The opening phrase stands as a signpost for the rest of the letter. The audience experiences present life as exiles. They suffer in the dispersed places of the world awaiting the opportunity to return home. Unlike the exiles of the Northern kingdom taken captive in 721BC and subsequently lost as a people in the land of the Amorites, and unlike the captives of the southern kingdom taken captive to Babylon in 586bc, the Christians did no wrong. The exile of the Jewish people, amply supported by Peter’s plain reference to “Babylon” and “exile,” serves as the background to explain the suffering of the church. Christian exiles received election from God. The word election more accurately defines God’s sovereign act of selection. God chose these people and they subsequently became exiles. God’s choosing resulted in their exile. Unlike Israel whom God rejected and sent to exile, the church, like Abraham, received God’s election and then marched into exile. God’s work produced estrangement from their home. Can this be good? Surely, suffering indicates that God no longer notices your plight and allows your enemies to prevail? The minor prophets struggled with this problem. The chosen people of God sit suffering in exile singing songs about their homeland but remain powerless to return. The Hebrew verb for “exile” is the same verb that means “to strip, to uncover.” An exile had no rights or privileges. They suffered in the land of their exile. Peter announces an oxymoron. On the one hand, the people of God received election from God. On the other hand, the people of God faced rejection from the world. Peter announces that the exiled condition of the people of God who believed in Jesus Christ to cause them to consider their current situation in a theological manner. How often do we consider our situation from a theological perspective? God chose a people for himself, but their election brings consequences in the land of their sojourning. Peter establishes his baseline theme with the two words “ἐκλεκτοῖς παρεπιδήμοις” chosen exiles. Christians function in this world as exiles. Consider the torment of this present age. Look about your world and see if you can identify some of the practices that run against your conviction. We find ourselves in the midst of sexual perversion. Images of illicit sex, pornography, and immodest dress stream into our homes. Illicit relationships of cohabitation, homosexuality, affairs and slavery surround our homes. Insolent liars, perverters of the true gospel, false witnesses and pompous shepherds infiltrate our church ranks. Life is hard for the believer because he or she must sift through all the practices of those who seek their own destruction through behavior that rejects God. At times, our own behavior begins to crack under the pressure of these external forces and we sin against God. Peter, in designating the believers as “elect exiles” deals squarely with the dangers that exiles face in the land of their sojourning. He knows the churches of Asia face temptation and traps of sin. He knows they wrestle with suffering and exclusion. He knows they see few receive the gospel because few want to give up their place in this world. The trials, however, produce maturity. Peter cares for the maturity of the congregation and writes his letter to encourage them to resist the common trends of this world. He lists four actions of God that result in a believer’s exile. He lays out his list in Trinitarian form. God the Father, The Holy Spirit, and Jesus Christ demand such radical change in a believer’s life that they willingly march into exile. more