1 Peter 9-17
9 As the outcome of your faith you obtain the salvation of your souls. 10 The prophets who prophesied of the grace that was to be yours searched and inquired about this salvation; 11 they inquired what person or time was indicated by the Spirit of Christ within them when predicting the sufferings of Christ and the subsequent glory. 12 It was revealed to them that they were serving not themselves but you, in the things which have now been announced to you by those who preached the good news to you through the Holy Spirit sent from heaven, things into which angels long to look.13 Therefore gird up your minds, be sober, set your hope fully upon the grace that is coming to you at the revelation of Jesus Christ. 14 As obedient children, do not be conformed to the passions of your former ignorance, 15 but as he who called you is holy, be holy yourselves in all your conduct; 16 since it is written, “You shall be holy, for I am holy.” 17 And if you invoke as Father him who judges each one impartially according to his deeds, conduct yourselves with fear throughout the time of your exile.
The grace is really what grabbed me today in the above passage. In the Old Testament scriptures, the spirit of Christ was in the prophets and they prophesied of grace and salvation to come. In the New Testament, the apostles filled with the holy spirit preached the grace and salvation that had appeared with the person of Christ and now today we are to be preaching by the word of God and the holy spirit, awaiting the grace and salvation yet to be fully realized when Jesus returns.
How would my life change if I lived as if my faith is not for temporary things like health money or a second house, in other words the things we wish for here, but rather in the things to come after we die. God has given us the gift of faith for eternal things and unseen things. I want to live as if the outcome of my faith is salvation of my soul, not a new house or a safe trip on an airplane. Of course I want those things as well, I just don’t want to insult or limit my faith to believing God for those trivial matters, when he has so much more for his children. I want to remember that there is more that God has for us namely found in Christ, things Christ will be bringing with him when he appears and returns. We have not “arrived” this world is not our heavenly home, why do we need to remind ourselves of this daily sometimes because many of us live as if it is, even Christians. We have gone a little further than the Old Testament saints and the prophets, but not all the way. Hope is alive and continues to be necessary to carry us to the fullest measure of salvation which is what Peter is speaking to in these verses.
We have so much to look forward to in Christ, at his appearance. Lord, Help us live in a way that our life goals center around grace and living hope and Jesus and what he promises not my own ideas of what I think will make me happy and content right now.
Many of us have earthly inheritances that fell short, came with conditions and turned out to be disappointing, but the prospect of our inheritance in Christ, in heaven is a hard and fast promise we know to be true because our father in heaven keeps his promises and his word and will fill us to overflowing. Our inheritance does not rely on us, there are no conditions that we can possibly earn or add to it. It is reserved in heaven waiting for us protected by Christ because we are his and he is ours. I think sometimes we have a lousy life experience and so we need the word to re-adjust our thinking and give us a new perspective. So that we don’t attach and apply our earthly realities to our heavenly hopes. And it makes us new, this may well be the washing of the word Christ spoke of.
my faith place 