Study of First Peter Lesson 3
The third
phrase: that you may obey Jesus Christ and be sprinkled with His
blood:
As choice strangers scattered abroad
God knows their needs as well as our daily needs and He has made the provision
to deal with them by providing the ministry of the Holy Spirit as we just noted
and this is to result in our responsibility to be obedient.
- that eivj (acc) indicates purpose
in order to, with a view to, for the purpose of
-
the objects of the preposition eivj are the nouns
u`pakoh.n to hear and obey and to sprinkle r`antismo,j -- get to sprinkle in a moment.
-
The flow here is that because of the provision made we ought to be increasing
in our obedience to the Word learned which brings glory to Christ.
-
The Father plans, the Holy Spirit empowers and the result, Christ is glorified.
-
Look at
The second part of
this phrase presents some challenges to us, to carefully think this through and
check out the pertinent Scripture.
and be sprinkled with His blood
Literally
following the Greek it should be "and
be sprinkled by the blood of Jesus Christ."
What is in view here with the sprinkled by the
blood of Jesus Christ?
Need to go back to
the Old Testament to understand what is being referred to!
The sprinkled blood
was a reminder that a life had been given, a sacrifice made.
Most of the time the
OT sacrifices were sprinkled on the altar, in the tabernacle or on the mercy seat. Lev. 4:17; 5:9;
There are only 3
cases where blood was sprinkled on the people themselves.
1.
In the covenant initiation or consecration at Mt Sinai
when Moses sprinkled the people. Ex.
24:5-8; Heb.
2.
In the ceremony of ordination for Aaron and his sons
as priests. Ex 29:21
3.
In the purification ceremony for a leper who had been
healed from leprosy. Lev 14:6-7
The first 2 do not fit the flow of the context here
at all!
What about the third one the sprinkling of blood for purification from
leprosy?
This passage seems
obscure to us today, but if we look at the wider context we find that this
ceremony was also used to cleanse from any kind of serious skin disease. Lev
This third use is
an excellent passage to represent cleansing from any defilement that would
disrupt our fellowship with God. [sin nature
rulership]
What this shows or
demonstrates is the
spiritual defilement of sin in the life and just how serious God
takes it.
This is all a part
of the grace provision for believers so that we have the ability to maintain a
close fellowship with Christ.
God's desire for us
is obedience to the truth so that we are consistently in fellowship enjoying
our position in Christ but He knows we will choose to respond to the sin nature
and put it into rulership and therefore will need to have the resulting
defilement from the sin dealt with.
Peter with the last
phrase finally gets to his opening salutation.
May grace and peace be yours
in fullest measure.
Grace
- ca,rij - refers here to living grace/logistical grace
- this brings into view the provision for pursuing MPR, so that we have the assets to deal with the
tests of life, walking worthy and bring glory to God.
peace - eivrh,nh -
- This is an inner MA that one can have that keeps them spiritually
confident and content even in the midst of turmoil - Phil 4:7.
The primary emphasis
here peace with God is experienced in our life as we live out our lives in
Christ.
be yours in the fullest
measure.
lit. be
multiplied
-
Peter by using the optative mood recognizes a basic reality of life, that most
believers won't exploit the grace provision that is theirs in Christ.
When divine good is
produced God vindicates His Word in you by and you will be blessed in time and
in eternity.
Blessing in time = living with
peace, assurance and confidence, therefore relaxed in Christ no matter what the
circumstances are.
Prin: In 2 Pet
1:2 Peter provides us the mechanics of this multiplication that he has in view.
This brings us to
the first Doctrinal Section - Our Security from applied BD.
Outline of the
section:
1. 1:3-4 we are heirs with a heavenly
inheritance.
2. 1:5-6 Our future hope is related to our
present security.
3. 1:7-9 Application of truth leads to
occupation with Christ resulting in inexpressible joy.
4. 1:10-12 Prophets of old are connected to the
Gospel.