Series: 1 Peter
Sermon: “Salvation – Part 1”
1 Peter 1:1-12
A sermon for September 15, 2024
Pastor John Bright
1 Peter 1 “1 Peter, an apostle of Jesus Christ, to the pilgrims of the Dispersion in Pontus, Galatia, Cappadocia, Asia, and Bithynia, 2 elect according to the foreknowledge of God the Father, in sanctification of the Spirit, for obedience and sprinkling of the blood of Jesus Christ: Grace to you and peace be multiplied.
3 Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, who according to His abundant mercy has begotten us again to a living hope through the resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead, 4 to an inheritance incorruptible and undefiled and that does not fade away, reserved in heaven for you, 5 who are kept by the power of God through faith for salvation ready to be revealed in the last time.
6 In this you greatly rejoice, though now for a little while, if need be, you have been grieved by various trials, 7 that the genuineness of your faith, being much more precious than gold that perishes, though it is tested by fire, may be found to praise, honor, and glory at the revelation of Jesus Christ, 8 whom having not seen you love. Though now you do not see Him, yet believing, you rejoice with joy inexpressible and full of glory, 9 receiving the end of your faith—the salvation of your souls.
10 Of this salvation the prophets have inquired and searched carefully, who prophesied of the grace that would come to you, 11 searching what, or what manner of time, the Spirit of Christ who was in them was indicating when He testified beforehand the sufferings of Christ and the glories that would follow. 12 To them it was revealed that, not to themselves, but to us they were ministering the things which now have been reported to you through those who have preached the gospel to you by the Holy Spirit sent from heaven—things which angels desire to look into.”
When I start teaching a new book in Bible Study, I like to ask the “newspaper questions” – Who? What? When? Where? Why?
Who wrote 1 Peter? The Apostle Peter is named at the beginning of the letter. The author has seen the suffering of Jesus (2:21-24, 5:1) so that would fit with one of the original apostles. There are also many similarities between the speeches of Peter in the Book of Acts and the content in this letter.
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The Greeting & The Trinity v. 1-2
“1 Peter, an apostle of Jesus Christ, to the pilgrims of the Dispersion in Pontus, Galatia, Cappadocia, Asia, and Bithynia, 2 elect according to the foreknowledge of God the Father, in sanctification of the Spirit, for obedience and sprinkling of the blood of Jesus Christ: Grace to you and peace be multiplied.”
Peter begins this letter/epistle with a short greeting or salutation. It tells us that Peter is sending the letter and it is going to those Believers in the Early Church in they area they called Asia. Most of that area is in our modern-day country of Turkey. He refers to them both as “pilgrims” and “elect.” So, two points here – they were just like us in that:
1 – This world was not their home – they were just passing through on the way to being with Jesus when He comes back to call His children home. John 14:3 “And if I go and prepare a place for you, I will come again and receive you to Myself; that where I am, there you may be also.”
2 – They had been chosen by God to be the Children of God. Ephesians 1:3-5 “3 Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, who has blessed us with every spiritual blessing in the heavenly places in Christ, 4 just as He chose us in Him before the foundation of the world, that we should be holy and without blame before Him in love, 5 having predestined us to adoption as sons by Jesus Christ to Himself, according to the good pleasure of His will,”.
The rest of the opening is a picture of the Trinity. One of the criticisms of our Apostolic tradition is that we use a word that never appears in God’s Word – TRINITY. That word has been used as a shorthand way of referring to the Three Persons of the Trinity: the Father, the Son and the Holy Spirit. When Jesus is baptized by John, his cousin, we see all Three Persons of the Trinity in one place at one time – Matthew 3:16-17 “16 When He had been baptized, Jesus came up immediately from the water; and behold, the heavens were opened to Him, and He saw the Spirit of God descending like a dove and alighting upon Him. 17 And suddenly a voice came from heaven, saying, “This is My beloved Son, in whom I am well pleased.”
• First – they are chosen by God
• Second - they receive the Holy Spirit who leads them to holiness
• Third – they follow the example of Christ and are obedient to God – also essential to holiness
Peter greets them with a hope for there to be much peace and grace in the churches – can I get an amen? As those who were chosen by God, they could all be secure in His loving arms. That’s the place you will find the most peace and grace. Is that what you want?
The Faith We Need for Salvation v. 3-9
“3 Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, who according to His abundant mercy has begotten us again to a living hope through the resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead, 4 to an inheritance incorruptible and undefiled and that does not fade away, reserved in heaven for you, 5 who are kept by the power of God through faith for salvation ready to be revealed in the last time.
6 In this you greatly rejoice, though now for a little while, if need be, you have been grieved by various trials, 7 that the genuineness of your faith, being much more precious than gold that perishes, though it is tested by fire, may be found to praise, honor, and glory at the revelation of Jesus Christ, 8 whom having not seen you love. Though now you do not see Him, yet believing, you rejoice with joy inexpressible and full of glory, 9 receiving the end of your faith—the salvation of your souls.”
Here, Peter is laying the foundation for all the follows in this first letter. The Life of Holiness or Christian Ethics will occupy most of our time, but for now he continues with the topic of salvation. Salvation was at the center of all teaching in the Early Church. They were experiencing massive growth – not with flashy praise bands or grand old sanctuaries; not with VBS or any other program; not with tolerance for every sin of the flesh – they grew by proclaiming salvation as the MAIN THING! Are we doing that today?
So, what actually happens when the sinner is saved by grace?
YOU RECEIVE ABUNDANT MERCY v. 3
As I told you last week when we talked about grace (remember the story of the seminary exam?), you and I do not receive from God what we deserve as penalty for our sin. I often find that folks today would rather be excused by God than to be forgiven. That’s why they pile up excuses for their thoughts, words and deeds. In the mercy of God, there is room for excuses… only repentance. In the mercy of God, repentance that begins with “God you are right and I am wrong” is a sweet thing to be enjoyed. There is no shame or guilt in that kind of mercy!
Every human being is dependent upon that abundant mercy because “for all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God” Romans 3:23. Old saying – “all means all and that’s all all means.” We MUST rely on the abundant mercy of God because “the wages of sin is death” Romans 6:23a. Basically, in the Justice of God, all sin brings with it the death penalty – spiritual death, not physical. That spiritual death is living without God in this life and living in Hell for the next life.
SALVATION COMES WITH A BIG “BUT”
The rest of Romans 6:23 starts with a big “but” - I like to remind folks to ALWAYS pay attention to what comes after the word “but” when you are reading and studying God’s Word. Here’s the whole verse -
“For the wages of sin is death but the gift of God is eternal life in Christ Jesus our Lord.” Romans 6:23
Salvation is the gift of God to you and me and every human being that has lived since the shedding of Jesus’ blood on the cross of Calvary. Do all receive the gift? Do all open the gift? Of course not! Have you? Are you sure?
All these verses from Romans are referred to as the Romans Road to Salvation. To receive the gift of God’s salvation, you need to tell Him that you want it. “If you declare with your mouth, "Jesus is Lord," and believe in your heart that God raised him from the dead, you will be saved.” Romans 10:9 “for, "Everyone who calls on the name of the Lord will be saved.” Romans 10:13.
YOUR PART – REPENTANCE AND FAITH v. 5
The person who comes to accept the free gift of salvation needs to desire a new path through this life – Matthew 7:13-14 “13 “Enter by the narrow gate; for wide is the gate and broad is the way that leads to destruction, and there are many who go in by it. 14 Because narrow is the gate and difficult is the way which leads to life, and there are few who find it.” If there is no desire to change, you might have tried to receive the gift of salvation as a “GET OUT OF JAIL FREE” card. Some only want to escape the fires of hell so they repeat a prayer and go right back to living like they always did. Repentance grows out of that desire for the path ahead to be different from the path behind. Repentance is the turning around. Repentance is the realization that you are walking away from the light and the turning to draw closer and closer to the light of God’s Word – Psalm 119:105 “Your word is a lamp to my feet and a light to my path.”
If you have that desire to change leading to repentance, then all you need is faith - Ephesians 2:8-9 “8 For by grace you have been saved through faith, and that not of yourselves; it is the gift of God, 9 not of works, lest anyone should boast.”
The faith we need is given to us by God. I need to return to Romans one more time – Romans 12:3 “For I say, through the grace given to me, to everyone who is among you, not to think of himself more highly than he ought to think, but to think soberly, as God has dealt to each one a measure of faith.” Each believer is given a “measure” or a fixed amount of faith. I have talked to you about this before. I like to use the term growing faith rather than more faith.
One way that faith grows is mentioned here – 1 Peter 1:6-7 “6 In this you greatly rejoice, though now for a little while, if need be, you have been grieved by various trials, 7 that the genuineness of your faith, being much more precious than gold that perishes, though it is tested by fire, may be found to praise, honor, and glory at the revelation of Jesus Christ,”. When we face the valleys of life that come to every Believer. When things don’t turn out the way we wanted. When our fervent prayers are NOT answered the way we wanted. When we are on the outside looking in to a culture that rejects the Word of God as irrelevant to any discussion. We are not facing the kind of persecution that was seen in the Early Church, but there are plenty of places around the world where Believers are imprisoned and martyred for their faith in Jesus Christ.
Remember – your gift of faith is like gold. Gold is the most malleable of all metals. It can be beat into thin sheets. One ounce of gold could be beaten into a sheet that covers a 100 square feet area. If you let your faith get beat on, it can cover your life, your family, your church, your community. This kind of faith is not about believing – it’s more about trusting, especially when it comes to trusting that God’s Word is the truth and all of it applies to you and your situation. We see with the eyes of faith – putting our trust in the one that has given us all the gifts to be saved and keeps our gifts – “an inheritance incorruptible and undefiled and that does not fade away, reserved in heaven for you.” Amen
Homework:
• Look up all the Bible verses on your teaching sheet. Tell someone the story of your salvation.
• Warning – there is a pattern in the church today of “deconstructing” the Bible. They ask, over and over, “Did God say that?” That’s the same question satan uses in the Garden of Eden (Gen. 3:1). This “deconstruction” often leads to a crisis of faith and for some, a complete loss of faith. It is a dangerous pattern that need to be avoided by all Believers!
• Pray the scripture for September 22 – 1 Peter 1:1-12
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Teaching Sheet
September 15, 2024
Sermon Series: 1 Peter
1 Peter 1:1-12
“Salvation – Part One”
Who wrote 1 Peter? The Apostle Peter is named at the beginning of the letter. The author has seen the suffering of Jesus (2:21-24, 5:1) so that would fit with one of the original apostles. There are also many similarities between the speeches of Peter in the Book of Acts and the content in this letter.
The Greeting & The Trinity v. 1-2
Peter refers to them both as “pilgrims” and “elect.” So, two points here – they were just like us in that:
1 – This world was not their home John 14:3
2 – They had been chosen by God to be the Children of God. Ephesians 1:3-5
The rest of the opening is a picture of the Trinity. Matthew 3:16-17
• First – they are chosen by God
• Second - they receive the Holy Spirit who leads them to holiness
• Third – they follow the example of Christ and are obedient to God – also essential to holiness
As those who were chosen by God, they could all be secure in His loving arms. That’s the place you will find the most peace and grace. Is that what you want?
The Faith We Need for Salvation v. 3-9
The Early Church grew by proclaiming salvation as the MAIN THING! Are we doing that today?
So, what actually happens when the sinner is saved by grace?
YOU RECEIVE ABUNDANT MERCY v. 3
In the mercy of God, repentance that begins with “God you are right and I am wrong” is a sweet thing to be enjoyed. There is no shame or guilt in that kind of mercy!
Every human being is dependent upon that abundant mercy because “for all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God” Romans 3:23. We MUST rely on the abundant mercy of God because “the wages of sin is death” Romans 6:23a. Basically, in the Justice of God, all sin brings with it the death penalty – spiritual death, not physical. That spiritual death is living without God in this life and living in Hell for the next life.
SALVATION COMES WITH A BIG “BUT”
The rest of Romans 6:23 starts with a big “but” - I like to remind folks to ALWAYS pay attention to what comes after the word “but” when you are reading and studying God’s Word. Here’s the whole verse - “For the wages of sin is death but the gift of God is eternal life in Christ Jesus our Lord.” Romans 6:23
All these verses from Romans are referred to as the Romans Road to Salvation. To receive the gift of God’s salvation, you need to tell Him that you want it. “If you declare with your mouth, "Jesus is Lord," and believe in your heart that God raised him from the dead, you will be saved.” Romans 10:9 “for, "Everyone who calls on the name of the Lord will be saved.” Romans 10:13.
YOUR PART – REPENTANCE AND FAITH v. 5
Matthew 7:13-14 , Psalm 119:105, Ephesians 2:8-9
The faith we need is given to us by God. Romans 12:3 Each believer is given a “measure” or a fixed amount of faith. One way that faith grows is mentioned here – 1 Peter 1:6-7 Your gift of faith is like gold. Gold is the most malleable of all metals. It can be beat into thin sheets. If you let your faith get beat on, it can cover your life, your family, your church, your community. This kind of faith is not about believing – it’s more about trusting, especially when it comes to trusting that God’s Word is the truth and all of it applies to you and your situation.
Homework:
• Look up all the Bible verses on your teaching sheet. Tell someone the story of your salvation.
• Warning – there is a pattern in the church today of “deconstructing” the Bible. They ask, over and over, “Did God say that?” That’s the same question satan uses in the Garden of Eden (Gen. 3:1). This “deconstruction” often leads to a crisis of faith and for some, a complete loss of faith. It is a dangerous pattern that need to be avoided by all Believers!
• Pray the scripture for September 22 – 1 Peter 1:1-12
