In the sermon 'Bought by God' by Jason Dohm, the focus is on the concept of being owned by God, as derived from 1 Corinthians 6:20. Dohm explores how Peter introduces himself and his readers in the first two verses of 1 Peter, emphasizing that they are 'bought at a price' and thus should glorify God in body and spirit. Peter describes his readers as 'pilgrims of the dispersion,' highlighting their identity as foreigners in their own land due to their citizenship in heaven. The sermon elaborates on the role of the Trinity in salvation, with God the Father foreknowing and electing, the Spirit sanctifying, and Jesus Christ's blood providing redemption. Dohm underscores the importance of distinctiveness in the lives of believers, who should not conform to worldly standards but rather live as peculiar people set apart for God's glory. The sermon concludes with a blessing of grace and peace, underscoring the abundant spiritual inheritance believers have in Christ.

1 Peter 1. Peter an apostle of Jesus Christ, to the pilgrims of the dispersion in Pontius, Galatia, Cappadocia, Asia and Bithynia, elect according to the foreknowledge of God the Father, in sanctification of the Spirit, for obedience and sprinkling of the blood of Jesus Christ. Grace to you and peace be multiplied. Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, who according to His abundant mercy has begotten us again to a living hope through the resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead, to an inheritance incorruptible and undefiled and that does not fade away, reserved in heaven for you, who are kept by the power of God through faith for salvation, ready to be revealed in the last time. In this you greatly rejoice, though now for a little while, if need be, you have been grieved by various trials, that the genuineness of your faith, being much more precious than gold that perishes, though it is tested by fire, may be found to praise, honor, and glory at the revelation of Jesus Christ, whom having not seen you love.

Though now you do not see Him, yet believing, you rejoice with joy inexpressible and full of glory, receiving the end of your faith, the salvation of your souls. Of this salvation the prophets have inquired and searched diligently, who prophesied of the grace that would come to you, searching what or what manner of time the Spirit of Christ who was in them was indicating when He testified beforehand the sufferings of Christ and the glories that would follow. To them it was revealed that not to themselves, but to us they were ministering the things which now have been reported to you through those who have preached the gospel to you by the Holy Spirit sent from heaven, things which angels desire to look into. Therefore, gird up the loins of your mind, be sober, and rest your hope fully upon the grace that is to be brought to you at the revelation of Jesus Christ. As obedient children, not conforming yourselves to the former lusts as in your ignorance, but as He who called you is holy, you also be holy in all your conduct, because it is written, Be holy for I am holy.

And if you call on the father who without partiality judges according to each one's work, conduct yourselves throughout the time of your sojourning here in fear, knowing that you were not redeemed with corruptible things like silver or gold from your aimless conduct received by tradition from your fathers, but with the precious blood of Christ, as of a lamb without blemish and without spot. He indeed was foreordained before the foundation of the world, but was manifest in these last times for you, who through Him believe in God, who raised Him from the dead and gave Him glory so that your faith and hope are in God. Since you have purified your souls in obeying the truth through the Spirit and sincere love of the brethren, love one another fervently with a pure heart, having been born again not of corruptible seed, but incorruptible, through the word of God which lives and abides forever, because all flesh is as grass, and all the glory of man is the flower of the grass. The grass withers, and his flower falls away, but the word of the Lord endures forever. Now this is the word which by the gospel was preached to you.

Father, we shudder to think where we'd be without your word. We so dependent on our own thoughts, which are wrong so often. You have given us this mighty deposit as a blessing. We need it. We need it desperately.

And we have it because you're kind. Thank you, Lord, for doing this for your people. We pray that you'd help us to be good students of your word today. Hungry students, ready to sit under your authority, to be taught by you, to learn from you. May it be so in Jesus' name.

Amen. The title of the sermon today is, Bought by God. It really doesn't appear in the text, but I think it's what these two verses are all about. It is about being owned by God in one way or another. There's only two verses in the scope of the sermon.

And in these two verses, Peter's doing three things. He's talking briefly about himself. That's the first thing that he's doing. Secondly, he's talking about his intended readers, the people that he's hoping and expecting will read this letter. And then thirdly, he's pronouncing a blessing.

Here's what I think ties it all together. I think 1 Corinthians 6 verse 20 ties it all together. For you were bought at a price. Therefore glorify God in your body and in your spirit which are God's." In 1 Corinthians 6 verse 20, Paul says that Christians are bought at a price. It's the price of his son, Jesus Christ.

And that means he bought your body and he bought your spirit. He bought you lock, stock, and barrel. He bought every bit of you. And so every bit of you is to glorify God. Every part of you, all your body, all of your spirit, now owned by God, is to live to his glory every minute of every day.

So, as Peter introduces himself, I think we should see it through 1 Corinthians 6 verse 20. Peter's been bought by God. Peter starts talking about his intended readers. We should see it through 1 Corinthians 6.20. These are readers that have been bought by God and should give their bodies and their spirits to glorify him.

When I write a letter, I warm up. I talk about the weather, talk about my town, I talk about their town, I talk about common friends, I talk about shared experiences, and then I get to the point if there is one. And usually there is a point. I'm very, not very often writing when there's not a point. But I'm warming up to the subject at hand.

Peter's not warming up. This is God-breathed scripture. And some of the deepest and most precious theology in the book happens right here in 1 Peter 1 verse 1 and in 1 Peter 1 verse 2. If he is warming up, I missed it. Because I really think this probably ought to be five sermons.

We're going to do it in two, and I'm not announcing anything here. We're not changing the plan, but it easily, as I have worked in it this week, it easily could be five sermons, maybe six. By the way, I think Peter wrote this probably in 62 to 64 AD, right before the great fire of Rome during the reign of Nero. And I think Peter probably wrote it from Rome. He mentions Babylon in chapter 5.

I think he's using it metaphorically since Rome was the center of paganism. I think he's using Babylon metaphorically. But anyway, Wherever it was written from is not my main concern because those are things outside the text. So we had to work to understand the historical context, but they're not the most important things, so that's it. Things outside the text I'm done talking about now.

I think it was 62 to 64 AD and I think it was written from Rome. If you disagree, we have nothing scriptural to argue about. Alright, so let's talk about the three things that Peter is doing in these two verses. The first thing is he is talking about himself. He's introducing himself to be the author of this book.

And everything about Peter's self-introduction says that Peter has been bought at a price, that he's God's. Everything about his self-introduction screams, I am bought at a price. I am the Lord's. The first word is the name that Jesus gave to him. His mom and dad didn't give him this name.

Jesus gave him this name. And he's not what he was now. Jesus transformed the life of this man. God bought him at a price and now Peter has given his body and his spirit over to live for the glory of God and he's not Simon anymore, he is Peter. Peter and his place in the kingdom of God, in the kingdom of heaven, is the place that was given to him by his king, Peter, an apostle of Jesus Christ.

That's his spot in the kingdom because the king of the kingdom gave him that spot. And Peter says, I'm his apostle. I am an apostle of Jesus Christ. An apostle simply means a messenger, one sent forth with orders. That's a great definition.

One sent forth with orders. So Peter as one bought at a price, God's in body and spirit has been sent forth by this king as a messenger, as an ambassador under orders. The first time the word apostle is used in the New Testament is Matthew chapter 10 verse 1, the list of the twelve. It says that they were the apostles. And what you find in the New Testament is that there are two uses of the word apostle.

One is very narrow and it talks about the office of apostle. And it means the twelve apostles. And you get this probably the clearest in Revelation 21 verse 14 It says that the new Jerusalem this city has 12 foundations the wall of the city has 12 foundations. And it says they're named after the 12 apostles of the Lamb. Peter is one of these 12 apostles of the Lamb.

And his name will be on a foundation of the New Jerusalem. Now whether that's literal or figurative, you tell me. I don't know. But in any event, it's true of the New Jerusalem. And so in that narrow sense, it's a technical term.

It's an office. And Peter is one of those 12 apostles. It's also used a second way, broadly, more true to the actual definition of one sent forth with orders. And it's not just the twelve in the kingdom of heaven that are sent forth in orders. And so people in the New Testament like Timothy and Barnabas and Silas are called apostle in the New Testament.

So they're not one of the 12. They don't hold the authority, the office, of the narrower usage of it. But they're still ones who are sent forth with a message under orders. So Peter, as he uses it here, he's using it in the narrow way. He is an apostle of Jesus Christ and there's only 12.

Here's what you get. The identity of the inspired author is unbreakably linked with the authority of Jesus Christ. Unbreakably linked. You could never separate the identity of Peter from the authority of Jesus Christ. Jesus Christ is the King of the Kingdom and he has dispatched a servant, a messenger.

And this messenger is under orders and he even changed his name. God bought Simon. God bought Simon. Body and spirit. And he changed his name to Peter and now Peter is to glorify God with every part of his being.

And this is how Peter introduces himself to his intended readers. So the first thing that he's doing is talking a little about himself, introducing himself as the author. And the fingerprints of God are all over him. He's got God's name. God changed his name.

And his office is the office that God has given him. Number two, Peter talks about his intended readers, the recipients of the letters. Those who he hopes and expects to instruct through the letter, Peter talks about them. And he talks about them in three ways. First, he describes them as pilgrims or strangers or foreigners.

They're outsiders where they're living. Second they live in certain areas And he names those five areas by name. It's the people within this geography. Third, he speaks of God's relationship to them. So he's talked about himself, now he's talking about those he intends to get the letter and to read it and to pay attention to it and to be instructed by it.

He says these three things about them. Let's talk about those in detail. Number one, he says they're pilgrims of the capital D dispersion. Pilgrims of the dispersion. So pilgrims or strangers or foreigners or outsiders, you can use those interchangeably.

In fact, when you go and you look at the different translations, you're going to see different words picked. But they're foreigners. They're outsiders. They're strangers. They're pilgrims.

Now, I think capital D dispersion is an unhelpful translation, possibly. Not irresponsible, but possibly an unhelpful translation. Each week I'm comparing five translations word for word all the way through the text. Four of those translations I actually like. The other one is the NIV which I don't like because it's not word for word, it's phrase for phrase or thought for thought.

But it's so commonly in use that I think I should compare it to know how they've translated it. And sometimes the thought for thought translation ends up being helpful commentary. So I just view the NIV as helpful commentary sometimes. But the ones that I look at and trust and like are the King James and the New King James and the New American Standard or the NASB. You might be used to hearing it that way and the English Standard Version or the ESV.

So I sit those four side by side and I'm looking every word, comparison, comparison, comparison, all the way down. Because I don't know the original language. So it helps me to see where the translational variations are. And then when there's a variation in the translation, then I can go back and go to the lexicon and look at what the actual Greek word means exploded out. So anyway, that's what I do.

Two of these translations that I trust, the New King James and the ESV, translate it this way. Capital D, dispersion. And when it's translated that way, what that means is there are things that have happened in history that scattered the Jews all over the place. Assyria comes through. There's the Assyrian captivity.

And they're taken away from Israel. And they're all over the world now, all over the known world at that time. Babylonian captivity, the same thing. Then it happens in Acts where persecution drives the church out. So you've got a scattering.

And so capital D dispersion means little Jewish communities here, there, and everywhere scattered all over the place because persecution from time to time through the history of God's people have driven them out and there are pockets of them here and pockets of them there all over the place. The other two translations that I like and I trust, the King James Version and the New American Standard or the NASB, instead of capital D dispersion, they translate it scattered. Scattered. Now, it can be either. So you've got to look at the context and see what you think it is.

I think it's better rendered scattered. So here's how the King James renders the whole phrase. To the strangers scattered throughout, and then the names of the five regions. To the strangers scattered throughout these five regions. Here's how the NASB or the New American Standard renders it.

To those who reside as aliens scattered throughout the regions. Those who reside as aliens scattered throughout these regions. Now, I've no doubt that Peter is happy to have Jewish believers read and be instructed by his letters. I'm not arguing against that. I'm just saying I don't think Peter is targeting Jews in the expectation that it will only be Jewish readers.

I think he's targeting all believers, some of which will be Jews and some of which will be Gentiles, and all of which have been converted to be in Christ. Here's why. Here's why I think that's so. In chapter 1 verse 17, so the same chapter, verse 17, Peter says, conduct yourselves throughout the time of your stay here in fear. Conduct yourselves throughout your time, throughout the time of your stay here in fear.

In other words, he's setting the stage for the letter which is Christians are just passing through. Christians are just passing through. So conduct yourselves during your time here, the fleeting time here. Your life is like a vapor. You're like a flower.

You're going to wither. Your place won't even remember you anymore. But while you're passing through, conduct yourself in fear. Then we see in chapter 2 verse 9, Peter calls these anticipated readers, the people who he thinks are going to read this letter, a holy nation, his own special people. In other words, now you're not even a part of those nationalities anymore.

Now you're a holy nation. You used to be Americans, but Now you're in Christ. You used to be from Bithynia or Asia or Pontus or Galatia or Cappadocia, but now you're in Christ and you're a holy nation. It's another nation and your citizenship has been transferred. And then in verse 10 of chapter 2 he says, You were not a people, but now you are the people of God.

God owns you. You were bought at a price. And now your body, He owns your body. Your spirit, He owns your spirit. And just like He changed Peter's name, He transfers your citizenship out of these other nations and into His Kingdom.

He is the King of the Kingdom. Now set 1 Peter aside now, that letter aside. This is an important New Testament theme. You don't need 1 Peter for this. It's a Frequently occurring and important New Testament theme.

Listen to Paul in Philippians 3 verse 20. For our citizenship is where? In America? No, in heaven. For our citizenship is in heaven.

That's what Paul says. See, you came here thinking you were American. You're not American at all. Well, sort of. Now, think about Hebrews 11.

This one's even better. Even better than Paul in Philippians 3. In Hebrews 11, the author is speaking of great people of faith. It's the Faith Hall of Fame. Now listen to Hebrews 11, verses 13 and 14.

These all died, this list of people, great in faith, all died, not having received the promises, But having seen them afar off, were assured of them, embraced them, and confessed that they were strangers and pilgrims on the earth. For those who say such things declare plainly that they seek a homeland." The names listed in Hebrews 11 were just passing through. They understood that their life was a vapor, that they were like the grass of the field. It was going to wither and its place, wouldn't even remember it anymore. They knew that they were just passing through.

So they did not need a lot in this life to keep them going because their citizenship was in heaven. They confessed that they were strangers and pilgrims on the earth. So it's possible to be a foreigner in your homeland. I think this is what Peter is expressing. You're foreigners in your homeland.

Now some of them probably came to these five regions through persecution and other things, but Peter's writing much more broadly than that. Even to the ones who were born in those very places, had been raised in those very places, are strangers and foreigners there now because they were part of one kingdom and their citizenship has been transferred to another kingdom. Brothers and sisters, this is what we are. This is what we are. We're strangers scattered throughout the world.

In America, maybe we've lost sight of that a little bit because Christianity, the faith, has been so pervasive. Well, guess what? I guess we're regressing some. We've regressed and it's less true than it used to be. But in most places of the world, this is exactly how Christians feel.

I'm just sprinkled into a mass of unbelievers. I'm just a little pocket here among these mass of unbelievers. I'm a stranger here. I'm a foreigner here. Let me say this.

This is going to be one of the most important things I'll say. We should not belong here anymore than they didn't belong there. In other words, Peter is writing not immediately to you. Now it's scripture, so he is writing to you, but he's writing immediately to these people in these five regions. And Peter's acknowledging right here in the first verse that they didn't belong there because they're part of another kingdom.

At least that's how I interpret it. And I'm saying we shouldn't belong here where we are any more than they didn't belong in these five regions. Our music ought to be radically different. Our clothes ought to be radically different. Anybody else starting to make some of their own clothes?

Not to make ourselves obnoxious to our neighbors, but to actually clothe our body parts? OK, this is part of being a stranger. So you might have to start making some of your own clothes, because what is easy to get your hands on doesn't fit the kingdom that we're part of. Our citizenship doesn't mesh with the clothes that are readily available. And in some ways that's a good thing because there's a distinction now between the kingdoms.

So our music isn't the same and our clothes aren't the same and we talk about different things and we spend our time in a different way. And the people who don't believe should say, you don't fit in, You do not fit in. You are a peculiar person. You are a peculiar person. May it be so of us.

May we be foreigners in our own homeland in this way that we have a different culture as the culture within us because we believe is conformed to the scriptures. And the culture that we were born into drifts further and further and further in another direction. The lines are going to get more and more and more distinct. The music is going to be even more different. The clothes are going to be even more different.

Learn how to sew, ladies. You're going to have to make more and more of your own clothes just to cover up. It appears that's where we're headed unless God would pour out his spirit and have mercy. Why? Why so different?

Because our chief identity is in Jesus Christ. We're not chiefly Americans. We're not chiefly Republicans. We're not chiefly conservatives. We are Christ.

We're in him. He's bought us at a price. He bought our bodies. He bought our spirits. We're his.

We live to his glory. So number one was he speaks of them being pilgrims of the dispersion or to the strangers scattered throughout. That's the one I like. Number two, he speaks of the areas that they're actually living in geographically. Pontus, Galatia, Cappadocia, Asia, Bithynia.

This is Asia Minor. And when you read Asia, you're thinking China, Japan, not the same Asia. This is Asia Minor, which is a different region. And when you go and you look at your map today, it's modern day Turkey. So here's the geography.

If this is Israel, my hand is Israel, then north of Israel is Syria. And then north and west, I'm compensating for you since you're looking from a different direction. North and west over here would be Asia Minor, modern day Turkey. It's a long ways away from Israel. So Peter is the apostle to the circumcision.

I think that's Galatians 2.8 and Paul to the Gentiles. But there's no need to make those lines so very rigid. In the book of Acts, like we studied last week, Peter's in Samaria preaching to Samaritans in the city of the Samaritans. And he's in Caesarea preaching to a Gentile centurion, Cornelius. So these are not rigid lines and there's no reason why Peter shouldn't be writing to these people who are so far away from Israel, whether they're Jewish or not Jewish.

These five regions have been under Roman control for more than 100 years, at the time when Peter's likely writing this letter. More than 100 years. They know nothing but being under Roman rule. And even though they're right there together geographically, many of these five regions sharing borders with the others. They're very diverse.

They have different ethnic roots. They have different languages. They have different customs. They have different religions. They have different political histories.

So this is not monolithic or this is not a group that share lots and lots in common. You would have different languages here, different religions, all those things that I just mentioned. This is not like writing a letter to believers in North Carolina, South Carolina, Virginia, Tennessee, and Georgia. Okay, those five states, even though they share borders. These five areas that Peter is naming don't have nearly as much in common as these southern states.

There would be more to argue over than whether barbecue should be pork or beef. We're talking significant differences. That's right. I'm looking at you Texans. And you.

And it's supposed to be pork. But they would have more substantive things to argue about. And they wouldn't even be arguing in the same language. It's a very diverse group of people. But they're the same because they're in the same kingdom.

They're all foreigners in their own homeland because they're in Christ. And so the language difference doesn't matter to Peter. He can write them a letter in Greek and know that they have common problems in Christ. Common needs for encouragement in Christ. Because in Christ, language stops mattering.

And ethnic roots stop mattering. And political history stops mattering. One other note. In Acts 2, verse 9, this is Pentecost. This is that great Pentecost sermon that Peter preaches.

Before that it says the people who had gathered when they heard God being praised in all these different languages. Remember the different languages these people come from everywhere and everybody can hear God being praised, the wonders of God in their own language. Well, three of these five names are represented there in Acts 2, verse 9, Cappadocia, Pontus, and Asia. So there's the outpouring of the spirit. 3, 000 people get saved.

3, 000 people get baptized. And then a lot of those people probably go back. So it's possible that Peter is writing to some of these people who were saved almost 30 years earlier at Pentecost. That may be by name, maybe not by name, but he's got intended readers and some of the people who heard him preach on Pentecost who were baptized and went home to Cappadocia or Pontus or Asia. You might have heard him at Pentecost 30 years earlier.

Now he's writing. The point I wanted to make here from this is that Peter is fulfilling the Great Commission. He's more than an evangelist. He doesn't just go and preach reconciliation to God through Christ and then leave. What you see in the life of Peter and the life of Paul is that then they go back to strengthen, encourage, exhort.

When they can't be there in person, they're writing letters. Why? Because they're not evangelists, they're disciple makers. Those two things aren't always the same thing. One is the subset of the other.

An evangelist is a subset of a disciple maker. Disciple making is more than just preaching the gospel and saying, see you later. You have to Revisit, like Paul and Peter, revisit. You have to exhort in person as much as you can. Paul goes and lives in Ephesus for 2 and 1 half years.

This is the pattern of their life. They're disciple makers. They're writing letters when they can't be there in person. This is what Peter is doing here. Okay, finally, in speaking about his intended readers, he speaks of God's relationship to them.

I've been very careful not to say their relationship to God. Even though it's the same thing, the Trinity, the three in one God, God the Father, God the Son, God the Holy Spirit is the active party here. So it's God's relationship to them, I think isn't the right way to say it, even though their relationship to God really in some ways is the same thing. God is the active party in Peter's writing. And he centers it around the word elect.

Peter is talking about election. So everything that he says after the word elect in verse 2 goes back to elect. It's talking about the working out of election. In electing, God the Father has done something. In electing, God the Spirit has done something.

In electing, God the Son has done something. All having an active role to play in the salvation of sinners. God the father has elected, has chosen, has picked according to his foreknowledge. This is the father's role in election. He foreknows.

He chooses according to his foreknowledge. Now this has to be past tense. This has to be past tense. Listen to Paul in Ephesians 1 verse 4. He chose us in him before the foundation of the world.

He, God the Father, chose us in him, God the Son, before the foundation of the world. So when we're talking about election we're talking about past tense. Ancient history, before the foundation of the world. He chose us in him before the foundation of the world. Before the world was ever brought into being, election happened.

This is the electing of God the Father. And then Peter says, according to his foreknowledge. And this is the time in the sermon where we reformed folks get tense. Because that word gets used, foreknowledge, And the reason it makes us tense is that those who are protecting their view of free will use the word to explain away the sovereignty of God and salvation. I just want to say, reformed folks, you don't need to be tense.

This is a beautiful word. This is actually the word that God has picked. And it does not overthrow the sovereignty of God and salvation in any way. And I think we need to probably retake this word back and make it ours again because of the beauty of what it actually teaches and communicates. The Greek word that has been rendered for knowledge is actually prognosis interestingly enough.

Spelled the same way, said the same way, said the same way as English. But it means foreknowledge, that's why it's rendered that way. And It means forethought, prearranged. So when you look in a Greek lexicon, that's what you're going to see. Foreknowledge, forethought, prearranged.

It's planning, planning, Prearrangement. In fact, we're going to see the different form of the same word when We get to 1 Peter chapter 1 verse 20 which says, Christ indeed was foreordained before the foundation of the world. That sounds familiar going back to Ephesians, right? Before the foundation of the world, Jesus was foreordained. Nobody gets tense when it's used with Jesus because when it's used with Jesus, it's so obvious that it's not just some sort of God seeing through the hazy corridors of time to see how Jesus is going to act.

God knows how Jesus is going to act. And that, it's never in debate with anyone. So the use of the word there, a different form of the same word there. What it means there is what it means here. It's a prearrangement, forethought, planning.

And God is a very effective planner because every atom and subatomic part of the universe moves according to his will. It makes him an excellent planner. Let's talk about my foreknowledge, Jason Dome's foreknowledge. What? It is somewhat limited.

But it's not non-existent. If you ask me what I'm doing for lunch tomorrow, this is not far in the future, but it is in the future. I'm going to tell you what I'm doing for lunch tomorrow. I'm having lunch with Eric Woodard. He's over at Hope this morning.

I'm here. We're having lunch together tomorrow. How do I know that? Have I seen through the hazy corridors of the next 24 hours? No, we've made arrangements.

We have prearranged to have lunch together tomorrow. Now, I don't enjoy all the advantages that God enjoys. But I'm going to gear my day towards that. And there's a 95% chance that I'm having lunch with Eric Woodard tomorrow, because I've planned to. I've prearranged to.

This is the foreknowledge of God the Father. He said, He's planned that these things would happen at these times. And so for us, foreknowledge, divine foreknowledge should be a source of joy for the Christian, a source of joy. Because it means he loved you all the way back there. Before the foundation of the world, he said, I am planning to show my mercy to her and to him and to him and he is going to be an object of my love and so is she.

A Christian should look at that and say, it should take your breath away. God planned it before he ever made the world. He said, it seems good to me to show my mercy to this one at this point in time. I'm planning to do that. I'm prearranging to do that.

So next time, someone wants to hijack the word for knowledge and make it sound like God is reacting to you and your choices, you just say, no, no, no, no, it's way better than that. It's way better than that. It's actually the love of God placed on people who never deserved it before they were ever born, before their world was ever made. He decided he was going to put his glory on display in their life because that's the kind of God he is. It's way better than what you ever thought it was.

God the Spirit is sanctifying. In sanctification of the Spirit is what Peter says. In sanctification of the Spirit. Now often sanctification means the process of growth, the process of making progress in the faith, the process of being conformed into this beautiful image of the Lord Jesus Christ. That's often how we use it and often how it's used in the scriptures.

But I believe that the meaning here is more literal. The literal meaning of to sanctify, sanctification is consecration. To separate from profane things and dedicate those things to God. In other words, Take dirty things and to say they're gods. Take sinful things and say, you're not bad anymore.

You're now gods. And you're set apart for his glory. It's being bought at a price so that your body is bought by him and your spirit is bought by him and you're to live to his glory in sanctification of the Spirit. So the Spirit says, You're the Lord's, you profane thing. You see how the glory of the gospel is all here.

You profane thing. You sinful thing. I'm setting you apart for God now. I'm buying you, your body and your spirit. Now live to His glory.

Now why? Why would the Spirit sanctify that way? Take a profane thing and dedicate it to God. For obedience and the sprinkling of the blood of Jesus Christ. That's why.

For obedience and sprinkling of the blood of Jesus Christ. That's why. For obedience and sprinkling of the blood of Jesus Christ. So here's where we are now in all these phrases. God the Father puts you on his calendar to be saved.

He's prearranging. He's planning for your salvation. He puts you on his calendar to be saved in a much more profound way than Eric Wooders is on my calendar to have lunch with me tomorrow. He's pre-planning. He said, this is happening then.

And that day comes and God the Spirit separates you from profane things and dedicates you to God. You were a son of disobedience. That's how the New Testament repeatedly labels unbelievers, sons of disobedience. And he makes you a Son of obedience. For obedience and sprinkling of the blood of Jesus Christ.

And the price paid is what makes this possible. You're sprinkled, you're cleansed by the blood of Jesus Christ. So that the three in one God, the Trinity, God the Father, God the Son, God the Holy Spirit are cooperating to make you, give you a life. Genesis 1, let us make man in our image. Wow, that's a blunder.

Let us make man in our image so they cooperate in the making of you and then they cooperate in the saving of you. The Father foreknowing you, prearranging for you to be saved, the Spirit saying, putting His hand upon you and saying, you are the Lord's. I'm setting aside this profane thing and applying the blood of Jesus Christ to sinners so that they can be God's. Now take that. Take the cooperation of the Trinity, of the three and one God, and how they work together to save a person.

Now Compare that to choose Jesus and it will wash away your sins. Now, I can say that with a hearty amen. Christians must choose Jesus and those who choose Jesus are washed in His blood. Amen! But that's so thin, that's so shallow compared to what Peter says of salvation here.

Salvation is actually a cooperation of God the Father, God the Son, God the Holy Spirit that began before the foundation of the world and this choosing of Jesus happens all the way at the end of the line. So for man to think anything of himself when all this happened with the Father, Son, and Holy Spirit working together and then us to feel like we're anything because we chose Jesus, are you kidding me? To reduce this formula of the cooperation of the Trinity down to choose Jesus and have your sins washed away, takes a deep Ocean and just turns it into a mud puddle and robs God of all the glory that he ought to have in the saving of the sinner because he conceived it in his mind before the foundation of the world and On the day that was appointed His Spirit took a profane thing and said, You're holy, I'm sprinkling this blood on you. 1 Corinthians 6 verse 20, For you were bought at a price a precious price a high price Therefore glorify God in your body and in your spirit which are gods Peters talked about himself Peters talked about the people who he's writing to.

And now Peter pronounces a blessing. He says grace to you and peace be multiplied. Grace, goodwill, not that goodwill ladies, come on. Now where you buy all your clothes, goodwill. Loving kindness, unearned favor.

Goodwill, loving kindness, unearned favor. This is what Peter wants his intended readers to receive. The unearned favor of God. Interestingly enough, this is the common Greek salutation, grace. When Greeks meet each other at this time, That's how they greet each other, grace, grace.

And peace, a state of unity, harmony, being reconciled, peace. That's what Peter wants his intended readers to have. It's the common Hebrew salutation. Two Jews meet each other, peace. Two Greeks meet each other, grace.

Who's Peter writing to? Yes. Greeks and Hebrews, I think. Grace and peace to you. Be multiplied.

In other words, whatever you have, have more. Have a lot more. You math people, you know you only get to the big numbers through multiplying. When you start with small numbers, adding is not going to get you anywhere fast. It's the multiplying that gets you to a lot fast.

And this is what Peter is asking for. Grace, peace, do you be multiplied. Not little increments, multiplied, multiples of, many times more. Whatever you have, may God give you more grace, more unearned favor, may God give you more peace, more of being reconciled, being settled, being beside still waters, quiet waters. This is the message of an apostle.

That's why you see it in the letters. Paul, grace and peace, grace and peace, grace and peace, Peter, grace and peace, John, grace and peace, everywhere grace and peace. This is the message of an apostle. And so if our gospel ceases with, you are condemned by God, we haven't finished the sentence. We have not finished the sentence.

Finished the sentence. And I believe we should work hard to press the sinfulness of sin on unbelieving hearts and on believing hearts where there's pride. But then there's a comma, not a period. Always a comma after pressing the sinfulness of sin on people. Never a period.

That is not the end of the sentence. What God desires is grace and peace. And he's named the terms for it we should give the terms grace and peace and this is always what God wants pronounced upon his people You can turn if you want or you can listen. It's number six. Listen to number six.

And listen for grace and listen for peace. This isn't just a catchy phrase that you put at the beginning of your letter. This goes all the way back to what God has always told men of God to pronounce over His people. Number 6, 22-27. And The Lord spoke to Moses, saying, Speak to Aaron and his sons, saying, This is the way you shall bless the children of Israel.

Say to them, the Lord bless you and keep you. The Lord make his face shine upon you and be gracious to you. The Lord lift up his countenance upon you and give you peace, grace and peace. Then he ends in verse 27. So they shall put my name on the children of Israel, and I will bless them.

So they will put My name on the children of Israel and I will bless them." You were bought at a price. He put His name on you. His Spirit sanctified you, took a profane thing and dedicated it to God through the sprinkling of the blood of the Son, Jesus Christ. Conclusion. If you're a Christian, you were bought at a price.

Think of the price that he paid to buy you. It was Jesus Christ in his blood, this blood that gets sprinkled. Peter is speaking of, that was the price. If you're a Christian, you were bought at a price. You are his.

Your body is his. Your spirit is his. Your life is to be lived to his glory. And this sets the stage for the letter. This is the perfect way for Peter to begin this letter because he's going to start talking about suffering.

Christians who are suffering need to know they were bought at a price. The price that they will be asked to pay is always nothing compared to the price that was paid for them. Do you understand that? Peter is setting the table, and now he's going to start preaching. But even as he sets the table and makes ready for what he's going to talk about, And it's going to be suffering morning, noon, and night through mid-November whenever we end First Peter.

This is the starting point for the Christian. I was bought at a price. I am not my own. His body is mine. My body is his.

His body is mine too actually. My body is his. My spirit is his. I'm not my own, I was bought with a price. And whatever I'll be asked to pay as a price now is nothing compared to the sprinkling of blood.

So Peter's made us ready, even in the introductory couple of verses, for where he is headed. And now next week, I peered over the great chasm of verse 2 into verse 3, And we're picking right back up there the cooperation of the Father and Son. And Peter's going to start piling up things that ought to make you jump out of your skin happy to be in Jesus. He's going to start piling up reasons why you shouldn't really care that much if you suffer in this life. Because of the spiritual abundance that has been purchased for us through Jesus Christ.

So Peter's just going to start piling it up next week. Jim is preaching next week. Jim's been working on this text for over a month now. You're laughing like that's not true. I told you over a month ago.

All right, let's pray. Father, the richness even in the introduction of a letter. How incomparable your Word is. There's no other book like this. I thank you for our brother, Peter.

Thank you that you changed his name, that you made him what he wasn't. You made him something in your kingdom, and you raised him up to bless your people. God, I pray that you would help us to be foreigners, even here in our homeland, to be different, to be a peculiar people, set aside for you, knowing that we are yours. Our bodies have been bought by you. Our spirits have been bought by you.

It's such a great price. Oh God, may we live to your glory. I pray it in Jesus' name. Amen.