The Beginning, Middle, and End of Salvation - 1 Peter 1:2
Pastor Tim Brown, Calvary Chapel Fremont, Sunday July 5, 2009
The beginning, middle, and end of salvation
1 Peter 1:2
Peter is writing to believers who are in a tight spot - living among people who don’t like them/in circumstances that are less than favorable. They look around and they are eyed w/ suspicion & hostility. P: in looking around, don’t forget to look at the God above you/God who dwells within you/God who goes before you.
Peter shows us full work of God in v2. We see: Father/Spirit/Son. Many have questions about the Trinity and really strain their brains to get a grip on how God can be one in three persons. The Trinity isn’t a problem to be solved, but a glorious mystery to be embraced. The Bible is full of magnificent mysteries to enjoy:
Creation ex nihilo | predictive prophecy | incarnation | atonement. If faith cannot exceed understanding, we’d never get past Gen. 1:1.
V2: work of the Trinity in bringing us to/keeping us in salvation
Beginning: The Father made a choice to set you apart
Middle: The Holy Spirit works in you to set you apart
End: You have a choice to live a life set apart unto the Son
Many commentators state that what Peter outlines in v2 pertains only to salvation: God made a choice that we be saved and the Spirit works to bring us Jesus. But far more than salvation is in view here – as we saw last week. Not only does the foreknowledge of God include election, but rejection/ejection, too. Your whole Christian life is foreknown, laid out before God – not just your salvation, but your trials/troubles/tribulations. Throughout your Christian life the Holy Spirit is working in you that you may daily obey Jesus Christ and continually be sprinkled w/ His blood.
Four elements are at play here: the foreknowledge of God | the work of the Holy Spirit | the blood of Christ | the obedience of man.
The Father/Son/Spirit have done something/now you are to do something. What role does God’s sovereignty/man’s free will play in salvation? We’re not going to reconcile God’s sovereignty and man’s free will. We don’t need to reconcile friends. Both are true and both are active and both need to be taken into consideration.
OT background: Ex. 24:3-8. The altar represents God – the blood sprinkled on the altar is the same blood sprinkled on the people – there is an unbreakable bond – they share the same life. The blood offered to God, covered the people when they submitted to God. The Holy Spirit is bringing you to the obedience of faith – to the place of trust/submission/sprinkling – not just at beginning, but throughout your life of following Jesus.
the beginning is the foreknowledge of God the Father -
What is foreknown is not just election, but also rejection/ejection – not just beginning, but full course. Cf. John 21:18-19. Jesus foretold the death whereby Peter would glorify God. This provides key - we think that by living a life of joy/prosperity - by pointing to the good things that God has done we will glorify God. But it is also by the hard, unpleasant things that are forced upon us, that we are to glorify God. P knew that during his life of obeying Jesus, unpleasant circumstances would be forced upon him. His task wasn’t to flee the unpleasant circumstances, but to obey Jesus and glorify God through them. quo vadis. Even the hard experiences are by the foreknowledge of God. He knows all that is coming upon U.
Peter had some things forced upon him and he is writing to those who had some things being forced upon them. And whatever is being forced upon you right now is by the foreknowledge of God. You are to live separated unto God, obey Jesus, and glorify God in it. God knows right where U R/what U R going through - many Bible men and women have walked this path.
* Before your deliverance, God is working your obedience.
Joseph was elected (dreams) rejected/ejected/exalted
David was elected (anointing) rejected/ejected/exalted
Jesus was elected (before foundations…) rejected/ejected/exalted
* Rejected by man/chosen by God | Scattered to minimize influence, but influence actually increased because of obedience to Jesus. Their rejection by man helped to fulfill the purpose of their election by God. Cf. Joseph, David, Jesus … God overruled the hostility of man – to His glory. Will you obey/glorify whatever?
the middle is the Sanctifying work of the Holy Spirit
This describes how God works His will. Sanctifying is the setting apart work of the Holy Spirit/transforming work of the Holy Spirit. He removes/renews. In all the things you are going through, God the Holy Spirit is calling you to live a life set apart from the values of the day and a life where the life of Jesus is being worked into you. But w/o a removed life you can’t live a renewed life.
the end is to Obey Jesus Christ and be sprinkled w/ His blood
The Holy Spirit is working in your life to bring you to that place where you will obey Jesus and follow Jesus – the Holy Spirit is all about Jesus. The Holy Spirit has set you apart to obey Jesus and be sprinkled daily w/ His blood. Lev. 17:11, 14. Life is in the blood. This just doesn’t describe the beginning of your life of following Jesus, it describes the full course of a spiritual life. I need to obey Christ daily and I need to be cleansed by His blood daily.
…if we walk in the Light as He Himself is in the Light, we have fellowship with one another, and the blood of Jesus His Son cleanses us from all sin. 1 John 1:7
* Grace and peace be yours in fullest measure = be multiplied for you
o No peace w/o grace
o Not a one time experience, but a growth in both
James Hewett tells about his son, who was using one of those super-adhesive glues on a model airplane he was building. "In less than three minutes his right index finger was bonded to a wing. He tried to free it. He tugged/pulled/waved it frantically - but couldn't work his finger free." A solvent did the job and ended the moment of crisis. He then writes: "Last night I remembered that scene when I visited a new family in our neighborhood. The father introduced his children: 'This is Pete. He's the clumsy one of the lot.' 'That's Kathy coming in with mud on her shoes. She's the sloppy one.' 'As always, Mike is last. He'll be late for his own funeral, I promise you.'" Hewett writes, "The dad did a thorough job of gluing his children to their faults/ mistakes. People do it to us all the time. They remind us of our failures/errors/sins, and they won't let us live them down. Like my son trying frantically to free his finger from the plane, there are people who try, sometimes desperately, to free themselves from their past. They would love a chance to begin again. When we don't let people forget their past, when we don't forgive, we glue them to their mistakes and refuse to see them as more than something they have done. However, when we forgive, we gently pry the doer of the hurtful deed from the deed itself, and we say that the past is just that--the past--over and done with . . ."
Jesus Christ has come to free you from your sin and your past life. Wherever you are stuck, Christ can free you and bring you to the place of the obedience of faith and being sprinkled w/ His blood – to multiply grace and peace to you.
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The beginning, middle, and end of salvation
1 Peter 1:2
Peter is writing to believers who are in a tight spot - living among people who don’t like them/in circumstances that are less than favorable. They look around and they are eyed w/ suspicion & hostility. P: in looking around, don’t forget to look at the God above you/God who dwells within you/God who goes before you.
Peter shows us full work of God in v2. We see: Father/Spirit/Son. Many have questions about the Trinity and really strain their brains to get a grip on how God can be one in three persons. The Trinity isn’t a problem to be solved, but a glorious mystery to be embraced. The Bible is full of magnificent mysteries to enjoy:
Creation ex nihilo | predictive prophecy | incarnation | atonement. If faith cannot exceed understanding, we’d never get past Gen. 1:1.
V2: work of the Trinity in bringing us to/keeping us in salvation
Beginning: The Father made a choice to set you apart
Middle: The Holy Spirit works in you to set you apart
End: You have a choice to live a life set apart unto the Son
Many commentators state that what Peter outlines in v2 pertains only to salvation: God made a choice that we be saved and the Spirit works to bring us Jesus. But far more than salvation is in view here – as we saw last week. Not only does the foreknowledge of God include election, but rejection/ejection, too. Your whole Christian life is foreknown, laid out before God – not just your salvation, but your trials/troubles/tribulations. Throughout your Christian life the Holy Spirit is working in you that you may daily obey Jesus Christ and continually be sprinkled w/ His blood.
Four elements are at play here: the foreknowledge of God | the work of the Holy Spirit | the blood of Christ | the obedience of man.
The Father/Son/Spirit have done something/now you are to do something. What role does God’s sovereignty/man’s free will play in salvation? We’re not going to reconcile God’s sovereignty and man’s free will. We don’t need to reconcile friends. Both are true and both are active and both need to be taken into consideration.
OT background: Ex. 24:3-8. The altar represents God – the blood sprinkled on the altar is the same blood sprinkled on the people – there is an unbreakable bond – they share the same life. The blood offered to God, covered the people when they submitted to God. The Holy Spirit is bringing you to the obedience of faith – to the place of trust/submission/sprinkling – not just at beginning, but throughout your life of following Jesus.
the beginning is the foreknowledge of God the Father -
What is foreknown is not just election, but also rejection/ejection – not just beginning, but full course. Cf. John 21:18-19. Jesus foretold the death whereby Peter would glorify God. This provides key - we think that by living a life of joy/prosperity - by pointing to the good things that God has done we will glorify God. But it is also by the hard, unpleasant things that are forced upon us, that we are to glorify God. P knew that during his life of obeying Jesus, unpleasant circumstances would be forced upon him. His task wasn’t to flee the unpleasant circumstances, but to obey Jesus and glorify God through them. quo vadis. Even the hard experiences are by the foreknowledge of God. He knows all that is coming upon U.
Peter had some things forced upon him and he is writing to those who had some things being forced upon them. And whatever is being forced upon you right now is by the foreknowledge of God. You are to live separated unto God, obey Jesus, and glorify God in it. God knows right where U R/what U R going through - many Bible men and women have walked this path.
* Before your deliverance, God is working your obedience.
Joseph was elected (dreams) rejected/ejected/exalted
David was elected (anointing) rejected/ejected/exalted
Jesus was elected (before foundations…) rejected/ejected/exalted
* Rejected by man/chosen by God | Scattered to minimize influence, but influence actually increased because of obedience to Jesus. Their rejection by man helped to fulfill the purpose of their election by God. Cf. Joseph, David, Jesus … God overruled the hostility of man – to His glory. Will you obey/glorify whatever?
the middle is the Sanctifying work of the Holy Spirit
This describes how God works His will. Sanctifying is the setting apart work of the Holy Spirit/transforming work of the Holy Spirit. He removes/renews. In all the things you are going through, God the Holy Spirit is calling you to live a life set apart from the values of the day and a life where the life of Jesus is being worked into you. But w/o a removed life you can’t live a renewed life.
the end is to Obey Jesus Christ and be sprinkled w/ His blood
The Holy Spirit is working in your life to bring you to that place where you will obey Jesus and follow Jesus – the Holy Spirit is all about Jesus. The Holy Spirit has set you apart to obey Jesus and be sprinkled daily w/ His blood. Lev. 17:11, 14. Life is in the blood. This just doesn’t describe the beginning of your life of following Jesus, it describes the full course of a spiritual life. I need to obey Christ daily and I need to be cleansed by His blood daily.
…if we walk in the Light as He Himself is in the Light, we have fellowship with one another, and the blood of Jesus His Son cleanses us from all sin. 1 John 1:7
* Grace and peace be yours in fullest measure = be multiplied for you
o No peace w/o grace
o Not a one time experience, but a growth in both
James Hewett tells about his son, who was using one of those super-adhesive glues on a model airplane he was building. "In less than three minutes his right index finger was bonded to a wing. He tried to free it. He tugged/pulled/waved it frantically - but couldn't work his finger free." A solvent did the job and ended the moment of crisis. He then writes: "Last night I remembered that scene when I visited a new family in our neighborhood. The father introduced his children: 'This is Pete. He's the clumsy one of the lot.' 'That's Kathy coming in with mud on her shoes. She's the sloppy one.' 'As always, Mike is last. He'll be late for his own funeral, I promise you.'" Hewett writes, "The dad did a thorough job of gluing his children to their faults/ mistakes. People do it to us all the time. They remind us of our failures/errors/sins, and they won't let us live them down. Like my son trying frantically to free his finger from the plane, there are people who try, sometimes desperately, to free themselves from their past. They would love a chance to begin again. When we don't let people forget their past, when we don't forgive, we glue them to their mistakes and refuse to see them as more than something they have done. However, when we forgive, we gently pry the doer of the hurtful deed from the deed itself, and we say that the past is just that--the past--over and done with . . ."
Jesus Christ has come to free you from your sin and your past life. Wherever you are stuck, Christ can free you and bring you to the place of the obedience of faith and being sprinkled w/ His blood – to multiply grace and peace to you.
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