A LETTER FROM PETER

Chapter 1 – Part 3

 10 This salvation was something even the prophets wanted to know more about when they prophesied about this gracious salvation prepared for you. 11 They wondered what time or situation the Spirit of Christ within them was talking about when he told them in advance about Christ’s suffering and his great glory afterward. 12 They were told that their messages were not for themselves, but for you. And now this Good News has been announced to you by those who preached in the power of the Holy Spirit sent from heaven. It is all so wonderful that even the angels are eagerly watching these things happen. (1 Peter 1:10-12 – NLT)

Here Peter catches a glimpse of God plan of salvation that had been prophesied in the Old Testament.  The true servant of God is infused with a curious and searching mind, particularly about those things which impact the souls of all human beings, but this salvation was not for the prophets but rather for those in Peter’s flock

These prophets needed two elements for their prophecy, as do all seekers after God’s truth; a searching mind and an open spirit. Here is the lesson for authentic spiritual growth and personal revelation. We must have a mind that seeks after God’s truth and a receptive spirit attuned to the voice and leading of the Holy Spirit.

When our minds are searching and our spirit is attuned to the Holy Spirit, we are in a place of receptivity to God; seeking, searching and reaching out to His Spirit, and even in those moments when we know not how we should pray the Holy Spirit intercedes for us. And the Holy Spirit helps us in our weakness. For example, we don’t know what God wants us to pray for. But the Holy Spirit prays for us with groanings that cannot be expressed in words. And the Father who knows all hearts knows what the Spirit is saying, for the Spirit pleads for us believers in harmony with God’s own will. And we know that God causes everything to work together for the good of those who love God and are called according to his purpose for them. (Romans 8:26-30 - NLT)

Of necessity, any plan for the salvation of humanity, who was the pinnacle of God’s creative act, must have justice and God’s plan called for justice. Sin had a price attached to it and that price had to be paid somewhere by someone if the plan was to have validity and authenticity. The prophets understood in advance about Christ’s suffering and his great glory afterward. Here was the remedy, with its ghastly cost, and the promise, with its transcendent glory; two inevitable and inescapable sides of one coin.

The suffering, death and resurrection of Jesus had released a cosmic power into the world of humanity and through the eternal and universal presence of His Spirit, the Holy Spirit; all humanity could once again come into an intimate and unfettered Father/child relationship with the creator God. So great and marvellous was this development that the angels in heaven eagerly watching these things happen. 

A Call to Holy Living

13 So prepare your minds for action and exercise self-control. Put all your hope in the gracious salvation that will come to you when Jesus Christ is revealed to the world. 14 So you must live as God’s obedient children. Don’t slip back into your old ways of living to satisfy your own desires. You didn’t know any better then. 15 But now you must be holy in everything you do, just as God who chose you is holy. 16 For the Scriptures say, “You must be holy because I am holy. (1 Peter 1:13-16 – NLT)

Peter now gets down to some tough nuts and bolts facts about living the kingdom lifestyle. There was active commitment, obedience and dedication for the early Christians if they were to realise the gracious salvation possible through Jesus Christ. They needed to prepare [their] minds for action and exercise self-control. Above all else, they were not to slip back into [their] old ways of living to satisfy [their] own desires. Note these are activities that rest mainly with the believer. There is work to be done but work under the guidance and power of the Holy Spirit. They were being given a task but not left solely to their own devices to see it through.

If those living the kingdom lifestyle were to live as God’s obedient children they need to be prepared for work in cooperation with the Holy Spirit. It is unfortunate, but true, that humanity usually ends up getting the balance out of kilter here. Either we want to pursue all this work in our power, leaving aside the powerhouse of the Spirit available to us, or we want to simply dump it all on God’s Spirit and expect Him to carry out and see through tasks that we are quite capable of doing ourselves. Jesus promised us a helper who would teach us all we need to know (John14:26), not a slave who would do our bidding when we don’t want to put in the hard yards.

Now, this call to live a holy life within the kingdom lifestyle needs to be understood in the context in which Peter is writing. He had already told them they are a people called out and chosen who will always be foreigners (v1) in this world and that they be must endure many trials for a little while. (v6) As a result, of this they would be distinctly different while they live in this world. Peter will go to call them temporary residents. They will not be citizens of it. They would be set apart as citizens of another world. And here is the essence of being holy, to be distinctly set apart for God. In everything they do this was to be the primary and sole objective; to live as a set apart people in an intimate relationship with a holy God. This fact would be something the carnal world can never understand and only those who intentionally set their feet on the path of the kingdom lifestyle could ever comprehend and experience it.

17 And remember that the heavenly Father to whom you pray has no favorites. He will judge or reward you according to what you do. So you must live in reverent fear of him during your time here as “temporary residents.” 18 For you know that God paid a ransom to save you from the empty life you inherited from your ancestors. And it was not paid with mere gold or silver, which lose their value. 19 It was the precious blood of Christ, the sinless, spotless Lamb of God. 20 God chose him as your ransom long before the world began, but now in these last days he has been revealed for your sake. (1 Peter 1:17-120 – NLT)

Peter will remind his readers of the impartiality of our Heavenly Father and note the use of the words here, intimate and relational; the Father/child intimacy. This needs to be kept in mind when we consider that He is also judge and bestower of reward. If we focus too much on the judge we begin to lose the intimacy and mercy of the understanding Father. If we focus too much on the Father/child intimacy we begin to lose the sense of accountability we have to the judge. The resolution to this balance is live in reverent fear of him during your time here.

Those on the path of the kingdom lifestyle need to be ever focused on the price that has been paid for their journey: an incomparable cost that can never be measured or accounted for in the material things of this world like silver and gold, which inevitably, decay, lose their value and one day must be left behind. It was the precious blood of Christ, the sinless, spotless Lamb of God, that carries this immeasurable cost and the sojourner along the kingdom lifestyle must always be acutely conscious of the horrendous price that has been paid for their own, personal sin and salvation; a reality that was envisaged before the world began and in these last days he has been revealed for [their] sake.

21 Through Christ you have come to trust in God. And you have placed your faith and hope in God because he raised Christ from the dead and gave him great glory.

22 You were cleansed from your sins when you obeyed the truth, so now you must show sincere love to each other as brothers and sisters. Love each other deeply with all your heart.

23 For you have been born again, but not to a life that will quickly end. Your new life will last forever because it comes from the eternal, living word of God. 24 As the Scriptures say,

“People are like grass;
    their beauty is like a flower in the field.
The grass withers and the flower fades.
25     But the word of the Lord remains forever.”

And that word is the Good News that was preached to you. (1 Peter 1:21-25 – NLT)

Peter now wants to sum up and remind his readers of the process that brought them to this place. Their salvation is purely and only through Christ and made available and actioned because they were willing to exercise faith and come to trust in God. The redeeming death and resurrection of Jesus is the catalyst in this whole process that must inevitably lead those along the path of the kingdom lifestyle to share His glory in eternity. This also included a process of cleansing and spiritual growth as they discovered the truth and obediently obeyed it.

As a result of the transformation, we have a responsibility to the lost sheep and our fellow sojourners along the path to the kingdom. As Paul reminds us we are given this wonderful message of reconciliation (2 Corinthians 5:19 – NLT). Along with privileges in the Father/child relationship there comes family responsibilities and we are required to seek the lost and love deeply our brothers and sisters, not so much with mushy emotions, but rather a sincere, intentional commitment to love as Paul defines it in 1 Corinthian 13.

We are reminded of the new birth with all attendant possibilities of life and living, but not [the] life that will quickly end. Rather this new life will last forever because it has a solid, unshakable and enduring foundation that nothing can ever dislodge: the eternal and living word of God. We are reminded of the fragility of life in the here and now and the permanency of eternal life yet to come which has all been declared to us through the preaching of the word that is the Good News.