1 Peter 1:1-2 – Peter, an apostle of Jesus Christ, To those who are elect exiles of the Dispersion in Pontus, Galatia, Cappadocia, Asia, and Bithynia, according to the foreknowledge of God the Father, in the sanctification of the Spirit, for obedience to Jesus Christ and for sprinkling with his blood: May grace and peace be multiplied to you.

THEME OF THE DAY: IN A NUTSHELL. We are familiar with the idiom “in a nutshell.” It means, “Give me an explanation with the least amount of words.” A good example would be, “How was your vacation?” In a nutshell, our response would be, “Awesome.” We would say a lot about our vacation with one word. In today’s scripture, we have our salvation and the purpose of our salvation proclaimed in a nutshell. And it is a nutshell providing us great joy, direction in living the Christian life, and one of the strongest evidences supporting the doctrine of the Trinity. It will also move us to worship.

First, our salvation was planned before time in the loving and wise mind of God the Father – “according to the foreknowledge of God the Father.” In order to grasp this meaning, we identify who he is writing to – God’s elect people dispersed throughout Asia Minor. The doctrine of sovereign election in the salvation of sinners is one of the most comforting truths found throughout our Bibles. The Apostle Paul wrote these glorious words about our election in Christ, “Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, who has blessed us in Christ with every spiritual blessing in the heavenly places, even as he chose us in him before the foundation of the world, that we should be holy and blameless before him. In love he predestined us for adoption as sons through Jesus Christ, according to the purpose of his will” (Ephesians 1:3-5). Friends, don’t debate this doctrine. Instead embrace and fall in love with this doctrine. It is designed not to create anguish in us but adoration for such a glorious and sovereign God.

Next, we see the power behind and in our salvation – “in the sanctification of the Spirit.” The word “sanctification” means to “set apart” and in salvation, the Spirit sets us apart for God’s purpose and possession. He is the one who convicts us of sin leading to an awareness of our need of a Savior. He is the one who convinces us Christ is that Savior. He is the one that grants us repentance and saving faith. And He is the one who brings the Bible alive to us as the resident Author in our lives. What a great God who would plan salvation, then provide the power for salvation.

Finally, the “Divine nutshell of salvation” takes us to our Savior, the Lord Jesus – “for obedience to Jesus Christ and for sprinkling with His blood.” It was the total and glad obedience of our Lord Jesus that provides a salvation to be applied by the Spirit. Jesus lived a life of complete obedience to His Father, fulfilling His law without blemish, in order to impute to us the righteous requirement of the law. Theologians call this the active obedience of Christ. Then Jesus died on the cross to pay the penalty for the broken law; a debt we owed for violating God’s law. Theologians call this the passive obedience of Christ as He surrendered to death for our sins. It is important we understand both works of Christ to properly glory in and embrace the Gospel. We need His life AND death; the law of God fulfilled and the broken law requirements paid for in a wrath-removing death. But this is not the meaning of the Apostle Peter’s statement in today’s scripture, though, it is the Biblical truth of what Christ did for us. The key application Peter is identifying is the salvation the Father planned; the salvation the Spirit’s power applies, and the salvation the Son provides is for one purpose – that we would be a people of obedience. Let’s paraphrase Peter’s words. He is telling us, “God the Father planned salvation for sinners who were alienated from Him. He has sent His Spirit to make known that salvation and provide the power for that salvation. And when that work has been done in the repenting and believing sinner, the evidence will be seen for all the world to observe by this spiritually born individual walking in obedience to the Lord Jesus. Basically Peter is telling us the acid test of being a Christian is a life of progressive obedience to the Lord Jesus.

Well, friends, that is salvation; our glorious salvation in a nutshell. Let’s marvel together over such a deep, mysterious, but gloriously simple salvation worked out by our Triune God.

PRAYER: “Father, Son, and Holy Spirit, I so praise my Triune God for the glorious work of my salvation.”

QUOTE: “Salvation is planned by the Father, provided by the Son, and applied by the Spirit – all of sovereign grace”.