that they might be obedient and show effectively what the blood of Christ has produced in their own lives. The salutation includes a greet ing of grace and peace. This was the normal greeting among Jewish people, as well as Gentiles. It shows the unity that there is in Jesus Christ. SALVATION As we next consider "Cod's call to salvation" we find the section divided into three parts. The first gives us an explanation of Cod's call (1:3-12). The second is His ef fectiveness (1:13-25) and the third is the engagement of the call (2:1 - 10). Jonah declared from the inside of the great fish, "Salvation is of the Lord." This section amply shows that truth. All three mem bers of the Godhead are promi nent in man's redemption. The work of the Father is seen in verses 3 to 7. The section is begun with the doxology. (Ephesians and II Corinthians start similarly.) Man can do nothing to earn his salva tion, it is all of the Lord. The inheritance here is charac terized by four great qualities which should be vital to us as well. Our salvation is incorruptible; it never becomes useless. It is also undefiled and will never become contaminated. Then, it will notfade away or become obsolete. Finally it is reserved for us in heaven. Ac cording to verse five Cod works to give us security. Think of being kept by the power of Cod. He de sires to stabilize the believers. Our eternal reward will be revealed in the last day. Since nothing can remove salva tion from us we are shown that the experiences of suffering have a
prominent words are suffering and salvation. The greatness of Cod is also prominent in the epistle. And the term well doing is seen with some prominence. The key verse is 5:12 where the Apostle explains that he has sought to explain the true grace of Cod. He then admonishes them to stand fast in this message of hope. In the introduction the term apostle speaks of one who is about to speak authoritatively giving a revelation to the church. As to those to whom he writes, Peter notes their holy calling as elect ones of Cod. They are referred to as sojourners which again speaks of those who have no permanent residence. He points out that this pilgrimage is in accordance with God's foreknowledge. There is a purpose to such suffering which is
Dennis McNeely pictured in the Biota Chorale is the son of our author, Richard McNeely, and a sophomore at Biola this year. Page 12
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