​After a reading of 1 Peter again, I am more convinced than ever that the “elect” of which Paul and the apostles speak in the New Testament are the Jews who have become Christians in the first century.  We know from the counsel in Jerusalem around 50 A.D. that Paul was going to be the evangelist to the gentiles and Peter was going to evangelize the Jews.  I have included some quotes in 1 Peter to support my position.  In fact the opening sentence confirms that his audience are Jews.  “Peter, an apostle of Jesus Christ, to the elect who dwell as foreigners up and down Pontus, Galatia, Cappadocia, Asia, and Bithynia,  chosen in the foreknowledge of God the Father…” 1 Peter 1-2.  God chose a chosen race, the descendants of Abraham, to be the receiver of His Word.  These chosen people were the people of Israel and Judea, the Jews. The word “elect” in every epistle of the New Testament refers to Jews in general terms, and more particularly, Christian Jews. And why would they be called foreigners if they were not Jews living in the land of the gentiles? “Blessed be that God, that Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, who in his great mercy has begotten us anew…” 1 Peter 3.  Why were his audience “begotten anew?” This sentence implies that they were begotten a first time by the selection of the Jews as the chosen people through the actions of Abraham and Moses. Then Christ, a Jew, chose them a second time. “What was the ransom that freed you from the vain observances of ancestral tradition?” 1 Peter 18.  Peter is talking about animal sacrifices of the Jews from the traditions of the prophets of the Old Testament.  Why would he make such a statement to gentiles? “Your life amidst the Gentiles must be beyond reproach;” 1 Peter 2:12.  Why would Peter address his audience as living among the gentiles if his letter were to the gentiles?  Peter is addressing his fellow Jews who living amongst the gentiles. “Think how obedient Sara was to Abraham, how she called him her lord; if you would prove yourselves her children, live honestly, and let no anxious thoughts disturb you.” 1 Peter 3:6. Would the gentiles know much about the life of Sara and Abraham in 64 A.D.?  Who are the children of Sara and Abraham but the Jews? “That is why dead men, too, had the gospel message brought to them;” 1 Peter 4:6.  The “dead men” to which Peter refers are the gentiles. The word “too” implies that the gospel was brought to the Jews and also to the “dead men” too. “Do not be surprised, beloved, that this fiery ordeal should have befallen you, to test your quality” 1 Peter 4:12.  What is the “fiery ordeal” of which Peter speaks?  Remember when the Romans completely sacked Jerusalem in 70 A.D.  The Jewish revolt began several years before the final destruction of Jerusalem.  Most Christian Jews fled Jerusalem when the revolt first began (right at the time when this letter was written) and were dispersed throughout Pontus, Galatia, Cappadocia, Asia, and Bithynia. “The time is ripe for judgement to begin, and to begin with God’s own household; and if our turn comes first, what will be its issue for those who refuse credence to God’s message?”  1 Peter 4:17.  The “judgment” is the destruction of Jerusalem and the “time is ripe” meaning that it is happening as he is writing.  Then Peter says the judgment will begin with God’s own household, which is the elect, the Jews. “Our turn comes first” means the Jewish Christians will be persecuted first then the gentile Christians.  Peter is writing from Rome by the hand of Silvanus and Peter’s interpreter, Mark, to their fellow Jews of the diaspora, who were all united by God’s election in the days of Noah and Abraham.

​These few verses by the Apostle Peter sum up the whole of the testament.  “Blessed be that God, that Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, who in his great mercy has begotten us anew, making hope live in us through the resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead.  We are to share an inheritance that is incorruptible, inviolable, unfading. It is stored up for you in heaven; and meanwhile, through your faith, the power of God affords you safe conduct till you reach it, this salvation which is waiting to be disclosed at the end of time.  Then you will be triumphant.” 1 Peter 3-6. And what does the New Testament preach?  Christ, sent by God, died on the cross for humans so that sin and death is now conquered.  That one act has made us new creatures in the likeness of God.  Humans can now live a sinless and pure life while we wait for our resurrection.  We are protected from the temptations of the evil one.  That one act also gives us hope, hope in a future life with the trinity upon our death.  And the one act has given us a faith to believe that our salvation is waiting for us in heaven. This faith gives us strength to bear the burdens of this earthly life in love until we reach our final destination on the day of judgment when Christ reappears.  Our waiting with struggles will be triumphant.

​The Lord’s Prayer, or the Our Father as we Catholics like to call it, has a confusing petition.  This is the only prayer Jesus commanded us to pray.  All Christians pay this prayer, whether catholic, protestant or non-denominational.  When we say the prayer, we ask God for three petitions in the second half of the prayer: give us, forgive us and lead us.   This short note concerns the third petition: “Lead us not into temptation but deliver us from evil.”  I always found it strange that Jesus would command us to ask God to lead us not into temptation as if God would tempt us.  God does not tempt us.  Only the devils has that calling and responsibility. The Apostle James confirms that fact in his epistle. “Nobody, when he finds himself tempted, should say, I am being tempted by God. God may threaten us with evil, but he does not himself tempt anyone.  No, when a man is tempted, it is always because he is being drawn away by the lure of his own passions.”   James 1:13-14.  So if God does not tempt us, why do we ask him to lead us not into temptation as if God would lead us into temptation and sin?  I think that when this phrase was drafted into Latin, and then English, a comma was left out.  There should be a comma behind the words “lead us.”  Jesus commands us to pray to the Father to lead us, direct our lives away from temptation and free us from the snares of the evil one.  When you pray the Our Father, ask God to lead you down the narrow path.  You should understand that our natural passions and desires often overtake our thoughts and we seek unhealthy obsessions like sex outside of marriage, drugs, alcohol and money, often to extremes and to our destruction. James confirms this statement:  “passion conceives and gives birth to sin; and when sin has reached its full growth, it breeds death.”  James 1:15.  Ask God to lead us away from the temptations of the evil one.

​Christ says we are his body now that he has redeemed us from sin and death.  He gave the ultimate and final sacrifice, his human life, to overcome our own frailty, human sin and eternal death.  We are not reprimanded to an eternal death any longer.  Christ has provided us with a road to eternal life.  His one act of sacrifice has opened the door for us to enter eternal life.  This was a gratuitous gift and he implies that we received it without any corresponding action on our part.  Yet we must have faith in the gift giver and trust that what he commands is the truth.  Faith is a grace of God. It is free to the one who wants to receive it.  It is an animated incorporeal.  Faith is also an action on our part too. Faith does not just happen within the human mind.  It is an acquired yearning.  And we must work real hard to retain our faith of Christ once acquired.  So death is conquered but humans must play a part for the spoils.  Paul says sin was vanquished once and for all at Christ’s death yet sin still exists in the world.  Why is that? How can Christ conquer sin and death yet sin and eternal death still remain within the kingdom of God on earth?  Has the kingdom of God been created on earth or has only the cornerstone been laid?  Are we the kingdom dwellers?  If, so, we are the labors too.  God through Christ has provided us with the materials and tools to overcome sin, yet we still sin.  God has placed a consequent demand on us in order to receive everlasting life.  We must follow His commands, i.e., avoidance of sin.  So when Paul says that sin has been conquered, he means that sin no longer controls your life automatically and perpetually. But we still sin?  Why is that, if it has been conquered?  We who seek to refrain from sin are the laborers within the kingdom of God on earth today.  We labor for the desire to follow Christ.  All things desired can be acquired.  We can desire sinlessness and remain sinless only through the perpetual presence of Christ and the Holy Spirit in our lives.  Because we are humans, eternal retention of the Holy Spirit is an impossible task.  We lower of defenses, let down our guard, temporarily relinquish our faith and the Holy Spirt flees from us.  Then we sin. We easily let natural desires overcome divine human existence and structure.  But luckily, the final sacrifice also has provided us with a mechanism to rid ourselves of sin, confession. Once we finally decide to banish sin from our lives forever and grab hold of the Holy Spirit and not let go of the salvation Christ has gracious given us through His sacrifice, eternal life is our reward.