From the Bible – 1 Peter 1:3-5
“Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ! According to his great mercy, he has caused us to be born again to a living hope through the resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead, to an inheritance that is imperishable, undefiled, and unfading, kept in heaven for you, who by God’s power are being guarded through faith for a salvation ready to be revealed in the last time.” – 1 Peter 1:3-5
Looking Forward
When I was a kid, I would get excited whenever I knew that something really great was coming up. I would get excited for birthday parties, for vacations, for field trips, and other special events. And it simply makes sense. It’s right for us to get excited when we receive good news, and when we have something to look forward to.
At the beginning of Peter’s first letter, here, he can’t hold back his excitement. Specifically, Peter is excited because he has received a new birth – a new life. Now, sometimes when people talk about having a new life, it just means that they’re getting a fresh start on life. They may simply mean that they’re starting a new relationship, or a new job, or they’re approaching life with a new attitude. Certainly, when someone receives Christ by faith there’s a new relationship, a new vocation, and a new attitude that’s gained for life, but Peter isn’t referring to any of these things here.
New Birth From Heaven
Peter is speaking about a new birth that’s more profound and potent. “… [H]e has caused us to be born again to a living hope through the resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead.” Peter has been born into a living hope – a hope of real life. Though Peter recognizes that his body will, for the time being, die and decay physically (history confirms that this happened), at the same time he knows that death won’t have the final word. A literal resurrection is coming.
Peter also recognizes that those who experience the coming resurrection won’t be raised into a life of homelessness or poverty. Rather, God has an inheritance prepared that’s being preserved for them in heaven. This inheritance is imperishable (it won’t end), undefiled (it won’t be corrupted), and unfading (it won’t ever diminish in glory).
This is undoubtedly because a substantial part of our inheritance is that we are able to have God himself as our great treasure, since Christ has put away our sin through his self-sacrifice on the cross. This suggests that our hearts will find their utmost happiness here – inheriting God and his promises when heaven and earth are brought together. Our happiness will likewise be endless, incorruptible, and never-diminishing.
Will I Miss Out on Heaven?
Notice, though, we don’t have this inheritance in our hands right now. We don’t see it visibly. Until it’s revealed from heaven, we will be waiting for it. In the meantime, we’re bombarded by the pressures of daily life and the countless temptations to respond to these pressures with anger, fear, annoyance, self-reliance, and despair. We’re constantly in danger of forgetting about God and his promises, and setting our hope on lesser lords that are unable to keep their promises. If we aren’t watchful, we may say all the “right words” and do all the “right things,” and yet still deny Christ and his power in our hearts (Matthew 7:21-23, 2 Timothy 3:5).
So how will we endure as Christians, and ultimately take hold of the promised inheritance? Look carefully at verse 5, which explains that these Christians “… by God’s power are being guarded through faith for a salvation ready to be revealed in the last time.”
The Power that Secures Heaven For Us
So when Christians cross the finish line on the final day and receive the crown of their salvation, what will we say enabled them to endure? Will we say that it was God’s power? Or will we say that it was their faith? If we’re going to be faithful to Scripture, we need to realize here that it would be wrong for us to choose between the two. It isn’t either-or, but both-and. Both God’s power and an individual’s faith are at play in the endurance of a Christian.
This is because faith is something that God graciously works in His people when he causes them to be born again. The Holy Spirit of God is the one who causes this rebirth (John 3:3-8; Titus 3:5), and this act functionally brings a sinner from spiritual deadness to spiritual life. This powerful working of God frees the human will from its bondage to sin and reorients their will to choose and trust in Christ as Lord. This act of the will to choose and trust in Christ as Lord is what we know as faith, and God is the one who exercises his power to both grant us this faith and to sustain us in it.
If faith rested entirely on my own goodness (which is non-existent apart from Christ) or my own self-motivation (which is questionable at best), then my salvation would not be secure. This is because I’m a finite creature who is subject to change. My hands may grow stronger or weaker. My intellect may grow sharper or duller. My emotions may ebb and flow. If the only thing guarding me for salvation was me and my own ability, then, the security of my salvation would also be subject to change. I’d be uncertain whether heaven would really be my destination.
But the text says that God’s power is keeping me, and the tool he’s using to keep me is my faith. Though my faith genuinely exists, and it is genuinely my faith that’s involved in guarding me, the power that guards me ultimately isn’t my power, or the potency of my faith. My security rests on the power of Him who does not change. The result is that everyone who fully leans on Jesus Christ for salvation, by faith, is truly secure. So let your faith be active – embrace God’s truth and live it out – even as you rely on God’s power and live in him.
Looking for Something New?
Do you know the joy of being born again to a living hope? Have you been set free from the fear of death? Are you looking ahead to a heavenly inheritance where you can enjoy God’s goodness and pleasurableness forever? Is your faith resting securely in the unchanging power of God to keep you? If not, I’d love to help you learn more!
