Some of you have heard me say that when I was eight-years-old, my family moved from Calgary, Alberta to Omaha, Nebraska. For a boy that age, it was a life changing event. As he was making his plans, my father, asked us whether we’d like to fly or take the train. I don’t remember what my mother or sister wanted, but I did not want to fly. First, some my mother’s family were long-time and historic train people in British Columbia. So a love for trains was in my blood. And even at my young age I had heard of a few airplanes falling from the sky, crashing to the ground. Of course, I didn’t really understand very much about either planes or trains. Somehow I hadn’t heard about all the train-wrecks that had occurred throughout history. And having never flown, I certainly didn’t know thrill of take-off and landing. I had no idea about the beauty that was usually hidden on Heaven’s side of the clouds. I had never seen a city, a river, or farmland from 30,000 feet. Of course, all of that was long before 9/11 and the headaches that air travel now contains. I don’t know if I was the deciding factor or not, but my family took the train when we moved to Omaha. And I was pleased, primarily because of my eight-year-old ignorance.
Why do people reject the gospel of the Lord Jesus Christ? We could talk about human depravity and our natural love of sin. Or we could discuss what the Bible says about Satan blinding men’s eyes “lest the light of the glorious gospel of Christ should shine unto them.” And we could discuss the terrible testimony that some professing Christians leave their neighbors. We could even talk about doctrine, if we really wanted to get technical. But from another point of view, the answer is that people are ignorant. People reject Christ because they don’t know what they are missing.
And that leads us to a pair of questions: What did Peter mean when he spoke of “salvation,” and “What is salvation to you?” Not only is that second question appropriate for the non-Christian, but it’s equally appropriate for the saint. Let’s look at Peter’s scripture under 3 headings: Salvation’s Construction, Connection and Completion.
What is Salvation’s CONSTRUCTION – what is it, and of what is it made?
By “salvation” both Peter and I are talking about the sinner’s deliverance from the guilt and the power of his sin. The word points to forgiveness, regeneration and a host of Biblical and more theological words. By “salvation” a lot of people simply refer to the assurance of their “going to Heaven when they die.” It is a perfectly good Bible word, even though it is misunderstood by some and abused by many. And that is exactly why I am asking the question. Do YOU know what it means?
Someone once said that the gospel of the salvation of Christ is a little lump of pure gold. Sometimes that nugget is just a nugget – a lump; perhaps small, but valuable and attractive. But that gospel nugget can be processed and pressed to molecular thinness and made to spread into a good-sized sheet. Then it can be made to wrap around things, making them more beautiful. That should be true with just about every gospel sermon we preach. It should be wrapped around anyone of any size and any wickedness. Here is a man who has committed terrible crimes, for which he has been in prison. He knows his sinfulness and his need of forgiveness from both man and God. The gospel can be explained, and received, in such a way as to perfectly meet his terrible needs. While another person was raised in a Christian home, and sin has been kept to a minimum in his life, and yet the gospel still applies to him. That gold can cover any shape and size.
The nine opening verses of this epistle contain a nugget so large that a single man can’t carry it. Or perhaps I should say that a single sermon can’t handle it. Salvation can be broken apart in such a way that a dozen different aspects can be seen and used. Like that actual gold nugget, it might be made into computer parts, and ingredients for cell phone and TVs. Gold is used by the dentist, and also in a number of medical procedures – even colloidally. It is used in the aerospace industry, and in glass-making. It used to be used as currency, and still can be found in jewelry.
Of what is salvation constructed? Of what is it made? Well, there is election, sanctification and the sprinkling of Jesus’ blood (verse 2). Then there is the new birth and the living hope of verse 3. Verses 4 and 5 talk about guaranteed inheritance and the well-secured inheritors. We have already spent weeks in prospecting, mining and smelting this beautiful ore, applying it in different ways. But here in this verse Peter summarizes it all with our word of the day: “salvation.”
One of the things I have seen among Christians is an improper balance and emphasis on one aspect of salvation over another: this part of the Lord’s grace over another part. One fellow can only talk about love – God’s love, Jesus’ love, our love, etc. That is all well and good, but how does that love harmonize with God’s absolute holiness? This man may never teach or mention the absolute necessity of repentance. Another person relates the gospel to justice and crime reduction, looking at salvation in a legal fashion. And yet other speaks only of Heaven and leaving this world. While another can talk of nothing else than the theological aspects of election and predestination. A perfect stranger walks in the door of that church, and he is cornered and queried about election. Leave that man alone – even a great many Christians don’t understand what you asking him. At least let him in the door, let him get his feet wet, and let him learn a bit from the Word of God. Instead of asking about his election, ask him if he loves the Lord Jesus Christ.
I think that the primary thing to emphasize about the construction of salvation is the Saviour. Emphasize Him. A man can go Heaven and not understand propitiation or justification. But he must know some essential things about the Lord Jesus. “He that believeth on the Son hath eternal life, and he believeth not the Son hath not life, but the wrath of God abideth on him.” “He that resteth his soul on the Son possesses eternal life.” A man can be saved while misunderstanding election, but he must understand Christ. “He that hath the Son hath life; and he that hath not the Son of God hath not life.” I don’t think that we should avoid any truth, but we need to emphasize the first truth – the Saviour.
The Lord Jesus Christ is the foundation, construction and completion of Salvation. He is the entirely of this message. “He is author and finisher of our faith.” What is salvation? It is made up of Jesus’ blood (verse 2) and Jesus’ grace (verse 3). It is built upon Jesus’ resurrection (verse 3) and ends in Jesus’ reappearing (verse 7). Oh, how I wish that I could make this known to all the deluded people around us. Salvation from sin – deliverance from sin – is all about Christ. “Neither is salvation in any other, for there is none other name under heaven, given among men whereby we must be saved. “He is the only door, by him if any (man, woman or child) enter in, he shall be saved.” “He that hath the son hath life; and he that hath not the Son of God hath not life.”
Is your faith and hope for eternity in Christ this morning? I don’t care about other peoples’ excuse, but if your faith isn’t in Him, part of the reason is your ignorance! If you only knew what you are missing, and what you shall miss, you’d be beating the door down to find the Saviour. You’d be begging Lord to save your soul.
At the same time there are lots of people who actually do realize that salvation means Christ. They can quote these verses better than I can; with finesse, with flair, with savoir-faire. But they don’t possess either Christ or His salvation. They are missing the second part of our thought this morning.
They are missing Salvation’s CONNECTION.
Verse 8 – “Whom having not seen, ye love; in whom, though now ye see him not, yet believing, ye rejoice with joy unspeakable and full of glory: Receiving the end of your faith, even the salvation of your souls.” Peter was writing to Christians in this letter, so he was looking back at salvation rather than forward. These people were already humble, repentant believers; they were children of God by faith in Christ Jesus. If he was writing to people who had no idea what it was to be saved from their sins, he would have rearranged his words just a bit. But we can do that for him.
What is the means of connection between the sinner and the Saviour? From our perspective, it begins with “believing” – using synonyms like “trusting,” “resting on” and “clinging.” You and I can connect, or interface with each other, in different ways, because of our natures and proximity. We connect through language: speaking and hearing – we can communicate through body language. We connect when we shake hands, when we smile at each other or nod. There is a different kind of connection that occurs when someone says something, and we believe it. I’m sure that we could think of several other ways that we could connect. But connecting with Christ is a bit more complicated because He’s not physically here with us. We can’t see Him; we can’t look into His eyes as He speaks to us. We can’t hear the emotion in His heart as we read His words in the Bible. Yet, despite that problem, He doesn’t leave us with any excuse to miss meeting Him.
Just as you link with me when you believe what I say, you may link with Christ when you believe what He says. But not only must you believe what He SAYS, you must believe HIM. Furthermore you must believe Him and TRUST Him; you must believe ON Him. John 20:31 is an extremely important scripture: “Many other signs truly did Jesus in the presence of his disciples, which are not written in this book: But these are written, that ye might believe that Jesus is the Christ, the Son of God; and that believing ye might have life through his name.” Jesus said, “I am the resurrection and the life; he that believeth in me, though he were dead yet shall He live.” How can “believing” in Christ give dying people like us eternal life? Simply put, God has decreed that our faith in Christ provides the connection, the interface, which transcribes His salvation and forgiveness to us.
I still get a little nervous doing this, but I’ve done it often enough that it shouldn’t bother me. It used to be when we needed a new program for our computer, we made our choice, wrote the check, put it in mail and waited a couple of weeks for the CD to arrive in its special padded envelope. Today, however, we make our selection over the internet, we go the company’s shopping cart, put our credit card number into cyberspace and trust that in a few seconds the program we need will come directly and magically to our computer.
Isn’t that similar to what we do in trusting Christ for salvation? Perhaps, but with one major difference. The ability to trust God to save us, is not something we have learned over time, and after buying several other expensive things over the internet. When a man or woman, dead in trespasses and sins, feels led of the Lord to trust Christ, the faith that they put in the Lord actually comes from the Lord Himself – it is a gift from God. That is not something which needs to be fully understood, but it is a fact nevertheless. We connect with the Lord by faith.
But Peter mentions that another part of our connection with Christ is through love. Every real child of God loves Christ, the only begotten of the Father. While I will acknowledge that our love for the Lord is something which can grow and mature, I am convinced that as some sinner puts his faith in Christ, there will be a spark of gratitude and love. Salvation is not like buying a car, where there is the exchange of signatures, money and keys. There is a special bonding between the Saviour and the saved. There is a bond of faith, and also of love.
The story may be very old, but I have always liked it and shared with you a couple times. A wealthy southern plantation owner passed away – just a decade after the Civil War. His life had been built around his son, who had died in a hail of bullets at Shiloh. Now the Father, too, was gone, and His mansion, filled with antiques and art was up for sale. In addition to statues and paintings by famous artists, there were even some works the man had painted himself. The executor of the man’s estate called for an auction of the great masterpieces in the house. But the first item up for auction was an oil, painted by the deceased – a rendition of the man’s dead son. It showed no talent whatsoever; in fact it was ugly. No one wanted that picture; the room was filled with wealthy collectors waiting only for the great pieces The auctioneer waited and waited for a bid on the ugly painting. Finally, an old black man bid 75 cents for the painting of the boy. The old fella had earlier been one of the slaves on that plantation and had watched the boy grow up. He simply wanted something with which to remember the family after everything else was gone. No one else made a bid, so that old man got the picture, for less than a dollar. Then, to the surprise of everyone, the auction closed and not another painting or work of art was sold. The lawyer of the deceased announced that the man’s will stipulated that whoever bought the picture of the boy would be given all the other pieces including the house in which they hung. That old, poverty-stricken man became instantly wealthy.
When it comes to the things of God, if you really love Christ, whom you’ve never seen, you have salvation. Of course, I’m not talking about someone’s imaginary representation of Christ. I am talking about the Christ which we find in God’s Word. I am talking about the Christ of the Gospel of Matthew and of John. It is essential that we learn what the Bible says about Christ, but God blesses even our small beginnings.
A third part of this connection with salvation takes a form of “rejoicing.” Why is that important? …. Well, it goes back to the seasons of verse 6. “Wherein ye greatly rejoice, though now for a season, if need be, ye are in heaviness through manifold temptations: That the trial of your faith, being much more precious than of gold that perisheth, though it be tried with fire, might be found unto praise and honour and glory at the appearing of Jesus Christ.”
We sometimes sing the old song: “I have found a wondrous Saviour, Christ Jesus the souls’ delight. Every blessing of His favor, fills my heart with hope so bright. Jesus is the Joy of Living, He’s the King of life to me. Unto him my all I’m giving, His forevermore to be. I will do what He commands me, anywhere He leads I’ll go. Jesus is the Joy of living, He’s the dearest friend I know.” The only reason why some can get by in life without Christ is that they have not yet gone through all the seasons. But some of us know what is to loose loved ones to death or something else. And some of us know what is to live without luxuries or even necessities – maybe not you, not yet. Life has all kinds of seasons, but the winter of them all comes at time of our own death. Christ has the comfort that we need in every season. Christians can rejoice with joy unspeakable and full of glory through any season of life. In believing, in loving, and in rejoicing I am connected with Christ.
And with that I note briefly our last point: The COMPLETION of Salvation.
Verse 9 – “Receiving the end of your faith, even the salvation of your souls.” I was reading a sermon other day, in which the preacher made a statement which at first I questioned. He said, “THE acid test for the Christian is his attitude toward the Christian HOPE.” I thought to myself, “Wait minute, there are plenty of other things more important than hope.” Then I thought back on this scripture we’ve been looking at for a month. Peter speaks of the Christian hope. And the Apostle Paul says that it’s among top three of all graces: I Corinthians 13:3 – “Now abideth faith, hope, charity; these three.” He tells Titus that “the grace of God that bringeth salvation teaches us to look for the blessed hope and glorious appearing of the Great God and our Saviour.” Then John says things like: “And now little children, abide in him that when He shall appear we may have confidence and not be ashamed before him at His coming.” He says, “Beloved, now are we sons of God, and it doth not yet appear what shall be; but we know, when he shall appear, we shall be like him; for we shall see him as He is.”
Hope has a very real roll to play in the out-playing of the Christian life. I once read of a town which lay along a river that was being damned just a few miles down stream. It would take a few years, but that village was to be inundated with water – drowned. There was no future for that place, no hope. And what happened? Where once it was beautiful little place, it began to decay. No one painted their houses, the streets weren’t repaired; the street lights burned out and stayed out. Windows were left shattered, weeds overtook empty lots. Why? Because it had no hope. That is just like a lot of people that I know.
What is salvation to you? That was the question with which we began this morning. What is salvation to you? It must boil down to the Lord Jesus Christ, and the future which lays with Him. What is yet left for the Christian? Receiving the end your faith, even the ultimate salvation of our souls. Even so come Lord Jesus!
Do you possess the salvation to which Peter refers? The answer involves another question: Do you possess the Saviour – the giver of salvation? Once again, I urge you to repent before God, and believe on the Lord Jesus Christ. Trust the Christ of the cross; trust the blood which the Lord Jesus shed on Calvary. That is the place where salvation begins.