I. Epistolary Greeting (1:1-2)

Peter identifies himself as an apostle, as one who carries authority under the commission of Jesus Christ. Immediately he indicates his primary concerns in writing by the way he describes his readers (cf. 5:12). They are God’s unique people (elect strangers) by virtue of God’s initiatives in Christ (his foreknowledge and sprinkling by Christ’s blood) who live distinctive lives in the world (sanctified for obedience). In all that Peter writes he intends to clarify the unique character and conduct of God’s holy, elect people.