Salvation and the End of Suffering (1Peter 1)

We Christians often speak of our salvation as merely a personal and inward miraculous phenomenon. However, the story of salvation in the Bible is much larger than a single event in the life of an individual. Our salvation, God’s work of grace in us, is also a journey of a lifetime as we are being saved. The story won’t be complete until we see justice done not only in our own hearts, but throughout the entire world.

1 Peter 1:13-16 (ESV)

Therefore, 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. As obedient children, do not be conformed to the passions of your former ignorance, but as he who called you is holy, you also be holy in your conduct, since it is written, 'You shall be holy, for I am holy.'

Peter writes to a persecuted church in exile, encouraging them to remain holy, to continue to resist their old nature, to walk according to the salvation that has been purchased for them. Peter is speaking about the action that follows their faith, a present salvation, the life they now live in imitation of Jesus. He is describing a grace as something that has not yet come, a future grace in which they should set their hope. It is for this grace, a future salvation, that they are to prepare their minds, and be holy. Peter is writing to people who are already believers. He is not describing a salvation by works. These believers were already saved by grace through faith, according to God's power at work in them, not by works or merit at all.

1 Peter 1:17-19 (ESV)

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.

So, in one passage, Peter is speaking of the grace of God as a past, present, and future grace. In the life of the Christian, we call this past grace our justification, our present journey of faith our sanctification, and the future grace for which we hope, our glorification.

Past Grace – Our Justification

We have been ransomed. We belong to God, purchased from the clutches of death that owned us by the blood of Jesus Christ. Our salvation is in Christ, completed by God, and not us, an unalterable condition made sure by the total incorruptibility of the price paid, Jesus' imperishable blood. We belong to God.

1 Peter 1:1-5 (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. 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.

We have been elected, chosen by God, according to his foreknowledge and his great mercy. This is the work of our salvation. It is entirely the merciful work of God, not our merit or strength or action. We are saved by grace. When Peter speaks of this salvation, he calls us "born again". God has caused us to be born again through the resurrection of Jesus Christ. So, we are ransomed, purchased by God through a trade of Christ's blood for our lives, and then once given the death of Christ, we are united with him, and receive the power of his resurrection for new life for that moment onward.

Present Grace – Our Sanctification

Something of the "futile ways inherited by (our) forefathers" remain with us though we are saved. If Peter needs to command the believers not to "be conformed to the passions of (our) former ignorance", then it must be possible for us to do otherwise. Disciples of Christ are to remember that we have been ransomed, made holy as Jesus is holy, and act accordingly, in faith, as though we believe that it is so. This also is a gift, not a burden of works we must carry, any more than was our initial salvation.

It is in the present that we are guarded through faith for our future salvation. We belong to God, and as God's children we are now guarded by our Heavenly Father until we experience the fullness of our salvation. This present, daily salvation is called our sanctification. God has called us holy when he ransomed us by Christ's blood. Now he is making us holy every day as we obediently pick up our cross and follow after Jesus (v2). This is the sanctification of the Spirit, the reason we were filled with the Spirit of God at our salvation. Our present salvation is experienced by the gift of the Spirit in us, when we put our faith in the past work of Christ, and the future hope held for us by our Father in heaven (v13).

The grace to follow after Jesus daily is received by faith, just as was our initial justification. We are given the grace to resist temptation, to live contrary to the selfish patterns of the empires of the world, and to forgive those who have sinned against us.

Future Grace – Our Glorification

God’s act of saving grace is a past event, but it is also a future event. We are born again to a living hope. We hope for what we do not yet see. Our hope is for a future inheritance. We have not yet received the fullness of our salvation. We belong to God, but we still have an inheritance coming to us.

Our past salvation is our ransom by Christ's blood, and the resurrection of our beings, according to the power of God. Our future hope for salvation is the inheritance we share because we have been united with Christ. We receive both by grace through faith. It is for this reason that we may remain unsatisfied with the condition of the world as it is. In our hope for Jesus’ return, and the fullness of salvation we will receive, we also hope for the salvation of all things, the redemption of Creation according to God’s original purpose, that we have bent and corrupted so much by our sin.

Romans 8:18-25 (ESVUK)

For I consider that the sufferings of this present time are not worth comparing with the glory that is to be revealed to us. For the creation waits with eager longing for the revealing of the sons of God. For the creation was subjected to futility, not willingly, but because of him who subjected it, in hope that the creation itself will be set free from its bondage to corruption and obtain the freedom of the glory of the children of God. For we know that the whole creation has been groaning together in the pains of childbirth until now. And not only the creation, but we ourselves, who have the firstfruits of the Spirit, groan inwardly as we wait eagerly for adoption as sons, the redemption of our bodies. For in this hope we were saved. Now hope that is seen is not hope. For who hopes for what he sees? But if we hope for what we do not see, we wait for it with patience.

We are given grace to endure the suffering that comes with our daily obedience, our sanctification as we follow after Jesus, by the hope we have that all suffering, not just our own, will end at the return of Jesus. In that hope we may live by the grace of God in the power of God to live out the love, freedom, and justice of God now, declaring the gospel and ministering the freedom of the gospel to any and all who are bound by the corruption that still remains on earth.

We set our hearts firmly on our future hope, and daily walk in obedience after the footsteps of Christ, by whose blood we have already been ransomed and born again, and all of this is entirely the work of God, by grace, received through faith.

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Next Thursday: 1 Peter 2 - Living Lights In A Land Of Death

Recommended: Isaiah 1 - To Hell With Religion. We Need Justice.

Click image for the entire series.

From Missionary to Prisoner – Paul's Promotion – Acts 21

(read Acts 21)

Acts 21:13 (ESV)
Then Paul answered, “What are you doing, weeping and breaking my heart? For I am ready not only to be imprisoned but even to die in Jerusalem for the name of the Lord Jesus.”

Seriously, guys. Cut it out. Sheesh.

Paul is coming to the end of his third preaching tour, the last one recorded in Acts. Since becoming a Jesus Follower and joining the communities of generosity and resistance known as "the Way", his life has never been the same. Once he was a deeply religious man and violent persecutor of the Way, believing that these self-governed communities of mutuality and justice were a threat to the old orders of religious hierarchy and law.

Soon after leaving his old life of control and violence, this unlikely Jesus follower was commissioned by the Way to go share Jesus with the most unimaginable people, citizens of the oppressive empire of Rome of which the Way lived in resistance.

Since he was first sent, Paul has traveled with partners (including good friends Barnabas and Silas), and later with teams of people hoping to learn from his example (including Timothy, to whom he later wrote his pastoral letters, and Luke, author of Acts and the gospel of Luke). At the beginning, his strong convictions and sharp temper caused him trouble and trouble for others, but his life as a citizen of the Kingdom of God has borne patience, gentleness, and humility in his life.

On his travels he has been arrested frequently, stoned, and whipped. The beatings on his body have resulted in a tenderizing of his soul. He now travels as a man fully sold out for the cause of the Kingdom, his life forfeit to Justice, Love, and Peace.

In Ceasarea he visits Philip the evangelist. He is coming to the end of his journey, traveling back to Jerusalem, the heart of the Jesus controversy where he expects a violent welcome. A prophet warns him that he will, indeed, be bound and arrested in Jerusalem, and will likely die as a result. His party begs him not to go, but Paul insists. He believes God is leading him back, and this direction is all that matters to Paul.

Upon arriving in Jerusalem, Paul meets with James, brother of Jesus (and author of James), and elder of the church in Jerusalem. James tells Paul of his reputation in Jerusalem. Many of the Jewish community are deeply offended at Paul, believing he has forsaken his heritage to follow Jesus, and teaching others to do the same.

The controversy exists because Paul has indeed been sharing the Good News of the Kingdom with Gentile outsiders, and requiring no observance of religious law for them to join the communities of the Way. That uncircumcised pagans would be allowed to join their communities was quite a radical thought for many of the old order. For some it amounted to heresy, and made Paul an enemy and a threat.

In the past, Paul had responded to religious legalists with frustrated and dramatic temper fits (Acts 18). But Paul has matured and changed significantly since then. When James suggests Paul go and observe some religious ceremonies in the temple, Paul agrees to do it. Paul has lived several years of his life for the message that people can be free of such observances. Yet for the sake of love and understanding of those who hold these things dear, Paul is willing observe these traditions. His life is not his own any longer. In the Kingdom, he lives for Grace extended to others, even at his own cost. Such humility and generosity is the heart of the message of following after Jesus.

Acts 21:26 (ESV)
Then Paul took the men, and the next day he purified himself along with them and went into the temple, giving notice when the days of purification would be fulfilled and the offering presented for each one of them.

Unfortunately, Paul's gracious act is not received as such by the community. Accused of defiling the temple by bringing Greek people into it, Paul is dragged out of the temple. The crowds knew of Paul's reputation for associating with a diversity of people from different ethnicities and religions. In their confusion as to Paul's message of freedom and love or gracious intentions, the mob is provoked and Paul is beaten.

Roman soldiers quickly take notice, and move to break up the incident. Paul is bound by the soldiers, who are unable to discern just what is the problem. They assume Paul is a wanted insurrectionist, until he speaks up in his own defense. After a few words, the soldiers agree to let him address the crowd.

Acts 21:39-40 (ESV)
39 Paul replied, “I am a Jew, from Tarsus in Cilicia, a citizen of no obscure city. I beg you, permit me to speak to the people.” 40 And when he had given him permission, Paul, standing on the steps, motioned with his hand to the people. And when there was a great hush, he addressed them in the Hebrew language, saying:
Acts 22:1-2

“Brothers and fathers, hear the defense that I now make before you.”
2 And when they heard that he was addressing them in the Hebrew language, they became even more quiet.

Paul's defense in Acts 22 would mark the end of his days as a traveling missionary, as they were. Paul is now a prisoner of the empire of Rome. For the rest of Acts he will be a man in chains, appealing to courts higher and higher where he will give strong and reasoned defenses for his faith. His imprisonment, therefore, will plant the message of freedom more deeply in the centre of the empire of Rome than it otherwise could have ever reached. Paul's humility before people and submission before God has prepared him to be a well crafted agent of the Kingdom, well suited for this difficult path.

(read all of Acts 21)

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“we” – Luke (the author) must have been present when it is written in first person.
v4 - what?
v10 – Prophecy isn’t always positive.
v13 – Paul is not discouraged by the prophecy. Though negative, it is still potentially encouraging to Paul. Perhaps it gives peace to him to know that these things will happen and that he is prepared.
v14 – The Lord’s will be done – amen. This whole passage is a great example of prophecy rightly given and rightly received.
v33 – Prophecy fulfilled.