“Though you have not seen him, you love him; though not seeing him now, you believe in him, and you rejoice with inexpressible and glorious joy, because you are receiving the goal of your faith, the salvation of your souls.”
What is the goal of your faith? For the majority of people I have come across, it is to have a comfortable life, to receive blessings and favour or because it is how their parents raised them, and it is what their society or social circle dictates.
First and foremost, I want us to zone in on an essential foundation in verse 9, “you are receiving the goal of your faith, the salvation of your souls.” we must ignore the doctrine that once saved, always saved. Or the belief that once you accept Jesus, you are automatically going to heaven. A fat and lazy church readily gobble up these beliefs.
Peter highlights that the salvation of our soul is something that we are receiving. If it were guaranteed based on accepting Jesus, he would use a different tense and say, “because you have received the goal of your faith, the salvation of your souls.”. The word receiving confirms that it is not guaranteed as we have yet to receive it. If you take the fact that salvation is something we are receiving, it then makes a lot of the more challenging scriptures easier to understand, ones such as why Jesus rejects people on the final day and how Paul hoped he would be counted worthy of eternal salvation.
Today sit with the Lord and understand your faith helps bring forth the salvation of your souls. Now, what is our faith in? Peter highlights in verse 8 that we love believe and rejoice over Jesus, our Messiah. We have never seen Jesus, yet we believe that God came as a man, suffered and died in our place. Through His perfect life lived and laid down in our place, He overcame death because He was counted worthy and was resurrected and ascended into heaven, where He is in intercession for us as our High Priest—Jesus ministers before us, using His spilt blood to atone and cover our sins.
Because Jesus came as a man, He can sympathise with our weakness, and through His Holy Spirit, He then empowers us to overcome the wickedness of the fallen nature and start to be a light in this dark evil world. It is through this belief that we are filled with joy that we can not even express in words. The feeling of being broken free from the shackles of sin and condemnation brings pure laughter and happiness that can overcome all darkness.
We see and feel sin break away from us as our lives change, and we no longer look or live like the people under the bondage of satan. It is through this breaking away that we start to see our faith at work as we begin to grasp onto the salvation of our souls. This is the true gospel of Jesus Christ. This is the gospel we hold onto at all costs. This story is where our hope lies.
This is why Peter, very early on in this letter, reminds the readers of the importance of the true gospel. It is only the true gospel of Jesus that will ensure you can stand through the trials and persecutions that will come as a follower of Jesus. It is only the true gospel of Jesus that will bring you the salvation of your souls.
Today grasp onto the true gospel of Jesus and forsake the world’s ways. Dismiss the grace gospel as nonsense. Throw away the temptations of wealth and pick up your cross and follow Jesus.
