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Scripture Reading: 1 Pet. 1:5-9
In this message we shall begin to consider 1:5-9.
In verse 5 Peter says, “Who are being guarded by the power of God through faith unto salvation, ready to be revealed at the last time.” If we would enjoy our heavenly inheritance today and participate in it, we need to be guarded. This means that we need to be kept in the right position. Sometimes we are distracted and moved away from the position necessary to enjoy the heavenly inheritance. In the past we all have experienced, at least to some extent, that when we are carried away from the Lord by something, we lose the enjoyment of the inheritance of eternal life. Therefore, we need to be guarded, protected.
Thank the Lord that we are being guarded by the power of God through faith. The power of God is the means by which we are being guarded. Faith is the secondary means through which the power of God becomes effective in guarding us. Thus, the power of God is on God’s side, and the faith is on our side. This indicates that we need to cooperate with the power of God. If we cooperate in this way, we shall be kept in the right position to enjoy our heavenly inheritance.
According to verse 5, we are being guarded, garrisoned (a military term), by the power of God through faith unto salvation. The result of this guarding is salvation. In this verse three prepositions are used concerning our coming salvation: by, through, and unto. By refers to cause, through to the means, and unto to the result.
The salvation spoken of in verse 5 is full salvation, ultimate salvation. Specifically, it refers not to salvation from eternal perdition, but refers to the salvation of our souls from the dispensational punishment of the Lord’s governmental dealing. This dispensational punishment of God’s governmental dealing is neglected by most Christians today. They seem to have no light concerning it nor understanding of it. Although such a revelation is found in the Bible, most Christians do not have it in their concept.
Even though we are saved, we need to ask ourselves if we are now ready to stand before the judgment seat of Christ. If the Lord Jesus were to come back today, would you be ready to appear before His judgment seat? Could you stand before Him there in peace? No doubt, your conscience would tell you that in many things you have not yet been saved. If this is your situation, then the judgment at the judgment seat of Christ may have a negative result as far as you are concerned. However, I hope that the result for us all will be positive. But should the result be negative, we shall experience some kind of punishment. That will not be eternal perdition; rather, it will be the dispensational punishment of God’s governmental dealing.
The full salvation of the Triune God comprises many items in three stages. The first stage, the initial stage, is the stage of regeneration. This stage is composed of redemption, sanctification (positional — 1 Pet. 1:2; 1 Cor. 6:11), justification, reconciliation, and regeneration. In this stage, God has justified us through the redemption of Christ (Rom. 3:24-26) and regenerated us in our spirit with His life by His Spirit (John 3:3-6). Thus, we have received God’s eternal salvation (Heb. 5:9) and His eternal life (John 3:15), and become His children (John 1:12-13), who shall not perish forever (John 10:28-29). This initial salvation has saved us from God’s condemnation and from eternal perdition (16, John 3:18).
The second stage of salvation, the progressing stage, is the stage of transformation. This stage is composed of freedom from sin, sanctification (mainly dispositional — Rom. 6:19, 22), growth in life, transformation, building up, and maturing. In this stage, God is freeing us from the dominion of indwelling sin — the law of sin and death — by the law of the Spirit of life, through the effectiveness of the death of Christ working subjectively in us (Rom. 6:6-7; 7:16-20; 8:2). He is sanctifying us by His Holy Spirit (Rom. 15:16), with His holy nature, through His discipline (Heb. 12:10) and His judgment in His own house (1 Pet. 4:17). He is causing us to grow in His life (1 Cor. 3:6-7) and transforming us by renewing the inward parts of our soul by the life-giving Spirit (2 Cor. 3:6, 17-18; Rom. 12:2; Eph. 4:23) through the working of all things (Rom. 8:28). He is building us together into a spiritual house for His dwelling (1 Pet. 2:5; Eph. 2:22) and maturing us in His life (Rev. 14:15) for the completion of His full salvation. Thus, we are being delivered from the power of sin, the world, the flesh, the self, the soul (the natural life), and individualism into maturity in the divine life for the fulfilling of God’s eternal purpose.
The third stage, the completing stage, is the stage of consummation. This stage is composed of the redemption (transfiguration) of our body, conformity to the Lord, glorification, inheritance of God’s kingdom, participation in Christ’s kingship, and the topmost enjoyment of the Lord. In this stage, God will redeem our fallen and corrupted body (Rom. 8:23) by transfiguring it into the body of Christ’s glory (Phil. 3:21). He will conform us to the glorious image of His firstborn Son (Rom. 8:29), making us wholly and absolutely like Him in our regenerated spirit, transformed soul, and transfigured body. He will glorify us (Rom. 8:30), immersing us in His glory (Heb. 2:10) that we may enter into His heavenly kingdom (2 Tim. 4:18; 2 Pet. 1:11), into which He has called us (1 Thes. 2:12). He will cause us to inherit His kingdom as the topmost portion of His blessing (James 2:5; Gal. 5:21), even to reign with Christ, to be His co-kings, participating in His kingship over the nations (2 Tim. 2:12; Rev. 20:4, 6; 2:26-27; 12:5), and sharing His royal, kingly joy in His divine government (Matt. 25:21, 23). Thus, our body will be freed from the slavery of corruption of the old creation into the freedom of the glory of God’s new creation (Rom. 8:21), and our soul will be delivered out of the realm of trials and sufferings (1 Pet. 1:6; 4:12; 3:14; 5:9) into a new realm, full of glory (1 Pet. 4:13; 5:10), sharing and enjoying all the Triune God is, has, and has accomplished, attained, and obtained. This is the salvation, the salvation of our souls, which is ready to be revealed to us at the last time, the grace to be brought to us at the unveiling of Christ in glory (1 Pet. 1:13; Matt. 16:27; 25:31). This is the end of our faith. The power of God is able to guard us unto this that we may obtain it (1 Pet. 1:9). We should eagerly expect such a marvelous salvation (Rom. 8:23) and prepare ourselves for its splendid revelation (Rom. 8:19).
At this point I would like to comment further on the Spirit’s sanctification. The sanctification of the Spirit is of two aspects: the sanctification of the Spirit before justification, the first aspect, and the sanctification of the Spirit after justification, the second aspect. With the second aspect of the Spirit’s sanctification there are two sides — the positional side and the dispositional side. After God justifies us and regenerates us, immediately the sanctifying Spirit continues His separating work upon us and within us. First, the sanctifying Spirit separates us positionally from things that are common and worldly. This positional sanctification is objective. Simultaneously, the sanctifying Spirit also begins to sanctify us dispositionally. This means that the Spirit is sanctifying our disposition. This is the subjective side of the sanctifying work of the Holy Spirit. The subjective sanctification is what we mean by the work of transformation. Subjective sanctification involves the transformation of our disposition and our inward parts. Therefore, this transformation of our disposition is the dispositional sanctification of the Spirit.
By now we should be clear concerning the two aspects of sanctification. The first aspect takes place before justification. The second aspect, with its two sides, takes place after justification. After we have been justified and regenerated, the Spirit works to sanctify us positionally and also dispositionally.
In 1 Pet. 1:5 Peter says that we are being guarded by the power of God through faith unto salvation, and this salvation is ready to be revealed at the last time. The last time refers to the time of the Lord’s coming (1:7). This last time does not denote a day or an hour. Rather, it signifies a period of time. At the end of this particular period of time, the Lord Jesus will come back.
God’s full salvation will be revealed to us, or brought to us, by the Lord’s coming back. That is the time this full salvation will become complete to us in experience. Even now this salvation is ready to be revealed.
In 1 Pet. 1:6 Peter goes on to say, “In which you exult, though for a little while at present, if it must be, you have been made sorrowful by various trials.” Some readers of the Bible may think that the antecedent of “which” in verse 6 is salvation. This understanding is not correct. The relative pronoun “which” does not refer to salvation; instead, it refers to the last time. This means that we exult in the last time. Whenever we consider the last time, we should exult, that is, we should become joyful and rejoice to the uttermost.
In verse 6 Peter not only speaks of exulting in the last time, but also speaks of being made sorrowful by various trials. These trials are sufferings which test the quality of someone or something.
The purpose of the book of 1 Peter is to establish and strengthen the suffering believers who have been chosen by God, sanctified by the Spirit from the world unto God, sprinkled by the redeeming blood of Christ, and regenerated by God the Father unto a living hope, unto an inheritance kept in the heavens for them (1 Pet. 1:1-4), yet are as pilgrims still sojourning on this earth (1 Pet. 1:1, 17; 2:11). In their sojourn, sufferings are unavoidable. They are used by God to test and prove their faith (1 Pet. 1:7), to see whether they will follow Christ in suffering for doing good (1 Pet. 2:19-23; 3:14-18). The sufferings are used to arm them with a mind against the flesh, that they might not live in the lusts of men, but in the will of God (1 Pet. 4:1-2), that they might share the sufferings of Christ and rejoice at the unveiling of His glory (1 Pet. 4:12-19), that they might be witnesses of the sufferings of Christ (1 Pet. 5:1), and that they might be perfected, established, strengthened, and grounded for the eternal glory into which God has called them (1 Pet. 5:8-10). This is wholly under God’s government that He might judge His chosen people (1:17), to begin His judgment from His own house (4:17). Hence, this book may also be considered a book concerning God’s government.
In verse 6 Peter inserts the phrase “if it must be.” Peter’s intention is to give the suffering saints a comforting word. Sometimes we need a certain trial, a trial that makes us sorrowful. When we are made sorrowful by a particular trial, we need to realize that such a trial is necessary. However, this trial is “for a little while at present.” The “last time” is coming. At that time God’s full salvation will be revealed to us. Therefore, we should exult in the last time.
