:8, where we read that "Moses took the blood, arid sprinkled it on the people, and said, Behold the blood of the covenant, which the Lord hath made with you." We observe that in this place also ceremonial sanctification (Exo_19:10) and the promise of obedience (Exo_24:3) preceded the sprinkling of blood. "The blood of sprinkling" is called by the Lord himself the blood of the new covenant (Mat_26:28; Mar_14:24) the blood by which the covenant of grace was ratified and inaugurated. Moses sprinkled the blood of the old covenant once upon the people; the blood of the new covenant was shed once for all upon the cross; but it is ever fresh in its efficacy and power; still we have boldness to enter into the holiest by the blood of Jesus; still, if we abide in him, we have our "hearts sprinkled from an evil conscience;" still, "If we walk in the light, as he is in the light, the blood of Jesus Christ his Son is cleansing us from all sin." Those who are elect unto obedience are elect unto the sprinkling of the blood of Jesus Christ; the loving obedience of faith keeps them in the presence of the cross, within the cleansing range of the one all-sufficient sacrifice. Thus we have in this verse the concurrence of the three blessed Persons in the scheme of salvation the choice of the Father, the sanctification of the Spirit, the redeeming work of the Son. Grace unto you, and peace, be multiplied. St. Peter uses the familiar salutation of St. Paul; possibly he quotes it, for he was plainly familiar with St. Paul"s Epistles he refers to them expresslyrein 2Pe_3:15, 2Pe_3:16, and Sylvanus, the old companion of St. Paul, was now with him. He unites into one expression the Greek and Hebrew salutations, the cai of the Greeks under its Christian aspect of cariv, the favor of God; and the of the Hebrews the peace which is the fruit of grace, which is the blessed possession of those on whom the favor of God abideth. That grace and peace is granted to all the elect of God. St. Peter prays that it may be multiplied, that his readers may be blessed with an ever-increasing measure of that heavenly gift. He uses the same form of salutation in his Second Epistle. It is interesting to observe that the phrase, Peace be multiplied unto you," occurs also in the proclamation of Nebuchadnezzar, (Dan_4:1) and in that of Darius, (Dan_6:25) both written in Babylon, the city from which St. Peter now sends the message of peace. The anarthrousness of these two verses is remarkable; in the original there is not one article in vers. 1, 2.

HOMILIES BY C. NEW Ver. 2.

The elect of God.

This is no mere Jewish title, for there are passages in the Epistle which forbid the idea that it was addressed exclusively to Jews. (1Pe_1:18 1Pe_2:10 1Pe_4:3, 1Pe_4:4) It is the title of the universal Church and the individual believer. The verse is a summary of the most important and difficult points of Christian doctrine; hardly a word in it but is inexhaustible.

I THE FACT OF DIVINE ELECTION STATED. Perhaps no greater mystery in Scripture, and none more perverted; but if it is revealed from heaven we need not be afraid of it; if it comes from God who would draw all men unto him, only by misunderstanding it can it repel them from him; if it be in this book, we cannot withhold it from ourselves without spiritual loss. What is the Divine election? It is used in Scripture in different connections of election to an office; (Joh_15:16) of election to certain privileges, as the Jews; (Psa_135:4) but in a large class of passages it clearly refers to the blessings of salvation (Rom_8:28-30; Eph_1:4, Eph_1:5, Eph_1:11; 2Th_2:13; 1Pe_1:2) This is not election of a community, for it refers to matters necessarily personal; e.g. As many as were ordained to eternal life believed;" All that the Father giveth me must come to me, and him that," etc.; sanctification of the Spirit;" belief of the truth;" sprinkling of the blood;" conformed to his Son." It must be the Divine election of individuals to eternal salvation. There are certain serious prejudices to this doctrine such as that it is opposed to the goodness and justice of God. But that prejudice is unwarranted if the doctrine be really here, for God cannot break the bounds of his nature, and these must harmonize in some way, though as yet we see not how. At the same time, notice that it is election to salvation, not to perdition; we are saved by the sovereign grace of God, we are lost because of our own sin ("Come, ye blessed of my Father!" but it is only, Depart, ye cursed!"). Why does not grace save all? All we know is that it does not, and that "the Lord is righteous in all his ways," and what we know not now we shall know. What time I am afraid, I will trust in thee." Another prejudice: It seems opposed to the freedom and responsibility of man. Certainly man is free; he is commanded-to repent and believe, and held responsible for not obeying, and is reasoned and pleaded with by God; and "How often would I, but ye would not!" We cannot harmonize that with election, yet they may both be true. If we make an objection in this to seeking salvation, it is not as we act in other matters; we know that our recovery from sickness is amongst what God has determined, yet we use means for recovery, and are hopeless otherwise; so, as though there were no foreordination to eternal life, we are responsible for employing the means to secure it. If we are lost, it will not be because of foreordination, but because in our freedom we failed to use the necessary means. Another prejudice is that the doctrine seems opposed to the universal offer of salvation. Salvation is offered to all; "God willeth not the death of a sinner;" all are commanded to believe, and are condemned for not believing. Then election is not out of harmony with that, and closes the door to the salvation of none. We may not see the harmony, but God"s secret purposes cannot contradict his declared purposes.

II CERTAIN PARTICULARS RESPECTING THIS DIVINE ELECTION. Father, Son, and Spirit the whole Godhead, so to speak, combine to the redemption of a single soul.

1. The source of election. The foreknowledge of God the Father." The word "to know" in Scripture is often used for "to know with favor" (Mat_7:23; Rom_11:2 Rom_8:29) God knows, foreknows all, so that the idea of foreknowledge with favor is involved in the expression in these passages. So here; the same word as is translated "foreordained" in ver. 20 the foreknowledge of purpose, favor, as in Eph_1:5, Eph_1:9, Eph_1:11. Our salvation is entirely on a Divine basis; we are not elect because ofanything in ourselves; we choose him because he first chose us. (Eph_1:4)

1. The working out of election: The sanctification of the Spirit." Sanctification in the sense of separation, something that comes before "the sprinkling of the blood of Jesus Christ;" separation to God, equivalent to the new birth; for only thus are we called out from the world, from its joys, and sorrows, and principles, and attitude towards God. This is the seal of election the elect are the separated; the Spirit separates for God those whom God chooses for himself. And this separation is carried on to faith and every Christian grace, and final perfection in heaven.

2. The end of election: Obedience and sprinkling of the blood of Jesus Christ." "Obedience" here can hardly mean "submission to law;" it probably stands for the full expression, "the obedience of faith," as in Rom_1:8 (comp. with 16:19; 10:16; 2Th_1:8; 1Pe_4:17) The passage, then, is a striking parallel to 2Th_2:13. The end of election is faith, and the consequent application of theatoning blood. Because of what the sprinkling of that blood does for us: justifies; (Rom_3:9) cleanses; (1Jn_1:7) seals to us the blessings of the covenant; (1Co_11:25) heaven. (Heb_10:19)

III THE BENEFITS OF THE DIVINE ELECTION. "Grace and peace multiplied." The fact of election can only be stated because there is untold good in it. It is essentially the believer"s doctrine. For such it is full of encouragement and support.

1. It assures us of the certainty of multiplied grace. If God chose us to all the blessings of perfect salvation, it is certain we shall have them. Nothing can be more sure than God"s eternal purpose.

2. And this assurance produces perfect peace. None can be afraid who have (in the separation of the Spirit) the seal that they are divinely elected to grace multiplied without end. C.N.

The Pulpit Commentary (1880–1919), ed. H.D.M. Spence-Jones & Joseph S. Exell — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.

Elect

Election, Summary: In both Testaments the Hebrew and Greek words are rendered "elect," "election," "choose," "chosen." In all cases they mean, simply, "chosen," or "to choose"; and are used of both human and divine choices.

(1) In the latter use election is: (a) corporate, as of the nation of Israel, or the church Isa 45:4; Eph 1:4 and (b) individual 1Pe 1:2

(2) Election is according to the foreknowledge of God 1Pe 1:2 and wholly of grace, apart from human merit; Rom 9:11; Rom 11:5; Rom 11:6.

(3) Election proceeds from the divine volition Joh 15:16.

Election is, therefore:

(1) The sovereign act of God in grace whereby certain are chosen from among mankind for Himself. Joh 15:19.

(2) The sovereign act of God whereby certain elect persons are chosen for distinctive service for Him. Luk 6:13; Act 9:15; 1Co 1:27; 1Co 1:28

The Scofield Reference Bible (1917 edition), notes by C. I. Scofield — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.

1:2 knew you and chose you: When God knows a person, it means that he chooses that person. He chose to enter into relationship with his people before they knew him (cp. Rom 8:29; 11:2).

Tyndale Open Study Notes — © Tyndale Open Resources, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0. Text via the HelloAO Bible API.

1Pe 1:2. Κατὰ πρόγνωσιν, according to the foreknowledge) This depends upon elect. Foreknowledge is also praised (referred to), 1Pe 1:20. It includes also good-will and love.—Θεοῦ, of God) The mystery of the Trinity, and the economy of our salvation, are intimated in this verse, and indeed these constitute the sum of the Epistle.[1]—Πατρὸς, Father) even our Father.—ἐν ἁγιασμῷ Πνεύματος, in sanctification of the Spirit) 2Th 2:13, note.—εἰς ὑπακοὴν, to obedience) That obedience is meant which is rendered through faith; 1Pe 1:22, note. St Paul undoubtedly joins together, in the passage quoted above, sanctification of the Spirit and faith. Observe also the particles, κατὰ, ἐν, εἰς; by means of which the bearing of the three cardinal benefits upon election, and their mutual order, is indicated. Comp. Apocalypse Rev 1:4-6.—καὶ ῥαντισμὸν, and sprinkling) The obedient are sprinkled to the remission of their sins: 1Jn 1:7. But here the sprinkling is passive, by means of which the sprinkling is obediently received. On the subject of obedience, see again 1Pe 1:14; on the blood of sprinkling, 1Pe 1:19.—πληθυνθείη, be multiplied) to a further extent. The same word occurs, 2Pe 1:2. So Dan 6:25, εἰρήνη ὑμῖν πληθυνθείη, peace be multiplied unto you.

[1] He treats of the Father in verses 1Pe 1:3; 1Pe 1:15; 1Pe 1:17; 1Pe 1:21; 1Pe 1:23; of Christ, in verses 1Pe 1:3; 1Pe 1:7; 1Pe 1:11; 1Pe 1:13; 1Pe 1:19, 1Pe 2:3; of the Spirit, in verses 1Pe 2:11-12; 1Pe 2:22.—V. G.

Bengel's Gnomon of the New Testament — English translation (T&T Clark, Edinburgh, 1860) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.

1Pe 1:2 . The three clauses κατὰ …, ἐν …, and εἰς … qualify ἐκλεκτοῖς and perhaps also ἀπόστολος (as Oecumenius) Peter himself is elect and shares their privileges but had no need to magnify his office, as had St. Paul. Yet see Act 15:7 ff.

κατὰ πρόγνωσιν .… The noun occurs only in Act 2:23 (speech of St.Peter) in reference to the slaying of Christ τῇ ὡρισμένῃ βουλῇ καὶ προγνώσει τοῦ θεοῦ , cf. 1Pe 1:20 . The use of nouns instead of verbs is characteristic of this Epistle. The same idea is expressed more elaborately by St. Paul in Rom 8:29 ( q.v. ). Cf. Origen, Philocalia , 15. Oecumenius infers that the Apostle is thus the equal of the prophets, especially Jeremiah ( v . Jer 1:5 ). ἐν ἁγιασμῷ πνεύματος , subjective genitive like θεοῦ , being elect they are within the sphere of the proper work of the Holy Spirit. The context excludes the rendering hallowing of the ( human ) spirit . Peter uses the stereotyped phrase; cf. 2Th 2:13 (which corresponds exactly to the whole context) εἵλατο ὑμᾶς ὁ θεὸς ἀπʼ ἀρχῆς ( κατὰ πρ . θ . π .) … ἐν ἁγιασμῷ πνεύματος καὶ πίστει ἀληθείας ( εἰς ὑπ .). εἰς ὑπακοὴν … Ι . Χριστοῦ , the goal or purpose of their election. Obedience is a technical term: sc. to God; cf. 1Pe 1:14 , where it is contrasted with the ignorant disobedience of their past lives (1Pe 1:22 ). As Christians, they obeyed God and not men (Act 4:19 ; Act 5:29 ); God gives His Holy Spirit to them that obey Him (Act 5:32 ). Compare the Pauline obedience of faith . This obedience implies a change of mind in Jew and in Gentile, which is effected by the sprinkling of blood of Jesus Christ . They are now cleansed from sin, which is disobedience in Jew or Gentile. Jesus Christ, the mediator of the new covenant, sprinkles those whom God selected with His own blood, as Moses sprinkled the children of Israel who had promised obedience with the blood of oxen (Exo 24:7 f.; cf. Heb 9:19 ). But references to other sprinklings of the O.T., unconnected with obedience, must not be excluded. The word ῥαντισμός is appropriated, for example, to the water in which the ashes of the heifer were dissolved (Num 19 ); and a less obvious explanation is supported by Barnabas, “that by the remission of sins we might be purified, that is in the sprinkling of His blood for it stands writte.… by His bruise we were healed (Isa 53:5 )”. Indeed the best commentary is supplied by the Epistle to the Hebrews in which evidence of the O.T. is reviewed and the conclusion drawn that according to the law everything is cleansed by blood. All the types were summed up in the fulfilment (see especially Heb 9 .) whether they related to the Covenant or to the Worship. So in Heb 12:24 the blood of Abel the first martyr is drawn into the composite picture of typical blood sheddings. It would be possible to take ὑπακοήν with Ιησοῦ Χριστοῦ , and to render either that ye might obey Jesus Christ ( cf. 1Pe 1:22 ; 2Co 10:5 ) being sprinkled with His blood or that ye might obey as He obeyed even unto death ( cf. Heb 5:8 ; Phi 2:8 ). χάρις … πληθυνθείη · This full formula is found also in 2 Peter and Jude. For precedent see Dan. 3:31. Its use here is not merely a convention peculiar to the Petrine school; grace and peace are multiplied to match the growth of hostility with which the Christians addressed are confronted, lest the word of Jesus be fulfilled διὰ τὸ πληθυνθῆναι τὴν ἀνομίαν ψυγήσεται ἡ ἀγάπη τῶν πολλῶν (Mat 24:12 ); cf. Rom 5:20 f. In the Pastoral Epistles ἔλεος ( cf. 1Pe 1:3 ) is inserted between χ . and εἰρ ., so 2Jn 1:3 . From Gal 6:16 it appears that ἔλεος stood originally in the place which χάρις usurped (as distinctively Christian and reminiscent of the familar χαίρειν ); so that the source will be Num 6:24-26 . κύριος … ἐλεήσαι σε … καὶ δῴη σοι εἰρήνην .

The Expositor's Greek Testament, edited by W. Robertson Nicoll (1897–1910) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.

According to [κατα] . In virtue of; in accordance with.

Foreknowledge [προγνωσιν] . Only here and Act 2:23, in Peter's sermon at Pentecost. He is distinguishing there between foreknowledge and determinate counsel.

The Father. Implying that the relation contemplated by the divine foreknowledge is a new relation of sonship.

In sanctification [εν αγιασμω] . Compare 2Th 2:13. The spiritual state in which the being elected to salvation is realized. The word is peculiarly Pauline, occurring eight times in Paul 's epistles, and besides only here and Heb 12:14.

Unto obedience [εις] . Note the three prepositions : according to [κατα] the foreknowledge; in [εν] sanctification; unto [εις] obedience. The ground, sphere, and end of spiritual sanctification.

Sprinkling [ραντισμον] . Here in a passive sense - the being sprinkled. Properly, the ritualistic act of sprinkling blood or water. See Num 19:19, 21. Compare Heb 9:13; Heb 12:24; Num 19:9, 13, where the water in which were the ashes of the red heifer is called udwr rJantismou, water of sprinkling (Septuagint), which the A. V. and Rev. Old Testament render water of separation. The word and its kindred verb occur only in Hebrews and Peter.

Jesus Christ. The foreknowledge of the Father, the sanctification of the Spirit, the obedience and sprinkling of the blood of Jesus Christ the Son. The Father foreknowing, the Son atoning, the Spirit applying the Son's work in sanctifying. "The mystery of the Trinity and the economy of our salvation are intimated in this verse" (Bengel).

Grace and peace [χαρις - ειρηνη] . Pauline terms. See Rom 1:7. The salutation is peculiar by the addition of be multiplied, which occurs 2Pe 1:2; Jude 1:2, and nowhere else in the salutations of the epistles. It is found, however, in the Septuagint, Dan 4:1 (LXX 3 31), and Dan 6:25. Professor Salmond observes : "If the Babylon from which Peter writes can be taken to be the literal Babylon (see on 5 13), it might be interesting to recall the epistles introduced by salutations so similar to Peter's, which were written from the same capital by two kings, Nebuchadnezzar and Darius, of two great dynasties, and addressed to all their provinces."

Marvin R. Vincent, Word Studies in the New Testament (1887–1900) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword/MySword module.

That being set apart from the rest of the wicked world, through the working of the holy Ghost, they should be consecrate to God, Eph. 1:5.

Peter purposing to speak of the duties of a Christian life, reasoneth first of the principles and beginning of all Christian actions, rising far higher than nature, and carrying us also far above the same. For he showeth that we which are otherwise of nature sinners, were through the free mercy of God the Father first chosen from everlasting: then according to that everlasting decree were by a certain second creation made his sons in Christ his only begotten, by whose Spirit we are inwardly changed, and by whose blood we also are reconciled, to the end, that as Christ himself rose again from the dead, we also might be received into that same heavenly and everlasting glory.

Or according to the purpose of God, who never altereth nor changeth the same.

Geneva Bible (1599) marginal notes — public domain. Text via Bolls.life.

foreknowledge--foreordaining love (Pe1 1:20), inseparable from God's foreknowledge, the origin from which, and pattern according to which, election takes place. Act 2:23, and Rom 11:2, prove "foreknowledge" to be foreordination. God's foreknowledge is not the perception of any ground of action out of Himself; still in it liberty is comprehended, and all absolute constraint debarred [ANSELM in STEIGER]. For so the Son of God was "foreknown" (so the Greek for "foreordained," Pe1 1:20) to be the sacrificial Lamb, not against, or without His will, but His will rested in the will of the Father; this includes self-conscious action; nay, even cheerful acquiescense. The Hebrew and Greek "know" include approval and acknowledging as one's own. The Hebrew marks the oneness of loving and choosing, by having one word for both, bachar (Greek, "hairetizo," Septuagint). Peter descends from the eternal "election" of God through the new birth, to the believer's "sanctification," that from this he might again raise them through the consideration of their new birth to a "living hope" of the heavenly "inheritance" [HEIDEGGER]. The divine three are introduced in their respective functions in redemption.

through--Greek, "in"; the element in which we are elected. The "election" of God realized and manifested itself "IN" their sanctification. Believers are "sanctified through the offering of Christ once for all" (Heb 10:10). "Thou must believe and know that thou art holy; not, however, through thine own piety, but through the blood of Christ" [LUTHER]. This is the true sanctification of the Spirit, to obey the Gospel, to trust in Christ [BULLINGER].

sanctification--the Spirit's setting apart of the saint as consecrated to God. The execution of God's choice (Gal 1:4). God the Father gives us salvation by gratuitous election; the Son earns it by His blood-shedding; the Holy Spirit applies the merit of the Son to the soul by the Gospel word [CALVIN]. Compare Num 6:24-26, the Old Testament triple blessing.

unto obedience--the result or end aimed at by God as respects us, the obedience which consists in faith, and that which flows from faith; "obeying the truth through the Spirit" (Pe1 1:22). Rom 1:5, "obedience to the faith," and obedience the fruit of faith.

sprinkling, &c.--not in justification through the atonement once for all, which is expressed in the previous clauses, but (as the order proves) the daily being sprinkled by Christ's blood, and so cleansed from all sin, which is the privilege of one already justified and "walking in the light."

Grace--the source of "peace."

be multiplied--still further than already. Dan 4:1, "Ye have now peace and grace, but still not in perfection; therefore, ye must go on increasing until the old Adam be dead" [LUTHER].

Jamieson, Fausset & Brown — Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible (1871) — public domain (CC PDM 1.0). Text via the HelloAO Bible API.

Verse 2. Elect according to the foreknowledge of God] If the apostle had directed his letter to persons elected to eternal life, no one, as Drs. Lardner and Macknight properly argue, could have received such a letter, because no one could have been sure of his election in this way till he had arrived in heaven. But the persons to whom the apostle wrote were all, with propriety, said to be elect according to the foreknowledge of God; because, agreeably to the original purpose of God, discovered in the prophetical writings, Jews and Gentiles, indiscriminately, were called to be the visible Church, and entitled to all the privileges of the people of God, on their believing the Gospel. In this sense the word elected is used in other places of Scripture; see 1Thess 1:4, and the note there.

The Rev. J. Wesley has an excellent note on this passage, which I shall transcribe for the benefit of those of my readers who may not have his works at hand.

"Strictly speaking, there is no foreknowledge, no more than afterknowledge, with God; but all things are known to him as present, from eternity to eternity. Election, in the scriptural sense, is God's doing any thing that our merit or power has no part in. The true predestination or foreappointment of God is,

1. He that believeth shall be saved from the guilt and power of sin.

2. He that endureth to the end shall be saved eternally.

3. They who receive the precious gift of faith thereby become the sons of God; and, being sons, they shall receive the Spirit of holiness, to walk as Christ also walked.

Throughout every part of this appointment of God, promise and duty go hand in hand. All is free gift; and yet, such is the gift, that it depends in the final issue on our future obedience to the heavenly call. But other predestination than this, either to life or death eternal, the Scripture knows not of: moreover,

1. It is cruel respect of persons; an unjust regard of one, and an unjust disregard of another: it is mere creature partiality, and not infinite justice.

2. It is not plain Scripture doctrine, (if true,) but rather inconsistent with the express written word that speaks of God's universal offers of grace; his invitations, promises, threatenings, being all general.

3. We are bid to choose life, and reprehended for not doing it.

4. It is inconsistent with a state of probation in those that must be saved, or must be lost.

5. It is of fatal consequence; all men being ready, on very slight grounds, to fancy themselves of the elect number.

But the doctrine of predestination is entirely changed from what it formerly was: now it implies neither faith, peace, nor purity; it is something that will do without them all. Faith is no longer, according to the modern predestination scheme, a Divine evidence of things not seen wrought in the soul by the immediate power of the Holy Ghost; not an evidence at all, but a mere notion: neither is faith made any longer a means of holiness, but something that will do without it. Christ is no more a Saviour from sin, but a defence and a countenancer of it. He is no more a fountain of spiritual life in the souls of believers, but leaves his elect inwardly dry, and outwardly unfruitful; and is made little more than a refuge from the image of the heavenly, even from righteousness, peace, and joy in the Holy Ghost."

Through sanctification of the Spirit] through the renewing and purifying influences of his Spirit on their souls, unto obedience - to engage and enable them to yield themselves up to all holy obedience, the foundation of all which is the sprinkling of the blood of Jesus Christ - the atoning blood of Jesus Christ which was typified by the sprinkling of the blood of sacrifices under the law, in allusion to which it is called the blood of sprinkling.

Adam Clarke's Commentary on the Bible (1810–1826) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword/MySword module.

Elect according to the foreknowledge of God the Father,.... Not to any office, as to that of bishops or presbyters; for though the apostle writes to some of them under this character, Pe1 5:1 yet not all; nor were they so called, as a nation, for they were persons scattered about in several countries; nor as a church, for they are not wrote to as such; nor does this character merely design their effectual calling; though as that is a fruit and evidence of election, it is sometimes so styled, and the saints called by grace are said to be chosen; Joh 15:19 but it intends the eternal election of those persons both to grace and glory; which the apostle knew of, not by divine revelation, or any particular discovery made to him; but he concluded it in a judgment of charity, they being all under a profession of faith in Christ, and he having reason to believe that the greater part of them were truly partakers of that faith which demonstrated them to be the elect of God: the cause, spring, and source of their election was, "the foreknowledge of God the Father": to whom election is commonly ascribed, agreeably to the order of the divine Persons in the Trinity, and their distinct parts in the economy of salvation, though not to the exclusion of the Son and Spirit: and by this his "foreknowledge" is meant, not his eternal, universal, and infallible knowledge, and which is infinite, and reaches to all things and persons, present, future, or possible, for this has for its objects persons whom God never predestinated and chose: though certain it is that he knows and foreknows all whom he does predestinate and choose; nor does it intend the mere decree of election, or God's eternal purpose and resolution to choose, but the spring and source of that act of his: and much less does it mean a bare prescience of men, and choice of them, upon a foresight of faith, holiness, good works, and perseverance therein; for these are all, when genuine, the fruits and effects of election, which are included in it, and secured and brought about by it; but the sovereign grace, good will, and pleasure of God, or the everlasting love of God the Father, which is the cause of, and has given birth to the act of election, is meant by foreknowledge, joined with affection, delight, and approbation; knowledge, and foreknowledge, as ascribed to the divine Being, often signify such things; see Psa 1:6 Rom 11:1 and such a knowledge God the Father had of the persons of the elect from all eternity; and which is the ground and foundation of his choosing them to grace and glory, and not anything in them, or done by them, or anything out of himself; no other reason can be given of it than his own grace, his pure love, and sovereign good will and pleasure: the means follow, through which they were chosen,

through sanctification of the Spirit; as in Th2 2:13. See Gill on Th2 2:13. The ends to which the saints are chosen are,

unto obedience and sprinkling of the blood of Jesus Christ; by "obedience" is meant either the obedience of elect men to Christ, which lies in obeying the truth of the Gospel, called the obedience of faith; and so is the same with the "belief of the truth", which goes along in election with the sanctification of the Spirit, in Th2 2:13 and in submission to Gospel ordinances, and doing all good works in the name, faith, and strength of Christ; and which also are fruits and effects, and so not causes of divine predestination; see Eph 2:10 and also follow upon the sanctification of the Spirit; or else the obedience of Christ is intended; and so the Arabic version renders it, "unto the obedience of Jesus Christ"; which lay in his performing the precepts of the law, and bearing the penalty of it, death; and by which the chosen seed are justified, or made righteous in the sight of God, and have a title to eternal life and glory, and are safe from wrath to come; and to the enjoyment of this grace, they are chosen of God the Father; and between these two, predestination and justification, there is a close and inseparable connection; so that they that are interested in the one, are in the other; see Rom 8:30, the sprinkling of the blood of Jesus Christ; does not denote a small quantity of it, for it was shed and poured out in great abundance; but is said in allusion to the sprinkling of the blood of the passover lamb. Exo 12:22 or to the sprinkling of the blood on the book of the covenant, and on the people at Mount Sinai, Exo 24:8 or to other sprinklings of blood in their legal sacrifices: the application of the blood of Christ to the heart, by the Spirit of God, for cleansing, pardon, and justification, is meant; which affords true, solid, conscience peace and joy now, and entitles to eternal happiness and glory; all which are secured by electing grace. The salutation of these persons follows:

grace unto you, and peace, be multiplied; which is much the same that is used by the Apostle Paul in all his epistles; see Gill on Rom 1:7, only Peter adds the word "multiplied"; which makes it more express, and the sense more clear: he means an enlarged view of interest in the love of God, an increase of grace out of the fulness of it in Christ, and of Gospel light, and of the several gifts of the Spirit; and also of all prosperity outward and inward, of a conscience peace through the blood of Christ, which passeth all understanding, and a more established and well grounded hope of enjoying eternal peace hereafter. The phrase is Jewish, and is used in their salutations in this form, , "let your peace be multiplied" (t),

(t) T. Hieros. Masser Sheni, fol. 56. 3. T. Bab. Sanhedrin, fol. 11. 2.

John Gill's Exposition of the Whole Bible (1746–1763) — public domain (CC PDM 1.0). Text via the HelloAO Bible API.

2 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.

Ver. 2. Through sanctification unto obedience] To the means as well as to the end, to sanctification as well as to salvation. Some there be (saith Mr Philpot in an epistle of his to the congregation) that for an extreme refuge in their evil doings, run to God’s election, saying, If I be elected I shall be saved, whatever I do. But such be great tempters of God, and abominable blasphemers of his holy election; these cast themselves down from the pinnacle of the temple in presumption, that God may preserve them by his angels through predestination. God’s election ought to be with a simple eye considered, to make us more warily walk according to his word, and not set cock in the hoop, and put all on God’s back, to do wickedly at large. Thus he.

Grace unto you, and peace be multiplied] πληθυνθειη, or, enlarged to the utmost, filled up and accomplished. He prays for further measures, that they might be past the spoon and get to a well grown, fully grown age in Christ, Eph 4:13, until they came to be fathers, gray headed, experienced Christians, such as the Psalmist speaketh of, Psa 90:12-14.

John Trapp, A Commentary or Exposition upon All the Books of the Old and New Testament (1647–1656) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.

Elect - That is, “chosen.” The meaning here is, that they were in fact chosen. The word does not refer to the purpose to choose, but to the fact that they were chosen or selected by God as His people. It is a word commonly applied to the people of God as being chosen out of the world, and called to be His. The use of the word does not determine whether God had a previous eternal purpose to choose them or not. That must be determined by something else than the mere use of the term. This word has reference to the act of selecting them, without throwing any light on the question why it was done. See Mat 24:22, Mat 24:24, Mat 24:31; Mar 13:20; Luk 18:7; Rom 8:33; Col 3:12. Compare the notes at Joh 15:16. The meaning is, that God had, on some account, a preference for them above others as his people, and had chosen them from the midst of others to be heirs of salvation. The word should be properly understood as applied to the act of choosing them, not to the purpose to choose them; the fact of his selecting them to be his, not the doctrine that he would choose them; and is a word, therefore, which should be freely and gratefully used by all Christians, for it is a word in frequent use in the Bible, and there is nothing for which people should be more grateful than the fact that God has chosen them to salvation. Elsewhere we learn that the purpose to choose them was eternal, and that the reason of it was his own good pleasure. See the notes at Eph 1:4-5. We are here also informed that it was in accordance with “the foreknowledge of God the Father.”

According to the foreknowledge of God the Father - The Father is regarded, in the Scriptures, as the Author of the plan of salvation, and as having chosen His people to life, and given them to His Son to redeem and save, Joh 6:37, Joh 6:65; Joh 17:2, Joh 17:6,Joh 17:11. It is affirmed here that the fact that they were elect was in some sense in accordance with the “foreknowledge of God.” On the meaning of the phrase, see the notes at Rom 8:29. The passage does not affirm that the thing which God “foreknew,” and which was the reason of their being chosen, was, that they would of themselves be disposed to embrace the offer of salvation. The foreknowledge referred to might have been of many other things as constituting the reason which operated in the case; and it is not proper to assume that it could have been of this alone. It may mean that God foreknew all the events which would ever occur, and that He saw reasons why they should be selected rather than others; or that He foreknew all that could be made to bear on their salvation; or that He foreknew all that He would himself do to secure their salvation; or that He foreknew them as having been designated by his own eternal counsels; or that He foreknew all that could be accomplished by their instrumentality; or that He saw that they would believe; but it should not be assumed that the word means necessarily any one of these things.

The simple fact here affirmed, which no one can deny, is, that there was foreknowledge in the case on the part of God. It was not the result of Ignorance or of blind chance that they were selected. But if foreknown, must it not be certain? How could a thing which is foreknown be contingent or doubtful? The essential idea here is, that the original choice was on the part of God, and not on their part, and that this choice was founded on what He before knew to be best. He undoubtedly saw good and sufficient reasons why the choice should fall on them. I do not know that the reasons why he did it are revealed, or that they could be fully comprehended by us if they were. I am quite certain that it is not stated that it is because they would be more disposed of themselves to embrace the Saviour than others; for the Scriptures abundantly teach, what every regenerated person feels to be true, that the fact that we are disposed to embrace the Saviour is to be traced to a divine influence on our hearts, and not to ourselves. See Joh 6:65; Rom 9:16; Tit 3:5; Psa 110:2-3.

Through sanctification of the Spirit - The Holy Spirit, the third person of the Trinity. The Greek is, “by (ἐν en) sanctification of the Spirit;” that is, it was by this influence or agency. The election that was purposed by the Father was carried into effect by the agency of the Spirit in making them holy. The word rendered “sanctification” (ἁγιασμός hagiasmos) is not used here in its usual and technical sense to denote “the progressive holiness of believers,” but in its more primitive and usual sense of “holiness.” Compare the notes at 1Co 1:30. It means here the being made holy; and the idea is, that we become in fact the chosen or elect of God by a work of the Spirit on our hearts making us holy; that is, renewing us in the divine image. We are chosen by the Father, but it is necessary that the heart should be renewed and made holy by a work of grace, in order that we may actually become His chosen people. Though we are sinners, He proposes to save us; but we are not saved in our sins, nor can we regard ourselves as the children of God until we have evidence that we are born again. The purpose of God to save us found us unholy, and we become in fact His friends by being renewed in the temper of our mind. A man has reason to think that he is one of the elect of God, just so far as he has evidence that he has been renewed by the Holy Spirit, and so far as he has holiness of heart and life, and no further.

Unto obedience and sprinkling of the blood of Jesus Christ - This expresses the design for which they had been chosen by the Father, and renewed by the Spirit. It was that they might obey God, and lead holy lives. On the phrase “unto obedience,” see the notes at Rom 1:5. The phrase “unto sprinkling of the blood of Jesus Christ,” means to cleansing from sin, or to holiness, since it was by the sprinkling of that blood that they were to be made holy. See it explained in the notes at Heb 9:18-23; Heb 12:24.

Grace unto you, and peace, be multiplied - See the notes at Rom 1:7. The phrase “be multiplied” means, “may it abound,” or “may it be conferred abundantly on you.” From this verse we may learn that they who are chosen should be holy. Just in proportion as they have evidence that God has chosen them at all, they have evidence that He has chosen them to be holy; and, in fact, all the evidence which any man can have that he is among the elect, is that he is practically a holy man, and desires to become more and more so. No man can penetrate the secret counsels of the Almighty. No one can go up to heaven, and inspect the Book of Life to see if his name be there. No one should presume that his name is there without evidence. No one should depend on dreams, or raptures, or visions, as proof that his name is there. No one should expect a new revelation declaring to him that he is among the elect. All the proof which any man can have that he is among the chosen of God, is to be found in the evidences of personal piety; and any man who is willing to be a true Christian may have all that evidence in his own case. If anyone, then, wishes to settle the question whether he is among the elect or not, the way is plain. Let him become a true Christian, and the whole matter is determined, for that is all the proof which anyone has that he is chosen to salvation. Until a man is willing to do that, he should not complain of the doctrine of election. If he is not willing to become a Christian and to be saved, assuredly he should not complain that those who are think that they have evidence that they are the chosen of God.

Albert Barnes' Notes on the Bible (1834–1885) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword/MySword module.

Unto the obedience and sprinkling of the blood of Jesus Christ; i.e. to be saved by the merits of his death and passion. (Witham) --- All the three divine Persons conspire in the salvation of the elect. The Father as principle of their election, by his eternal prescience; the Son as victim for their sins, and the source of all merit; the Holy Ghost as the spirit of adoption and love, animating and sanctifying them, and leading them to glory.

George Leo Haydock (1774–1849), Haydock's Catholic Family Bible and Commentary, 1859 edition — public domain. Excludes Psalms (Douay-Rheims chapter numbering differs from Protestant) and Deuterocanonical books (Catholic canon only).

By elect he means, either:

1. Singled out of the world, and separated unto God in their effectual calling, as 1Co 1:1; those that are said to be called, 1Co 1:26, are said to be chosen, 1Co 1:27,28; and so the word seems to be taken, Jam 2:5; or:

2. Chosen to salvation, and the means of it, in God’s eternal decree, Eph 1:4; 2Th 2:13.

According to the foreknowledge; either:

1. The Divine preordination, or decree of election, as the word is taken, 1Pe 1:20, and then we may take elect in the first sense; men are chosen out of the world, or called in time, according as they were chosen from eternity, Rom 8:30; or:

2. Foreknowledge here is as much as approbation or love, Mat 7:25; Rom 11:2; and so signifies the free favour and good will of God, which is the fountain from whence the decree of election proceeds; and then we are to take elect in the latter sense, and so elect according to the foreknowledge of God, is, eternally designed unto life, according to, or out of, that free grace and love God did from eternity bear to them, which was the only motive he had for his choosing them: or, (which comes to the same), by foreknowledge we may understand election itself, as it is in God; and by election, the same, as terminated in the creature, and executed in effectual calling.

Of God the Father; this doth not exclude the Son or Spirit from their interest in and concurrence to the Divine decree, but only notes the order of working among the three Persons in the affair of man’s salvation; election is ascribed to the Father, reconciliation to the Son, and sanctification to the Spirit.

Through sanctification: sanctification seems to be taken in a large sense, for the whole change of our spiritual state, both as to real grace in regeneration, and relative in justification; so that God may then be said to sanctify us, when in our effectual calling he justifies us from our sins, and renews us unto obedience: so it is taken, Heb 10:10.

Of the Spirit; this is to be understood rather of the Spirit of God, the efficient of sanctification, than the spirit or soul of man, the subject of it.

Unto obedience; either:

1. The obedience of Christ to God; and then the sense is, elect, or ordained to be, by the sanctification of the Spirit, made partakers of the benefits of Christ’s obedience: or:

2. The obedience of believers to Christ, and that either in their believing, faith being a giving obedience to the great command of the gospel, Joh 6:29, and particularly called obedience, Rom 1:5; and then the sense runs thus, elect unto faith, which was to be wrought in you by the sanctification of the Spirit: or else in the exercise of holiness, which is the fruit of faith; and then it signifies the same as Eph 1:4, chosen, that you might be made, by the sanctification of the Spirit, holy and unblamable, and might accordingly demean yourselves.

And sprinkling of the blood of Jesus Christ; an allusion to the sprinkling of the blood of the sacrifices under the law, Heb 9:13,14,20-22; Heb 12:24; it signifies the application of the blood of Christ for the purging of the conscience, (which was typified by those legal sprinklings), especially from the guilt of sin; which sprinkling, or application of the blood of Christ to our consciences, is performed on our part by faith, on God’s part by his Spirit working that faith in us (as well as enabling us unto obedience) in our effectual calling, as likewise by God’s imputing Christ’s righteousness to us; and so the sense of the whole is: Elect according to the foreknowledge of God, to be by the sanctification of the Spirit brought into the participation of all the benefits of Christ’s redemption; the sum of which consists in the renovation of your natures unto gospel obedience, and the justification of your persons.

Grace unto you, and peace, be multiplied; there being several kinds of grace, 1Pe 4:10, and several kinds of peace, outward and inward, he wisheth them all kinds of each; and there being several degrees and measures of both, he prays for an increase of these degrees in them, and so a multiplication of all good, both temporal and spiritual, to them.

Matthew Poole's English Annotations on the Holy Bible (1683–1685) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword/MySword module.

2. Elect—Persons selected or chosen out of the multitudes of those countries, leaving large numbers behind. There is no ground for the assumption by expositors that this election is to eternal blessedness. Not only is it without intimation in the passage, but it is distinctly stated to be unto obedience and sprinkling of the blood of Jesus Christ, which belong to this present life. Equally unfounded is the assumption that foreknowledge signifies, or implies, the divine love, or counsel, or purpose. It simply means, knowledge beforehand. See note on Rom_8:29. God’s foreknowledge always precedes election; and our apostle here teaches that the election is grounded upon it.

Father—Each person of the blessed Trinity has his share in the work of salvation.

Through sanctification—Separation from the world and holy consecration to God, effected by the Holy Spirit, are the means of entering the class of the elect.

Unto obedience—This is one of the objects and ends of the divine choosing. Note on Rom_9:13, paragraph 5.

Sprinkling—A comparison of Exo_24:6-8 with Heb_9:11-14, shows that the reference is to the blood of Jesus Christ in its purifying, rather than in its expiating power. Walking in all holy obedience, the believer, trusting in the blood of the cross, realizes not only pardon, but the continual cleansing of his soul.

Grace—See the forms of salutation in St. Paul. “May your peace be multiplied,” was a form frequent with the rabbies.

Daniel D. Whedon (gen. ed.), Commentary on the Old and New Testaments (1874–1909) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.

According to the foreknowledge of God - Speaking after the manner of men. Strictly speaking, there is no foreknowledge, no more than afterknowledge, with God: but all things are known to him as present from eternity to eternity. This is therefore no other than an instance of the divine condescension to our low capacities. Elect - By the free love and almighty power of God taken out of, separated from, the world. Election, in the scripture sense, is God's doing anything that our merit or power have no part in. The true predestination, or fore-appointment of God is,

1. He that believeth shall be saved from the guilt and power of sin.

2. He that endureth to the end shall be saved eternally.

3. They who receive the precious gift of faith, thereby become the sons of God; and, being sons, they shall receive the Spirit of holiness to walk as Christ also walked. Throughout every part of this appointment of God, promise and duty go hand in hand. All is free gift; and yet such is the gift, that the final issue depends on our future obedience to the heavenly call. But other predestination than this, either to life or death eternal, the scripture knows not of. Moreover, it is.

1. Cruel respect of persons; an unjust regard of one, and an unjust disregard of another. It is mere creature partiality, and not infinite justice.

2. It is not plain scripture doctrine, if true; but rather, inconsistent with the express written word, that speaks of God's universal offers of grace; his invitations, promises, threatenings, being all general.

3. We are bid to choose life, and reprehended for not doing it.

4. It is inconsistent with a state of probation in those that must be saved or must be lost.

5. It is of fatal consequence; all men being ready, on very slight grounds, to fancy themselves of the elect number. But the doctrine of predestination is entirely changed from what it formerly was. Now it implies neither faith, peace, nor purity. It is something that will do without them all. Faith is no longer, according to the modern predestinarian scheme, a divine "evidence of things not seen," wrought in the soul by the immediate power of the Holy Ghost; not an evidence at all; but a mere notion. Neither is faith made any longer a means of holiness; but something that will do without it. Christ is no more a saviour from sin; but a defense, a countenancer of it. He is no more a fountain of spiritual life in the soul of believers, but leaves his elect inwardly dry, and outwardly unfruitful; and is made little more than a refuge from the image of the heavenly; even from righteousness, peace, and joy in the Holy Ghost. Through sanctification of the Spirit - Through the renewing and purifying influences of his Spirit on their souls. Unto obedience - To engage and enable them to yield themselves up to all holy obedience, the foundation of all which is, the sprinkling of the blood of Jesus Christ - The atoning blood of Christ, which was typified by the sprinkling of the blood of sacrifices under the law; in allusion to which it is called "the blood of sprinkling."

John Wesley, Explanatory Notes Upon the Whole Bible (1754–1765) — public domain. Text via the GEBible commentary corpus.

ARGUMENT 1

ELECTION

2. “Elect according to the foreknowledge of God the Father, through sanctification of the Spirit.” In regeneration, we receive the nomination as candidates for heaven. As it here says, in the sanctification of the Holy Spirit we are elected into the heavenly inheritance. The Calvinistic churches, which are founded on the doctrine of election, ought to be red-hot sanctificationists because their election only becomes valid in the sanctified experience, wrought in the heart by the Holy Spirit. If they are not sanctified, their election inevitably turns out Satanic and sends them to hell instead of to heaven. Hence this Scripture settles the conclusion that the whole system of the Calvinistic theology hinges on the sanctification of the Holy Ghost, or it inevitably capsizes, dumping them into hell; therefore all the Calvinistic churches would consistently make a life and death fight on the great and glorious experience of entire sanctification, wrought in the heart by the Holy Spirit. While we are nominated in conversion and elected in sanctification, we are crowned in glorification. If Mr. McKinley, though now elected President of the United States, should

die before March 4th, he will never be inaugurated nor encumber the Presidential chair. Though sanctified people are already elected to the glories of heaven, they are still on probation, liable to fall, forfeit their election, die spiritually and lose their own souls. God help us to make our calling and election sure. “Unto obedience and sprinkling of the blood of Jesus Christ.” Our faithful obedience and co-operation with God in this world and in the heavenly worlds through all eternity, constitute the ad ultimatum for which we are called into existence. Entire sanctification is absolutely necessary to eliminate all antagonism and render us perfectly free and obedient as angels, not only through life, but the flight of eternal ages. Some churches preach salvation by obedience. They ought to be uncompromising sanctificationists, because perfect and satisfactory obedience is utterly impossible till sanctification has removed all depravity, and thus swept away all the antagonisms to that complete and delightful obedience which alone can satisfy our Heavenly Father. This lost world can only be saved by the blood of Jesus Christ. Though that blood has been shed, it must come in contact with human souls in order to save them. God’s true people are all faithful sprinklers of the blood on the ruined millions of this fallen world. The Word is the great medium through which the blood is sprinkled on the people who hear it. The Gospel in sermon, exhortation, appeal, prayer, testimony and song, sprinkles the cleansing blood of Jesus on all receptive and appreciative hearers. This verse reveals the fact that the sanctification wrought by the Holy Spirit is the condition of our election, acceptable obedience and true efficiency in the sprinkling of the blood, by which the world is to be saved.

ARGUMENT 2

SPIRITUAL ARITHMETIC

“Grace and peace unto you be multiplied.” The Bible contains but one grand primal truth, i.e., sin and its remedy. This great compound truth is elucidated by imagery infinitesimal, deduced from every conceivable ramification of the material world, and especially domestic life. Here we have mathematics tied in to elucidate the wonderful plan of salvation. Regeneration is a wonderful addition, bringing life into the dead soul and

adding the kingdom of God to a bankrupt spirit. Sanctification is subtraction taking the hereditary sin element out of the heart, leaving it in Edenic purity. Really there are only two fundamental rules in arithmetic, i.e. addition and subtraction, multiplication being a rapid form of addition and division an expeditious method of subtraction. Sin goes out of the heart to make room for grace. Then multiplication follows in the incoming floods of the Holy Ghost filling and inundating the entire spiritual being with unutterable floods of rhapsody and heavenly fruition, so we ere long find ourselves floating in an ocean without bottom or bank. Then division follows as a normal fruitage of multiplication. With thrilling enthusiasm we delight to impart the heavenly benefaction to all we meet, thus dividing indefinitely and unstintedly. Meanwhile the Omnipotent Giver incessantly supplies us faster than we can possibly dispense. A penniless orphan boy in France, feeling the innate predilection to seek happiness, observing the rich moving in pomp and pageantry, soliloquizes, “I will get rich, and then I know I will be happy.” He works hard, becomes a business expert, a shrewd speculator, runs day and night, eventually gets vast money-making enterprises on foot, and as the years roll on, accumulates a princely fortune. In his enthusiasm he neglects matrimony and finds himself a bachelor of sixty years, prematurely old, worn out with toil and racked with rheumatism because of exposure. He is now a millionaire, his finances dispersed in merchandise, real estate, railroads and bank stocks. Again he soliloquizes, “Is life destined to be a failure? I thought when I accumulated all the wealth heart can wish, I would certainly be a happy man; but, alas! the happiness of my boyhood when I toiled all day for my victuals and clothes, and slept soundly on a rick of straw at night, has fled and left me a miserable old man, tortured with rheumatic pains and burdened with innumerable cares and responsibilities. I will make one more effort; selling out all my vast estates for gold, I will put it in a bag and keep it hid in my house, then I certainly can take my rest and enjoy the world and be happy, for the gold will bring me everything heart can wish.” He proceeds at once, turns all of his estates into glittering gold, brings it home, sits down in his easy chair, perfectly free from every care and says, “Now I will be happy.” Oh, how he has mistaken! He thinks every man he sees is a robber, coming to kill him and take his gold. Sleep takes its flight. In the dismal dreams of exhausted nature, he sees daggers gleaming in the moonlight, and is affrighted by the reports of fire-arms. Again he

soliloquizes, “Alas for me! Would that I had never been born! Life is no longer bearable. There is nothing left but suicide.” He goes down to the beautiful river Seine to plunge beneath the rolling billow and put an end to a life intolerably wretched. Standing on the bank contemplating the fatal leap, putting his hand in his pocket, he lights on a few coins. Now he soliloquizes, “It would not be right to plunge in with this money and waste it, But what shall he do with it? For the first time in his life he thinks about giving something to the poor. Espying a squalid hovel in a rocky ravine, he goes to the door and overhears a voice within, “please God, do send on the good man I saw last night in my dream. Come and give me some money to buy bread for my starving children, for here my husband lies dying on this bed, and my children are starving. Oh, send on the good man.” Responsive to his rap, the door swings open. Meanwhile he holds out the money to the woman, who praises God for the answer to her prayer, certifying that he is the very man she saw in her dream. The little children kiss the hand that ministers to their wants, while the sick man calls the benefactor to his bed to receive his dying blessing. Down on their knees the woman and children fall to pray God’s blessing on their benefactor. The sick man joins them at the throne of grace. The old iron heart of the miser begins to heave and bound like a volcano with the first spiritual emotions he ever felt in all his life. There and then he is powerfully converted to God, forgets all about suicide, hastens to his bag of gold, gets an ample supply to relieve the pauper, mounts the thoroughfares, goes on missions of mercy to the ends of the earth, preaching Jesus and relieving all in distress. Wherever poverty frowns and misery lingers, into lonely prisons and dark hovels, there he goes, carrying the sunshine of both worlds, till he gives away the vast fortune he had accumulated. Then the angels come for him and take him to heaven. We narrate this incident to illustrate the wonders of spiritual multiplication and division. The accumulation of this fortune was the necessary antecedent to its disbursement among the suffering poor. In spiritual mathematics we first receive the addition of a new heart, then the sanctification of a clean heart, which is followed by multiplication in the wonderful incoming floods of the Holy Ghost. This is the transcendent qualification for a life truly efficient in soul saving. Well did Jesus say, “The children of this world are wiser in their generation than the children of light.” There is not a literary school in America that would tolerate a

teacher incompetent to lead the pupils beyond addition. Yet the great majority of the churches (the schools of Christ) are taught by preachers who have never even reached subtraction, to say nothing of multiplication and division. No wonder their members starve to death, because division which can only follow multiplication, is the dispensation of soul food. Good Lord, how long shall this spiritual famine prevail in the churches?

William B. Godbey, Commentary on the New Testament (1896–1900) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.

2. According to the foreknowledge of God. Their election and salvation was in accordance with God's predetermined purpose to save men through the gospel, and hence, according to foreknowledge. In sanctification of the spirit. The means by which they become elect are pointed out. They were separated from the world by the gospel, the word of the Spirit, a sanctification which signifies “a setting apart to holy uses.” They were thus separated unto obedience and sprinkling of the blood of Jesus Christ. In obeying this they were “baptized into the death of Christ” (Rom. 6:1–4), and their sins were pardoned. The sanctification in this case precedes obedience and pardon.

B. W. Johnson's The People's New Testament with Notes (1889–1891) — public domain. Electronic text from the Christian Classics Ethereal Library (CCEL) ThML edition.

2. This verse probably refers both to St Peter’s own position as an apostle of Jesus Christ and to that of his readers as the “chosen” people of God. Just as in Rom 1:1; Rom 1:6-7, St Paul couples himself and his readers together, he himself being “called to be an apostle” (κλητὸς ἀπόστολος) and they “called to be saints” (κλητοῖς ἁγίοις), so here St Peter regards both his own choice to be an apostle and that of his readers to be the new Israel of God as being due to a divine purpose. The verse seems certainly to describe the operation of the three Persons in the Trinity in fitting men to be God’s fellow-workers in the world. The Father in His eternal knowledge contemplates them as His chosen agents, the Holy Spirit consecrates and hallows them continuously for their work, which is to obey God’s will as covenanted members of Jesus Christ His Son, by whose blood as the true covenant victim they are sprinkled. For other passages where the threefold name is similarly introduced cf. 1Co 12:4-6; 2Co 13:13; Eph 4:4-6; 2Th 2:13-14; Tit 3:4-6; Rom 8:16-17.

The occurrence of such passages presupposes a recognized, although still unformulated, belief in the Holy Trinity, which can hardly have originated without some authoritative utterance of our Lord such as the great commission to baptize in the name of the Father, Son and Holy Ghost in Mat 28:19, or the discourse recorded in John 14.

The three clauses κατὰ, ἐν, εἰς, may be taken either as parallel to each other as denoting three different aspects of the divine choice, ascribed to the three Persons in the Holy Trinity, or more probably as successive stages, each dependent upon the preceding: κατὰ, the standard of God’s eternal design; ἐν, the means by which it is worked out; εἰς, the aim of that design.

The “call” to a position of privilege and therefore of service is a “link in the chain of providential care which began in the eternal loving purpose of God.” This thought is elaborated in fuller detail in Rom 8:28-30.

It is however somewhat remarkable that St Paul nowhere refers to “the blood of sprinkling.”

κατὰ πρόγνωσιν. The substantive does not occur in the LXX. except in the Apocrypha. In the N.T. it only occurs again in St Peter’s speech on the day of Pentecost (Act 2:23) that Jesus was “delivered up by the determinate counsel and foreknowledge of God.” The verb is used of men “knowing beforehand” (Act 26:5; 2Pe 3:17), but in Rom 8:29 it is used of God “foreknowing” certain persons whom He also predestinated and called; in Rom 11:2 it is used of the “people whom God foreknew” as not being cast away by God despite appearances, and in 1Pe 1:20 it is used of Christ as the true paschal lamb “foreknown before the foundation of the world.” So here St Peter regards God as having from the first contemplated certain individuals like himself and a society or “chosen people” like his readers to carry on the work of Israel as His agents in the world. Cf. Isa 49:1 and Jer 1:5, “Before I formed thee in the belly I knew thee … I sanctified thee. I have appointed thee a prophet unto the nations.”

θεοῦ πατρός. Θεός is never a mere proper name in the N.T. but denotes the power, supremacy, authorship and superintendence of God. πατήρ is frequently used to describe God as the Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, but also of God as “our Father.” Sometimes (as probably here) the two ideas are coupled together because it is only as “a member of Christ” that a man becomes “the child of God” in the highest sense. So our Lord spoke to His disciples of going to “My Father and your Father,” and in Rom 8:29 St Paul says that God’s object in choosing men “to be conformed to the image of his Son” was “that He might be the first-born among many brethren.”

ἐν ἁγιασμῷ πνεύματος might mean by the hallowing of our human spirit, but the context implies that hallowing by the Holy Spirit is intended. This is the process in which God’s choice takes effect in the equipment of His agents. The root (ἁγ-), see note 1Pe 1:15, means to set apart, so to consecrate. Apostles, prophets and every member of the chosen people need a life-long hallowing for their special office. As applied to the whole body of Christians cf. 2Th 2:13, “God chose you from the beginning unto salvation, ἐν ἁγιασμῷ πνεύματος,” from which passage St Peter may perhaps be borrowing.

εἰς ὑπακοήν κ.τ.λ. This choosing by God, this hallowing process employed upon those chosen, is intended to result in (εἰς) their obedience. Unless they fulfil that divine purpose, to have been “known by God” will only increase their guilt. Cf. Amo 3:2, “You only have I known of all the families of the earth: therefore I will visit upon you all your iniquities.”

ῥαντισμὸν αἵματος. The only instances where persons were sprinkled with blood in the O.T. were (a) the sprinkling of a leper with the blood of a bird, Lev 14:6-7; (b) the sprinkling of Aaron and his sons with the blood of a ram to consecrate them for their priestly work (Exo 29:21; Lev 8:30); (c) the sprinkling of the people by Moses at Sinai when the covenant between God and Israel was ratified (Exo 24:3-8). It is possible that St Peter may be referring to the second of these as he does elsewhere describe his readers as a body of priests to offer up spiritual sacrifices, and this idea seems to be referred to also in Heb 10:22, where Christians having access into the Holy of Holies in the blood of Jesus, their great High Priest, are bidden themselves to “draw near” as priests whose hearts are sprinkled and their bodies bathed with pure water, just as the High Priest was sprinkled with blood at his consecration and also bathed before the day of Atonement. According to Hort (1 Pet., p. 23), however, the reference here is to the sprinkling of the whole people at Sinai. Moses proclaimed to the people all the words of Jehovah and all the judgments, and they promise obedience. Then to make it a binding covenant an altar is built and victims are killed by representatives of each tribe. Half of the blood is poured upon the altar as representing Jehovah, while the other half is sprinkled upon the people as the other contracting party in the covenant. The people, having heard the Book of the Covenant read, promise “All that Jehovah hath spoken will we do and be obedient,” and the blood is described as the “blood of the covenant.” This ceremony is referred to in Heb 9:7; Heb 9:11-22, where it is contrasted with the new covenant of which Jesus is at once the mediator and the covenant victim. The blood once shed upon the altar of the cross as the pledge of God’s share in the covenant is also sprinkled upon the people as the pledge of their share in it. Cf. also Heb 12:24.

The same idea is also suggested by our Lord’s words in instituting the Sacrament of His Body and Blood, “This is My Blood of the Covenant” or “the new Covenant in My Blood.” It is not only a continual remembrance of the sacrifice of the death of Christ, of the blood outpoured upon the altar of the Cross and accepted by God as the pledge of His share in the Covenant as promising pardon, but it also assures us that we are the covenanted people of God, “very members incorporate in … the blessed company of all faithful people” and as such pledged to obedience.

Dr Chase (Hastings, D. of B. III. 794) on the other hand argues that the preposition εἰς, following as it does the ἐν ἁγιασμῷ, must point to the goal of God’s divine purpose and not to the initial pledge of obedience, when the Christian is first admitted into the new covenant by the initial sprinkling of blood. He therefore suggests a reference to the sprinkling with water (Num 19:9; Num 19:13; Num 19:20 f.) by which a faithful Israelite, defiled by contact with a dead body, was sprinkled with the water of separation. So the blood of Christ can purge the conscience of the obedient Christian from dead works (Heb 9:14); cf. also 1Jn 1:7, “If we walk in the light … the blood of Jesus cleanseth us from all sin.” In answer to this it may be urged that initiation into the covenant points forward to a life of obedience as its goal, and to be sprinkled with the blood of Christ, the covenant victim, is not only an initial means of admission but also a source of continuous cleansing in which “our souls are washed through His most precious blood.” Again it also pledges us to share the sacrificial life of Christ by “presenting ourselves, our souls and bodies as a living sacrifice” to God. Just as in Baptism we are signed with the Cross not merely as a rite of initiation but as a token that we must share Christ’s Cross and fight manfully under His banner, so to be admitted into fellowship with Christ by the blood of sprinkling involves fellowship with His sufferings, and this idea would have special force for St Peter’s readers who were face to face with persecution (cf. 2Co 1:5; Php 3:10, etc.).

χάρις ὑμῖν καὶ εἰρήνη. This is St Paul’s regular greeting except in 1 and 2 Tim. where ἔλεος is added. Some would regard it as a combination of the Greek greeting χαίρειν and the Hebrew greeting שָׁלוֹם = peace, but more probably it represents the old priestly blessing (Num 6:24), “The Lord be gracious to thee … and give thee peace.”

πληθυνθείη is perhaps borrowed from “Peace be multiplied to you,” Dan 4:1; Dan 6:25. In the N.T. it occurs again in the salutation in 2 Pet. and Jude. St Peter asks that the trials through which his readers have to pass may only increase God’s gifts of grace and peace.

Cambridge Greek Testament for Schools and Colleges (Cambridge University Press, 1896; 21 vols, various authors incl. Carr, Maclear, Plummer, Farrar, Lumby, Moule, M. R. James, Simcox) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.

2.] Address and greeting: corresponding generally with those of St. Paul’s Epistles, designating however himself more briefly, and his readers more at length.

2.] according to (i. e. in pursuance of. The local meaning of κατά with an accus., ‘along (down) the direction of,’ gives at once the derived meaning here. κατὰ πρόγ. κ.τ.λ. follows ἐκλεκτοῖς, the emphatic position of the predicative epithet having as it were left its sound yet ringing in the ear, so that this epexegesis of it, though unusual, does not occasion any difficulty. Œc., as also Cyr.-alex. de Recta Fide (Huther), joins κατὰ πρόλν. with ἀπόστολος: which can hardly be) foreknowledge (not merely “prævisio fidei,” as Calov., but nearly synonymous with βουλή or προορισμός. It may be, and often is, this “prævisio” merely: see the word πρόγνωσις in Suicer, and Origen in Cramer’s Catena: but can hardly be this here, where it is made distinctly to be the moving cause of election. See again on ver. 20, where the signification “fore-decreed” is necessary to the context. “The difference between προγιγνώσκειν and προορίζειν is this, that in the former idea, the fact of knowledge is especially put forward, seeing that all God’s decrees rest on the ground of His omniscience.” Huther. “Eligendos facit Deus, non invenit,” is an important remark of Augustine. Cf. Hofmann’s Schriftbeweis, i. 228 ff.) of God the Father (thus indicated, as leading on to the great mystery of the Holy Trinity in the work of our salvation) in (not “through,” as E. V.: the κατά betokens the origin, and enduring pattern after which,—ἐν, the conditional and abiding element in which, and εἰς, the result for which. So that ἐν is not = εἰς τὸ εἶναι ἐν as De Wette) sanctification (reff.) of the Spirit (gen. subjective, or rather efficient, the Spirit being the worker of the sanctification: πνεύματος, not, as Beza, “vel spiritus sanctus, vel anima, quæ sanctificatur”) unto (result as regards us—the fruit which we are to bring forth, and the state into which we are to be brought) obedience (absolutely, Christian obedience, the obedience of faith, as in ver. 14: see reff.: not to be taken with Ἰησοῦ χριστοῦ, which belongs closely to αἵματος) and sprinkling of the blood of Jesus Christ (i. e. admission into and standing in that covenant, whose atoning medium is Christ’s blood,—and mode of application, the sprinkling of that blood on the heart by faith. The allusion is to Exo 24:8, where the covenant was inaugurated by sprinkling the blood on the people. This, as Huther remarks, was the only occasion on which the blood was thus sprinkled on persons: for on the great day of atonement, only the sacred vessels were thus sprinkled. So also in Heb 9:13. But we need not confine the virtue of the sprinkling to admission into the covenant. Doubtless its purifying power, especially as connected with ὑπακοή, is also in the mind of the Apostle. And thus Hofmann, Schriftb. ii. 1. 305: maintaining that the Death of Christ is not only, as looking back on the past, a propitiation for sin, thereby removing the obstacle which stood in the way of God’s gracious purpose towards man,—but also, looking forward to the future, a capacitating of us for the participation in God’s salvation: just as Israel, sin having been atoned for by the sacrifice itself, was admitted into the actual state of reconciliation by the sprinkling on them of the sacrificial blood.

The gen. αἵματος is that of the object, or material with which: cf. Heb 9:21, αἵματι ἐράντισεν.

“By this description of the readers, an anticipation is given of the whole train of thought in the Epistle: the aim of which is to impress the blessed certainty of salvation, and with that, the obligations incurred by receiving God’s gift.” Harless): grace and peace be multiplied onto you (so, but more fully, in reff. 2 Pet. and Jude. “Pax a gratia distinguitur, tanquam fructus et effectus a sua causa.” Gerhard. “Pax vestra multiplicetur” is quoted as a Rabbinical salutation by Wetstein and Schöttgen).

Henry Alford, The Greek Testament (1849–1861) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.