In verses 7-12 of chapter one of the Apostle Peter’s first letter to the converted Jews living in Asia Minor we find him referring to the end result of their (and our) faith–being granted eternal life with the Father and the Son in the Kingdom of God.  He makes it clear that salvation will “come to” them (and us) upon the “appearing of Jesus Christ.”  In verses 13 through 23 we find Peter reminding them of how they must conduct the rest of their lives (their “walk”) in order to receive “that (salvation) which should  (later) come to you” (vss 9,10).  The Apostle Paul picks up on the conversion-to-salvation part of the saint’s walk in Romans 5:21 and 6:22 where he states that THE END RESULT OF LIVING A RIGHTEOUS AND HOLY LIFE IS SALVATION.  Faith is the beginning point of the “race”; obedience until the end of life is the “final kick.”  As Paul says, all salvation seekers run the race, but only those who run it according to the rules wins the prize (1 Cor. 9:24-26).

Verses 13-16: In this passage Peter continues to teach the Jews relative to God’s rules for those who would join Him and His Son in paradise.  In verse 13 he uses the term “gird up” relative to the Christian mindset during the race.  Middle-Eastern men wore robes with a sash around their waists which kept the front from opening.  Prior to going into battle or going to work they would pull their robes tight around their loins (midsection) and tie them in place so that their robes would not get in the way.  Here Peter is telling all Christians to be mentally prepared for spiritual warfare which is part of every true Christian’s life.  The true saint of God wages war on two fronts.  Satan attacks him/her spiritually while church people attack him mentally and socially.  As Jesus warned, the saint’s family will be among his enemies.  His obedient servants are the butts of jokes and the focus of religious heresy.  This is not by accident.  Jesus came to pit His saints against everyone else, including our unbelieving families.  Read Persecution by that name.  In verses 13 and 14 Peter is telling all saints to focus our minds on Him, to be sober and to maintain hope and faith for the grace of God which will sustain them until the revelation (appearing) of Jesus Christ at the end of the age.  True saints must be obedient to God’s Word; they must not walk (behave) following conversion as they had walked prior to conversion.  Those who continue to sin have allowed Satan to sell them a counterfeit conversion.

In verses 15 and 16 Peter reminds all saints that, just as Christ is holy, following their SECOND BIRTH (conversion–“born of God”). they too must be holy in every aspect of their lives (walk) in order to join Him in the kingdom.  He reminds them of what is written in Leviticus 11: 22,45 where the Lord tells all who claim to be His: “Be you holy for I am holy.”  We are to walk this earth as Christ walked this earth.  Recall that He said: “They who have seen Me have seen the Father.”  In this way He bore testimony of the Father.  This is the standard He requires of His Very Elect who will join Him in the air at the first resurrection.  Read The Three Resurrections.  Key word–Three.  In verse 17 we are told that we are to pass our time on earth in the FEAR OF (FAILING) GOD, that we must WORK to earn our place in paradise.  Christian WORK consists of strict OBEDIENCE TO THE WORD OF GOD.  We will be judged by our obedience to that Word (Jn. 12:48).  Read verses 44-50.

Verses 18 through 21: Those who obey God have been redeemed by the precious blood of Christ Who was sinless and pure.  As a man He manifested that holiness as THE  STANDARD for those who would join Him later.  He was manifested before man so that man could use His life as THE PATTERN for his (man’s) life during “these last times”–the final days of the world (31 A.D. until His return).  The saint’s faith and hope are to be in the One Who raised Jesus from the dead.  Verse 25 tells us that God’s Word endures forever and that it is by our obedience to that Word (Gospel) that we will be saved at the end of the age–His Second Advent.

Verses 22 and 23 bring us to the saint’s final “birth.”  Here we are told that we are (in the process of being) BORN AGAIN spiritually.  That rebirth will take place only if we “purify our souls” (verse 16) by “obeying the Truth” “until the end” (Mat. 10:22).   Read Matthew 10:22 where, in the previous verses, He warns that we will be persecuted for righteousness sake, and that if we endure to the end of life or the end of the age in a state of righteousness we “shall be saved” (upon His return).

The THIRD BIRTH is man’s transition from physical to spiritual bodily composition.  Read Born Again for more information about the third “birth” of the saint which will take place at the time of the first resurrection.  Use the key word “Born.”  Because of a total misunderstanding of the born again experience, pleasE read Born Again.

In summary: The saint of God has three “births.”  He is born of a woman.  He is born of God–conversion) into the family of God and given the Holy Spirit.  He is born again (saved) at the return of Christ during which his bodily composition will change from physical to spiritual which enables him to enter the presence of Almighty God.  The man Jesus of Nazareth had to be born again in order to enter God’s presence, for in his flesh condition man cannot enter the Kingdom of God where God now abides (Jn. 3).  Only those consisting are totally spirit can enter the presence of God Who “is a spirit” (Jn. 4:24).   The Born Again series explains the born again phenomenon in detail.

In the second chapter of First Peter he makes clear the fact that salvation must be earned by DOING WORKS OF OBEDIENCE TO GOD’S WORD/GOSPEL/LAW/TRUTH/WILL/LIGHT.  Note that he was writing to adults who had been converted earlier and had been forced to flee from Jerusalem because of their embrace of Jesus of Nazareth (1:1).  Many of these people had been in the church since its inception in 31 A.D.  Peter wrote this letter to them between 62 and 69 A.D.  Some of these “strangers” had been Christians for over 30 years.  Yet he was telling them that they needed to continue to study, learn and obey God’s Word in order to inherit salvation.  L.J.

Memory verse: First Peter 1:16: “Be you holy for I am holy.”  Because He is holy, one must also be holy in order to walk with Him in this life.  Sin is darkness.  “There is no darkness in Him at all” (1 Jn. 1:5).  “Can two walk together unless they are in agreement” (Amos 3:3).  Sinners, having darkness, do not agree with the Lord and therefore do not walk with Him.  The man Jesus of Nazareth walked with Him.  We must “walk as Jesus walked” (1 Jn. 2:6) by obeying God as He had and thereby “overcome (temptations) even as I overcame” (Satan) in order to join Him on His throne in the Kingdom of God (Rev. 3:21).  Jesus set the standard for entering into paradise and living there forever.  His walk was the path we must walk in order to spend eternity in the presence of the Father and His Son.