To start the year, we are studying Peter’s first letter by beginning with I Peter 1:1-2. In each section, we will see how he describes the people of God. In his greeting, Peter calls Christians “elect exiles,” which is a curious expression that mixes something positive (elect, chosen, selected) with something negative (exiles, driven out, rejected). As it turns out, God’s election makes his people exiles in this world, and Peter reminds us that it is our call to live our lives as those who are in the world but not of the world.
In God’s second dispute with his people, recorded in Malachi 1:6-14, he accused the priests and the people of despising him. After they objected,...
The people could draw near to God only after the blood of the covenant was shed.
In the next pair of sections about John and Jesus, Luke reported that the Word of God came upon John, and the Holy Spirit...
