Salvation belongs to our God

Do you ever doubt that God loves you?

Do you ever doubt that you will be accepted into heaven?

Every Christian goes through times of doubt, when we look at ourselves and realize that we are not living according to God’s Word, and so start thinking that God must not love me.

In the opening verses of First Peter, the Apostle restores our hope and wipes away all doubt. The first thing Peter says is that salvation is something God does for us. 1 Peter 1:2, elect according to the foreknowledge of God the Father, in sanctification of the Spirit, for obedience and sprinkling of the blood of Jesus Christ.” Peter declares that we are elect. That means ultimately we do not choose God. He chooses us.

But, what are we elect to?

We are elect to eternal life. That means our Lord Jesus Christ took our punishment so we may be forgiven by God. It also means that we are now adopted into God’s family.

Foreknowledge

Peter goes on to show how we are elect. We are elect according to the foreknowledge of God the Father. Foreknowledge means that God knew and chose us before we were born, or created. In Ephesians 1:4, He chose us in [Christ] before the foundation of the world…and… predestined us for adoption as children. God hand picked us before He created the World. What this shows is that He chose us before we could do anything to make Him love us.

In Romans 8:29, For whom He foreknew, He also predestined to be conformed to the image of His Son. Everyone who God chooses has a destiny pre-planned to be reformed in Christ’s likeness.

Sanctification

Born Again

The next thing Peter tells us is we are elect in sanctification of the Spirit, for obedience. The Holy Spirit set us apart to be God’s people. This is what sanctification means. We no longer take our orders from the world, but from the Bible. When we are born again we are given a new heart, one that beats to a new rhythm. It begins the moment we come to faith and is finally finished when the last trumpet sounds and Jesus comes again.

Ongoing Work

God chose us so He might grow us to be more like Jesus Christ. Jesus was obedient to God the Father from birth to the cross. We are still sinners and so are not obedient to the Father. The Holy Spirit guides us and helps us to live according to God’s Word. If we look at Ephesians 2:8-10, For by grace you have been saved through faith, and that not of yourselves; it is the gift of God, not of works, lest anyone should boast. For we are His workmanship, created in Christ Jesus for good works, which God prepared beforehand that we should walk in them.

The Blood of Christ

The last thing Peter tells us is we are elect according to the sprinkling of the blood of Christ. What Peter is referring to here is the central doctrine of the Christian Faith. Jesus Christ died so we could be forgiven. Christ blood was shed so we could become children of the Living God. When Jesus died, the Bible tells us that He did two very important things.

Firstly, His death wiped away every one of our sins. From our very first sin to our very last. Psalm 103:12, “As far as the east is from the west, So far has He removed our transgressions from us.” I hope that gives you as much joy as it gives me.

Secondly, Jesus death appeased God’s anger toward you and me for our sin. We don’t have to worry about God being angry with us and locking us out of heaven. Jesus died to set us free from sin and safely bring us to eternal life.

This is the beauty of our faith. Salvation belongs to our God. God the Father chose us in eternity past, God the Son shed His blood for the forgiveness of sins, and God the Spirit both set us apart and continues to do so. The three persons of the Godhead, are together fully involved in our salvation.

The only thing we have to do is accept Jesus as our Lord and Savior. Accept that He chose to die for us and rose from the dead for us.

So, what does this mean for us?

It means that we can have confidence in our faith. Confidence that if we truly love Jesus, then we are chosen by God in eternity past, born again in Christ and are being made holy as we trust in Christ to save us.

Let us pray.