Commentary on First Peter (50)

To recapitulate, at the beginning of this chapter, we considered what our passage says about Christ and what it says about the unbelievers. Then, we spent a great deal of time on what it says about the Christians. They are living stones that are being built into a spiritual house. They are a chosen race, a royal priesthood, and a holy nation – a people that is God's special treasure, and whom he has called out of darkness into his wonderful light.

The passage mentions two things that Christians have been redeemed by God to do. First, they are to offer spiritual sacrifices that are acceptable to God through Jesus Christ (v. 5). We have already discussed this. Second, believers are to "declare the praises of him who called" them (v. 9). The word translated "praises" is aretas. The English translations attempt to capture different aspects of what the word means, and they have done so in two main ways. The first takes the word as referring to the "excellent qualities" of God (GWT), and thus the NASB has "excellencies" here. The second observes contemporary pagan usage of the word as well as the context of Isaiah 43:21, from which Peter obtains the phrase, and so concludes that the word refers to God's actions and miracles. Thus the RSV offers the translation, "wonderful deeds," and the REB reads, "glorious deeds."

The God of Isaiah 43:21 is the one who brought the Israelites out of Egypt with signs and wonders, and he is the one who would bring them out of Babylon, where they were held captive. In our passage, he is the one who called believers out of darkness into his wonderful light. Therefore, the "praises" that we are to declare would no doubt include the mighty acts that God performed in redeeming us from death, sin, and hell. It would include his eternal decree to redeem his chosen ones, and the fulfillment of this decree in Christ's incarnation, crucifixion, and resurrection.

The phrase also calls attention to the fact that, although we are the one needing and receiving salvation, redemption is ultimately not about us, but about God. Back in Isaiah 43, God says that he would blot out transgressions "for my own sake" (v. 25). This idea is consistently taught throughout the Bible (Psalm 25:11, 79:9; Ezekiel 20:9, 36:22; Ephesians 1:6).

In other words, our theology of salvation must be consistently God-centered and not man-centered. It is not enough to acknowledge that the reason for our election rests within God's sovereign will alone, and not in our own inherent worth and merit. We must also affirm that, although God does love us and intend to benefit us through redemption, the ultimate end or purpose for which God saves us is for himself and not for us.