“So, in order to say hello…”

Peter, an apostle of Jesus Christ,

To the exiles of the Dispersion in Pontus, Galatia, Cappadocia, Asia, and Bithynia, ²who have been chosen and destined by God the Father and sanctified by the Spirit to be obedient to Jesus Christ and to be sprinkled with his blood:

May grace and peace be yours in abundance.

These are verses 1 and 2, the first sentence, Peter’s greeting to his intended audience.  Having gone back through the various posts on the various pieces of this greeting, I realize that I should have started with this kind of an overview.  But this is not a 'do over' event, it is learning.  When entering into God's Word, there is meaning in the words, the terms, the phrases, the sentences, in the very structure of each book.  I hope God opens my eyes to see more of these amazing things as we progress.     

Moving forward, I am going to go sentence by sentence, (NOT verse by verse) starting with an overview, ending with a connector to what came before.  One tidbit, in Greek, there is no punctuation as we know it.  Letters are pretty much run-on sentences, the structure defined by the verb forms.  It is different from English, which is rather highly structured.  I should note that verses are convenient ways to divide the text, but they are NOT part of the original and can sometimes be confusing if assumed to be sentence structure.

So, sentence 1, vss. 1 and 2 of 1 Peter:

Peter, an apostle of Jesus Christ… Peter is identifying himself and establishing his credentials, an apostle of Jesus.

To the exiles of the Dispersion in Pontus, Galatia, Cappadocia, Asia, and Bithynia, ²…   Peter is now identifying his audience, they are Jews dispersed from the Promised land-historically defined as “the Dispersion”, with geographic boundaries, in this case, the Roman provinces in what we know as Central and Northeastern Turkey.

who have been chosen and destined by God the Father…  This couplet implies two ‘levels’ of selection by God, the All-Father.  One is historic and theological, that these are Jews, God’s chosen people.  The second is theologically significant to the current ministry, that they are destined, indicating a more focused selection within God’s Chosen People.

and sanctified by the Spirit…  ‘Chosen and destined’ are an external mechanism, given down by God, sanctification by the Spirit is an internal mechanism, a manner of being made holy by God’s Spirit, that expression of God that lives within people who believe in Him.

to be obedient to Jesus Christ and to be sprinkled with his blood:  This is what we are chosen, destined, and sanctified to do, be obedient to Jesus Christ, God’s Son, which is the demand of every covenant, every agreement that God has made with us AND to be sprinkled by his blood, the method of offering blood for blood, life for life, the sacrifice of a substitute for the punishment demanded when we are not obedient-our very lives.

May grace and peace be yours in abundance.   Peter is writing to this audience, defined historically, geographically, theologically, and redemptively to continue to give them the truth of Jesus Christ.  Grace and peace come through the process he has just laid out in his introduction.

Time to take a breath...