The First Letter of Peter- 18

Subtitle: Our Witness before the World- Part 10

1 Peter 4:7-11. This sermon was preached by Pastor Marty Bonner on Sunday, March 22, 2026. 

As Peter has called Christians to have the same mind that Christ had when he suffered in the flesh for the will of God, he now turns to give some further commands that become more about how Christians are towards one another. 

Of course, this is a witness to the world.  Yet, more importantly, this world is coming to an end.  This makes our witness to the world far more critical.  This is the idea behind this passage.

Let’s get into our passage.

The end of all things has come near (v. 7-11)

Peter has just described Jesus as being “ready” to judge the living and the dead.  Here, we have a similar phrase.  “The end of all things is near (or at hand).”  In both of these phrases, we can focus on the amount of time connected to these events.  If Jesus is ready and the end is near (literally “has come near”), then surely it means that there is very little time until they happen.

This is not necessarily true, neither is it evidently true.  Jesus can be ready to judge now while the Father is not telling him to do so.  In other words, it is the Father who will signal when the judgment occurs.  Jesus is simply in the ready position.  He doesn’t need to do anything else.  Before the cross, before the grave, and before the resurrection, Jesus was not ready to judge.  He is ready now.  Yet, it can still be a long time until the Father sends him in judgment.

This same thing is true for the end of all things being at hand.  Many say that the disciples believed Jesus would come back in their lifetime and that they were simply wrong.  However, this is not necessarily true.  The disciples were given parables by Jesus stating that it would be longer than they would think (e.g., Luke 12:40-48).  John also records that Jesus told Peter how he would die (John 21:19).  It would be odd for Peter to think of Jesus coming back in his lifetime and yet dying a martyr’s death later.  Peter also warns people in his second letter (2 Peter 3:3-9) about scoffing at the delay in our Lord’s return.

So, what is intended here?  Some try to make this only about the end of temple worship and Israel as a nation.  I believe this is only a part of what Peter is talking about.  For Jews, the end of all of their things was at hand.  The nation would end, and the temple would end.  However, the judgment of Israel is itself a warning to the nations.  Just as Jesus was presented to Israel and then judgment, so Jesus is presented to the nations by Christians.  There is a day of judgment, an end of the times of the gentiles and the day of grace.  Thus, the lesser judgment of one nation like Israel, or like the Roman empire later, is a picture of a greater judgment that hangs over the whole earth, a judgment that Jesus is ready to bring to the earth at the Father’s command.

Christians are to live with this in mind.  The world is going to be judged.  We are to exercise patient diligence until that day.  Our patient diligence leads to the salvation of people who believe in Christ.  This fruitfulness is God’s desire through us.

Peter then gives two commands that should connect to our times of prayer.  The first has to do with having a sound mind, or healthy thinking, for the purpose of prayer.  Of course, this is not the only purpose for having a sound mind, nor is it only to be had during our prayers.  Our sound and healthy mind will look at the reality of God bringing the way of this world to an end in Jesus, and it will then be turned to prayer.  It is the word of God in connection with the Holy Spirit that transforms our thinking to that which Christ had (1 Peter 4:1).  It is in prayer that these things are kneaded into our lives like a baker kneads bread.  In prayer, we wrestle with our flesh and with the Lord over the reality of judgment hanging over this world.

The devil doesn’t want you to pray, but the worst enemy of prayer in our life is our own flesh (sinful nature).  Jesus planted a seed of teaching within his disciples on the night he was betrayed.  Their spirits were willing to stand with Jesus in his hour of trial, but their flesh was weak.  It is only through prayer we will be able to force our flesh to walk out the will of God the Father.  It was the sound mind of Christ that looked at his situation and recognized that the cross was the only way.  He knew what was at stake and what was needed to serve God.  We are to follow Jesus in this, seeking the help of God.

This can be contrasted with the worldly, unhealthy thinking that leads to the kind of things Peter described in 1 Peter 4:3,4.  The world thinks you are strange for not thinking and acting like they do, but you are listening to God, not them.

Peter also commands us to have a sober mind for the purpose of prayer.  This is a similar concept but comes from the realm of drinking alcohol.  Literal drunkenness would be included in this, but this verse speaks to a greater inebriation that occurs in a life that is focused on gratifying the desires of the flesh rather than the desires of God.  Alcohol messes with our inhibitions and our ability to properly analyze the world around us.  This often creates an unreal (fantastic) view of how we are doing.

All of this (the healthy mind and sober mind) pictures a person who knows the seriousness of the hour in which we live.  They understand that it calls for a serious and focused life.  Such a life is fueled by a relationship with God through the Word and Prayer.  It is in prayer that we seek God’s strength and wisdom to wrestle our flesh to the ground and pin it (over and over).  It is in prayer that we discover God’s purpose in our life.  It is in prayer that we guard our heart from the constant attempt of the devil, this world, and our own flesh to pull us off this course of following Jesus.

Peter then tells believers to keep fervent in their love for one another.  Fervent is a good translation.  However, it literally means to be stretched out.  A football player who really wants to catch the ball will stretch themselves out even though they risk injury when they hit the ground.  In loving people, the idea of stretching out connects to helping them.  This is often represented by our hands which are often the vehicle of helping others.  Is my love for others with a stretched-out hand, or do I have T-Rex like arms that can barely extend past myself?  Love is not primarily a feeling.  It is a choice to stretch ourselves for the well-being of another person.

Peter is focused here on loving other Christians, even though we are also to love our enemies.  Christians need to work for the spiritual and physical well-being of one another by the wisdom and help of Jesus.  Prayer is the place where we seek God’s wisdom in all the ways we can stretch ourselves out for one another.

It is easy to let our love grow cold for others.  In Matthew 24:12, Jesus said that “because of lawlessness, the love of many will grow cold.”  May the Lord help us to remain fervent (hot) in our love for one another, stretched out to the point of risking ourselves.

At this point, Peter quotes from Proverbs 10:12. “Love covers a multitude of sins.”  This is not to say that we should cover up sin.  Rather, it is the picture of how loving relationships are working towards peace and not strife, growth and not death, lifting up and not pushing down.  Love does not look for errors to be used against another person.

The idea of covering has a connection to atonement.  To atone for sin is to make a proper covering for it.  God’s covering for our sins does not pretend that they never existed, yet neither does it desire to rub our nose in it.  Love seeks a righteous and healthy way to cover for the sins of others.

Sometimes this is simply not making an issue of small sins.  We all need room to grow and a personal audit by everyone in our life regarding the minutia of our failures becomes stifling.  We are all a work in progress. Instead of looking for ways to expose and highlight one another’s faults, instead of harshly condemning one another for even the hint of spiritual immaturity, we help each other, knowing that we too have much room for improvement.

Sometimes love sees that a correction is needed.  Yet, we speak the truth in love (for their well-being).  It is for the purpose of healing things that require the help of another.  We need God’s wisdom to discern when this is needed.

In Psalm 32:1, David paralleled this concept, to cover sins, with the idea of forgiving a multitude of sins.  Our faults and failures are tests of how committed to loving one another we are, and our commitment to loving one another is a test to how committed we are to loving Jesus.

Peter further describes this fervent love with the command to be hospitable to one another without complaining.  Hospitality at its root has the idea of love shown to those who are strangers.  Of course, they don’t have to be a stranger to you.  When you invite a friend into your home and show them hospitality, this is not their home.  They are foreigners or strangers to this home in the sense that they do not live there.  Yet, you take their coat, feed them, and serve them.  This is hospitality.

Hospitality includes the drawing of people into a relationship and caring for them as family.  To do so without complaint may not be hard for some people, but it can be for others.  We should never complain when we stretch ourselves out in love because Jesus stretched himself out for us.  If you find yourself complaining about these matters, be quick to stop yourself.  Ask the Lord to forgive you and fill you with a heart of love for others.

Peter then tells us to be serving one another.  Again, this is simply another way of speaking about love.  We should note that this is the third time that he has used this phrase “one another.”  Its repetition helps to slam home the point.  We are in this together.  Jesus is not just saving me; he is saving “we.”  We need one another.  This is the bond of love that creates a unity of the Spirit of God.

This serving term is pretty elastic.  It is not about a high or low level.  It is simply about serving others.  Perhaps, Peter may have been thinking about the words of Jesus in Matthew 20:26-28. Those Christians who want to be great need to learn to serve one another, and if you want to be first, you need to learn to become a slave of all the rest, like Jesus did.  Of course, they are not our masters.  Jesus is.

In this area of serving one another, Peter speaks about gifts that we each have.  The word behind this is the Greek word charisma.  Charis is Greek for grace.  When a Greek word has the -ma ending, it is speaking of a particular instance of grace.  It is generally translated as a gift and can refer to natural gifts and spiritual gifts.  God has blessed believers with natural and spiritual gifts.  We need to use these to serve one another on his behalf.

In fact, we are to be “stewards of the manifold grace of God.”  God’s grace is spread through a great variety of gifts, specific grace. 

These gifts in your life are really from God.  Why has He given them to you?  He has not given them to you as a means of saying that you are more special than others who do not have your giftings.  Rather, the giver of all gifts spreads them variously as He desires.  We need to see them as His.  We are to manage God’s things in this life that He has given us.  Whether this is a wealth of money or a wealth of wisdom, whatever it be, we must be good stewards.  A good steward doesn’t hide the gift and bury it.  A good steward doesn’t abuse the gift and use it only for themselves.  Rather, a good steward spends time in prayer seeking God’s intention for those gifts.  He didn’t give them to me for serving myself.  He has gifted others to serve you.  You must focus on serving others as the practical outflow of God’s love in your life.

The steward image reminds us that we will give account to the giver of these gifts.  When we serve others, we are being fruitful in the way that God intends.  A common pitfall that messes up our serving is when we look at others and compare ourselves to them.  One person may become conceited because their gifts seem greater than others.  Another person may become depressed and do nothing because they think that they do not have any gifts.  Both of these are errors.  Quit looking at the gifts others have.  Rather, look at how you can help the people around you, even if it is in little ways.  Pray about it.  Seek God and His gifts will manifest in your life in small and great ways.

Peter then speaks to some particular gifts.  “If one speaks, let him speak as the oracles of God.”  It is likely that Peter is referring to spiritual gifts that are expressed in the times that a church gathers.  However, this principle applies to all of our speech to one another.  If we are going to say anything, we need to say it as if we were giving an oracle from God.  I may not have received a prophecy, word of knowledge, etc. from God, but my speech needs to be treated seriously.  It is one of the gifts that God has given me.  I can speak into the lives of others.  I shouldn’t be flippant and manage that gift frivolously.  I should always be speaking into the lives of others for God’s purpose and not my own.

Similarly, Peter challenges us to serve with the strength that God supplies.  We may be afraid to stretch out and help others because we believe that we lack.  However, God often supplies as we stretch out for others.  There is a partnership and a co-working that happens when we serve His purposes in serving others.

Verse 11 caps this off with a great principle.  Our purpose in everything should be to glorify the Father through Jesus Christ.  Jesus is still seated at the right hand of the Father, ready and awaiting the day of the Father’s choosing.  He will come and set this world right.  Each day you wake up is another day of grace for the salvation of people.  Lean into it.  Step into it and stretch yourself out.  May God help us to be a gift to one another and a light to this dark world!

Witness 10 audio

The First Letter of Peter-10

Subtitle: Our Witness before the World- Part 2

1 Peter 2:16-20.  This sermon was preached by Pastor Marty Bonner on Sunday, January 25, 2026.

We continue in this first letter of Peter.  He is focused on how we follow Jesus, and how that affects the world around us.  God wants those who are following Christ to be a witness and a testimony to the world.

This witness will save some.  We will be a witness that they receive.  However, others will not receive our witness.  The things we share and do are then evidence against them.  Of course, this is not our goal.  Our goal is to help them see Jesus.

In many cases, it may seem unfair that God expects us to be a witness for Him to people who do not deserve it.  The rub here is that we are the ones determining who doesn’t deserve it.  No one “deserves” the Gospel, but the grace of God has chosen to make it available to all.  We either agree with that and help, or we disagree and ignore the commands of Christ.

It is common that Christians end up suffering for their active witnessing to the world.  This too may seem unfair.  Why should we suffer so that they can be forgiven?  The answer is Jesus.  He suffered death for you and them so that forgiveness could be possible.  If we believe in him, then we can agree that his purposes are worthy of the greatest of sacrifices.

Let’s look at our passage.

Submit to every human institution of authority (v. 16-17)

We had to stop in the middle of this section last week.  The main point comes from verse 13. We are to do this for the Lord’s sake (not ours), without respect to the level of authority, and in order to silence the ignorance of foolish men.

There are going to be people who reject God no matter what His decision is.  It is God’s will that we submit ourselves to the governing authorities in order to shut the mouths of those who would ignorantly accuse Christians of rebellion.

Of course, it is a spiritual rebellion.  We will not serve the devil and his angels.  However, our goal is not to fight the governments of this world.  It is to silence their mouths through righteousness.

Verse 16 then adds the instruction that we should use our freedom to be slaves of God.  Now, some of them are free people and others are slaves.  There is even a spectrum of from the least freedom to the most freedom.  It would start with those who were slaves and move up to those who are simply servants.  We then would come to those who are free but have no Roman Citizenship (the Apostle Peter) and move to someone like the Apostle Paul who had both freedom and Roman Citizenship. 

However, Peter is not talking about our natural freedom.  He is talking about the spiritual freedom that we have in Christ.  All Christians have been spiritually set free from the guilt of their sins and the rebellion of humanity.  We have been also set free from any claim that the devil may have on us.  Those who were Jews were set free from the Law of Moses.  This doesn’t mean that Christians are lawless.  Instead, we are under the Law of the Spirit of Life in Christ Jesus (Romans 8:2).

Many Christians make the mistake of using their situation as an indication of what they truly are in Christ.  If my circumstances are bad, then I am a loser in Christ, a failure.  If my circumstances are good, then God loves me, and I am a blessed winner.  Isn’t our Lord Jesus a rebuke to this kind of thinking?  Of course, he is!  There is no more victorious person who has ever lived than the Lord Jesus.  Yet his circumstances were so bad that “we considered him punished by God, stricken by him, and afflicted.” (Isaiah 53:4 NIV). 

Peter warns against using our freedom as a “covering for evil.”  We can sweep a lot of things under the carpet of freedom that are not in character with the freedom that God has given us.  Another way to describe this is to use grace as a license for immorality.  Did Jesus free us so that we can continue to sin, or God forbid, do even more sinful things?  Of course, he didn’t.

Those who protest the loudest that they are free from being judged are in bondage to the vices and lusts of their heart.  In fact, all of us have recognized how particular sins can get a hold on us.  We want to be free from it, but it seems to have powerful control over us.

This brings up the issue of political freedom.  What good does political freedom do for those who are in bondage to sin?  Only people who are spiritually free can remain politically free.  Those who are not will find their political freedom disintegrating before their eyes.  How much political freedom are we going to lose before we repent?  I don’t know.  God will let us lose it all, if we don’t do so.  It is up to us how far we will fall.

God will goad us along the way, trying to get our attention.  He doesn’t want us to be destroyed, but He may let it happen. 

So, Peter started this passage calling believers to abstain from fleshly lusts (v. 11).  Now he has described that further as not using your freedom in Christ as a covering for evil.

Peter then gives a quick list of the kinds of things we can do as free people who are serving God in verse 17. 

The first is to honor all people.  Honor is something that is nobler than submission.  At its root is the idea of value.  It can be a person who has value, or it can be a person who is in a valuable position of authority.  Of course, a high position is not needed for a person to have great honor (value).

A person who has no honor is a person who has become worthless.  Many worthless people end up in positions of honor.  This can be a difficult and oppressive thing to endure.

To honor someone who has honor requires me to see beyond myself.  It really should be easy to do.  Yet a person of honor who is in a position of honor should see the value of the people for whom they are responsible.  Shouldn’t a king see the value of the people he serves, even the peasants?

Ultimately, value comes from God.  It is He who has made us and not we ourselves.  It is a common occurrence that we do not live up to the value that God has given us.  Peter challenges us to see the value in all people and give the honor that God wants you to do.  We must use our freedom to honor all people appropriately.

The second thing in verse 17 is to love the brotherhood.  Brotherhood here contemplates the family of God as a band of brothers, which includes both men and women.  The devil loves to tempt Christians into the path of hating one another, or at least not caring to love one another.

We are called to love one another as Christ has loved us.  This is not a fake honor and not a fake love.  We should not love sparingly or begrudgingly.  We are to use our freedom to love our brothers and sisters in Christ.

Love always begs the question, “What does it mean to love now?”  I know a man whose son ended up in prison for a period of time.  When the son was released, the dad tried to help the son get back on his feet by giving him a place to stay and a job in his shop.  It is clear that the dad loved his son when he could have written the son off.  I’m sure the dad wrestled with what the love of Jesus would have him do.  After some time of working in his dad’s shop, the son began to dip into the till.  At some point the dad suspected it and eventually caught his son’s sin.  What can the dad do now?  He is faced with the hard question.  What does love do now? Yes, you want to help your son, but his problem is clearly far deeper than just needing a helping hand.  What would you do in that situation?  Loving people is difficult, but it is what Jesus calls us to do.  Love doesn’t always do the same thing.  Sometimes love has to say no more.  Sometimes it has to tell someone to leave before they can be received back in repentance. 

Peter also tells us to use our freedom to fear God.  This may sound like a contradiction, but God has not set us free so that we can live a life of not having proper respect for who He is, and what He has done.  He is our Father, but He is also our Judge.  He will not pervert truth in order to make you feel good.  He loves you too much to do that.

We are told in the Bible that the Fear of the Lord is the beginning of wisdom.  Yes, you are free to be a moron, but that is not what God had in mind when He gave you freedom.  We will all give an accounting to God one day.  There will be consequences for the way we have lived our lives.  However, there is more to the Fear of the Lord than just being afraid of hell.
Moses, when confronted with the idea that God might not go with along the way to the Promised Land, feared not having relationship with God.  God, You must come with us.  Otherwise, people will not know that Your favor is upon us.  Can you imagine eternity without Him Who is the greatest good?  Lack of relationship with God should be a far more fearful thought than eternity in a Lake of Fire.

Peter also tells us to honor the king.  This is clearly added to deal with the obvious question that would follow the earlier command to honor all people.  Should we honor even a wicked man like Nero?  We are to treat the king with respect and the honor that is due to his position and authority.  Again, that is in order to shut the mouths of foolish and ignorant people.

Household servants are to submit to their masters (18-20)

This word for servants has the idea of a household servant of various types.  Some may have greater freedom, but some may be actual slaves.  This is similar to the previous category under the king, or civil authority.  Even free people are under some authority in life.  Yet slaves and servants would have an extra layer of authority over them.

Peter calls slaves to use their freedom to submit to their earthly masters.  They are to choose to take their proper place under the master’s authority.  It may not be proper in the sense that God made them to be that way.  However, under the laws of the society, they are under a master.

Now there were some Christians who had slaves.  The letter of Philemon is written to a master asking him to receive a run-away slave back and treat him as a brother.  However, most Christians were not masters.  In fact, quite a few were slaves themselves.  You could understand that a slave might hear the Gospel and rightly think to themselves, “Christ has set me free!  No man can own me.”  Of course, God did not make any person to be the chattel property of another.  Yet this is not a perfect world.  In this imperfect world, God does not ask us to kill the masters with a slave revolt.  Instead, He calls the slaves to show the masters Jesus by giving them respect.  In fact, Peter calls them to show “all respect” in the way they submit to their masters. 

This term can mean something like terror.  However, the emphasis is on being very careful in your submission.  What if the masters are not respectable?  We are to respect them for Christ’s sake.  It is the respect of Christ that overshadows the whole issue.  I do it because I respect Christ who asks me to do it.

Jesus will not force us to submit to our master with all respect.  But He will work on our hearts by His Spirit.  He will call you to this and challenge you in it. 

The average American is no longer dealing with actual slavery.  Yes, there is some underground illegal slavery happening, but this is not what is being talked about here.  This best maps over to our relationship with an employer in this life.  Do you have a “good and gentle” boss?  It does happen!  The same thing was true of slaves in the first century.  Some of them had good situations and were happy to work for their master.  Even if they were told they were free, they might choose to stay.  However, many slaves had bad situations, even oppressive situations under masters who were evil men.  These slaves didn’t have a choice about their master.  He was who he was.  Peter challenges them to submit especially to the unreasonable masters.

It would be easier to serve someone who is good and gentle.  Anyone in the position of a lord over another person should have the qualities of being good and gentle because these are the qualities of Christ.

However, when a master is unreasonable, it seems unreasonable to expect a slave to submit to them.  The word unreasonable has the sense of being crooked, perverse, or wicked.  How can God expect us to serve a wicked master?

Many people in our society rail against the Bible and the God of the Bible.  Yet they are often using their political freedom as a license of sin, and a cover for evil things.

Freedom is a puzzle that is much more complex than we would like to admit.  Being politically free is one thing, but being spiritually free is quite another.  God is concerned about bigger issues than rather we are politically free or not.  Yes, He did not make us to be under tyrants and dictators.  However, the only way to break through to hard hearts is to remove their freedom and put them under the heavy hand of another sinner.  God is speaking to our hearts in these times, calling us to turn back to Him.  This is why nations rise and nations fall.  It is something that this rising nation should take to heart.  We have only risen because God has allowed it.  Yet He may cause us to fall as well.

God can help us through oppressive things, like a master who is unreasonable, if we will ask Him.  Rather than complaining, we can choose to trust God and submit to trusting Him.

Peter explains that a slave who endures the unreasonable actions of an evil master will find the favor of God.  Just like Noah found favor (grace) in the eyes of the Lord, we are called to be people who put their trust in God’s way and not our own.

To put a finer point on this, imagine a slave being able to choose between two doors.  Behind one is political and economic freedom and behind the other is favor with God.  Which would you choose?  In truth, it would be suicide to choose freedom over against the favor of God.  What good does freedom do for a person who has drawn the ire of God?  It does none whatsoever.

Verse 19 is somewhat choppy in English, but let’s work through it.  The point is not just suffering unjustly but also enduring under the suffering.  A person will only do so for one of two reasons.  They either have no hope and have been beaten into submission, or they have hope in God.  This latter reason is the testimony of slaves throughout history, even those in America.  They had faith in God and were able to endure great suffering.

African American slave culture had developed great faith in God.  It is the wellspring of the Negro Spirituals that surfaced in that era.  If you read the words to “Lift Every Voice and Sing,” the “Black National Anthem,” you will be surprised at the level of faith and prophetic warning to America and black people themselves.

In the time of suffering, they learned something about God that was invaluable.  Yet they also knew that it could be lost.  This is a challenge for all people of all races.    God is found in times of suffering if we will put our trust in Him.  However, we can lose Him in the comfortable times that follow.

Peter tells us that there is no credit before God when we endure harsh treatment due to our own sin.  As free people, we may not have to suffer an evil master punishing us for our sins.  But we can suffer evil men due to our sins.  If I want God’s favor in such a situation, then I need to repent of my sin.

But, if we suffer for doing what is right and patiently endure it, there is favor with God.  Do you remember the Beatitudes of Matthew chapter five?  Jesus listed things that make us feel like we are not favored with God and told the people that they were blessed if they fit into those not so blessed categories.  Why are those who mourn blessed?  They are blessed because they have a Heavenly Father who has determined a time of comfort for them, at least if they will hang on in faith, continuing to draw His favor.

These unreasonable masters (and unreasonable, evil men) will stand before their Master one day.  They will be judged with a stricter judgment because they were in a position of power and authority.  They abused their power and will thus be treated with their own harsh treatment.

This is not an instruction that makes our flesh feel good.  It is an instruction that delivers our soul from our own sinful tendencies.  You can either be concerned with what you are getting out of life, or you can freely serve God and His purposes.  One thing is certain, you can’t do both!

Our Witness 2 audio

The First Letter of Peter- 4

Subtitle: A New Spiritual People- part 1

1 Peter 1:13 to 17.  This sermon was preached by Pastor Marty Bonner on Sunday, December 7, 2025.

We transition from the joyful praise of God’s salvation in 1 Peter 1:3-12 to a section that focuses on how we ought to respond to such salvation.  Peter has put in the background of this letter the image of the patriarchs and their sojourn, being a foreigner, in the land of Canaan.  They lived by faith waiting for the Promise that God have given them.

Peter now further inserts imagery that harkens back to Israel becoming a new nation, or people, at the Exodus from Egypt.  Believers have become part of a new nation who are different from the people around them.

Throughout history, the majority of people who have become Christians have marked themselves as foreigners where they live.  Following Christ was not the norm for their societies.  A small portion of people have become believers within a society that was based upon faith in Jesus Christ.  However, even these places have demonstrated over the years that it is easy to be founded on Christ, but much harder to remain faithful to that foundation.

Let’s take the United States of America for example.  Though we were founded upon faith in the Lord Jesus Christ, our society is far afield of that foundation.  To serve Jesus today is to become a foreigner to a land that is supposed to be a Christian land.  In fact, you will even become a foreigner to many different churches in this republic.  Overall, Christians have always needed this imagery.  You are joining an august body of believers who have lived as foreigners within a society bent on ignoring the Creator.  You walk through this world as one walking through the wilderness with Israel until the Lord brings you to the Promised Land.

This imagery of the patriarchs living like foreigners and Israel being led through the wilderness by God to the Promised land is used by Peter to instruct these believers.  They have joined a new spiritual people who belong to God.

Let’s look at our passage.

How to be a new spiritual people (v. 13-16)

Similar to the way Paul talked about Jesus transforming our relationships throughout the household and into society (see especially Colossians 3:12-4:1), so Peter uses family imagery to instruct Christians on the proper response we should have to the Gospel.

Before you believed in Jesus, how did you approach relationships?  Typically, we approached them for reasons that were focused on self, what our flesh wanted.  Don’t get me wrong.  People can do good things within relationships without God, but that good is always slanted towards what makes me feel good.

I will say up front that Peter tends to say a number of things up front that then lead to the statement of a main point.  This is exacerbated when it is translated into English.  It often appears that Peter is making a long list of main points, when in fact, he is simply describing things that are attendant to his main point.

For example, verse 13 may appear to have three things we are commanded to do: prepare your minds for actions, keep sober, and fix your hope completely on the grace to be brought to you at the revelation of Jesus Christ.  However, it is the third of these that is being commanded.  The others are verbal adjectives that describe how they are to do number three.

I only take the time to explain this because my approach will be to highlight the main point first, which often comes at the end of the verse or verses, and then speak about these attendant ideas.

This first imperative is for us to fix our hope completely on the grace that will be brought to us at the revelation of Jesus Christ.  Now, the revelation of Jesus Christ is equivalent to what we call the Second Coming of Jesus.  This is still in the future but will arrive one of these days.

Peter has used the three cardinal virtues praised by the Apostle Paul in 1 Corinthians 13: faith, hope, and love.  He praises them for putting their faith in Jesus as Messiah and loving him, even though they haven’t seen him.  In verse 3, he had reminded them that they had been born again to a living hope.  Here, he picks up that hope-theme again and turns it into a command. 

When Jesus returns, he is bringing with him the grace of God for believers and the wrath of God for unbelievers.  This grace has many aspects to it.  First, the presence of Jesus here on earth and taking up the kingdoms of the world is a great grace.  There is no king or president on this earth who can do what Jesus can do.  We are also told that we will never be separated from Jesus again.  This too is great grace.  Finally, we will receive glorified bodies that do not grow old, become sick, or perish in any way.  This is the blessed hope of all believers in Jesus.  We are to fix our hope, set it steadfast upon, the future return of Jesus.

Peter adds the adverb “completely” to this.  What does it mean to completely fix your hope on the grace to come?  We might picture this as a kind of hope-meter that we need to keep pegged to 100% at all times.  I don’t think this is what Peter means.  We could also envision it as keeping our hope fully on the coming grace and not on anything else.  That is, we should not hedge our bet and put some of our hope on the things of this world.  Even if we are not hedging our bet, we may be drawn into putting hope on spouses, retirements, children, etc., without realizing that it is undermining, or displacing, some of our hope in Christ.  I think that this is much closer to what Peter is saying, but there is another way to view this that is important.  We should also do so all the way to the end of our life.  Thus, we don’t want to simply have a full hope presently but retain that hope fully on Jesus to the end of our life, or the coming of Jesus, whichever comes first.

Peter gives two descriptions of things that are to accompany or to adorn our hoping in the grace to come.  The first is that our minds are to be readied, prepared, for action.  Peter uses the imagery of tightening up a long outer cloak with a belt in order to do something like running, working, or fighting, etc.  However, in this case, they are told to tighten up their cloaks around their waists mentally.  If you saw a person doing this literally, you would know that they are getting prepared for action. 

How do we prepare ourselves mentally for action, and what is the action or actions that we are to be ready for doing?  He is talking about living for Christ and following the Holy Spirit.  He is talking about the work of becoming victorious over sin in our life, but also about walking the faith journey of this life to the very end.

Much of this imagery comes from the Exodus.  Exodus 12:7 says, “You shall eat it [the Passover meal] in this manner: with your loins girded, your sandals on your feet, and your staff in your hand; and you shall eat it in haste—it is the Lord’s Passover.”  Israel was eating a special sacrificial meal before the Lord, but they were to do so with a readiness for action.  In this case, the action was leaving Egypt and going into the wilderness with Moses and God.  We too are being set free from the Egypt of this world and the bondage of our fleshly lust for sin.

Along with this readiness for action, Peter adds that they are to hope for this grace to come “being sober.”  Some translations will add the phrase “in the Spirit.”  Since Peter has just mentioned being mentally ready, it is easy to only think of this as a metaphor for clear thinking.  However, we should not be too quick to make this only a metaphor.  Literal drunkenness has shipwrecked the faith and hope of many believers.  Yet, this is another way to speak about your mind being ready for action, both physically, emotionally, and spiritually, i.e., in every way.

When you are clear minded, you are able to see the reality of what is happening around you.  When you are drunk, you lose inhibition, and you think you are doing better than you actually are.  When you are spiritually drunk, the same thing happens.  What does this look like?  It is when we allow ourselves to be filled with the lust and desires of this world.  Instead of warring against these things within our mind and heart, we surrender to them while thinking we are doing well.

The ideas of girding the loins of our mind and being sober are often tied together with the idea of vigilance because we are in a spiritual battle.  This battle is internal against the lust of our flesh but also external against the pull of this world and the temptations of the devil.

We can be guilty of not being serious about the things of God and His purposes in our life.  Thus, we are not just to lay claim to a great reward and inheritance in the future.  We are to fix our hope upon it with sobriety and readiness for action within the world around us.

Verses 14 and 15 build up to another imperative: Be holy.  In saying this, he adds that they should be holy “as obedient children.”  It is understood that he is talking about being a child of God.  Here again, he connects them to the same position that national Israel had.  During the Exodus and the teaching in the wilderness, they are told that they were not to be like all the other nations or copy their activities, religious or otherwise.  In the same way, Christians are not to live like the culture around them.  We are not children of the world, but rather, children of God.

Notice the reference to obedient children.  This should remind us of Jesus who is the perfect obedient son of God.  The point is not so much about never failing as it is about keeping focused on who we are.  Of course, it is ludicrous to even compare ourselves to the one who never sinned and never needed redemption.  We, of course, did sin and do need redemption.

In short, we are to keep focused upon who we are.  Don’t listen to the devil as he accuses you of failing, or the Gospel not working for you.  You were made to dwell in the presence of God for eternity, but you were also made to be a spiritual warrior in this life, battling against sin in your life.  It wouldn’t be a battle if it wasn’t difficult.  In fact, it is a battle we would continue to lose if it wasn’t for the help of God’s Spirit and the grace of Jesus.  No, you tell the devil that you belong to Jesus because He says so!  Don’t let his lies take root in the wounds of your soul.

Peter also tells them that they should not be conforming to the former lusts that were in their ignorance.  Jesus is leading us out of the Egypt of our old life.  Before we knew Jesus, we were ignorant of God and His desires.  At the least, we only knew a little bit and didn’t have time to bother with that Christianity thing.  In that state of ignorance, we lived to please the strong desires of our flesh, of our eyes, and of the pride of life.  It was a true bondage.  We were living like everyone else around us, trying to get the most pleasure out of this life.

It is sad to see the American dream hollowed out and replaced with a cheaper form.  Since I was a kid, I have been told by the culture that the American dream was that our kids would have a better life than us.  This is a lie.  When you study history, you find that the original American dream was to be able to worship God in the way that we believed He wanted to be worshiped, freedom of worship.  The replacement dream is about bondage to materialism and never having enough.

Peter uses the same term and phrase as Paul used in Romans 12:2. “And do not be conformed to this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind.”  You will be pressed into the mold of this world by the pressures of your own desires, the pressures of the world around you, and the pressures of your spiritual enemy, the devil.  This will be the case unless you actively let the Spirit of God lead you in the transformation of becoming more like Christ.  Conformation focuses on dressing up the outward, but transformation focuses on changing our inner man from which flows outward change.  It is this progressive sanctification process that Peter has in mind.

Just as Israel had a tendency to want to go back to Egypt, we must fight the inner desire to go back into our old life, or to straddle the fence with an apathy for the things of God.

We are to be holy “like the Holy One who [has called us].”  We are reminded that Jesus is the one we are to be like.  He is the perfect image of God the Father, and we are being made over into his image.

Yet, this takes cooperation in how we live, our behavior.  The Spirit of God works to help you know what is good and what is like Jesus.  We can nurture and grow in this, or we can let it die on the vine.  God also places mature believers in our life in order to help us in this.

Peter then quotes from the Old Testament.  “You shall be holy for I am holy.”  This admonition to be holy because the One we are following is holy comes from the time of the Exodus as well.

In Leviticus 11:44, Israel is told, “I am the LORD your God.  Consecrate yourselves therefore, and be holy, for I am holy.”  He goes on to restate this in verse 45.  Several more times in Leviticus we have this repeated: 19:2; 20:26; and 21:8. You see, we are not just God’s people.  We are His children and should take on His image like true children.  This takes a lifetime and is completed through our death and resurrection.

To be holy in this life is to be peculiar to the people around you.  Of course, we do not seek to be strange only for the sake of being strange.  If you follow Jesus, this will be strange to the world because it is not following Jesus.  Like Sodom with Lot, they will grow tired of hearing your moral sermons on why these things are not good.

God will bring you up out of the slavery of your sins, and He will bring you into that good that He has for you, both the good He has for you at the 2^nd Coming and the good that He has for you now in this wilderness.  Of course, you will have seasons in your life.  You may even have times where you complain that you aren’t accomplishing anything.  Yet, if you have been doing your best to serve Christ and learn to be like him, then you have not wasted your life.  You are living out the good thing that God has desired.  It is good; trust Him.

How to be a new spiritual people (v. 17)

How long are you planning to stay here in this life?  Of course, it is not up to us.  We don’t know how long we have.  Thus, it is ours to remain faithful in spite of what we may face.

Again, Peter puts the main point last.  We are to conduct ourselves in fear during the time of our sojourn, or pilgrimage.  This too harkens back to the Exodus, which is why he reminds them of the sojourner metaphor.

He mentions conducting ourselves with fear.  It is clear that he means the fear of God.  This is a common problem for humans.  We fear everything but God.  We are weak and so we are afraid that something will be too strong for us.  We can’t control the world around us and so we fear lack of control.  It seems that it is our lot to live in fear in our fallen state.

Yet, when you come to Christ, your relationship with God is restored.  You have no reason to fear the world around us.  In truth, you have nothing to fear from God too in the sense that He only desires good for you.

Yet, Exodus 20:20 states, “Do not be afraid [of other things]; for God has come in order to test you, and in order that the fear of Him may remain with you, so that you may not sin.”

The fear of the LORD is the beginning of wisdom.  Wisdom teaches us to avoid and to conquer sin.

On one hand we should fear life without the LORD.  The idea of turning against Him and going back into sin should be a fearful thought because now we will go back to facing the world alone.  Of course, if we continue to be rebellious, we must also fear that God is not going to overlook our wanton disregard for Him and our lust for the things of this world.  He will not overlook our sin.

If we are to fear anything in this world, it is only to fear the way that it could pull us away from Jesus.  Like Joseph fleeing Potiphar’s wife, we ought to flee temptation like a venomous viper.  Joseph did not flee her because she was scary looking.  He fled because of what she represented.  She represented the ability of Joseph to become reprehensible to the man who had treated him well and the God who had blessed him.  She represented betrayal and unfaithfulness.  That ought to bring the fear of God up to the surface in our life.

In the first part of verse 17, Peter uses the conditional “if.”  It can be seen as a challenge or questioning of them.  Are you really addressing the One who impartially judges as Father?  However, it is most likely a stern reminder.  This One you are calling Father is an impartial judge.  Do you think that He will bend the truth in order to save you from your own wickedness?  He is not going to wink at your sin.  You will not pull the wool over His eyes.

Listen, God was not trying to destroy Israel in the wilderness, but their continual refusal to trust Him led to them perishing in the wilderness.  Men like Joshua and Caleb, however, walked in faith and entered into the promise that God had given to Israel.

We may think that God is too hard.  However, couldn’t those men who died in the wilderness repent?  Couldn’t they warn their sons and daughters against the sin of unbelief?  Couldn’t they instruct them to be full of courage when God brought them back around to enter the Promise Land?  You may have failed in great ways, but you can still repent and live out the rest of your days warning others against the errors you made.  Even now, all who repented and died in the wilderness will be resurrected one day to participate in the Kingdom of Messiah.  Even when we are faithless, God is faithful!

Finally, it may bother some to read that God judges “according to each one’s work.”  Of course, Peter is not talking about how we are saved.  Rather, he is speaking to saved people and warning them that God expects them to trust Him.  Christians do not rely upon the dead works of external control.  Our works are cleansed because they are done by faith in Jesus Christ.  They are done by the leading of the Spirit of God.  Only the works of Jesus Christ pays the price for my salvation, but God does judge my response to that payment.  Do I have external, self-righteous works, or do I have internal, led-by-the-Holy-Spirit works?

May God help us to follow Jesus through this wilderness because only He knows the way!

A New People audio

The First Letter of Peter- 1

Subtitle: The Chosen Foreigners of Jesus Christ

1 Peter 1:1-4. This sermon was preached by Pastor Marty Bonner on Sunday, November 16, 2025.

We start the first letter of Peter today.  It is one of two letters written by Peter, one of the three closest apostles of Jesus.  He was an eyewitness of the transfiguration of Jesus before His resurrection.  His actual name was Shimon (Hebrew) or Simon (Greek/Latin).  However, Jesus gave him the nick name in Aramaic of Kephas (also Cephas).  John 1:42 tells us this and that Peter is the Greek translation of his Aramaic name Kephas.  Both of these names mean “rock” or “stone.”

This fisherman from the Sea of Galilee is most known as being an apostle to the Jews following the death and resurrection of Jesus.  However, we did see in the Book of the Acts of the Apostles that Peter ministered to Samaritans and Gentiles as well, especially when he traveled outside of Jerusalem.

Paul mentions in his letter to the Galatians that Peter was at Syrian Antioch for a time.  It is quite likely that Peter also visited other Gentile dominated areas in order to vouchsafe for the churches that were cropping up particularly from the ministry of Paul and others with him.

This brings to a point about the audience of this letter.  Some believe that Peter is addressing Jewish Christians and only tangentially speaks to Gentiles.  However, the letter does not make this distinction.  Peter appears to be addressing churches as predominately Gentiles.

Let’s get into the letter.

Peter’s greeting (v. 1-2)

Peter starts out by identifying himself.  He is Peter an apostle of Jesus Christ.

There is a sense in which all Christians have an apostolic calling because we are sent by Christ to take the Gospel to the world around us.  In fact, this apostolic calling should be seen upon the background of what Hebrews 3:1 tells us.  Jesus is the Apostle and High Priest of our confession.  Jesus was sent or commissioned by the Father to do a priestly duty among us. 

Yet, Apostle is used in a stricter sense throughout the New Testament.  Just as God moved upon the Old Testament prophets in order that Israel, and eventually the world, would know His will, so He worked in particular people in order to lay down a trustworthy record of what Jesus taught and did, including his death, resurrection and ascension.  They were eyewitnesses of these things.

These apostles were taught directly by Jesus and commissioned by him to lay the foundation of teaching for the church.  These basically became the requirements of any writing that was accepted as inspired by the Holy Spirit (1. Taught by Jesus, 2. Witnessed the resurrected Jesus, 3. Commissioned by Jesus to establish the Gospel in the world).

Notice that he says that he is an apostle of Jesus Christ.  It is easy to see “Christ” and forget that it is a declaration that Jesus is the Messiah, the Anointed One sent from God to save us.  Thus, Peter is one of the men specially sent by Jesus the Messiah in order to declare his teachings and the Good News of his work of salvation.

We should note that Revelation 21 presents the New Jerusalem as symbolically depicting the Church of Jesus.  It is a real place, but its design and setup are also symbolic.  Notice that the walls of this city, which speak of an impenetrable defense, are built upon the 12 foundations of the apostles.  This can also be interpreted as the 12 foundation stones of the apostles.  Thus, it could be picturing 12 layers of foundation, but most likely refer to 12 foundation stones placed side by side (3 to a side).

Peter then tells us who the recipients of his letter are to be.  These are not cities, but provinces of the Roman Empire.  Pontus, Galatia, Cappadocia, Asia and Bithynia describe most of the isthmus we call Türkiye today.  These were the places where the Apostle Paul established churches during his missionary journeys.  Most likely, some of these churches were founded by churches that were founded by Paul.  Just as Peter eventually went to Antioch of Syria to see the Christians there so it is probable that he may have traveled through some of these areas.  If he did, then it would make sense to send a letter to these churches.  If he did not, then Peter did the next best thing.  He sent a letter to these churches in order to ensure that they would have solid doctrine and encouragement upon which to build the work of Christ in their cities and towns.

Peter also refers to them as “chosen.”  This is also translated as “elect.”  They have been chosen by God for salvation.  This is not in the sense that God plays favorites among humans.  Those who would humble themselves and embrace the crucified and resurrected Jesus as their savior, He chose in eternity past as the ones He would save.

Legally (if such can be said of God), He doesn’t have to save anyone, but His nature of Grace, Compassion, Slowness to Anger, Steadfast Covenant-Keeping Love, and Faithful Truth, compels Him to save those who can be saved.  Thus, the Good Samaritan does a good job of imaging God the Father.  He sees us bleeding and dying on the side of the road.  Instead of going on past us, He comes to our aid.  However, He will force no man.  If a person would rather wait for a Levitical Priest, Rabbi, anyone else but Jesus, then He will leave them be, though He may continue to appeal to them in love.

We have a choice to make.  Will we let a Samaritan heal us and save us, or will we look for another?  You can step into the ranks of the Chosen today by putting your faith in Jesus.

Peter also describes these Chosen Ones as Strangers, Pilgrims, Foreigners, Aliens, Sojourners.  Those who have been chosen from among the Gentiles and Jews, in order to follow Messiah Jesus dwell, dwell in this world as if they were foreigners to it, no matter where they live.  Before you believed in Christ, you were a local, a citizen of the place you lived, but now in Christ, you have become a foreigner, a citizen of a heavenly kingdom.  You no longer live as you used to live following the vain culture of your people.

Peter is using terminology that was connected to the patriarchs of Israel, Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob.  In Genesis 23:3-4, Abraham asks the people of the land of Canaan for a plot of land.  “I am a stranger and a sojourner among you; give me a burial site among you that I may bury my dead out of my sight.”

Hebrews 11 emphasizes that the Patriarchs lived as foreigners in the Land of Promise awaiting the time in which God would give it over to them (Heb. 11:9-10, 15-16).  They did not take to the cities of the Canaanites, but dwelled as nomads, waiting for God’s timing.

This world is our inheritance.  Jesus said so in Matthew 5:5, “Blessed are the meek (humble) for they shall inherit the earth.”  However, we dwell as nomads within it today, Jews and Gentiles alike.  Yet, we have been chosen by God to receive it one day as an inheritance.

This brings us to the last reference in verse 1.  They are “scattered throughout” these areas.  The word behind this is where we get the idea of a diaspora, a dispersed people.  Like seeds, they will lay down their lives in death in order to bring forth life in the areas they have been planted.

In truth, both the wicked and the righteous of Israel were scattered among the nations.  It was a judgment to the wicked as their nation is destroyed and they are cast out into exile.  Yet, it was a blessing in the righteous ones.  They were broadcast like precious seed in order to be a blessing and raise up righteous fruit from among the Gentiles.  Righteous Israelites were literally scattered, but the Gentiles who join them, join the ranks of the Scattered Ones.  They will lay down their lives in death in order to bring forth the life of Christ in the lands in which they lived as foreigners!

In verse 2, Peter says that all of this was foreknown, or foreseen, by God.  By this, we speak of the need of salvation and the mechanism by which God would provide it.  He knew that we would fall into great sin and degradation.  We would need saving, but only some would embrace the salvation that God would provide.

This foreknowledge is partially the idea that God can see the future.  He didn’t actively choose to make something happen, but He knew it would.  Each of these items then could be permitted or stopped by God because He is sovereign over all things.  We should make a clear distinction between the things that God permits us to do and the things that He actively makes to happen.

Jesus came at just the right time, a time when the Law would have had a complete work upon the conscience of Israel, a time when men would rule over Israel that would kill His Anointed Son, a time when the faith of Israel would be hanging by a thread, and a time when the Gentiles would be weary of serving false gods that they had been serving.  At such a time, God sent His One and Only Son.

He foresaw how they would act and the choices that they would make.  He chose this time on purpose to accomplish His will, to provide a means for removing our sin and guilt.

God has also seen and chosen how to respond to the rejection of the Gospel of the Messiah by the nations.  We see it clearly that the politics of the nations, by in large, reject Jesus and his commands.  Even in the Christian West, we mostly see lip service to Jesus.

Thus, a day of judgment has been set by the Father.  A day has been appointed for the Son of Man, Jesus, to come on the clouds of heaven in order to put down the usurpers.  He will take up the kingdoms of the world with the saints at His side!  My friend, you want to be at his side on that day!

We are the chosen foreigners of Jesus the Messiah also by the sanctifying work of the Holy Spirit.  The sanctifying work is the means by which He makes us holy.  This can be seen in two ways.

We are holy in that we have been set apart as belonging to Christ.  We are the people who bear His name and belong to Him.  It is like a legal status change.  This holiness of being takes place as the Holy Spirit comes to dwell in us.

However, we are also holy in that the Spirit dwelling in us begins to teach us and empower us to live out the righteousness of Jesus.  This progressive holiness is a holiness of practice.  In our flesh, we fail and would be disqualified, but the sanctifying work of the Holy Spirit teaches us to repent, to be cleansed by Him and to be renewed in our fervor for our Lord.

Both the Word of God and the Holy Spirit are connected to the cleansing of the believer (Ephesians 5:26; Titus 3:5).  In this world and on our own, we become more and more defiled spiritually before God.  However, the Word and the Spirit work to cleanse us and make us holy in practice.

Of course, this sanctifying work of the Spirit is why Peter then refers to obeying Jesus the Messiah.  This is not an obedience where we never fail.  Repentance is just as much a part of obeying Jesus as the other commands.  In other words, his commands have incorporated our weaknesses through repentance and forgiveness.

Peter also mentions that we are sprinkled with His blood.  This furthers the picture of a holy people.  Just as the priests were sprinkled with blood as a consecration to their ministry for God so these are cleansed and consecrated to minister on behalf of Messiah Jesus.  Essentially, Peter is recognizing these Gentile Christians as being grafted into the Holy work that God has been doing through the Patriarchs, Israel, and now the Church of Messiah.  All of these are part of the same root.

His greeting then closes with a prayer that grace and peace would be theirs in the fullest measure.

Grace is a gift from God that should cause joy to the recipient.  Peace is the restful assurance that comes from God’s Spirit dwelling within us, teaching, correcting and leading us.  It is God’s desire that we receive and rejoice in His many gifts and grace to us.  It is also His desire that we have restful assurance of His faithfulness in saving us.

Of course, if we look at the storms, we can lose our peace and joy in God’s grace.  If we are to have His grace and peace to the fullest measure as much as is possible in this life, we will need God’s help.

Praise to God for His salvation (v. 3-4)

To bless God is to praise God.  The word has the sense of speaking good things to and about Him.  In this case, Peter is praising God for His wonderful work of salvation through Jesus.

Father God is the source of the purpose and will to save us.  The Father here emphasizes the relationship between God and man, but specifically God the Father and His eternal Son, the Word.  At a point in time, the Word took on mortal flesh and receives the name Jesus, Yeshua, the Salvation of Yahweh!

To speak of the Lord Jesus Christ emphasizes three aspects of the One whom the Father used to save us.  “Lord” speaks of his authority.  He is the King of kings and Lord of lords.  None are higher than him in heaven or on earth, other than God the Father (see Colossians 1:15-20.

“Jesus” speaks to his humanity.  He was fully human and lived a life of perfect obedience to the Father.  He is the Son of Man who perfectly imaged God the Father, and thus, he obtained all that God had delegated to humanity, making salvation possible for us in the midst of it.

“Christ” emphasizes his role.  He is the One who has the Anointing of God’s Holy Spirit in such a measure (full) that He can save and deliver the worst sinner, and the most wounded of people. 

“He has caused us to be born again…”  There is a true spiritual work that happens inside of a person when they repent and put their faith in Jesus.  This is the backdrop of the discussion Jesus had with Nicodemus in John 3.  To be born again is to have a spiritual birth.  It is also thought of as being born from above (a spiritual birth that is made possible by God Himself).  You were born in an earthly manner by the will of humans, but you must be born in a spiritual manner by the will of God.

We are now alive and able to respond to the Spirit of God.  Yet, we start as spiritual babies and must grow up spiritually.

“According to His great mercy,” this new birth makes us a new creation but also has a sense of mercy in it.  “Mercy” refers to the fact that our salvation is motivated by a pity or compassion over our destitute situation.  God is pained to see us in this condition and is moved to do a work of salvation for us.  This is a tension between the purpose for which God made us and our fallen condition.  He did not make us to suffer under sin on into eternity.

Humans can lose compassion and mercy very quickly, but God is full of mercy and grace.  It is great in quantity and great in quality.  We could say that the pain of the cross was more than counter-balanced by the pain of what would be in the heart of God if He didn’t pay the price to redeem us from sin.

We don’t deserve salvation, but God is pained to see us in a state of being lost.  How can I say, “No,” to such a love?

We were born again to “a living hope through the resurrection of Jesus from the dead.”  A dead hope may seem to be no hope at all, but the resurrection of Jesus changes everything.  Death suddenly is filled with hope in Him.  His resurrection from the dead assures our resurrection.  It also assures us of the fact that his sacrifice on behalf of our sins has been accepted by God the Father.

Jesus Himself becomes our hope, who is alive at the right hand of the father.  We hope in what he has done, but also in what He is going to do.  We live our life, not for the dead hopes of this world, but for the living hope of Christ Himself!

Verse 4 ends with another thing that we have been saved to receive, an inheritance.  Our inheritance is to dwell with Jesus for eternity, wherever that may be.  Our mortal frame would rather have it all now, but we receive a foretaste of what awaits us.  Our resurrection becomes the moment of fully stepping into that inheritance that God has for those who believe in Jesus.

It is an inheritance that cannot perish, corrupt or die.  It is an inheritance that cannot be defiled by sin.  It does not fade, which speaks of the glory of the inheritance.  Like Moses coming down from the mountain with face all aglow, we will stand glowing in glory alongside of Christ.  However, in contrast to the glory of Moses then, we will all participate in the unfading glory of Christ along with Moses!

This inheritance is reserved for us in the heavens (at the right hand of the Father).  No person on earth or wicked spirit of the heavens can wrest our living hope from the hands of the Father.  May God help us to rejoice in His great purpose for us, both now in our mortal frame and then in our glorified bodies!

Chosen Foreigners audio