Transcript

ANNOUNCER: In 1 Peter, what is the meaning of this phrase, the salvation of your soul? And how does Peter begin his book framing up the reader’s perspective? That’s what we will talk about today here on Grace in Focus. Welcome, friend. We’re glad you’re with us. This is a ministry of the Grace Evangelical Society. Our website, faithalone.org. Please be sure at the beginning of this year to subscribe to our magazine, Grace in Focus. We want you to have it actually for free. The only thing you need to pay is if your outside of the 48 contiguous United States is the postage. Get signed up for it. It’s a wonderful magazine. Lots of great articles. It’s a full-size magazine. Very well done. Get signed up today at faithalone.org. 

Now with today’s discussion, here’s Bob Wilkin with David Renfro. 

BOB: Well, David, we’re in our study of 1 Peter. We’re now in 1 Peter 1, starting in verses 3 through 12, which is basically, you call it the preface to the book? 

DAVID: It’s the preface to the book. It kind of sets the stage for all of the details that are in the main part of the book, which starts in verse 13 of chapter 1. 

BOB: Okay. And in verse 3, he talks about the fact that God, “according to His abundant mercy has begotten us again.” That refers to the new birth of John chapter 3, right

DAVID: Yeah. What he’s doing is these Christians are facing horrible suffering from the Romans and other people, and they need to have their perspective brought together. And so what Peter’s doing here in verses 3 through 5 is talking about the nature of their salvation. 

BOB: Okay. Now he talks about “begotten us again to a living hope through the resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead.” 

DAVID: And that gives a perspective too, because— 

BOB: It’s a living hope because our Savior is living, but hope here is not some uncertain future. It’s a certain future, but the timing of which is uncertain. 

DAVID: We hope it’s going to happen. We just hope it happens sooner rather than later.

BOB: Right. The rapture could well have occurred in the first century. And if it had, well, then they would have been caught up to meet the Lord in the air. It could well happen in our day, but we don’t know for sure. So it’s a living hope, and it’s to an inheritance. Now, this is interesting because this word inheritance is used in two ways in the New Testament. One way, it’s something that is true of all believers. I call this a passive inheritance, if you believe you’re an heir of God, Romans 8:17. But we’re “joint heirs with Christ, if indeed we suffer with Him,” and I call that active inheritance. And I think that’s what Peter’s talking about here, because the book of 1 Peter is all about suffering, right? And so the active inheritance means it’s “incorruptible and undefiled” and “does not fade away, reserved in heaven for you.” Notice “who are kept by the power of God through faith for salvation ready to be revealed in the last time.” 

I remember I spent a week with Josh McDowell when I was on staff with Campus Crusade for Christ. And I shared this verse with him, 1:4, and I shared it as an eternal security verse. And he said, “Yes, but did you read verse five? Verse five says were kept by the power of God through faith. It’s not through our initial faith that we’re kept.” 

DAVID: Oh, he thought it’s an ongoing faith. 

BOB: Yeah, I’m not sure if he was understanding this as a rewards passage or not. But the point is, it fits perfectly as an active inheritance that we will inherit if we persevere in the faith. 

DAVID: Right. And it’s completely separate from our getting to heaven. The inheritance will be enjoyed in heaven. The question is how much inheritance. And that’s what this is talking about. 

BOB: Yes, exactly. In fact, he says, “In this you greatly rejoice, though now for a little while, if need be, you have been grieved by various trials.” Well, there’s that subject, right? Right at the get go, he’s talking about trials. 

DAVID: Right. It’s interesting because starting in verse six, he’s talking not to the nature of our salvation, but now he’s talking about the joy of our salvation in spite of what verse six says. He’s says, yes, you’re going to go through trials, but compared to eternity, it’s just going to be a little while.  And that’s why he’s trying to change these folks’ perspective to thinking, oh, I’m going to suffer forever and ever. That’s not true. And that’s actually what Peter is concentrating on right now, to change their perspective about suffering. We’re going to be going through suffering in our day. I mean, there’s tons of anti-semitism, but I’m hearing in the news a lot of anti-Christianism, if you will. So Bible-believing Christians, we’re hated essentially by the world. This should not be shocking to anybody. 

BOB: No, that’s right. And notice, Peter talks about the genuineness of your faith. He says, “You have been grieved by various times, that the genuineness of your faith, being more precious than gold that perishes, though it is tested by fire.” The genuine faith “may be found to praise, honor, and glory at the coming,” or “the revelation of the Lord Jesus Christ.” 

It’s interesting that this expression, the genuineness of your faith, a lot of commentators are going to say, well, are you really born again or you’re not? That’s not the issue, Hodges suggests that what this is talking about is that which survives the fiery test. And so it’s like when you burn a metal, the dross goes away and you’re left was a pure metal. And he said, that’s true with our faith. He’s not talking about whether we’re born again or not. He’s talking about that part of our faith, which is lasting, which is persevering, which is enduring, which is rewardable. And so he’s saying, look, you go through trials. Those trials are testing you to determine ultimately what your future inheritance will be. 

ANNOUNCER: We will rejoin in just a moment. But years ago, Zane Hodges wrote the Gospel Under Siege. Sadly, this is still true. And GES president Bob Wilkin has recently written its sequel. Bob’s new book, The Gospel is Still Under Siege, is a book about theological clarity on the Biblical teaching about eternal salvation. It is available now. Secure yours today at the Grace Evangelical Society’s bookstore. Find it at faithalone.org/store. That’s faithalone.org/store. Now back to today’s content.

BOB: Those trials are testing you to determine ultimately what your future inheritance will be. 

DAVID: And it also, I think that the idea that it’s refining. When you go through hard times, there’s many, many times people’s faith are strengthened because they went through those trials. And that is refining one’s faith and not letting these concepts of the world pollute your faith. 

BOB: Now that’s exactly right. And notice verse eight, “Who having not seen, you love.” The Lord Jesus Christ is someone that not everyone in the first century saw, but if they’re believers, they love Him. We haven’t seen Him, but yet we love him. And we know Him and we look forward to Him. 

DAVID: And we believe in Him. Most people want proof. I want proof that I’m putting my hands on. Well, there’s tons of proof in the Bible as to Jesus’ deity, and all that.

BOB: Absolutely. In fact, I remember Norm Geisler, he did not like the line in the song, “You ask me how we know He lives, He lives within my heart.” He said, the Buddhists will tell you about the life transformation they’ve had. And the Mormons will tell you about their burning in the bosom, right? And he said, don’t tell me about your experience. He said, the line should say, you ask me how I know He lives, the Bible tells me so. Right? 

DAVID: He’s absolutely right. We have this book that is a testimony to who Jesus was and what He did for us. And that’s ample cause for belief. 

BOB: Yeah, absolutely. And notice he says, “Though now you do not see Him, yet believing you rejoice with joy inexpressible and full of glory, receiving the end of your faith, the salvation of your souls.” Now here, the end result of their ongoing faith is this salvation of souls. How do you understand that expression? 

DAVID: I think it has to do with, your soul is essentially what makes you, you, on this earth. 

BOB: Your inner self, more or less.

DAVID: Yeah. And I think that’s the idea of the salvation of the soul is a refinement of who you are in the face of this tribulation and these trials that the Lord is going to allow them to go through. And I think the fact that that happens allows them to increase their faith and their faith is on the basis of going through these trials. Their faith actually becomes more pure. And that allows essentially their quality of life here in the midst of trials to be better. 

BOB: Yeah. And it’s interesting that Hodges suggests, and I think he’s right, that if you compare this passage to, for example, Matthew chapter 16:24-28, Jesus talks about saving or losing your psuche. “He who desires to save his life, will lose it, he who loses his life for My sake, will find it.” That’s psuche. And it’s in a suffering context. And the same thing is found here. And so the point here and Hodges suggests that the end of your faith refers to the goal. In other words, the goal of our faith is that we would receive fullness of life and the life to come. 

Here’s what Hodges says, “This is the great lesson of first Peter as Christ won glory through suffering, so do we through our suffering. If we triumph in it as he did, we save our souls.” So that the salvation of the soul is this future inheritance of glory with Christ. Remember he said in Matthew 16:27, “For the Son of Man is coming in the glory of His Father with His angels and then He will recompense each according to his works.”

DAVID: Right. What I have written down here in my notes too is that the salvation of the soul, and this will sound real generic, the salvation of the soul is a thing received by virtue of a faith triumphant in suffering. And I think that’s the point, in fact, that’s the point of the whole book of first Peter, the outworking of the salvation of the psuche, in all the various roles we play in society in our lives, family, society, culture, blah, blah, blah. So how do we do that, especially when some of those environments or maybe all depending on how bad things are, are hostile. 

BOB: And what’s interesting versus 10 through 12, tell us that the Old Testament prophets looked into these things. They longed for this future inheritance. The idea that the Old Testament people didn’t know about eternal rewards is wrong, verses 10, 11 and 12, clearly bring it out. 

DAVID: Exactly. In the Old Testament, what Peter’s talking about here, in the Old Testament, they would call it the joy of our salvation. And I think that’s what verses 10 through 12 are talking about, is the joy of this salvation of the psuche. And remember, this is the preface to all this, how do you work out the salvation of the psuche in your life? 

BOB: And if you look at Hebrews 11, it talks about all these Old Testament saints who had great joy knowing that they were living in light of the coming kingdom, right? Moses forsook the treasures of Egypt because he was looking to the reward. Abraham was looking to the New Jerusalem, and so forth. All of the Old Testament saints were looking to be rewarded and to have glory with Messiah in the life to come. 

DAVID: Right. In the future times, they will participate in that joy. 

BOB: That’s great. Well, thank you, David. And thank you all. We’ll continue into the body of the letter, chapter 1 and verse 13 in the next episode. And in the meantime, let’s keep grace in focus. 

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