Salvation
Blessed Assurance
1 Peter 1:3-9
Do you need encouragement today? Does your followership of Jesus sometimes feel like a spiritual roller coaster ride? Do you feel unsure & anxious as to whether you will be able to keep going as a believer in Jesus Christ? Have you messed up so monumentally that sometimes you wonder whether you really are saved? Have you faced such trials that you have concerns about whether your faith will make it to the end?
Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ! According to his great mercy, he has caused us to be born again to a living hope through the resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead, 4 to an inheritance that is imperishable, undefiled, and unfading, kept in heaven for you, 5 who by God’s power are being guarded through faith for a salvation ready to be revealed in the last time. 6 In this you rejoice, though now for a little while, if necessary, you have been grieved by various trials, 7 so that the tested genuineness of your faith—more precious than gold that perishes though it is tested by fire—may be found to result in praise and glory and honor at the revelation of Jesus Christ. 8 Though you have not seen him, you love him. Though you do not now see him, you believe in him and rejoice with joy that is inexpressible and filled with glory, 9 obtaining the outcome of your faith, the salvation of your souls. (1 Peter 1:3-9)
Your Father in heaven, your magnificent Saviour & your Helper, the Holy Spirit, want to assure you today. All the future benefits of your salvation that still await you – your inheritance as a believer in Jesus Christ – are being kept in heaven for you (1 Peter 1:4).
What excellent assurance, knowing that all that has been promised to us (eternal life with God, in a glorified body fit for eternity and a future with no more sin, tears, mourning, suffering or death) is being kept for us & that it cannot perish, be defiled or fade away.
But it would be a very limited encouragement or assurance to know that this inheritance cannot perish, be defiled or fade if we didn’t know something else. All the future benefits of salvation would mean nothing to us if we didn’t also know that not only is being kept in heaven for us by God but that we also are being kept for it by God’s power (1 Peter 1:5)!
But praise God that He wants us to know that we know that not only are we saved by grace alone, through faith alone in Christ alone, but that we will be kept secure in that salvation to the very end by God’s grace & power alone! Our salvation from start to finish is wholly a work of God; because of that, we can rest secure with full & blessed assurance.
Peter describes here how not only is our inheritance being kept for us, but we too are ‘being guarded’ by God’s power (1 Peter 1:5) through our faith in Jesus. We can be assured that we will enter our inheritance because it is not up to us to ensure we make it to the end, but we are being guarded/protected/kept by God’s power.
Your Saviour, Jesus, the One who saved you, is the One who will sustain your faith to the very end so that you can know that you will stand guiltless on the day He returns.
Our assurance that we will persevere is that Jesus is sustaining us & that God is faithful to do what He said He would do (1 Corinthians 1:8-9).
Our assurance that we will persevere until the Day of our Lord Jesus Christ is that we are being guarded by God’s power (1 Peter 1:5) & sustained by our Saviour (1 Corinthians 1:8-9).
Our assurance is that we are His beloved sheep to whom He has already given eternal life, those whom Jesus said will never perish but will have eternal life (John 3:16) & that no one will ever be able to snatch us from His or the Father’s hands so we can be assured & rest safe & secure in His loving protection & care for us (John 10:27-30).
Our assurance is that no one & nothing in all creation will ever be able to separate us from the love of God in Christ Jesus our Lord (Romans 8:35-39).
Why would you need to be anxious or lacking assurance? Our assurance is not anchored in ourselves! It is not anchored in our ability to keep ourselves together.
Our assurance is anchored in the fact that we are being kept, guarded, protected, and sustained by no one less than God Himself! And because it is God who is keeping us for the incredible future that is ours through faith in Jesus, we can be assured & He alone is praised because we didn’t sustain our faith, but we were sustained by God’s grace & love alone.
So we can rest assured with a blessed assurance, and we can sing;
Amazing grace! How sweet the sound
That saved a wretch like me!
I once was lost, but now am found;
Was blind, but now I see.
’Twas grace that taught my heart to fear,
And grace my fears relieved;
How precious did that grace appear
The hour I first believed.
Through many dangers, toils, and snares,
I have already come;
’Tis grace hath brought me safe thus far,
And grace will lead me home.
The Lord has promised good to me,
His Word, my hope secures;
He will my Shield and Portion be,
As long as life endures.
Yea, when this flesh and heart shall fail,
And mortal life shall cease,
I shall possess, within the veil,
A life of joy and peace.
The earth shall soon dissolve like snow,
The sun forbear to shine;
But God, who called me here below,
Will be forever mine.
When we’ve been there ten thousand years,
Bright shining as the sun,
We’ve no less days to sing God’s praise
Than when we’d first begun.
- John Newton 1779
The Best is Yet to Be
3 Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ! According to his great mercy, he has caused us to be born again to a living hope through the resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead, 4 to an inheritance that is imperishable, undefiled, and unfading, kept in heaven for you, 5 who by God’s power are being guarded through faith for a salvation ready to be revealed in the last time. 6 In this you rejoice, though now for a little while, if necessary, you have been grieved by various trials, 7 so that the tested genuineness of your faith—more precious than gold that perishes though it is tested by fire—may be found to result in praise and glory and honor at the revelation of Jesus Christ. 8 Though you have not seen him, you love him. Though you do not now see him, you believe in him and rejoice with joy that is inexpressible and filled with glory, 9 obtaining the outcome of your faith, the salvation of your souls. (1 Peter 1:3-9)
Are you in a stage of life where you feel like the wind is not at your back but in your face? Likewise, Peter was writing to these believers who had been grieved by many varied trials (vs6).
However, as believers, what God has done for us in the past in saving us & what we know about the future fortifies us for the present-day trials we face. After all, the truest thing about us is not what has been done to us, what we have done or even what we feel – but what Christ has done for us! (See David Lomas – The Truest Thing about You).
So, at the start of his letter, the apostle Peter lifts the eyes of the believers off the trials they are experiencing by reminding them of the wonders of salvation.
He reminds them that because of God’s great mercy, believers in Jesus are liberated from their sin and its consequences and are born again into a living hope in Christ. A hope that isn’t rooted in our moral performance but in God’s great mercy expressed to us in giving us Jesus, our living hope (vs3).
More than that, Peter says that the best is yet to come. Believers often consider what they have been saved from, but in verses 4-6, Peter draws our attention to what is still before the believer in Jesus. We are born again into an ‘inheritance’ that is imperishable, undefiled, unfading that God is keeping for us in heaven.
But what is this inheritance Peter refers to? It is so remarkable that it is worthy of rejoicing despite the many varied trials these believers live through (vs6).
An inheritance is something that has been assigned to you but which you do not yet possess wholly. It is yours & yet it is still to be enjoyed more fully. Peter is referring to all that is ours as believers in Jesus in the age to come, things that are being kept in heaven for us by God (vs4) & an inheritance which we too are being kept for by God (vs5)!
Peter’s language evokes images of God’s people ever since God’s promise to Abraham (Genesis 15:7) & Moses (Exodus 3:16-17) about the Promised Land, Israel’s inheritance. They had an inheritance promised to them; it was theirs & yet many never entered it because of their sin.
That inheritance of the Promised Land was perishable (in that it could be lost as many never entered it), it was defiled by ungodly inhabitants and defiled by sin & it faded through the conquest of marauding armies as God’s people were taken off into exile by people like the Assyrians, Babylonians, Greeks & the Roman Empire…
But the inheritance Peter is contrasting with that sad history of regret & loss is imperishable, undefiled, unfading & is being kept in heaven for the believer in Jesus! This is such good news & so certain – that believers can rejoice despite many varied trials in this life.
Jesus’ resurrection secured for the believer in Jesus;
- An inheritance that is not some wishful thinking or vain hope but an utter certainty so certain & real that it is powerful enough to transform our experience of trials in the present.
- An indestructible inheritance & one which we can’t defile! This is excellent news because the storyline of the Bible ever since Adam and Eve is that we tend to mess up what God intended for our good. We cannot mess up our eternal inheritance because we didn’t earn it but received it by faith in Jesus! It was given to us through the great mercy of God & not as a response to our good behaviour.
- An inheritance that will not fade over time but is forever & ever. I love how Paul says it will take forever for God to show us the immeasurable richness of His gracious kindness in giving us Jesus (Ephesians 2:7).
- An inheritance that is ultimately not things we will receive but an unhindered relationship with God that we will delight in forever. Eternal life is knowing God & rejoicing in dwelling with Him in the new heaven & the new earth (John 17:3 & Revelation 21:4-5).
- An inheritance that is totally secure, one that nothing can separate us from. It is kept in heaven for us by God & we are guarded by God’s power so that we enter into it (vs5-6).
“Heaven will be knowing and seeing God. Every other joy will be derivative flowing from the fountain of our relationship with God.” – R. Alcorn.
In such things, we rejoice (vs6) even though in this life, we face many trials & afflictions. We know that when they are compared with our inheritance to come & the glory of eternal life that will be revealed to us, these present trials will be seen for what they truly are – momentary & light when compared to the eternal weight of glory that is our inheritance to come (2 Corinthians 4:17).
And so we can rejoice, we can have hope despite dark days. We believe in Jesus, and so we can rejoice with a joy that is unmatched and inexpressible & filled with glory (vs8) because of all that is still to come for those who have believed in Jesus – the salvation of our souls which is something more majestic & remarkable that any of us could ever imagine (vs9).
So be encouraged! If you have believed in Jesus, you have been born again into a living hope & into a future inheritance that ought to lift your eyes from the present challenges & instil in you an indestructible hope, joy & excitement of all that is to come for you. So, hold on, look to Jesus your Saviour, lean on Him, lean into the Help of the Holy Spirit & know – the best is yet to be!
Humility
7 Now he told a parable to those who were invited, when he noticed how they chose the places of honor, saying to them, 8 “When you are invited by someone to a wedding feast, do not sit down in a place of honor, lest someone more distinguished than you be invited by him, 9 and he who invited you both will come and say to you, ‘Give your place to this person,’ and then you will begin with shame to take the lowest place. 10 But when you are invited, go and sit in the lowest place, so that when your host comes he may say to you, ‘Friend, move up higher.’ Then you will be honored in the presence of all who sit at table with you. 11 For everyone who exalts himself will be humbled, and he who humbles himself will be exalted.” (Luke 14:7-11)
Literary Context
Just preceding this is the healing of the man on the Sabbath by Jesus while Jesus was a guest of one of the Pharisees homes. They were more concerned about Sabbath observance than about the person (the man with dropsy who gets healed).
Jesus has noticed something about how they arranged themselves at the feast, Jesus had noticed how they chose for themselves places of honour…
So this parable was then told by Jesus to those who were invited to the feast.
The compatibility principle
Right after this parable Jesus speaks a parable to the man who had invited Him.
The historical narrative of the last supper can also be compared to these two feasts. That supper was one where Jesus humbled Himself and modelled true leadership to us.
It is also noted that we who believe in Jesus ultimately get invited to the wedding supper of the Lamb at the end of this age and the beginning of the next.
This passage is also linked to the other teachings on humility:
Good and upright is the LORD; therefore he instructs sinners in the way. 9 He leads the humble in what is right, and teaches the humble his way. (Psalms 25:8-9)
Great is our Lord, and abundant in power; his understanding is beyond measure. 6 The LORD lifts up the humble; he casts the wicked to the ground. 7 Sing to the LORD with thanksgiving; make melody to our God on the lyre! (Psalm 147:5-7)
For the LORD takes pleasure in his people; he adorns the humble with salvation. (Psalms 149:4)
When pride comes, then comes disgrace, but with the humble is wisdom. (Proverbs 11:2)
Thus says the LORD: Heaven is my throne, and the earth is my footstool; what is the house that you would build for me, and what is the place of my rest? 2 All these things my hand has made, and so all these things came to be, declares the LORD. But this is the one to whom I will look: he who is humble and contrite in spirit and trembles at my word. Isaiah 66:1-2
Philippians 2:5-11 – Jesus’ example of humility
Have this mind among yourselves, which is yours in Christ Jesus, 6 who, though he was in the form of God, did not count equality with God a thing to be grasped, 7 but made himself nothing, taking the form of a servant, being born in the likeness of men. 8 And being found in human form, he humbled himself by becoming obedient to the point of death, even death on a cross. 9 Therefore God has highly exalted him and bestowed on him the name that is above every name, 10 so that at the name of Jesus every knee should bow, in heaven and on earth and under the earth, 11 and every tongue confess that Jesus Christ is Lord, to the glory of God the Father.
Likewise, you who are younger, be subject to the elders. Clothe yourselves, all of you, with humility toward one another, for “God opposes the proud but gives grace to the humble.” 6 Humble yourselves, therefore, under the mighty hand of God so that at the proper time he may exalt you, 7 casting all your anxieties on him, because he cares for you. 8 Be sober-minded; be watchful. Your adversary the devil prowls around like a roaring lion, seeking someone to devour. Peter 5:5: Likewise, you who are younger, be subject to the elders. Clothe yourselves, all of you, with humility toward one another, for God opposes the proud but gives grace to the humble. (I Peter 5:5-8)
James 4:10: Humble yourselves before the Lord, and he will exalt you.
What questions does it address, ask or answer?
This passages deals with the issues of humility and pride and the wisdom/foolishness of taking honour rather than having it given to you.
Honour is best given rather than taken because “everyone who exalts himself will be humbled.” (Luke 14:11)
The big idea when reading through the various passages on humility is that we ought to humble ourselves and let God exalt, let God honour us in His time.
- God leads and teaches those who are humble – Psalm 25
- God lifts up the humble but brings to nothing the proud – Psalm 147
- God adorns the humble with salvation – Psalm 149
- Humility leads to wisdom, pride leads to disgrace – Proverbs 11:2
- Humility is more valuable to God who made everything than anything else! – Isaiah 66:1-2
- Have this in mind – Jesus humbled Himself and so God exalted Him! – Philippians 2:5-11
- Put on humility, humble yourself so that God might exalt you at the proper time – 1 Peter 5
- God gives grace to the humble but opposes the proud – 1 Peter 5
The humble person will be adorned with salvation, lead, taught, lifted up, given wisdom, valued and will receive grace from God. The humble person will be like Jesus!
Honour is not taken but given. Salvation requires humility in that we have to acknowledge our sin and our need of being saved. And having been saved by God we ought always to be mindful of how we were saved.
Pride in the believer is an antithesis. Compared to God’s majesty, power, holiness we are not in a position to have anything other than humility. Considering our own sinful state and fallenness we really don’t have anything to be proud about.
We have not been treated by Almighty God as our sins deserved, we have been shown mercy and grace, we have been forgiven and set free from the entanglements of our own sin, we are recipients of grace, humble servants of our wonderful King of love.
The paradox is that because God loved us in spite of our fallenness, we have had the greatest honour bestowed on us, we have been so valued by God that He was die for us in our place and to crown us with salvation.
Although we are to be humble, we are honoured by God in the most remarkable way and given a position of honour within His creation for all eternity, not because we are good but because He is good, not because of what we did but because of what He did for us.
So worship God who bestows honour and glory on those who didn’t deserve it but received it through Jesus Christ. To Him be the honour and glory forever and ever amen.
Application
The humble person will be adorned with salvation, lead, taught, lifted up, given wisdom, valued and will receive grace from God. Scripture contrasts this positive outlook to the bleak outlook of the proud person who is opposed by God and who will be humbled by God…
Do you know Jesus as your Lord and Saviour? Have you humbled yourself yet before God, acknowledged that self-salvation, reliance on self and human effort will ultimately fail, it will fall short of the requirements of God?
If not, then know today that receiving honour that lasts for eternity starts with humbling oneself, confessing that you are flawed and sinful, hopeless outside of God and God’s help. Receiving honour starts with asking Jesus to be your Saviour, asking Him to forgive you from your sin and letting Him set you free from sin, shame, bondage and death.
The moment you do this, you get honoured by God, you get the privilege of becoming the child of God (John 1:12).
Are you a believer? Then consider again your salvation. Do you have anything to boast in (Ephesians 2:4-10)? What do you have that you have not received from God as a gift?
The appropriate heart condition for the believer is humility & thankfulness giving honour and praise to the source (God) of all that you have received from Him.
Is there any situation in which you have sort to honour yourself? Remember Jesus’ words; “For everyone who exalts himself will be humbled, and he who humbles himself will be exalted.” (Luke 14:7-11)
Two words that matter 