Living Hope and Saving Faith

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“Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ! According to His great mercy, He has caused us to be born again to a living hope through the resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead, to an inheritance that is imperishable, undefiled, and unfading, kept in heaven for you, who by God’s power are being guarded through faith for a salvation ready to be revealed in the last time. In this you rejoice, though now for a little while, if necessary, you have been grieved by various trials, so that the tested genuineness of your faith—more precious than gold that perishes though it is tested by fire—may be found to result in praise and glory and honor at the revelation of Jesus Christ. Though you have not seen Him, you love Him. Though you do not now see Him, you believe in Him and rejoice with joy that is inexpressible and filled with glory, obtaining the outcome of your faith, the salvation of your souls” (1 Peter 1:3–9).

Christ is risen! He is risen, indeed! Alleluia!

Throughout the next six weeks of Easter, we cannot help but be conscious of the connection between Jesus’ resurrection from the dead and our own baptism. For we are all baptized into the death of Jesus as our own death and united with Him in a resurrection like His (Romans 6:3-7). It is the death of the old self, and a rising to life of the new man, walking with Jesus in newness of life.

In our text, 1 Peter 1:3-9, Peter writes to the Christians of the five provinces of Asia Minor who are beginning to suffer for their faith. Some are starting to doubt whether God still loves them, if He notices their trouble, or can do anything about it. Peter’s response is to break out into a great doxology of praise. In the original Greek this whole paragraph, is really one long sentence. There is perhaps no paragraph in all of Scripture that can give more comfort to a suffering Christian.

The apostle begins his benediction, “Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ! According to His great mercy, He has caused us to be born again to a living hope through the resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead” (1 Peter 1:3). Using the same baptismal connection as the apostle Paul, Peter offers praise to God for giving us a new birth into a living hope, a promise that was begun in the resurrection of Christ and continues to its fulfillment in the new life of resurrection for us as well.

Peter exhorts us to be steadfast in faith and to increase through all kinds of suffering and good works. The Lord strengthens our faith through His promise and power of salvation to come. We have the firm assurance of our own life to come because of Christ’s resurrection: our redemption and eternal life are guaranteed by the resurrection of Jesus, the firstborn from the dead (Colossians 1:18). Hope in such a life to come gives life in the “now” of our existence under God.

So, what is this new life in Christ? What is it about? What is it for?

The word Peter uses several times in this passage is “faith.” The new life Christ opened for us in His resurrection, the new life into which we are baptized, is a life of faith. At once there is an issue. The word “faith” means two things. Sometimes we use the word “faith” to mean the things we believe.[i] So, we speak of Christian faith as the things we believe to be true, the things about God, for example. When we confess the Creed, we say, “I believe,” and then list several crucial facts about the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit, which is our faith. It matters very much that we know the truth of these matters, the truth God has revealed to us. But this is not what the word “faith” means here.[ii]

The faith that characterizes the Christian life is not the facts, the things, and the events out there, but something within. The faith of the Creed is something shared by all believers, but faith within is personal and individual. It is the very essence of the new life. When we speak of faith in this sense, we are not talking so much about agreeing with the facts and acknowledging the truth of them (although this is also important).[iii] No, we are talking about a matter of the heart, the soul of a person. We are talking about a crucial relationship with God through Jesus Christ, stirred within us by the Holy Spirit. It is the act of believing rather than the facts of our believing. A better word for it might be trusting. We trust God the Father, God the Son, and God the Holy Spirit. This is the faith Christ gives when He gives Himself. To receive this faith is to receive Christ.

When Peter speaks of our faith, he refers to the trust we have in Jesus Christ, so much that we anticipate what he calls an “inheritance that is imperishable, undefiled, unfading, kept in heaven for you, who by God’s power are being guarded through faith for a salvation to be revealed in the last time” (1 Peter 1:4-5). It means we anticipate eternity with Christ, and we depend on Him to give us this inheritance. This, in fact, is the most distinctive feature of the Christian faith. It trusts what Christ has done and is doing for us, and not in what we might do or not do for ourselves or for God, for that matter.

So, a couple of things more about this faith. It is faith in Jesus. He is the one we trust, depend on, and love.[iv] But here is a curious point: We have not seen Him. Yet, we have faith in Him. Our trust is in someone we have never set eyes upon, except representatively through the crucifix and sacramentally through His Supper. “Though you have not seen Him,” writes Peter, “you love Him. Though you do not now see Him, you believe in Him and rejoice with joy that is inexpressible” (1 Peter 1:8). Our Lord made a similar observation in our Gospel: “Blessed are those who have not seen and yet have believed” (John 20:29).

That is us. We have not seen Jesus, but it doesn’t matter. We are still blessed. “Though you have not seen Him, you love Him,” Peter writes. “Though you do not now see Him, you believe in Him and rejoice with joy that is inexpressible” (1 Peter 1:8). It turns out we have hit upon another feature of faith. The letter to the Hebrews sets out a definition of faith in the very sense of the word we have been talking about. “Now faith,” it says, “is the assurance of things hoped for, the conviction of things not seen” (Hebrews 11:1).

Faith must be this way. It must be so because nobody can see everything. Even Thomas, who saw Jesus risen from the dead in such an indisputable way, could not see his conclusion as He called Jesus “my Lord and my God” (John 20:28). Thus, Peter ends our text with the words, “The outcome of your faith, the salvation of your souls” (1 Peter 1:9). Even Thomas, who felt the marks of the nails in Jesus’ hands, could not see the outcome, the salvation of his soul. He had to believe that. And we all must believe it, rather than see it during this life.

Nor can we see how God’s hand will guide us through every challenge of this life.[v] We must believe it. Afterwards, we see how it happened, but during challenges and trials, we walk by faith and not by sight.[vi]

This is the other thing we learn about faith. For our trust to be cultivated, trials are necessary. “You have been grieved by various trials,” writes Peter, “so that the tested genuineness of your faith—more precious than gold that perishes though it is tested by fire—may be found to result in praise and glory and honor at the revelation of Jesus Christ” (1 Peter 1:6-7). Faith is tested by trials, not to destroy it, but to refine it as gold is refined.[vii]

 When Christians are painfully aware of what is being taken away from them, such as their freedom, their dignity, their health, their money, or even their life, it is comforting to remember which treasures cannot be taken from them: the mercy of God, the new birth of Holy Baptism, and the heavenly inheritance that cannot perish, spoil, or fade away. The stock market may crash; buildings may burn down; banks may fail; businesses may go broke; the love of family members may fail; but the good things that Christ gives will never fail because they are based on irreversible historical fact—Christ’s resurrection from the dead. He lives; and because He lives, hope lives too.

This living hope does not ride up and down like commodity prices on the Chicago Board of Trade or a roller coaster at Valley Fair. This hope is valuable because it is derived not from our achievements but from God’s. It is God’s gift of love, not something He sells us or owes us. And so, the eternal life that God promises is kept in heaven for you, and in the meantime, He shields you.

When you are suffering it may be hard to believe God is shielding you. But remember: God never promised us the bliss of heaven on this fallen earth. He did not promise an earthly life without pain, sickness, hostility from Satan’s accomplices, or death. What He did promise is that He would set limits to the hardships that come upon us. He promises that He will be with us through the tough times. He promises that after the night of trouble, relief and deliverance will come in the morning—these troubles are only “for a little while” (1 Peter 3:6). He also promises to work it all together for our good. Somehow, in some way, God turns every disaster inside out and makes it an opportunity for blessing.

And finally, God compensates Christians for everything they must give up for Him. Jesus once told His disciples, “Truly, I say to you, there is no one who has left house or wife or brothers or parents or children, for the sake of the kingdom of God, who will not receive many times more in this time, and in the age to come eternal life” (Luke 18:28–30).

God is guarding us. He’s keeping our faith strong. We need him to do this, because we live amid many trials that would otherwise tear down our faith and rip us apart from Christ. The trials that Peter’s readers were being grieved with included severe persecution for the Christian faith, even to the extent of imprisonment or death. We’re not to that point yet–although Christians now are increasingly facing ridicule or legal battles for standing up for what they believe.

The trials we more often face, though, are more common things.[viii] They are the setbacks that all people face, things that might cause us to doubt God’s goodness or drive us to despair. The rough going in life, when we wonder if God is watching out for us: Physical maladies, illnesses, the aches and pains of the body. Heavy sadness and anxieties weighing on our minds. Bad things are happening to our loved ones, and we pray for them, and they’re not getting better. Financial uncertainty. Conflict and tension in our relationships, in our family. All these things can be trials to our faith, grieving us, causing us to waver and doubt. Have you experienced these things? I’m sure you have.

But because God is guarding us and working to keep us strong, these trials can serve as tests, purifying our faith and making us stronger Christians in the process. Peter compares our faith to gold refined in the fire. The fire acts to burn away the dross, leaving the gold purer as a result. So, it is with our faith. The fire is painful at the time, but when we come through it, our faith has become stronger, with a more tested quality.

And as we go through these various trials, we have hope to hold onto. We know we have a better future in front of us. Our future is secure in Christ. Our eternal inheritance is awaiting us, and nothing can take that away from us. We are being guarded through faith “for a salvation ready to be revealed in the last time.” That will happen “at the revelation of Jesus Christ,” on the day when He returns. This is the Christian’s great hope, and it gives us immense joy. This hope is so great, we can rejoice even amid difficulties.

Brothers and sisters in Christ, our Lord Jesus has risen from the dead, having won our forgiveness on the cross and having assured our resurrection on the Last Day. God has joined us to Christ in our baptism; we have been born again to a living hope. This hope gives us strength and joy amid all sorts of trials. This is the sure hope of eternal life that we have in Christ Jesus our Savior. As St. Peter says: “Though you have not seen Him, you love Him. Though you do not now see Him, you believe in Him and rejoice with joy that is inexpressible and filled with glory, obtaining the outcome of your faith, the salvation of your souls.” Yes, dear friends, how we thank God that we have been born again to a living hope and saving faith!

The peace of God that passes all understanding guard your hearts and minds unto life everlasting. Amen

Unless otherwise indicated, all Scripture quotations are from the Holy Bible, English Standard Version, copyright © 2001 by Crossway Bibles, a publishing ministry of Good News Publishers. Used by permission. All rights reserved.

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[i] Epistle: 1 Peter 1:3-9 (Easter 2: Series A) - 1517.org, https://www.1517.org/articles/epistle-1-peter-13-9-easter-2-series-a-2023.

[ii] Epistle: 1 Peter 1:3-9 (Easter 2: Series A) - 1517.org, https://www.1517.org/articles/epistle-1-peter-13-9-easter-2-series-a-2023.

[iii] Epistle: 1 Peter 1:3-9 (Easter 2: Series A) - 1517.org, https://www.1517.org/articles/epistle-1-peter-13-9-easter-2-series-a-2023.

[iv] Epistle: 1 Peter 1:3-9 (Easter 2: Series A) - 1517.org, https://www.1517.org/articles/epistle-1-peter-13-9-easter-2-series-a-2023.

[v] Epistle: 1 Peter 1:3-9 (Easter 2: Series A) - 1517.org, https://www.1517.org/articles/epistle-1-peter-13-9-easter-2-series-a-2023.

[vi] Epistle: 1 Peter 1:3-9 (Easter 2: Series A) - 1517.org, https://www.1517.org/articles/epistle-1-peter-13-9-easter-2-series-a-2023.

[vii] Epistle: 1 Peter 1:3-9 (Easter 2: Series A) - 1517.org, https://www.1517.org/articles/epistle-1-peter-13-9-easter-2-series-a-2023.

[viii] “Born Again to a Living Hope” (Sermon on 1 Peter 1:3-9, by Pr. Charles ..., https://steadfastlutherans.org/2014/04/born-again-to-a-living-hope-sermon-on-1-peter-13-9-by-pr-charles-henrickson/.