Studies in First Peter Part 3
“3Blessed 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, 4to obtain an inheritance which is imperishable and undefiled and will not fade away, reserved in heaven for you, 5who are protected by the power of God through faith for a salvation ready to be revealed in the last time” (I Peter 1:3-5).
God’s great mercy, shown to us through the death of Jesus in our place, is the door through which we have been born again. And this door to eternal life included the resurrection of Jesus as well. The resurrection confirmed the complete and finished work of Jesus to take away our sins. We have been “born again”, born into the family of God. And we carry inside us a “living hope”, alive because it powered by the unbreakable promises of God, not by some kind of wishful thinking. And this new birth and living hope have been confirmed in us by “the resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead.”
Entering God’s forever family, we now receive the promise of “an inheritance which is imperishable and undefiled and will not fade away, reserved in heaven for us.” Don’t you love these powerful descriptors of our inheritance? Imperishable, undefiled, will not fade away, reserved. There is zero chance that someone will be changing their will. Your inheritance is set. God is your Father. You are His child. Your inheritance – His presence in this life and eternal life with Jesus to come – is guaranteed and secure.
Continuing to verse 5, “We are protected by the power of God through faith for a salvation ready to be revealed in the last time.” Again look at these key words. Protected, power of God, faith, salvation. How does our faith fit into this protected by God’s power dynamic? It starts with the fact that your faith brought you to salvation.
“For by grace you have been saved through faith; and that not of yourselves, it is the gift of God” (Ephesians 2:8). This is one of our favorite salvation verses. And we are quick to focus on “saved by grace” as we should. But let’s not forget the “through faith” part. Your faith matters and your faith mattered. You raised your hand. You believed. You expressed your faith in Jesus to save you. And you were saved.
In the gospels, Jesus chose who to heal, when to heal, how to heal. But concurrent with Jesus’s actions, the faith of the recipient made a difference based on Jesus’ own words. How many times did Jesus conclude a healing with “your faith has made you well”? It’s a bunch.
I don’t know all of the ins and outs of how this works. I only know that taking Jesus’ words at face value, their faith mattered. And your faith matters. Your faith in God’s power to protect you makes a difference. It secures your peace and joy and calm in the middle of whatever storm you are facing that needs God’s protection.
For Peter’s first century readers, they were facing some challenging trials, and believing in the power of God to protect them was not a theoretical exercise. It was where they lived. We will talk about these trials next time.