Peter writes to the elect exiles, at once a collaboration of two words that are seemingly contradictory. As for being elect, they are eternally safe and secure. As for being an exile, they are vulnerable daily to a host of suffering and persecution. Yet Peter writes that their current situation is not out of God's plan, instead they are "according to the foreknowledge of God the Father". Their salvation has run from the eternal decree of God starting with God's foreknowledge. And yet this salvation is not completed, but is fulfilled continually as the elect are changed by the sanctification of the Spirit. Their living in difficult situations is a call for them to be obedient to Jesus Christ. Their lives in the present difficult time is an evidence of whether they are saved or not.
Thus, despite the fact that the elect are physically scattered abroad, far away from their homes of comfort and possibly far away from their loved ones, they are to find peace in their eternal security and in the grace of the Triune God who are obviously at work in their lives.
In fact, we too are 'exiles' in our workplaces and school, and immediately find that we are alien to the culture and value systems of our friends and colleagues, and may even suffer from our non-conformity. Here in God we must find to strength to continue to obey, and more importantly, to live out our identity as the 'elect' of God.
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