1 Peter 1:5,6 - Shielded by faith

1:5

See how what is said here fits together with what was said in the previous verse. We can wonder/fear what will happen in the future, we can wonder/fear how we will manage to get through today. In the previous verse we are told that our inheritance is assured, it is kept in heaven, free from all danger. So what about us here? What about coping in this life? We too are kept safe, we are shielded by God’s power, and this is achieved through faith. Now one might ask, does that mean that if I don’t have enough faith then God’s power won’t protect me? Or someone else might ask, if God’s power is protecting me then why do I need faith? This is coming at things from completely the wrong angle. We have been born again, into a new life. Peter is talking about living the new life, and the new life is lived by faith. The new life overcomes all things and endures all things, because we are shielded by God’s power. We need to focus on living the new life.

Our salvation will be revealed in the last days. The Bible is quite happy talking about faith as past, present and future. We were saved on the cross (even before time began in one sense), we are saved now because we believe in Christ, and we will be saved when He returns. A change took place when we believed, we were born again. Another even more dramatic change will take place when Christ returns.

1:6

There are two grievous mistakes we can make about Christianity. One is that everything will be wonderful, if only we have enough faith then every disease will be healed, every problem solved. The other is that God is impotent and will do nothing. The former is sometimes preached in one guise or another, the latter is all too often implicit in the attitude of a church. Both are wrong, and, as always, the Bible has the perfect balance. We may have to suffer grief in this life, in fact we almost certainly will. Peter’s hearers were liable to suffer persecution. All kinds of trials may come our way, but in the midst of it we can rejoice, in fact we can greatly rejoice. We should ask God to teach us to greatly rejoice in the midst of trials. Why can we rejoice? Because of the absolute certainty of our inheritance, and of God’s protection here and now.