The hope of our salvation

Alright, so Roger introduced the book last week to us and dealt with the first two verses and we'll begin today by reading the first five verses. So we'll be covering three through five in more detail today. So let's look at the first five verses of the First Epistle of Peter. So Peter, an apostle of Jesus Christ, is a stranger scattered throughout Pontus, Galatia, Cappadocia, Asia, and Bithynia.

Elect according to the foreknowledge of God the Father, through sanctification of the Spirit, unto obedience and strength unto the blood of Jesus Christ. Grace unto you, and peace be multiplied. Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, which according to his abundant mercy hath forgotten us again unto a living hope by the resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead. to an inheritance incorruptible and undefiled, and that faith, not away, preserved in heaven for you, who are kept by the power of God through faith unto salvation, ready to be revealed in the last time. All right. So this class is very open-ended. Feel free to interrupt, and we'll deal with issues and questions as they come up.

So let's begin to kind of think about First Peter and how it's divided. And ultimately I think from the first verse and the first chapter through the tenth verse of the second chapter, we're talking about salvation. And that Roger dealt with sanctification some last week as it related to salvation, but the theme here in this section of First Peter is on salvation.

So here's verse three. 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. How many verses can you think of in scripture that have all three verses of the Godhead in them? Anybody think of any other verses? Implied in many verses.

Genesis 1, 1. I'm sorry? In Genesis, first chapter or second chapter, whenever it says, let us make man. In our own image? That's implied there, but Jesus Christ is not mentioned in Genesis chapter 1. So anyway, I think that's kind of an uplifting aspect of the first part of this first chapter in 1 Peter 1. Beginning here and continuing through verse 5 is a statement of our inheritance.

And God, Theos, and the father, Pater, of our Lord Jesus Christ is central here. So the focus is on God the father. And it's kind of interesting. in terms of Peter, where he's come from historically now to come to the point of really putting God the Father central to his theme. I mean, when we think of God the Father, I think of Paul mostly.

So when Peter brings this up, I think it relates to the unity of the new faith that's been founded in the apostolic age. Why is blessed used here to describe God the Father? Aren't you puzzled? Blessed be the God the Father? We're blessed, aren't we? Blessed with all spiritual blessings in heavenly places, Ephesians 1, 3. Blessed be God the Father. He doesn't need to be blessed, does he?

Yes, Jo? Was that a question or are you just scratching your ear there? No, I'm just... The use of the term eulogagos or eulogatos in the Greek is used in the sense that Peter eulogizes or speaks well of God, making him praiseworthy. And just parenthetically, this is used exclusively for the short term of God the Father.

You can turn to 2 Corinthians 1.3 if you want, but it basically is used for God himself.

There's another term, blessed, that ultimately is used for the believer, and that's what's used for Ephesians 1.3. I think that's what's really cool here. This particular word is reserved for God himself, for the Godhead. It doesn't refer to believers. It's for the Godhead only.

That's pretty significant. It is, because we read in English the same term. I know. But in the Greek, the meaning is somewhat different. And so this means that God the Father is ultimately praiseworthy under all circumstances and for all time. It's a unique word used just for God the Father. Notice the ownership here expressed by Peter.

Our. Our. writing this book to probably the land around him, mostly people feel it's written to Jews predominantly, but you know, Scripture's there for us too, and God the Father is our Father, the Father of our Lord Jesus Christ. It's not just the Lord Jesus Christ as being the second person to Godhead, It's God the Father of our Lord Jesus Christ. I think there's some ownership here that we can't ignore.

According to is abundant mercy. According to is a strong word meaning to impel. This is forceful. According to is meaning this is the way it is. It's a very, very strong term. The fact that it's according to his abundant mercy means the abundant mercy is substantial and really being impressed upon us as a necessary part of our living faith.

So let's define mercy and contrast mercy with grace. Don't look at your handout. That's a problem. What's mercy? Define mercy. Undeserved favor. Good, Jack. Basically, I put it as, if mercy is not receiving what we deserve, i.e. sinners before God, right? We deserve nothing. Our righteousness in our flesh is like filthy rags. I mean, we're totally undeserving, so the just punishment is for all of us to be cast to hell. But mercy is God not giving us what we deserve, and that is born as sinners, living as sinners, and ultimately saved by grace.

Ephesians 2, 4, and 5, I'm just giving a few verses to kind of exemplify this. But God, who is rich in mercy, because of his great love with which he loved us, even when we were dead in trespasses and sins in some versions, made us alive together with Christ, and by grace you have been saved. diversity of grace shows up too. So these two, for the believer, can't be separated.

I mean, God's mercy without grace leaves us kind of infinite in terms of the ability to live the Christian life. So grace. Grace is a term that we have a class here, a Sunday school option for you in the past or in the future that's a whole year on grace. So to take 30 seconds here this morning to define it is really an impossibility. but grace is really undeserved favor. So mercy is sparing us just due, whereas grace is giving us much more than we actually, even after mercy, grace is another principle, another level of God's nature of private believer. This is entirely related to the Lord Jesus Christ. I mean, that grace is what saves us. Remember, being saved is a three tense kind of verb, it's I was saved, we all have a date, and if you don't have a date, that saves the kid, that's fine, and we're being saved, day in and day out, grace, and we will be saved, grace, grace is applied in all three tenses of the salvation process, and remember the theme of this part of 1 Peter 1 is salvation.

Romans 5.17 among many, many, many verses. For if by the one man's offense death reigned through the one, much more of those who receive abundance of grace and of the gift of righteousness will reign in life through the Lord Jesus Christ. I mean, that just is one.

Ephesians 2.8, we're saved by grace through faith. It's not of ourselves, but a gift of God. I mean, on and on. I mean, grace just shows up here, there, and everywhere.

And grace is probably the most difficult concept to describe, even within the body, much less to an unsaved individual. How would you describe grace to someone who's beginning to ask questions about your faith, who's an unsaved person? How would you describe grace? The world doesn't understand grace at all. Most believers don't understand grace. There's no grace in the world, and so it's a hard concept to get your head around.

The principle of grace is founded upon love. OK, and grace can be interpreted thanks to Thanksgiving. That's another way to think about it. But how would you describe it? Grace and love? More like a Burns example of the check writing. Say you have a trillion dollar debt that needs to be paid or something like that. OK, it's taken care of for you, right? OK, that maybe is a reasonable explanation.

How else might you describe it? What does grace dismiss in terms of a principle, in terms of its application? It dismisses human effort. Thanks. Yeah, that's what I'm looking for here. Human effort has nothing to do with grace. It's totally undeserving.

So the principle of grace really portrays an attribute of God's character that ultimately is transmitted to the believer by our faith. We are saved by grace through faith. Grace is the foundation of our salvation, but faith is the vehicle. We have to respond by faith. We are going to come back to faith here in a second. Notice here that his mercy is abundant. Abundant according to is an impelling theme of the mercy of God. And it's abundant. And abundant just means ultimately, infinitely available. It doesn't have a finite amount connected to it.

It goes on to say then, has begotten us again to a living hope. This is the first of three blessings. And as we go through this three verse text this morning, we'll see the other two be mentioned here very shortly. Has begotten an heiress participle, and not to be overly academic here, But it pertains to a once upon a time event that shows up again in this manner as a living hope. The cross occurred at one point in time, right?

But the idea that at one point in time that begot us a living hope that is now beginning to be shown up again. Sometimes the small words in scripture are fun to look at in more detail, because they often really relate to a much more profound interpretation that we give credit for. Again, is renewed salvation of our second birth, i.e. a spiritual, we're renewed again and again and again by grace through our faith into this living hope. Or alternatively, is this related to our physical birth? And I think to think about that a little further, let's turn to John 5, 3 through 5 and look at that. John 3, what did I say? John 5 is what you said. That's my vision. John 3, 3 through 5. Anybody who has them, please read them.

Jesus answered and said unto him, Verily, verily, I say unto thee, except a man be born again, he cannot see the kingdom of God. Nicodemus said unto him, How can a man be born when he is old? Can he enter the second time into his mother's womb and be born? Jesus answered, Verily, verily, I say unto thee, except a man be born of water and of the Spirit, he cannot enter into the kingdom of God.

Most commentators suggest that this again relates to the physical the spiritual birth after the physical birth, not the believer being restored again and again in terms of his or her faith. Thoughts about that? So we are born physically and that's a belorded, we are created beings. I am a scientist but evolution is is pale in terms of evidence, in terms of my own faith, that explains who we are. Our first birth is of the Lord. He's created man for his own image. So our first birth is this.

And the second birth is, if you will, perhaps one that is related to the conversation between the Lord Jesus Christ and Nicodemus in John 3. So you have a choice there. I think you could interpret it probably either way. But most of the commentators would say that this is a second birth being born again. that the Gospels talk about being born again.

And I was trying to think, does Paul address that somewhere in his writings? So we have different authors, but the same, the Lord is working through all these authors. It's interesting we see born again showing up here in Peter's writing. I was kind of curious, I don't know, are there cases where Paul used born again? Off the top of my head, I don't think so. I don't think so. So it is interesting that we have another writer outside of the Apostle John.

You could say the spiritual birth is what forms the foundation of a living hope, right? I mean if you are not saved you have no living hope. What do you hope for? If you are a non-believer and you believe there is a God, you think that your works in some way gain merit when you face the Lord Jesus Christ in heavenly places. But those who don't believe in God, what living hope do they have? So in a sense the idea here is that I think my best thought about this is that it's the renewal of the living hope constantly by God's great manifestation of grace in our lives. But it could relate to the fact that... Didn't you already talk about we're saved, we're being saved, we will be saved. So wouldn't the being saved is that renewed spiritual hope all the time? Isn't that what that is? I'm just saying that the commentators for the most part would say that this is the second birth. We're all born physically. This is a spiritual second birth. I think it's not critically important that we distinguish that here.

And Roger, back to Leslie's lesson, if we think the sanctification is being called to salvation, then the interpretation of a second birth would go along and be more consistent with that interpretation. So what we discussed last week, for those who weren't here, is that sanctification as mentioned in verse 2 I believe, was that sanctification the working out of the truth of the word of God in the believer or was that sanctification unto the salvation, the initial salvation of the believer? And I think Roger's interpretation, which we discussed some last week, was that it's really coming to the Lord Jesus Christ, in terms of sanctifying.

It's part of the choosing process. We talked about the fact that, from God's perspective, He's choosing us. And we have a hard time with that, because we, in a sense, must respond by faith. But it seems like that connects up that sanctification. And verse 2 there is, 1st Peter is talking about that it's part of that the setting apart is part of that choosing process and Margaret we had some difference but I'm more I looked at it actually the more I thought I was actually you know thinking it fits better with the salvation experience that it does with the Christian life or experience of sanctification yeah back to verse 2 for a second elect according to the foreknowledge of God the Father the sanctification of the Spirit so the elect I mean we're not here to discuss Calvinism we're not the elector of those who in fact come by faith to a saving relationship for Jesus Christ. It's not like we're picked out ahead of time. I mean, Christ died for the sins of the entire world. Everybody is saved by faith if they choose to respond by faith.

Yes, but in Revelation, there's the book of life they discuss. So he knew in advance who was going to choose. The book of life we enter when we come to salvation, right? Yes, but that book of life existed before the beginning, before we were created. So he knew we would choose him. That's the view from the throne. Our view here is that we have no idea who's written in the book of life.

She's right. God knows. His foreknowledge, he says it according to his foreknowledge. He knows. But that doesn't... I go back to what I said when we were talking about this. The Lord looks at the time. There is no time and space for him. He sees everything in one view. That helps me understand that because otherwise people are saying well who's chosen and who's not chosen. Then that goes back to that Calvinistic view of that predestination thing. Whereas we don't we don't know that because The Lord's looking at it and he does know because he sees the whole thing. We're in this finite time and space thing. Right.

This is something we all need to consider and we all go through in our path of Christian growth in terms of trying to understand this issue. I mean, again, if the sins of the entire universe have been paid for once and for all, everybody has an opportunity to be saved. And from our perspective down here, The gospel's there for all of us. From God's perspective, in terms of foreknowledge, yes, he knows. But he's not dictating who gets saved and who doesn't. I think that would not be consistent with good scriptural interpretation. Jeremy?

To kind of look at it in terms of the verse three here, according to his great mercy, it has caused us to be born again through living hope. Part of why Calvinists talk about election is because of how they look at salvation, which is you have to be regenerated and then God gives you faith. So it's not so much that they're looking at passages saying, well, these people are chosen ahead of time. It's, I think in many cases, because the way they look at salvation is we have to be regenerated before we can come to faith. And so the only way that you can be regenerated is if God choose you. So our faith is not, you know, it's the idea of irresistible grace.

So I guess Looking at this passage here, I think a Calvinist would interpret, you know, who according to his great mercy has caused us to be born again. I'm not positive, but I think they would look at that in life. God has to regenerate us, give us to be born again. So my question is, is that what Peter's saying here?

Does this fit in with that idea that we have to be that regeneration, is that something that happens after we believe? Or is that something that happens in order so that in words that we may believe? I don't see there's any way you can interpret these verses as a regeneration being necessary before you're saved.

Well, death is necessary, right? I'm crucified with Christ. Nevertheless, I live and not I but Christ who liveth in me. Yeah, I don't think it is. As we go later, we're going to see that Peter talks about Our salvation comes about because of our faith.

So living here can be interpreted as lively. It's equally as interpretable under either of those terms. But the principle here is not dead or dying, right? This hope is a living hope. It's one that we experience day in and day out. And hope is almost always something good. For the believer, clearly, it's something good.

So when we look at this a little bit further, Romans 5.5, among many other verses that deal with hope. Now, hope does not disappoint. Remember, this is to the believer. Because the love of God has been poured out in our hearts by the Holy Spirit, who is given unto us. So the concept here is a renewing of our living hope constantly by the power of the Holy Spirit working through this. And this is a book only for the new man in Christ Jesus. Exclusive. For those who believe, only. This is really applied again to only the believer. There is no living hope among the unsaved.

So why is the hope living? Well, Romans 8 and 11, but if the spirit of him who raised Jesus from the dead dwells in us or you, he who raised Christ from the dead will also give life to your mortal bodies through his spirit who dwells in you. So this hope really relates to the fact that we are born again into a newness of existence and that life is still with hope. And that hope is through the resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead. I think a couple of important points here. This is the basis of our living hope because Christ was resurrected.

And I'm making a strong statement here. The resurrection is everything without which we have nothing. The whole scripture is trumped by no resurrection as false. Christianity is not a religion, it's a person. It's a living person, our living hope is based on the fact that Christ lived. Because Christ lives, we live. It's not dead and dying, but our life is really related very much to the resurrection. teaching of Christianity based on works and Christ's death for the payment of sins is pale in the absence of the resurrection. That's why Easter is such a special time for the believer. It's the resurrection we celebrate, not simply the payment of our sins on the cross.

Any questions about verse 3? Go ahead. Alright, let's look at verse 4. So he talks about our hope is tied to the resurrection. How much of this is our future resurrection with Christ? One day we're going to all be changed, right? So there's the sense that the resurrection is also our future hope. We will be one day. So is that, do you think that's connected at all? to that, the hope of our salvation, the end of our salvation. We now have a position in Christ, but the end result of that is we will one day be fully conformed to the image of Christ. We're going to be, in a sense, resurrected, changed, to be given this new, glorified, resurrected body. Christ is the first fruit of our resurrection. Do you think any of that is at play when he talks about the hope of our salvation?

Can you wait to verse 5? No. We're going to address that. So it's an important question. These verses very much are tied in one to the other, and they're somewhat uninterpretable in the absence of the other two verses. We're just taking them sequentially here. So the answer to your question is yes. You gave me two options, but it's yes for both. So verse four, to inherit its incorruptible and undefiled that does not fade away and reserve in heaven for you. So to some extent, verse four gets at your question. But verse five even pins it down further. What do you think of when you think of inheritance? And this is kind of the second blessing. Just think about it in earthly terms. Inheritance. That's a wonderful thing if you have a good inheritance, right? If you have a rich uncle? You're qualified. You think, wow, I'm set, right?

So what's it depend on? The quality of the person who's All right, take me one step further. Well, it would be the quality of the uncle in your position with that uncle. So it depends on resources available for the person giving the inheritance. It also depends on your relationship with them, right? Okay, so my next question to you, does it depend on what you do or who you are? Who we are. Inheritance? Well, because we're in Christ and we have that, We've gone through that process, we believed, and so now we're in Christ and we're heirs, we're sons.

Well, you're interpreting it spiritually. I'm trying to get you to interpret it from a worldly perspective. Oh, from a worldly perspective. It does depend on who you are. You have to be related to the person. In general, I mean. Not necessarily. You have to be in his will at least.

I mean, maybe some of you have heard of the Barbara Davis Childhood Diabetes Center here at the University of Colorado English. It's world renowned for understanding type 1 diabetes. Cut to the chase. Marvin Davis was a rich oil man who ultimately owned Columbia Pictures. Barbara Davis's wife who founded the center is still living. She's in her 80s. But when Marvin died I didn't get anything. Nor did I deserve anything. It's not that I tried to get anything. I knew Marvin Davis indirectly.

The point here is it's who you are. Even from an earthly perspective. And it could be contingent on what you do a little bit, because if you turn off your rich uncle, you may not be in his will. So it's kind of conditional. But here in Romans 8, 16, and 17, just picking a lot of Romans here, because it fits so nicely with what Peter's trying to tell us, the Spirit himself testifies with our spirit that we're children of God. And if children were heirs also, and heirs of God and fellow heirs with Christ, that indeed we suffer with him so that we may be also glorified with him.

We have an inheritance here that relates to our position and who we are, not what we do. That's a little different, maybe, than an earthly inheritance. And we've kind of dealt with this, comparing earthly inheritance versus a heavenly inheritance. And can an inheritance that is earthly change? Yes. Why might it be conditional? The stock market goes down. relationship is different, so to some extent it may depend on not just who we are, but what we do.

And in terms of our heavenly inheritance, it will never change. It's permanently ingrained in who we are in Christ, and only for the believer. And by the way, we're not talking about gifts here, and rewards in heavenly places. I like what Michael says about rewards. He says that, you know, everybody's going to be satisfied. And the rewards in heaven will relate to how close we were and knew how much we knew the Lord Jesus Christ here on earth. So it's all about him and our relationship to him. And we can dissect the awards and gifts at some other time. But nevertheless, I think the inheritance here is not conditional and will never change. And it doesn't relate specifically to awards, but potentially could. Ephesians 1, 13 and 14.

So in him you also trust that if you've heard the word of truth, the gospel of our salvation, in whom also, having believed, you were sealed with the Holy Spirit of promise, who is the guarantee of our inheritance until the redemption of the purchased possession to the praise of his glory." Sealed, permanently fixed in the inheritance, and it's the Holy Spirit of promise that is the person of the Godhead that ultimately secures our inheritance. And how do we feel comfortable about our inheritance? How do we live the Christian life? By faith. Remember, faith is really the principle by which everything is experienced here on earth.

We'll look at this in more detail in a second. Incorruptible and undefiled, it does not fade away, reserved in heaven for you. Incorruptible, unable to decay or to perish, and this is we. I got tangentially this is us or this is we. What's correct grammatically. I think this is we is correct but it doesn't sound like this is us. But I think this is we because it is, never mind. I think this is we. Let's move on.

So 1 Peter 1.23, having been born again, not of corruptible seed, but incorruptible through the word of God, which lives and abides forever. So, you know, incorruptible doesn't perish, doesn't decay.

Undefiled, free from being defiled with soil, Hebrews 7.26, for such a high priest was fitting for us, who is holy, harmless, undefiled, separate from sinners, and has become higher than the heavens.

And the neat thing about that is the heavens are mentioned in this particular phrase in 1 Peter 1.4. And does not fade away. Think of the perennials. How many people have perennial plants? living in the northwest, and these things are out all year round, and still blossom all year round. Perennial, not seasonal, but always present.

1 Peter 1.24.25 which extends what verse 23 said, all the flesh is as grass, and all the glory of man is the flower of the grass. The grass withers and its flower falls away, but the word of the Lord endures forever. Now this is the word which by the gospel was preached unto you. So, strong terms, incorruptible, undefiled, doesn't fade away.

So, talk about something that we can really trust in, isn't it? You know, I guess I'm going to go kind of astray here a little bit, but you know, you think about what does the world pray for if you're praying for you know, things to improve. What does the world pray for or ask for and want? Peace. Peace. It's always about peace. That really, ultimately, Margaret and I talk about this a lot, praying for peace.

Why don't you get into the scripture a little bit? Where's our citizenship? It's not here. And peace is not rapidly approaching us, is it, in terms of global peace? No. I mean, just the event in Paris this last week, right? Incredible. Praying for peace is really not a believer's prayer. And if you're praying for peace, you're going to be disappointed. And you're not praying for your citizenship. What about that verse in Psalms that says, pray for the peace of Jerusalem? How much time do we have? I haven't seen any peace in Jerusalem. There's never been peace in Jerusalem. And it's not going to be until the Lord comes.

That's Canaanite stuff, right? The thing is we as believers have peace because the relationship between us and God has been founded on the person of the Lord Jesus Christ. One thing I think is, and Peter has been talking a lot about trials and tribulations and that's really part of this epistle, a major part of it. But when we look through the eyes of our citizenship, this earthly experience then gets put into perspective of what the Lord's using circumstances to mold us into his image. We tend to get, all of us are kind of security blanket oriented, that's part of the earthly existence, but if you read the Hungry Heart today, it's kind of like God knows what trials you need to grow you in his grace. It never goes beyond what he thinks we can bear. So we have a different relationship which puts this all into heavenly perspective. So ultimately, this inheritance we have is reserved in heaven.

And that's the third blessing of this particular section. Question 25. Because of the hope which is laid out for you in heaven, heard before in the word of the truth of the gospel. So it's interesting how often gospel in some of these verses has been brought up. And that's really what Peter's about, is getting that gospel message out there and giving us more details. And we're confident that we won't please rather than be absent from the body to be present with the Lord. So ultimately, this is a faith and a promise and that hope we all have that once we're out of here, we'll live the Lord. Compare this reservation, this is reserved in heaven for us, to an earthly reservation of this age. What kind of reservations do we make here? What kind of resolutions do we make here?

You mean like an airline reservation? Yeah, your flights can change, right? Mechanical problems. Your hotel reservation? Yeah, we double booked. We don't have any rooms left. We're going to give you the worst room in the house because, You know what we experienced in New York? We were just talking about his biggest New York. All right. So all over the reservations can change. What did you say? I said we had to crawl over the bed to get to the suitcase. More details we don't need. Alright, then verse 5, then Jeremy getting back to your question a little bit.

Who are kept by the power of God through faith for salvation ready to be revealed for the last time. So let's see how we deal with this. What does it mean to be kept by the power of God? Present passive. We're being kept. Right. He's doing it. Present tense. God's doing it, right? Yeah, but God's doing this. How do we recognize and believe that God's doing it? He's constantly giving us life. I'm sorry? He's constantly giving us life. OK, we trust him. All right. So what's the principle? Right. Hey, yeah, sorry.

Back to say, you know, it's really critically important kept. It's a military term used to guard and protect. And it's a pretty strong term. We think of being protected by an army or soldiers. We feel pretty secure. Although in today's age, we may not. But the concept here is one of being really carefully, you know, placed in a position of comfort, and that's identification truth.

When we're kept in the power of God, that's through the new creation of Christ Jesus we all have, and are, and ultimately that's how it's manifested. Christ himself said, now I am no longer in the world, but these are in the world, he's praying for us. And I come to you, Holy Father, keep through your name those whom you have given me, that they may be one as we are. So Christ prayed for us today that the Lord, the Holy Father would be keeping us through his name for the security that we all look for here spiritually.

Jude 1.24, now to him who is able to keep you from stumbling and to present you faultless before the presence of his glory with exceeding joy. So we're being kept by the power of the Holy Spirit and that rest and comfort comes through our faith. Do we believe God's word that we're being kept or do we think we're being abandoned? I think when we look at our circumstances and the flesh responds to our circumstances, that's really not the keeping that God has promised us because we're not living by faith that God's word is really true. So we need to keep reminding ourselves of our citizenship. By God's inherent power, and that goes beyond dynamite. The word is dynamis, which is really a very strong term. And that's where the term dynamite came from. And I'm just saying the superlative is beyond dynamite in terms of God's power in us.

In Romans 116, find not a shame to the gospel of Christ, for it is the power of God to salvation for everyone who believes, for the Jew first and also the Gentile. So again, gospel of Christ shows up here. terms that we're seeing in 1 Peter 1 and the verses we're looking at to really exemplify these in more detail have the gospel tucked into it. So, we can't dismiss ourselves from that. Through faith for salvation. What's faith for salvation? Believing what God has revealed. Well, that's what faith is, right?

So, I think people always go to Hebrews 11.1, that's a nice verse in terms of what faith is, but I think Scofield, this is probably the greatest thing he's ever done that I believe. He's got great notes and everything. Faith is just simply believing what God has revealed. What did Adam and Eve have in the way of information? Not much, but God's revealed to him What did Joseph have in the way of information? What did Daniel have in the way of information? What did John the Baptist have? What did Timothy have?

We are fortunate enough to have the word of God today so we can turn to that and read and have the spirit interpret for us what God has for us and who we are in Christ Jesus. But from the very beginning of time, after man was created, God communicated directly or indirectly to men and women throughout the ages. And the question is, do we believe what God has revealed?

For the nation of Israel, those people who fell under this tent of grace, if you will, if you apply it loosely to the Old Testament, these are people who actually believe the annual sacrifice by the high priest was sufficient to be an atonement for their sins. They believe that, and they live by faith. And we're going to see Old Testament saints in some place in the future, in the kingdom age, for sure. And probably in heavenly places, although they're not the church. The Old Testament saint is not the church.

But nevertheless, from the very onset of time when God communicated to Adam and Eve, the response by faith is what God's looking for. So when we study 1 Peter, we study Habakkuk, we study Matthew, no matter where in the word of God we find ourselves, we have to, in context, understand what God's expectations were by his word and the information that was given to man at that time. So we're very fortunate to live in the apostolic, plus the post-apostolic age where we have the written word complete.

But the expectations haven't changed. The same is believed. Believed, believed, believed. So, and that often comes up about what would have, you know, what's God's will for the believer? Is it buying a white Chev versus a black Ford? Being conformed to the image of Christ. Excellent. Yeah. God's perfect will is to be being conformed to the image of his son. You know, there's no agenda there. I mean, what we might perceive to be a wrong decision, God's going to use that for us to be conformed. So many things in life are neutral in terms of like the example of buying an automobile.

We can pray about it, buy a white Chevy or a black Ford. I'm not saying you shouldn't pray about it. The point is that your decision is going to be utilized in a method to conform you to his image. So if you should have had the black Ford or for some reason because of being a better vehicle than the white Chevy, that will ultimately work in your life to conform you to his image.

So when things are kind of neutral and don't seem to be of God or not of God, make a decision that seems like the best decision and move on. God's not making us robots. He's asking us to live by faith. and a lot of things that we selfishly desire are part of the process of us being informed. To be revealed, Aorist is going to be based on one event, and it's of God.

It's going to be revealed by him in the last time. So, Jeremy, maybe getting back to your question a little bit, what is to be revealed in the last time? So, is this our glorification? Is that the hope? Our glorification? For the Lord himself will descend from heaven with a shout, with the voice of an archangel, and with the trumpet of God. And the dead in Christ will rise first. And we who are alive and remain shall be caught up together with them in the clouds to meet the Lord in the air. And thus we shall always be with the Lord.

Is that the last time? Generally, not scripturally, the last time. The last time more typically relates to the day of judgment. But the hope for the believer, I think, more resides in the gratification. But the last time is most frequently interpreted as the day of judgment. He who rejects me and does not receive my words has that which judges him. The word that I have spoken will judge him on the last day and revelation that there shall by no means enter in anything that defiles or causes an abomination or a lie, but only those who are written in the Lamb's Book of Life really are spared that last judgment, the Great White Throne.

What are your thoughts about this? It's all about Jesus. What's that? It's all about Jesus. Okay, so is the, what's going to be revealed last time, is that our glorification, or is that the Day of Judgment? I don't like the term our glorification, because it's not our glory, it's the Lord's glory, it's Jesus. Well, what's our hope? Beholding the Lord face to face.

Well, in a new creation, right? In heavenly bodies. Roger? Well, Bob, it looks like to me, you know, it kind of fits in with the third aspect of salvation. You know, we are saved. We're being saved. And we will be. And this seems to be addressing the, we will be saved.

This is the last, the third aspect of our salvation, the completed work. And you're calling on glorification. And it's when we're conformed to the image of Christ. And that won't happen until we see Him face to face. I think it's all connected. I think we all agree. The last time, typically, scripturally, though, was the day of judgment. So we know we're spared that. So what's our belief that when we are glorified, you know, we're told we are ultimately going to be the presence of the Lord Jesus Christ. What happens there? There's not much said about it, but it appears that we will be praising Him. Non-stop. That's kind of what my thought is. Everyone who's a believer will be there praising the Lord. That we're there. Praising Him for what He is.

Are our earthly works going to be judged at that point? What will be burned and what will be preserved? Anything the Lord does through you is preserved. And anything you do on your own merit is burned. I think what happens there is not another price to be paid for our sins. That's all wrapped up in the cross, right? I mean, Hal was great teaching this section.

I think the rewards will relate to what has been manifested by our faith in the new person, Lord Jesus Christ. And so our sins are falling short even after we're believers. We'll not be accountable at the time that we are glorified. But when it says, we shall be revealed as sons of God, is that what this is talking about?

Revealed as the last thing? Well, I think again, the last time the question is, is this the last time you pertain to the glorification of when we're, you know, out of the body and present with the Lord or ultimately does it relate to the last day of the last judgment? I sense that it relates to glorification, not the end times that are spoken about repeatedly in the Old Testament. So your question again, Cheryl? Well, I thought what is to be revealed is our sonship. I think so. Yes, that's my best interpretation.

I just brought this up because I think some of the commentators again would say that this is the great right from judgment that we're spared from punishment. The ground rule for all good interpretation is context, context, context. If we take it too much out of context, we can take any group of words and we can make it agree with all the other parts. But in the context, he's talking about salvation. It fits very nicely. It's a third aspect of our salvation, being like our Lord and Savior. Was saved, being saved, will be saved.

This is the great hope. What other hope do we have? I mean, our hope being, you know, perp tends to be futuristic. What our hope, we're going to become better Christians. I mean, that's not realistic. I mean, we really, our hope really relates to ultimately what happens after we collect our earthly bodies.

Okay, any other thoughts or questions? I'm a little confused when you talked about, you know, the past, present, future being saved. I thought it was like a one time done. I didn't know it was a continuous process, isn't it sanctification? It's the conformity. Well, and that's actually a little study unto itself.

You know, there's three in scripture. If you could look carefully at scripture, you'll find it talks about your salvation experience when you believe in the Lord Jesus Christ. It talks about sanctification, being conformed to his image, and that talks about your future hope. Basically, you'll be like the Lord, changed.

So those are all considered Aspects of one great concept called salvation, past, present, future. And there's a variety of ways to look at that. So you're right, you come to the Lord in the moment in time, you believe on him, that's the beginning of salvation. So that's the past aspect from your perspective. Then you're presently living until the Lord comes. That's all sanctification. And then you will be conformed to his image. So those are all kind of bundled together. That's actually a class unto itself. They're bundled together called, that's God's total salvation package. Thanks for the quick note.

Well, and to some extent, that third aspect, I will be saved, is really covered in the three verses we've looked at. The inheritance to be revealed, the last times, how they interpret that. The point is this really relates to our hope, which is really the third component of our salvation. The exit from the body is to be present with the Lord. That's our hope. That's the third aspect of salvation.

I always used to think about the first and the third are easy. I believe that my sins have been forgiven and I'm justified by faith and created as righteous. I believe that and I believe I'm going to be with the Lord when I die. But this second part, living the Christian life, is really that second aspect of salvation that ultimately is a challenge for us.

That's because we get our flesh ultimately in the way. The third aspect, we'll no longer have sin nature. That's what I'm looking forward to. It's going to be pleasant to stand before the Lord without any thoughts of the flesh and how it's manifest in our lives. All right, let's close in prayer.

Father, we're thankful for the epistle of Peter, the first epistle that reveals so much about the gospel and the truths that surrounds it. We're thankful for the hope that we have of our eternal life and presence with you. We're also thankful that the process of salvation is one which is contingent on our official but something that is worked out day in and day out by our faith. The principle is faith and faith is really believing that we are one in the Lord Jesus Christ and it is by faith that that life is lived out within us. We are thankful again for the text today. We pray that we will be uplifted by it and allow that to sustain us going forward. In Jesus name we pray. Amen.