Lesson 2 – I Peter Chapter 1:3-6

Last week we talked about being part of God’s elect or chosen ones according to the foreknowledge of God the Father, which is the deep, deep subject of predestination. We also talked about the sanctification of the Spirit, obeying Jesus Christ and being sprinkled with His blood. All very heady truths of Scripture.

I Peter 1:3
“Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, who according to His abundant mercy has begotten us again to a living hope through the resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead,”

At the end of verse 2 Peter spoke of God’s grace and peace, which caused Peter to reflect on God’s mercy as well. God is to be constantly worshipped and praised, He is the author and finisher of our salvation… Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ. These words are identical to II Cor. 1:3:

“Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, the Father of mercies and God of all comfort,”

We can really see this as a phrase of worship, and in this way, Peter assumes it is necessary for all believers to bless God. We know that God is the one who blesses us, but how do we bless God? We do it by worshipping Him and obeying Him. Remember, Peter is writing to believers who are facing great trials and tribulations. As far as we are concerned, we’re either coming out of a trial, between trials, or entering into a trial. What better way for us to look past our circumstances than to stop and worship the Lord God Almighty.

Father of our Lord Jesus Christ… We accept this, the Father, and the Son, but this was new to the young Christians at that time. Since the time of Abraham, the Jews only saw God as One, they had no concept of the Holy Trinity… Father, Son, and Holy Spirit. These new Christians were to bless God as the Father of their Lord Jesus Christ, the Son of God.

Who according to His abundant mercy…

Mercy… the Greek word is el’-ee-ahss which means the compassion of God in providing and offering to men salvation by Christ. It is God’s unmerited favor, meaning that we didn’t do anything for it, we in no way earned God’s mercy. God extends His mercy toward sinners in their hopeless condition.

Titus 3:5
“Not by works of righteousness which we have done, but according to His mercy He saved us, through the washing of regeneration and renewing of the Holy Spirit,”

Mercy focuses on the sinner’s miserable, despicable condition. Total depravity is a phrase or name that is used to summarize what the Bible teaches about the spiritual condition of fallen man. Since the fall of Adam and Eve in the garden, every part of man, his mind, his will, his emotions and flesh, have all been corrupted by sin.

God’s answer to man’s total depravity is His mercy and grace. Mercy isn’t the same as grace. Mercy addresses a person’s miserable condition, where as grace concerns our guilt.

Has begotten us again to a living hope through the resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead…

(NLT) – “that we have been born again, because God raised Jesus Christ from the dead.”

We did absolutely nothing to deserve being born again, it is a gift from God.

Eph. 2:8
“For by grace you have been saved through faith; and that not of yourselves, it is the gift of God;”

Only God, working through His Holy Spirit, can transform our wicked sinful hearts. At this point Peter might have been thinking about Jesus’ conversation with Nicodemus when he says “begotten” or “born-again.”

John 3:5-7
“Jesus answered, “Truly, truly, I say to you, unless one is born of water and the Spirit he cannot enter into the kingdom of God. That which is born of the flesh is flesh, and that which is born of the Spirit is spirit. Do not be amazed that I said to you, ‘You must be born again.”

Being born again, receiving God’s free gift of salvation, gives each believer a living hope.

I John 3:3
“And everyone who has this hope fixed on Him purifies himself, just as He is pure.”

I Tim. 4:10
“This is why we work hard and continue to struggle, for our hope is in the living God, who is the Savior of all people and particularly of all believers.” (NLT)

As we go down the road of life, we check off more and more things we thought we would one day do or be. Regarding our spiritual life, the farther down the road we go walking with Jesus, the more we realize the hope we have doesn’t lie on this earth, but in heaven our real home.

The hope Peter is speaking of isn’t some kind of wishful thinking, but it’s on the finished work of Jesus, His sacrificial death and resurrection. Many Bible scholars and teachers like to refer to Peter as the apostle of hope.

Our future is secure because of the resurrection of Jesus Christ. Our hope is in His victory over death and His resurrection to life. Whatever persecuted believers might face in this world cannot possibly compare to the blessings of the future resurrection and the life to come in eternity.

I Peter 1:4
“To an inheritance incorruptible and undefiled and that does not fade away, reserved in heaven for you,”

When we read verse 4, the word that first jumps out to us is “inheritance.” We can’t help it because it means we’re going to get something. As humans, we like to get things, especially when it’s coming from God.

Peter is telling us that just as Israel received an earthly inheritance (the land of Canaan) so all believers will one day receive a spiritual inheritance in heaven.

Deut. 3:28 (the Lord said to Moses, concerning the land of Canaan)

“But command Joshua, and encourage him and strengthen him; for he shall go over before this people, and he shall cause them to inherit the land which you will see.”

Rom. 8:16
“For His Spirit joins with our spirit to affirm that we are God’s children. And since we are His children, we are His heirs. In fact, together with Christ we are heirs of God’s glory. But if we are to share His glory, we must also share His suffering.” (NLT) (heirs = inheritance)

We might say to ourselves, “I like the first part of Romans, but I’m not so sure about the last part where it talks about suffering.”

There is great glory ahead of us, but in the meantime, suffering can happen, especially if you’re truly living for Christ. The people Peter was ministering to knew this very well. Jesus very distinctly told us to take up our cross daily.

Matt. 5:10
“Blessed are those who have been persecuted for the sake of righteousness, for theirs is the kingdom of heaven.”

II Tim. 3:12
“Indeed, all who desire to live godly in Christ Jesus will be persecuted.”

As in biblical times, many Christians today have found that making a public declaration of faith in Christ can result in imprisonment, beatings, torture, or even death.

But the glory and inheritance that awaits us is beyond measure. Until then, it’s all about God working in our life, maturing us and conforming our behavior, that it might bring us to a conduct consistent with our spiritual inheritance. Peter will talk about this later when he speaks about being holy.

An inheritance incorruptible (or imperishable) and undefiled…

Incorruptible or imperishable: this refers to what is not corruptible, not liable to death, or not subject to destruction. This is talking about a treasure for believers that will never be lost or destroyed.

Undefiled: this is describing things that are unstained or unpolluted.

The picture Peter is presenting to us about our inheritance is one of permanence, this is something we can always count on.

And will not fade away… this phrase was used in the Greek to describe a flower that didn’t wither or die. The term in this context suggests that believers have an inheritance that will never lose its beauty. On earth nothing lasts forever, none of the decaying effects of this world can touch the inheritance God is holding for us. In simple terms, the inheritance which awaits us is as indestructible as God’s Word.

Gal. 5:5
“For we through the Spirit, by faith, are waiting for the hope of righteousness.” (the hope of righteousness is our inheritance)

Reserved in heaven for you…

Whenever we go out to dinner to a decent place to eat, the last thing you want to hear when you walk in is, “Do you have a reservation?” That is unless you do have a reservation, then everything is cool.

For the believer, everything “is” cool, because God has a reservation waiting just for you, it’s safe, nothing can ruin it, and nobody can steal it from you. You have an inheritance in heaven and God is holding it for you… it’s reserved for you in heaven. One day we will take possession of our portion, our heritage, our full inheritance.

Revelation 21:4 gives us a brief but beautiful description of our inheritance: “‘He will wipe every tear from their eyes. There will be no more death or mourning or crying or pain, for the old order of things has passed away.”

God and man will dwell together. Everything will be made new. The jeweled city of New Jerusalem will be our residence. The river of life will flow from God’s throne, and the healing tree of life with twelve kinds of fruit will grow there, too. There will be no night, because the eternal light of the Lamb will fill the new heaven and new earth and shine upon all the heirs of God.

I Peter 1:5
“Who are kept by the power of God through faith for salvation ready to be revealed in the last time.”

The verse starts out with…

Who are kept… other translations say, who are protected… who through faith are shielded… who by God’s power are being guarded.

Who is the “who” Peter is talking about? It’s definitely not the World Health Organization, it’s every believer in Christ. It’s the same pronoun Peter used in verse 1, it’s not “they” or “them” but who, “who are chosen,” those who are in Christ Jesus. And now Peter adds, who are protected.

Not only is God safe-guarding our inheritance in heaven, He’s protecting His children as well. We are kept by the power of God. It’s not us trying to hold on to Him, but it’s God holding on to us. Jesus saved you, and He is protecting you.

John 10:28
“I give them eternal life, and they will never perish, and no one will snatch them out of my hand.”

Allstate Car Insurance Company used to declare themselves as the “good hands people.” For believers, we are never safer then when we’re in God’s hands.

Phil. 4:7
“And the peace of God, which surpasses all understanding, will guard your hearts and your minds in Christ Jesus.”

What greater hope can a person have while going through any kind of trial or tribulation, than to know that God’s power is guarding them from within. God’s power is His sovereign omnipotence that continually protects His chosen, even into the depths of our soul.

Rom. 8:31, 38-39
“What then shall we say to these things? If God is for us, who can be against us?”
“For I am persuaded that neither death nor life, nor angels nor principalities nor powers, nor things present nor things to come, nor height nor depth, nor any other created thing, shall be able to separate us from the love of God which is in Christ Jesus our Lord.”

If God is for us nothing in this universe can stand against us. We are eternally loved and protected by God… this all stems from His everlasting grace and mercy.

We are protected by God through our faith.

Col. 1:21-23
“And although you were formerly alienated and hostile in mind, engaged in evil deeds, yet He has now reconciled you in His fleshly body through death, in order to present you before Him holy and blameless and beyond reproach… if indeed you continue in the faith firmly established and steadfast, and not moved away from the hope of the gospel that you have heard, which was proclaimed in all creation under heaven,” (NASB)

Isn’t it nice to know that God energizes our faith as we continue to walk with Him.

Eph. 3:16
“That He would grant you, according to the riches of His glory, to be strengthened with power through His Spirit in the inner man, so that Christ may dwell in your hearts through faith; and that you, being rooted and grounded in love,” (NASB)

(vs 5 repeated) Who are protected by the power of God through faith for a salvation ready to be revealed in the last time…

As born-again believers, we possess a salvation in the here and now. We will see the full impact of our salvation at the return of Jesus Christ. The fullness of our salvation will be realized when we are glorified with Jesus. This is our inheritance that is coming.

Salvation… (so-tay-ree’-ah) means to “rescue” or “deliverance.” A future salvation, is the sum of benefits and blessings which the Christians, redeemed from all earthly trials, will enjoy after the visible return of Christ from heaven in the consummated and eternal kingdom of God.

Eph. 1:13
“In Him, you also, after listening to the message of truth, the gospel of your salvation… having also believed, you were sealed in Him with the Holy Spirit of promise,”

When a person asks if you are saved, we can say yes, but our salvation isn’t complete yet. The best part is yet to come! There are three parts to our salvation; our “salvation of yesterday,” this points to our justification by faith… this comes to us when we first believed.

Rom. 10:10
“For with the heart a person believes, resulting in righteousness, and with the mouth he confesses, resulting in salvation.”

Rom. 5:1
“Therefore, having been justified by faith, we have peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ,”

Then there is “present day salvation.” This is the road traveled by Christians known as our sanctification. As believers, we are continually being delivered from the power of sin, and conformed to the image of Christ.

I John 1:9
“If we confess our sins, He is faithful and righteous to forgive us our sins and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness.”

Lastly, we have a “future salvation.” This points to our glorification with God. When a believer dies, there is a final transformation that takes place where we are delivered from the presence of any sin whatsoever… we won’t even be able to think about sin.

This will be one of the best days of your eternal life!

Heb. 9:28
“So Christ also, having been offered once to bear the sins of many, will appear a second time for salvation without reference to sin, to those who eagerly await Him.”

In the meantime…

Rom. 13:11
“Do this, knowing the time, that it is already the hour for you to awaken from sleep; for now salvation is nearer to us than when we believed.”

A salvation ready to be revealed in the last time…

Fulfillment of our salvation is preserved for us, it’s ready for us. But our future salvation is also connected to the end of human history as we know it. God will not make our inheritance complete until the very last episode of redemptive history has come to a close. This happens at the end of the church age, when Jesus comes for His own. Also known as (AKA) the Rapture.

Matt. 25:34
“Then the King will say to those on His right, ‘Come, you who are blessed of My Father, inherit the kingdom prepared for you from the foundation of the world.”

The very fullness of the Christian’s eternal inheritance (salvation) will be realized at the end of the Millennial Kingdom, when God creates the new heaven and new earth.

Isaiah 65:17
“For behold, I create new heavens and a new earth; And the former things will not be remembered or come to mind.”

Rev. 22:3-5
“And there shall be no more curse, but the throne of God and of the Lamb shall be in it, and His servants shall serve Him. They shall see His face, and His name shall be on their foreheads. There shall be no night there: They need no lamp nor light of the sun, for the Lord God gives them light. And they shall reign forever and ever.”

One Bible commentary says, “Christians possess some benefits of salvation in this life, but the great fullness of redemption is yet to come. God has promised unfathomable glories in the eternal perfection of heaven that will one day be the conscious experience of every believer. He is the source of the believer’s inheritance; it came because of His mercy and by His gracious means of the new birth; and it remains perfect and eternally secure, a reality all believers can fix their hope on.”

I Peter 1:6
“In this you greatly rejoice, though now for a little while, if need be, you have been grieved by various trials,”

We’re a little high on heaven right now, just talking about it and thinking about it gets us excited… In this you greatly rejoice. It’s these truths that we rejoice in, and it’s what we put our faith in. It can be said that faith turns sound doctrine into sound practice.

Though now for a little while, if need be, you have been grieved by various trials.

Faith is the fuel that Christians run on. And as we go through various trials as Peter says, we place our faith in God to carry us through them.

I John 5:4
“For everyone born of God overcomes the world. This is the victory that has overcome the world, even our faith.” (NIV)

Our faith becomes strengthened by the Holy Spirit, and it’s this faith that helps us when we’re burdened by various trials and tribulations.

It’s important to realize that the joy we have as believers is independent of our circumstances. We might be going through a great trial of some kind, but the joy and peace in our heart shouldn’t leave us.

Phil. 4:7
“And the peace of God, which surpasses all understanding, will guard your hearts and minds through Christ Jesus.”

For the person who can’t quite grasp this, they might be lacking a bit in the spiritual growth department.

Within our verse it says, If need be… or if necessary… When trials or troubles come into our life, they might be necessary for us to endure. Trials, troubles, and testing can be to our benefit. In our humanity we tend to reject it, but troubles in the believer’s life serves a purpose.

Job 5:6-7
“But evil does not spring from the soil, and trouble does not sprout from the earth. People are born for trouble as readily as sparks fly up from a fire.” (NLT)

God will use trials and testing to teach and discipline the believer. That’s why Peter says if it’s necessary. We should want whatever God brings into our lives… Father knows best.

Rom. 5:3
“We can rejoice, too, when we run into problems and trials, for we know that they help us develop endurance. And endurance develops strength of character, and character strengthens our confident hope of salvation.”

James 1:2-4
“Dear brothers and sisters, when troubles come your way, consider it an opportunity for great joy. For you know that when your faith is tested, your endurance has a chance to grow. So let it grow, for when your endurance is fully developed, you will be perfect and complete, needing nothing.” (NLT)

We just don’t like it because most of the time it doesn’t feel good to us.

Hebrews 12:11
“No discipline is enjoyable while it is happening – it’s painful! But afterward there will be a peaceful harvest of right living for those who are trained in this way.” (NLT)

You have been grieved by various trials… or, you have been distressed by various trials…

The King James brings it to a deeper level; “Ye are in heaviness through manifold temptations.”

In using the word “heaviness,” it is the same word describing what Jesus felt in the Garden of Gethsemane when He sweat great drops of blood. Peter isn’t minimizing what his readers were fearing or feeling at this time. Peter might be saying something like; “I know what you’re going through is heavy, but it’s only for a season. Rejoice greatly, because you’re going to heaven.”

May God bless the believer whose season of trial is their whole time on earth.

Psalm 34:19
“Many are the afflictions of the righteous, But the Lord delivers him out of them all.”

John 9:1-3
“As He passed by, He saw a man blind from birth. And His disciples asked Him, “Rabbi, who sinned, this man or his parents, that he would be born blind?” Jesus answered, “It was neither that this man sinned, nor his parents; but it was so that the works of God might be displayed in him.”

By various trials… various means variegated, or “many colored.” We’ve talked about trials, and we know there’s all kinds of trials for all kinds of purposes in our life. Every trial that comes into our life is not by happenstance, God knows everything about what we face. There’s no trial or trouble that God’s amazing grace can’t supersede.

Psalm 34:19
“The righteous person faces many troubles, but the Lord comes to the rescue each time.” (NLT)

Charles Spurgeon:
“Trials teach us what we are; they dig up the soil, and let us see what we are made of.”

Alistair Begg:
“Take comfort in God’s mysterious providence, knowing that He will not allow anything to befall you which will not ultimately be used for your good and His glory.”

James 1:12
“Blessed is a man who perseveres under trial; for once he has been approved, he will receive the crown of life which the Lord has promised to those who love Him.”

We’ll close with this…

As believers, our faith is all wrapped up in the promises of God. We believe in God’s saving grace and we believe in the finished work of Jesus. We believe that salvation only comes from Jesus… we can’t buy it, we can’t try to be good for it, and we can’t work for it… we can only receive salvation as a gift from God. He gives it freely to us because He loves us. We know that we live in a cursed world where evil exists, and in this world we will go through many trials and tribulations, but no matter what happens on this side of eternity, God’s grace is sufficient to carry us all the way to complete salvation. Amen.