Two notes on 1st Peter

I recently went to an overview lecture by Steve Gregg of the book of 1st Peter and here are two things I learned.

Foreknown or foreordained?

1 Peter 1:20 reads like this in the New King James Version:

He indeed was foreordained before the foundation of the world, but was manifest in these last times for you.

The New Revised Standard Version:

He was destined before the foundation of the world, but was revealed at the end of the ages for your sake.

But, a better translation is the English Standard Version (which is very close to what the CSB says):

He was foreknown before the foundation of the world but was made manifest in the last times for the sake of you. (ESV)

He was foreknown before the foundation of the world but was revealed in these last times for you. (CSB)

Foreknown carries with it the idea that there was knowledge and a decision made, "known beforehand". The context may imply the idea of predestined, but that is not what the original text says.

Foreknowledge means that, "God knows what will happen because it will occur. His knowledge is based on the event itself (Logical Priority), even though His knowledge is chronologically prior to the event." (Updated American Standard Bible, Bible Answers—Differentiating Between Foreknowledge and Foreordain)

Foreordain means that, "God decides or determines what will happen for a particular purpose. In this case, the event happens because God has a plan that the event fulfills." (Ibid)

Why is getting this right so important? Because foreknown means God knew but choice was also involved. Jesus chose to go to the cross. His agony in the garden was real. He really did give himself up to be crucified.

A great example of God's foreknowledge versus foreordination, is the fall. God knew in advance what Adam would choose to do, and God did not cause the choice he made. Same with Judas and Joseph's brothers. They chose to sin. Their actions were not predetermined by God (foreordained), but God did have foreknowledge of them.

What does "by whose stripes you were healed" mean?

This phrase, from Isaiah 53:5, "And by His stripes, we are healed," has been misunderstood to mean that divine healing is in the atonement, and also guaranteed. But this is not true. Jesus came to save sinners and His work on the cross was to atone for sin and not to guarantee healing. Let us look at the context in 1 Peter, chapter 2:

For to this you were called, because Christ also suffered for us, leaving us an example, that you should follow His steps:

“Who committed no sin,
Nor was deceit found in His mouth”;

who, when He was reviled, did not revile in return; when He suffered, He did not threaten, but committed Himself to Him who judges righteously; who Himself bore our sins in His own body on the tree, that we, having died to sins, might live for righteousness—by whose stripes you were healed. For you were like sheep going astray, but have now returned to the Shepherd and Overseer of your souls.

-1 Peter 2:21-25 (New King James Version)

The healing referred to is healing for sin. Peter is quoting Isaiah 53: (bold type are the phrases that Peter quotes).

Surely He has borne our griefs
And carried our sorrows;
Yet we esteemed Him stricken,
Smitten by God, and afflicted.

But He was wounded for our transgressions,
He was bruised for our iniquities;
The chastisement for our peace was upon Him,
And by His stripes we are healed.
All we like sheep have gone astray;
We have turned, every one, to his own way;
And the Lord has laid on Him the iniquity of us all.

He was oppressed and He was afflicted,
Yet He opened not His mouth;
He was led as a lamb to the slaughter,
And as a sheep before its shearers is silent,
So He opened not His mouth.
He was taken from prison and from judgment,
And who will declare His generation?
For He was cut off from the land of the living;
For the transgressions of My people He was stricken.
And they made His grave with the wicked—
But with the rich at His death,
Because He had done no violence,
Nor was any deceit in His mouth.

-Isaiah 53:4-9 (New King James Version)

In Isaiah 53:5, there is a phrase and then another phrase following, that repeats the same idea:

(A) But He was wounded for our transgressions,
He was bruised for our iniquities;
(B) The chastisement for our peace was upon Him,
And by His stripes we are healed.

B echoes A. The healing referred to is healing of our sins.

Isaiah 53 is about The Suffering Servant (NASB) or The Sin-Bearing Messiah (NKJV). 1 Peter 2:18-25 is about "Slaves’ respect for their masters" (Constable's notes) or "Submission to Masters" (NKJV & CSB heading), and the suffering that this might entail, looking to how Christ suffered.

Jesus still heals today, but these verses in I Peter and Isaiah 53 are about Jesus atoning for the sins of all mankind on the cross, and His suffering. We cannot quote Isaiah 53:5 when praying for healing and add that healing is also guaranteed, based on this verse, because that is not what this verse means. Divine healing is available, and is possible; but it is not something Jesus died on the cross to give us. Jesus came to heal our sin. The cross is about atonement for sin.