I passed over too quickly; maybe I should draw it out lest I forget. Did you notice — I bet some of you did — the Trinitarian nature here: “According to the for knowledge of God the Father in the sanctification of the Spirit for obedience to Jesus Christ” (1 Peter 1:2). That just can’t be an accident, right? People wonder, where’s the Trinity in the Bible? Well, of course, the word doesn’t occur there, just this sort of thing occurs there, and then statements about each of the persons that make us know that they are God.

But here’s Peter thinking in a Trinitarian way. He didn’t have to do this; he didn’t have to modify election with a Father piece, a Spirit piece, and a Jesus Christ piece, but he did. He wants you to know that your exile status, which in this letter is going to be very painful, your exile condition, is connected to your election. I would say is brought about by your election, and God in all three of his persons is involved in securing you for that, being there for you in that. Let’s keep going and take the last six minutes here on these next two.

Exile by the Spirit’s Work

So “according to for knowledge,” elect exiles “in the sanctification of the Spirit,” what does that mean? That’s where I stumbled over connecting election alone with each of these because that doesn’t seem to work so well. Elect in or by the sanctification of the Spirit — if election is happening back there according to for knowledge, and sanctification is happening by the Spirit here on earth in the Christian life, then how is election in sanctification?

Election by sanctification — see the problem? What makes me sit back and say, “Well, maybe the modifying is not merely of election but of exile and the two together conceived: elect exiles in sanctification of the Spirit.” There’s nothing grammatically that says what each of these is modifying; we just have to figure it out. So let me try this out on you; see if it works.

When I think of “in the sanctification of the Spirit,” that’s the sanctification of the Spirit working in you to transform you into the kind of person who is set apart for God in an alien world. So it is exiles by the sanctification of the Spirit — elect exiles by the sanctification of the Spirit.

We became exiles by virtue of being sanctified by the Spirit. If you’re not sanctified by the Spirit, you totally fit into this world; you’re just one of them. Nothing’s changed; you’re not made holy. Holy means “sanctified, separated.” But if you are sanctified by the Spirit, if the Spirit’s at work in your life making you holy, you’re becoming increasingly alien in Vancouver, wherever — Minneapolis.

A Guard Against Phariseeism

Now, here’s something that I had not seen before I prepared for this. That means, I think, that lots of people try to be exiles, distinct, separate when it’s not the work of the Spirit. And you know what that’s called? Phariseeism. This has struck me. If you’re going to be in exile, it better be by the work of the Spirit because otherwise, you’re a Pharisee. Like, “I’m different, and I don’t do that stuff.”

I mean, the Pharisees, they were distinct; they were like exiles among Israel. They were so remarkably pristine in their application of the law. If you say, “Okay, I see in the Bible I’m supposed to be in exile, I’m supposed to be separate,” and the Holy Spirit’s not at work in your life with love, joy, peace, patience, goodness, kindness, meekness, faithfulness, self-control, you’re a Pharisee.

It’s all going to be flesh; it’s all going to be you watching this TV program, “Not like that.” Watching that person acting out, “Not like that.” Not, not, not, not — and you’re just doing the knots, doing the knots, and everybody says, “Hm, that doesn’t smell very good. That’s got Christian skin to it, and something’s missing. Bad.”

So I think when I was driven by the fact that election doesn’t seem easily to be by the sanctification, if I put elect and exile together like Peter has them together here and say it’s the whole thing that is in the sanctification of the Spirit, then it makes sense because my exile status is created by the Spirit’s work in my life. And if it’s not by the Spirit, oh, that’s ugly. Don’t want to go there.

Unpacking the Trinitarian Logic of 1 Peter

One more. “For obedience to Jesus Christ and for the sprinkling with his blood” (1 Peter 1:2). If you just had the first part, it wouldn’t be difficult at all, I don’t think. “According to,” “in,” and “for” — I love this. What order to do this in? Quick one minute. Give me three.

“According to the foreknowledge of God” would be the cause of being elect exiles. “In” or “by” the Spirit would be the means of being elect exiles, and “for” would be the goal. Right? See that? So “according to,” “in,” “for.” And the reason I draw attention to that is because I want us to learn how to think the way the Bible thinks, even if we’re not wired that way. This is very linear thinking: cause, means, goal.

Cause, means, goal — we’re going to see it again in the next few verses where he says, “Born again according to, caused to be born again according to God’s mercy through the resurrection of Jesus Christ unto living hope.” Exactly the same. See that tomorrow morning.

Embracing Diverse Ways of Thinking

I long for you all to be humble enough that if you don’t think that way, you wouldn’t beat yourself up. You’d say, “Not a problem,” that’s okay. Just add it, add it to your brain. Seriously, I think John the apostle thinks very differently from Paul and Peter. He does not think like this. I do.

John Piper is wired to enjoy linear thinking. My brain works this way: cause, means, goal. Give me more of that. I can memorize that. I have been working for two months to memorize John 17. It’s the hardest thing I’ve ever tried to memorize in my life, one chapter, you know why? “And, and, and, and, and, and, and, and.” Come on, John! I want a “therefore.” I need a “because.” I need a “cause” and a middle and an end.

He’s like a bee flying around a light bulb. Woe is me if I say to an inspired spokesman of God, you shouldn’t think that way. So I humble myself and say, “That’s not me, but I should add it.” I’m pleading with you. I know people who are set in their ways, and if you suggest to them there’s more that they could think, more that they could know, they just say, “I’m not that way. I’m not wired that way. God didn’t make me that way.” I say, “Me neither.”

I mean, there are whole cultures that deal in only proverbs. That’s all they think. It’s proverbial. Well, the Bible’s got that for them. They get to start there. And then if I show up there and I do a lab on 1 Peter, they’re going, like, what is this? We just never — we don’t even think that way. Take that and go back to your Western linear world.

I’m going to plead with them and say, “Don’t do that. Don’t think your culture has got it all. Mine certainly doesn’t have it all. I need you; you need me; you need John; you need Paul; you need Peter.” That’s the reason I’m drawing out this cause, means, goal. And our time is up, and I’ll finish tomorrow morning here.

I’ve got lots to say about “sprinkling the blood.” It would not be right to the Lord to try to squeeze that in at the end. So there we are. We covered a verse and a half in an hour and a half. So we’ve got four or five hours together tomorrow morning. And we should have a contest to see who can guess how far we’ll go. But I will try to pick it up. Let me pray with you and then release you for your rest.

Father, grant me wisdom to discern pace here because I don’t want to linger too long over too little when there’s so much here. So grant your help as I think it through tonight. And as we come back together, those of us who can tomorrow morning, give us alertness, give us that spiritual light that 2 Corinthians 4:6 is talking about so that these things are not perplexing or foolish but are precious beyond words and life-changing. Pray this in Jesus’s name. Amen.