Our Final Salvation - Verse 9

I Peter 1:9 – Our Final Salvation

Your reward for trusting him will be the salvation of your souls. (NLT)

...for you are receiving the end result of your faith, the salvation of your souls. (NIV)

Our prize, our great reward, for trusting and believing in One we have not seen or touched is the final salvation of our souls...the final glorification into perfection...the end result of a perfect life that will last forever and will never face another trial, will never experience another rejection, will never feel another pain, will never shed another tear. (CDC)

“All is peace forevermore on that happy golden shore, What a day, glorious day that will be.” (“What A Day That Will Be”)

We can rejoice because we know that one day we will be delivered from limitations of this life. We have a guaranteed deliverance which will result in the perfection and glorification of our bodies. Our salvation is a very present reality, but the fullness of that salvation...the goal of our faith...will occur when we are set free from this earth and these bodies.

Our trials here will all be ended as our souls are transported to the great reward ceremony in heaven. The Hebraic meaning of “souls” includes the whole person. We will join our loved ones at the greatest banquet of them all.

Paul was referring to the final salvation...the glorification of our souls when he reminded the Romans:

We can rejoice, too, when we run into problems and trials, for we know that they help us develop endurance. And endurance develops strength of character, and character strengthens our confident hope of salvation. (Rom 5:3-4)

No matter what we are going through in this body, on this earth, if we will allow the Holy Spirit to work in us and develop endurance and strength of character, we will build our confidence and our faith in knowing what is sure, what is to come...our final salvation, our glorification, our entrance into our heavenly home. And this is not the end, but only the beginning of a perfect life, an eternal life, a life without strife. We will see our Hope revealed.

“Hold on my child, joy comes in the morning!” (Bill Gaither)

A Living Hope - I Peter 1:3

I Peter 1:3

3 All honor to the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, for it is by his boundless mercy that God has given us the privilege of being born again. Now we live with a wonderful expectation because Jesus Christ rose again from the dead. (NLT)

3 Praise be to the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ! In his great mercy he has given us new birth into a living hope through the resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead, (NIV)

Our hope is in Jesus Christ. Because He rose from the dead, we who place our faith in Him live with the privilege of being born anew. This privilege stems from the mercy of God, who deserves all of our honor and praise. (my personal translation [CDC version] of verse 3)

Apostle Peter penned his first letter to Christians who were undergoing persecution. In the midst of their suffering, he wanted to encourage them by sending them words of HOPE. Hope, to him, was a firm conviction of something that is true, not just wishful thinking.

When Peter writes “our” Lord Jesus Christ, he reminds them and us that they/we have a personal, intimate relationship with Jesus because of God's mercy. God granted that relationship through the cross. Even though the cross meant the sacrificial death of God's Son, the resurrection of Jesus Christ, the reality of Jesus triumphing over death, is our guarantee that we have a living hope.

This hope is alive and dynamic, and it does not depend on our circumstances. Everyone experiences the pain of suffering, for it is a universal language. Peter, however, gives us a prescription to relieve that pain. He reminds us that just as God brought Jesus through the horrible death by crucifixion, He will see us through, no matter what we are currently experiencing. We can be assured that there is not an earthly problem too big for God to fix. We experience His deliverance from sin and death as we are born anew by placing our faith and trust in Jesus Christ and allowing His Spirit to live in us. This, however, is not the end of the Christian experience, it is only the beginning. God's grace and peace are available to us as we journey through this life, even when things are not pleasant or going the way we wish they would.

If you want to feel the presence of God in your life, you begin the same way Peter began this letter...by giving God all the praise and honor and respect that is due Him. We have been chosen by God, and we are being made more and more in the likeness of Jesus Christ. Jesus was raised from the dead, and as we place our faith in Him, we can know beyond the shadow of a doubt that we will one day overcome the disappointments of this world. 

Our living hope gives us a reason to smile at whatever storm we are facing now, because there is coming a day when we will be moving to our eternal home in heaven, to reign with Jesus! There will be no more sorrow or pain, only everlasting JOY! On that day our LIVING HOPE will be fully realized and the trials of this life will seem so insignificant compared to the Glory that awaits us!