Salvation” (Part One)

STUDY: #970-CHURCH IN THE HOUSES FROM: MARCH 6 @ 12, 2018

TOPIC: “Salvation” (Part One) 1 Peter 1:3-12 1 Peter 1:3 “Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ! According to his great mercy, HE HAS CAUSED US TO BE BORN AGAIN to a living hope through the resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead...” With this, the idea of rebirth is clear. In essence, Christianity is that: a person being born again, begotten AGAIN by God, to live a new life. That is salvation! In Christianity when we are born, there is such a radical change in our lives that the only way that it can be described is by saying that life has completely started for us AGAIN. Much like the physical birth, the rebirth is not something that the person does. (John 1:12-13, “But to all who did receive him, who believed in his name, he gave the right to BECOME CHILDREN of God, who were BORN, not of blood nor of the will of the flesh, nor of the will of man, but of God.”) Our new birth is the work of the Holy Spirit. (John 3:5-6, “Jesus answered, ‘Truly, truly, I say to you, unless one is born of water and the Spirit, he cannot enter the kingdom of God. That which is born of the flesh is flesh, and that which is born of the Spirit is spirit.’”) This new birth happens to the person not because of his/her own strength, but when he/she surrenders to the Holy Spirit. The Holy Spirit takes possession and builds (does again) on the inside. The person is reborn for a living hope, here on earth! Those of us who believe in Christ, for a new life, are introduced to integrity and love in the victory that the Savior gives us! 1 Peter 1:4, “… to an inheritance that is imperishable, undefiled, and unfading, kept in heaven for you …” God gives us salvation. He gives us an incorruptible inheritance! God gave the people of Israel the Promised Land. He gave them Canaan. But the Lord Jesus Christ gives those who believe in Him a more secure possession. Our Christian heritage is something even greater than Canaan because it is INCORRUPTIBLE. It is indestructible. Unlike Canaan, invading armies can do nothing to it. No one can destroy it! Because of this, there is peace and joy in our lives. Our inheritance is also UNCONTAMINATED from any unholy impurity. There is a purity in our inheritance that cannot be infected by the world’s sin. It is UNFADING. This means that a Christian is elevated to a new world that does not change. We have been given a new world of salvation that does not expire, and in which His peace and joy are beyond the reach of things like luck, processes, and life’s phenomena. Such is the inheritance that is reserved for us in heaven! A Christian’s inheritance is God Himself. (Psalm 16:5, “The Lord is my chosen portion…”) You are God’s possession. And God is the possession of Christianity which has an incorruptible, uncontaminated, and unfading inheritance. 1 Peter 1:5, "... who by God’s power are being guarded through faith FOR A SALVATION READY TO BE REVEALED IN THE LAST TIME..." During our journey through this world, towards eternity, WE ARE PROTECTED by the power of God through faith. Our life is garrisoned (protected as by a military force). Peter means that God is on guard, and that He is the sentinel that keeps us all of our days. He who has faith in Christ does not doubt, although now we cannot see Him. The person knows and believes that God is present in the shadows, guarding over his/her loved ones. God doesn’t free us from life’s problems and pains, but He enables us to conquer them and move forward. The final salvation will be revealed at the end, in the last time! Now we are freed from danger, sickness and condemnation. He gives us freedom from the power of sin! Therefore, THE SALVATION that God gives us is a reality that has many aspects: an escape from danger, sickness, condemnation and sin. BLESSED SALVATION! A Christian expects this and nothing less for the end. That salvation cannot be ruined. But is it possible for me to lose myself? No! We are guarded by the power of God. There is nothing and no one who can resist or oppose the power of God. Nothing and no one can ruin this design (purpose) of God. Through faith we are allowed to overcome the snares of the devil. It’s as if we were locked in a fortress, not as slaves, but protected from all evil. Our inheritance is ready! It is ready, and about to be enjoyed!

1 Peter 1:6, "In this you rejoice, THOUGH NOW FOR A LITTLE WHILE, if necessary, you have been grieved by various trials..." Grieved by various trials! Then the storm is unleashed, and life here on earth becomes an agony in the midst of the battle of faith. In the previous verses, I spoke of the hope of salvation. Our salvation is such an extraordinary good that it deserves for us to go through and support the trials of this life. Tests are what refine the carats of our faith, whose great value is shown by enduring everything for the joy that awaits us. During the time that Peter wrote, the brothers apparently suffered a persecution. The agony of the tests came to the brothers. But there were great reasons for those brothers to resist anything that came over them! Like us, now that we have believed like them! We have the same promises they did! The same inheritance in the heavens! We can resist everything because of what we expect, because we have a magnificent inheritance. No one can destroy it. Impurity cannot come to it. An inheritance full of peace and joy, which is beyond the reach of luck and life’s phenomena! There is nothing greater than our inheritance, that which is life with God! Do not fear, when things come to the worst, when everything reaches its limit, this is when Christ’s saving power will unfold to free us! Amen.