“THE GRACE OF LIFE”
1 Peter 1: 1-8, 14, 15, 22, 23; 3: 7
I am thinking, dear brethren, of what is secret and what becomes manifest. There are certain family secrets that believers are meant to have; they belong to the Christian family. They have their bearing upon us as believers and there is an outshining as a result. I think we get this idea in these opening chapters of Peter’s first epistle. There is not much in the way of real testimony unless there is something secret in the souls of believers. Family secrets, which believers have laid hold of and understood, result in the way of testimony.
I read verse 7 of chapter 3 because there is an expression there that is unique—“the grace of life”. I think that as what believers have as family secrets lays hold of us there is some expression of “the grace of life” in relationships down here with other persons, with unbelievers, with authorities, and with fellow-believers, and in other relationships of life. Whether it be servants and masters, wives and husbands, or children and parents, there is something meant to shine out which Peter describes as “the grace of life”. It is a lovely expression. You do not see much of it around us, in fact there is nothing of “the grace of life” in this world unless it be in believers who have some family secret that is appreciated and understood.
In this epistle Peter addresses “sojourners of the dispersion”. I suppose they were Jews who had been dispersed, scattered about. They were not much thought of; they were not highly respected; they were poor sojourners. Over this wide area of “Pontus, Galatia, Cappadocia, Asia, and Bithynia”, these five Roman provinces, these Jewish believers were scattered and under reproach, far from their national home. The Israelis speak today about their national home, and what pride they have in it! What fighters they are for their national home! But these persons were dispersed, yet they had family secrets. We would not have thought, if we had seen them, that these Jewish believers had much in the way of family wealth or secrets, but Peter goes on to say, “elect according to the foreknowledge of God the Father”.
‘Elect’—oh what a family secret to have! Election is a family secret. Elect is applied to the Lord Jesus Himself. “Behold my servant whom I uphold, mine elect”, God says, “in whom my soul delighteth!”, Isaiah 42: 1. God’s elect is the Lord Jesus Christ. He is God’s elected, selected Man! How we love to think of Him! He is spoken of as the elect in 1 Peter 2: 6, “Behold, I lay in Zion a corner stone, elect, precious”. How precious is that blessed One who is the elect, God’s elect. But it is an expression that applies also to believers. This is one of the great family secrets, that we are elected. We do not preach this; we do not tell unbelievers, ‘We are of the elect’. It is a family secret that governs us, that lays hold of us, and certain things result from knowing and appreciating that we belong to God’s elect. What could be greater?
Let each one of us here lay hold of that family secret, “elect according to the foreknowledge of God the Father, by sanctification of the Spirit, unto the obedience and sprinkling of the blood of Jesus Christ”. Both “the obedience” and the “sprinkling of the blood” are of Jesus Christ, but it is “elect according to the foreknowledge of God the Father”. We often praise the Father as the One to whom belongs the glory of purpose. How wonderful! “Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ” who has “chosen us in him before the world’s foundation”, Eph 1: 3, 4. But then it is “by sanctification of the Spirit”. That means that while it is “according to the foreknowledge of God the Father”, some work has taken place “by sanctification of the Spirit”—set apart by the Spirit—and this would account for the possibility of “the grace of life” being manifest. There is something, therefore, substantial in the believer’s soul history “by sanctification of the Spirit”.
What is in view? “Unto the obedience … of Jesus Christ”. Think of “the grace of life” that shone in Jesus here in perfection, in His obedience in perfect manhood. We are elect unto that; that is in view. When God elected us it was with that in view, “Unto the obedience and sprinkling of the blood of Jesus Christ”. I have no doubt that the latter refers to the claim of that blood. Of old the blood was sprinkled on the people of Israel (Heb 9: 19), that is, the blood claimed them. In Christianity the blood of Jesus Christ would claim each one of us. The priest at his consecration had the blood put upon his right ear, the thumb of his right hand, and the great toe of his right foot (Lev 8: 23); and when the leper was cleansed he also had the blood put upon his right ear, and the thumb of his right hand, and the great toe of his right foot (Lev 14: 14).
It speaks of the claim of that blood. Of course, the blood provides for expiation and the forgiveness of our sins, and for God’s satisfaction regarding our whole past history, but it makes certain claims upon us—“unto the obedience and sprinkling of the blood of Jesus Christ”. It is secret soul history that results in “the grace of life” being manifested in this scene of moral death. In this world of men in their ambition, self-will, and independence of God, believers are manifesting “the grace of life”; that kind of grace that shone in Jesus here in perfection is continued in believers, the same kind of life, the grace of it, the attractiveness of it, and the beauty of it. Even if unbelievers do not take account of it, it is down here for the pleasure of God. The idea of being heirs is linked with “the grace of life”; we become heirs of it—the grace and beauty which shone out perfectly in Jesus are to be continued for the pleasure of God and in testimony to men.
Peter goes on to say, “Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, who, according to his great mercy, has begotten us again to a living hope through the resurrection of Jesus Christ from among the dead, to an incorruptible and undefiled and unfading inheritance”. This is another family secret. It is a family secret that we are elect, as has been said. That is outside of ourselves; it is not because of any goodness in us, it is because God is sovereign in His purpose and sovereign according to His great mercy; but the believer is also to be in the secret of the fact that he has a wonderful inheritance “reserved in the heavens”. Peter views the inheritance as future, which in actuality it is but he would have their hope active as to it. It lifts the hope of the believer as to what we are about to enter into in actuality. Now these are secrets that result in the manifestation of “the grace of life”.
Then Peter goes on to speak about their sufferings. Their faith was being tried and tested. Faith is much more precious than “gold which perishes”. Gold is not “unfailing”, but the inheritance is “unfading”, and Peter says, “the proving of your faith, much more precious than of gold which perishes, though it be proved by fire”. These persons were not only despised but they were being persecuted. They were going through suffering, but the secret in their souls was “Jesus Christ—whom, having not seen, ye love”. The secret link in the soul, in faith, is with the Lord Jesus personally. How important is this secret side of our live. There is the appreciation of election, and the appreciation of the inheritance we are just about to enter into, meantime there is a little bit of suffering here, and sacrifice and faithfulness are called for, but we are to be attached to “Jesus Christ—whom having not seen, ye love; on whom though not now looking, but believing, ye exult with joy, unspeakable and filled with the glory”.
These are wonderful expressions that Peter uses to encourage these scattered sojourners, these despised sufferers in these Roman provinces, to lift them up, to strengthen their faith and to give them hope, so that they should not just get through with difficulty, but be overcomers, and “the grace of life” be manifested for God’s pleasure. Maybe men would not take account of it, but “the grace of life” is there, something is expressed that is appreciated and beautiful for the divine pleasure down here. It is, in principle, like the new man.
When the Lord said to Saul of Tarsus, “Why dost thou persecute me?”, (Acts 9: 4) it certainly involved the truth of the body, but I think it also involved the truth of the new man, that is, the features that were seen in Jesus continued in believers down here, so different from men in the world. It is another kind of man, another order of man altogether, and after his conversion Saul would appreciate the features that he had seen in these believers whom he was the means of persecuting. He hated these persons because of these features, but he would eventually appreciate that these were the features of the new man, that these persons had divine secrets and were prepared to suffer because of the light of those secrets in their souls.
“Whom, having not seen, ye love”—Peter, as we are often reminded, could not say that, because he had seen the Lord personally in manhood here and had seen Him, too, in resurrection. But these persons had never seen Him, and we have never seen the Lord Jesus. Dear fellow-believer, we are going to see Him! It has been said that we shall never see the Father, but we shall see the Lord Jesus, we shall see a blessed Man and the Father will be seen in Him. We shall actually fix our eyes on the Lord Jesus. We have not yet seen Him, yet we love Him. What a Person He is who holds the affections of believers! Therefore these persons in their sufferings and persecutions were held and sustained because of the secret they had in their souls.
We could read all the chapters because they are so full, but we can only touch on certain features, and so Peter addresses them as “children of obedience”. What a fine expression! They belong to the family of obedience. What a family! There is something delightful about an obedient family naturally, although most children break out sometimes, but “children of obedience” means taking after the features of Christ, “unto the obedience ... of Jesus Christ”. Of course, His obedience was Unique. There was never one obedient as He.
If we are obedient, and if we are “children of obedience”, it is because we have learned to have our own wills subdued and to submit to the will of another. But the obedience of Jesus was that He never exercised His own will—He never had any desire apart from God’s will. That, was the perfection of the obedience of Jesus Christ. But here are persons who are “children of obedience”; they belong to the obedient family. I wonder if we are all “children of obedience”, whether we are all subject to the Lord Jesus Christ, subject to the will of God. If we are, it is because we have learned to be subdued, and learned to submerge our own will and to submit to the will of Another. So Peter goes on to speak about their being “not conformed to your former lusts in your ignorance”.
So these beautiful expressions go on here. It says in verse 21, “who by him do believe on God, who has raised him from among the dead and given him glory, that your faith and hope should be in God”. That was a secret in the souls of these persons; their faith and hope were in God. All these features we are mentioning underlie the expression of “the grace of life”. So it speaks about “Having purified your souls by obedience to the truth to unfeigned brotherly love, love one another out of a pure heart fervently; being born again, not of corruptible seed, but of incorruptible, by the living and abiding word of God”. We have another origin altogether. And so these chapters go on to speak about “a living stone” (1 Pet 2: 4), Christ the living stone, and believers coming to Him as living stones and being built together. All these things are secret. We come as individuals, but there is what is collective. There are secrets we have collectively. We have links together which are secret. Links with the Lord Jesus are secret, appreciation of the Father’s election is secret, but we have also secret links together, links in the Spirit, affection for one another. All these are divine secrets, known and experienced.
Then what is to be manifested is “the grace of life”. Peter says (1 Pet 2: 13)—“Be in subjection therefore to every human institution for the Lord’s sake; whether to the king as supreme, or to rulers as sent by him”. Then, “servants, be subject with all fear to your masters”, v 18. I think the filling out of these relationships, dear brethren, is in the expression of “the grace of life”, resulting from what is secret in the believer’s soul. If we lack in the secret side we will lack in the side of expression; there will be less expression, maybe no expression, of “the grace of life”, but instead we may be rebellious or insubject. As the elements of obedience, subjection, and submissiveness are expressed “the grace of life” is seen down here. I think the very expression “the grace of life” ought to become attractive to us and we ought to be concerned to have our part in the expression of it in the midst of such corruption, violence, and evil as that in which we find ourselves.
So the relationship of servants and masters is mentioned here. As we think of the condition of things around us we can hardly speak of the relation of masters and servants; it hardly exists. There are employers, of course, and employees, but we know the conditions in industry today. Think of persons being subject to their masters, this spirit, this “grace of life” shining out, over against such a dark background as that in which we live. I believe the age we live in is the most selfish age there ever was. It is every man for himself. We have never known such an increase in the asserting by persons of the rights they think they have. One of the features of our day is nationalism, for instance, the rights of nations. It did not exist in the same way before the last war, but since then there has been a rising of nationalism. People speak of the so-called rights of nations and personal rights, all that kind of thing, and over against it all there are simple persons here, not much thought of in the world, manifesting “the grace of life”. In 1 Peter 3: 7, we have the relationship of husbands and wives introduced; “the grace of life” is to shine out in all our relationships. Sometimes they are testing, sometimes very testing, and yet there is to be “the grace of life”.
At the end of 1 Peter 2, after speaking of servants and masters, the writer goes on to speak about the Lord Jesus as a Model, “For to this have ye been called; for Christ also has suffered for you, leaving you a model that ye should follow in his steps—who did no sin, neither was guile found in his mouth; who, when reviled, reviled not again”. It is “the grace of life”, dear brethren, seen perfectly in the Lord Jesus who “when suffering, threatened not; but gave himself over into the hands of him who judges righteously”. It is “the grace of life” displayed in perfection in a blessed Man down here, which is to be continued in believers who are in the understanding of divine and family secrets and manifest the same grace, the same features. It would be in measure, because there was perfection in Christ. “Who did no sin” would, of course, be unique in Him, but my concern is that the understanding of that of which we are in the secret should result in this same “grace of life” being displayed.
So 1 Peter 3 contemplates a wife in difficult circumstances, but there is exhortation as to adorning. Adorning is to be secret and inward, not outward. “Whose adorning let it not be that outward one of … putting on apparel”. “The grace of life” is not putting on anything, clothes, or airs and graces, human niceness, or anything of that kind. There is no such putting on with the believer who is in the secret of these family and divine matters. It is what they are shining out and “the grace of life” is thus manifested. Peter speaks of “the hidden man of the heart”, 1 Pet 3: 4. That is the secret side. This section contemplates a wife with a husband who is unbelieving and difficult. Now can “the grace of life” work out there? She is governed by “the hidden man of the heart”. The husband would be the seen man of the heart, the public man of the heart, but she has the “hidden man of the heart”, that is, Christ. That is, in principle, Christ dwelling in her heart by faith, and what is to result is “the grace of life” in very difficult and trying circumstances, “the hidden man of the heart, in the incorruptible ornament of a meek and quiet spirit”; that is, “the grace of life”.
Well, may the Lord encourage us to be attracted to be in the enjoyment, in the appreciation, of a secret order of things—election, an inheritance “reserved in the heavens”, “children of obedience”, knowing that we have another source of life and power as “born again, not of corruptible seed, but of incorruptible, by the living and abiding word of God”. We have desires and motives that are different from those of the natural man, different from what we are by nature, derived from God. These secrets, dear brethren, need to be understood and appreciated by us, and, without putting anything on, “the grace of life” is manifested and relationships are filled out in this beautiful way for the divine pleasure. The same grace that shone in Jesus is to shine out now in believers here. The early part of chapter 3 envisages very difficult circumstances where “the grace of life” is to shine. The ‘conversation’, the manner of life, “the grace of life”, is to be such that persons are won. There is a powerful testimony that overcomes and secures. That possibility is put here, and whether it is this relationship spoken of here, or other relationships, there is something powerful operating.
Then “fellow-heirs of the grace of life” means that there are persons bound in the very close relationship of husband and wife, the closest of all relationships, and they are “fellow-heirs”. This is what is normal. Not now one an heir, and another not an heir, but ‘fellow-heirs’. It is heirs together of “the grace of life, that your prayers be not hindered”. I think we ought to value and appreciate what is normal and promote what is normal. This divinely instituted relationship becomes the additional occasion for “the grace of life” to shine out. Let us not be without what is secret; let us not be without “the hidden man of the heart”; nor be without reality, with no ‘putting on’. May there be this “incorruptible ornament of a meek and quiet spirit”. I wonder which one of us has a “meek and quiet spirit”. It is a feature that marked the Lord and it is a feature in which “the grace of life” is manifested. May the Lord encourage us therefore to understand and to appreciate divine secrets, and to have part in this testimony of “the grace of life”, for His Name’s sake.
MALVERN
11th June 1977
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