1 Peter 1:2

See how Peter says that he was called to be an apostle of Jesus Christ by the foreknowledge of God the Father. Furthermore, he explains what his apostleship is like by saying that it is in the sanctification of the Spirit, for obedience and sprinkling …

According to the foreknowledge of God the Father, etc. These verses are connected to what was previously stated, "To the elect exiles." For they were chosen according to the foreknowledge of God the Father. Hence the apostle also says: "Those whom He foreknew He also …

May grace and peace be multiplied. So that what you have well begun, you may complete perfectly. He first names grace, then peace, because without the grace of Christ we cannot attain to the peace of reconciliation, indeed we cannot have anything peaceful except through …

"Grace," because we are saved freely, contributing nothing of our own. "Peace," because, having offended the Master, we were numbered among His enemies.

Election, in the scripture sense, is God's doing anything that our merit or power have no part in. The true predestination, or fore-appointment of God is, 1. He that believeth shall be saved from the guilt and power of sin.

The grace of God is a generous, not a selfish principle. (2.) The best blessings we can desire for ourselves, or one for another, are grace and peace, with the multiplication of them; therefore the apostles so often make this their prayer in the beginning and end of their epistles. (3.) Solid peace cannot be enjoyed where there is no true grace; first grace, then peace.

Elect according to the foreknowledge of God the Father,....

My Brethren, I beg you to notice and carefully consider the value which God sets upon real holiness, since the Three Persons are represented as co-working to produce a Church without "spot, or wrinkle, or any such thing." Those men who despise holiness of heart are in direct conflict with God. Holiness is the architectural plan upon which God builds up His living temple. We read in Scripture of the "beauties of holiness." Nothing is beautiful before God but that which is holy.

The divine three are introduced in their respective functions in redemption. through--Greek, "in"; the element in which we are elected. The "election" of God realized and manifested itself "IN" their sanctification. Believers are "sanctified through the offering of Christ once for all" (Heb 10:10).

My Brethren, I beg you to notice and carefully consider the value which God sets upon real holiness, since the Three Persons are represented as co-working to produce a Church without "spot, or wrinkle, or any such thing." Those men who despise holiness of heart are in direct conflict with God. Holiness is the architectural plan upon which God builds up His living temple. We read in Scripture of the "beauties of holiness." Nothing is beautiful before God but that which is holy. All the glory of Lucifer, that son of the morning, could not screen him from Divine abhorrence when he had defiled himself by sin. "Holy, Holy, Holy"—the continual cry of cherubim—is the loftiest song that a creature can offer, and the noblest that the Divine Being can accept. See then, He counts holiness to be His choice treasure. It is as the seal upon His heart and as the signet upon His right hand. He could as soon cease to be, as cease to be holy, and sooner renounce the sovereignty of the world than tolerate anything in His presence contrary to purity, righteousness and holiness. I pray you, you who profess to be followers of Christ, set a high value upon purity of life and godliness of conversation. Value the blood of Christ as the foundation of your hope, but never speak disparagingly of the work of the Spirit which is your meetness for the inheritance of the saints in light. Yes, rather, prize it—prize it so heartily that you dread the very appearance of evil. Prize it so that in your most ordinary actions you may be, "a royal priesthood, a holy nation, a peculiar people, showing forth the praises of Him who has called you out of darkness into His marvelous light." My design was to have entered at large upon the doctrine of sanctification this morning. I intended to use the word "sanctification" in the mode in which it is understood among theologians.

Elect - That is, “chosen.” The meaning here is, that they were in fact chosen. The word does not refer to the purpose to choose, but to the fact that they were chosen or selected by God as His people. It is a word commonly applied to the people of God as being chosen out of the world, and called to be His. The use of the word does not determine whether God had a previous eternal purpose to choose them or not. That must be determined by something else than the mere use of the term. This word has reference to the act of selecting them, without throwing any light on the question why it was done. See Mat 24:22, Mat 24:24, Mat 24:31; Mar 13:20; Luk 18:7; Rom 8:33; Col 3:12. Compare the notes at Joh 15:16. The meaning is, that God had, on some account, a preference for them above others as his people, and had chosen them from the midst of others to be heirs of salvation. The word should be properly understood as applied to the act of choosing them, not to the purpose to choose them; the fact of his selecting them to be his, not the doctrine that he would choose them; and is a word, therefore, which should be freely and gratefully used by all Christians, for it is a word in frequent use in the Bible, and there is nothing for which people should be more grateful than the fact that God has chosen them to salvation. Elsewhere we learn that the purpose to choose them was eternal, and that the reason of it was his own good pleasure. See the notes at Eph 1:4-5. We are here also informed that it was in accordance with “the foreknowledge of God the Father.” According to the foreknowledge of God the Father - The Father is regarded, in the Scriptures, as the Author of the plan of salvation, and as having chosen His people to life, and given them to His Son to redeem and save, Joh 6:37, Joh 6:65; Joh 17:2, Joh 17:6,Joh 17:11. […]