1 Peter 1:2 2according to the foreknowledge of God the Father in the sanctification of the Spirit for the obedience and sprinkling of the blood of Jesus, grace to you and peace be multiplied.
Peter describes these believers in several important ways in his expanded greetings section. First, they were chosen by God for a special purpose. In his perfect wisdom and knowledge of all things, God had predetermined the course of salvation. This verse is often used as the basis for the doctrine of predestination, though that is not the only reading of what Peter means. God had salvation already planned before Adam and Eve were ever created. The coming of Jesus, his life, death, and resurrection, were not God’s “Plan B” just in case Adam and Eve, or anyone else, ever sinned. God knew the frailty of the humans he created and had the plan for how to fix this frailty through coming in person at just the right time in history.
God’s election has a specific goal: the obedience to Jesus Christ. This obedience should not be interpreted as legalistic obedience to the law but the obedience that comes from faith. Obedience is the response of faith to the message about Jesus Christ. Once the message goes out, a person must make the decision whether to accept Jesus as Savior. The mention of sprinkling of blood of a reflection of the sacrifice of his life Jesus made on the cross. The opening two verses contain allusions to Old Testament theology, as what might be expected from a Jewish Christian like Peter. The themes mentioned here will be expanded in the rest of the letter.
The new life envisioned in this verse comes through the sanctifying power and presence of the Holy Spirit. The Spirit begins the process of salvation by enlivening our spirits with the first inclinations of salvation through conviction in one’s conscience of an awareness of good and evil. This awareness grows and comes to full life when the gospel is presented as the answer to sin, death, corruption, and all the ills humanity has brought upon itself. Sanctification(hagiasmō) is the process of making something holy, set apart for God, and purified in his likeness. The only way sanctification can be complete, thorough, and life-transforming (versus human effort in legalistic defeat) is through Jesus’ sacrificial death. Thus, Peter has brought together the Trinity: Father, who planned salvation, the Spirit, who brings the salvation to each person, and the Son, who is the means by which the offer of salvation is made.
Peter’s greeting is short and mirrors Paul’s greetings of grace and peace. The salvation through Jesus is the only genuine and eternal source of the grace and peace humanity longs for and needs. God offers these not in small piecemeals but in the abundance of limitless multiplication.