GES conducted its annual conference May 20-23. The theme was 1 and 2 Peter. The main sessions all dealt with a passage in one of those two NT books. In order to give those who were not able to attend a taste of what happens at these conferences, I’ll briefly summarize, in three different blogs, what three of the speakers said. I hope these blogs will give a glimpse of the importance of 1 and 2 Peter and will perhaps lead some to attend the conference next year if the Lord delays His coming. All these messages can be found at GES’ website, faithalone.org.
One of the main sessions, given by Bob Bryant, was entitled “An Overview of 1 Peter.” As the title indicates, Bob wanted to give those in attendance a bird’s-eye view of the book. Bob pointed out that when Peter wrote this epistle, he stated up front what his purpose was. In 1 Pet 1:6-9, Peter says he wants his readers to experience the salvation of their souls. Bob convincingly argued that the word for soul often means one’s life, including his life’s works. If a believer lives a godly life in the midst of the sufferings he encounters in life, he will save his life from damage now and from the loss of reward in the world to come. Since Peter was writing to believers, the salvation of the soul does not refer to salvation from the lake of fire. They already had that! Peter had no need to tell his readers how to be eternally saved. Instead, he talks to them about rewards in this present world and in the kingdom.
The whole book of 1 Peter, then, deals with how Christians should live. Everything that Peter discusses in the five chapters is an exposition of how believers can “save their souls.” In other words, the whole book expands on Peter’s initial declaration of his purpose in the first few verses of the book.
Bob then listed the sixteen ways Peter tells Christians they can save their lives from damage now and avoid the loss of rewards in the world to come. These sixteen ways form an outline of the book. Bob gave a one-page handout of these sixteen ways. It was a great way to see how 1 Peter unfolds and how we as Christians can live lives that are pleasing to God now and that will be praised by the Lord when we stand before Him at the Judgment Seat of Christ.
I won’t list all sixteen points that Bob made but will briefly mention a few. In 1 Pet 1:22–2:10, Peter encourages his readers to love one another. This is not surprising. The Lord commanded His disciples to love each other as He had loved them. If we want to live a life of which the Lord approves, we must love fellow believers.
In 2:11-12, Peter exhorts believers to abstain from fleshly lusts. These lusts war against the soul of the Christian. If we want to save our lives/souls so that we are rewarded by the King, we must flee these lusts and live godly lives.
In 4:7-11, Peter commands his readers to serve one another. Each believer has been given a spiritual gift. If we love our fellow believers (1:22–2:10), we will use that gift to build them up in the faith. This service glorifies God and will be honored by the Lord when He comes.
I hope this gives you an idea of Bob’s presentation. I would encourage anybody who didn’t hear it to listen to it on GES’ website. You will see the book of 1 Peter laid out in a way that’s easy to understand. If you teach a Sunday school class, perhaps you could do a study on 1 Peter using this outline. You could do a sixteen-week study on the sixteen points.
The conference was a great time to learn the Word of God and have fellowship with Free Grace believers. Check out what all the speakers said. It will be worth the effort.
