Full Scale Salvation – 1 Peter 1:3-9

Many have noted the Apostle Peter's unique contributions to the canon by way of theme and emphasis dubbing him: “The Apostle of Hope”. Our passage today certainly fits this distinctive. No doubt inspired in part by his own experience with our Savior, and in part by the plight of the churches to whom he wrote. Peter provides a poetically beautiful, theologically rich, and transcendently encouraging opening to his epistle extolling the glory of God evident in the beauty of our salvation. Several authors have pointed to categories in this portion and the greater part of chapter one that are instructive and insightful. One commentator notes the time context pointing out that Peter focuses on the future aspects of our redemptive hope in verses 3-9 followed by a recounting of the prophetic history preceding the incarnation in verses 10-12. The Expositor's Commentary draws attention to the trinitarian emphasis of the text featuring God the Father in verses 3-5, God the Son 6-9, and God the Spirit 10-12. Jameson, Faucet, and Brown additionally note four causes of salvation laid out in this text: 1. Primary cause: God's mercy, 2. Proximate cause: Christ's death and resurrection, 3. Formal cause: Our regeneration, 4. Final cause: Our eternal bliss. For our purposes in this sermon, however, we note the scope of redemption expounded according to three aspects of the elect exile's salvation experience. We also note how Peter structures his comments around each aspect stating the basis, the instrument, and the effect of the believer's manifold hope in Christ. Each line only multiplies reasons why the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ is blessed, and why we ought to join the apostle in blessing Him with our own praise...