Meditations on 1 Peter part 3

Each year, part of my vacation is devoted to spiritual renewal. This year I read 1 Peter. I noticed three themes running through the epistle that Peter presents as foundational to our faith: The Cross, The Resurrection, and The Second Coming. I’ve already written on the cross and the resurrection, so this leads naturally to

The Second Coming

Peter mentions the second coming in every chapter except 3.

1:4  To an inheritance incorruptible, and undefiled, and that fadeth not away, reserved in heaven for you,
5  Who are kept by the power of God through faith unto salvation ready to be revealed in the last time.
6  Wherein ye greatly rejoice, though now for a season, if need be, ye are in heaviness through manifold temptations:
7  That the trial of your faith, being much more precious than of gold that perisheth, though it be tried with fire, might be found unto praise and honour and glory at the appearing of Jesus Christ:
8  Whom having not seen, ye love; in whom, though now ye see [him] not, yet believing, ye rejoice with joy unspeakable and full of glory:
9  Receiving the end of your faith, [even] the salvation of [your] souls.

The appearing of Jesus Christ. This is not a mere doctrine to be believed. We are eagerly waiting for the appearing of Jesus Christ because when he appears salvation will be revealed, and we will receive the end of our faith, the salvation of our souls.


1:10  Of which salvation the prophets have enquired and searched diligently, who prophesied of the grace [that should come] unto you:
11  Searching what, or what manner of time the Spirit of Christ which was in them did signify, when it testified beforehand the sufferings of Christ, and the glory that should follow.
12  Unto whom it was revealed, that not unto themselves, but unto us they did minister the things, which are now reported unto you by them that have preached the gospel unto you with the Holy Ghost sent down from heaven; which things the angels desire to look into.
13  Wherefore gird up the loins of your mind, be sober, and hope to the end for the grace that is to be brought unto you at the revelation of Jesus Christ;

the sufferings of Christ, and the glory that should follow – the glory that should follow refers to Christ, when he will appear in glory and power. And we are included in this glory, we will share it with him. This is salvation.

Wherefore gird up the loins of your mind, be sober, and hope to the end for the grace that is to be brought unto you at the revelation of Jesus Christ – Amen! We have not received it all now. There is grace yet to come, the grace of the salvation of our souls. So his exhortation: gird up the loins of your mind, be sober, and hope to the end for the grace that is to be brought unto you at the revelation of Jesus Christ.


2:11  Dearly beloved, I beseech [you] as strangers and pilgrims, abstain from fleshly lusts, which war against the soul;
12  Having your conversation honest among the Gentiles: that, whereas they speak against you as evildoers, they may by [your] good works, which they shall behold, glorify God in the day of visitation.

The day of visitation is the day of judgment. We are to live our lives in the light of the coming of Christ and the judgment to come: Live in such a way that, even though they give you a hard time now because of your faith in Christ, in that great day they will have to admit your life was above reproach.


4:5  Who shall give account to him that is ready to judge the quick and the dead. The coming judgment is a regular them of the apostles.


4:7  But the end of all things is at hand: be ye therefore sober, and watch unto prayer. 
The end of all things is at hand, is near. I admit, it is so easy to get caught up with the now. Going to work, days off, vacation, planning for next year, college for your children, retirement…we can easily lose ourselves in the cares of this life. But the Gospel tells us not only the end of all things is coming, it is at hand! We need to be sober and watch unto prayer.


4:13  But rejoice, inasmuch as ye are partakers of Christ's sufferings; that, when his glory shall be revealed, ye may be glad also with exceeding joy.
The Christian life is a totally supernatural life: But rejoice, inasmuch as ye are partakers of Christ's sufferings – this is not natural. The natural reaction is to grumble, complain, even whine. But the apostle says, Rejoice. What helps us maintain this attitude is, when his glory shall be revealed. Amen. Jesus is coming and things will change.

That . . . ye may be glad also with exceeding joy – we have joy now, unspeakable and full of glory; if we can rejoice now in trials, tribulations, as well as sufferings, imagine the joy of his presence, His glory, His approbation of our living and suffering for Him with joy and longsuffering and patience through the trials and afflictions of this life!

What a day that will be,

When my Jesus I shall see,

When I look upon His face,

The one who saved me by His grace

5:1  The elders which are among you I exhort, who am also an elder, and a witness of the sufferings of Christ, and also a partaker of the glory that shall be revealed:
2  Feed the flock of God which is among you, taking the oversight [thereof], not by constraint, but willingly; not for filthy lucre, but of a ready mind;
3  Neither as being lords over [God's] heritage, but being ensamples to the flock.
4  And when the chief Shepherd shall appear, ye shall receive a crown of glory that fadeth not away.

Peter says two things about the coming of Christ
When the chief Shepherd shall appear – the second coming is personal and visible. Unbelievers have mocked and reviled for centuries, "Where is their God?" The day is coming when Jesus shall appear and every eye shall see him.

The glory that shall be revealed – the brightness of His glory; but also the glory of His kingdom. “But as truly as I live, all the earth shall be filled with the glory of the LORD.”


and two things about what we can expect at this coming
we are partaker of the glory that shall be revealed - And if children, then heirs; heirs of God, and joint-heirs with Christ

ye shall receive a crown of glory that fadeth not away – this is addressed to the elders who exercise their oversight properly.


What a hope we have! In fact, Peter begins his epistle by calling it a lively hope. Messiah has come. He was suffered for us, he rose again and ascended into heaven, where he sits at the right hand of the Father. And He is coming again. This same Jesus, born of a virgin, who taught and performed miracles, who was crucified, who rose again, this same Jesus will again appear and bring glory and salvation.

“Don’t you dare quit. You. Keep. Holding on!”

Meditations on 1 Peter part 2

Each year, part of my vacation is devoted to spiritual renewal. This year I read 1 Peter. I noticed three themes running through the epistle that Peter presents as foundational to our faith: The Cross, The Resurrection, and The Second Coming. My first post was on the sufferings of Christ. This one is on

The Resurrection of Christ

The resurrection and the second coming are linked because the second coming and the glory associated with it are dependent on the resurrection of Christ from the dead.


1:3  Blessed [be] the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, which according to his abundant mercy hath begotten us again unto a lively hope by the resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead,

begotten again unto a lively hope by the resurrection - the resurrection is the power behind our salvation, here called begotten again. Christ’s death is effectual only because he rose from the dead. Death is the great enemy we face, the ultimate foe. We have focused almost exclusively on sin. but sin is not the end:

Wherefore, as by one man sin entered into the world, and death by sin; and so death passed upon all men, for that all have sinned:

No, sin leads to something worse. Death. Salvation is life. Death passed upon all men. Jesus died and rose again. He defeated death. We now have a lively hope.

Now, I know that lively hope is really “living hope.” But I like the idea of a lively hope. Lively is defined as “full of life and energy; active and outgoing.” Is that not a great description of our hope? It is full of life and energy and it activates us! And the synonyms for lively: energetic, active, animated, dynamic, full of life, vivacious, enthusiastic, vibrant, buoyant, exuberant, effervescent, cheerful. Truly our hope is a lively hope!

So, what exactly is our hope? Life. Resurrection from the dead and eternal life. Death was at work in us. We are threatened with death all around, at every turn. But Jesus rose from the dead and promises us the same life. This hope enlivens us, energizes us. It does not matter what happens to me, I will rise from the dead and live forever! Life. Life. Life. All through the resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead!


1:20  Who verily was foreordained before the foundation of the world, but was manifest in these last times for you,
21  Who by him do believe in God, that raised him up from the dead, and gave him glory; that your faith and hope might be in God.

v 20 Christ was foreordained, that is, before creation it was the Father’s plan to send His Son. This is a great mystery.
He was manifest in these last times for you – He came for us, to restore us to God. O what love!

v 21 that raised him up from the dead, and gave him glory - The resurrection of Christ is the greatest demonstration of God’s power in the history of the world. This is the central proclamation of the gospel. Through Christ we believe in God because God raised him from the dead. This man was killed. He died and was buried. But God raised him up from the dead. Death had reigned over mankind since Adam and Eve, but by raising His Christ from the dead, God defeated death. By believing in Jesus, that he is the Christ, the Son of God who was raised from the dead, we believe in God.

And gave him glory – crucified, raised, exalted. Jesus is both Lord and Christ.

that your faith and hope might be in God – This is not philosophy, or moral renovation, or good works, or even my faith. No, my faith is in God, who by His great power raised Christ from the dead. My hope is in God, who by raising Christ from the dead has promised me eternal life. Praise the Lord!


3:18  For Christ also hath once suffered for sins, the just for the unjust, that he might bring us to God, being put to death in the flesh, but quickened by the Spirit:

put to death in the flesh, but quickened by the Spirit – He was made alive by the Spirit. I confess, this and the next couple of verses are difficult. Paul has something similar to this in 1 Corinthians 15:45, The first man Adam was made a living soul; the last Adam was made a quickening spirit.


3:21  The like figure whereunto [even] baptism doth also now save us (not the putting away of the filth of the flesh, but the answer of a good conscience toward God,) by the resurrection of Jesus Christ:
22  Who is gone into heaven, and is on the right hand of God; angels and authorities and powers being made subject unto him.

He says baptism now saves us by the resurrection of Jesus Christ. There is power in baptism, grace received in baptism, however you choose to explain it, but not of itself. Honestly, it’s not even faith that gives baptism effectiveness. It is the resurrection of Jesus Christ. At the very least, baptism is identifying with Christ, a declaration that we believe in Jesus. But there is no power, no grace if Jesus has not been raised from the dead. Once again, as important as faith and baptism are, they do nothing if Jesus was not raised. It’s not me, it’s Jesus. BUT, by believing in Jesus and being baptized in his name I do receive grace from God because Jesus has been raised from the dead. Hallelujah!

by the resurrection of Jesus Christ: Who is gone into heaven, and is on the right hand of God; angels and authorities and powers being made subject unto him.

This sounds like Peter’s preaching in Acts, “Jesus was crucified, but God raised him from the dead; he ascended to heaven and has been exalted at the right hand of God.” Amen! I confess, this is exciting: Jesus is alive! Jesus is Lord! And as we shall see, Jesus is coming again!

Meditations on 1 Peter part 1

Each year, part of my vacation is devoted to spiritual renewal. This year I read 1 Peter. I noticed three themes running through the epistle that Peter presents as foundational to our faith: The Cross, The Resurrection, and The Second Coming. In my next few posts I will share my thoughts as I meditated on these themes.

The Cross
1:2  Elect according to the foreknowledge of God the Father, through sanctification of the Spirit, unto obedience and sprinkling of the blood of Jesus Christ: Grace unto you, and peace, be multiplied.

He says three things about being chosen: according to the foreknowledge of God, through sanctification of the Spirit, unto obedience and sprinkling of the blood of Jesus Christ. Election is unto obedience and sprinkling, that is, the purpose or goal is that we might be obedient and sprinkled with the blood of Christ. In one of our hymns we sing,

There is a fountain filled with blood

Drawn from Emmanuel’s veins

And sinners plunged beneath that flood

Lose all their guilty stains

I find it interesting that Peter simply says sprinkling. This is clearly a reference to the Old Testament. By the sprinkling of the blood we are forgiven our sins and cleansed from guilt. He starts his epistle with the assertion that our salvation is a work of God. But even here, he points out that election us unto obedience.


1:11  Searching what, or what manner of time the Spirit of Christ which was in them did signify, when it testified beforehand the sufferings of Christ, and the glory that should follow.

The sufferings of Christ were prophesied. In other words, He came to suffer for us.


1:17  And if ye call on the Father, who without respect of persons judgeth according to every man's work, pass the time of your sojourning [here] in fear:
18  Forasmuch as ye know that ye were not redeemed with corruptible things, [as] silver and gold, from your vain conversation [received] by tradition from your fathers;
19  But with the precious blood of Christ, as of a lamb without blemish and without spot:

What an exhortation! pass the time of your sojourning here in fear
He offers two reasons for this charge:
1) the Father, who without respect of persons judgeth according to every man's work
2) you have been redeemed from your vain conversation
- not with corruptible things, as silver and gold
- but with the precious blood of Christ
This follows the exhortations:
gird up the loins of your mind
be sober
hope to the end
be holy in all manner of conversation

So, Peter is appealing to redemption with the precious blood of Christ as a motivation for holy living. He is very practical.

redeemed . . . from your vain conversation [received] by tradition from your fathers – you were living an empty life, empty of truth and the presence of God; but God has made a way for you to come back to Him. Salvation is leaving the old ways and living a new life of obedience to the Father (v 17), all made possible by the redemption or forgiveness through the blood of Christ.

as of a lamb without blemish and without spot - This is Old Testament imagery, just like the sprinkling of the blood from v 2.

And if ye call on the Father, who without respect of persons judgeth according to every man's work, pass the time of your sojourning [here] in fear – It seems Peter didn’t get the memo: “judgment and fear are out, too negative and scary”.


2:21  For even hereunto were ye called: because Christ also suffered for us, leaving us an example, that ye should follow his steps:
22  Who did no sin, neither was guile found in his mouth:
23  Who, when he was reviled, reviled not again; when he suffered, he threatened not; but committed [himself] to him that judgeth righteously:
24  Who his own self bare our sins in his own body on the tree, that we, being dead to sins, should live unto righteousness: by whose stripes ye were healed.
25  For ye were as sheep going astray; but are now returned unto the Shepherd and Bishop of your souls.

Christ also suffered for us, leaving us an example, that ye should follow his steps
He had just stated in v 20, but if, when ye do well, and suffer for it, ye take it patiently, this is acceptable with God. The suffering of Christ is an example for us to follow when we suffer (persecution) for Him, and in 22 & 23 he describes how Christ endured his suffering. But, there is an element of Christ’s suffering that we cannot follow:

Who his own self bare our sins in his own body on the tree, that we, being dead to sins, should live unto righteousness: by whose stripes ye were healed.
There are two parts to this suffering:
+ Who his own self bare our sins in his own body on the tree – He bore our sins, our sins were placed on Him; He died for us, took our penalty
+ by whose stripes ye were healed – He paid our debt and by His suffering we can be healed, forgiven, cleansed, restored to God, or as he says it, For ye were as sheep going astray; but are now returned unto the Shepherd and Bishop of your souls.

Peter’s view of salvation is very dynamic. Not only is it, you are now returned unto the Shepherd and Bishop of your souls, but also, that we, being dead to sins, should live unto righteousness. Peter sees salvation as not merely, my sins are forgiven, but, I have died to sin (turned away from it) and now live unto righteousness.


3:17 For it is better, if the will of God be so, that ye suffer for well doing, than for evil doing.
18  For Christ also hath once suffered for sins, the just for the unjust, that he might bring us to God, being put to death in the flesh, but quickened by the Spirit:

Once again He sets forth the sufferings of Christ as an example for those who are suffering for him. But he again states that Christ’s sufferings were higher than ours could ever be, For Christ also hath once suffered for sins, the just for the unjust, that he might bring us to God.
The just for the unjust - in our place, suffering our penalty
that he might bring us to God – He didn’t die as an example, He died to save us. Amen!


4:1  Forasmuch then as Christ hath suffered for us in the flesh, arm yourselves likewise with the same mind: for he that hath suffered in the flesh hath ceased from sin;
2  That he no longer should live the rest of [his] time in the flesh to the lusts of men, but to the will of God.

Yet again, Peter sets forth the suffering of Christ as an example for us.


5:1  The elders which are among you I exhort, who am also an elder, and a witness of the sufferings of Christ, and also a partaker of the glory that shall be revealed:

Peter was an eyewitness of the sufferings of Christ.

According to Peter, Christ’s death was substitutionary
Christ suffered for sins
The just for the unjust
He bore our sins in his own body on the tree

His suffering was effectual
sprinkling of the blood (cleanses us)
you were redeemed with the blood
by whose stripes ye were healed
that he might bring us to God

(I noticed that Peter speaks of the suffering of Christ but does not dwell on the details of the agony. It is enough that He died, there is no need to dwell on the details or how bad he hurt etc)


Peter is very practical. While he does speak of salvation through the sufferings of Christ, his emphasis seems to be on the sufferings of the Savior as a motive to holy living and an example for us as we endure suffering. And his presentation of the effectiveness of the sufferings of Christ is dynamic: Who his own self bare our sins in his own body on the tree, that we, being dead to sins, should live unto righteousness: by whose stripes ye were healed. For ye were as sheep going astray; but are now returned unto the Shepherd and Bishop of your souls.

Amen.

You look like you’ve got some experience

A man came in late last night. As he stood at the counter he looked at me and said, “You look like you got some experience (being translated, that means, You’re old!), you married?”

“Yeah.”

“How long?”

(Oh great, I can’t remember how long…) “Since 1975.”

“How do you make it last?”

What a question for the middle of the night in a convenience store! And what a person to ask!! But I could tell he was serious and troubled, so I attempted to answer . . .

I told him about love, and doing unto others as you want them to do to you, and doing these things even if the other person doesn’t respond. I talked about how we are so sweet and considerate when dating and the temptation / tendency we face to stop doing that and the subsequent danger of speaking roughly or harshly to our wives and how once we start it can become a fixed pattern. Not only should we treat our wives as kindly and respectfully as we do others, we should actually treat them better than we do others . . . (this is the Reader’s Digest version).

“The second thing,” I continued, “is God. He created marriage and wrote the Book on it. So you need to pray a lot.” I confessed that my prayers are mostly for God to work on her, but that God had been showing me that I needed to pray for me to be a better husband. And that we needed to love as Christ loved the Church and gave Himself for it – we need to lose our lives for our wives. (I know, I know, I’m talking to myself as much as to him!)

“How long you been married?” I asked.

“We’re not married yet,” he said. “We’ve been together for three years. We’re getting married soon, though, and just had a baby.”

“Ah, one of the advantages of being married is commitment. When you get married you make a commitment to stay married “for better, for worse, for richer, for poorer…” ” I told him that we’d had problems, but that my wife was committed to the marriage and to me and stuck it out...

We are talking between customers, what are all these people doing out at 2 am?? He starts to leave, but hesitates, he has one more question. Finally, he asks it, “When do you know it’s over?”

Wow!

“When you commit to someone the question is not, “When is it over?” but “How can I make this work?”

So easy to say when you don’t know the people or their struggles or even how they are getting along. So I tried to get practical. I told him how the time right after a woman gives birth is often difficult for her and subsequently for him, "but love her and hang in there, it gets better!"

I said, “Man, you asked a simple question and I’ve given you a long answer” (much longer than I’ve related here).

He said, “That’s OK. It was good. Thank you.”

This happens often. People are really hurting. I am thankful that I can be there for them from time to time and that they feel safe to ask me these kinds of questions. Of course, the hard work is when he gets back home.

A startling conclusion

Every year, part of my vacation is a study of a word or phrase in the Scriptures. This year I settled on 1 Peter. I confess, I only made it through the first three chapters. I spent a lot of time meditating on a passage in chapter 2 and that slowed me down. Driving home on Saturday I was meditating on this passage:

1 Peter 3:21 The like figure whereunto even baptism doth also now save us (not the putting away of the filth of the flesh, but the answer of a good conscience toward God,) by the resurrection of Jesus Christ:

I was so absorbed in thought about this that I think this contributed to my missing of the I-77 exit in Columbia!

I came to a rather startling conclusion. But first a little background. No evangelical would ever use this phraseology, The like figure whereunto even baptism doth also now save us. This verse is never used in gospel tracts or preaching. When someone does bring it up, evangelicals go into defensive mode, “What this verse really means…” I don’t know that they would actually say this, but I suspect it is secretly thought, “What an unfortunate choice of words…”

You see this verse conflicts with evangelical theology. So, even when teaching on baptism, or preparing someone for baptism, it is rarely (never?) used.

I thought about other problematic passages on baptism:

Mark 16:16  He that believeth and is baptized shall be saved; but he that believeth not shall be damned. 

Acts 2:38  Then Peter said unto them, Repent, and be baptized every one of you in the name of Jesus Christ for the remission of sins, and ye shall receive the gift of the Holy Ghost.

Acts 22:16  And now why tarriest thou? arise, and be baptized, and wash away thy sins, calling on the name of the Lord. 

What was my rather startling conclusion? Whatever these passages mean, whatever they teach about baptism, if my theology/doctrine doesn’t allow me to speak this way about baptism, doesn’t allow me to routinely quote them in reference to baptism or use them when inviting people to come to Christ, my view of baptism is not biblical.

Well, that was horrible

Dave and I went kayaking today. A trip that turned out, well horrible!

I picked the route: begin at the red dot on top and end at the red dot on the bottom. Second mis-pick in a row. Someone else needs to pick my next trip.

If someone says (or you think), “It can’t be that bad.” It will be worse.

The Edisto River has no current. We knew the high tide would have an impact on the first part of the trip, but we banked on the river’s current after high tide. There is no current. The first part of the trip, to Raccoon Island was like a lake. A lake with a current going upriver. As we rounded Raccoon Island we encountered strong head winds, which created a current upriver, and waves. You could not stop paddling. If you were close to shore (attempting to avoid the current) you were shoved into the marsh. If you were out from the shore, you immediately went backwards. After a while, Dave paddled up to me and said, “This is officially no longer any fun.” I responded, “Oh, the fun disappeared two hours ago!”

Things on the water are always further away than thfy look.

I confess, after a while my language got rather salty.

I officially and publicly thank Jesus that we made it. It was in doubt toward the end. I was so tired – tired? I was exhausted – I was not sure I could cross one more turbulent area. I was taking small steps, Let me just make it to that bunch of grass etc And my prayer was literally, Lord, give me enough strength to make it across the river…or send a boat close to me to pick me up!”

I took some photos but stopped after a while because the current was so strong. Here is our starting photo

No photo at the end, I was too tired. But a lady we did not know offered, "You boys look pooped." Yeah.

I made it. I am not going kayaking tomorrow. I almost didn’t even tie them onto the trailer. But I thought, It’s not their fault so I will…”

To sum it up, this did not go as I envisioned!! And boy did we get sunburned!