1 Pet 1:1–12 The Effects of Salvation in the Past, Present, and Future

Is America the New Jerusalem or the New Babylon? Christians are divided on this question. Some believe that America is a special place that God has blessed particularly. They believe America is a Christian nation and America is like Israel in the OT. One of the ways this view manifests itself is when Christians quote verses about Israel and apply them to America (e.g., 2 Chr 7:14 “if my people who are called by my name humble themselves, and pray and seek my face and turn from their wicked ways, then I will hear from heaven and will forgive their sin and heal their land.”) As progressive policies are instated, laws like legalizing abortion, gay marriage, removing prayer from schools, and the 10 Commandments from public buildings, many fear that if they do not elect the right people to office to take America back for God, we may become like Babylon. Here’s another perspective. If you were black living during the time of slavery or the Jim Crow South, America would have felt more like Egypt than the Promised Land. Today, younger generations of Christians have yet another perspective. They grant that the American constitution offers great freedoms of religion, but they also see that with slavery, Jim Crow, and ongoing injustices, America has always fallen well short of a nation that is pleasing to God. The Bible teaches that the only New Israel is God’s Church in every country that seeks to imitate Christ’s self-giving love to people around them. 1 Peter teaches us how to understand the relationship between the church and the country we live in. Peter writes his letter from Rome, which he calls Babylon in 1 Pet 5:13. Even though he writes mainly to gentiles (1 Pet 1:14, 18, 4:3–4), he refers to the gentile church the same way the OT describes Israel, as a royal priesthood and a holy nation (1 Pet 2:9). There is room for disagreement concerning the extent America as a nation is pleasing to God, but to apply 1 Peter, we must believe that our country is not our home. Christians are God’s chosen people who live in exile in a foreign land. Heaven is our home. We live here as exiles. God keeps us here to be a light to the unbelieving world. We are called to be a light, by proclaiming the greatest news of all, that God has provided a way for the forgiveness of sins through his Son Jesus. When we are not proclaiming this message, the way we live shows the power of the gospel to change lives! This is what 1 Peter is all about. The more we love our country, the less 1 Peter will make sense. The more we are grounded in Christ and want to do his will the more we will treasure this letter.

1 Peter covers the following themes, salvation, predestination, the church, the Christian life as submission out of reverence for Christ, persecution, suffering, and the end times. Peter begins with salvation. Peter reminds us of our identity in Christ through our salvation. Whatever we go through, we know that we are going to be okay. What Christ did on our behalf on the cross, means that all of our earthly troubles are of temporary significance. Our eternity in God’s presence for the full enjoyment of his glory has been secured. Peter wants us to contemplate our salvation. SIOS: God saved us in the past, to live a life of joy in the present, as we hope in a fuller experience of his salvation in the future. All of this is true even when we endure suffering. Outline: I will talk of salvation, in the past, the present, and the future.

First, I want to highlight three past aspects of our salvation. (A) In order to impress on his readers a sense of the preciousness of their salvation, Peter wants them to know that the salvation they experience was not always available. 1 Pet 1:10–12 teaches that the prophets anticipated salvation in Christ, and angels longed for that time. This means that we live in an amazing time. We live on the other side of Jesus’ death, burial, and resurrection. We have greater knowledge about Christ than the OT prophets! (B) A second past aspect of our salvation is that we are called to live in light of the past events of Christ’s death, burial, and resurrection. 1 Pet 1:3 we were “caused … to be born again to a living hope through the resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead.” Our hope in the present and future is built on the past events of Jesus’ death and resurrection. Without those past events, there is no church, no Christian faith, no salvation, no hope in life after death. (C) The third past aspect of salvation is God’s role in our salvation before we were born-again. In 1 Pet 1:1, Christians are called, “elect.” This means someone else chose us. 1 Pet 1:2 teaches we were chosen according to the foreknowledge of God the Father. When we hear the word “foreknowledge,” we can assume that God just knew something without necessarily making it happen. However, 1 Pet 1:20 says Jesus was “foreknown.” This means “foreknowledge” is more than God knowing what someone will willingly do in the future. It involves God’s initiative. Our passage contains a third “predestination” phrase which is that God “caused us to be born-again.” We cannot deny predestination. Our passage teaches God chose us, foreknew us, and caused us to be born-again (1 Pet 1:3). Does this mean we are robots? No. The relationship between our free-will and God’s sovereignty is a mystery. If someone asks, “what must I do to be saved?” We don’t answer, “nothing, either God chose you or he didn’t.” We respond like Peter in Acts 2:39: “Repent, and be Baptized!” Because God is sovereign and he works sovereignly as we invite people to trust in Christ for the forgiveness of sin.

Appl.: Here are three applications of predestination and election. First is awe. We ought to praise God for the kindness he has shown us, knowing he did not have to choose anyone. A second application of election is humility. He did not save us because of anything good in us. So, we need to be humble around non-believers. We are not better than them in any way. We are not saved because we chose to believe and they made bad life decisions. We are saved because God saved us. Third, we can have confidence when we share our faith that those God chose will respond to the message and be saved.

Second, our passage teaches that there are present implications of our salvation. Salvation changes who we are, what we do, what we worship and how we feel.

A) Because of our salvation we have a new identity. 1 Pet 1:2 says we are chosen in the “sanctification of the Spirit.” This means that as saved people we are being made holy. We are set apart for God’s purposes. We cannot look like the world.

B) Our new identity leads to acting differently than the world. Being holy, set apart, sanctified means Christians must always respond in light of God’s response to us on the cross. Christians do not seek revenge because God did not seek revenge on us. He was merciful, so we are merciful. 1 Pet 1:2 says we were saved to obey Christ and for the sprinkling with his blood. The sprinkling with blood is covenant imagery. In Exod 24:7–8, Moses read the covenant in the presence of the people. The people responded: “all the Lord says we will do.” In response, Moses sprinkles the people with blood. Being sprinkled with blood in the covenant context means people are going to obey the covenant. If we have been sprinkled by the blood of Christ, if we delight in being saved, we must remember that God saved us to obey his will. We are saved for obedience. An important part of God’s will in our lives is that we would be involved in the Great Commission. We are all called to learn the Bible to teach others. We must be able to share the gospel and defend our faith. Once the pandemic is over, make a point to be hospitable to foster gospel conversations. Support the church, support missions. Be a person who intentionally works on growing your relationship with God through the spiritual disciplines.

C) A third way our salvation affects the present is God becomes the object of our affections. We want to praise God. When God asked Pharaoh to let his people go, in the book of Exodus, the purpose was that Israel would be an assembly of people that worships God. In 1 Pet 1:3, Peter writes “Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ! According to his great mercy, he has caused us to be born again …” We were saved to praise the Lord!

D) The fourth effect of salvation in the present is on our feelings. 1 Pet 1:8 contains a beautiful description of what it means to be a Christian, “Though you have not seen him, you love him. Though you do not now see him, you believe in him and rejoice with joy that is inexpressible and filled with glory.” Does your faith, or thinking about Jesus stir up joy in you that you cannot explain? That’s being a Christian. This does not mean you are always over the moon happy. But it means we cannot always feel miserable if we are Christians! Our faith causes us to rejoice because Joy is one of the fruit of the Spirit who lives in us. Another feeling that we have is hope. Peter’s readers were “grieved by various trials” so it is not that they are told to be overwhelmed with joy because everything in their lives is easy. Christians can be hopeful despite our hardships. We have a living hope since the one we hope in is alive! Jesus was raised from the dead, and so we have hope in the future. We have a confident expectation that though we may die, we will live. Though we have financial or health difficulties, Jesus will make all things right one day. We are a hopeful people!

Appl. 1 Pet 1:1–12 is so dense in great theology and applications for the Christian life. I want to give one example of what it looks like to live like a Christian, today. Osama Bin Laden was the terrorist mastermind behind the 9/11 attacks. He was killed on May 2, 2011. From a divine and human standpoint, the man deserved to die for his crimes. However, I remember seeing people on TV celebrating his death. Is that the Christian response? Do we celebrate the death of our enemies? Christians were acting like the rest of America, celebrating. What does it look like to be different, to be defined by Christ’s mercy and grace toward us? Ezek 33:11 reads, “As I live, declared the Lord God, I have no pleasure in the death of the wicked, but that the wicked turn from his way and live.” I was shocked that followers of the one who told us to love our enemy could rejoice so quickly at the death of an enemy. Looking at the world with our gospel lenses, we remember that we were God’s enemy. Rather than delighting in our death that our sins deserve, he gave us life!

Third, our passage discusses the future aspects of salvation. 1 Pet 1:4 says we have an “inheritance that is imperishable kept in heaven.” 1 Pet 1:5 says “Salvation is ready to be revealed.” So, we await the future “salvation of our souls.” To understand the past, present, and future aspects of our salvation, we must remember the concept called “the already-and- not-yet.” It means that until Christ returns, we will not yet experience the fullest expression of our salvation. We have already been pronounced “not guilty” on the future judgment day, but we still long for the day when judgment day comes and our “not guilty” verdict is formalized, while the wicked are condemned. We are already born-again, the Spirit guides us, renews our minds, and softens our hearts so that we desire to do the will of God. But what we experience now is just a down payment of our salvation. At the return of Christ, we will be pronounced “not guilty” in judgment. We will receive new bodies so that we will no longer be able to sin. We will see Jesus, face to face, and know him fully.

Conclusion: We have seen in 1 Pet 1:1–12 that the first topic in Peter’s letter to different churches living in hard times is salvation. Peter discusses the past, present, and future aspects of salvation. Salvation shapes our identity, what we do, and how we feel. We cannot promise that when people trust in Jesus they will have an easy life since Peter’s readers knew much suffering, and we will see that the theme of suffering is found throughout the letter. However, the praise and joy in this passage really must challenge those of us who are so overwhelmed by our circumstances that we do not find time to reflect on what we do have in Christ, that it would lead us to praise God for who he is and his salvation.