1 Peter 1: Principles

 

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Biblical Principles for Application from 1 Peter 1

Tod Kennedy, March, 2000

I. Three facts about election—God selects and secures believers into his plan, 1 Peter 1.1-2

  1. 1 Peter 1.1-2 Principle: God the Father foreknows those who will believe in Christ—he knows ahead of time. Those whom he foreknows will believe in Christ he elects and secures for eternal life, for privileges, and for opportunities.
  2. 1 Peter 1.2 Principle: The Holy Spirit sanctifies (sets apart for and gives the gospel, clarifies and convinces about the gospel) those who will believe.
  3. 1 Peter 1.2 Principle: The individual obeys (believes) the gospel, and God reconciles that person to Himself through Christ’s death.
    4.

II. Three results of our spiritual birth, 1 Peter 1.3-5
  1. 1 Peter 1.3 Principle: We have a lively, energizing hope, an expectant confidence, that will motivate us to live our Christian life now and about our eternal future.
  2. 1 Peter 1.4 Principle: We have a positional inheritance; this inheritance is ours because we are in Christ.
  3. 1 Peter 1.5 Principle: We have an eternal salvation to be physically revealed to us; this includes physical resurrection, rewards, heaven, and future blessings.

III. Four truths about our positional inheritance, 1 Peter 1.4
  1. It is imperishable--it will last forever.
  2. It is undefiled--it will be righteously and honestly awarded.
  3. It is unfading--it will never go bad or wilt.
  4. It is held on reserve for you--it will be there when you arrive.

IV. Trials or tests may be unpleasant, but they are opportunities for blessing, 1 Peter 1.6-8
  1. 1 Peter 1.6 Principle: We can rejoice right now--even though we are presently pressed by trials--in the fact that at a future time Christ will reveal himself to believers; we will see him and he will evaluate us (1.6).
  2. 1 Peter 1.7Principle: Pressing trials are opportunities to prove our Christian way of life faith--not that we are believers, but that we did live by faith, by the Spirit, and in the Word of God (1.7).
  3. 1 Peter 1.7 Principle: Christ will commend us at his judgment seat (Judgment Seat of Christ) for our Christian way of life faith proved under trials. If we fail under trial, we still have our salvation, but we will receive little or no commendation from him (1.7).
  4. 1 Peter 1.8 Principle: Even while being tested, we can believe the Lord, love the Lord, and greatly rejoice in him through our eyes of faith that see him in his word though we cannot see him with our physical eyes (1.8).

V. Salvation is the outcome of our faith, 1 Peter 1.9-12
  1. 1 Peter 1.9 Principle: We have a wonderful, God designed future no matter how much testing we may face. That future includes salvation from tests, suffering, and sin. Salvation is eternal, the fulfillment of God's promise to believers, and called salvation of our soul or life.
  2. 1 Peter 1.10-11 Principle: The Old Testament prophets studied hard to learn about Messiah's suffering (first coming) and glory (second coming). These comings provide grace salvation for believers.
  3. 1 Peter 1.10-11 Principle: The Holy Spirit told the prophets about Christ's first and second coming long before he came.
  4. 1 Peter 1.11-12 Principle: Topics of the Holy Spirit's Old Testament teaching ministry were: 1) Christ will come to die (suffer) 2) He will come to rule (glory) 3) Grace salvation will be offered to mankind.
  5. 1 Peter 1.12 Principle: The OT prophets were not only speaking to their generation, but also to future generations. They were spreading the word and passing the biblical torch.
  6. 1 Peter 1.12 Principle: Angels, along with prophets and present believers, want to find out about God's gracious salvation that is through Christ's two comings.

VI. Since salvation is our certain possession, live with that in mind, 1 Peter 1.13-16
  1. 1 Peter 1.13 Principle: Life now has many, many tests; salvation has already begun, so we can successfully live no matter what the circumstances may be.
  2. 1 Peter 1.13-16 Principle: Successful living demands spiritual action right now:
  1. Get prepared for action--the action is living the Christian way of life (1.13).
  2. Think clearly about your place and purpose in God's plan. Know what he expects of you and how you will do what he expects (1.13).
  3. Live with an expectant hope or expectant confidence for Christ's return (1.13).
  4. Do not live like unbelievers live (1.14).
  5. Believers are saints, holy ones, sanctified ones; live like the person God has made you (1.15-16).
  1. 1 Peter 1.13-16 Principle: Five ideas that help us understand and apply holiness:
  1. Identity: we are believers; we are identified with God; we are members of the body of Christ; we have divine operating assets; we possess the Royal Birthright. Therefore, we can have the right view of ourselves and of other believers; we can have the right view of our place in the body of Christ.
  2. Purpose: we believer-priests serve God. This service requires knowing, applying, and spreading God's word as well as prayer, and divine good production.
  3. Destiny: our destiny and citizenship are in heaven; our future is secure; believer-priest service is spiritual investment for future rewards.
  4. Life: right now, we are set apart to God; we choose his life and reject any other kind of life. We learn and apply Biblical guidelines, commands, and principles. We can live each day better than we lived the previous day. This is the saintly kind of life.
  5. Character: God want us to have the inner character that is like Christ's character. Character includes the inner virtues that come from our union with Christ and from our inner transformation through spiritual growth. These virtues reflect our sainthood.

VII. God is our Heavenly Father, 1 Peter 1.17-21

  1. 1 Peter 1.17 Principle: God is our Heavenly Father; as our Heavenly Father, he evaluates us so that he may reprimand and reward us. These truths ought to determine how we live. We should think of ourselves as his children.
  2. 1 Peter 1.17 Principle: Each of our lives on earth is a pilgrimage designed by God.
  3. 1 Peter 1.18-19 Principle: The Father redeemed us through the unique sacrifice of his Son. Our knowledge of this motivates us to live as obedient sons of our Father.
  4. 1 Peter 1.20 Principle: The Father and the Son knew they would need to redeem mankind; they knew it even before they created the world.
  5. 1 Peter 1.20 Principle: Christ, the Father's Son, has shown us what the Father is like; because of the Son, we believe in the Father.
  6. 1 Peter 1.21 Principle: Because the Father raised his Son and glorified his Son, we believe what our heavenly Father has said to us in his Word, and we confidently hope in our heavenly Father. We know that he is God; we know that he has a life and eternity of blessing for us.

VIII. The living and abiding Word of God makes the Christian life possible, 1 Peter 1.22-25.

  1. 1 Peter 1.22-23 Principle: Believers are purified--born again--and so have a sense of brotherly love (filadelfia) for each other because we are believers; we have that in common. We are to go beyond this love to God's kind of love (agaph, agapaw) for each other. This is possible because the same Word of God that initially gave us eternal life also continues to live and abide in us and produce that eternal kind of life in us right now.
  2. 1 Peter 1.22 Principle: God commands you to fervently love (agapaw) one another. This love comes from God through you to others; it is not dependent upon the other person, it is unconditional.
  3. 1 Peter 1.23-25 Principle: Though man is like grass and its flower, and will fade, the Word of God has regenerated us and is now living (active, life giving) and abiding (remains, persists, continues to work its task) in us. The Word goes on working and growing and building and perfecting us. The Word remains forever--it never disintegrates; it never loses its shine or its glory or its usefulness; it is able to produce in us God's love for other believers. The Word of God teaches what love is, motivates us, reminds us, and encourages us to love one another rightly.