In my last blog article (click here to read it), I drew attention
to Christ’s use of the plural, second-person pronouns “you” and “your” in the
prophetic discourse that he gave on the Mount of Olives (i.e., the “Olivet
Discourse”). I noted that the use of these plural pronouns indicates that
Christ considered his disciples to have been representatives of the saints who will be experiencing the future
events of which he prophesied, and that the company of saints that will be
alive on the earth during the time of Israel’s “great affliction” will be a continuation of the company of saints
to which Christ’s disciples belonged (i.e., that which Christ referred to in
Luke 12:32 as the “little flock”).
In this article,
I’m going to be arguing for the following position: Based on what the apostle
Peter wrote in his first letter, the believers to whom he wrote should also be understood as having the same calling and expectation as those
saints among God’s covenant people who will be going through the future “great
affliction” of which Christ prophesied in his Olivet Discourse. And if this
understanding of what Peter wrote is correct, then it provides us with just one
more reason to believe that, contrary to the view of most Christians, Peter did
not write to members of the body of Christ.[i]
The recipients of Peter’s letters
In 1
Peter 1:1-3 we read the following:
Peter, an apostle of Jesus Christ, to the chosen expatriates of the
dispersion of Pontus, Galatia, Cappadocia, the province of Asia, and
Bithynia, according to the foreknowledge of God, the Father, in holiness of
spirit, for obedience and sprinkling of the blood of Jesus Christ: May grace
and peace be multiplied to you!
The “expatriates of the dispersion” of the various provinces
referred to by Peter were Israelites living outside the land of Israel.
This fact is in accord with the apostolic arrangement referred to
by Paul in Gal. 2:6-10 (according to which Paul and Barnabas were to be “for the nations” [i.e., those
among mankind who belong to a nation besides Israel] while James, Peter and
John were to be “for the Circumcision” [i.e., the twelve-tribed people
of Israel, whose covenantal relationship with God is signified by circumcision]).
In accord with this arrangement, we find that the apostle Paul – who referred
to himself as “the apostle of the nations” (Rom. 11:13) – is the only
inspired writer who wrote to believers who could be referred to collectively
as “the nations” (Rom. 1:13; 11:13, 25; 15:16, 18), and who belonged to
what Paul referred to in Rom. 16:4 as ”all the ecclesias of the nations.” It is those
who comprised these “ecclesias of the nations” that Paul (and Paul alone)
referred to in his letters as “the body of Christ” (Rom. 12:4-5;
1 Cor. 6:15-19; 10:16-17; 12:12-27; Eph. 1:22-23; 4:4, 12-16; 5:23-24, 30; Col.
1:18, 24; 2:19; 3:15).
In light of Peter’s description of the recipients of his letter
and the arrangement referred to in Galatians 2:6-10, we can conclude that Peter
wrote to the same kind of people to whom James wrote his letter (and who were
identified by James as “the twelve tribes in the dispersion”). Peter’s later
reference to the behavior of the recipients of his letter “among the nations”
(1 Pet. 2:12) further supports the view that those being addressed in this
letter were those of Peter’s own nation who were living outside the land (for
those interested in a more in-depth defense of the Jewish identity of those to
whom Peter wrote, here’s an article that I found helpful: https://www.oneforisrael.org/wp-content/uploads/2018/02/SWJT.You-Talkin-to-Me.pdf).
Moreover, the fact that Peter referred to the recipients of
his letter as “chosen…according to the foreknowledge of God, the Father, in
holiness of spirit, for obedience and sprinkling of the blood of Jesus” means that they
were among those believing members of God’s covenant people with whom
God will be “concluding a new covenant” (Heb. 8:1-13), and who, by
virtue of their faithful obedience and endurance in “doing the will of
God,” will be “requited with the promise” and obtain ”the promise of the
eonian enjoyment of the allotment” (Heb. 5:9; 9:15; 10:35-39).
Peter went on to declare the following to the Jewish recipients of
his letter:
To you, then, who are believing, is the honor, yet to the
unbelieving: “A Stone which is rejected by the builders, this came to be for
the head of the corner,” and a stumbling stone and a snare rock; who are
stumbling also at the word, being stubborn, to which they were appointed also. Yet
you are a chosen race, a “royal priesthood,” a “holy nation,” a procured
people, so that you should be recounting the virtues of Him Who calls you out
of darkness into His marvelous light, who once were “not a people” yet now are
the people of God, who “have not enjoyed mercy,” yet now are “being shown
mercy.” 1 Peter 2:7-10
Since Peter was writing to believing Israelites, it’s reasonable
to conclude that the “chosen race,” “royal priesthood,” “holy nation,” and
“procured people” of which he wrote is comprised exclusively of believing,
righteous Israelites. This understanding of the identity of the “holy nation”
referred to by Peter is confirmed from the fact that Peter was quoting from
Exodus 19:4-6 (which clearly has “the sons of Israel” – and not gentiles – in
view).
In contrast with this understanding, many Christians believe that Peter’s
quotation of the prophet Hosea in v. 10 supports the view that the “chosen
race” and “holy nation” to which Peter was referring includes all believing gentiles
as well. However, in his remarks on this verse, A.E. Knoch explains why this is
not the case:
The phrases “not a people” and who “have not been shown mercy”
are usually referred to the gentile nations, in contrast with Israel. This
passage is then adduced in favor of applying Peter's epistles indiscriminately
to all men at all times, especially to the present ecclesia which is Christ's
body. But a closer consideration will show that this passage proves the very
opposite, for it quotes from the prophecy of Hosea, who speaks of the sons of
Israel, and cannot possibly be interpreted of any other people.
After quoting Hosea 1:9-11 and 2:23, Knoch concludes, “By no means
may these quotations refer to any people but the chosen nation.” I agree completely.
Paul’s quotation of Hosea 2:23 and 1:10 in Romans 9:25-26 is
sometimes appealed to in support of the view that believing gentiles (and not
just believing members of God’s covenant people, Israel) fulfill Hosea’s
prophecy. However, in his remarks on Rom. 9:25-26, Knoch provides us with what
I believe is a more correct view of Paul’s use of Hosea in these verses:
“A comparison of Hos.2:23 with Hos.1:9-11 shows that this is not
an interpretation but an illustration. God, in His sovereign mercy, will reverse
the sentence which He pronounced against Israel. In the very same place in
which they were named "Lo-ammi," there they shall be called sons of
the living God. He deals with the nations as this.”
In other
words, Paul was simply emphasizing the fact that the manner of the calling of
the gentiles is analogous to the manner of the calling of Israel (both of
which are expressions of God's mercy; cf. Rom. 11:28-32).
We
therefore have good reason to believe that the “holy nation” to which Peter was
referring in his first letter (as well as the “nation producing its fruits”
referred to by Christ in Matt. 21:43) is a nation that will, during the eon to
come, be comprised of all righteous, believing descendants of Abraham, Isaac
and Jacob, and that the geopolitical territory of this holy nation will be the
land that God promised them (Genesis 12:5-7; 13:14-17; 17:7-8;
Exodus 33:1; 1 Chronicles 16:12-18; Isaiah 60:18, 21; Jeremiah 24:5-6;
32:37-40; Ezekiel 28:25-26; Amos 9:14-15; etc.).
We can
thus conclude that the “chosen expatriates of the
dispersion” to whom Peter wrote his two letters were Israelites who will,
during the eon to come, belong to the future nation of Israel that we find
referred to in various prophecies in the Hebrew Scriptures (e.g., Isaiah
66:7-11; Ezekiel 36:24-31; 37:15-17, 20-28), and which Christ’s
disciples – including Peter himself – had in mind when they asked Christ if the
time had come for him to restore the kingdom to Israel (Acts 1:6).
The prophesied salvation of the saints to whom Peter wrote
Peter went on to write the following concerning the salvation
that he expected the saints to whom he wrote to receive:
3 Blessed be the God and Father of our
Lord Jesus Christ, Who, according to His vast mercy, regenerates us into a
living expectation, through the resurrection of Jesus Christ from among the
dead, 4 for the enjoyment of an allotment
incorruptible and undefiled and unfading, kept in the heavens for you,[ii] 5 who are garrisoned by the power of God, through
faith, for salvation ready to be revealed in the last era, 6 in which you are exulting; briefly at
present, if it must be, being sorrowed by various trials, 7that the testing of your faith, much
more precious than gold which is perishing, yet, being tested by fire, may be
found for applause and glory and honor at the unveiling of Jesus Christ, 8 Whom, not perceiving, you are loving;
in Whom, not seeing at present, yet believing, you are exulting with joy
unspeakable and glorious, 9 being requited with the consummation of
your faith, the salvation of your souls.
10 Concerning which salvation the prophets
seek out and search out, who prophesy concerning the grace which is for you, 11 searching into what or what manner of
era the spirit of Christ in them made evident, when testifying beforehand to
the sufferings pertaining to Christ and the glories after these. 12 To whom it was revealed that, not to
themselves, but to you they dispensed them, of which you were now informed
through those who are bringing the evangel to you by holy spirit dispatched
from heaven, into which messengers are yearning to peer.
13 Wherefore, girding up the loins of your
comprehension, being sober, expect perfectly the grace which is being brought
to you at the unveiling of Jesus Christ.
In
these verses, the salvation to which Peter was referring is one that is future;
as we read in v. 5, it’s a salvation that is “ready to
be revealed in the last era.” In response to this understanding of what
Peter had in mind, it may be objected that Peter’s use of the present tense for
the word translated “being requited” in v. 9
means that those to whom Peter wrote were already
enjoying what he referred to as “the consummation
of your faith, the salvation of your souls.” However, such a conclusion
is not warranted. Just a few verses later, Peter used the same present tense
when referring to something that is clearly a future reality. In v. 13, Peter
exhorted the recipients of his letter as follows: “…expect
perfectly the grace which is being
brought to you at the unveiling of Jesus Christ.” The word
translated “being brought” is in the same present tense as the word translated
“being requited” in v. 9. Peter likely used the present tense to emphasize the
certainty of its taking place (another possibility is that Peter used this
tense because those to whom he wrote were, at that time, enjoying the future
realities of which he wrote in an anticipatory sense). In any case, Peter’s use
of the present tense in v. 9 is completely consistent with the understanding
that the salvation he had in mind is future, and that it refers to the same
future salvation that’s in view in Matthew 24:13.
Further
support for this understanding is the fact that the salvation in view is
described by Peter as “the consummation of your faith, the
salvation of your souls.” This description of the future, “last era”
salvation of those to whom Peter wrote is likely derived from the following
words of Christ from his Olivet Discourse (as recorded in Matthew 24:9-14):
Then shall they be
giving you up to affliction, and they shall be killing you, and you shall be
hated by all of the nations because of My name. And then many shall be snared,
and they shall be giving one another up and hating one another. And many false
prophets shall be roused, and shall be deceiving many. And, because of the
multiplication of lawlessness, the love of many shall be cooling. Yet he who endures to the consummation, he
shall be saved. And heralded shall be this evangel of the kingdom in the
whole inhabited earth for a testimony to all the nations, and then the consummation shall be arriving.
In
Luke’s account of the Olivet Discourse we find the salvation of those who
endure “to the consummation” described as follows: ”By your endurance shall you be acquiring your souls”(Luke 21:19).
When we combine this terminology with that found in Matthew’s account (which is
equivalent in meaning), we end up with something very similar to what Peter
wrote. It would certainly not be unreasonable to think that Peter had these
very words of Christ in mind when he wrote what he did concerning “the consummation of your faith, the salvation of your
souls.”
In
addition to these considerations, we find similar terminology used in the
letter to the Hebrews that seems to refer to the same salvation and
consummation to which both Christ and Peter were referring. For example, in
Hebrews 3:6 we read that those to whom the author
of Hebrews wrote would comprise the “house” of Christ (and would thus be
included among the company of saints who will be saved at Christ’s return) “if [they] should be retaining
the boldness and the glorying of the expectation confirmed unto the consummation.”
In v. 14 the author
went on to write, “For we have become
partners of Christ, that is, if we
should be retaining the beginning of the assumption confirmed unto the
consummation…”
Similarly, in Heb.
6:11-12 we find the following exhortation:
“Now we are
yearning for each one of you to be displaying the same diligence toward the assurance of the expectation until the
consummation, that you may not be becoming dull. Now be imitators of those who through faith and patience are enjoying the allotment of the
promises.”
Finally,
in Hebrews 10:38-39 we read the following:
“You should not,
then, be casting away your boldness, which is having a great reward, for you have need
of endurance that, doing the will of God, you should be requited with the promise.
For still how very little, He Who is
coming will be arriving and not delaying. Now My ‘just one by faith shall
be living,’ and ‘If he should ever be shrinking, My soul is not delighting in
him.’ Yet we are not of those shrinking
back to destruction, but of faith for the procuring of the soul.”
From this passage it’s evident that “the consummation” to which
the author referred elsewhere is the eon-consummating
return of Christ to earth (i.e., when “He Who is coming will be
arriving and not delaying”). That is, the author had in mind
the same “consummation” to which Christ was referring in Matthew 24:13. It is
at this time that Christ will be “seen a second time by
those awaiting Him” (Heb. 9:28), and the eonian salvation of those to whom
this letter was written will become an experienced reality (rather than an
expectation that requires their patience and endurance).
Now, as
is evident from what we read in 1 Peter. 1:10-12, the salvation of which Peter
wrote in these verses (and which will involve grace being brought to those to
whom he wrote “at the unveiling of Jesus Christ”)
is a salvation that was foretold by the
prophets, and which can thus be found in the Hebrew Scriptures (see also 2
Peter 1:19-21 and 3:1-4 for other references to prophecy by Peter). This means
that the unveiling of Jesus Christ to
which Peter was referring in verses 7 and 13 is the event that will take place
when Christ returns to earth at the conclusion of this eon (for it is this
event involving Jesus Christ being unveiled that’s prophesied in the Hebrew
Scriptures).
In other
words, Peter had in mind the same prophesied coming of Christ of which the
celestial messengers spoke after Christ ascended to heaven from the Mount of
Olives. In Acts 1:10-11 we read the following:
And as they were looking intently into heaven at His going, lo !
two men stand beside them in white attire, who say also, “Men! Galileans! Why
do you stand, looking into heaven? This
Jesus Who is being taken up from you into heaven shall come thus, in the manner
in which you gaze at Him going into heaven.”
This coming of Christ (which will involve Christ descending to
the same location from which he ascended into heaven) will fulfill the
following prophecy found in Zechariah 14:4:
“On that day his feet shall stand on the Mount
of Olives that lies before Jerusalem on the east, and the Mount of
Olives shall be split in two from east to west by a very wide valley, so
that one half of the Mount shall move northward, and the other half southward.”
Peter later referred to this same prophesied coming of Christ when
he spoke to a group of Israelites at Solomon’s Portico. In Acts 3:19-21 we read
the following:
19 “Repent, then, and turn about for the erasure of your sins, 20 so that seasons of refreshing should be coming from the face
of the Lord, and He should dispatch the
One fixed upon before for you, Christ Jesus, 21 Whom
heaven must indeed receive until the
times of restoration of all which God speaks through the mouth of His holy
prophets who are from the eon.”
Since it is at Christ’s return to earth that Peter believed the
saints to whom he wrote would be saved and receive the grace to which he
referred, we can conclude that these Jewish believers – and, by implication,
the apostle Peter himself – have the same calling and expectation as those who
will be alive on the earth when Christ returns at the end of the eon (and who
will be going through the “great affliction”).
That the Jewish believers to whom Peter wrote belong to the same
company of saints as those who will be on the earth during the great affliction
is further confirmed from what we read in 1 Peter 4:12-19. In these verses we
read the following:
12
Beloved, do not
think strange the conflagration among you, which
is becoming a trial to you, as of something strange befalling you, 13 but, according as you are participating
in the sufferings of Christ, rejoice, that you may be rejoicing, exulting in the unveiling of His glory also.
14 If you are being reproached in the name
of Christ, happy are you, for the spirit of glory and power, and that of God,
has come to rest on you. 15 For let not any of you be suffering as a
murderer, or a thief, or an evildoer, or as an interferer in other's affairs; 16 yet if as a Christian, let him not be
ashamed, yet let him be glorifying God in this name, 17 seeing
that it is the era for the judgment to begin from the house of God. Now if
first from us, what is the consummation of those who are stubborn as to God's
evangel? 18
And, “If the just
one is hardly being saved, where will the irreverent and the sinner appear?” 19 So that, let those also who are
suffering according to the will of God commit their souls to a faithful Creator
in the doing of good.
What did Peter have in mind when he wrote that the era had come “for the judgment to begin from the house
of God”? It should be emphasized that the circumstances that led to
Peter referring to the “era of judgment” involved the reproach and persecution
of the believing Jews to whom he wrote. Thus, the judgment that Peter believed
would “begin from the house of God” is
a judgment that will initially involve
the persecution of the saints among God’s covenant people.
In light of this fact, when Peter referred to judgment beginning
at the house of God, he most likely had in mind a state of affairs that Christ himself
had foretold years earlier, in the Olivet Discourse. In Matthew 24:3-10 we read
the following:
Now at His sitting
on the Mount of Olives, the disciples came to Him privately, saying, “Tell us,
when will these things be? And what is the
sign of Thy presence and of the conclusion of the eon?”
And, answering,
Jesus said to them, “Beware that no one should be deceiving you. For many shall
be coming in My name, saying, ‘I am the Christ!’ and shall be deceiving many.
Yet you shall be about to be hearing battles, and tidings of battles. See that
you are not alarmed, for it must be occurring; but not as yet is the
consummation. For roused shall be a nation against a nation, and a kingdom
against a kingdom, and there shall be famines and quakes in places. Yet all
these are the beginning of pangs.
“Then shall they be giving you up to
affliction, and they shall be killing you, and you shall be hated by all of the
nations because of My name. And then many shall be snared, and they shall be
giving one another up and hating one another.
As is evident from the last verses quoted above, one of the
prophesied events of which “the beginning of pangs” will consist – and which
will precede the “great affliction” of which Christ spoke later in this
discourse (Matt. 24:15-22) – will be the persecution of the saints among God’s
covenant people. Moreover, it’s clear from Luke’s account of Christ’s discourse
that this time of intensified persecution of the saints (which will lead to
“many” being “snared,” and “giving one another up and hating one another”) will
be occurring before the other
prophesied events that will constitute “the beginning of pangs.” See Luke 21:10-19, and note especially
the following from v. 12: “Yet before all these things they
shall be laying their hands on you and they shall be persecuting you…” As is evident from what’s said in
verses 10-11, “all these things” refer to all of the other events associated
with “the beginning of pangs.” It is before these things begin to occur that
the saints of Israel will begin to be persecuted.
We thus have good reason to believe that, when Peter wrote
concerning the judgment that would “begin from the house of God” (and which
will precede the judgment of “those
who are stubborn as to God’s evangel”), he likely had in mind the persecution
of Jewish believers foretold by Christ in his Olivet Discourse. And this means
that the Jewish believers to whom Peter wrote – and, by implication, Peter
himself – have the same calling and
expectation as the saints who will
be present on the earth when the events of which Christ prophesied in the
Olivet Discourse will be taking place. And since this future company of
saints (which will be a continuation of the “little
flock” referred to in Luke 12:32) is distinct from the body of Christ, it
follows that Peter and the Jewish saints to whom he wrote were not members of
the body of Christ.
[i] Elsewhere on my blog, I’ve presented various reasons and scripture-based arguments for why I believe the calling and expectation of the apostle Peter (as well as the Jewish saints to whom he wrote his letters) is distinct from that which belongs to the company of saints that Paul (and Paul alone) referred to in his letters as “the body of Christ.” Among the reasons I’ve presented in defense of this understanding are the following:
1. Peter told the recipients of his first letter that baptism – an act which essentially involves “the inquiry of a good conscience to God” – “is now saving you also” (1 Pet. 3:20-21). What Peter wrote concerning the saving nature of baptism is in accord with the words of Christ in Mark 16:16 (“He who believes and is baptized shall be saved, yet he who disbelieves shall be condemned”) as well as the words of Peter himself in Acts 2:38-41. Here is how Peter’s words in Acts 2:38 read in the CLNT:
“Repent and be baptized each of you in the name of Jesus Christ for the pardon of your sins, and you shall be obtaining the gratuity of the holy spirit.”
It’s thus reasonable to conclude that neither Christ nor Peter understood water baptism to be merely optional for those who sought to receive an allotment in the kingdom that’s going to be restored to Israel at Christ’s return. Rather, baptism was understood as an act of faith-based obedience that was essential to the salvation of the Israelites to whom Peter spoke and wrote.
In contrast with what was (and, I believe, will be) true regarding the salvation of the believers among God’s covenant people, Israel, Paul learned early on in his apostolic ministry that water baptism was not necessary for the salvation of those called to be in the body of Christ. According to Paul, Christ had commissioned him “not to be baptizing but to be bringing the evangel” (1 Cor. 1:17). With regard to Paul’s ministry and administration, the only baptism that mattered for those to whom he wrote is the baptism that is “in one spirit” – i.e., the spiritual baptism through which one becomes a member of the body of Christ (1 Cor. 12:12-13; cf. Gal. 3:27-28; Rom. 6:3-6ff.; Eph. 4:1-5; Col. 2:12).
2. In 2 Peter 1:8-9, the “cleansing from the penalties of sins” which those to whom Peter wrote received (and which would’ve taken place when they repented and were baptized, in accord with the words of Peter in Acts 2:38) is only said to be for their “sins of old” (or “past sins”). If the pardon they received when they repented and were baptized involved past sins only, then the pardon of their future sins was not guaranteed or secured by their original pardon or “cleansing.” Instead (and in the words of the apostle John, with whom Peter was undoubtedly in agreement on this point), to remain cleansed from sins required “walking in the light” (1 John 1:7), and having one’s future sins pardoned required “avowing [one’s] sins” (1 John 1:8-10).
Similarly, James (with whom we can also conclude Peter would’ve been in agreement) affirmed that the justification and salvation of those to whom he wrote was conditional, and required both faith and works (James 2:14-26). In contrast with the conditional nature of the pardon of the sins of those to whom Peter, James and John wrote, every member of the body of Christ can be fully assured that his or her eonian salvation is secure (Rom. 8:28-39; Titus 3:4-7), and that he or she will be among those who are to be “snatched away to meet the Lord in the air” (1 Thess. 4:14-18; 5:4-11).
3. The believers to whom Peter wrote are described as having come “to the recognition of our Lord, Jesus Christ” (2 Pet. 1:8), and as having fled “from the corruption which is in the world by lust” (2 Pet. 1:4). However, in 2 Peter 2:20-21, we find Peter warning those who have “fled from the defilements of the world by the recognition of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ.” If they became yet again “involved” in these “defilements,” their “last state” would be “worse than the first” (these words of exhortation and warning are strikingly similar to what we read in Heb. 6:4-8 and 10:26-31; see also Christ’s words in Matt. 5:13 and John 15:2, 6).
In v. 21, we read that Peter went on to warn his readers as follows:
“For it were better for them not to have recognized the way of righteousness, than, recognizing it, to go back to what was behind, from the holy precept given to them.”
Again, the “them” to whom Peter was referring are those who’d come to “a recognition of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ” (cf. Matt. 16:15-17; John 20:31). In contrast with what Peter wrote here, it could never be the case that the “last state” of those who have believed the truth of Paul’s evangel could be worse than the state we were in before we came into a realization of the truth. When we who were called through the evangel of the grace of God are given the faith to believe this evangel, we are “in one spirit…baptized into one body” (1 Cor. 12:13) and “sealed with the holy spirit of promise…for the day of deliverance” (Eph. 1:13-14; 4:30).
[ii] It’s commonly believed that what Peter referred to as “an allotment incorruptible and undefiled and unfading, kept in the heavens for you” (1 Pet. 1:4) is a reference to the same expectation that belongs to the saints in the body of Christ. However, as I’ve argued elsewhere on my blog, such is not the case (see, for example, here and here).
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