Verse 2 ends with the words, “Grace to you and peace be multiplied.” Grace is God as our enjoyment (John 1:17; 1 Cor. 15:10). Peace is a condition which results from grace. Multiplied grace corresponds to varied grace (1 Pet. 4:10) and all grace (5:10). The believers have received the initial grace; yet this grace needs to be multiplied in them so that they may participate in all grace.
Concerning the sanctification of the Spirit, there are two aspects. We need to know both aspects and what they accomplish. The first aspect of sanctification precedes justification, and it carries out God’s choice, His selection, and brings the chosen ones to the obedience and sprinkling of the blood for their justification. Thus, this aspect of the Spirit’s sanctification is before justification through the redemption of Christ. Then, following justification, the Spirit continues to work to sanctify us dispositionally. The sequence is this: God’s selection, the Spirit’s sanctification, justification, and then subjective sanctification. Not many Christians have seen this. Many Christian teachers say that God’s selection comes first, then justification, and then the Spirit’s sanctification. However, this does not take into account the two aspects of the sanctification of the Spirit, for it refers only to the second aspect, subjective or dispositional sanctification. We have pointed out that subjective sanctification of the Spirit is revealed in Romans 6 and 15. But before we can have subjective sanctification of the Spirit, we must have the first aspect of the Spirit’s sanctification, the sanctifying work that takes place before God’s justification.
In eternity past God, according to His foreknowledge, chose us. He selected us and made a decision to gain us. Then in time the Spirit came to us to sanctify us, to set us apart, from the world so that we would obey Christ’s redemption. He came to separate us for the obedience and sprinkling of the blood of Christ. When we obey, the blood sprinkles us. It is the sanctifying Spirit who separates us from the world unto the obedience of Christ’s blood. First we repent and believe, and then we obey what Christ has done on the cross. Following this, we receive the sprinkling of the blood of Christ. This is the sanctifying work of the Spirit following God’s selection to carry out God’s choice and to bring us to Christ’s redemption.
I can use my own experience to illustrate this aspect of the Spirit’s sanctification. I was born into the religion of Christianity, but, of course, I was not born into Christ. As a young person, I became quite rebellious, having seen some things in Christianity that I did not agree with. When I compared the teachings of Confucius with what I saw in Christianity, I told myself that Christianity was not as good as the teachings of Confucius. I felt that the disciples of Confucius were much better in their behavior and conduct than were the missionaries, pastors, and preachers. But one day, at the age of nineteen, I was arrested by the sanctifying Spirit. A young woman evangelist came to our town, and out of curiosity I went to listen to her. As I sat in the meeting, the Spirit asked me, “What are you doing here? I have been pursuing you for a long time, and now is the time for Me to catch you.” I was indeed caught for the Lord at that time. I repented and I began to obey Christ and accept what He did. No doubt, at the same time I received the sprinkling of the blood of Christ, and I experienced the first aspect of the sanctifying work of the Spirit. From that time onward, the Spirit has been continually sanctifying me. Even now this sanctifying work, the second aspect of the Spirit’s sanctification, is still going on.
The sanctifying work of the Spirit began before God’s justification and it continues afterward. Before justification, we are separated unto obedience and sprinkling of the blood of Christ. After justification, we are sanctified subjectively, dispositionally. In 1:2 we have the first aspect; in Romans 6:19 and 22, the second; and in 2 Thessalonians 2:13, the all-inclusive sanctification of the Spirit. The goal of this sanctification is to carry out God’s full salvation.
Regarding 1 Peter 1:1 and 2, we can speak of the operation, the energetic working, of the Triune God, for here we have the Father’s choosing, the Spirit’s sanctification, and the Son’s redemption. These three actions are the operation of the Triune God.
The Father’s choosing was done before the foundation of the world. This selection was according to God’s foreknowledge. Peter’s word in 1:2 corresponds to Paul’s word in Ephesians 1 and Romans 8, chapters where Paul tells us that in eternity, before the foundation of the world, God chose us according to His foreknowledge. This is God’s selection.
The Spirit then comes in to carry out God’s selection. God’s selection was made in eternity, before the foundation of the world. The Spirit’s sanctification, however, takes place in time. We were wandering, having no direction, but the Spirit carried out God’s selection of us. As a result, we repented, believed, and received the sprinkling of the blood shed by Christ on the cross. Therefore, we have the move of the Father, the Spirit, and the Son. This is the operation of the Trinity of the Godhead upon His chosen people, His elect, so that they may participate in His full salvation. This is one way of speaking concerning what is revealed in 1:1 and 2.
Another way of speaking regarding the same matter is to say that the energetic working of the Triune God is to bring us into the enjoyment of the Triune God. To participate in God’s full salvation is actually to enjoy the Triune God. When we enjoy the Triune God, we are in grace, for grace is God for us to enjoy. It is our enjoyment of the Triune God. According to verse 2, this grace should be multiplied and not merely added. Furthermore, the enjoyment of grace results in peace. This means that peace results from the enjoyment of the Triune God as grace. This is participation in the full salvation of God, and this is the divine economy of the Trinity of the Godhead to bring us into the participation of the Triune God.
We should not think that verses 1 and 2, the introduction to this Epistle, are simple. We should not dismiss them as words written by a fisherman. Peter was a fisherman, but he was a fisherman constituted of the Triune God in His operation. Therefore, Peter knew the Father’s selection, the Spirit’s sanctification, and the Son’s redemption. He knew that the sprinkling of the blood of Jesus Christ brings God’s selected people into the full enjoyment of the Triune God as their salvation. This writing is the breath of the all-inclusive Spirit. Every word in these verses is part of the holy breath of the life-giving Spirit. The scope, content, and span of these verses are marvelous, and we need to study them again and again.