Lesson 1

The Greatness Of Our Salvation

I Peter 1:1-6a

As familiar as we may be with the life of the Apostle Peter, strangely, we are not nearly so knowledgeable of Peter's epistles.

Let's open our Bible's to I Peter 1 and read verses 1-6a.

The Author is "Peter, an apostle of Jesus Christ" - Peter, the leader and loudmouth of the group of 12 apostles, Peter, who asked Jesus more questions than any of the others. Peter, who fell so flatly -denying Jesus three times - who spoke so boldly - proclaiming the gospel on the Day of Pentecost. Peter, an apostle of Jesus Christ.

The Audience is identified as "strangers" - the word means foreigners or aliens. If you have ever been a foreigner, or if you have ever observed foreigners, you know about this strangeness. Culturally, ethnically, linguistically, you just don't fit in. Peter addresses his letter to Christians dispossessed by society. That's the way it is to be a Christian on the earth. We are strangers. This world is not our home. We just don't fit in here.

Peter further identifies them as "scattered" - the Greek word is "diaspora" which refers to those who, because of persecution, were forced from their native homeland and dispersed into other countries of the world. The Jews know about this. From 70 A.D. to 1948 they were a scattered people - without a homeland of their own. In Peter's day, Jewish Christians faced a double whammy. They were hated by Gentiles because they were Jews and hated by Jews because they were Christians. Thus were they scattered. They went to "Pontus, Galatia, Cappadocia, Asia, and Bithynia" - Provinces of the Roman Empire which today, would be part of the country of Turkey. This letter was intended by Peter to be circulated among a number of churches. (In the province of Asia alone, there were at least 8 churches - the seven churches of Asia spoken of in Revelation 2-3 + the church at Colossae).

Peter's opening words make a profound theological plunge. The subject of these first 5 verses is wrapped up in one word in verse 5 - "salvation". What a subject! Nothing is more important than knowledge and understanding of salvation. We often use the word "saved" but so many people have no concept of what that word means. Some people say that you cannot know fully about salvation until you die and stand before God. But it will be too late then to be learning about salvation.

Salvation is an essential subject. And it has so many aspects to it. It is like a diamond which refracts light differently with each tiny turn and view. You look at the subject of salvation and you see some wonderful and beautiful aspect of it. And you say, "Wow! Isn't that incredible." Then you turn the subject of salvation and view it from another angle and you see something entirely unique and different, but every bit as incredible.

In his opening words, Peter speaks about several aspects of our great salvation, just using a word here and another one there and a different idea again here, to just give us a glimpse of the wonder and beauty of our salvation. He uses some words that surprise us, and others that stir us with a sense of love and longing. His intention, here, is to encourage those lives are painful and difficult. He wants to lift our chin and the focus of eyes from the rough road over which we travel sometimes stumbling and often stubbing our toes. He wants us to see the glory of what is in store for us.

I want you to notice with me, seven aspects of our great salvation.

Fact #1 - Your Salvation Began With God

v. 2 - "elect according to the foreknowledge of God"

Now, there is a word that surprises us. We must tread carefully here. Some would say, "I don't believe in election and pre-destination". But those are Bible words. Peter says here that we are the "elect according to the foreknowledge of God". To the Romans, Paul wrote, "For whom he did foreknow, he also did predestinate to be conformed to the image of his Son" (Romans 8:30). Those are Bible words. They are biblical concepts. Don't be afraid of them. They do not threaten our theology.

The doctrine of election teaches us very simply that salvation began with God. Salvation did not begin with man choosing God, it began with God choosing to save man. For you see, it is "by grace that we saved through faith and that not of ourselves, it is the gift of God .. not of works lest any man should boast" (Ephesians 2:8-9). We cannot glory in our own salvation - that somehow we made ourselves savable, that somehow we figured it all out, that we discovered how to be saved. No. It all began with God. God chose to save.

The doctrine of election makes sure that God gets the glory in our salvation. And when Peter uses that word here, he is reminding his readers that though they have been rejected by society but they have been chosen by God; they may be dispossessed by society but they are the object of God's choosing. You and I are saved because God chose to saved us, because He took the initiative so that we could be saved. It isn't saying that we don't have a choice, that we have no responsibility, that we are some kind of pre-programmed robots, but simply that salvation is of the Lord. Think of it, the God of the universe chose to have a personal relationship with you and me. Even though we had sinned and fallen short of His glory, He made sure there was a way for us to be delivered from that sin, rescued and restored to a full relationship with Him. That is a great God.

The Bible speaks here of His foreknowledge. All of our knowledge is after knowledge. We do not know the future. We may have a suspicion or a hunch about something that is going to happen. We may have enough understanding of human nature to successfully predict something that is going to happen. But if we are ever right about the future, it's just an educated guess. We do not have the attribute of foreknowledge. Only God knows the end from the beginning. Isaiah 46:9-10 - "For I am God, and there is none else; I am God, and there is none like me, Declaring the end from the beginning, and from ancient times the things that are not yet done, saying, My counsel shall stand, and I will do all my pleasure." Just as Jesus knew before it ever happened that Judas was the betrayer, God knows before it ever happens who will be saved. It is testimony to His omniscience. He is an all-knowing, all-seeing God, all-wise God, never surprised, never caught off guard.

Fact #2 - Your Salvation Involved The Holy Spirit

v. 2 - "through sanctification of the Spirit"

Remember that Jesus taught that for anyone to come to Him their had to be a drawing from God, John 6:44. It is the Holy Spirit who draws men to salvation. It is the Holy Spirit who convicts us of our sin and need of salvation, who illuminates our mind with understanding as the gospel is preached so that we understand the significance of what Jesus did. The work of regeneration is the work of the Spirit and the work of sanctification - changing our lives.

If you are saved, it isn't because you are so smart that you saw a good deal when it was being offered. It is that the Spirit of God and the Word of God came together in your heart and result of these two was a Spiritual birth. You were born of the Spirit (John 3:5-6) and you were born of the Word (I Peter 1:23). Just as the male sperm and the female ovum must come together for conception to take place and the physical you to be born, so the Spirit and the Word must come together in your heart for the spiritual you to be born again.

Fact #3 - Your Salvation Required The Death And Resurrection Of jesus Christ

v. 2 - "the blood of Jesus Christ"

v. 3 - "the resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead"

It isn't that God just overlooked your sin. He cannot overlook sin. He is absolutely holy and just, meaning that God must punish sin. And the punishment of sin, from the beginning of time has always been one way - death. God told Adam and Eve in the garden - "You disobey, you die." "The soul that sins shall surely die" (Ezekiel 18:20). "The wages of sin is death" (Romans 6:23). We find it difficult to conceive absolute holiness. We convince ourselves that God overlooks sin by just letting it slide, just overlooking some of it. God may punish those whose sins are particularly heinous - the mass murderers, the child molesters. But God can overlook ordinary everyday sin - a little lie, a occasional lust. But absolute holiness and absolute justice demands that all sin be punished with death. So how can God satisfy His justice by punishing my sins and at the same time satisfy His mercy by forgiving my sins? A judge when sentencing a convicted criminal must be either just or merciful. How can God be both at the same time with regard to our sins?

The answer is wrapped up in the person and work of Jesus Christ. God punished our sin in Christ. "The Lord laid upon Him the iniquity of us all" (Isaiah 53). Jesus, the sinless Son of God, was taking the punishment of my sin when He died on the cross. And then, to show His victory over sin and death, He arose from the dead. This was absolutely necessary for me and you to be saved.

Fact #4 - Your Salvation Came Through Faith

v. 5 - "through faith"

It is not by doing good deeds like feeding the hungry or helping the hurting that we are saved. It is not by going through religious rituals like baptism or communion that we are saved. It not be living morally that we are saved. It is "by grace through faith" (Ephesians 2:8). It is our responsibility simply to believe, to trust in what Jesus did on the cross as the only means of salvation. If I were to die today and stand before God and He were to ask me, "Why should I let you into heaven?" it would be incorrect for me to say, "I was baptized at age 9" or "I've always been a good guy and my good deeds outweigh my sins." There is only one correct answer, "I don't deserve heaven, but I am trusted in what Jesus did when He died on the cross as my only hope of heaven. My faith is in Christ alone."

Fact #5 - Your Salvation Results In Obedience

v. 2. "unto obedience"

Salvation transforms your life. You are a "new creature in Christ Jesus" (II Corinthians 5:17). Consequently, one fruit of your salvation will be a general pattern of obedience. That does not mean that your obedience will be perfect. There is no sinless perfection in this life so long as we struggle against the flesh, the devil and the world. But you are saved unto obedience, see 1 John 2:3-4.

Fact #6 - Your Salvation Reserves A Home For You In Heaven, v. 4.

You may be regarded in this world as a "stranger", a foreigner, an alien. But the truth is there is a home reserved and guaranteed for you in heaven. Your eternal inheritance is described here as "incorruptible (meaning it does not decay), undefiled" (it is unsoiled and pure) and "unfading" (there is no sin there). Heaven is not a hope so, think so, maybe so possibility. It is your inheritance, reserved just for you.

Fact #7 - You Are "Kept" Saved By The Power Of God, v. 5.

We do not save ourselves by works and we do not keep ourselves saved by works. The power that keeps us saved is "the power of God'. Our salvation, then, is eternal. As Jesus himself promised, "I give unto them eternal life and they shall never perish, neither shall any man pluck them out of my hand" (John 10:28). Salvation is not that I hold on to God. If it were up to me to hold on to Him, my grip would probably grow weak or I might choose to let go. But I am not holding on to God. He is holding on to me! And He promises to never let go. He says that nothing will separate us, Romans 8. He is powerful enough to keep His promise.

Lift up your chin, weary pilgrim. The road immediately before you may be rough and wearisome. You may be seeing all the dangers and difficulties. Look up. Get a glimpse of your salvation.

It began with God. He took the initiative. It involved the Holy Spirit. It required the death and resurrection of Jesus Christ. It came through faith. It resulted in obedience. It guarantees you heaven. And it isn't up to you to keep it.

What a great salvation. Perhaps you've experienced it and want to thank God for it today. It is something about which we "greatly rejoice." Or perhaps you need to experience it. It is something which we invite you to do today.