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Concerning This Salvation – a letter from 1 Peter – 1
Remembering Our Great Salvation

Who needs to be encouraged more than believers in Christ suffering for His sake? And who trusted the Lord for their salvation more than any?

First century Christians expelled from Rome and major cities of the Empire.

Jews dispersed throughout the Empire, seeking to separate their identities from followers of The Way, increasingly persecuted believers of Christ, as did Roman authorities.

The Apostle Peter writes to the church, primarily in first century cities in modern-day Turkey.

1 Peter 1:

Peter, an apostle of Jesus Christ:

To those chosen, living as exiles dispersed abroad in Pontus, Galatia, Cappadocia, Asia, and Bithynia,

Peter’s first encouragement of these persecuted believers of the dispersion is to call them elect or chosen by God the Father. He calls upon imagery of Israel as the Lord’s ‘chosen people.’ These faithful will also know prophesy from scripture of the Lord’s Messiah.

“Behold! My Servant whom I uphold,
My Elect One in whom My soul delights!
I have put My Spirit upon Him;
He will bring forth justice to the Gentiles.
Isaiah 42:1 NKJV

Peter speaks of the foreknowledge ‘through the sanctifying work of the Spirit’ and calls on believers ‘to be obedient and to be sprinkled with the blood of Jesus Christ.’ This clear reference of his greeting reassures their anointing by the Father, Christ Jesus and the Holy Spirit.

Grace to you and peace multiplied.

That the Lord chose you and me, as well as certain believers in these Asian provinces to whom Peter and other Apostles write, is great grace. We have received undeserved mercy and peace through Christ’s immeasurable love for sinners redeemed.

Even so, Peter continues with an uplifting opening blessing, perhaps familiar to Christians from an opening call to your own worship.

Blessed be God
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εὐλογητὸς ὁ θεὸς καὶ πατὴρ τοῦ κυρίου ἡμῶν Ἰησοῦ Χριστοῦ ὁ κατὰ τὸ πολὺ αὐτοῦ ἔλεος ἀναγεννήσας ἡμᾶς εἰς ἐλπίδα ζῶσαν δι’ ἀναστάσεως Ἰησοῦ Χριστοῦ ἐκ νεκρῶν - 1Peter1:3MGNT [Greek New Testament]
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Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, who according to His great mercy has caused us to be born again to a living hope through the resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead, to obtain an inheritance which is imperishable and undefiled and will not fade away, reserved in heaven for you, who are protected by the power of God through faith for a salvation ready to be revealed in the last time.
1 Peter 1:3-5 NASB

Before considering the depth of this salvation introduced in Peter’s blessing, read what follows as one who has experienced the persecution of those to whom the Apostle writes:

6 You rejoice in this, even though now for a short time, if necessary, you suffer grief in various trials so that the proven character of your faith—more valuable than gold which, though perishable, is refined by fire—may result in praise, glory, and honor at the revelation of Jesus Christ.

8 Though you have not seen him, you love him; though not seeing him now, you believe in him, and you rejoice with inexpressible and glorious joy, because you are receiving the goal of your faith, the salvation of your souls.

The Salvation of your Souls

Salvation – σωτηρία – sōtēria { sō-tā-rē’-ä }

Let’s begin with salvation, ‘the goal of our faith.’ Salvation is first deliverance, preservation, or safety. It includes deliverance from the molestation of enemies and our enemy is satan, ruler of this world, our temporal flesh and angelic opponent to Christ Jesus.

In an ethical sense, salvation is ‘that which concludes to the soul’s safety,’ guaranteed by the Messiah of God.

Future salvation is the sum of benefits and blessings which the Christians, redeemed from all earthly ills, will enjoy after the visible return of Christ from heaven in the consummated and eternal kingdom of God. source: BlueLetterBible.com

It’s worth mentioning that the root word for salvation in greek is σωτήρ {sōtēr}, meaning savior, deliverer or preserver. Christ Jesus has saved, delivered and preserved all believers born again to a living hope, as Peter encourages us.

Preserve your body and soul

Peter speaks here to the church in the plural, souls. Perhaps you recognize the anglicized greek word, psychē, from it much maligned meaning by unbelieving contemporary interpreters of our complex God-given life. Our soul is defined as: the breath of life, the vital force which animates the body and shows itself in breathing; the seat of the feelings, desires, affections, aversions (our heart, soul etc.), as an essence which differs from the body and is not dissolved by death (distinguished from other parts of the body).

Much we could discuss here, yet Peter addresses it sufficiently in his letter to the church, the body of believers saved by Christ Jesus. One form of the greek word for soul used by Jesus address the cooling breath of life of those who no longer believe in God.

Matthew 24:9-11 “Then they will deliver you to tribulation, and will kill you, and you will be hated by all nations because of My name. At that time many will fall away and will betray one another and hate one another.

Many false prophets will arise and will mislead many. (Peter addresses this later in his letter in 1 Peter 4.)

Because lawlessness is increased, most people’s love will grow cold.
Matthew 24:12 NASB

A Communion Plea

We do not presume
to come to this your table, merciful Lord,
trusting in our own righteousness,
but in your manifold and great mercies…

The body of our Lord Jesus Christ, which was given for you,
preserve your body and soul to eternal life.
Take and eat this in remembrance that Christ died for you,
and feed on him in your heart by faith with thanksgiving.

The blood of our Lord Jesus Christ, which was shed for you,
preserve your body and soul to eternal life.
Drink this in remembrance that Christ’s blood was shed for you,
and be thankful.
from The Book of Common Prayer

The Grace that would come to us

Now Peter encourages from the foundation of scripture.

10 Concerning this salvation, the prophets, who prophesied about the grace that would come to you, searched and carefully investigated. 11 They inquired into what time or what circumstances the Spirit of Christ within them was indicating when he testified in advance to the sufferings of Christ and the glories that would follow.

Prophets also asked about the Christ before His own sufferings for us. Once Jesus suffered, died and rose again, what would follow?

What follows for believers in Christ?

In a word, grace.

Grace – χάρις – charis

Grace is that which affords joy, pleasure, delight, sweetness, charm, loveliness.

Certainly in this mortal life of suffering and persecution these hearers of Peter’s letter must have yearned for a return to a grace guaranteed beyond today.

Grace is described [by Strong’s concordance] as a gift, a benefit, the spiritual condition of one governed by the power of divine grace. It is good will and loving-kindness, the merciful kindness by which God, exerting his holy influence upon souls, turns them to Christ, keeps, strengthens, increases them in Christian faith, knowledge, affection, and kindles them to the exercise of the Christian virtues.

Grace through the Holy Spirit

Peter assures them that the Prophets prophesied about the grace that would come to you. He testifies that the Spirit of Christ was within them, a reference to the Holy Spirit, living breath of God in the Word of Christ.

12b These things have now been announced to you through those who preached the gospel to you by the Holy Spirit sent from heaven—angels long to catch a glimpse of these things.

Be Holy

‘Thus you are to be holy to Me, for I the LORD am holy; and I have set you apart from the peoples to be Mine.
Leviticus 20:26 NASB

Peter points back to Moses and several commands of the Lord. He uses Jesus’ familial authority of holiness.

17 If you appeal to the Father who judges impartially according to each one’s work…

He urges followers of Christ (v.13b), set your hope completely on the grace to be brought to you at the revelation of Jesus Christ. And as Jesus taught, Peter urges us to be like Christ as an obedient child of the Father.

14 As obedient children, do not be conformed to the desires of your former ignorance. 15 But as the one who called you is holy, you also are to be holy in all your conduct; 16 for it is written, Be holy, because I am holy.

What’s it like to be holy?

13-16 [PHILLIPS] So brace up your minds… Live as obedient children before God. Don’t let your character be moulded by the desires of your ignorant days, but be holy in every department of your lives…

… you should spend the time of your stay here on earth with reverent fear.

22 [CSB] Since you have purified yourselves by your obedience to the truth, so that you show sincere brotherly love for each other, from a pure heart love one another constantly, 23 because you have been born again—not of perishable seed but of imperishable—through the living and enduring word of God.

Peter’s call to holiness in our Christian living and witness to the world is challenging enough. And for those facing true persecution and opposition to our faithfulness to the Lord, Peter encourages us in our new and permanent salvation in Christ, Redeemer of our sinful souls.

This brief life of ours

What more can Peter say to encourage those first century Christians suffering for their true faith in Christ Jesus?

In fact, Peter has much more to say beginning with cautions about those ‘christians’ who disobey God our Father and Christ. We began this series with “They Stumble Because They Disobey,” from 1 Peter 2.

Just prior to this, Peter reminds us that by comparison to eternity (and judgment) this mortal life in the flesh is very brief. Comfort to those faced with persecution or death for their faith in Christ.

Once again, he quotes scripture, specifically the Prophet Isaiah, in the thought connecting their faithfulness and his caution against false prophets.

Isaiah 40:

The verses from Isaiah preceding 1 Peter 24-25 will be familiar to the persecuted church of the first century. Prophesy of John the Baptist and Jesus both resound in the powerful imagery of Isaiah 40:1-5.

All flesh is grass, and all its loveliness is like the flower of the field.
7 The grass withers, the flower fades,
When the breath of the Lord blows upon it;
Surely the people are grass.
8 The grass withers, the flower fades,
But the word of our God stands forever.
Isaiah 40:6c-8

Beloved believer, we are like grass, yet so are opponents to our faith in Christ Jesus. By His grace we know our salvation.

Isaiah urges us to be a bearer of the Good News.

“Here is your God!”
Behold, His reward is with Him
Like a shepherd He will tend His flock,
In His arm He will gather the lambs
And carry them in His bosom;
He will gently lead the nursing ewes.
excerpts from Isaiah 40 NASB

Peter ends this opening of his first letter:

25 BUT THE WORD OF THE LORD ENDURES FOREVER.”
And this is the word which was preached to you.
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To be continued...
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August 13, 2019
They Stumble Because They Disobey – 1 Peter 2
The Apostle Simon Peter, who Jesus nicknamed, ‘the rock,’ warns the church about those who disobey God. He quotes scripture pointing to Christ as the cornerstone of the Temple and as a rejected stone causing some to stumble.

As we suggested earlier in Apostates from Jude’s letter, these ‘religious’ opponents of Jesus often sway others to turn from the Lord. James also warns about Preaching to a Worldly Church, as do the Apostles.

Peter reminds believers who hear his letter:

For it stands in Scripture:
See, I lay a stone in Zion,
a chosen and honored cornerstone,
and the one who believes in him
will never be put to shame.
So honor will come to you who believe; but for the unbelieving,
The stone that the builders rejected—
this one has become the cornerstone,
and
A stone to stumble over,
and a rock to trip over.
They stumble because they disobey the word; they were destined for this.
1 Peter 2:6-8 CSB

The Cornerstone in Zion

Zion צִיּוֹן

Peter had witnessed the injustice to Jesus by Zion’s rulers first-hand. These same scornful men, a brood of vipers leavening the crowds of John the Baptist and Jesus – these arrogant religious scofferes pursued Peter and the Apostles, James and the church, and also Paul, Apostle to the gentiles.

Peter quotes the prophecies of Psalm 118 and Isaiah, powerful imagery of the Messiah the Apostle had witnessed as he had entered Jerusalem with Jesus, who was crucified and then appeared alive after death on a cross.

I shall not die, but live,
And declare the works of the Lord.
The Lord has chastened me severely,
But He has not given me over to death.
Psalm 118:17-18 KJV

Two Herodian kings could not kill Christ and religious apostates who had turned against the Lord could not keep Jesus in the grave! Though the Lord rode into Jerusalem on the foal of a donkey triumphant as a king, His victory is that over sin and death by His Holy and Perfect Sacrifice on a Cross.

Christ the Cornerstone

Perhaps you know some lyrics from the 19th century hymn, The Church’s One Foundation, which shares this same imagery.
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The church's one foundation 
 Is Jesus Christ her Lord; 
 She is his new creation 
 By water and the Word... 

Mid toil and tribulation, 
 And tumult of her war, 
 She waits the consummation 
 Of peace forevermore...
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The Apostle’s first letter to the church points back to the scripture of Isaiah, who states that the Lord’s foundation is firmly placed.

“Surely My hand founded H3245 the earth,
And My right hand spread out the heavens;
When I call to them, they stand together.
Isaiah 48:13 NASB – Strong’s reference H3245 – יָסַד

In Scripture familiar to Peter’s first century readers, Isaiah chastises religious leaders who claim the Lord, but turn to a covenant with sin and death.

Isaiah 28

14 Therefore hear the word of the Lord, you scoffers,
who rule this people in Jerusalem!

… for we have made lies our refuge,
and in falsehood we have taken shelter”
Isaiah 28:15c ESV

Peter quotes the LORD God from scripture in his accusation against those who turn from Christ Jesus.

Isaiah 28:16 Therefore the Lord God said:
“Look, I have laid a stone in Zion,
a tested stone,
a precious cornerstone, a sure foundation;
the one who believes will be unshakable.

Is your faith in the Lord unshakable?

The church is Christ’s followers; saints all, every living soul gathered in His Holy Name. Peter refers to the faithful as living stones.

No building of earth – not a Temple or grand Cathedral; but saved souls as living stones, placed by the Creator next to Christ our cornerstone. Unshakable – to offer spiritual sacrifices acceptable to God through Jesus Christ.

How firm is your foundation in the Lord?

Peter shows us to be as unhewn but useful stones for the Lord’s holiest of Temples, the Living place of worship to the LORD founded in Christ.

Isaiah 28:17-18

“I will make justice the measuring line
And righteousness the level;
Then hail will sweep away the refuge of lies
And the waters will overflow the secret place.

“Your covenant with death will be canceled,
And your pact with Sheol will not stand;
When the overwhelming scourge passes through,
Then you become its trampling place.

Surely Christ has cancelled our covenant with death by His Sacrifice on the Cross.

Peter’s Guidance for the Church

Peter opens his first letter to the church: “To those chosen” or “To those who reside as aliens” or “To God’s elect, exiles scattered.. or “To the pilgrims of the Dispersion.

These living stones are not recognized in this world as the church the Lord creates for true and eternal worship.

Are you one who does not stumble?

The world, even your neighbors, will treat you as aliens and attempt to shake your faith. Christians are as unwelcome in our 21st c. culture as the recipients of Peter’s first century letters to the church.

In Jesus, Peter reminds us, our faith is solid – a firm foundation, level and straight. Peter precedes this call to the church from scripture with a firm exhortation meant to keep us from stumbling.

Therefore, rid yourselves of all malice, all deceit, hypocrisy, envy, and all slander.
1 Peter 2:1 CSB

1 Peter 2:

4 As you come to him, a living stone—rejected by people but chosen and honored by God— 5 you yourselves, as living stones, a spiritual house, are being built to be a holy priesthood to offer spiritual sacrifices acceptable to God through Jesus Christ.

Do you stumble when you encounter Christ?

How could you stumble? Or how will the faithful help you to keep from stumbling in your witness of Christ Jesus?

By the plumb line of Christ’s righteousness in your works:
- You no longer show malice [ill-will, wickedness, depravity, evil,trouble] toward others.
- Of course you no longer use deceit, a key tool of Satan, to mislead any.
- Christians more than most receive the world’s indictment of hypocrisy where Jesus is just a false mask taken on and off as we please.
  - If all the world’s a stage, then all wear the masks of hypocrisy.
- Envy also shows a worldly desire over our hope for eternal riches in Christ.
- All slander [backbiting] must stop in redeemed Christians.
The Chosen Stone and His Chosen People

Peter’s call to Christians, so clear to those introduced to Christ as a ‘chosen generation’ to proclaim the Gospel, bears repeating {from the NKJV} ³if indeed you have tasted that the Lord is gracious.

⁴Coming to Him as to a living stone, rejected indeed by men, but chosen by God and precious, ⁵you also, as living stones, are being built up a spiritual house, a holy priesthood, to offer up spiritual sacrifices acceptable to God through Jesus Christ.

Now you are God’s people

9 But you are a chosen generation… called out of darkness.. (the darkness of sin).

Christ, the Cornerstone, called you into His Living Light, though you were once dead in your sins. Peter reminds the faithful saints called and hewn by Jesus into living stones:

Once you were not a people, but now you are God’s people; you had not received mercy, but now you have received mercy.
1 Peter 2:10 CSB

Peter will continue to guide the church in our actions with each other and with others. Even some worshiping with us stumble, preferring our own easy grace, rather than be held accountable to our reshaping for a firm and level foundation formed by Christ Jesus.

I have begun the first letter of Peter from his challenging scriptural call to faithfulness in the second chapter. Next, we will return to the Apostle’s encouraging opening in chapter one, God-willing.
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To be continued...
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August 7, 2019
Time Beyond Years – Omega
Revelation 1:8 KJV

I am Alpha and Omega, the beginning and the ending, saith the Lord, which is, and which was, and which is to come, the Almighty.

Alpha

Briefly, we considered creation (day 1 before measurable time).

Look at the timeline of man’s history as if the mark on the left is creation. Suppose man (adam) is a second mark and Noah a third. Then Abraham and Moses followed by David, with generations and centuries unmarked.

In the middle of the line a notable mark of the division of time follows which we note as B.C. (or BCE) and A.D. (from the Latin: Anno Domini – ‘In the year of our Lord’).

Before this dividing mark of time between BC and AD, David has reigned and the Prophets have spoken.

THEN..

Jesus Christ is born, teaches, crucified and resurrected (a challenge to mortal time).

His life as God With Us (Immanuel) delineates a beginning to these last days.

Our timeline of these last days endures through persecution of the faithful while the Lord wins repentant sinners.

But do not overlook this one fact, beloved, that with the Lord one day is as a thousand years, and a thousand years as one day. – 2 Peter 3:9

Following the fall of Rome and rise of false prophets the church witnesses the way of Christ Jesus.

History records the printing of the Bible, reformation of the faith and enlightenment of mindful godlessness.

The nations learn of Christ, empires rise and fall toward an inevitable end, the omega of time. Christ IS near in the omega of these last days, the end of time measured by the created of the Lord God Almighty.

Ω Ō, o’-meg-ah; the last letter of the Greek alphabet, i.e. (figuratively) the finality:—Omega.

Observe any line, even a timeline of history.

It has a beginning (Α, ἄλφα) and it has an end (Ω, Omega).

Yet look beyond the visible beginning and visible end of the line and in your mind’s eye observe the infinite extension of that which is visible.

Look above (heavenward) and below: consider the expanse of so much which the line does not touch.

— Omega revealing the end

Our created living souls can barely grasp it!

The refracted light of our postmodern enlightenment clouds the clarity of the One true Light.

Time and creation have cause. The Lord will surely accomplish His purpose and the saving of His own at the end.

Before the Α, After the Ω

And God saw everything that he had made, and behold, it was very good. And there was evening and there was morning, the sixth day.
Genesis 1:31

One commandment from God to man, a simple life in paradise:

“.. of the knowledge of good and evil you shall not eat, for in the day that you eat of it you shall surely die.” – Genesis 2:17b

Yet man chooses trespass to just one simple command from God. A just and righteous LORD must punish sin.

The Lord God said.. to Adam he said: “.. for you are dust,
and to dust you shall return.” – Genesis 3 excerpt

Living toward life’s end
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LATER in Scripture - from a conversation of a righteous man.
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Although Job appears later in the Bible his place in the timeline of history is closer to Abraham than to David.
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Job 7:

“Has not man a hard service on earth…?

… so I am allotted months of emptiness,
and nights of misery are apportioned to me.

When I lie down I say, ‘When shall I arise?’

But the night is long,
and I am full of tossing till the dawn.

5 My flesh is clothed with worms and dirt;
my skin hardens, then breaks out afresh.
6 My days are swifter.. and come to their end without hope.

7 “Remember that my life is a breath;
my eye will never again see good.
8 The eye of him who sees me will behold me no more;
while your eyes are on me, I shall be gone.

¹⁷What is man, that you make so much of him,
and that you set your heart on him,
¹⁸visit him every morning
and test him every moment?

Why do you not pardon my transgression
and take away my iniquity?
For now I shall lie in the earth;
you will seek me, but I shall not be.” – Job 7:21

The time and place of punishment

Luke 16:

… and in Hades, being in torment… And he called out, ‘… have mercy on me.., for I am in anguish in this flame.’

ᾅδης – hadēs
- What do you expect of inevitable death and deserved hell?
- (Or do you yet claim blemished goodness with eyes that will not see death?)
Hell [Hades] holds captive many living souls by the certainty of our own sins.

Roman, Hellenist and Hebrew understanding of Jesus’ mention of Hades fits the definition:
1. name Hades or Pluto, the god of the lower regions
2. Orcus, the nether world, the realm of the dead
3. later use of this word: the grave, death, hell
Yet note a subtlety of the root word of Hades:

From the negative participle of Alpha and εἴδω – eidō, a word meaning ‘to see’ or ‘to know.’

And I saw an angel come down from heaven, having the key of the bottomless pit and a great chain in his hand. – Revelation 20:1

Do you yet see our vulnerability to the punishment for sin after our end without Christ?

“Son of man, you dwell in the midst of a rebellious house, who have eyes to see, but see not, who have ears to hear, but hear not, for they are a rebellious house. – Ezekiel 12:2

After the Omega, saved in Christ

The saying is trustworthy and deserving of full acceptance, that Christ Jesus came into the world to save sinners.. – 1 Timothy 1:15

The gospel εὐαγγέλιον of John:

In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God…

But to all who did receive him, who believed in his name, he gave the right to become children of God…

“Behold, the Lamb of God, who takes away the sin of the world!

.. and he looked at Jesus as he walked by and said, “Behold, the Lamb of God!”

“We have found the Messiah” (which means Christ)...

Jesus answered them, “Destroy this temple, and in three days I will raise it up.”

If I have told you earthly things and you do not believe, how can you believe if I tell you heavenly things?

For God did not send his Son into the world to condemn the world, but in order that the world might be saved through him.

Whoever believes in him is not condemned, but whoever does not believe is condemned already, because he has not believed in the name of the only Son of God.

And this is the judgment:

the light has come into the world, and people loved the darkness rather than the light because their works were evil.

Omega – for those with eyes to see

Omega revealing the end

Revelation 22:

Then the angel showed me the river of the water of life, bright as crystal, flowing from the throne of God and of the Lamb…

“And behold, I am coming soon.

12 “Behold, I am coming soon, bringing my recompense with me, to repay each one for what he has done. 13 I am the Alpha and the Omega, the first and the last, the beginning and the end.”

“Come.”

And let the one who hears say, “Come.”

And let the one who is thirsty come;

let the one who desires take the water of life without price.

20 He who testifies to these things says, “Surely I am coming soon.”

Amen. Come, Lord Jesus!

21 The grace of the Lord Jesus be with all.

Amen.
January 9, 2018