1 PETER PART TWO

By Michael K. Farrar, O.D.

© God’s Breath Publications

 

In part one of this series we learned that Peter wrote this letter to followers of Christ who were scattered in the area of Asia Minor, what is now modern-day Turkey. His main emphasis in this letter was to remind Christians of the hope they have in God because of the gracious salvation provided for them in Jesus Christ as well as how the gift of the Holy Spirit within them works to lead them in sanctification. Now we move forward in 1 Peter to discover more deep truths contained in this salvation that has been so wonderfully given to us by God’s mercy and grace.

 

1 Peter 1:3-5

“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, and into an inheritance that can never perish, spoil or fade — kept in heaven for you, 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.”

 

Peter shares in verse 3 a doxology of praise to God the Father and Jesus Christ. But the main focus of verses 3-5 is upon God the Father. We will see that verses 6-9 will focus on Jesus Christ and verses 10-12 will center on the Holy Spirit.

 

Peter praises God for His great and marvelous mercy. Mercy is a dominant character trait of our Heavenly Father. James 5:11 tell us, “the Lord is full of compassion and is merciful.” And Ephesians 2:4-5 also states, “But God, being rich in mercy, because of His great love with which He loved us, even when we were dead in our transgressions, made us alive together with Christ.”

 

Without the mercy of God we would still be lost in sin and under God’s righteous judgment. God’s mercy gives us the chance to be reborn spiritually when we accept Jesus Christ as our Savior and Lord. We have what Peter calls a “new birth.” What better way for Peter to communicate the Christian’s hope in God than to remind them of their spiritual new birth. This birth is made possible by the Word of God, James 1:18 “In the exercise of His will He brought us forth by the Word of truth, so that we would be a kind of first fruits among His creatures.” Peter also shares the Word’s role in our new birth later in 1 Peter 1:23 “For you have been born again, not of perishable seed, but of imperishable, through the living and enduring Word of God.” 

 

This new birth is made possible by the death of Jesus Christ, but the regeneration is a result of the work of the Holy Spirit. The famous pastor W. A. Criswell has stated, “Without the presence of the Spirit there is no conviction, no regeneration, no sanctification, no cleansing, no acceptable works . . . Life is in the quickening Spirit” This spiritual rebirth is a Christian rebirth to righteousness (1 John 2:29, 1 John 3:9, 5:18), to love (1 John 4:7) and to victory (1 John 5:4).

 

As followers of Christ we also have a living hope because of this rebirth provided by Jesus Christ. Dead hope is false hope. False hope is not grounded in truth and it is the type of hope the world, the flesh and the Devil offer. God offers us a truly living hope grounded in His love and mercy, the death and resurrection of His son and established and secured by the presence of the Holy Spirit who lives within us. Our Heavenly Father is spoken of as being the God of hope in Romans 15:13, “Now may the God of hope fill you with all joy and peace in believing, so that you will abound in hope by the power of the Holy Spirit.” Notice here that object of our hope is God and He fills us with joy and peace when we believe in Him and His promises. But the power with which we believe in this hope does not come from us, but comes from the Spirit who lives within us. Romans 5:1-5 goes even further when it says we “exalt in hope of the glory of God” and much further than this when it says we “exult in our tribulations” because “the love of God has been poured out within our hearts through the Holy Spirit.” By the power of the Spirit we have faith in the hope of our salvation therefore we can endure the hardships in this world because we know they are temporary and nothing compared to the wonders of our eternal life in Heaven (Romans 8:18). Hope is a major theme in 1 Peter. Peter was writing to Christians who were living in a sinful world. They were often mistreated and frequently had to endure prejudice against their faith. God was using Peter to ingrain and establish believers in this “living hope” very likely because the future would bring even more severe trials. In just a few years Nero would be emperor of Rome and a most devastating persecution would begin. Often God will prepare us for difficult times by building our faith and trust in His living hope with trials and hardships.

 

But not only do we have a living hope, Peter tells us that we have a godly inheritance. This inheritance comes from God and it has three wonderful characteristics. First, it will never perish. The Greek word here for imperishable is “aphthartos” and has reference to something that cannot be ravaged by any invading army. History has proven that armies ravage the land not only when battles are fought but also when soldiers run rampant. Christians are engaged in a spiritual war with Satan and his demons and we need to know that our inheritance from God can never ever be ravaged by any ungodly demonic force. It is secure and solidly protected by God and waiting for us in Heaven.

 

Secondly, our inheritance will never spoil or be defiled. The Greek word here is “amiantos” and refers to pollution. In Peter’s day people were familiar with water sources being polluted by animals, people or minerals. It was also true that people became polluted when they worshipped false gods. Our inheritance provided by God can never spoil or become polluted because it is holy as God is holy. He protects its eternal quality.

 

Thirdly our inheritance will never fade. The Greek word for this is “amarantos” and refers to the flowers that blossom, but then fades and dies. Our inheritance remands established and secure always to be of the same brilliance and quality it was on the first day it was given to us as heirs of Christ.

 

But there is yet another characteristic of our inheritance. It is kept in Heaven for us by the power of the almighty God! Have you ever reserved a hotel room, only to find when you got there that the reservation was not honored and you had no place to go? We will never have that experience with our Lord. Our reservation in Heaven was made when we accepted Christ as Lord and Savior. This is guaranteed because it stands on the truthfulness of God’s promises and is established and protected by His magnificent godly power! The Greek word for “kept” here is “phrourouménous” which is a military term meaning guard or protect. God’s almighty power protects our inheritance constantly. God will one day reveal when we can claim our inheritance, this is our established hope, our inheritance from the Lord. 

 

1 Peter 1:6

“In this you greatly rejoice, though now for a little while you may have had to suffer grief in all kinds of trials.”

 

Peter has laid the foundation for the hope we can have in the present and inheritance we have now and in the future which is in Christ. Now he addresses the issues of daily life in the lives of followers of Christ. He is stating in verse six that we can rejoice in our spiritual blessings and promises, despite the fact that we are facing grief and all sorts of trials. Trials come in many varieties, types and colors, “poikilos,” but so does God’s grace. Peter will cover this in 1 Peter 4:10 when he states, “Each one should use whatever gift he has received to serve others, faithfully administering God’s grace in its various forms.” Trials come in many forms and so does God’s grace. No matter what hardship or struggle we come across, there is always an appropriate gift of grace God can give us to endure and overcome the storm of life.

 

1 Peter 1:7

“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.”

 

Peter continues to lift up followers of Christ by encouraging them in their faith. Here he gives one of the many reasons God allows trials to come into our lives, so that our faith can be proved genuine and strong. Gold is refined to remove impurities that might be within its matrix. Our faith must also be refined by the heat and pressure of trials at times to purge impurities that we allow to creep into our lives. Refined gold is more pure and a refined spiritual life is always more pure and holy once it has been tested by difficult ordeals. Trials give us an opportunity to turn to God for strength as we learn more about how dependent we are on Him and how great the resources He wishes to grant us in our lives. Peter will share in more detail about trials in chapter 4 of this epistle and how they can be handled.

 

1 Peter 1:8-9

“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, for you are receiving the goal of your faith, the salvation of your souls.”

      

We have many things in common with the Christians Peter is writing to and one of these is the fact that like them, we have never seen Jesus. Peter had seen Him, but He had ascended to Heaven now and would not be seen again until His second coming. Despite the fact that Jesus can no longer be seen with human eyes, people choose to love Him and believe in Him. The result of such faith is what Peter describes as a filling “with an inexpressible and glorious joy.” This godly joy comes from the knowledge and assurance that we are receiving on a continual basis, salvation grounded in Christ’s death and resurrection (Ephesians 2:8-9) and sealed by the presence of the Holy Spirit in our lives (2 Corinthians 1:22). We often view our salvation as a one time event. While it is true there is a point in time that we accept Christ as our Savior, the salvation experience continues from that point in time for eternity. When we are saved from our sins and justified by Christ’s sacrifice our position before God changes. We are saved from the penalty of our sins at our conversion. We are saved from the power of sin as we confess them to God and ask for forgiveness on an ongoing basis. But we will eventually be saved from the presence of sin when we reach our heavenly home.

 

This great salvation is the basis for the hope that Peter speaks of. Our hope is anchored in the past fact that Jesus died on the cross for our sins and rose from the grave. Our hope remains steadfast for Jesus still lives and is our advocate in Heaven. Our hope will be completed in the future when Jesus returns to earth. Our hope is established in the fact that our inheritance is kept for us by the power of God and we are also kept by God through the ministry of the Holy Spirit who lives within us. This hope points beyond the trials and sufferings we face. Our joy can actually be strengthened by the tests of life because they cause us to focus on God and the great inheritance that awaits us in Heaven. We also know that when Jesus returns He will not only put an end to suffering, but He will also pour blessings upon us. He knows all we endure and keeps our tears in a bottle (Psalms 56:8). We also can have hope and joy in trials because we know that as we sustain ourselves by faith in God He is gloried and that Peter shares in 1 Peter 4:11, “in all things God may be glorified in Jesus Christ.”