Kept through Faith: Eternal Security in 1 Peter 1:1-9 (Part 2 of 3)
This is the second of three parts in a series. For the first post, click here.
An Inheritance Reserved in Heaven
Peter further explains that God the Father “hath begotten us again unto a lively hope . . . to an inheritance incorruptible, and undefiled, and that fadeth not away, reserved in heaven for you” (1:3-4). The New Testament commonly uses the language of inheritance to refer to future blessings that believers will receive after the return of Christ (e.g., Matt. 5:5; 19:28-29; Rev. 21:7). Notably, the immediate context contains references to “the last time” (v. 5) and “the revelation of Jesus Christ” (vv. 7, 13).
The inheritance awaiting believers is described as “incorruptible.” This same Greek word is used to describe the resurrection body (1 Cor. 15:52), the Word of God (1 Pet. 1:23), and God Himself (Rom. 1:23). Just as all these are incorruptible, not subject to death or decay, so the Christian’s future inheritance is incorruptible.
The Greek word translated “that fadeth not away” is used only here in the New Testament. There is, however, a related word in 5:4, which speaks of “a crown of glory that fadeth not away.” There’s also a related verb in James 1:11, which highlights “the rich man,” who “fade[s] away in his ways.” The same verb occurs in the Septuagint to refer to withered branches. Thus, the idea is that this inheritance doesn’t fade, wither, or lose its luster in any way.
The word tereo (“reserved”) can be used in the sense of guarding or holding in custody (e.g., Acts 16:23). The CEB translates this word as “kept safe.” In this context, the verb tereo appears as a perfect passive participle. It is best to understand this form as “a divine passive, referring to God as the one who reserves the inheritance for believers.”1Furthermore, the perfect form “indicates a completed past activity (by God) with results that are still continuing in the present.”2
The future inheritance for believers is not subject to death or decay since God Himself has protected it in the safest possible pace: “in heaven.” These descriptions are decisive—the believer’s future inheritance is absolutely secure, not subject to forfeiture.
Kept by the Power of God
Immediately following his assertion that believers have “an inheritance . . . reserved in heaven” (1:4), Peter describes his readers as those “who are kept by the power of God through faith unto salvation ready to be revealed in the last time” (v. 5). The verb phoureo (“kept”) is a military term referring to guarding or watching over someone (see, e.g., 2 Cor. 11:32).
Most translations interpret the next phrase as referring to the agency that does the guarding: “by the power of God” (e.g., KJV, NASB, ESV, NIV). It would be one thing if the believer were guarded by his own power. To put it succinctly, “If you could lose your salvation, you would.”3 The passage, however, asserts that the power of God preserves, protects, guards us. Can the power of God fail? Can the power of God transform a child of darkness into a child of light only to let him slip up and become a child of darkness again? Can the power of God allow the marvelous works of justification, regeneration, adoption, and conversion to somehow be undone? Surely not! The same power which saved us is sufficient to guard us until “the last time.”
Note that God’s power protects the believer through specific means: “faith.” Arguing against eternal security, Robert Shank emphasizes, “‘Through faith!’ Peter declares that we are ‘kept by the power of God through faith!’ The words do not seem to register in the minds of many.’”4 Shank’s observation is true enough. Yet the fact that God protects the believer by means of faith does not imply that genuine faith may be lost. The relevant question is this: What does God’s power guard the believer from? Thomas Schreiner answers, “God’s power, to be effective at all, must guard us from sin and unbelief. If God’s power does not protect us from unbelief, it is hard to see what it does. How is God protecting us until the end if his guarding plays no role in our continuing faith?”5 God’s power thus seems to be thoroughly ineffectual unless it actually protects the believer from soul-threatening apostasy.
This series will conclude next Friday.
Nick Claxton is a guest author who serves as the pastor of Grace Baptist Church in Paxton, IL. Nick and his wife Jasmine have three children.
Photo by Mohamed Marey on Unsplash
- Thomas R. Schreiner, 1, 2 Peter, Jude, The New American Commentary (Nashville: Broadman & Holman, 2003), 63. [↩]
- Wayne A. Grudem, 1 Peter: An Introduction and Commentary, Tyndale New Testament Commentaries (Downers Grove, IL: InterVarsity, 1988), 62. [↩]
- John MacArthur, “Why Is It Impossible for Christians to Lose Their Salvation?” Ask Ligonier, accessed May 15, 2024. [↩]
- Life in the Son: A Study of the Doctrine of Perseverance (Bloomington, MN: Bethany House, 1989), 272. [↩]
- 1, 2 Peter, Jude, 63. [↩]