Day 30—1 Peter 1:3-5

 ³ Praise be to the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ! In his great mercy he has given us new birth into a living hope through the resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead, ⁴ and into an inheritance that can never perish, spoil or fade. This inheritance is kept in heaven for you, ⁵ who through faith are shielded by God’s power until the coming of the salvation that is ready to be revealed in the last time.

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I debated this morning on what verse would be the best to end this “30 Days of Salvation” study.  There are so many verses that discuss God’s salvation and narrowing them down to “the best” verse proved in the end to be an impossible task.  With that said, the verse I chose today comes from Peter’s first letter, the letter written to “God’s elect, strangers in the world, scattered…”  Since I count myself and all other disciples of Jesus among the strangers in this world, it seemed fitting to end this study in this place.

As I said before, in this letter, Peter encourages his readers to stay strong in their faith, to do what is good and holy and pleasing to God.  He reassures them of their salvation in Jesus who hold all authority, and in who is found true life. 

Peter encapsulates the gospel message in today’s text, almost like a daily pill that can be swallowed by the scattered disciples of Jesus to keep their strength in the midst of their suffering.  Look at it broken down:

• Praise be to the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ!
• In his great mercy
• he has given us new birth
• into a living hope
• through the resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead, and
• into an inheritance that can never
  • perish,
  • spoil or
  • fade.
• This inheritance is kept in heaven for you,
• who through faith are shielded by God’s power until the coming of the salvation that is ready to be revealed in the last time.

There are past, present, and future aspects to this verse that I love. 

Presently, we praise God and recognize his great mercy.  We can also presently understand and own our present new birth (life).  We can hope today with assurance because of what God has done in the past with Jesus, specifically his rising; and what he has done with us as well, specifically our rising.

For the future, we can hope for an inheritance of God.  How exciting is that!  It’s waiting for us.  It’s cemented in, sealed and preserved for us, just waiting.  It won’t perish, spoil, or fade like the things of this world.  Peter is talking about eternal things we should put our hope in, not things in this world.  We see stuff all around us that will all fade away.  Life as we know it here on earth will perish.  All things on earth will be only a memory one day.  But our inheritance, our eternal heavenly inheritance, will remain intact forever.

Is there anything more secure than the shield of God?  There is no battle, no opposition, no earthly anything that can penetrate the powerful shield of God.  It’s his shield that protects us and keeps us strong in times of turbulence and despair.  We hide behind him.  He is our front line and a warrior for us. 

What would I do without God’s defense?  Surely I would crumble on the Day of Judgment when all men will face him.  But I, as well as every person who has fully given their life to God and abide in the name of Jesus, will stand strong on that Day because he will make me (us) strong.  I only hope that more people (and my wish is for all people) will come to trust in God and in his Son/Messiah Jesus, so on that great day they too will see God come to their defense and fulfill his plan of salvation in them.

Some Final Personal Notes

As I said above, this is the final day in this “30 Days of Salvation” study.  I admit, this was study has been a blessing and a burden for me at the same time.  It has been a blessing for me when finding understanding and conviction regarding what God has done for me personally.  Also, discussing this study with others who are working through this important information has been very encouraging.  Those who have commented on this Blog, through Facebook, and in person have enriched my life with their insight.  I’ve truly grown during this study in my own knowledge of Scripture, and my heart has grown with desire for others to share what I have—that is the knowledge of salvation and salvation itself.  This study has been an enormous blessing to me in many ways.

However, this study has also been a burden for me as I could never fully leave the study alone.  It seemed to be on my mind instantly when I woke up each morning, and the last thing I thought about when retiring to bed.  I have carried this study around in my mind all day and everywhere I went for the last thirty days.  Don’t get me wrong, I’m not claiming to be a special hobbit!  I’m just saying it will be nice to sit and watch the Olympics without wondering about the “renewal of the Holy Spirit” or some other salvation topic…well, at least for a little while! 

This study has also been a burden for me in my search for truth.  I hope my discussions of the chosen texts have been truthful and right.  I want to be right just like anyone else, but I know I am not perfect, nor am I special with special insight.  I do know that I have been honest and what I wrote each day was from my heart.  I don’t know if what I wrote shook anyone’s faith or encouraged anyone’s faith, but that was not my concern (although I hope both happened!).  My concern was truth and real understanding of the salvation God presented in the Bible. 

With that said, here are some observations I made on day twenty, along with some additional observations, that I believe have stood true to the end.

1. Salvation is God’s loving plan, initiated and carried out by him and through his son Jesus.  (John 3:16-21)
2. You must believe in Jesus in order to be saved.  (John 8:21-30)
3. Salvation is only found in the name of Jesus.  (Acts 4:8-14)
4. It is through faith and only by the grace of God that we are made righteous, not by any works that we can do. (Romans 4:1-12; Ephesians 2:1-10)
5. Jesus commands that his disciples are baptized in the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Spirit.  (Matthew 28:16-20)
6. The apostles demanded that believers are baptized in the name of Jesus.
7. Baptism is when a disciple of Jesus…
   1. calls on the name of the Lord  (Acts 2:32-41)
   2. pledges his heart to the Lord  (1 Peter 2:18-22)
   3. devotes his life to the Lord  (Acts 2:32-41; Romans 6:1-14)
   4. establishes a covenant relationship with the Lord (through the ceremony) by dying “to sin”, symbolically (and possibly spiritually) joining Jesus in his burial, death, and resurrection  (Romans 6:1-14)
   5. is the “new circumcision”  (Colossians 2:6-15)
   6. washes his sins away  (Acts 9:1-19; 22:3-21)
   7. opens the door wide for the renewal by the Holy Spirit  (Titus 3:1-8; 2 Corinthians 1:18-24))
8. God will make us stand on the Day of Judgment by his own power.  (1 Peter 1:3-5)

May God bless our continual study of his bible and his salvation.

And may we never stop sharing this good news of God with others.

God, we can only praise you.