1 Peter 1

A message from Peter to "The Strangers."

1 Peter, an apostle of Jesus Christ, to the strangers scattered throughout Pontus, Galatia, Cappadocia, Asia, and Bithynia,

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.

Who are "the Strangers?" Some would have you believe that they are exiled Jews. They say this because it was clear that Peter was "The Rock" on which Jesus said He would build His Church, meaning to bring the Gospel to the Jewish People. Remember, Jesus came for the Jews, not for us. It was Saul, who became Paul, that Jesus appointed to bring the Gospel to the Gentiles.

Some others argue that "The Strangers" DO reference the Gentiles who have been converted. Being Strangers to the Jewish Religion and Traditions. Yet have now heard the Gospel and have accepted Christ. Now adopted and converted. Now Children of God and the early Churches of Christ, "Christians."

Point is, does it really matter? Remember, "Where there is neither Greek nor Jew, circumcision nor uncircumcision, Barbarian, Scythian, bond nor free: but Christ is all, and in all.:" In today's terminology, Neither Black or White, Male or Female, Rich or Poor, ETC. We are all one, once we are Adopted into the Family of God. There is only one color in God's Family. That color is Crimson Red. The color of the blood Jesus shed for you and me.

Think about this as well, if you get so caught up in the seventh and eighth word that Peter wrote here, you totally miss the message Peter is trying to convey. What is Peter actually writing here. I don't know and I don't care, Strangers are Jews, no Gentiles, no Christians, whatever. Get the point? Truth is, it doesn't matter who they were before the Gospel. What matters now, is the Gospel and the Adoption into the Family of God. It doesn't matter who they were, but who they are now. This is Peter's Message.

3 Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, which according to his abundant mercy hath begotten us again unto a lively hope by the resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead,

4 To an inheritance incorruptible, and undefiled, and that fadeth not away, reserved in heaven for you,

5 Who are kept by the power of God through faith unto salvation ready to be revealed in the last time.

"The Strangers" have become Children of God. He is talking to YOU. You were once a Stranger to the ways of God. You were once a Stranger to the Family of God. But now, through the "resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead," you are now a new creature. Born again. Adopted into the Family of God.

6 Wherein ye greatly rejoice, though now for a season, if need be, ye are in heaviness through manifold temptations:

7 That the trial of your faith, being much more precious than of gold that perisheth, though it be tried with fire, might be found unto praise and honour and glory at the appearing of Jesus Christ:

8 Whom having not seen, ye love; in whom, though now ye see him not, yet believing, ye rejoice with joy unspeakable and full of glory:

9 Receiving the end of your faith, even the salvation of your souls.

Remember what Jesus told Thomas? "Thomas, because thou hast seen me, thou hast believed: blessed are they that have not seen, and yet have believed." Peter is conveying this same principle here. "Whom having not seen, ye love; in whom, though now ye see him not, yet believing, ye rejoice with joy unspeakable and full of glory: Receiving the end of your faith, even the salvation of your souls."

Simply put, Peter is telling new Children of God, that it is through their Faith in Jesus, and His Resurrection, that they are Saved. That even though Trials and Tribulation may come, the end result of their steadfastness in their Faith in Jesus, is the key to their reward, which is Everlasting Life with God.

10 Of which salvation the prophets have enquired and searched diligently, who prophesied of the grace that should come unto you:

11 Searching what, or what manner of time the Spirit of Christ which was in them did signify, when it testified beforehand the sufferings of Christ, and the glory that should follow.

Isaiah 53:

1 Who hath believed our report? and to whom is the arm of the Lord revealed?

2 For he shall grow up before him as a tender plant, and as a root out of a dry ground: he hath no form nor comeliness; and when we shall see him, there is no beauty that we should desire him.

3 He is despised and rejected of men; a man of sorrows, and acquainted with grief: and we hid as it were our faces from him; he was despised, and we esteemed him not.

4 Surely he hath borne our griefs, and carried our sorrows: yet we did esteem him stricken, smitten of God, and afflicted.

5 But he was wounded for our transgressions, he was bruised for our iniquities: the chastisement of our peace was upon him; and with his stripes we are healed.

6 All we like sheep have gone astray; we have turned every one to his own way; and theLord hath laid on him the iniquity of us all.

7 He was oppressed, and he was afflicted, yet he opened not his mouth: he is brought as a lamb to the slaughter, and as a sheep before her shearers is dumb, so he openeth not his mouth.

8 He was taken from prison and from judgment: and who shall declare his generation? for he was cut off out of the land of the living: for the transgression of my people was he stricken.

9 And he made his grave with the wicked, and with the rich in his death; because he had done no violence, neither was any deceit in his mouth.

10 Yet it pleased the Lord to bruise him; he hath put him to grief: when thou shalt make his soul an offering for sin, he shall see his seed, he shall prolong his days, and the pleasure of the Lord shall prosper in his hand.

11 He shall see of the travail of his soul, and shall be satisfied: by his knowledge shall my righteous servant justify many; for he shall bear their iniquities.

12 Therefore will I divide him a portion with the great, and he shall divide the spoil with the strong; because he hath poured out his soul unto death: and he was numbered with the transgressors; and he bare the sin of many, and made intercession for the transgressors.

This is a clear picture of who Jesus will be. He is the fulfillment of the Prophesy, and the only one that does fulfill it. He is the key. He is the Way, Truth, and Life. He is the only door. He is the only Truth.

12 Unto whom it was revealed, that not unto themselves, but unto us they did minister the things, which are now reported unto you by them that have preached the gospel unto you with the Holy Ghost sent down from heaven; which things the angels desire to look into.

In other words, Peter is telling them, the things we teach you are NOT the traditions of men. They are not religious tenants. They are the Truth according to, and taught by, GOD.

13 Wherefore gird up the loins of your mind, be sober, and hope to the end for the grace that is to be brought unto you at the revelation of Jesus Christ;

14 As obedient children, not fashioning yourselves according to the former lusts in your ignorance:

15 But as he which hath called you is holy, so be ye holy in all manner of conversation;

16 Because it is written, Be ye holy; for I am holy.

"Gird up the loins of your mind." Read The Word. Learn the ways of God. Grow in Christ. "Be Sober." Clear headed. Jesus told us this. "If ye continue in my word, then are ye my disciples indeed; And ye shall know the truth, and the truth shall make you free." {John 8:31-32}

"As obedient children, not fashioning yourselves according to the former lusts in your ignorance:" Paul wrote this.

Romans 8:

5 For they that are after the flesh do mind the things of the flesh; but they that are after the Spirit the things of the Spirit.

6 For to be carnally minded is death; but to be spiritually minded is life and peace.

7 Because the carnal mind is enmity against God: for it is not subject to the law of God, neither indeed can be.

8 So then they that are in the flesh cannot please God.

9 But ye are not in the flesh, but in the Spirit, if so be that the Spirit of God dwell in you. Now if any man have not the Spirit of Christ, he is none of his.

10 And if Christ be in you, the body is dead because of sin; but the Spirit is life because of righteousness.

James put it this way. "Ye adulterers and adulteresses, know ye not that the friendship of the world is enmity with God? whosoever therefore will be a friend of the world is the enemy of God." {James 4:4} You cannot truly be a Child of God, if you do not separate yourself from the World. If you keep doing the things you use to do, you cannot please God. You must learn Him. His Way. His Word.

"Be ye holy; for I am holy."

Leviticus 11

44 For I am the Lord your God: ye shall therefore sanctify yourselves, and ye shall be holy; for I am holy: neither shall ye defile yourselves with any manner of creeping thing that creepeth upon the earth.

45 For I am the Lord that bringeth you up out of the land of Egypt, to be your God: ye shall therefore be holy, for I am holy.

God brought YOU out of the Land of Bondage. The World. He raised you from the Dead. He gave you the Land of Milk and Honey. You have a Promised Land. You are His Child. So "be holy, for I am holy."

17 And if ye call on the Father, who without respect of persons judgeth according to every man's work, pass the time of your sojourning here in fear:

18 Forasmuch as ye know that ye were not redeemed with corruptible things, as silver and gold, from your vain conversation received by tradition from your fathers;

19 But with the precious blood of Christ, as of a lamb without blemish and without spot:

20 Who verily was foreordained before the foundation of the world, but was manifest in these last times for you,

21 Who by him do believe in God, that raised him up from the dead, and gave him glory; that your faith and hope might be in God.

22 Seeing ye have purified your souls in obeying the truth through the Spirit unto unfeigned love of the brethren, see that ye love one another with a pure heart fervently:

Remember the 11th Commandment? "A new commandment I give unto you, That ye love one another; as I have loved you, that ye also love one another." Jesus {John 13:34}

23 Being born again, not of corruptible seed, but of incorruptible, by the word of God, which liveth and abideth for ever.

24 For all flesh is as grass, and all the glory of man as the flower of grass. The grass withereth, and the flower thereof falleth away:

25 But the word of the Lord endureth for ever. And this is the word which by the gospel is preached unto you.

Jesus told us this. "Verily, verily, I say unto thee, Except a man be born again, he cannot see the kingdom of God." When asked to explain this, Jesus said this. "Verily, verily, I say unto thee, Except a man be born of water and of the Spirit, he cannot enter into the kingdom of God. That which is born of the flesh is flesh; and that which is born of the Spirit is spirit. Marvel not that I said unto thee, Ye must be born again."

You see, God created all that is, was, or ever will be. God created Man, and gave him authority over all. Man, in turn, gave this authority over to Satan. From that point on, we are all born into Sin. Jesus told us, there is only one difference in Man. Child of God, or not. He told us this. "That ye may be the children of your Father which is in heaven: for he maketh his sun to rise on the evil and on the good, and sendeth rain on the just and on the unjust."

We must be "born again, not of corruptible seed, but of incorruptible, by the word of God, which liveth and abideth for ever." We must accept the Adoption, or there is no difference in us and them. "For all flesh is as grass, and all the glory of man as the flower of grass. The grass withereth, and the flower thereof falleth away:" There is a time and a season for all things.

"To every thing there is a season, and a time to every purpose under the heaven: A time to be born, and a time to die; a time to plant, and a time to pluck up that which is planted; A time to kill, and a time to heal; a time to break down, and a time to build up; A time to weep, and a time to laugh; a time to mourn, and a time to dance; A time to cast away stones, and a time to gather stones together; a time to embrace, and a time to refrain from embracing; A time to get, and a time to lose; a time to keep, and a time to cast away; A time to rend, and a time to sew; a time to keep silence, and a time to speak; A time to love, and a time to hate; a time of war, and a time of peace." {Ecclesiastes 3:1-8}

We are all born into the World the same way. There will come a time when we leave this world. How we spend our time here is our own Free Will. The choices we make now, determine three things. First, who we are. Second, how we live. Third, were we go when that time comes. We must always remember, "But the word of the Lord endureth for ever. And this is the word which by the gospel is preached unto you." Everything else is temporal. Jesus Himself told us this. "Heaven and earth shall pass away, but my words shall not pass away." {Matthew 24:35, Mark 13:31, Luke 21:33} Just to make sure you did not miss that.

You must be born again. Adopted into the Family of God. You must grow in Faith, and Faith comes by the Word. You must learn the Ways of God, what Jesus tells us about every and anything, and follow THAT. The World will tell you many things, but the World will pass away. Do you want to live a temporal life, or a life everlasting with The Lord? The Choice is yours.

Do you know Jesus as your Savior? Have you been adopted into the Family of God? If not, say this Prayer. Right now. Wherever you may be. Say it in your own words, and do not doubt in your heart. God will hear you. He will send the Spirit of Life to you. Let us Pray..

"Oh heavenly Father, Lord God. I am a sinner. I know this. I know there is nothing I can do to change that. But I know you can. I accept Jesus's sacrifice for me. I repent my sins. Please send the Spirit of Adoption into my life. Help me to get to know the real you. Save me. Please. In the name of Jesus, Amen!"

That's it. It really is that simple. Now go tell someone what you have just done. "That if thou shalt confess with thy mouth the Lord Jesus, and shalt believe in thine heart that God hath raised him from the dead, thou shalt be saved." {Romans 10:9} You need to find a Church that God leads you to, and be Baptized the way Jesus said to be. You are now a Child of God. A new Creature. You "have put off the old man with his deeds, and have put on the new man, which is renewed in knowledge after the image of him that created him." {Colossians 3:10}

If you want to tell me, or comment, question, give testimonials, or just say "Hi," the Email is opntalk@gmail.com

The grace of the Lord Jesus Christ, and the love of God, and the communion of the Holy Ghost, be with you all. Amen. {2 Corinthians 13}