Salvation in Three Tenses (Part Two)- 1Peter 1:1-12

We continue our examination of salvation in 1Peter 1 in verse 5. Here we are told that all who are born again are “through faith shielded by God’s power until the coming of the salvation that is ready to be revealed in the last time”. The word shielded here is in the present tense, showing us that God continually shields those who trust in Him. We learn here that we are shielded by God’s power until the coming of the salvation that is ready to be revealed, but haven’t we already “been saved”? How is salvation still to come if it is already ours? We find here the future aspect of salvation. The word translated “ready” here means “prepared”, this salvation is already prepared, but yet to be “unveiled” (the meaning of the word revealed here). This is a salvation for which we have been given a promissory note, but do not possess yet. Just what is meant by this “salvation”? We must first recall what we are saved (delivered, rescued) from, and we have already seen that we are saved from sin. We also see that this salvation is ready to be revealed in the “last time”, which definitely shows the future nature of the salvation mentioned here. It is an expected salvation which has not been unveiled yet, but will be in the last time. The term last time here is a reference to the parousia, the second coming of Christ, and this salvation will be fully operative at that time, but is not at present. This second aspect of salvation saves us from a second aspect of sin. We have seen that our past salvation saves us from the penalty of sin, and we see now that our future salvation will save us from the presence of sin, that at Christ’s return all sin will be eliminated and we will not live with it anymore. In verse 6, we learn that we are to “greatly rejoice” in the fact of this future salvation, for our expectation of deliverance from the presence of sin helps us endure its harassment now. This harassment comes in the form of “all kinds of trials”, but we learn here why we are to rejoice in the midst of these trials; because there is a purpose to them. The tribulations of life are not merely the devil’s random harassment of us, but are controlled by God and have a purpose. The devil is God’s devil, and is not equal to God. The devil is a creature and God is the creator, and all that the devil does is with God’s permission, so we need not fear the devil’s “wiles”, for they are ordained by God and ultimately for our good (Romans 8:28-29). Our future salvation means we will share in “praise, glory and honor when Jesus Christ is revealed”, and the trials of life prepare us for this, for we are shielded by faith as we endure them. Thus we see presented here the future aspect of salvation, that those who have been born again have been delivered from the penalty of sin, and will be one day delivered from the presence of sin, never to endure the trials of life and the wiles of the devil again.