Romans 1:16-17 Part 7
The Gospel unto salvation: Present Tense–This is a Test!
I Peter 1:6-9
Remember: Our salvation is the outworking of the Eternal Will of God to show forth His Glory, His Radiant Love for His Son. Therefore our present salvation is always anchored in Eternity, that is, our Eternal Hope hovers over our walk in the formlessness and void that is this fallen world. And in this present context, we are kept by the Power of God through faith for the full revelation of the completed salvation to be revealed at the Coming of our God/Man “in the last time.” The Eternal Will of God establishes an Eternal Salvation in the Present, and the “anchor” and assurance in the present is the Promised Eternal Hope of our Eternal Rest in our Beloved God/Man.
Vs 6 This is cause for great rejoicing. This rejoicing is not dependant upon the circumstances of this world. “The fruit of the Spirit is love, JOY.” (Galatians 5:22) The benefits of Eternity in the present are are exclusively the Work of the Holy Spirit in the hearts of His People. They are not just human wishful thinking!
A. Matthew 5:11-12 After speaking of the “blessedness” of persecution, (remember, vs 10 is one of the beatitudes!) our Lord said “REJOICE AND BE EXCEEDINGLY GLAD, FOR GREAT IS YOUR REWARD IN HEAVEN.....” Earthly circumstances, whether persecution, trials, or just everyday “life”, must be viewed through the faith lense of Eternity!
John 16:33 “These things I have spoken to you, that IN ME you may have PEACE. In this world you will have tribulation; BUT BE OF GOOD CHEER, I have overcome the world.”
John 14:26-27 In Vs 26 is Jesus’ promise of the Comforter, the Holy Spirit, “Whom The Father will send IN MY NAME.” He is the Spirit of Christ (I Peter 1:11) Who is the Gift of the Father at the request of the Son. And the “in His Name” indicates that when He comes, He is Christ in us. His teaching “all things that I said to you” is not “informational” teaching. It is transformational teaching!!! Just as when Jesus said that, “he who has seen Me has seen the Father” (14:9), His implication is that wherever the Spirit is, we see Jesus, and in whatever He does, we see Jesus as the result!! (Consider also 15:26 & 16:7)
Vs 27 And continuing, Jesus says, “Peace I leave with you, MY PEACE I give to you; not as the world gives do I give unto you. LET NOT YOUR HEART BE TROUBLED, NEITHER LET IT BE AFRAID.” Jesus is not trying to rouse his disciples to a new level of bravery in His absence. If so, He failed miserably given their mass exodus at His arrest and trial. No, He is proclaiming the Work of His Spirit Who was soon to indwell them. This is the remarkable contrast we see first of all in Peter at Pentecost and all of the Apostles throughout the book of Acts.
B. And that brings us to the second part of verse 6: the “little while” of needful distressing trials. Peter’s thinking is rooted in Eternity and we must understand this “little while” in the light of Eternity.
Vs 7 Here is the NEED for the trials. “That the GENUINENESS OF YOUR FAITH, being much more precious than gold that perishes, though it is tested by fire, MAY BE FOUND TO PRAISE, HONOR, AND GLORY AT THE REVELATION OF JESUS CHRIST.”
Romans 5:3 Paul declares that we have Peace with God by Justification by faith by the Glorious work of our Lord Jesus Christ and we have access by faith INTO THIS GRACE IN WHICH WE STAND.” And as we glory and marvel at this incredible access and blessing, Paul appears to burst our bubble by, “and not only that, but we also glory in tribulations.” Yes, Justification by faith and the faith in which we stand, stands in the midst of tribulation!! That is the whole point!! This great salvation is not of this world and tribulation proves it by producing endurance, the verified character of Christ and a Hope that doesn’t disappoint. And how can that be? Because the Holy Spirit is pouring out the Love of God in our hearts. This is the fruit of the indwelling Holy Spirit! (Vs 3-5)
Romans 8:18-39 is all about endurance, perseverance. Notice that Paul’s consideration of the “sufferings of this present time” comes after his wonderful discourse on the “Spirit of Adoption”, God’s Holy Spirit Who bears witness with our spirit that we are the children of God. Vs 26 implies that the foundational firstfruit of the Spirit is a groaning, an eager longing, an Eternal Hope in the midst of this “hell on earth” Again in Vs 26, it is the Holy Spirit that is our INDWELLING HELPER. It is the Holy Spirit that initiates our prayers and perfects them to the ears of our Great High Priest, the One Who always has the “Ear of the Father” for us. And because of the Holy Spirit’s work, we can count on most believer’s “go to” verse–Vs 28. This is how we can know that all things work together for good who love God, who are the called according to His Purpose. In the vernacular of the day, God literally has our back–and our front and our sides and our insides!!!
James 1:2-4 Here, James exhorts us to “count it all joy when you fall into various trials” because trials are a testing of our faith and are given to produce patience. Vs 4 implies that if we are impatient in trial, “kicking against the pricks” of the thorns of trial, we are immature and lacking in what is most important.
Vs 7b A genuine faith is a tried and tested faith, and a genuine faith is our most valuable earthly possession!!! A genuine faith spends most of its time at the Throne of Grace. A genuine faith dosn’t “try to get out of stuff.” It settles for “Father, if it be your will, nevertheless, not my will, but thine be done.” This is the “perfect work” of James 1:4.
A genuine faith does not parade itself!!! It parades the praise, honor, and glory of our Lord and Savior, Jesus Christ. And it does it until it is rewarded “AT THE REVELATION OF JESUS CHRIST.” And there we have another Eternal focus in our present tense salvation.
Va 8 And here is the Beautiful Object of our faith. Jesus Christ, whom having not seen you love. (That’s the act of genuine faith) “though now you do not see Him, YET BELIEVING, you rejoice with joy inexpressible and full of glory. (The act of genuine faith.)
Vs 9 “receiving the end of your faith, (the goal, the fulfilled hope) THE SALVATION OF YOUR SOULS.” Here again, salvation is more than a “once done act”. Those whose Hope of Eternal Life will be those whose genuine faith has been verified by the fire of trial. They have endured, they are those who have “held fast the confidence and the rejoicing of the hope firm unto the end.” (Heb 3:6)
Revelation 7 In Vs 1-8 we have the sealing of the 144,000 with the Name of the Father on their foreheads. (See Rev. 14:1) In Vs 9-17 we see that this perfect number of the sealed are a “great multitude which no one could number taken out of all nations, tribes, peoples, and tongues, standing before the throne and before the Lamb, clothed in white robes, with palm branches in their hands, crying out with a loud voice (note the singular, voice.) saying “Salvation belongs to our God Who sits on the Throne and to the Lamb.” This is the true TRIUMPHAL ENTRY, the entry of the redeemed into the Throne Room of God and the Lamb.
Vs 13-14 One of the elders asks who these people are and where did they come from. “And I said to him, ‘Sir, you know,’ So he said to me, “these are the ones who come out of the great tribulation, and washed their robes and made them white in the blood of the Lamb.” These are not people from some end time tribulation. These are the saints of all ages whose faith has been proven genuine by trial and tribulation through the affliction that is life on this fallen earth, for their enduring faith is only in the Blood of the Lamb!
Remember Jesus’ Word, “In this world YOU WILL HAVE TRIBULATION, but be of good cheer for I HAVE OVERCOME THE WORLD.”
The Gospel unto salvation: Present Tense–This is a Test!
I Peter 1:6-9
Remember: Our salvation is the outworking of the Eternal Will of God to show forth His Glory, His Radiant Love for His Son. Therefore our present salvation is always anchored in Eternity, that is, our Eternal Hope hovers over our walk in the formlessness and void that is this fallen world. And in this present context, we are kept by the Power of God through faith for the full revelation of the completed salvation to be revealed at the Coming of our God/Man “in the last time.” The Eternal Will of God establishes an Eternal Salvation in the Present, and the “anchor” and assurance in the present is the Promised Eternal Hope of our Eternal Rest in our Beloved God/Man.
Vs 6 This is cause for great rejoicing. This rejoicing is not dependant upon the circumstances of this world. “The fruit of the Spirit is love, JOY.” (Galatians 5:22) The benefits of Eternity in the present are are exclusively the Work of the Holy Spirit in the hearts of His People. They are not just human wishful thinking!
A. Matthew 5:11-12 After speaking of the “blessedness” of persecution, (remember, vs 10 is one of the beatitudes!) our Lord said “REJOICE AND BE EXCEEDINGLY GLAD, FOR GREAT IS YOUR REWARD IN HEAVEN.....” Earthly circumstances, whether persecution, trials, or just everyday “life”, must be viewed through the faith lense of Eternity!
John 16:33 “These things I have spoken to you, that IN ME you may have PEACE. In this world you will have tribulation; BUT BE OF GOOD CHEER, I have overcome the world.”
John 14:26-27 In Vs 26 is Jesus’ promise of the Comforter, the Holy Spirit, “Whom The Father will send IN MY NAME.” He is the Spirit of Christ (I Peter 1:11) Who is the Gift of the Father at the request of the Son. And the “in His Name” indicates that when He comes, He is Christ in us. His teaching “all things that I said to you” is not “informational” teaching. It is transformational teaching!!! Just as when Jesus said that, “he who has seen Me has seen the Father” (14:9), His implication is that wherever the Spirit is, we see Jesus, and in whatever He does, we see Jesus as the result!! (Consider also 15:26 & 16:7)
Vs 27 And continuing, Jesus says, “Peace I leave with you, MY PEACE I give to you; not as the world gives do I give unto you. LET NOT YOUR HEART BE TROUBLED, NEITHER LET IT BE AFRAID.” Jesus is not trying to rouse his disciples to a new level of bravery in His absence. If so, He failed miserably given their mass exodus at His arrest and trial. No, He is proclaiming the Work of His Spirit Who was soon to indwell them. This is the remarkable contrast we see first of all in Peter at Pentecost and all of the Apostles throughout the book of Acts.
B. And that brings us to the second part of verse 6: the “little while” of needful distressing trials. Peter’s thinking is rooted in Eternity and we must understand this “little while” in the light of Eternity.
Vs 7 Here is the NEED for the trials. “That the GENUINENESS OF YOUR FAITH, being much more precious than gold that perishes, though it is tested by fire, MAY BE FOUND TO PRAISE, HONOR, AND GLORY AT THE REVELATION OF JESUS CHRIST.”
Romans 5:3 Paul declares that we have Peace with God by Justification by faith by the Glorious work of our Lord Jesus Christ and we have access by faith INTO THIS GRACE IN WHICH WE STAND.” And as we glory and marvel at this incredible access and blessing, Paul appears to burst our bubble by, “and not only that, but we also glory in tribulations.” Yes, Justification by faith and the faith in which we stand, stands in the midst of tribulation!! That is the whole point!! This great salvation is not of this world and tribulation proves it by producing endurance, the verified character of Christ and a Hope that doesn’t disappoint. And how can that be? Because the Holy Spirit is pouring out the Love of God in our hearts. This is the fruit of the indwelling Holy Spirit! (Vs 3-5)
Romans 8:18-39 is all about endurance, perseverance. Notice that Paul’s consideration of the “sufferings of this present time” comes after his wonderful discourse on the “Spirit of Adoption”, God’s Holy Spirit Who bears witness with our spirit that we are the children of God. Vs 26 implies that the foundational firstfruit of the Spirit is a groaning, an eager longing, an Eternal Hope in the midst of this “hell on earth” Again in Vs 26, it is the Holy Spirit that is our INDWELLING HELPER. It is the Holy Spirit that initiates our prayers and perfects them to the ears of our Great High Priest, the One Who always has the “Ear of the Father” for us. And because of the Holy Spirit’s work, we can count on most believer’s “go to” verse–Vs 28. This is how we can know that all things work together for good who love God, who are the called according to His Purpose. In the vernacular of the day, God literally has our back–and our front and our sides and our insides!!!
James 1:2-4 Here, James exhorts us to “count it all joy when you fall into various trials” because trials are a testing of our faith and are given to produce patience. Vs 4 implies that if we are impatient in trial, “kicking against the pricks” of the thorns of trial, we are immature and lacking in what is most important.
Vs 7b A genuine faith is a tried and tested faith, and a genuine faith is our most valuable earthly possession!!! A genuine faith spends most of its time at the Throne of Grace. A genuine faith dosn’t “try to get out of stuff.” It settles for “Father, if it be your will, nevertheless, not my will, but thine be done.” This is the “perfect work” of James 1:4.
A genuine faith does not parade itself!!! It parades the praise, honor, and glory of our Lord and Savior, Jesus Christ. And it does it until it is rewarded “AT THE REVELATION OF JESUS CHRIST.” And there we have another Eternal focus in our present tense salvation.
Va 8 And here is the Beautiful Object of our faith. Jesus Christ, whom having not seen you love. (That’s the act of genuine faith) “though now you do not see Him, YET BELIEVING, you rejoice with joy inexpressible and full of glory. (The act of genuine faith.)
Vs 9 “receiving the end of your faith, (the goal, the fulfilled hope) THE SALVATION OF YOUR SOULS.” Here again, salvation is more than a “once done act”. Those whose Hope of Eternal Life will be those whose genuine faith has been verified by the fire of trial. They have endured, they are those who have “held fast the confidence and the rejoicing of the hope firm unto the end.” (Heb 3:6)
Revelation 7 In Vs 1-8 we have the sealing of the 144,000 with the Name of the Father on their foreheads. (See Rev. 14:1) In Vs 9-17 we see that this perfect number of the sealed are a “great multitude which no one could number taken out of all nations, tribes, peoples, and tongues, standing before the throne and before the Lamb, clothed in white robes, with palm branches in their hands, crying out with a loud voice (note the singular, voice.) saying “Salvation belongs to our God Who sits on the Throne and to the Lamb.” This is the true TRIUMPHAL ENTRY, the entry of the redeemed into the Throne Room of God and the Lamb.
Vs 13-14 One of the elders asks who these people are and where did they come from. “And I said to him, ‘Sir, you know,’ So he said to me, “these are the ones who come out of the great tribulation, and washed their robes and made them white in the blood of the Lamb.” These are not people from some end time tribulation. These are the saints of all ages whose faith has been proven genuine by trial and tribulation through the affliction that is life on this fallen earth, for their enduring faith is only in the Blood of the Lamb!
Remember Jesus’ Word, “In this world YOU WILL HAVE TRIBULATION, but be of good cheer for I HAVE OVERCOME THE WORLD.”