I often find that I pay much more attention to Paul than I do other authors of the New Testament. Obviously, by sheer volume, Paul pretty well dominates the NT landscape. His gifts of writing and crafting sound reason build a strong frame onto the foundation of Christ for our faith. The last couple of mornings, however, I turned to Peter.
Among the many reasons I love the Bible, and believe it to be the living Word of God, is that, though the words themselves remain the same, their impact and the way they pierce the heart change throughout our lives. The meaning of the text is always there, the original, bedrock purpose for which the authors put pen to paper, but in certain times, on certain days, the light shifts in our eyes. The analogy of scripture being like a multi-faceted diamond holds true. The reality and substance of this gem does not change, rather, if you were to place a diamond to be held up in an open field, as the sun rises, crosses, and sets across the sky, the reflection and brilliance of the diamond with shift to show its beauty in new ways. This is what happens as we read scripture throughout our lives, revisiting familiar words, but with ever-changing circumstances... differing angles and balance of light and darkness that flash through the words and the pages with new brilliance that we would not see if it were not for the circumstances of our momentary sight. This is what it was for me today, visiting 1Peter 1.
As I was saying, I am particularly fond of the Pauline descriptions and arguments of faith. They bolster me and throw ballast in the depths of my soul. But this morning, Peter's reminder to his readers of what the Christian life is, and how salvation looks, was a searing reminder of the importance of joy, the reality of suffering, and the hope that lies only in the imperishable seed of Christ:
He starts, reminding his hearer that all that Peter is about to share of the blessed hope of salvation has come from the great mercy of the resurrecting God of Jesus. We are born again, by the power of this resurrection, to a living hope. (v. 3) But just what is this living hope? Peter states it another way, for the sake of clarification in verse 4, calling it an inheritance. He tells us of an imperishable, undefiled, and unfading, an inheritance that is being kept for us in Heaven. But lest we think that this inheritance is for any who claim to be of this "rebirth", Peter cuts off the though with a qualifier. Who is the inheritance being kept for? In verse 5, it is those who by God's power are being kept, being guarded through faith, awaiting the revelation of their salvation in the last time. So, who has access to the rebirth, the living hope, the inheritance? Those whom God is guarding, through faith, as they await their salvation. This sounds an awful lot like Matthew 24:13 where, after laying out the coming trials and tribulations that will be faced by those who bear His name, Jesus tells his disciples, "But the one who endures to the end will be saved." Peter is reminding us here that it is not mere words spoken, or even deeds done that measure a man's salvation. Man is not born again simply because he says he is. We do not gain the unfading, imperishable inheritance of God simply by claiming it as our own. Rather, this inheritance belongs to those whom God has caused to be born again (v. 3 again).
Okay Peter, but how can we know if we are being guarded by faith, born again of Christ's resurrection? How can I know if my salvation is ready to revealed in the last times? Peter says, "In this you rejoice." (v. 6) The Christian does not scoff at or cry foul at the though that his salvation can not truly be revealed until the end comes. The Christian lays all trust at the foot of the cross, saying that our only hope of salvation is through the blood of Christ and the propitiation for our sin is found only in his death. We grasp the sovereign will of God, through the resurrection of Jesus, and say not that we are born again, but that we trust that the only way to become born again to this living hope is by grace through faith. We do not claim, only, a salvation that has been accomplished in us, but also a salvation to be revealed in us. We, to use Peter's words, rejoice in the faithful guarding of our salvation. We rejoice through whatever means by which our God has chosen to reveal our salvation. This is the process of sanctification, the revealing of our salvation. Peter tells us that our rejoicing continues, even through momentary trials. Though we may be grieved by these afflictions, and troubled by these tests of faith, we rejoice in the knowledge that it is by these wounds, by this weakening of our flesh, that our faith is made stronger, more pure, refined by the fire (v. 7). And Peter tells us that if we are indeed born again, and if we can lay any claim on the promised inheritance, then we come into and through these trials with praise, singing the glory and honor of Jesus Christ. Though we no longer see him physically on this earth, though we might have struggled to see him active in grace through our trials in this momentary pain, the Christian believes in him and rejoices with an inexpressible joy, and glows with the glory of Christ. By this, Peter says, we obtain the outcome of our faith, the salvation of our souls. (vv. 8-9)
That's great Peter, but how, practically, do we do this? I'm willing to buy in and believe that what you're saying is true. I mean, you did walk, literally, with Jesus, there is probably no one who has lived that can say with more authority what Jesus taught his disciples. So, I guess I should just take your word that this is true, right?
I think this is what really stuck the chord with me this morning, Peter could have just made this claim on the veracity of his own testimony and life. He could've, and I think we would still take it as the authoritative word that it is. But Peter doesn't do that. He goes further, in providing a more sure footing in the historical texts that his hearers knew, Peter drives a stake, a firm foothold of faith, into the whole of redemptive history:
"Concerning this salvation..." (v. 10)
Peter shows that the prophets, those who first wrote to us about the grace and mercy by which we would be saved, these prophets have been revealed to be not writing to just themselves, for themselves, by themselves, they were not serving only the prophets of God through their preaching, teaching, writing... they were serving us, the Christians to come, through those who have announced and preached the good news to us by the Holy Spirit sent from Heaven. (vv. 11-12) Peter is saying, "Don't take my word for it, for this is the truth of the prophets. This salvation is the salvation that has been spoken to you from Abraham down through all those who have faithfully heard and preached the good news of God." Peter could've staked the claim of true regeneration, and true adoption, true inheritance on his own authority, but instead, he turned back to the source of his authority, the living Word of God, revealing to his hearers truths that "angels long to look" into.
Peter, that sounds good, but as a 1st Century Jewish man, I'm not sure I quite grasp this salvation you speak of...
In verse 13, Peter prepares the recipients of his letter to receive a concise, cutting, piercing reality that Jesus Christ is the only source of living hope, not an addition to their faith, but the culmination of the faith of their fathers. These people have been waiting centuries for the inheritance of their fathers, and Peter is about to unload on them that that inheritance is through the risen Messiah: "Preparing your minds for action, and being sober-minded, set your hope fully on the grace that will be brought to you at the revelation of Jesus Christ." (v. 13)
Hold on to your hats, folks:
"As obedient children, do not be conformed to the passions of your former ignorance, but as he who has called you is holy, you also be holy in all your conduct, since it is written, 'You shall be holy, for I am holy.'" (vv. 14-15)
-- You want the inheritance that was promised to our fathers? It is found only in God, and to be with God, you must be holy. Not good, not even faithful... holy. Not just pretty holy... holy in ALL your conduct.
"And if you call on him as Father who judges impartially according to each one's deeds, conduct yourselves with fear throughout the time of your exile, knowing that you were ransomed from the futile ways inherited from your forefathers, not with perishable things such as silver or gold, but with the precious blood of Christ, like that of a lamb without blemish or spot." (vv. 17-19)
-- If you want to go to him with only the holiness which you can muster through your deeds, you must approach with fear. It has been revealed to you, that the ways that your fathers approached God has now been made futile. You neither need to, nor can you, approach your Father in the ways that you had inherited from tradition. Rather than the perishable sacrifice, you can approach through the precious blood of Jesus.
"He was foreknown before the foundation of the world, but was made manifest in the last times for the sake of you who through him are believers in God, who raised him from the dead and gave him glory, so that your faith and hope are in God." (vv. 20-21)
-- This Jesus is Eternal God, made manifest here in our midst, as the promised Messiah. For the sake of those, such as yourselves, who claim a belief in God. This Jesus was raised from death, shown in the fullness of glory, so that your faith and hope are truly in God. Jesus is the way of salvation.
"Having purified your souls by your obedience to the truth for a sincere brotherly love, love one another earnestly from a pure heart, since you have been born again, not of perishable seed but of imperishable, through the living and abiding word of God, for 'All flesh is like grass, and all its glory like the flower of the grass. The grass withers, and the flower falls, but the word of the Lord remains forever.'" (vv. 22-25a)
-- The hearers of this letter had a desire to claim a salvation from Christ, they simply were not going about it correctly. Peter, having relaid the foundational truths of their new faith, and the exclusivity of Christ as the only path to the holiness that is required to be in the presence of a holy God, finishes with the greatest commandment: since you have been saved, born again, love one another.
"And this is the good news that was preached to you." (v. 25b)
-- Tying it back together, Peter launched into this sermonette as an explanation of how his hearers can be born again to a living hope and the promised inheritance of God's people. Peter's answer was to live the life that had been preached to them. Peter reminds them that this is the life that has been preached, the good news of the fulfillment of the Old Covenant, and the foundation of the new, built upon the blood of Christ. It is not to be mingled back with the old traditions, but set apart, called out of the old, and made new. Peter tells us that because of this, we can trust the abiding, imperishable Word, that if God has caused us to be born again, then we will be guarded through faith, desiring to rejoice, even in the trials, shouting praise and glory of the only begotten of the Father. Our faith is not dependent on that which can been seen, but on the knowledge of the truth of that which is unseen. And yet, it rests on the revelation that has been given throughout the entirety of human history, recorded by the prophets and preached to God's people.
So, what does the Christian life look like?
According to Peter, it looks like obedience to the truth that has been revealed, loving one another in grace, persevering in the trials, praising God and rejoicing with inexpressible joy throughout our lives. It looks radically different from anything that is not the Christian life, drawing daily sustenance from the imperishable seed.
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