Kept through Faith: Eternal Security in 1 Peter 1:1-9 (Part 3 of 3)
This is the last of three parts in a series. For the first and second posts, click here and here.
The Trial of Your Faith
Suffering looms large in the epistle of 1 Peter. This epistle was written during the reign of the notoriously ruthless Roman emperor Nero. While it appears that Peter’s readers were not yet experiencing the official government-sponsored persecution that Nero would eventually initiate, they were clearly being ostracized from social circles since they acted as “strangers and pilgrims” in their society (see 2:11; 4:4). Peter gives specific emphasis to the verbal slander that these believers were facing (see 2:12; 3:16; 4:4). Thus, Frank Thielman summarizes the message of 1 Peter as “On Suffering as a Christian.”1 This theme is established in 1:6-7:
Wherein ye greatly rejoice, though now for a season, if need be, ye are in heaviness through manifold temptations: That the trial of your faith, being much more precious than of gold that perisheth, though it be tried with fire, might be found unto praise and honour and glory at the appearing of Jesus Christ.
The word dokimion (“trial”) is related to the verb dokimazo, which refers to testing, examining, or analyzing. Paul uses the same verb in 1 Corinthians 11:28 when he urges the believer to “examine himself” before partaking of the Lord’s Supper. The sense of dokimion in 1 Peter 1:7 is that of “proven genuineness” (NIV).
In this text, Peter offers an argument from the lesser to the greater. Gold, though it is considered the highest of all earthly possessions, is nonetheless subject to perishing. Like all earthly elements, it will one day be burned up (2 Pet. 3:10). Yet even corruptible gold must undergo refining fire, which subjects the metal to temperatures in excess of 2,000 degrees. As gold is refined in the crucible, the impurities rise to the surface and are then poured out so that only the pure gold remains.
Peter’s argument here implies this: If refining fire is necessary for perishable gold, how much more is it necessary for imperishable faith? The gold perishes, but the faith—proven genuine in the fires of testing—does not. Rather, the faith must endure until Christ is revealed, at which time it will “be found unto praise and honor and glory.” Thus the believers are assured that they will ultimately “receiv[e] the end of [their] faith, even the salvation of [their] souls” (v. 9).
Conclusion
This survey of 1 Peter 1:1-9 contains significant takeaways for the doctrine of eternal security.
First, Peter’s words here highlight the truth summarized by Jonah: “salvation is of the Lord” (Jonah 2:9). God is the one who elected sinners in eternity past (1 Pet. 1:2). God is the one who brings about the miracle of regeneration (v. 3). God is the one who has reserved an incorruptible inheritance for His people (v. 4). God is the one whose power guards His people until “the last time” (v. 5). God is the one who tests His people so that their faith is proven genuine at Jesus’ appearing (vv. 6-7). Since salvation is a gracious work of God from start to finish, it cannot be undone by human failure.
Second, Peter’s words allow no room for what A. W. Tozer labeled “nickel-in-the-slot” salvation: “just pull down the lever and take eternal life which you cannot lose—and walk away!”2 Rather, the believer is guarded through specific means, namely, his or her “faith” (v. 5). The true believer’s faith endures to the end precisely because “the power of God” prevents the possibility of ultimate defection from the faith (1 Pet. 1:5). Apart from evidence of a living and enduring faith (James 2:14-26), the one who claims to be a Christian has no basis for assurance of salvation.
Finally, a reality often missed by contemporary believers is the relationship between assurance of salvation and suffering. Personal workers have often been eager to impart immediate assurance to those who profess faith. Indeed, assurance of eternal life is not simply desirable—it is essential (1 John 5:13). Yet assurance grows through the crucible of trials. While those with a superficial “faith” will fall away when facing troubles (Luke 8:13), the faith of a genuine believer will inevitably be proven authentic as it overcomes the world (1 John 5:4). Therefore, assurance is not simply a “one and done” deal that can be settled definitively at an altar call. Rather, it is an abiding reality that lives and grows specifically through the believer’s suffering, which eventually leads to glorification (Rom. 8:17).
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.