1Pe 1:6-7 | KingComments | STEP | . The time of blessing and rest that will come with the coming of the millennial kingdom rejoices the heart of the pilgrim and encourages him to move on in faith. It will not last much longer, it will take only “a little while” before you reach the goal. It is a short time in comparison to eternity and also in comparison to the time of the kingdom of peace that will last a thousand years (cf. ). In that short time you will be distressed by “various trials”. Peter says additionally “if necessary”. When you in your life of faith are distressed by trials, it is because God thinks it to be necessary, in order to test your faith. Only when we face difficulties, it will appear what faith means to us, whether we really trust in God. When everything is going smoothly it is not difficult to have faith. Trials or tests do not make things pleasant, they are no source of joy, but of sorrow. Nevertheless, there can be joy when you are tempted. After all, it can be a cause of joy when you consider that the trial or temptation is a proof that God is engaged with you. A trial that you have to face shows that He has an interest in you. This is how James is presenting it ( ). So on the one hand there is sorrow, on the other hand there is joy (cf. ). . There are “various” or different kinds of trials that God sends or allows to happen in the life of the believer to test his faith. As it is said, He does that only when He thinks it to be necessary. For the important thing that He has in mind is that the faith will be expressed. Trials are therefore tests, for the goal of the test is not only to make the faith express itself, but also to make it more pure. To God the faith of His own is “more precious than gold”. Gold is the most precious metal in creation, but it is perishable. Faith on the contrary is not perishable. To make gold as pure as possible it is freed from everything that diminishes its value. To achieve that, a process is needed whereby it is kept in the fire and is smelted. In that way everything that is not gold will float to the surface and will be removed. It is the same with faith that is purified from all unnatural elements ( ; ) in the fiery trial ( ). Tests make faith more and more pure ( ). Also the prophet Malachi speaks about the purifying process that the believers from Israel will have to endure in the great tribulation, which is with a view to the coming of the Messiah ( ). The purification process is done by the Divine Smelter. He determines the level of the temperature of the test with a view to the trueness of the faith. Thereby He will not surpass what faith can bear ( ). The result of His perfect wisdom will become completely visible at the revelation of Jesus Christ, Who will then be glorified in His saints and be marveled at among all who have believed ( ). Then it will become visible before all eyes how precious that faith is, that enabled these believers on earth to endure everything. The invisible Christ Who was rejected by the world, but Who meant everything to those believers, will become visible as the true motive of their life. He will be given all praise and honor and glory for His love and grace that surpass everything. This love and grace have given strength to His own to keep trusting in Him in the most difficult circumstances. . Still Peter has not finished yet with presenting the glories that are related to the Lord Jesus and the faith in Him. Your life in faith does not only consist of expecting and looking forward to, but also of something that you now already possess and that is He Himself. You do not see Him, you even have not ever seen Him, but you still love Him. That is because of your new nature that loves the Beloved. By this you have eyes of the heart and see in faith ( ; ; ). To love Him and to rejoice in Him have a decisive and educational influence on your heart. It makes the heart firm and fills it with joy, whatever the circumstances. You have never ever seen the Lord Jesus, nor have you seen His blood, neither His work on the cross. But you surely know that it is all true. You believe that. It gives you a joy that you cannot possibly put into words. Your whole heart and life are full of it. It is a joy that is “full of glory”, which means that this joy is not from the earth and also doesn’t fit here, but it comes from heaven. ‘Full of glory’ means full of praise. It is a joy that is full of the praise due to the Lord Jesus. . The pleasure of that joy also gives the consciousness of the “salvation of your soul”. The salvation of the soul is “the outcome of your faith”, meaning the goal of faith, that what is established by faith. You have accepted the Lord Jesus as the One Who was willing to die for your sins on the cross. That immediately gave you the salvation of your soul. That your soul has been saved implies that you inwardly have been perfectly delivered from the consequences of sin and that you are also free from the fruits of the misery of sin. Your body, however, has not been saved yet ( ). You still can get sick for instance. Also creation has not been saved yet, but still groans under the consequences of sin ( ). The full salvation is still to come, that is what you are hoping for and that is where you with perseverance are looking forward to ( ). . The prophets of the Old Testament have prophesied about this salvation. They spoke of a time of peace and righteousness on earth under the blessed reign of the Lord Jesus. They understood that they were talking about things that they themselves did not possess, but that it means “grace” to those who were going to partake of that. That grace was possessed by the readers of this letter. Isn’t it a great grace to be able to believe in Him through Whom the salvation has been fully realized in your soul and through Whom the salvation will be fully realized in creation? . The prophets have shown the greatest interest in the things about which the “Spirit of Christ” inspired them to write. They made efforts to understand the things they wrote about. That a glorious time was going to come with the revelation of the Messiah was not a mystery to them. But what they could not understand, is that the Messiah first had to suffer and only thereafter the time of all kind of glories will come. Isn’t it indeed a great grace for you to know that the Messiah Jesus Who had suffered on earth, has now already been crowned in heaven with honor and glory ( ) and that He will soon fill the world with His glory? . God’s Spirit revealed to the prophets that the things they were reporting were not for themselves, but for the Jewish readers of this letter and also for us. Your eyes have been opened by those who have preached the gospel to you. They are the New Testament evangelists, for, according to Peter, they had spoken “by the Holy Spirit sent from heaven”. After all, the Holy Spirit could only come after the Lord Jesus was glorified by God in heaven ( ; ). What the Holy Spirit has revealed now in the gospel, relates to a glorified Christ and the relation of the believers with Him. Then you read about a second group of those who are interested: the angels. So there are two groups of interested in these things: the prophets and the angels. But the angels themselves do not partake of the things in which they are interested. The angels long to gain insight in the mystery of how God turned murderers of His Son into worshipers of His Son. They remember the rebellion among the angels, when Satan and his followers rebelled against God. They know how these apostate angels have caused that also man became rebellious against God. And now God grants salvation to fallen, rebellious people. That’s what extremely amazes the angels and that is something of which they would love to understand more. In that view angels are an example to many Christians who, while they indeed partake of these things don’t show any interest in them at all. I assume that this does not apply to you, for then you would not read this explanation. Now read 1 Peter 1:6-12 again. Reflection: How can you purify your faith and how do you experience your joy in the Lord?

‏ 1 Peter 1:6-7

The Proof of Faith

1Pet 1:6. The time of blessing and rest that will come with the coming of the millennial kingdom rejoices the heart of the pilgrim and encourages him to move on in faith. It will not last much longer, it will take only “a little while” before you reach the goal. It is a short time in comparison to eternity and also in comparison to the time of the kingdom of peace that will last a thousand years (cf. 2Cor 4:17).

In that short time you will be distressed by “various trials”. Peter says additionally “if necessary”. When you in your life of faith are distressed by trials, it is because God thinks it to be necessary, in order to test your faith. Only when we face difficulties, it will appear what faith means to us, whether we really trust in God. When everything is going smoothly it is not difficult to have faith.

Trials or tests do not make things pleasant, they are no source of joy, but of sorrow. Nevertheless, there can be joy when you are tempted. After all, it can be a cause of joy when you consider that the trial or temptation is a proof that God is engaged with you. A trial that you have to face shows that He has an interest in you. This is how James is presenting it (Jam 1:3). So on the one hand there is sorrow, on the other hand there is joy (cf. 2Cor 6:10).

1Pet 1:7. There are “various” or different kinds of trials that God sends or allows to happen in the life of the believer to test his faith. As it is said, He does that only when He thinks it to be necessary. For the important thing that He has in mind is that the faith will be expressed. Trials are therefore tests, for the goal of the test is not only to make the faith express itself, but also to make it more pure. To God the faith of His own is “more precious than gold”. Gold is the most precious metal in creation, but it is perishable. Faith on the contrary is not perishable.

To make gold as pure as possible it is freed from everything that diminishes its value. To achieve that, a process is needed whereby it is kept in the fire and is smelted. In that way everything that is not gold will float to the surface and will be removed. It is the same with faith that is purified from all unnatural elements (Psa 66:10; Pro 17:3) in the fiery trial (1Pet 4:12). Tests make faith more and more pure (Job 23:10). Also the prophet Malachi speaks about the purifying process that the believers from Israel will have to endure in the great tribulation, which is with a view to the coming of the Messiah (Mal 3:1-3).

The purification process is done by the Divine Smelter. He determines the level of the temperature of the test with a view to the trueness of the faith. Thereby He will not surpass what faith can bear (1Cor 10:13).

The result of His perfect wisdom will become completely visible at the revelation of Jesus Christ, Who will then be glorified in His saints and be marveled at among all who have believed (2Thes 1:10). Then it will become visible before all eyes how precious that faith is, that enabled these believers on earth to endure everything. The invisible Christ Who was rejected by the world, but Who meant everything to those believers, will become visible as the true motive of their life. He will be given all praise and honor and glory for His love and grace that surpass everything. This love and grace have given strength to His own to keep trusting in Him in the most difficult circumstances.

1Pet 1:8. Still Peter has not finished yet with presenting the glories that are related to the Lord Jesus and the faith in Him. Your life in faith does not only consist of expecting and looking forward to, but also of something that you now already possess and that is He Himself. You do not see Him, you even have not ever seen Him, but you still love Him. That is because of your new nature that loves the Beloved. By this you have eyes of the heart and see in faith (Eph 1:18; Heb 11:10 ; 27; Jn 8:56).

To love Him and to rejoice in Him have a decisive and educational influence on your heart. It makes the heart firm and fills it with joy, whatever the circumstances. You have never ever seen the Lord Jesus, nor have you seen His blood, neither His work on the cross. But you surely know that it is all true. You believe that. It gives you a joy that you cannot possibly put into words. Your whole heart and life are full of it. It is a joy that is “full of glory”, which means that this joy is not from the earth and also doesn’t fit here, but it comes from heaven. ‘Full of glory’ means full of praise. It is a joy that is full of the praise due to the Lord Jesus.

1Pet 1:9. The pleasure of that joy also gives the consciousness of the “salvation of your soul”. The salvation of the soul is “the outcome of your faith”, meaning the goal of faith, that what is established by faith. You have accepted the Lord Jesus as the One Who was willing to die for your sins on the cross. That immediately gave you the salvation of your soul. That your soul has been saved implies that you inwardly have been perfectly delivered from the consequences of sin and that you are also free from the fruits of the misery of sin.

Your body, however, has not been saved yet (Rom 8:23). You still can get sick for instance. Also creation has not been saved yet, but still groans under the consequences of sin (Rom 8:22). The full salvation is still to come, that is what you are hoping for and that is where you with perseverance are looking forward to (Rom 8:24-25).

1Pet 1:10. The prophets of the Old Testament have prophesied about this salvation. They spoke of a time of peace and righteousness on earth under the blessed reign of the Lord Jesus. They understood that they were talking about things that they themselves did not possess, but that it means “grace” to those who were going to partake of that. That grace was possessed by the readers of this letter. Isn’t it a great grace to be able to believe in Him through Whom the salvation has been fully realized in your soul and through Whom the salvation will be fully realized in creation?

1Pet 1:11. The prophets have shown the greatest interest in the things about which the “Spirit of Christ” inspired them to write. They made efforts to understand the things they wrote about. That a glorious time was going to come with the revelation of the Messiah was not a mystery to them. But what they could not understand, is that the Messiah first had to suffer and only thereafter the time of all kind of glories will come. Isn’t it indeed a great grace for you to know that the Messiah Jesus Who had suffered on earth, has now already been crowned in heaven with honor and glory (Heb 2:9) and that He will soon fill the world with His glory?

1Pet 1:12. God’s Spirit revealed to the prophets that the things they were reporting were not for themselves, but for the Jewish readers of this letter and also for us. Your eyes have been opened by those who have preached the gospel to you. They are the New Testament evangelists, for, according to Peter, they had spoken “by the Holy Spirit sent from heaven”. After all, the Holy Spirit could only come after the Lord Jesus was glorified by God in heaven (Jn 7:39; Acts 2:33). What the Holy Spirit has revealed now in the gospel, relates to a glorified Christ and the relation of the believers with Him.

Then you read about a second group of those who are interested: the angels. So there are two groups of interested in these things: the prophets and the angels. But the angels themselves do not partake of the things in which they are interested. The angels long to gain insight in the mystery of how God turned murderers of His Son into worshipers of His Son. They remember the rebellion among the angels, when Satan and his followers rebelled against God. They know how these apostate angels have caused that also man became rebellious against God. And now God grants salvation to fallen, rebellious people. That’s what extremely amazes the angels and that is something of which they would love to understand more.

In that view angels are an example to many Christians who, while they indeed partake of these things don’t show any interest in them at all. I assume that this does not apply to you, for then you would not read this explanation.

Now read 1 Peter 1:6-12 again.

Reflection: How can you purify your faith and how do you experience your joy in the Lord?