Stripped To The Core

Introduction

The only thing more exciting than a pending deposit is a completed deposit. There are few things that come close to seeing money being deposited into our accounts. There are even fewer things sweeter than seeing money deposited into our accounts that we did not earn. However, somewhere between pending and completed, although the numbers remain the same the deposit seems to depreciate. The modern mind has been conditioned to be value what we don’t have more than what we do have. Peter’s letter reminds us that for those of us who have accepted Jesus Christ as Lord and savior, we have in our accounts something that the OT figures longed for. Peter writes concerning “this salvation”. This salvation, if I may remind you, is one that we did not deserve or earn. This salvation, if I may, costed us nothing but afforded us eternal riches. Peter writes of this salvation to help us understand that even when we are stripped of everything else, we possess something that others wished they had.

When stripped of everything else, we still have the gospel. The problem is sometimes we’d rather have everything else. We may not be willing to openly admit that we are not content with the gospel of Jesus Christ alone, but for many of us it’s true. There are a lot of unhappy people in the world; and at the root of their frustration or depression is an obsession with something less valuable than the gospel. It is perfectly okay to be discontent with something in your life and resolve to work on it, but Peter offers hope to us by helping us to understand that we have something that others have longed for. Many of us live unhappy lives because we spend most of our lives longing for things we do not have. We long for a better body, a better job, a better boss, a better bank account, a better car, a better house, a better spouse, a better school system, a better church, a better life. Those things garner so much of our attention that we become weighed down by all of these better bricks. There is no way we can be spiritually or emotionally healthy if all we think about is how we can get a better this or better that. A building block to building a healthier spiritual life is to shift our focus to the one thing in our lives that is perfect and complete. That is the work of salvation.

By clinging to the salvation of our souls we are not settling nor are we surrendering every other area of our lives mediocrity. Rather, when we cling to the gospel we are actually doing the opposite. If we were to take the overall purpose of Peter’s letter we’d understand that a commitment to the gospel means a commitment to living a Christ centered life. A Christ centered life has implications on your relationships, your finances, your body, your service, and your family. The salvation that is now ours is so valuable that even those who did not have it were motivated and driven by it. If those who had not realized or experienced the Grace that is ours could live lives shaped by the promise of salvation, how much more should our lives be shaped by it?

Salvation

The central idea of this paragraph is the value of salvation. Verse 10 begins, “Concerning this salvation”. This phrase clearly indicates that everything that is to follow in this paragraph should be understood as an implication of this salvation that we possess.