The Joy Of Salvation!

1st Peter 1:6-7........
"In this you greatly rejoice, though now for a little while, if need be, you have been grieved by various trials, that the genuineness of your faith, being much more precious than gold that perishes, though it is tested by fire, may be found to praise, honor, and glory at the revelation of Jesus Christ".

That is a rich and profound statement by Peter. Peter answers the question ALL of us have asked at one time or another:

"What do believers in the midst of trouble need to regain their JOY"?

I say ALL because ALL of us have experienced pain, loss, suffering and emotional problems that haved caused us to question God and if just for a season.........lose the JOY of our salvation.

When Peter wrote his epistle he connected JOY to......
1. Faith
2. Hope
3. Love

You see, JOY is not a shallow and brief emotion. It is something very deep, something tied to faith, hope and love. We all need to understand that our JOY does not come cheaply. The JOY of our salvation cost God His dear Son. It is God who lays up the treasures in heaven for us through the sactifice of His only Son the Lord Jesus Christ.

God provides that JOY through all of our trials and tribulations and sufferings through the ministry of the Holy Spirit. He did that so you and me could experience the JOY of being saved.
My dear friends, JOY is produced by things that are much deeper than the things that produce "happiness". Positive circumstances produce happiness, BUT it takes a positive relatinship with the living God through Jesus Christ to produce JOY. "Happiness" comes from positive events, but JOY comes from a deep down confidence that your eternal life is hid with and IN Christ Jesus.

So then........God's purpose in the trouble we experience is to test our faith!!!

WHY? Does God need to test our faith? Does God need to know something to find out is you are real and honest in your acceptance of Him? NO!!!! He knows what is in your heart of hearts.
So then who is the test going to benefit????? YOU and ME.

God tests the believer to reveal whether his or her faith in genuine. Just like He tests gold and it is mentioned in verse #7 tht is tested by fire. Fire equals trials. The gold is your real faith and when the fire comes and all the dross is burned off, the real faith is then revealed.

The source of JOY is then permanaent because it does not come from emothional events, BUT IN JESUS CHRIST. Because of Jesus, we have HOPE and hope brings us JOY. Therein is where our JOY comes from. There is no reason for you not to live in the light of that JOY, absolutlely NO reason at all. That JOY is yours and no one an take it away from you.
 
I don't know whether this is acceptable to GOD, talking about salvation without first having identified HIM.
Do we all believe in this basic principle of love that "TO KNOW comes before LOVE?"
Salvation needs "love of GOD."
 
What I am learning is that Love precedes the others. If we are filled with love, faith and hope seem flow out.
 
I don't know whether this is acceptable to GOD, talking about salvation without first having identified HIM.
Do we all believe in this basic principle of love that "TO KNOW comes before LOVE?"
Salvation needs "love of GOD."

I have identified HIM. His name is Jesus Christ aka. God.
 
I don't know whether this is acceptable to GOD, talking about salvation without first having identified HIM.
Do we all believe in this basic principle of love that "TO KNOW comes before LOVE?"
Salvation needs "love of GOD."

I can only guess that you did not read the first paragraph my friend.

I will post it again for you...............

1st Peter 1:6-7........
"In this you greatly rejoice, though now for a little while, if need be, you have been grieved by various trials, that the genuineness of your faith, being much more precious than gold that perishes, though it is tested by fire, may be found to praise, honor, and glory at the revelation of Jesus Christ".

We are saved by the GRACE of God through faith my dear friend.
 
Nicely put Major.
You have something of the pastoral/Barnabas gift in your post.

Blessings,
calvin

Thank you Calvin. I am simply doing what I can to make this a "friendly" loving place to come and hang out, not one of constant conflict.

Just to add to what I already posted, allow me to say that "JOY comes from confidence in a protected inheritance".

1 Peter 1:6 says to us that......."Where in ye greatly rejoice through noe for a season, if ye are in heaviness through manifold temptations".

Then of course the question must be......"REJOICE IN WHAT"?

Spiritual JOY not temporary fun.

How is that possible for us today. Again the Bible gives us the answer in 1 Peter 1:4-5:
"To an INHERITANCE incorruptible, and undefiled, and that fadeth not away, reserved in heaven for you..........
who are KEPT BY THE POWER OF GOD through faith unto salvation ready to be revealed in the last time".

Those who are saved have an INHERITANCE that is kept by God!!! God through His grace has caused us to be born again unto a living HOPE that is an ETERNAL INHERITANCE. That is the basis for us to have JOY today. Our inheritance is kept by God which means it can nver perish, it can not be defiled, it can not fade away and it never need to be cleaned or painted. The fact that our eternal salvation is protected by almighty God should give every believer GREAT JOY today.

The problem comes when we look in the wrong places for joy. Many, many people allow their present circumstances to dictate the JOY they have in their life. The problem with that kind of action is that circumstances will betry you. Some place their happiness in EMOTIONS and those to will fade away because they are temporary. BUT when we recognize that our eternal JOY can be found in our protected INHERITANCE......
NOTHING CAN TOUCH THAT my dear friends.

The marvelous promise of God to every believer is that we have an eternal, imperishable, undefiled, unfading inheritance which is our ultimate glorification in final salvation. It is presently reserved for us, securely held in heaven until the last time when we will see Jesus Christ face to face. That glorious eternity which God the Father by His grace has granted to us through the new birth is the HOPE that fills our hearts!!!!!

IN THIS YOU REJOICE!!! My dear friends, get your eyes off of this world and its things. EVERTHING you see here is temporary!!! Stop looking for temporay happines and set you focus on the eternal glory in heaven that awaits all who come to Christ by faith. That is where we can obtain real JOY right here on this earth.
 
Every Christian sect claim "joy of salvation" through Jesus Christ. But they cannot agree on His clear identification. This caused the divsion of the Christian religion.
 
I don't know whether this is acceptable to GOD, talking about salvation without first having identified HIM.
Do we all believe in this basic principle of love that "TO KNOW comes before LOVE?"
Salvation needs "love of GOD."

Perhaps this needs our attention since CHRISTIANITY is divided into sects today, while in the first century it was "solid" as hard as "Rock" on the basis of what the original APOSTLES applied it. We may discover the "crack or fractures" from what Paul wrote in the following:

Galatians 1:8 But though we, or an angel from heaven, preach any other gospel unto you than that which we have preached unto you, let him be accursed.

Galatians 1:9 As we said before, so say I now again, If any man preach any other gospel unto you than that ye have received, let him be accursed.
Hence, we need to know the "gospel of the Apostles" in order to go back to the "solid a hard as Rock" gospel that we may truly say we are on the "way to salvation."

Any comment?
 
Perhaps this needs our attention since CHRISTIANITY is divided into sects today, while in the first century it was "solid" as hard as "Rock" on the basis of what the original APOSTLES applied it. We may discover the "crack or fractures" from what Paul wrote in the following:

Galatians 1:8 But though we, or an angel from heaven, preach any other gospel unto you than that which we have preached unto you, let him be accursed.

Galatians 1:9 As we said before, so say I now again, If any man preach any other gospel unto you than that ye have received, let him be accursed.
Hence, we need to know the "gospel of the Apostles" in order to go back to the "solid a hard as Rock" gospel that we may truly say we are on the "way to salvation."

Any comment?

Perhaps the "gospel of the Apostle" can be demonstrated when they were with JESUS CHRIST who preached at Caesarea Philippi. The people saw and heard JESUS CHRIST speak, but look how they identified HIM!

Matthew 16:13 When Jesus came into the coasts of Caesarea Philippi, he asked his disciples, saying, Whom do men say that I the Son of man am?

Matthew 16:14 And they said, Some say that thou art John the Baptist: some, Elias; and others, Jeremias, or one of the prophets.


TODAY, Preachers read, study, and memorize everything about JESUS CHRIST and we are all witnesses to what we hear about HIM:

* Some preach, "Jesus Christ is only a man and not God."
* Others preach, a derivative, "Jesus Christ is only a mighty (or minor) God for there is a supreme or Almighty God."
* Still others preach (Oneness doctrine), "Jesus Christ is the name of the FATHER and the HOLY SPIRIT."
* Many preach, "Jesus Christ is both God and man, and He is the second person of the TRINITY."

In all the foregoing, GOD is a mystery!

(Something to think about)
 
Perhaps the "gospel of the Apostle" can be demonstrated when they were with JESUS CHRIST who preached at Caesarea Philippi. The people saw and heard JESUS CHRIST speak, but look how they identified HIM!

Matthew 16:13 When Jesus came into the coasts of Caesarea Philippi, he asked his disciples, saying, Whom do men say that I the Son of man am?

Matthew 16:14 And they said, Some say that thou art John the Baptist: some, Elias; and others, Jeremias, or one of the prophets.


TODAY, Preachers read, study, and memorize everything about JESUS CHRIST and we are all witnesses to what we hear about HIM:

* Some preach, "Jesus Christ is only a man and not God."
* Others preach, a derivative, "Jesus Christ is only a mighty (or minor) God for there is a supreme or Almighty God."
* Still others preach (Oneness doctrine), "Jesus Christ is the name of the FATHER and the HOLY SPIRIT."
* Many preach, "Jesus Christ is both God and man, and He is the second person of the TRINITY."

In all the foregoing, GOD is a mystery!

(Something to think about)

I do so wish that I could understand what your point is.

You stated.............
"In all the foregoing, GOD is a mystery!"

Sorry my friend but I can not agree with that. The Lord Jesus is the manifestation of God in the flesh and He is no mystery. If you want to know what God would do in any situation............look at what Jesus did in the Scriptures.
 
I do so wish that I could understand what your point is.

You stated.............
"In all the foregoing, GOD is a mystery!"

Sorry my friend but I can not agree with that. The Lord Jesus is the manifestation of God in the flesh and He is no mystery. If you want to know what God would do in any situation............look at what Jesus did in the Scriptures.

Major, did you just mean to say that there is nothing mysterious about God?
 
Major, did you just mean to say that there is nothing mysterious about God?

YES. IMO I believe that is pretty much the case. Don't YOU???

Do we have questions........Yes.
Do we have some things that we do not understand.......Yes.
Are there some things we do not like .....Yes.

Those things speak to our inquisitive nature because we as humans love a mystery.

Then some people "analize" everything to exhaustion. Some want every little detail before they can accept a truth.
I guess that is OK but it can lead to lots of other problems if you give it enough rope. There comes a time when some things must be taken on faith understanding that we will get our answer when God's timeing allows it.

Deuteronomy 29:29
"The secret things belong unto the Lord our God; bu those things which are revealed belong unto us and to our children forever, that we may do all the words of this law".

Revelation is the act by which God gave men knowledge about Himself and His creation which man could not other wise known. The Scriptures speak of God's self revelation in a general way through nature (Psalms 19:1; Romans 1:18) but especially in the Scriptures (Deut. 29:29 & Hebrews 1:1). While the Scriptures do not reveal everything, they do reveal all man needs to know about God.

That is why I think by and large that God really is not all that mysterious.
 
YES. IMO I believe that is pretty much the case. Don't YOU???

Do we have questions........Yes.
Do we have some things that we do not understand.......Yes.
Are there some things we do not like .....Yes.

Those things speak to our inquisitive nature because we as humans love a mystery.

Then some people "analize" everything to exhaustion. Some want every little detail before they can accept a truth.
I guess that is OK but it can lead to lots of other problems if you give it enough rope. There comes a time when some things must be taken on faith understanding that we will get our answer when God's timeing allows it.

Deuteronomy 29:29
"The secret things belong unto the Lord our God; bu those things which are revealed belong unto us and to our children forever, that we may do all the words of this law".

Revelation is the act by which God gave men knowledge about Himself and His creation which man could not other wise known. The Scriptures speak of God's self revelation in a general way through nature (Psalms 19:1; Romans 1:18) but especially in the Scriptures (Deut. 29:29 & Hebrews 1:1). While the Scriptures do not reveal everything, they do reveal all man needs to know about God.

That is why I think by and large that God really is not all that mysterious.

1 Cor. 13:12 tells us that we see God only in part. Romans 11:33 testifies that God's ways are "unsearchable". Philippians 4:7 speaks to the fact that God's peace transcends all understanding.
 
God's purpose in the trouble we experience is to test our faith!!!

James 1:13
When tempted, no one should say, “God is tempting me.” For God cannot be tempted by evil, nor does he tempt anyone;
 
1 Cor. 13:12 tells us that we see God only in part. Romans 11:33 testifies that God's ways are "unsearchable". Philippians 4:7 speaks to the fact that God's peace transcends all understanding.

Allow me to respond to your Bible quotes.

1 Cor. 13:12
"For now we see in a mirror, dimly, but then face to face. Now I know in part, but then I shall know just as I also am known."

That verse has nothing at all to do with how we see God. That verse is the answer to the question of.......................
"Will I know my loved ones in heaven".
The answer is given in this verse as a resounding YES!!!

Romans 11:33
"Oh, the depth of the riches both of the wisdom and knowledge of God! How unsearchable are His judgments and His ways past finding out!"

This section in Romans is pur praise and no argument at all, yet it is the greatest argument of all. IF we do not understand the WHY of God's dealings with Israel, with the Gentiles and with ourselves, it is not because there is not a good and sufficient reason.

Phillipians 4:7
"and the peace of God, which surpasses all understanding, will guard your hearts and minds through Christ Jesus."

And what was it I first said on this thread. IF YOU WANT TO KNOW WHAT GOD WILL DO LOOK AT WHAT JESUS DID!!.

Look at the verse you quoted at notice that it says................
will guard your hearts and minds through Christ Jesus."

I do not know how to tell you this, but I do know that this peace that passes all understanding is a peace in which we do not live at all times, but I can also say from experience that IMHO it is a peace that sweeps over our souls at CERTAIN times when we need it the most.

When the doctor 1st tells us that we have cancer I can assure you that no matter how much of a Christian you are, you will be frightened to death. Then when we take the time to calm down and get our thoughts into perscpetive and we talk with the Lord and committ it to Him and tell Him we want to know that He is real.............................
He will make Himself real and THAT PEACE THAT PASSETH ALL UNDERSTANDING will flood your soul.

Now.....what is that ONE thing that makes God real to us???? The Lord Jesus Christ!!!!!
 
Major,


1 Cor. 13:12
"For now we see in a mirror, dimly, but then face to face. Now I know in part, but then I shall know just as I also am known."

That verse has nothing at all to do with how we see God. That verse is the answer to the question of.......................
"Will I know my loved ones in heaven".
The answer is given in this verse as a resounding YES!!!

I don't understand why you would say this verse has nothing to do with how we see God, when it explicitly states that we see God only in part.
 
Major,




I don't understand why you would say this verse has nothing to do with how we see God, when it explicitly states that we see God only in part.

EXPLICITLY???? No my friend it does not.

"For now we see THROUGH a glass, darkly, but then face to face, now I know in part but then shall I know even as I am known."

That verse says nothing about how we see God. On another occasion Paul says the writings were an enigma compared to the revelations contained in the gospel which is the revelation of God in Christ.
 
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