A Salvation Ready to be Revealed

To Those Who are Chosen

1 Peter 1:1-2 ESV

 

“Peter, an apostle of Jesus Christ,

 

To those who are elect exiles of the Dispersion in Pontus, Galatia, Cappadocia, Asia, and Bithynia, according to the foreknowledge of God the Father, in the sanctification of the Spirit, for obedience to Jesus Christ and for sprinkling with his blood:

 

May grace and peace be multiplied to you.”

 

This is for us who are the chosen of God, who have been saved by the blood of Jesus shed for us on a cross for our sins. We are strangers on this earth, for Jesus called us out of the world to be separate (unlike, different) from the world and to be being made into the likeness of Christ.

 

We were chosen according to the foreknowledge of God who chose us even before he laid the foundations of the earth, that we should be holy and blameless before him. He predestined us to be conformed to the likeness of Jesus Christ. And he called us to a holy calling. And to be holy is to be unlike the world because we are being made into the likeness of Christ (Rom 8:29; 2 Tim 1:8-9; Eph 1:3-4).

 

We are called to be sanctified in the Spirit, and to be sanctified is the process of making us holy or of us becoming holy, set apart from the world and unto God and to his service. And this is about us progressively being transformed by the Lord into His likeness. And this is for obedience to Jesus Christ and for purification by the blood of Christ.

 

May God’s grace and peace be multiplied to us. And his grace is what delivered us from our slavery to sin so we would now be slaves of God and of his righteousness and become like him. And his grace is what instructs us to say “No!” to ungodliness and fleshly lusts and to live self-controlled, upright, and godly lives while we wait for our Lord’s return (Tit 2:11-14).

 

And peace is peace with God. And peace with God means we are no longer living as God’s enemies, and as enemies of the cross of Christ. For, we have died with Christ to sin that we might live to God and to his righteousness. We are no longer living in sin and for self, but now we are living for our Lord to please him in all that we do. It doesn’t mean we never sin, but that sin is no longer our master so that we are obeying its lustful desires.

 

Born Again of God

1 Peter 1:3-5 ESV

 

“Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ! According to his great mercy, he has caused us to be born again to a living hope through the resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead, to an inheritance that is imperishable, undefiled, and unfading, kept in heaven for you, who by God's power are being guarded through faith for a salvation ready to be revealed in the last time.”

 

This promise is not for everyone who confesses the name of Jesus or who makes a profession of faith in him. We can’t pull this section of Scripture out of its context and make a broad application of it to anyone who says he believes in Jesus Christ. For not everyone who says he has faith has genuine God-given faith in Jesus. For not all have died with Christ to sin and are living to God and to his righteousness in obedience to Christ.

 

For, in order for us to be born again to a living hope through the resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead we have to first of all die with Christ to sin. We have to repent of our sins. We have to put off our old self which belongs to our former manner of life and is corrupt through deceitful desires. This is the working of the Holy Spirit in our lives, but we must do what he says. Our old self must be crucified with Christ so that we are no longer slaves of sin.

 

Then, we can live with Christ and Christ in us. The old has died with Christ so that we can be reborn of the Spirit of God to our new lives in Christ, created to be like God in true righteousness and holiness, free from the control of sin, and empowered by God’s Spirit to live godly and holy lives pleasing to our Lord. Now we can walk (in conduct, in practice) according to the Spirit and no longer according to the flesh.

 

We who have died with Christ to sin and are living to him and to his righteousness, who are no longer living as slaves to sin but by God’s power and strength are now living as slaves of God and of his righteousness, we have this hope of an eternal inheritance kept in heaven for us. By God’s power we are being guarded through faith for a salvation ready to be revealed in the last time when Jesus comes to take us home with him.

 

[Lu 9:23-26; Rom 6:1-23; Rom 8:1-17; Eph 4:17-24; 1 Pet 2:24]

 

Grieved by Various Trials

1 Peter 1:6-9 ESV

 

“In this you rejoice, though now for a little while, if necessary, you have been grieved by various trials, so that the tested genuineness of your faith—more precious than gold that perishes though it is tested by fire—may be found to result in praise and glory and honor at the revelation of Jesus Christ. Though you have not seen him, you love him. Though you do not now see him, you believe in him and rejoice with joy that is inexpressible and filled with glory, obtaining the outcome of your faith, the salvation of your souls.”

 

When we have died with Christ to sin, and daily by God’s Spirit we are continuing to die with Christ to sin and to live to Christ and to his righteousness, in obedience to our Lord, and we are living to please our Lord, and we are no longer conformed to the ways of this sinful world, because we are being made into the likeness of Jesus, we are going to be hated, persecuted, rejected, ignored, betrayed, and fought against.

 

As well, suffering is part of our lives. So the Lord is going to allow us to go through various trials to test the genuiness of our faith. He will discipline us and he will prune us in order to make us even more holy, and to draw us even closer to himself in fellowship with him. This is so that our faith in him may be found to result in praise and glory at the revelation of Jesus Christ, for the glory of God.

 

Though we have not seen Jesus with our physical eyes, but only with spiritual eyes, we love him. And to love Jesus is to obey him and his commands. If we do not obey him as a matter of practice then we don’t love him and we don’t know him and he doesn’t know us (1 Jn 2:3-6).

 

And to believe in Jesus is not just an acknowledgment of him or a verbal confession of faith in him. Our faith in Jesus comes from God, it is gifted to us by God, it is not of ourselves, and it is divine persuasion. It is also obedience, for God considers obedience as faith and disobedience as unbelief. Our faith is also action. It is doing the will of God and not just talking it. And the outcome of such continued faith is the salvation of our souls when Jesus returns to take his bride to be with him for eternity.

 

But while we wait for our Lord’s return and for our salvation to be complete, we are to continue in dying daily to sin and to self and walking in obedience to our Lord and to his commands. And we are to be spreading the truth of the gospel to the ends of the earth, and we are to be exposing the fruitless deeds of darkness so that others are not deceived and led astray.

 

Even though we will suffer persecution, betrayal, mistreatment, rejection, false accusations, and being attacked for our walks of faith and for teaching the truth of the gospel, we are to keep on spreading the truth of the gospel. For many people still need to hear that Jesus died and he rose from the dead in order that we might die with him to sin and live to him and to his righteousness. So, keep on singing. Keep on sharing the good news.

 

[Lu 9:23-26; Jn 6:35-58; Jn 15:1-11; Rom 6:1-23; Rom 8:1-17; Eph 4:17-24; 1 Pet 2:24; 1 Co 6:9-10, 19-20; 2 Co 5:10, 15; Tit 2:11-14; Jas 1:22-25; Gal 5:16-21; Eph 5:3-6; Gal 6:7-8; Rom 2:6-8; Matt 7:21-23; Heb 10:26-27; 1 Jn 1:5-9; 1 Jn 2:3-6; 1 Jn 3:4-10; Rom 12:1-2; Eph 2:8-10]

 

I’m Gonna Keep on Singin’

 

Andrae Crouch

 

I'm gonna keep on singin'

I'm gonna keep on shoutin'

I'm gonna keep on liftin' my voice

And let the world know that Jesus saves

 

So many lonely people all over the world

The blessed words of Jesus, they have never heard

If I don't go, if you don't go

If we don't go how will they know?

I can't keep it to myself

I gotta tell somebody else

I'm gonna keep on liftin' my voice

And let the world know that Jesus saves

 

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CNoeGi-LdP0

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