Category: 1 Peter

“This letter is from Peter, an apostle of Jesus Christ. I am writing to God’s chosen people who are living as foreigners in the provinces of Pontus, Galatia, Cappadocia, Asia, and Bithynia. God the Father knew you and chose you long ago, and his Spirit has made you holy. As a result, you have obeyed him and have been cleansed by the blood of Jesus Christ. May God give you more and more grace and peace.”

Those of you who have been reading Freedom For Today for a while will know Peter well from our Luke/Acts series. He was the impulsive disciple, by Jesus’ side more than just about anyone else, who turned into the bold and outspoken apostle. Peter doesn’t mince words now that he fully understands his mission (something he may have been confused about a time or two when Jesus was still on earth).

In these first verses of Peter’s first letter to the early Christians scattered throughout the Middle East and Asia, he doesn’t waste any time jumping into some complex theology. He lists five key truths that are too important to gloss over: God knew you long ago, he chose you, his Spirit has made you holy, you have obeyed in following Christ, and your sins have been cleansed. Gospel message in a sentence.

Here’s your freedom for today: God is on a mission to set you free. He knows you. He knows his church. He chose human beings to be his image-bearers and rise up to follow him. When you receive the Holy Spirit, you are made holy because his Spirit dwells inside you. Your body becomes his temple. In that temple, just as was true in the Jewish Temple, sins are cleansed through the offering of a sacrifice. Jesus became that sacrifice for all of us, which is why we no longer have to go to a priest with animals to be killed on our behalf. God has given us grace and peace. He wants to give you more and more of it. Walk in the freedom of his new measures of grace and peace today.

“All praise to God, the Father of our Lord Jesus Christ. It is by his great mercy that we have been born again, because God raised Jesus Christ from the dead. Now we live with great expectation, and we have a priceless inheritance—an inheritance that is kept in heaven for you, pure and undefiled, beyond the reach of change and decay. And through your faith, God is protecting you by his power until you receive this salvation, which is ready to be revealed on the last day for all to see.”

Peter refers to a concept of being “born again,” words that are used several times in the New Testament but have been culturalized in some negative ways in American society. What does it mean to be “born again”? This was the exact question of Nicodemus in John 3, and Jesus describes a new kind of birth through the Holy Spirit. We now understand this more clearly in a post-Pentecost world as we know that every believer personally receives the Holy Spirit as a guarantee of salvation. It is your birth into the kingdom of God that is possible through Jesus’ resurrection.

When we are born into God’s kingdom, we become heirs to a great inheritance. God is keeping it safe for us and will reveal this prize on the last day. The world will know the one true God and every knee will bow to him in worship. In the famous book Great Expectations, a woman lives for years wearing her wedding dress after her wedding is called off. We live in clothes of mercy, kindness, gentleness, and patience as we wait with great expectation for a celebration that will continue for all eternity.

Here’s your freedom for today: God has written you into his will. He isn’t going to die, but he has a great inheritance he wants to share with you. And his will is not a legal paper, but it is the ultimate desire of the most powerful God and King. You are in his will, your salvation and eternal life is in his will. But he is not a dictator. He is announcing here well in advance of the end of the world that he has this inheritance for you. He has invited you to follow him and to enter into his kingdom through a birth like no other. Just come to him to claim your true identity as a co-heir with Jesus.

“So be truly glad. There is wonderful joy ahead, even though you must endure many trials for a little while. These trials will show that your faith is genuine. It is being tested as fire tests and purifies gold—though your faith is far more precious than mere gold. So when your faith remains strong through many trials, it will bring you much praise and glory and honor on the day when Jesus Christ is revealed to the whole world.”

God doesn’t do fake happy. You know, the smile you put on when someone says, “How are you?” and you say “good” as you keep walking? God has a depth of gladness for you that is supernatural. You know it’s not from this world because it is the result of going through trials. Wait, what? Deep gladness? From trials? As I said, it is supernatural.

Satan is out to prove that your faith is fake. We see this in the Bible with Job — Satan essentially made a bet with God that Job would turn on Him the second his life wasn’t working out for him. Fortunately, Job’s faith stood the test and God was sure to reward his incredibly enduring faith. What exactly is it that we are going for in this faith-walk of ours? A share in the glory of Christ.

Here’s your freedom for today: let your faith count for something. Anyone can praise God when life is going well. Anyone can love the people who are nice to them. Anyone can go to church or read their Bible or pray when life is going along smoothly. It’s when we are tested that our faith actually means something (or doesn’t). If you are going through a hard time right now, fight for your faith. Cling to your faith. Don’t let Satan think for one second he can pry it out of your hands or out of your life. The hope of Jesus is the only hope there is. Don’t lose it in the midst of a battle, guard it with everything you’ve got.

“You love him even though you have never seen him. Though you do not see him now, you trust him; and you rejoice with a glorious, inexpressible joy. The reward for trusting him will be the salvation of your souls.”

These verses make me want to weep with joy. Here is Peter, someone who was very much aware of his privilege in personally knowing Jesus face-to-face, writing to those who did not get to share in that experience. You can feel his deep appreciation and admiration for those who love Jesus even without having ever met him. Just think about that for a minute. I love Jesus and I have never seen him in person. I ask myself why that is. How is that possible?

If we keep reading, Peter reminds us of the reason: we trust him. Because Jesus sent the Holy Spirit, we very much do know him even though we have never met face-to-face. In fact, Jesus told Peter and the other disciples that it was better for him to leave earth and a physical body so that he could be personally present to everyone at once through the Holy Spirit. We have Jesus imprinted on our souls and we carry him in our minds. He talks to us and leads us, and carries us all the way to our salvation.

Here’s your freedom for today: Jesus is trustworthy. There are a lot of people who are not trustworthy, and maybe you’ve been hurt by some of them. Imagine the incredible peace and joy and love you would experience in relationship with someone who you knew would never betray you. Never lead you astray. Never abandon you. That is Jesus. We don’t need to see him in person to love him, because his work in our lives is clear. He knows what he’s doing.

“This salvation was something even the prophets wanted to know more about when they prophesied about this gracious salvation prepared for you. They wondered what time or situation the Spirit of Christ within them was talking about when he told them in advance about Christ’s suffering and his great glory afterward. They were told that their messages were not for themselves, but for you. And now this Good News has been announced to you by those who preached in the power of the Holy Spirit sent from heaven. It is all so wonderful that even the angels are eagerly watching these things happen.”

The salvation we have through Jesus is historically new. When we think back to the prophets, we think of the greats — Isaiah, Jeremiah, Micah along with Elijah and Elisha. So many amazing messengers of God who endured so much struggle. Prophetic life was dangerous and lonely. What we have today through the gift of the Holy Spirit, sent after Jesus returned to Heaven, is something they could only wonder about. They saw it, felt it, knew it deep in their souls, but they did not experience it quite like we do.

Together as post-Pentecost, end-times believers we share a power like the world had not seen before. 2,000 years seems like a long time, but in the big picture of human history it is the tail end of a very long story of struggle, confusion, and wondering. God was with his people, but he lived in a tent (called the tabernacle). Today, your heart is the tent in which God dwells. He’s camping out in the depth of your soul.

Here’s your freedom for today: you are part of a story that has been unfolding for thousands of years. The prophets, the angels, all of human history was on the edge of their seats waiting for these times. Salvation offered to the whole world, not just to the Jewish people. God himself coming to dwell in, around, and through his people. God inhabits you when you open the door to Jesus. And more accurately, he inhabits us as the church, bringing about an ending so glorious we can only wonder about what is to come. In that way, we can relate to the prophets who could only imagine the coming of Christ. Here we sit in that same place, waiting for his second arrival. Get busy, it could be soon.