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1 PETER CHAPTER 1 KJV WEB 1Pet 1-1,2 (218k) Sovereignty >> God overrides the will of man >> The elect >> Man is a spectator of his own salvation >> We are chosen before the foundation of the world (219h) Predestination (Key verse) – Predestination is definitely a reality in the Scriptures, but the contemporary interpretation of John Calvin's irresistible grace is not. People asserting his position now speak about predestination in terms of man’s will being excluded. This is exemplar of focusing on certain aspects of the gospel to the exclusion of everything else, which is not how we study Scripture. Calvinists have concluded that the grace of God is all about God and nothing about man, as though we played no roll in the equation of salvation, when the Bible teaches just the opposite. God wants us involved in His grace so He can reward us in heaven, also to condemn Satan. The devil is likely a Calvinist; he probably believes in irresistible rebellion, because it would explain why it was impossible for him to resist the temptation to assault God’s throne, thus relieving him of guilt. Like the Unrighteous Steward (Lk 16,1-8) he taught man to believe in irresistible grace, so the things we don’t do for Christ are not our fault. Thus, through Calvinism we escape accountability with God, as though it were His fault we did nothing for Him. An opposing subject to Hyper-Calvinism is: Working (with) the Grace of God (114a). See also: Predestination; 220c / Foreknowledge versus predestination; Jn 7-30; 214d (220c) Sovereignty >> God overrides the will of man >> Predestination >> Predestined according to His foreknowledge – Being chosen according to the foreknowledge of God is the best way to understand the concept of predestination, though some of the greatest scholars cannot avoid getting lost in the swirling ideas of this ethereal subject. Adding the word “foreknowledge” helps come to terms with predestination, and clarifies just how God predestines us. We are not robots. No one likes the idea of being predestined to certain things, that no matter what we do it was pre-decided. Fortunately, predestination doesn't work that way. The false notion of predestination bears the connotation of God forcing our hand, whereas foreknowledge shows Him watching things unfold as He knew they would occur. We can accept and even be comforted by a God who knows the future, yet even this has implications that are difficult for some. For example, what about suffering and evil? The fact that God knows about these things in advance and does nothing to stop them seems to add salt to our wounds, but we forget that God is also a free agent, and He has decided not to be man's referee for some very good reasons. For example, protecting us from harm would cause Him to force other people's hand, turning them into robots. God has designed us all as free agents, including His enemies. Instead, God has chosen faith to be His referee, which allows evil to exist without marring His reputation in the minds of His saints who believe in Him, even those who are martyred for their faith. God foreknew how far each of us would walk with Him, and He also knows about the rest of the world who cannot accept Him by faith would not accept Him under any circumstances, no matter what He did to accommodate them. So, man’s rebellion plays the opposite role of faith, introducing chaos to His creation in effort to sabotage God’s plan and purpose. However, the system that God has established cannot be sabotaged or manipulated, for He uses evil just as He uses good to perfect His people through faith. However, none of this addresses the biggest problem of predestination, which is hell. Why did God make certain people if He knew beforehand that they would choose not to serve Him and lose their souls to eternal damnation? This conundrum seems to convict God of sin in the minds of some people. Instead of serving Him to avoid hell, many reject Him to secure their place in the eternal flames, and according to some people's thinking God has already made that decision for them. They think that hell should not exist, that there is no evil great enough that anyone should deserve eternal punishment, but the assumption they are making is that they know God, when in fact they are going to hell for the very opposite reason, because they don't know Him. Hell exists because of the nature of God; He is greater than anyone can imagine, and He made a universe to prove it, and to reject Him in the face of so much evidence deserves a place like hell. To those who hate God, after Jesus bled and died for their sins, proving His eternal love and good intention and lavishing His eternal gifts and blessings on mankind, after rejecting His love His presence is worse than hell, suggesting that hell is a place of mercy away from His presence for "the cowardly and unbelieving and abominable and murderers and immoral persons and sorcerers and idolaters and all liars" (Rev 21-8). See also: Predestination; 219h / Hell (Presence of God is worse than hell to the wicked); 2Jn-2; 238g / Suffering evil fuels the anointing; Gal 2-20; 210b / Foreknowledge versus predestination; Jn 7-30; 214d 1Pet 1-1 (105l) Thy kingdom come >> Faith >> Led by the Spirit into the wilderness >> Wilderness of safety -- This verse goes with verses 6&7. We Christians reside in the world as aliens; we are a peculiar people (1Pet 2-9), not of another planet, but of another kingdom, one that is completely foreign to this world. We are aliens of a foreign land, as in Abraham’s case, the sojourner, who is the father of our faith, who also sought the same kingdom that we are seeking. Although the earth is our home, the world is not. We are born citizens of the earth; but when we received Christ, we were born into another Kingdom, and we have a new King: Jesus Christ. KJV WEB / Navigation Bar 1Pet 1-2 (37h) Judgment >> Judgment of God >> Redemption of man >> His blood delivered us from destruction -- This verse goes with verse 7 (80l) Thy kingdom come >> Prayer >> The priesthood >> Jesus ministered to people through His ministry toward God (87e) Thy kingdom come >> Ministry to God through obedience >> Seeking the glory of God (115ja) Thy kingdom come >> Faith >> Working the grace of God >> Through obedience of faith >> Through determination >> Determined to be set apart from the world – God sanctifies us through obedience. There are two things happening at the same time: God predestines us for glory through the sanctifying work of the cross, while we contribute obedience to His sanctification, setting us apart from the world. It’s not just God working in us, and it’s not just we striving to do the will of God; it's both He and us working together to accomplish salvation in this life for the sake of the life to come (v5). (132c) Temple >> Your body is the temple of God >> Holy Spirit is in God’s people >> Spirit of God in the spirit of man >> Spirit gives access to the Father through Christ -- This verse goes with verse 11 (191l) Die to self (Process of substitution) >> Result of putting off the old man >> Set apart >> Set apart by the Holy Spirit (255f) Trinity >> Father, Son and Holy Spirit >> The process of imparting the substance of God >> Father discloses the Word by the Spirit 1Pet 1,3-7 (249ga) Priorities >> God’ s preeminence >> Wealth >> True perception of wealth >> The infinite and eternal wealth of God >> God’s perception of wealth >> Our blessed hope of eternal life -- These verses go with verses 18&19. We value our faith, but we don’t usually consider it more precious than gold, but when we consider how hard we work to foster its sincerity and observe its rarity in the world, we should consider faith more precious than gold. Gold and silver have been used as money since the beginning of time, so Peter is saying that our faith is more precious than money. God doesn’t value money, though He infinitely values our faith, in that the Father is the very embodiment of faith. That is, there is a physical equivalent of faith, and God is made of it, and when we see Him, we will then realize that faith is more substantive than gold. As a result, we will inherit a resurrected body that will be just as spiritual as physical, just like God the Father who also has a body, and His body is made of faith. See also: Father's physical form; 1Pet 1-3; 254g / God's substance is faith; 1Jn 4-12; 55e 1Pet 1-3,4 (13f) Servant >> Serve the body >> Promoting its health >> Servant is anointed – After Jesus rose from the dead He breathed on His disciples and said, “Receive the Holy Spirit” (Jn 20-22); this is when they were born-again, and it happened between His resurrection and His ascension. Then Pentecost came as the second tier in God’s plan of salvation that brought the anointing, given to us for salvation in this life and to increase our hope of eternal life. "Christ" literally means anointed one; hence "Christians" are the anointed ones. Some Pentecostals say that we all must have some kind of emotional/spiritual experience at our baptism or we can’t go to heaven, but this is gibberish; however, the anointing is not gibberish; it was the purpose of Pentecost. Nevertheless, the Church has all but completely rejected the anointing through reams of false doctrine concocted to explain away the anointing, but all they have managed to do was turn off people and emasculate the Church. Christians hardly seek the anointing anymore, which achieved Satan's objective. Most people don’t want any part of it; they are afraid of it, though it is completely biblical if understood correctly. The Church disregarding the anointing is a huge mistake. Those who walk by the Spirit in this life by an anointing will find the transition into the next life a relatively seamless experience, for there is an anointing reserved in heaven, corresponding to the unction we manage to accrue in this life that we will use to interact with God and His creation. See also: Anointing of temple worship; Rev 19-8; 113c (35c) Gift of God >> God is willing to Give >> God’s immeasurable generosity – The words Holy Spirit and life go together like peas and carrots. We have been born of the Spirit and have a living hope. Sinners consider these words to be flowery superlatives, because they don’t believe in God's truth. We are not just hoping for heaven; heaven has come to us in the form of the Spirit, which is the very essence of heaven. The Holy Spirit is defined as the life of God, who has caused us to be born-again. He promises to remain with us forever, and His main purpose is to lead us along our trail of good works that He has prepared for us, and that trail leads straight to His heavenly kingdom. Our hope is not contained in the pages of the Bible, but in the Spirit of our God, who dwells in us and teaches us about the Bible, and for this reason it is a living hope. 1Pet 1-3 (31e) Gift of God >> Grace >> Salvation >> God’s mercy overrules man’s sin (39a) Judgment >> Jesus defeated death >> Resurrection of Jesus Christ -- This verse goes with verse 21 (121f) Thy kingdom come >> Manifestations of faith >> Hope >> Expectation >> Expecting good things based on God’s character >> Expectation based on God’s generosity -- This verse goes with verse 21 (238a) Kingdom of God >> Pursuing the kingdom >> The kingdom is transferred to the Church >> Born again >> Born of the Spirit by the will of God >> Born again by the will of the Father -- This verse goes with verse 23 (254g) Trinity >> Holy Spirit’s relationship between Father and Son >> Jesus is the life of the Spirit >> Jesus is the substance of God’s life >> Jesus conquered death because He is life – We have been born of the Spirit to a living hope in the resurrection of Jesus Christ. Everything God has done for us has been all about “life”, which was a word that Jesus often used to describe Himself, His Father and His kingdom. He talked about life in ways that challenged our previous notions of life, talking about it with respect to the Holy Spirit, the life that would one day raise His body from the grave. This is the life of God the Father, who has a form that no one knows, a form so estranged from our daily experiences that Jesus never attempted to describe it to us. We are no doubt in store for a surprise or two when we get to heaven and discover this person whom we have believed for the salvation of our souls. See also: Father's physical form; 1Pet 1,3-7; 249ga KJV WEB / Navigation Bar 1Pet 1,4-7 (43k) Judgment >> Satan destroyed in the absence of sin >> Perfected in weakness 1Pet 1-4 (226a) Reserved In Heaven (Key verse) (226d) Kingdom of God >> Illustrating the kingdom >> Rewards of the Kingdom of Heaven >> Reserved in heaven >> Our inheritance is reserved in heaven – The rewards that we will enjoy in heaven throughout eternity will be embedded in our bodies. For example, in this world some people are very beautiful, but their outward appearance is not an accurate depiction of their inner selves, but this will not be the case in heaven. Paul said that star differs form star in glory (1Cor 15,35-44), so in heaven our outward appearance will accurately reflect our inner self, such as a heightened ability to know God, which is determined by our relationship with Him in this life. See also: rewards; 1Pet 1,5-9; 236j (243g) Kingdom of God >> The eternal kingdom >> The indestructible kingdom >> The body of Christ is indestructible >> The indestructible kingdom within us -- This verse goes with verses 6&7. In this life everything that is alive eventually dies. Forget bananas on the countertop and a week later they have turned black and inedible. Things grow and die and become putrid, so we bury them or the stench will make life unbearable and spread disease until the living follows the dead, but nothing perishes in heaven. Everything in this life fades, including us. In our twenties we were in our prime; then we started down the other side, but Peter says we have inherited life from God that has no downhill slope. We will never fade but will forever increase and our life is waiting for us in heaven. 1Pet 1,5-9 (86e) Thy kingdom come >> Belief >> God’s works act as evidence to support our beliefs (87ia) Thy kingdom come >> Obedience >> Those who obey believe in God >> Those who obey the Holy Spirit (156e) Witness >> Validity of the believer >> Evidence of salvation >> You will know them by their endurance (233j) Kingdom of God >> Pursuing the kingdom >> Seeking the glory of God >> Seek His glory without wavering >> Seek His glory through perseverance (236j) Kingdom of God >> Pursuing the kingdom >> Invest in the kingdom >> Invest in the treasures of the kingdom >> Invest your life in God’s faith – Jesus said, "Do not store up for yourselves treasures on earth, where moth and rust destroy, and where thieves break in and steal. But store up for yourselves treasures in heaven, where moth and rust do not destroy, and where thieves do not break in and steal. For where your treasure is, there your heart will be also" (Mat 6,19-21). Our reward for obedience is our inheritance. He commanded us to store up treasures that cannot be corrupted or destroyed, but will retain their luster throughout eternity. Many people have a problem with seeking rewards; apparently it makes them feel like a pigeon in a box pecking on a button for a pellet. Maybe that is all we are to God in this life, but in the life to come He will make us much more through the rewards we collect for His purpose and glory. Others think that seeking a reward for doing the will of God is a false motive, but Jesus didn’t think so (Heb 12-2). God wants to reward us for doing his will; what is wrong with that? They say, ‘We shouldn’t do anything for a reward, but we should do all things from love.' Yes, but God intends to reward us for walking in love. We shouldn’t be so quick to pass judgment on God’s kingdom by holding His rewards in contempt. We are utterly impoverished without Him, so to serve God from love is like giving back what he has given to us. Remember the parable of the mina; whatever He gives, He wants back with interest (Lk 19,12-28). Everything flows one way, from Him to us. See also: rewards; 1Pet 1-6,7; 192e 1Pet 1,5-7 (98l) Thy kingdom come >> Endurance (Thorn in the flesh) >> Endurance invites the Holy Spirit into your life >> Endurance invites the glory of God – Trials are the consequence of living in this world, and Peter says we rejoice in spite of them, if not to spite them. The faith that we have in Jesus rejoices all the more in the face of adversity. In good times we say this life is similar to heaven, but when hardships and difficulties come our way, we say this life is not like heaven. Sin, sorrow, weeping and pain will be no more; instead, we will stand in the presence of our Lord and Savior in glory, and we will worship Him forever. This is our great hope. (117c) Thy kingdom come >> Faith >> Rest in Jesus (Sabbath) >> Rest in His yoke by faith – Jesus said about His yoke that it is easy and His burden is light by comparison to the world’s yoke, because of the grace of the Holy Spirit in our hearts giving us power and desire to please Him. When we think of what He has given us, we should give ourselves to Him. The Christian with the indwelling Holy Spirit has experienced complete transformation. Over a period of years our life slowly merges with the image of Christ, “by the exertion of the power that He has even to subject all things to Himself” (Phi 3-21). His yoke subjects our flesh to obedience, making our flesh feel like it is in hell. Everything about our sinful nature diametrically opposes God, so we must frequently stop and think what we are doing. Are we reacting in the flesh? Our flesh is never right; therefore, we should never hope the flesh desires the will of God. We must give God His way, but if we refuse His yoke, which is light compared to the world, then all we can expect is a heavier yoke placed upon us. With whatever we replace His yoke will be harder and cause more suffering and difficulty than what Jesus had intended for us. God gives us grace to endure His will, but apart from Him, we carry a heavier load in vain, alone. (215d) Sovereignty >> God controls time >> God’s timing >> Fulfillment of God’s time >> Completion of a period of time 1Pet 1-5 (28a) God Is Our Protector (Key verse) (28b) Gift of God >> God is our advocate >> God protects us through our faith – What about people who are martyred for their faith, how has God protected them? Peter Himself was martyred for his faith; how did God protect Him? It doesn’t matter what happens to the body; it is our spirit and our faith that has the higher priority, for these things are eternal. Although God doesn’t want any harm to come to us, yet God cannot violate the will of man, so if someone wants to harm us, God would have to violate the person’s will to stop him, which God will not do. For this reason physical harm can come to us, but both God and we have the power to make sure our faith in Him remains intact. Our life in heaven will be eternal and this life is only for a moment, so whatever happens to our bodies is incidental compared to the rewards and the blessings and the grace of God that He plans to deliver to us in eternity. See also: Lk 21,16-19. (50c) Judgment >> God judges the world >> These are the last days -- This verse goes with verse 20 (228h) Kingdom of God >> God’s kingdom is a living organism >> God working in you >> God works in you to keep you in His will KJV WEB / Navigation Bar 1Pet 1,6-9 (96a) Thy kingdom come >> Positive attitude about suffering >> Suffering under the hand of men (98j) Thy kingdom come >> Endurance (Thorn in the flesh) >> (Faith à Suffering [Circumstances] à Glory [Victory]) – The trials in our lives act as fire, and our faith is like gold. He melts the gold in the furnace and lets the impurities rise to the top to be skimmed. Our trials and tribulations do more to help our faith than harm it, like exercising a muscle. However, we can strain a muscle too if we are not careful, and for this reason Paul said in 1Cor 10-13 “No temptation has seized you except what is common to man. And God is faithful; he will not let you be tempted beyond what you can bear. But when you are tempted, he will also provide a way out so that you can stand up under it.” We can enjoy the good times in our lives, and in the bad times we can rejoice in our growth. Everything that happens to us, good or bad, is for a single purpose: the moment we meet Jesus Christ face-to-face. We prepare our heart, our faith and our obedience, so He will be proud of us, instead of cowering in shame at His appearance. 1Pet 1,6-8 (125c) Thy kingdom come >> Manifestations of faith >> Joy >> Joy is the result of investing in the kingdom >> Investing in a life of adversity 1Pet 1-6,7 (5f) Responsibility >> Discipleship tested >> God tests your faith through hardship – To the one who struggles under trial and falls away, God has tested him, but to the one who bears up under trial and grows stronger through it, God refines his faith and adds to his anointing. Nobody likes hard times, yet they are necessary to confirm our faith. God wants proof of our faith, which was the heart of James’ message. Without hardship, all we can do is proclaim our faith, but the one who struggles in his faith is like the caterpillar metamorphosing in the chrysalis to emerge a butterfly. Hardship has the uncanny ability to weed out the disingenuous from the sincere. During good times we can enjoy our lives, but it is during hard times that God leans over for a closer look at us. When we bear up under trials, the thought of giving up never crosses our mind; this glorifies God. The Kingdom of Heaven must be a special place if He allows only those who have been tested and endured to the end. (8d) Responsibility >> Prepare to interact with God >> Entering the realm of the Spirit -- These verses go with verse 13. There are two things we must endure before we will see any progress in our faith: we must accept the circumstances in our lives that God is willing for us to endure, and we must endure the word of God itself. His calling and our planned destiny can be very challenging at times. (32l) Gift of God >> Father will honor your devotion to Him >> He will honor your faith (42e) Judgment >> Satan destroyed >> Be like Jesus >> Innocent before God (43a) Judgment >> Satan destroyed >> Conform to the Resurrection of Christ’s death – God says that our faith is special, but He also says that it is invisible without an opportunity to demonstrate it through hardship and difficulties. We try to make deals with God, asking Him for an easy life with the promise to serve Him, but these are not the words of discipleship. Rather, it is reminiscent of Jm 2-18, “Show me your faith without the works, and I will show you my faith by my works.” That is, 'Show me faith without hardship and I will show you faith through hardship.' It is a good thing that God wants us to prove our faith, because it inadvertently proves His intentions of giving us a kingdom that is just as real as our difficulties and hardships. We will not stand on clouds with harps and halo as we have seen on TV, where everything is nebulous and insubstantial with no creation to enjoy. This is how the world mocks our faith. If the world's view of heaven were actually true, then God would not expect us to manifest our faith. Rather, He intends to manifest His kingdom in the natural realm and give it to us to manage and enjoy, but before that, He wants us to manifest our faith to ensure a one-to-one correspondence. The more we struggle in this life by faith, the more we understand that God’s coming kingdom is a very real place, and we will be rulers of it, and for this reason God expects much from us. He is just giving us a little heads-up about what’s coming, and as much as He expects from us in this life, the more He will expect from us in the life to come. We think the life to come will be a place where nothing goes wrong, but that is unlikely; otherwise, why would God be testing us and preparing us for the future? He is teaching us how to handle situations and difficulties, to trust Him through them. See also: Suffering and Evil (God tests us in this life because the next life will be just as real); 1Jn 4-21; 140e (44f) Judgment >> Satan destroyed >> Transformed >> Completing the will of God -- These verses go with verse 13 (82j) Thy kingdom come >> Prayer >> Thankfulness >> Sacrifice of praise (93n) Thy kingdom come >> Perspective on the circumstances of this life (102m) Purifying Process (Key verse) (103m) Thy kingdom come >> Purifying process >> Purified by circumstances >> Purified through faith (105l) Thy kingdom come >> Faith >> Led by the Spirit into the wilderness >> Wilderness of safety -- These verses go with verse 1 (192e) Die to self >> Result of putting off the old man >> Gain by losing >> Receiving from God by substitution >> Committed in the natural to receive in the spiritual – We worship God for the truth we know about Him but don’t understand. For example, we worship Him because He is infinite and eternal. We are finite, though our spirit will never die, yet we live in a temporal body, but God never had a beginning, and so we worship Him for that. Also, we worship God because He consists of faith, and for this reason He places an infinite value on our faith, because faith behaves like Him. Mat 5-44,45 says, “But I say to you, love your enemies and pray for those who persecute you, so that you may be sons of your Father who is in heaven.” It takes more faith to love our enemies than it does to perform miracles, so if we love our enemies, maybe He will also call us to perform miracles through His power. He longs to see our faith to the point that He is willing to let us suffer that He might reap the harvest our faith that results. God values our faith because it is eternal. Every ounce of faith we produce for His purpose and glory will be appended to our resurrected bodies as our reward for serving Him. Heb 11-35 says, “…others were tortured, not accepting their release, so that they might obtain a better resurrection.” Paul wrote that stars differ from each other in glory, and by analogy God will append the reward of faith to our resurrected bodies for everyone to see. See also: rewards; 227d / God's substance is faith; 1Pet 1,3-7; 249ga (227d) Kingdom of God >> Illustrating the kingdom >> Rewards of heaven >> God rewards endurance >> Rewarded for overcoming sin – We do all things for the moment we meet Christ for the first time, for the sake of hearing these words: “Well done, good and faithful slave. You were faithful with a few things, I will put you in charge of many things; enter into the joy of your master” (Mat 25-23). These words are worth any amount of pain and suffering that God would ask us to endure. To be pleasing to Him should be our goal, for there is no greater honor than that. Going through fiery trials, we must first accept them; that might not sound too hard, but there is a period when we all hesitate and react against hardship and strive to avoid it, looking for better circumstances and an easier life. Man is looking for the pursuit of happiness; that is what our founding fathers promised in our country’s constitution, but we are not following them but God, for our earthy country is not our real home. We are following Christ, and our home is in heaven. The right that He has given us is not the pursuit of happiness but "the right to become children of God" (Jn 1-12). Living for Jesus in a world that hates Him is a recipe for persecution. See also: rewards; 1Pet 1-8,9; 118c (243g) Kingdom of God >> The eternal kingdom >> The indestructible kingdom >> The body of Christ is indestructible >> The indestructible kingdom within us -- These verses go with verse 4. Peter’s statement that our faith is more precious than gold which is perishable, is not scientifically accurate according to the periodic table, which identifies gold as an element. One of the laws of nature that God imposed on this creation says that neither energy nor matter can be created or destroyed. The reason energy and matter have this same property is that they are essentially the same thing. From the standpoint of everyday life this sounds preposterous, but from the standpoint of an atomic physicist who studies the inner workings of the atom, he has concluded that matter and energy are one and the same thing. For example, Moses destroyed the golden calf, “And he took the calf the people had made and burned it in the fire; then he ground it to powder, scattered it on the water and made the Israelites drink it” (Exodus 32-20). However, the gold itself was not destroyed. That gold still exists somewhere, because it is an element; it cannot be reduced to a simpler form without tampering with the nucleus of the atom. Molecules are a combination of atoms, which can be reduced to their parts, but atoms are elements, which cannot be further reduced. Nevertheless, Peter said that gold is perishable. When he said that, he was referring to the end of the Millennium when the Bible says God will destroy the present heavens and earth and create a new one in its place. 2Pet 3-10 says, “The day of the Lord will come like a thief, in which the heavens will pass away with a roar and the elements will be destroyed with intense heat, and the earth and its works will be burned up.” Therefore, when Peter used the word “perishable”, he was speaking about the elements being destroyed by God Himself. The creation that He builds after this one will endure before Him. (246j) Kingdom of God >> Spirit realm imposed on the natural realm >> Demonstration of God’s kingdom >> God demonstrates His glory >> Outward demonstration of an inward work (250f) Priorities >> God’s prerequisites >> Sequence of priorities >> Natural then the spiritual (obedience then anointing) 1Pet 1-6 (240h) Kingdom of God >> Opposition toward the Kingdom of God >> Hindering the kingdom >> Natural disadvantage >> Natural disadvantage of the world KJV WEB / Navigation Bar 1Pet 1,7-9 (218j) Sovereignty >> God overrides the will of man >> God’s will over man >> Reaping the harvest >> Reaping the harvest in eternity 1Pet 1-7 (37h) Judgment >> Judgment of God >> Redemption of man >> His blood delivered us from destruction -- This verse goes with verses 17-19 (170f) Works of the devil >> Manifestations of the devil >> Outward appearance >> Temporary >> Whatever is temporary will perish -- This verse goes with verse 18. Peter didn’t say that our faith was more precious than gold; he said that the “proof” of our faith is more precious than gold, and the proof (product or result) of our faith is love. Therefore, Peter was saying that love is more precious than gold, having been tested by fire. The hotter the fire (greater tribulation and distress), the more faith we need and the greater effect on those we love. The love we show to those who hate us is greater than the love we show to those who love us back; it is a greater proof of faith. To God it is more valuable than gold, which is perishable. We know that gold is not really perishable, because it is an element. Gold is often found in compounds that change in chemical structure so that it no longer looks and acts like gold, yet none of the gold is destroyed, for it can just as easily be removed from those compounds and returned to its elemental state. So every atom of gold that existed thousands of years ago still exists somewhere, unless it has undergone nuclear change, which doesn’t happen in nature, except by astronomical forces applied to it. Therefore, to say that gold is perishable is not really true, except that God will one day destroy this present universe and build a new one in its place (2Pet 2,10-12). Peter then was saying that our faith is greater than this present creation, because it is temporal and our faith in Jesus is eternal. God intends to reward our faith in heaven in a way that will never perish or fade. 1Pet 1-8,9 (118c) Thy kingdom come >> Faith >> Eyes of your spirit >> Seeing through the eyes of your spirit – Peter was a man who walked with Jesus for 3 years; he had seen the Lord and we have not, yet we love Him as Peter did. Remember what Jesus said to Thomas, “Blessed are those who have not seen, yet have believed” (Jn 20-29). Peter will be rewarded on many levels and in many ways for the many accomplishments he made in the name of the Lord to advance the Kingdom of God, yet one blessing we have over him is that we have never seen the Lord, requiring us to view Him through the eyes of our spirit. The fact that we have never seen the Lord is one of the foundational stones of our faith toward God that we often overlook. We “greatly rejoice with joy inexpressible and full of glory.” How could we do that without the Holy Spirit dwelling in us? Jesus is just as real to the believer in the 21st century as he was to Peter, and what is the outcome of our faith but the salvation of our souls, who have our gaze fixed on Him. See also: rewards; 1Pet 1,23-25; 244g (205i) Salvation >> Salvation is based on God’s promises >> Faith versus works >> The faith of God versus the faith of men >> Faith is the work of God 1Pet 1-8 (95b) Thy kingdom come >> Positive attitude >> Speaking in tongues >> Groaning too deep for words (208fa) Salvation >> The salvation of God >> Personal relationship >> Being the friend of God >> Relationship with God through obedience >> We resemble Him through faith 1Pet 1,10-13 (115c) Thy kingdom come >> Faith >> Working the grace of God >> Through your ministry >> Through your calling >> To build up the body of Christ 1Pet 1,10-12 (12k) Servant >> Bondservants the prophets (80f) Thy kingdom come >> Know the word to learn the ways of God >> Understanding His will (106i) Thy kingdom come >> Faith >> Hearing from God >> Means of hearing from God >> Through prophets – The prophet is a composite of God calling him and the man willing to follow. We think of prophets as people who simply open their mouths and the word of God comes flowing out of them. In some churches it works that way, and the congregation is edified by it, but this is the gift of prophecy, which is different from being a prophet. The prophets of old were associated with hardship and suffering in pursuit of the truth that invariably contradicted the religious establishment. God would reveal something to them, and they would spend the rest of their lives trying to understand it, and in the process they become prophets. Old Testament prophets and New Testament prophets are just regular people. They may have been called from their mother’s womb to a special ministry, but everything else is the same. They bleed red and they struggle with every-day problems and wrestle with fleshly weakness, like everybody. The only difference is: God leads them in a highly specialized way. See also: Prophets; 141g (141g) Witness >> Validity of Jesus Christ >> Old Testament bears witness to the new >> It bears witness to Jesus >> Prophesy about Jesus’ resurrection – A prophet is someone who struggles in ways that nobody else does. For example, the true prophet has heard from God before his third birthday. The prophet interprets almost everything differently from other people through a specific ministry that God has placed in him. Every prophet has a certain message he wants to share with the Church, things that others have never heard, such as the resurrection, until the prophet spoke about them. The things that God reveals to His prophets are foreign to everyone else, so when he attempts to relate his ideas, he is silenced and persecuted. To believe something that nobody else has ever heard is a hard life, accounting for about nine-tenths of his hardship, being why prophets can endure persecution; it is nothing compared to what he had to endure from the word of God itself. See also: Prophets; 152kb (152kb) Witness >> Validity of the Father >> Witnesses of the father >> The Church holds the position of a prophet >> True prophets >> Prophesying the future – What is the true reward of a prophet? What motivates him to be so willing to obey? God has endowed him with an anointing, and the prophet will do anything to protect it, and the one thing he can do to protect the anointing and foster its growth is to do the will of God. He gains everything he needs and wants from the anointing. The difference between those who prophesy and the prophet is that God entrusts the oracle to those who prophesy that pertains to his local church, whereas God entrusts the oracle to His prophets that pertain to the Church worldwide. See also: Prophets; 1Pet 1-12; 13h 1Pet 1-10,11 (100g) Thy kingdom come >> Diligence >> Diligence in studying the Bible – Jesus quoted a passage to Satan during His temptations in the wilderness, “Man shall not live on bread alone, but on every word that proceeds out of the mouth of God” (Mat 4-4). The prophet without the word of God would die, just like he would die if he went without food, but what is more important to the prophet is not so much that he is fed, but that he feeds others who can receive his message. The only way a prophet can glorify God is to proclaim the message to others that they might be enlightened by the things he has learned from God. What generates the prophet’s suffering is the rejection of his message, which is far more common than their reception. Man’s jealousy and competitive nature gets in the way of receiving his message, thinking he doesn't need any help coming to know God. (214f) Sovereignty >> God controls time >> God’s timing >> Dispensation of God’s revelations >> Dispensation of Christ KJV WEB / Navigation Bar 1Pet 1-11 (98f) Thy kingdom come >> Endurance (Thorn in the flesh) >> (Faith à Suffering à Glory of Christ) >> The cross (132c) Temple >> Your body is the temple of God >> Holy Spirit is in God’s people >> Spirit of God in the spirit of man >> Spirit gives access to the Father through Christ -- This verse goes with verse 2 (254i) Trinity >> Holy Spirit’s relationship between Father and Son >> Jesus is equal with the Holy Spirit >> Holy Spirit is life >> Spirit of Jesus 1Pet 1-12 (13h) Servant >> Support the body >> Serve selflessly – This verse is about prophets who have the gift to understand the mind of God. They go through great hardships, carrying the word of God by a spirit that is clearly not of this world, and they are relentlessly persecuted for it. That is why in Hebrew chapter 11 it says that some of them lived in caves and holes in the ground, because there was no where for them to go. However, they always managed to bring forth the Word of God, which proved timeless and indestructible. Although they sought to know the truth for themselves, they knew it was bigger than them, knowing all their suffering was not for their sake but for ours. See also: Prophets; 15k (15k) Servant >> Angels >> Limitations of angels – Peter is talking about the Old Testament prophets, primarily Isaiah, who prophesied in chapter 53 about the sufferings of Christ. He said that the prophets were not serving themselves but us in these matters, suggesting that those who are faithful in Christ who have things to share are not serving themselves but we who benefit from their ministries, and we throughout the generations have benefited from their words, and it is this benefit that is entertaining to angels. They watch in fascination at the progress and development of our faith in the working of the Holy Spirit as the saints go from one level of knowledge and wisdom to another, as mere children to men and women of faith. Isn't it good to know that our progress of faith draws the attention of angles? See also: Prophets; 1Pet 1,10-12; 106i (68a) Authority >> Doing God’s work under His authority >> Ministry of helps >> Help God’s people – We think of the ministry of helps as something little people do, while the pastor roars behind the pulpit, but it turns out that the ministry of helps is greater than most people think. If the pastor is above the ministry of helps, then how much more are prophets, yet over time we read in the Bible what the prophets have written, who have become a ministry of helps to us. Therefore, the pastor has a ministry of helps too, as we mature in the faith and develop a ministry of our own. Over time everything eventually reduces to a ministry of helps, things into which angels long to look. It is intriguing to them to see people serving the Lord, preaching the word and seeing the kingdom grow in people's hearts, making new converts and seeing the darkened landscape slowly transformed into light. Angels are not casual spectators as they look upon our activities but also have a ministry of helps in bringing God’s plan to fruition through spiritual warfare, into which angels long to participate. All of creation helps establish the kingdom on the earth, so one day Christ will assume His rightful position among His people. (76i) Thy kingdom come >> Desires of your heart >> Your interests (109c) Thy kingdom come >> Faith >> Revelations of the Holy Spirit >> Things revealed by the Spirit – One of the great hardships of the prophet is the rejection of his message. Jeremiah emphasized the fact that Israel had fallen away from God and was on a collision course with judgment. The Spirit taught Jeremiah the things he learned, God using Israel’s rebellion to teach him about the suffering they would face. In a similar way, Isaiah’s message was largely on the first and second coming of Christ, and so his ministry was anointed with grace and mercy. In all the struggles of the prophets they weren’t doing it for themselves but for us who believe their words, and as a result we will inherit a kingdom which they prophesied. (110d) Thy kingdom come >> Faith >> Spirit and the word >> Spirit speaks through His ministry in us (149g) Witness >> Validity of Jesus Christ >> Works of the Church bear witness to Jesus >> Evangelism >> Preaching the word to the world >> Sowing the seed -- This verse goes with verses 23-25 KJV WEB / Navigation Bar 1Pet 1,13-17 (4b) Responsibility >> Advocate God’s cause >> Being accountable to the Judgment of God (92l) Thy kingdom come >> The narrow way >> Our holy conduct along the narrow way – God wants us holy (homogenous), meaning a single phase, as when they homogenize milk so the cream doesn't separate. This is the concept of being unleavened. Although Paul didn't use the word "holy" he implied it in 1Cor 5,6-8 when he said, "A little leaven leavens the whole lump of dough," leaven referring to sin. Being holy means we have alleviated the contradictions in our lives that work against our faith in Jesus. We have killed the flesh with its passions and desires, so we are not a mixed bag of righteousness and sin, but are single in heart. The things we do that contradict our faith are evil; we need to rise above them and be Holy as the Lord is holy, and God will perform miracles through us, because then He can trust us that we won't tear down what God is building in our lives and in those around us. 1Pet 1-13,14 (78n) Thy kingdom come >> Putting your heart on display >> The result of a renewed mind 1Pet 1-13 (8d) Responsibility >> Prepare to interact with God >> Entering the realm of the Spirit -- This verse goes with verses 6&7 (44f) Judgment >> Satan destroyed >> Transformed >> Completing the will of God -- This verse goes with verses 6&7 (46c) Judgment >> Spiritual warfare >> Subjecting your flesh >> Knowledge is our weapon (83l) Thy kingdom come >> Be on the alert >> Remain on duty >> Be ready – The First Century Church fully expected Jesus to return in their lifetime; therefore, we have all the more reason to hope after so many centuries have elapsed. It doesn’t matter if He comes in our lifetime or not; every generation has hoped for His return, and being Jews, they understood this to be the thousand-year reign of Christ, which they expected even centuries before Jesus came. Peter is saying to place our attention and hope on the second coming of Christ, for if we are living in the days of His return, we had better prepare our mind for action and keep sober in spirit. Jesus repeated this more often than anything else in the gospels regarding His second coming: “Stay on the alert.” He also told the parable of the Ten Virgins, who all fell asleep, both the wise and the foolish. Therefore, what is important is not that we are asleep at the wheel, but that when we awake, we have previously gathered enough oil so we can see survive the long night ahead. (86n) Thy kingdom come >> Obedience >> Be doers of the word from the heart >> Love the truth (97d) Thy kingdom come >> Attention >> Facing in the direction of the Lord >> Focusing your attention on God – The first step of setting our hope on Christ is to face in His direction. If we are paying attention in class, we are not looking behind us; and if we are soldiers standing at attention, we are not talking to our buddies in line. We are to remain on duty, because the very worse thing that could happen during the days of His return is that we lose hope. When we hope for something, our attention is fixed on it. Hope implies meditating on our expectation in the revelation of Jesus Christ. The book of Revelation promises evil to come, but we are to rejoice, because good is soon to follow (Psalm 30-5). (100l) Thy kingdom come >> Devotion >> In your ministry to God >> Devoted to worshipping God (101f) Thy kingdom come >> Zeal >> Fulfill your calling with zeal (108ha) Thy kingdom come >> Faith >> Revelation of Jesus Christ >> Spiritual revelation >> Revelation of His return – The revelation of Jesus Christ can be a point of contention for some who study end time prophecy. Jesus intends to gradually reveal Himself on multiple levels and in many ways over a period of years. The seals represent the collapse of human civilizations, marked by a failed world economy. Many will die from the ensuing anarchy by rioting and violence, then from starvation and disease. The seven Trumpets that follow will be marked by a great endtime revival in which many millions will be saved, and at the seventh trumpet the Rapture will occur. Once the bowls run their course, Jesus Christ will return to the earth, destroying what remains of His enemies and setting up a thousand-year kingdom in Jerusalem. Bloodshed and death, coupled with revival and Rapture all pertain to His second coming, which will be both horrible and glorious, depending on our faith. (121i) Thy kingdom come >> Manifestations of faith >> Hope Based On Faithfulness >> Hope based on perseverance – We are not called to place our hope in materialism or in a new car or a new house. The more interest we have in this world, the less interest we have in the things of God. Like money, we spend it and it’s gone, so hope is a resource too, which is based on something that if it fails, our hope fails with it, and then love is no longer possible. We hope with the expectation that it manifests, referring to Jesus, and we persevere in hope until He comes, but if we die waiting for Him, our hope has stayed alive, and instead of seeing the return of Christ, we will return with Him, which is even better, and so there is no way to lose when we put our hope in Christ. KJV WEB / Navigation Bar 1Pet 1,14-22 (42h) Judgment >> Satan destroyed >> Transformed >> Conform to the purity of Christ 1Pet 1,14-18 (133k) Temple >> Your body is the temple of God >> Holiness >> Having an awareness of God’s holiness >> The fear of God makes us aware of His holiness – Peter saw the need to fear God, and he also loved the Lord with all his heart. So we have these two things happening at the same time: the love of God and the fear of God. Some think these are diametrically opposed to each other, but they’re not; rather, they are like left and right hand. We fear God because we love Him, and we love Him because we fear Him. Take one away and the other disappears. We fear God because of what He has done for us. The blood of Jesus is holy to the Lord, and we are to fear Him so we don’t take advantage of His grace or treat Him as unholy. Communion was given as a ceremony and a celebration that we might always be mindful and fearful of His blood sacrifice that He made for us. We are sinners, and He died for us, so there is room for humility after God has demonstrated His love, “that whosoever believes in Him should not perish, but have everlasting life” (Jn 3-16). Peter is encouraging us not to go back to our old ways after we have been given a second chance. 1Pet 1,14-17 (33i) Gift of God >> God is our Father >> Children need to obey their Father (192j) Die to self (Process of substitution) >> Turn from sin to God >> Repent >> Stop practicing sin >> Stop sinning 1Pet 1,14-16 (22f) Sin >> Lust (craving pleasure) >> Fleshly desire – Lust of the fleshly mind is deceitful; it is not of the truth but is a trap. It makes great promises to satisfy our desires but rarely delivers, and when it does, it just makes us want more, all to fertilize the woman's egg to make another baby and perpetuate the species. Sex through fornication and adultery makes unwanted children, who often are neglected, which makes an unheeded generation that rebels against every known law and precept, causing the breakdown of the family unit and the disintegration of moral fabric, until society unravels, rendering civilization inoperable. 1Pet 1-14,15 (133a) Holiness (Key verse) 1Pet 1-14 (16ab) Sin >> The sin nature is instinctively evil >> Man’s flesh is related to the devil >> Man's flesh is tempted to deny God – We cannot reason with our fleshly mind; we cannot explain that we are four times older than the fraulein of our dreams, but this doesn't matter to our lustful cravings. It wants what it wants and demands that we give it. Making no move in the direction of our fleshly desires is good, but if we allow our mind to continue dwelling on sexual fantasies, eventually we will cave to them, which will sabotage our lives, but our flesh doesn’t care what happens to us; it only wants what it wants. In other words, the lust of our flesh is identical to Satan, because those are exactly his sentiments about us; he doesn’t care about us; he only wants what he wants. He knew he couldn’t have the throne of God, but he wanted it anyway, and he fixated on it and allowed it to fester, until he was overwhelmed with desire, and eventually he made an attempt on His throne. We don’t want to act like Satan, and we don’t want to spend eternity in hell. (87j) Thy kingdom come >> Obedience >> Being a slave to obedience (168b) Works of the devil >> Manifestations of the devil >> Do not conform to the world >> Do not conform to the world’s version of love (176a) Works of the devil >> The religion of witchcraft >> Ignorance >> Misguided (203k) Denying Christ >> Man chooses his own destiny apart from God >> Back-slider >> Practicing sin >> Living in sin 1Pet 1-15,16 (91f) Thy kingdom come >> The called >> Walking along the narrow way >> Walking in God’s calling is to fulfill His purpose (141j) Witness >> Validity of Jesus Christ >> Old Testament bears witness to the new >> Old Testament is for our instruction >> It reflects the nature of man in the law -- These verses go with verses 24&25 KJV WEB / Navigation Bar 1Pet 1,17-19 (37h) Judgment >> Judgment of God >> Redemption of man >> His blood delivered us from destruction – These verses go with verses 23-25. The blood of Christ was spotless. Had He sinned just once, He could not have been our Savior. This is the great value we hold in Jesus, who is without sin, who is the Son of God, who was given to us by the Father. God's critics are unfounded in light of His grace and mercy. Take Jesus out of the picture and there is a lot of bloodshed, judgment, killing, death and destruction in the Old Testament, but if we refuse to include Jesus in our perception of God, then we are choosing to see what we want to see and ignoring what we want to ignore. 1Pet 1-17,18 (187ha) Die to self (Process of substitution) >> Separation from the old man >> Die to the flesh >> Spirit versus the flesh >> Deny the flesh to walk in the Spirit >> Deny bondage to walk in freedom 1Pet 1-17 (7m) Responsibility >> Use time wisely >> Get ready >> Live right during these times (45b) Judgment >> God judges us for not judging ourselves >> Believer's judgment >> Judged According to our deeds (45g) Judgment >> Believer’s sin >> God will judge us with the world if we live like them (48f) Judgment >> Levels of judgment >> Judged according to your deeds >> In this life (51g) Judgment >> Judging the Church with the world >> No partiality between saved and unsaved (88g) Thy kingdom come >> Fear of God >> Fearing the judgment of God is the beginning of wisdom >> Fear the consequences of your disobedience – There is a healthy fear of God, and Peter wants us to walk in it, that it might steer us into His will, and away from the greed and lust of our past life. God judges impartially; He is not a respecter of persons. Although we know this on a cognitive level, yet we still think we can get away with sin, though the Bible says we won’t. Sin itself has the power to judge us through the consequences of our actions. If we don’t receive consequences in this life for our behavior there is a judge who remembers and will bring our works and words into account. For this reason we should fear God even as Christians. We fear Him because we know He is a just judge, and how He decides to discipline us is what we deserve. God only judges us for the things we do wrong, suggesting we control His judgment by determining in our heart to do what is right. (96f) Thy kingdom come >> Positive attitude toward God >> Good attitude toward the Father (184j) Works of the devil >> The origin of lawlessness >> Abusing the grace of God >> Dragging God’s grace through the mud >> Unwilling to honor God’s grace – Peter is entreating us not to abuse the grace of God, not to drag Him through the mud, for God impartially judges our works, giving reason to fear Him. Peter wasn’t the only one who warned us about God, though some continue to surmise that their sins are covered by the blood, giving them leeway to walk in sin. This fallacy is very common in the Church today, resulting from a plethora of false teachings that have allowed them to arrive at their conclusions. Focusing on the grace of God has the appearance of goodness, actually the grace of God is the best thing that has happened to man, but it is also possible to abuse His grace (Rom 6-1,2). A word comes to mind, licentiousness, the root word "license" suggests that some people feel the grace of God has given them a license to sin. Jd-4 says, “For certain persons have crept in unnoticed, those who were long beforehand marked out for this condemnation, ungodly persons who turn the grace of our God into licentiousness and deny our only Master and Lord, Jesus Christ.” People who are licentious don’t feel the need to fear God; in fact, to even mention the fear of God makes some of them visibly angry. They have built walls around their alleged faith to protect themselves from the truth, and they don’t like people testing their flimsy fortresses. KJV WEB / Navigation Bar 1Pet 1,18-22 (8l) Responsibility >> Responsible to defend God’s cause >> Preparing the sacrifice – Paul rhetorically asked in 1Cor 15,35-58 what kind of body will we have? Then he discussed farming; the farmer sows his seed, and the plant that results doesn’t look anything like the seed; we plant a mere grain, what our earthly body represents. A grain of wheat does not look like a stalk of wheat, so our heavenly body will not look like our earthly body. The seed that we sow is our flesh, Paul said in Rom 12-1, “Therefore I urge you, brethren, by the mercies of God, to present your bodies a living and holy sacrifice, acceptable to God, which is your spiritual service of worship.” Paul sacrificed his body for the cause of Christ, saying that the grain of wheat must first die in the ground before it can send out roots and begin a new life, and so we bury it that our heavenly existence may come to life in a better resurrection. 1Pet 1,18-20 (243j) Kingdom of God >> The eternal kingdom >> The indestructible kingdom >> The head of the body is indestructible >> Jesus is indestructible – Jesus paid the price of our sin with His own blood. We were not redeemed with perishable things like gold and silver. These metals that were mined thousands of years ago are potentially still with us today in exactly the same state, perfectly preserved. They don’t corrode, because they are elements; appearing in the periodic table, they cannot be reduced to a simpler form. One day God will destroy this present universe and everything belonging to it will pass away, including all the gold. Then God will create a new heavens and a new earth, and those who have believed in Jesus will inherit these things and they live forever in paradise. 1Pet 1-18,19 (41c) Judgment >> Satan destroyed >> Be like Jesus >> Jesus presented Himself to God without sin for us (105b) Thy kingdom come >> Pure in heart >> A pure heart is an unleavened heart (209ja) Salvation >> The salvation of God >> Jesus is our sacrifice >> Jesus paid the price for us >> Jesus is the lamb of God >> He was the Passover lamb (249ga) Priorities >> God’ s preeminence >> Wealth >> True perception of wealth >> The infinite and eternal wealth of God >> God’s perception of wealth >> Our blessed hope of eternal life -- These verses go with verses 3-7 1Pet 1-18 (16c) Sin >> Man’s nature is instinctively evil >> Man has a body of sin (61e) Paradox >> Two implied meanings >> Futile way of life—Inherited sin / Personal choice (170f) Works of the devil >> Manifestations of the devil >> Outward appearance >> Temporary >> Whatever is temporary will perish -- This verse goes with verses 23&24. Peter talked about silver and gold as perishable things. Shipwrecks from the sixteenth century still lie on the bottom of the ocean in ruinous heaps, but divers can recover the gold, and it comes to the surface like someone tossed it in the drink yesterday. Gold and silver are very stable elements, found on the periodic table. They are happy to remain gold and silver for thousands of years without changing one iota, yet compared to eternity they are considered perishable; eventually God will destroy this universe and create a new one in its place, according to Heb 1,10-12, "You, Lord, in the beginning laid the foundation of the earth, and the heavens are the works of Your hands; they will perish, but You remain; and they all will become old like a garment, and like a mantle You will roll them up; like a garment they will also be changed. but You are the same, and Your years will not come to an end." We are to hold silver and gold in contempt by comparison to the blood of Christ, especially since His blood will lead us to a heavenly kingdom where its streets are made of gold. (173k) Works of the devil >> The religion of witchcraft >> Man’s Religion >> Deeds that are not initiated by God >> Traditions of men 1Pet 1-19 (233c) Kingdom of God >> Pursuing the kingdom >> Seeking the kingdom >> Seeking the goals of the kingdom >> Seek the goal of knowing God (faith) KJV WEB / Navigation Bar 1Pet 1-20,21 (114j) Thy kingdom come >> Faith >> Working the grace of God >> Working God’s grace through Christ >> Salvation is through Christ – Jesus didn’t visit us for His own sake but for ours. He didn’t come because He had a need, but because we had a need; we need God to forgive us for being estranged from Him. We have sinned in His presence, though we have never actually seen Him, and for that very reason He is willing to forgive us. (234a) Kingdom of God >> Pursuing the kingdom >> Seeking the glory of God >> God chooses us as we seek His glory >> As we submit to Him (236c) Kingdom of God >> Pursuing the kingdom >> Invest in the kingdom >> All things are for your sake >> God’s purpose is for your sake 1Pet 1-20 (50c) Judgment >> God judges the world >> These are the last days -- This verse goes with verse 5. When Peter said that Jesus appeared in these last times for our sake, he was referring to the last age. There is an age of Millennium ahead of us, but the age in which we are living is the last age of man’s reign, and for this reason the Bible calls it the last days. The Millennial age of Christ will be a time when Jesus reigns on the earth, and it will be a thousand-years of peace. There won’t be war after war as it is now, for there was hardly a time when man was not at war. Jesus will demonstrate what the Church could have done if it had simply obeyed the Lord. God will charge the Church for all the wars that have been fought during the age of grace. We are the salt of the earth; we are the preservative of the world, and we also give it flavor; nevertheless the Church has failed just as miserably if not worse than the Jews in the days of ancient Israel with the Law of Moses. They had the example of Abraham, “who believed God and it was reckoned to him as righteousness” (Romans chapter four). They never bothered to believe in God; they preferred to follow His law instead, though they didn’t do that either. To the degree that Israel has contradicted its own belief system in every imaginable way, so did the Church. Israel followed the world, and the Church has done the same. Had Israel obeyed the Lord, they would have become the world’s conscience, which would have had the effect of curbing sin; the same could be said about the Church. (220a) Sovereignty >> God overrides the will of man >> Predestination >> Predestined before the foundation of the world – To the degree that the Church was sincere and had a knowledge-based faith in Jesus is the degree to which its influence has made a genuine impact on the world, but in the same way that Jesus was foreknown before the foundation of the world, so God foreknew that the Church would fail, and sure as we know Christ appeared in these last days for our sake, so we know He will appear again at the end of the age to begin a new age of peace and love in the Holy Spirit that will last a thousand years. (253b) Trinity >> Relationship between Father and Son >> Jesus is equal with the Father >> Jesus has all the external qualities of the Father >> Son is infinite and eternal like the Father – If anyone questions whether Jesus was created, ask Peter, and he will tell us that before God created anything Jesus existed as the Son of God. Jesus was foreknown before the foundation of the world; He existed before the creation (Jn 17-24). It was God’s plan for Jesus to come and give His life for our sins, for He knew all that would happen long before He created anything. He knew before He created Lucifer that He would fall, and He knew before He created man that he too would fall. It is unknown how long Lucifer existed before he fell into sin, but based on what we know about Eve, that she fell into sin before she conceived her first child, we can safely say that Lucifer fell shortly after he was created. How do the cults get past verses like this, where it so plainly states that Jesus existed before the creation? Virtually all non-Christian cults say that Jesus was just a prophet. Many say that when Jesus was conceived in Mary's womb, that it was the beginning of His existence, but they fudge this verse and many others to keep the Bible from opposing their views. KJV WEB / Navigation Bar 1Pet 1,21-25 (238c) Kingdom of God >> Pursuing the kingdom >> Transferring the kingdom >> The kingdom is transferred to the Church >> Born again >> Born of the Spirit by the resurrection – The word of God has caused us to be born-again, and just as His word is imperishable, so our bodies will be imperishable. We can study the periodic table of the known elements, which defines the material of the universe, but God will make our bodies from a substance that man has never known, for it will be of a spiritual nature, like the word of God. That is, we will be made of God's substance, who cannot die. Those in hell are also unable to die. In the resurrection God will give each person a body that will bear the image of his underlying soul. The Bible says about those in hell that they have perished. This is a paradox that no one can fully comprehend, except that television continually fills our mind with thoughts of the living dead; those in hell are indeed zombies. The body continually regenerates around the spirit that lives in it, taking on the image of the underlying soul, and because they have rejected Christ who is the embodiment of all that is good and right, they are grotesque in appearance. With those in heaven also the body takes on the image of the underlying soul, rendering an accurate depiction of their innermost being, and because they believe in Jesus and all that is good and right, they are beautiful. See also: Resurrection; 1Pet 1-21,22; 218i / A new body using existing parts; Mk 16,5-8; 248f 1Pet 1-21,22 (218i) Sovereignty >> God overrides the will of man >> God’s will over man >> Reaping the harvest >> Reaping the harvest of obedience >> Principle of sowing and reaping – Most people today say that our bodies are our identity, and though technically that is not true, in the life to come it will be true. There is a teaching that God will raise the exact body that we have now that died and was placed in the ground and decayed. That sounds a little farfetched; however, it is believable that God may take what's left of our body and use it as a seed to build a resurrected body around it, just like Jesus used four loaves of bread and two fish as a seed to feed five thousand people. Some people died tragic deaths so that there is virtually nothing left of them, such as sailors who were eaten by sharks. How will God find the body to raise it? Will he collect all the atoms and molecules that composed their bodies and put them back together, only to transform it into an imperishable body? No, Paul said in 1Cor 15-38, “God gives it a body just as He wished, and to each of the seeds a body of its own.” See also: Resurrection; 1Pet 1-21; 39a 1Pet 1-21 (39a) Judgment >> Jesus defeated death >> Resurrection of Jesus Christ -- This verse goes with verse 3. Our bodies represent us in this life, but they are not our true identity. For example, we see a beautiful woman walking down the boulevard and we want to meet her, so we go and talk to her, and she reveals herself to be a complete jerk. In the resurrection this will no longer be the case; our resurrected body will do more than represent us; it will exactly reflect the person we are in our heart. Our current body is a poor reflector of our inner person, but our resurrected body will be an exact match. God will give us a body that superimposes over our spirit to give us a one-to-one correspondence between the inner person and the outer person. For instance, if we lived faithfully as Christians throughout most of our lives, our resurrected body will reflect that, but if we were saved on our deathbed, our resurrected body will reflect that also. The same will be true for the resurrection of the wicked, such as psychopaths, who walk among us undetected; God will give him a body that will perfectly reflect his spirit, revealing him to be a monster. Our spirit and our body are unique entities in this life, but God intends to join the two, being the reason Paul called it a spiritual body (1Cor 15-44). That is an oxymoron to us now, but a day is coming when God will marry the spirit to the flesh, and they will become one. We will be able to recognize everybody we knew on earth, though they will not look the same. We might meet a beautiful person in heaven who was rather ugly in the flesh, yet we will recognize her. Jesus appeared to his disciples in different forms after His resurrection, and each time they were able to recognize Him, because his Spirit was apparent through His flesh. If the disciples, who were clumsy oafs before Pentecost, could recognize their Master, how much more will we recognize people we have known in this life once we are fitted with our resurrected bodies? See also: Resurrection; 91d (86b) Thy kingdom come >> Belief >> Treating the knowledge of God as fact >> Believing is the result of the resurrection (91d) Thy kingdom come >> The called >> His purpose answers "Why" – Jesus said, “This is the promise which He Himself made to us: eternal life” (1Jn 2-25). There is a more specific way of putting it: we have hope in the resurrection from the dead by evidence that Jesus was raised. God will give imperishable bodies to immortal spirits, and we will live forever. When we speak of eternal life, we are referring to the resurrection, but if we had hope in eternal life without expectation of receiving a body, what would be the use in that? There are many teachings about the resurrection; some say that our future body will look just like our current one, and for that reason we will be able to recognize each other, our family members and friends. However, the culmination of Scripture teaches that we will not appear as we do now, yet we will recognize each other. See also: Resurrection; 1Pet 1,21-25; 238c (121f) Thy kingdom come >> Manifestations of faith >> Hope >> Expectation >> Expecting good things based on God’s character >> Expectation based on God’s generosity -- This verse goes with verse 3 KJV WEB / Navigation Bar 1Pet 1-22 (4l) Responsibility >> Advocate God’s cause >> Being accountable to your brother – Obeying the truth purifies our souls for a sincere love of the brethren. We can't just love people; we must prepare our heart to love them. The human heart is not naturally made for love. We can love our family members with a natural affection, but when it comes to the family of God, we must condition our heart through the grace of God. That is, when we love God, He enables us to love the brethren. Having applied the word of God to our heart and purified our souls for a sincere love of the brethren, let us therefore love them (Eph 6-13,14). We must love the brethren to complete the grace that God has given us (2Tim 2-1). See also: Love; 87l (74a) Thy kingdom come >> The heart >> God wants you to bless your brother from the heart (78f) Thy kingdom come >> Sincerity >> Embracing your first love >> Single devotion (86h) Thy kingdom come >> Obedience >> Be doers of the word >> Clothe yourself with the word of God >> Obey the truth (87l) Thy kingdom come >> Obedience >> Minister to people through obedience – Love is the apex of obedience; it is the foremost fruit of the Spirit from which all other fruits proceed. Love is hard to define, but when someone is loved, they know it. The greatest acts of love are the ones that are most difficult to perform, and they have the greatest affect. After a man was tortured in a POW camp for years, and was released after the war, and some years later returned with the gospel of peace to share with the man who tortured him (the movie “Unbreakable”), it had a tremendous impact, not necessarily on the person he loved, but on nearly everyone else. This has often happened throughout the centuries to missionaries, who experienced tremendous insults to their persons and later forgave those who afflicted them, and eventually reached the people they sought with the gospel of Christ. Sometimes people die in the process of conveying Jesus, but the gospel is finally heard and understood and people get saved. This happened in every developed country of the world in bringing the gospel to them. They unanimously heard the gospel and turned from their barbaric ways to the Christian faith, and civilization was made possible. Once people see love in action, they suddenly realize that God exists. The logic of the gospel suggests that if God’s people love them, then God must love them too. See also: Love; 100i / 1Pet 2-17; 88k (95h) Thy kingdom come >> Attitude >> Having an obedient attitude >> Ready to do God’s will (100i) Thy kingdom come >> Diligence >> Diligence in protecting your heart from greed – To love people we must prepare our heart and mind, especially especially when loving our enemies. Our flesh only loves itself. Even if it dies doing what it wants, it would prefer that over submitting to God. The person who is capable of love is the Holy Spirit who dwells in us, who has caused us to be born-again and has made us a new creature, and it is this new person of the heart that is capable of loving people, including our enemies. Loving our enemies is the highest form of love. In stark contrast, take the world and its philosophy of Capitalism, people say it is the best economic system ever devised. Although it was so-called invented, it resided under our noses the whole time, based on selfish hedonism. People only need to live according to the dictates of the flesh to be capitalistic, something they planned to do anyway. Man at his best is full of greed, so when the Christian comes with love, it is incomprehensible to the world. Jn 1-5 says, “The Light shines in the darkness, and the darkness did not comprehend it.” This is why the True Church and the world are separate entities: they are opposite kingdoms, and they cannot mix any more than water and oil mix. See also: Love; 129g (100m) Thy kingdom come >> Devotion >> In your ministry to people >> Devoted to ministering to their physical needs (103h) Thy kingdom come >> Purifying process >> Cleanse yourself (129g) Thy kingdom come >> Manifestations of faith >> Unity >> love perfects unity >> Love is the martyr between the blocks – Love that comes from God is the substance of unity. Without love unity cannot exist, and for this reason unity mostly does not exist in our churches today. Touchy, feely, emotional love does not originate from heaven, and it is not the stuff of unity. The love of God is the motivation for giving people what they need, driving Christians to compassion for others, and it is this compassion and love that grows in the hearts of God’s people and establishes unity in the body of Christ. Unity is a product of trust. The more we trust and depend on each other to live for the body and not for ourselves, the more unity grows. See also: Love; 4l (233d) Kingdom of God >> Pursuing the kingdom >> Seeking the kingdom >> Seeking the goals of the kingdom >> Seek the goal of love KJV WEB / Navigation Bar 1Pet 1,23-25 (37h) Judgment >> Redemption of man >> His blood delivered us from destruction – These verses go with verse 2 (149g) Witness >> Validity of Jesus Christ >> Works of the Church bear witness to Jesus >> Evangelism >> Preaching the word to the world >> Sowing the seed -- These verses go with verse 12 (225h) Kingdom of God >> Illustrating the kingdom >> Parables about the garden of the kingdom >> Parables about seeds (243k) Kingdom of God >> The eternal kingdom >> The indestructible kingdom >> The head of the body is indestructible >> The word of God is indestructible (244g) Kingdom of God >> The eternal kingdom >> The word of God is eternal >> The word of God will outlast the creation – The fruit that results from doing the will of God is all that will last. Everything else fades and is ultimately forgotten and destroyed. It is only the life that we have lived for Christ that remains forever, and the things that remain from God will never fade. His word will preserve us through its indestructible properties. We spiritually understand the Bible by listening for the Holy Spirit and doing what He says. If we don’t do what He says, the word is incomplete; obeying His voice completes His word and endows us with a substance that preserves us forever. What we do for God is the result of a spiritual understanding of Him as we place His word in our heart, changing us from the inside-out, and His reward will follow us into eternity. See also: rewards; 1Pet 1-4; 226d 1Pet 1-23,24 (170f) Works of the devil >> Manifestations of the devil >> Outward appearance >> Temporary >> Whatever is temporary will perish -- These verses go with verse 7 1Pet 1-23 (80e) Thy kingdom come >> Know the word to learn the ways of God >> Leading to Jesus (110g) Thy kingdom come >> Faith >> Spirit and the word >> Born of the Spirit by the truth >> Conceived by the Spirit of truth – We can hold a Bible in our hand, because it has not perished from the earth though men have tried to kill it. Many generations have attempted to eradicate the Scriptures to no avail, because there have always been God’s faithful people who entrusted their lives to its survival, and they have protected it from confiscation and destruction, and for this reason it is with us today. We owe a debt of gratitude to them, to those who wrote the original manuscripts and to the scribes who meticulously copied them before Gutenberg invented his press, but Peter was not referring to this. When he spoke about the imperishable quality of God's word, he wasn’t talking about ink, any more than the Spirit who comes to indwell us resides on paper. Just as the Holy Spirit comes to dwell in the believer, causing her to be born-again, so the word of God is just as spiritual. That is, there is no difference between the Holy Spirit and the word of God. In other words, the Holy Spirit cannot speak anything but the word of God, defining Him and giving Him substance. When the Holy Spirit comes to dwell in our heart, we suddenly realize the truth. Prior to the Holy Spirit dwelling in us faith was based on a set of ideas, but the moment we committed our lives to His truth, the Holy Spirit came to dwell in us and from that point we understood our faith to be real. (218g) Sovereignty >> God overrides the will of man >> God’s will over man >> Reaping the harvest of obedience >> The harvest from the word of God – Peter likens the word of God to a seed. One oak tree can bear thousands of acorns, but not every seed will become a tree, only one in ten thousand or so. Jesus said the same in the parable of the sower, who sowed many seeds and some fell beside the road and the birds immediately ate them. Other seeds fell on rocky places and among the thorns, and they sprouted for a little while and then died. Finally, some seeds fell on good soil, and an oak tree sprouted and grew to become a servant of all the animals that lived in it and under it. Not every seed that the word of God sows will grow to bear fruit, yet the word of God itself will never perish. It is not the fault of God’s word that its seed doesn't grow; God does not judge His word for being unfruitful; He judges those who hear the word and don’t receive it. Those who are born-again, who are faithful in Christ, will endure to the end just as the word of God endures. We are just as imperishable in this life as we will be in the life to come, ensuring that we will survive this life to inherit eternal life, for we will never give up the faith. When temptation comes, we resist, and if we fall to temptation, we repent, cleansing ourselves from all defilement of flesh and spirit, perfecting holiness in the fear of God (2Cor 7-1). (238a) Kingdom of God >> Pursuing the kingdom >> The kingdom is transferred to the Church >> Born again >> Born of the Spirit by the will of God >> Born again by the will of the Father -- This verse goes with verse 3 (255a) Trinity >> Holy Spirit’s relationship between Father and Son >> God’s word is Spirit >> Spirit of the word >> Words of His Spirit are life KJV WEB / Navigation Bar 1Pet 1-24,25 (141j) Witness >> Validity of Jesus Christ >> Old Testament bears witness to the new >> Old Testament is for our instruction >> It reflects the nature of man in the law -- These verses go with verses 15&16 1Pet 1-25 (150i) Witness >> Validity of Jesus Christ >> Works of the Church bear witness of Jesus >> Speak the word of the Spirit >> Speaking the words that God has spoken to you See next page