Peter, an apostle of Jesus Christ,
To God’s elect, strangers in the world, scattered throughout Pontus, Galatia, Cappadocia, Asia and Bithynia, 2 who have been chosen according to the foreknowledge of God the Father, through the sanctifying work of the Spirit, for obedience to Jesus Christ and sprinkling by his blood:
Grace and peace be yours in abundance.
Praise to God for a Living Hope
3 Praise be to the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ! In his great mercy he has given us new birth into a living hope through the resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead, 4 and into an inheritance that can never perish, spoil or fade—kept in heaven for you, 5 who through faith are shielded by God’s power until the coming of the salvation that is ready to be revealed in the last time. 6 In this you greatly rejoice, though now for a little while you may have had to suffer grief in all kinds of trials. 7 These have come so that your faith—of greater worth than gold, which perishes even though refined by fire—may be proved genuine and may result in praise, glory and honor when Jesus Christ is revealed. 8 Though you have not seen him, you love him; and even though you do not see him now, you believe in him and are filled with an inexpressible and glorious joy, 9 for you are receiving the goal of your faith, the salvation of your souls.
10 Concerning this salvation, the prophets, who spoke of the grace that was to come to you, searched intently and with the greatest care, 11 trying to find out the time and circumstances to which the Spirit of Christ in them was pointing when he predicted the sufferings of Christ and the glories that would follow. 12 It was revealed to them that they were not serving themselves but you, when they spoke of the things that have now been told you by those who have preached the gospel to you by the Holy Spirit sent from heaven. Even angels long to look into these things.
Be Holy
13 Therefore, prepare your minds for action; be self-controlled; set your hope fully on the grace to be given you when Jesus Christ is revealed. 14 As obedient children, do not conform to the evil desires you had when you lived in ignorance. 15 But just as he who called you is holy, so be holy in all you do; 16 for it is written: “Be holy, because I am holy.”
17 Since you call on a Father who judges each man’s work impartially, live your lives as strangers here in reverent fear. 18 For you know that it was not with perishable things such as silver or gold that you were redeemed from the empty way of life handed down to you from your forefathers, 19 but with the precious blood of Christ, a lamb without blemish or defect. 20 He was chosen before the creation of the world, but was revealed in these last times for your sake. 21 Through him you believe in God, who raised him from the dead and glorified him, and so your faith and hope are in God.
22 Now that you have purified yourselves by obeying the truth so that you have sincere love for your brothers, love one another deeply, from the heart. 23 For you have been born again, not of perishable seed, but of imperishable, through the living and enduring word of God. 24 For,
“All men are like grass,
and all their glory is like the flowers of the field;
the grass withers and the flowers fall,
25 but the word of the Lord stands forever.”
And this is the word that was preached to you.
My Understanding: Peter wrote this letter to God’s elect, i.e. to those God has called and has chosen to be followers of Jesus Christ. We are strangers in this world. That means that we don’t cling to the things of this world, or make them our gods, or get enthralled with the things of this world. We always live our lives with eternity’s values in view. We have not only been chosen by God to have salvation and eternity with God in heaven one day, but we have been chosen by God, through the sanctifying work of the Spirit, for obedience to Jesus Christ. To be sanctified means to be cleansed and to be made holy, and we know what it means to obey God. It means to forsake our sins and our own selfish desires. It means to humbly bow before God and to submit to his will for our lives.
So, we praise our God, the One and Only true God in heaven, for his great salvation. In his great mercy he has chosen to take us out of this world, and he has chosen to give us new lives in Christ Jesus, our Lord and Master. We have this living hope through Jesus Christ’s death for our sins, and through his resurrection, in which he conquered our sins so that we could go free. It is no hope at all if we remain in bondage to sin. The hope we have been given is that he has freed us to no longer be controlled or led astray by sin’s deceitfulness.
We have this hope of eternity with God, an eternal inheritance that can never perish, spoil or fade, kept in heaven for those, who through faith are shielded by God’s power until the coming of salvation that is ready to be revealed when Jesus Christ returns. We are saved (our decision to accept Jesus Christ as Lord and Savior, to repent of our sins and to walk in obedience to Christ). We are being saved (the sanctifying work of the Holy Spirit within us in growing us to maturity in God’s grace). And, we will be saved when Jesus Christ returns to take us home to be with him. Salvation is a life-long process that is not complete until Christ returns. And, we are saved through faith. As we study this subject of faith throughout the New Testament, too, we learn that faith is repentance and obedience, as well as it is continuous, lasting, enduring, and it bears much spiritual fruit in keeping with repentance.
Genuine Faith
Faith must be proved genuine. In other words, we can’t just pray a prayer of salvation at an altar and say some magical words and “poof,” we have our one-way ticket into heaven, no matter what we do with our lives from that point on. That is a lie of Satan that says we can have “instant” salvation like going through a fast-food drive-through window, and then go on with our lives as usual. That makes a mockery of what Jesus Christ did for us when he gave his life up for us in dying on a cross for our sins. So, it must be proven that the faith we say we have is genuine faith. And, the way God proves our faith as genuine is through trials and tribulations. And, this is a life-long process which will end when our salvation is completed at Christ’s coming. If we passed the test, and our faith was proved to be genuine faith, on the basis of scriptural teaching on what comprises true faith, then we will receive our eternal inheritance. This teaching is throughout the New Testament.
So, we rejoice when we go through trials, because we know that God is refining us with fire so that our faith will be proved genuine and will result in praise, glory and honor when Christ returns.
In Response
In response to all that Jesus Christ has done for us, we have an obligation – “but it is not to the sinful nature, to live according to it. For if you live according to the sinful nature, you will die; but if by the Spirit you put to death the misdeeds of the body, you will live, because those who are led by the Spirit of God are sons of God” (Rom. 8:12-14 NIV ’84).
We need to prepare our minds and hearts for action, because faith that is proved genuine is faith that is proved by our actions. In other words, if someone tells you that he or she loves you, but his or her actions do not support his or her words, would you believe the person really loves you? - Probably not, unless you have been duped. If we act (behave) in a manner that is opposite of the faith we profess, then that does not say much for our faith, does it? In other words, Jesus Christ came to set us free from sin, so if we continue in willful sin after we have made a profession of faith, then chances are pretty good that true faith did not occur or does not exist within us. In fact, the Bible says that no sacrifice for sins is left, but only a fearful expectation of judgment. So, this passage lists for us some of the qualities of true and genuine faith:
• Self-control – no longer allowing sin to control you; taking every thought captive
• Obedience – no longer conforming to evil desires and the pattern of this world
• Be holy in all you do – set apart from the world for God; purity; righteousness
• Live as strangers – this world is not your home – live like you believe that
• In reverent fear – in awe, respect, honor, submission, and humility toward God
• Set your minds and hearts on things above, not on things of this earth
• Remember always that Jesus shed his blood for us so we could go free
• Purify yourselves by obeying the truth of God’s word; and by obeying Christ
• Love your brothers and sisters in Christ deeply, sincerely, from your hearts
• Remember that this life and our human bodies will perish
• And, remember that what is eternal and stands forever is God’s holy word
• So, live according to what is eternal, not according to what is going to perish
None of us is perfect and so none of us will perfectly possess all these qualities, and more, at all times. Paul said he had not already been made perfect, but one thing he did: He continually made it a practice to put his past behind him, via repentance, where sin was present, and he pressed on toward the calling of God in Christ Jesus and toward his eternal inheritance. He did not continue in willful sin, or he could not have preached so strongly against sin, nor could he have told his disciples to become like him, and to follow his way of living as an example for how they should live.
So, genuine faith does not mean sinless perfection, but what it does mean is that we do not continue in willful and/or unrepentant sin. I see willful sin much like premeditated murder. We know exactly what we are doing. We know that it is sin. And, yet we willfully choose to sin against God and to reject his truths and his requirements for our lives. To continue in this is to show absolute disregard for what Jesus Christ did for us in dying for our sins, it is stomping and trampling upon God’s grace, it takes lightly Christ’s blood sacrifice, and it is an insult to the Holy Spirit who cleansed us. So, make sure today that your faith is genuine faith, that repents and that obeys. And, cease living in willful and rebellious sin, thinking that God’s grace provides you this opportunity to sin and still have your ticket into heaven.
Take God seriously. He means business about our sin, which is why He sent His Only Son to die for our sins. Honor him with your lives today by living lives that are holy unto him.
There's Within My Heart a Melody / Luther B. Bridgers
There's within my heart a melody
Jesus whispers sweet and low:
Fear not, I am with thee, peace, be still,
In all of life's ebb and flow.
All my life was wrecked by sin and strife,
Discord filled my heart with pain;
Jesus swept across the broken strings,
Stirred the slumbering chords again.
Though sometimes he leads through waters deep,
Trials fall across the way,
Though sometimes the path seems rough and steep,
See his footprints all the way.
Soon he's coming back to welcome me
Far beyond the starry sky;
I shall wing my flight to worlds unknown;
I shall reign with him on high.
Jesus, Jesus, Jesus,
Sweetest name I know,
Fills my every longing,
Keeps me singing as I go.
No comments:
Post a Comment