BBCC Bible Study Notes

Who God Says You Are - 1 Peter 1:1-2

September 15, 2024

Introduction: Pain and Discomfort

Pop quiz: What does pain and discomfort tell you?

Some usual, often unspoken, answers are:

• God can't take care of you.
• God won't take care of you.

Peter offers a different perspective on suffering that can change how you go through hardship.

1 Peter 1:1-2: Who Are You? What Is Your Identity?

Elect Exiles

Peter, an apostle of Jesus Christ,
To God's elect, exiles scattered throughout the provinces of Pontus, Galatia, Cappadocia, Asia and Bithynia, who have been chosen according to the foreknowledge of God the Father, through the sanctifying work of the Spirit, to be obedient to Jesus Christ and sprinkled with his blood: Grace and peace be yours in abundance.

Peter and his audience experienced significant pain and persecution.

• Christians are “exiles” or “refugees” in this world.
• Pain reminds us that this world is not our true home.
• But Christians are also “elect” — chosen by God.

Three Ways You Are Chosen

1. Chosen according to God's foreknowledge.
2. Chosen through the sanctifying work of the Spirit.
3. Chosen to be obedient to Christ and sprinkled with his blood.

Think about all the problems we face that are part of having an insecure identity — the ways we are fearful, or go into flight or fight mode. Imagine if all of that could be different.

Pain reminds us of whose we are — that we belong to God, even though we do not belong in this world.

Application: Living as Strangers

Believing we belong to God changes everything.

Join us in studying 1 Peter to learn how to live as strangers.

Five Ways to Engage

• Sermons
• Reading
• Notes
• Discussion questions
• Memory verse

Summary

Pain and discomfort remind us of who we really are — we are exiles in this world who belong to God. Embracing this identity has the power to transform our lives and help us persevere through suffering.

BBCC Verse of the Week

… To God’s elect, exiles scattered… who have been chosen according to the foreknowledge of God the Father, through the sanctifying work of the Spirit, to be obedient to Jesus Christ and sprinkled with his blood: Grace and peace be yours in abundance.

1 Peter 1:1-2 Study/Discussion Guide

We have some great devotionals in the lobby — pick one up and read devotionally each day.

This is a different tool to encourage your growth in Scripture:

1. Some notes that go a little deeper than what I can talk about on a Sunday morning.
2. Some questions to go a little wider as you talk to people and think about how the Spirit may be making you more holy through his Word.

Use the first section as a springboard to learning more about the Bible. Use the second section to talk to others about what you are learning. Talk in the car on the way home, chat with folks during the week — some of our Bible studies will be using these to discuss together.

Bible Notes

At the beginning of his letter to scattered Christians, Peter doesn't address these people in terms of their ancestry, their moral background, their social status, their wealth or poverty. While all those things are part of their old identity, he is sketching out the new one. It is easy to forget our basic identity as Christians, and it is therefore important to be reminded of it on a regular basis. We are people who, by the grace of God, have been chosen for a particular purpose. All Christians live a strange double life: Peter addresses his audience as foreigners, not because they have emigrated to where they now live but because they now have a dual citizenship. They are simultaneously inhabitants of this or that actual country or district (Pontus, Galatia or wherever), and citizens of God's new world which, as he will shortly say, is waiting to be unveiled.

We can discern in Peter an “about-face” over the question of Jesus’ death: from outright rejection (Matt. 16:22) and denial (Luke 22:54–71), to restoration (John 21), to preaching the death and vindication of Jesus (Acts 2), to finding in the death of Jesus the ultimate paradigm of Christian existence (1 Peter 2:18–25). This trail of Peter’s conversion is what lies beneath our letter: a Peter who found in Jesus’ death and resurrection the secret of life. Another feature of his life that is fundamental for understanding his letter is that his original name was “Simon” and only through a special calling by Jesus was it changed to “Cephas” (or “Peter”). His name change included Jesus’ prediction of his role in the development of the early church: Simon would be a “foundation,” a “rock” (petros), upon whom the church would be built. In light of this, Peter developed the metaphor of Christians as “living stones” (2:4–8).

Most modern interpreters understand the address to Peter’s readers as “foreigners” to be a metaphor that describes the Christian’s relationship to the world. By virtue of faith in Christ, home is heaven, and Christians therefore are just passing through this world as foreigners. The term parepidemos was used in the first century to designate someone who did not hold citizenship in the place where he resided and was therefore viewed as a foreigner. The lack of citizenship implied that such people did not enjoy all the rights and privileges of citizens. Moreover, as foreigners, they were not necessarily expected to hold the values and practice the customs of their host culture. Because of such differences, foreigners were often looked upon suspiciously as potentially subversive to the established social order, an attitude not unfamiliar even today.

Discussion Questions

• What are some ways that people try to define themselves or find their identity?
• Read 1 Peter 1:1-9. What are the various ways Peter says believers have a special identity in Christ?
• For each one of these various ways, how would it affect you if you lived out of that identity instead of how we usually define ourselves, or how we let others define us?