1 Peter 1:10-16

We are continuing to go through 1 Peter verse by verse.  The theme of 1 Peter: the salvation of our soul or mind is the revelation or revealing of Jesus Christ in and through us now.  The gospel declares that our sins have been forgiven.  That includes the sins of our entire lifetime, past, present and even future sins.  Jesus made one sacrifice 2000 years ago for the sins of every person.  This was for past as well as future generations and for our past sins as well as our future sins.  We must accept and receive this grace to be born again.  When we are born again, Jesus comes to live within us.  We are indwelt by God's Spirit.  He wants to reveal and express Himself through us.  For Him to be revealed through us, we have to learn to walk in holiness and love.  How can God, Who is love, be revealed in us if we are not walking in love?  This is really the theme of 1 Peter.    It is describing the process of spiritual maturity within the born again believer. 

1 Peter 1:10-12 "Of this salvation the prophets have inquired and searched carefully, who prophesied of the grace that would come to you, searching what, or what manner of time, the Spirit of Christ who was in them was indicating when He testified beforehand the sufferings of Christ and the glories that would follow. To them it was revealed that, not to themselves, but to us they were ministering the things which now have been reported to you through those who have preached the gospel to you by the Holy Spirit sent from heaven--things which angels desire to look into." 

The salvation that Peter is referring to is the revelation or revealing of Jesus Christ in and through us.  God wants a race of beings recreated in His image, born again, and expressing His love, joy and peace through each of them.  This is the salvation that Peter is declaring.  This is what Jesus died for, so that our sins are paid for and we are restored to relationship with Him.  This is the grace that was prophesied through the Old Testament that was to come to us.  This could not happen until Jesus came and rescued us, so it was not available for those under the Old Testament or Covenant.  Peter says it has now been reported to those of us under the New Testament or Covenant.  They preached the gospel by the Holy Spirit sent from heaven.  In other words, the Holy Spirit confirmed the preaching of the gospel with miracles, signs and wonders.  Jesus paid the penalty for our sins, so that brings us peace.  Jesus bore our sicknesses and carried away our diseases so that we don't have to be sick.  That leaves us well.  This is the gospel, and this is the message that the Holy Spirit confirms when people believe and act upon it. 

1 Peter 1:13-16 "Therefore gird up the loins of your mind, be sober, and rest your hope fully upon the grace that is to be brought to you at the revelation of Jesus Christ; as obedient children, not conforming yourselves to the former lusts, as in your ignorance; but as He who called you is holy, you also be holy in all your conduct, because it is written, "Be holy, for I am holy". 

Peter is telling us to gird up the loins of our mind or to change the way that we think.  The revelation of Jesus Christ that comes to us is not in the future when Christ returns for the church.  Grace is brought to us now when we recognize that Jesus has come to live in us and that He is to be revealed in and through us.  This requires us to change our thinking.  The apostle Paul used the phrase renewing our mind.  This is where spiritual growth begins, in our thought life.  We are born again.  Jesus comes to live in us.  Our spirit is made new.  Then we are to renew our minds, which will lead to change in our outward action.  This is the process of spiritual growth.  Notice that Peter says, "as obedient children, not conforming yourselves to the former lusts, as in your ignorance."  He has moved from talking about being born again as a newborn baby in Christ to becoming an obedient child.  How does this take place?  We renew our minds and begin to change our actions.  We no longer let our actions be guided by the lusts of the flesh.  The body is not yet redeemed, so it still contains lusts or desires.  1 Peter 2:11 tells us to abstain from fleshly lusts which war against the soul.  We see that Christ lives in us through our mind or soul.  But fleshly lusts war against that image of Christ in us.  We should abstain from fleshly lusts and walk in holiness.  That is beginning to allow the revelation of Jesus Christ in and through us.  That is the process of spiritual growth.
God declares that He is holy in verses 15 and 16.  For God to be revealed in and through us, we must be holy in our conduct, for He is holy.  Praise the Lord!  The same grace that teaches us that the sins of our entire lifetime are forgiven is the same grace that teaches us to walk in holiness.  Sin still causes us pain and hurts those around us.  God is love.  He wants us and those around us to experience His love, joy and peace.  He wants to express His love through us to others.  He can't do that if we persist in hurting ourselves and others by continuing in sin.  This is what Jesus meant in the parable of the sower and the seed, with the example of the seed sown among thorns.  We hear and receive the Gospel, the good news that our sins are forgiven.  But the cares of the world, the deceitfulness of riches, and the desires or lusts of the flesh enter in and choke the word of grace and it becomes unfruitful.  We don't experience the love, joy and peace that we are meant to because we get caught up in sin and other distractions. So it really is the grace of God that leads us into holiness.

In verses 17 through 22, the three members of the Godhead, the Father, Jesus, and the Holy Spirit are spoken of.  Their functions in the plan of redemption are expounded upon more clearly from 1 Peter 1:2.  Remember God the Father planned the plan of redemption from the foundation of the world before we even existed.  The blood of Jesus Christ was shed or sprinkled for the redemption of the sins of mankind.  The Holy Spirit is the One Who reveals the plan and leads us into maturity through obedience.  Remember, our salvation is not determined by our works, but according to His grace through the shed blood of Jesus.  But our obedience is required for us to grow spiritually.  I know that some people who have come to understand grace don't seem to like the word obedience.  Our spirit is made perfect when we are born again.  But our mind and body are not.  For God to express Himself in and through us, it requires our obedience to the leading of the Holy Spirit.  Sanctification of our spirit is instant when we are born again.  Sanctification of our mind and our actions is a process.  We will expound on this idea in the next lesson and finish the 1 chapter of 1 Peter.

Keith Oliver