Peter begins his first letter with his hope in the Trinity. 1 Peter 1: 2 God the Father knew you and chose you long ago, and his Spirit has made you holy. As a result, you have obeyed him and have been cleansed by the blood of Jesus Christ. May God give you more and more grace and peace.[1] While the word “Trinity” never occurs in the Bible, we see the three persons and their work spoken of here.
God the Father
Even though people may reject and oppose us, God, the Father, knew us before we were born. Psalm 139:1 O Lord, you have examined my heart and know everything about me…16 You saw me before I was born. Every day of my life was recorded in your book. Every moment was laid out before a single day had passed. [2] The trials of our lives don’t surprise Him.
The Holy Spirit
The work of the Holy Spirit is to make us holy or “set apart” for God. The Spirit comes as a seal when we believe. Ephesians 1: 14 The Spirit is God’s guarantee that he will give us the inheritance he promised and that he has purchased us to be his own people. [3] The Spirit transforms our lives and empowers us to live apart from the evil world. We are to be strangers in this world because it opposes God.
Jesus Christ
Peter was a Jew and knew that it had been the work of the priests to sprinkle blood in the temple for the forgiveness of sins. We know that the blood of Jesus was the once-and-done sacrifice that paid the price for our sins. Hebrews 9: 12 With his (Jesus’) own blood—not the blood of goats and calves—he entered the Most Holy Place once for all time and secured our redemption forever.
Why would cleanse follow obedience in this text? Historically, in the Old Testament, the only time the people were sprinkled with blood was at the inauguration of the Mosaic Covenant (Ex.24:1-8). Here, the people had promised to obey, and Moses sprinkled half the blood of the oxen on the people and half on the altar.
Result of the Work of the Trinity
The three persons of the Trinity work as a team to fill us with grace and peace. We can only be saved by grace, as we cannot earn our salvation. We have peace with God because of what the Son did and the empowerment of the Holy Spirit. Our hope in the Trinity yields grace and peace. To learn more, listen here:
https://podpoint.com/light-of-christ-church-podcast/jesus-hope
[1-3] Holy Bible, New Living Translation, copyright © 1996, 2004, 2015 by Tyndale House Publishers, Inc., Carol Stream, Illinois 60188