Second Sunday of Easter, Quasimodo Sunday — Year A — exegesis on the Epistle, 1 Peter 1:3-9

The Second Sunday of Easter, traditionally known as Quasimodo Sunday, is March 16, 2023.

The name Quasimodo Sunday comes from the Introit in Latin: ‘Quasi modo geniti infantes, rationabile, sine dolo lac concupiscite’. This translates to: ‘As newborn babes, desire the rational milk without guile’ and is intended for those baptised the week before. For those baptised earlier, it is a reminder of these Christian duties and responsibilities.

This particular day is also known as Low Sunday, so called because of the contrast between the great feast remembering Christ’s Resurrection and the lesser, more low-key return to Sunday observance.  In the Catholic Church it is now referred to as Divine Mercy Sunday.

You can find out more here.

Readings for Year A can be found here.

The Gospel is the same for all three liturgical years, that of Doubting Thomas: Second Sunday of Easter — exegesis on the Gospel, John 20:19-31.

The Epistle ties in well with the Gospel.

Emphases mine below:

1 Peter 1:3-9

1:3 Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ! By his great mercy he has given us a new birth into a living hope through the resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead,

1:4 and into an inheritance that is imperishable, undefiled, and unfading, kept in heaven for you,

1:5 who are being protected by the power of God through faith for a salvation ready to be revealed in the last time.

1:6 In this you rejoice, even if now for a little while you have had to suffer various trials,

1:7 so that the genuineness of your faith–being more precious than gold that, though perishable, is tested by fire–may be found to result in praise and glory and honor when Jesus Christ is revealed.

1:8 Although you have not seen him, you love him; and even though you do not see him now, you believe in him and rejoice with an indescribable and glorious joy,

1:9 for you are receiving the outcome of your faith, the salvation of your souls.

Commentary comes from Matthew Henry and John MacArthur (as indicated below).

To understand Peter’s audience, it is useful to look at the first two verses of this chapter:

1 Peter, an apostle of Jesus Christ,

To God’s elect, exiles, scattered throughout the provinces of Pontus, Galatia, Cappadocia, Asia and Bithynia, ² who have been chosen according to the foreknowledge of God the Father, through the sanctifying work of the Spirit, to be obedient to Jesus Christ and sprinkled with his blood:

Grace and peace be yours in abundance.

Matthew Henry’s commentary tells us about their external and spritual conditions:

1. By their external condition—Strangers dispersed throughout Pontus, Galatia, etc. They were chiefly Jews, descended (as Dr. Prideaux thinks) from those Jews who were translated from Babylon, by order of Antiochus king of Syria, about two hundred years before the coming of Christ, and placed in the cities of Asia Minor. It is very likely that our apostle had been among them, and converted them … At present, their circumstances were poor and afflicted. (1.) The best of God’s servants may, through the hardships of times and providences, be dispersed about, and forced to leave their native countries. Those of whom the world was not worthy have been forced to wander in mountains, in dens and caves of the earth. (2.) We ought to have a special regard to the dispersed persecuted servants of God. These were the objects of this apostle’s particular care and compassion. We should proportion our regard to the excellency and to the necessity of the saints. (3.) The value of good people ought not to be estimated by their present external condition. Here was a set of excellent people, beloved of God, and yet strangers, dispersed and poor in the world; the eye of God was upon them in all their dispersions, and the apostle was tenderly careful to write to them for their direction and consolation.

2. They are described by their spiritual condition: Elect according to the foreknowledge of God the Father, etc. These poor strangers, who were oppressed and despised in the world, were nevertheless in high esteem with the great God, and in the most honourable state that any person can be in during this life …

These people were persecuted by their fellow Jews for having left the faith. They were also persecuted by pagans who suspected them of being against Rome. As such, employment would have been difficult, perhaps impossible, for them. Even daily social interaction would have been a trial. One can only imagine what they suffered in terms of housing and perhaps even buying goods they needed to survive.

Instead of saying, à la Bill Clinton, ‘I feel your pain’, our bold Apostle launches into a doxology, a praise of God.

Peter says that blessed be God, the Father of our Lord Jesus Christ — adding an exclamation point — and reminding these converts of the great mercy He has given them through a new birth into a new hope through the resurrection of His Son from the dead (verse 3).

John MacArthur says:

Clearly this life was not the best life for them. That’s the way it’s been throughout history. There are no promises in the Bible that this is our best life now. Our best life always is to come. And so Peter calls for a doxology, a celebration, exalted praise to God for the life to come … It is a call to worship the Lord God who has promised us eternal joy and blessing in the future, in an inheritance, a salvation to be revealed, a living hope. We are to learn, the sooner the better, that our best life is not here and now. This doxology centers on our inheritance …

It is a call to praise, “Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ.” Among the Jews, the most common way to start a prayer of praise was to say, “Blessed art Thou, O God.” That’s the way they started their praise. Worthy of adoration, that’s what blessed means. Psalm 34, “I will bless the Lord at all times. His praise shall continually be in my mouth.” Or later in the Psalms, “Bless the Lord, O my soul.” This was a very typical form of praise, and Peter borrows from his own experience as a Jew and talks the way a Jew would talk, “Blessed be the God” – but he adds something here that’s important for us to understand – “the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ.” And with that, Peter introduces us to the source of our inheritance – the source of our inheritance. Where does this inheritance come from? It comes from the one who is to be blessed. That’s why he blesses God. That’s why he adores God, praises God, exalts God because God, the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, has enabled us to attain this inheritance. He is the source. It is a gift from God, a very basic and simple truth.

I just call your attention to the identification of God as the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ. That’s a title. That’s not a descriptive phrase. That’s a title. As God is called God the Creator or God the Redeemer or the God of Israel or the God of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob, He is the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ. That is how He is to be known. He is the God who is one with the Lord Jesus Christ. This is a Trinitarian statement that speaks of common life, common essence. To know the true and living God, you must know Him as someone more than God the Creator, the Redeemer God, the God of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob, or the God of Israel. You must know Him as the God who is the Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, the true and living God who is in His Son incarnate. Jesus said, “I and the Father are one.” I love the fact that it says, “The God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ.” And because of the incarnation, the transcendent God has become near and personal. We bless our God, our God and the Father of our Lord Jesus Christ. This is the One who has given us this inheritance. It could never be ours if it were not for the Lord Jesus Christ.

So we have not earned our inheritance. We have not merited our inheritance. It is a gift to us. It is the gift of the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, the God who is one with Christ. It is their gift to us.

Henry tells us:

Here we have,

1. The duty performed, which is blessing God. A man blesses God by a just acknowledgment of his excellency and blessedness.

2. The object of this blessing described by his relation to Jesus Christ: The God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ. Here are three names of one person, denoting his threefold office. (1.) He is Lord, a universal king or sovereign. (2.) Jesus, a priest or Saviour. (3.) Christ, a prophet, anointed with the Spirit and furnished with all gifts necessary for the instruction, guidance, and salvation of his church. This God, so blessed, is the God of Christ according to his human nature, and his Father according to his divine nature.

3. The reasons that oblige us to this duty of blessing God, which are comprised in his abundant mercy. All our blessings are owing to God’s mercy, not to man’s merit, particularly regeneration. He hath begotten us again, and this deserves our thanksgiving to God, especially if we consider the fruit it produces in us, which is that excellent grace of hope, and that not such a vain, dead, perishing hope as that of worldlings and hypocrites, but a lively hope, a living, strong, quickening, and durable hope, as that hope must needs be that has such a solid foundation as the resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead. Learn, (1.) A good Christian’s condition is never so bad but he has great reason still to bless God. As a sinner has always reason to mourn, notwithstanding his present prosperity, so good people, in the midst of their manifold difficulties, have reason still to rejoice and bless God. (2.) In our prayers and praises we should address God as the Father of our Lord Jesus Christ; it is only through him that we and our services are accepted. (3.) The best of men owe their best blessings to the abundant mercy of God. All the evil in the world is from man’s sin, but all the good in it is from God’s mercy. Regeneration is expressly ascribed to the abundant mercy of God, and so are all the rest; we subsist entirely upon divine mercy. Of the nature of regeneration, see on John 3 3. (4.) Regeneration produces a lively hope of eternal life. Every unconverted person is a hopeless creature; whatever he pretends to of that kind is all confidence and presumption. The right Christian hope is what a man is begotten again unto by the Spirit of God; it is not from nature, but free grace. Those who are begotten to a new and spiritual life are begotten to a new and spiritual hope. (5.) The hope of a Christian has this excellency, it is a living hope. The hope of eternal life in a true Christian is a hope that keeps him alive, quickens him, supports him, and conducts him to heaven. Hope invigorates and spirits up the soul to action, to patience, to fortitude, and perseverance to the end. The delusive hopes of the unregenerate are vain and perishing; the hypocrite and his hope expire and die both together, Job 27 8. (6.) The resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead is the ground or foundation of a Christian’s hope. The resurrection of Christ is the act of the Father as a Judge, of the Son as a conqueror. His resurrection demonstrates that the Father accepts his death in full discharge for our ransom, that he is victorious over death, the grave, and all our spiritual enemies; and it is also an assurance of our own resurrection. There being an inseparable union between Christ and his flock, they rise by virtue of his resurrection as a head, rather than by virtue of his power as a Judge. We have risen with Christ, Col 3 1. From all this taken together, Christians have two firm and solid foundations whereon to build their hope of eternal life.

Peter goes further, saying that their — and our — inheritance is imperishable, undefiled and unfading; it is kept in heaven for them (verse 4), and us.

Both of our commentators call our attention to the word ‘inheritance’, which was a specific earthly one of Canaan for the Jews. However, these Jews had been in exile for centuries. They had not experienced seeing or living in Canaan.

Henry explains that Peter wanted them to appreciate their new, spiritual inheritance through Christ’s resurrection, far superior to their earthly one as Jews:

… the apostle goes on to describe that life under the notion of an inheritance, a most proper way of speaking to these people; for they were poor and persecuted, perhaps turned out of their inheritances to which they were born; to allay this grievance, he tells them they were new-born to a new inheritance, infinitely better than what they had lost. Besides, they were most of them Jews, and so had a great affection to the land of Canaan, as the land of their inheritance, settled upon them by God himself; and to be driven out from abiding in the inheritance of the Lord was looked upon as a sore judgment, 1 Sam 26 19. To comfort them under this they are put in mind of a noble inheritance reserved in heaven for them, such a one that the land of Canaan was but a mere shadow in comparison with it.

MacArthur says:

This inheritance of the earthly Israel, this land of Canaan, the promised land, had begun with Abraham, the father of the nation Israel. But it wasn’t realized for a long, long time. There were hundreds of years between the promise of the inheritance and the realization of the inheritance. There were hundreds of years of bondage in Egypt, trouble in Egypt. There were decades of wilderness wandering in which a whole generation of Jews died. They led a very troubled life until they entered into their inheritance finally. You might say that all the years waiting for their inheritance were years of very, very hard times.

And in a very similar fashion, Peter is saying, “You’re like the children of Israel in bondage in Egypt. You’re like the children of Israel wandering in the wilderness of the desert. You haven’t yet received your inheritance, but it is reserved for you.” He’s calling on these troubled believers who are getting hammered from every side, with all the difficulties that life can possibly bring to bear upon them to, forget trying to live the best life now and patiently wait with hearts full of praise for the best life which is to come in the future.

I love the words Peter uses to describe this inheritance: ‘imperishable’, ‘undefiled’ and ‘unfading’. He also personalises it: ‘kept in heaven for you’. It reminds me of gift cards that say, ‘Just for you’. God knows whom Christ redeems. He knew that before we were born. Our names are written in His Book of Life.

Henry tells us:

The incomparable excellencies of this inheritance, which are four:—(1.) It is incorruptible, in which respect it is like its Maker, who is called the incorruptible God, Rom 1 23. All corruption is a change from better to worse, but heaven is without change and without end; the house is eternal in the heavens, and the possessors must subsist for ever, for their corruptible must put on incorruption, 1 Cor 15 53. (2.) This inheritance is undefiled, like the great high priest that is now in possession of it, who is holy, harmless, and undefiled, Heb 7 26. Sin and misery, the two grand defilements that spoil this world, and mar its beauty, have no place there. (3.) It fadeth not away, but always retains its vigour and beauty, and remains immarcescible, ever entertaining and pleasing the saints who possess it, without the least weariness or distaste. (4.) ” Reserved in heaven for you,” which expression teaches us, [1.] That it is a glorious inheritance, for it is in heaven, and all that is there is glorious, Eph 1 18. [2.] It is certain, a reversion in another world, safely kept and preserved till we come to the possession of it. [3.] The persons for whom it is reserved are described, not by their names, but by their character: for you, or us, or every one that is begotten again to a lively hope. This inheritance is preserved for them, and none but them; all the rest will be shut out for ever.

Peter tells his converts that they are being protected by the power of God through faith for a salvation ready to be revealed in the last time (verse 5), or at the Second Coming of Christ.

The sermons from MacArthur cited in this post were written and delivered over a 30-year period. He preached this one, cited above, in 2008 when Joel Osteen’s Your Best Life Now first appeared on the shelves.

Imagine if Osteen had converted these people, promising them their ‘best life now’. How could they reconcile that with the persecution they were enduring? They would have felt doubly judged, having been excluded from Canaan and having to endure their present difficulties.

MacArthur says:

We make too much of life’s difficulties. We can’t be telling people that Jesus wants them to live their best life now or Jesus will disappoint them, because this isn’t going to be your best life now. Don’t invest too much expectation in it. It’s full of trouble. And if you expect too much out of this life, this life will steal your joy. If you expect little and are grateful for every small benefit, but you live in the light of the life to come, then this life can steal nothing of your joy. You attach your joy, you attach your sense of God’s loving you to what you have in this life, and God in your mind will disappoint. That’s why the apostle Paul said this in Ephesians 1:18, “I pray that the eyes of your heart may be enlightened so that you will know what is the hope of His calling” – listen to this – “and what are the riches of the glory of His inheritance.” I pray for you that you will get a grip on your heavenly inheritance. Because if you live in the light of the fact that your next life is your best life, then you can take what comes, because this life is a vapor that appears for a little time and vanishes away. Paul calls on us as Peter calls on us to transcend this life and live in adoring wonder and praise and worship to God for the life to come.

I think the best favour any parent or guardian can do for their children is to tell them that life is going to be difficult. MacArthur is right in saying that we make too much of life’s difficulties. Take difficulties as a given and give thanks to God when ordeals turn out to be less onerous than we had anticipated. I wish I had known that at a much younger age. It only really dawned on me in my 60s. Good grief.

We have a mental health crisis going on in the West. It is a shame that we live in such a secular society. Even our clergy think like secularists. If our clergy acted like clergy, they could easily communicate the truth of Peter’s words to us. I do hope that this Epistle has an impact on some believers who are suffering psychologically. This temporal existence was never meant to be our best life now. We are sojourners, just passing through.

Returning to verse 5, MacArthur homes in on salvation:

What is this inheritance we will receive? He calls it at the end of verse 5, “A salvation” – or salvation ready, pregnant, imminent – “to be revealed in the last time.” It is the final aspect of our salvation. There’s a past aspect. When you believed in Christ, you were saved from the penalty of sin because you were justified, declared righteous, your sins placed on Christ, His righteousness placed on you. You were saved from the penalty of sin. Presently you are being saved from the power of sin. It no longer has dominion over you. The final phrase of your salvation, you will be saved from the presence of sin. It will not exist in the world to come. You will then be delivered fully, finally, completely from all decay, all sickness, trouble, conflict, pain, suffering, grief, guilt, sorrow, anxiety, tears, discipline, hatred, disappointment, misunderstanding, weakness, failure, ignorance, confusion, imperfection and on and on.

For us, the only way we can understand perfection is from the standpoint of all of that which is our experience so we have to use negatives to speak of perfection. We will enter in to eternal experiences of pure joy, pure peace, and pure holiness. It is this salvation in its final form, ready to be revealed, pregnant language, in the last time, the last epoch, the last day, that is the time when we leave and meet Jesus face to face or the time when He comes to take us to be with Him, when death is swallowed up in the eternal victory, and we enter in to our everlasting inheritance. Look, it really is of little consequence how much you have in this life or how much you don’t have, how well you are or how sick you are, how fulfilled you are or how humanly speaking unfulfilled you are, how many successes you’ve had or how many failures you’ve had, how many fulfillments you’ve had or how many disappointments you have had. It really matters very little. You came into this world with nothing and you will go into the next world with nothing.

… We are not, as a church of Jesus Christ, offering people their best life now. That sets up an impossible illusion because that allows them to define what their best life is and then forces Jesus to deliver on that. And when He doesn’t, they move on. We need to learn to live in the light of our best life which is coming after this life is over. No matter how difficult this life is, we live in hope.

MacArthur discusses the time of salvation:

… in Hebrews chapter 9 it is mentioned as a future inheritance.  Verse 28, it says, “Christ having been offered once to bear the sins of many; shall appear a second time for salvation, without reference to sin, to those who eagerly await Him.”  So there is a future aspect to our salvation still to come, still to come.  It is ready to be revealed.  That means it hasn’t yet been revealed, but it is ready for its revelation.  And when will that come?  Notice again in verse 5, “In the last season.”  Or, in the last epoch, or in the last period of redemptive history.  That is to say the return of Christ, the return of Christ.

So Peter is saying to these believers, “Look to the future.  Look to the time when Christ returns, the last time, the time, if you will, when you are in His presence.”  Focus on the fullness of your final salvation that will not be revealed until the last redemptive epoch, which is the return of Christ.  Peter says, “Bless God.  Bless God for that eternal inheritance.”  The world may not accept you.  The world may not appreciate you.  The world may be hostile and persecute you.  The world may not count you as its own.  The world may not grant you its rights and privileges.  But you have an eternal inheritance to be revealed in the last epoch which God has promised to you, an inheritance which is heavenly, not earthly; which is glorious, not mundane; which is pure, not impure; which is holy, not sinful.  That’s the promise.

It goes all the way back, doesn’t it, to the teaching of Christ in Matthew, for example, 25:34.  “The King will say to those on His right, Come, you who are blessed of My Father, inherit the kingdom prepared for you from the foundation of the world.”

Peter says they (should) rejoice in their inheritance, even if they have had to suffer various trials in the present life (verse 6).

MacArthur traces this reality of our heavenly inheritance back to the Old Testament:

Jeremiah grasped that thought in Lamentations 3:24.  “The Lord is my portion, says my soul; therefore I have hope in Him.”  What a tremendous thought.  Beloved, when we go to be with the Lord to inherit our eternal salvation, at the same time we inherit God.  God comes to pitch His tent with us.  God takes up residence with us.  We inherit Him just as much as He is inheriting us.  We live in His house, is one way to put it.  He lives in our house is another way to put it.

We also inherit Christ.  We also inherit Christ.  First John says that when we see Him we’ll be like Him for we shall see Him as He is.  It says we are joint heirs with Christ.  Christ becomes our portion.  We enter into an eternal oneness with Him.  We literally possess Him as He possesses us.  We are like Him in sum and substance of existence.  He becomes us and we become Him in a very real sense, without either of us losing our identity.

Thirdly, it should be noted that as we read in Ephesians 1:14 the Holy Spirit is the resident guarantee of our inheritance, the arrabōn, which means “engagement ring,” down payment.  And the Holy Spirit is that engagement ring, down payment, that first installment.  And His living in us is the guarantee of our eternal down payment.  So we have already inherited the Spirit.  We will inherit likeness to the Son and we will inherit God Himself in our eternal inheritance.  It seems to me that no matter what we may have or not have of this world’s good, it’s a small thing …

So, we have a gift, an inheritance given to us as a free gift, because we have been made children of God.  How so?  The end of verse 1, “We were chosen according to the predetermined love relationship of God the Father through the sanctifying saving work of the Spirit.”  God chose us to be children, and when He chose us to be children, He therefore chose to give us an eternal inheritance.  He’s the source.

MacArthur reminds us of Peter’s own journey as an Apostle:

Peter is the one to whom we turn for the strong testimony of persevering in spite of faith that is weak and being protected by God with a faith that cannot fail.  Peter’s faith had its weak moments.  There were those temporary denials.  I might just fill in a little blank for you.  Peter had that terrible temporary lapse, you will remember, before Pentecost, before the Holy Spirit came to dwell in him.  “And after the Holy Spirit is come upon you, you shall have power,” Jesus said. 

After the coming of the Holy Spirit on the day of Pentecost, you never hear anything about a denial on the part of Peter again.  He stands up before the whole population of Jerusalem and preaches Christ.  But Peter understood persevering faith.  He understood lapses, but he also understood persevering faith.  His lapse was never final and it was never complete.  He surely understood then the Lord’s faithful love.  He understood restoration.  You remember how the Lord brought him and restored him.  He understood grace.  He understood the strength of the faith that the Lord had given him.  If you’re the real thing, your faith will not fail completely or finally.  You will, to the very end, trust in Christ because you are kept.

Addressing the converts’ trials here, MacArthur says that they, too, are a type of divine protection:

Thirdly, and this is very important for us, we are protected by hope, we are protected by power, we are protected by trials. We are protected by trails. This may seem to be sort of counter-intuitive, against the grain of what seems reasonable at first, but I want to show you how important this is. If you don’t get anything but his, you will get the heart and soul of this wonderful truth here. Look at verse 6. “In this you greatly rejoice” …

“You greatly rejoice, even though now for a little while, if necessary, you have been distressed by various trials.”  And the trials are different for everybody because the spiritual necessities are different for everybody.  We all are at different points along the sort of the path of spiritual development, and the Lord needs to do different things in our lives, so we get tests according to necessity that God determines we have for them and we rejoice in those tests. 

Instead of these people looking at the possibility of being arrested, put in prison, tortured or martyred and fearing their faith would fail, he says, “You ought to greatly rejoice in these distressing trials.”

Peter explains that God uses the trials to test — to try, to purify, as with precious metals — the genuineness of our faith so that it is found to result in praise, honour and glory when Jesus Christ is revealed (verse 7).

MacArthur continues:

This is the proving of your faith.  We are protected by trials.  God sustains our faith.  Here’s a way to understand it.  God sustains our faith not by keeping it away from trials, not by making sure it’s never tested.  God doesn’t protect us, hold on to us, keep us enduring continually, holding fast by making life easy.  He does the opposite.  God sustains our true faith by putting it through hard times.  He sustains our faith by means of trials. 

You have a trial and you come through the trial trusting the Lord.  And you say, “This faith is the real thing.”  The phrase, “you greatly rejoice,” might catch you by surprise.  You know, we get it backwards and, of course, we’re not helped at all by these ridiculous prosperity preachers that are all over the place giving people false hope and telling them lies, preaching prosperity instead of preaching suffering, trials. 

And so the phrase, “you greatly rejoice in trials,” may catch you a little bit by surprise.  But remember, these people are facing life-threatening persecutions.  Fear is a human response.  And Peter says, “Yet you greatly rejoice.”  Why?  You rejoice because these tests prove the character of your faith …

Trials strengthen faith and they reveal true faith.  Look at James chapter 1, James 1:2 says essentially the same thing.  “Consider it all joy, my brethren, when you encounter various trials.”  You know, I guess there’s something wonderful about getting to the age I’m at.  People ask me, “Do you question your salvation?”  Sometimes young people ask me that.  Somebody even asked me that this morning.  “I’m struggling with whether I’m really a Christian or not.  Do you struggle with that?”  And my answer honestly is no. 

When I was very young, you know, the devil would hammer me with doubts.  But the truth of the matter is I don’t question the true character of my saving faith because it’s withstood so many trials.  Every time you go through a trial, you see the nature of your faith.  The trials don’t help God find out what kind of faith you have.  He gave it to you.  It’s not that he needs information about your faith.  But they become a joy to you “when you encounter various trials – ” verse 3, “ – knowing that the testing of your faith produces endurance and endurance has a perfecting result.”

I mean, what is more wonderful?  What is a greater gift than to have the assurance of salvation?  Anything better than that?  If you ever live with doubts and fears and all of that, it’s wonderful to know you’ve got the real thing.  It’s wonderful to see its capability to survive disaster.  In fact, I have found in my life that the more severe the trial, the stronger my faith is, the more my confidence in God rises …

Trials do – back to our text – produce distress for a little while. They come like fire to burn off the dross. And that’s the point. Not only do they reveal your faith, but they purify it. And what emerges, 1 Peter 1, is a faith that is more precious than gold, which is perishable, even though tested by fire. When you get your faith tested, it comes out purer, more precious.

Henry also discusses gold and how inferior it is to tested faith:

A tried faith is much more precious than tried gold. Here is a double comparison of faith and gold, and the trial of the one with the trial of the other. Gold is the most valuable, pure, useful, and durable, of all the metals; so is faith among the Christian virtues; it lasts till it brings the soul to heaven, and then it issues in the glorious fruition of God for ever. The trial of faith is much more precious than the trial of gold; in both there is a purification, a separation of the dross, and a discovery of the soundness and goodness of the things. Gold does not increase and multiply by trial in the fire, it rather grows less; but faith is established, improved, and multiplied, by the oppositions and afflictions that it meets with. Gold must perish at last—gold that perisheth; but faith never will. I have prayed for thee, that thy faith fail not, Luke 22 32. The trial of faith will be found to praise, and honour, and glory. Honour is properly that esteem and value which one has with another, and so God and man will honour the saints. Praise is the expression or declaration of that esteem; so Christ will commend his people in the great day, Come, you blessed of my Father, etc. Glory is that lustre wherewith a person, so honoured and praised, shines in heaven.

Then we come to the verse that ties in so well with this Sunday’s Gospel about the Apostle Thomas.

Peter says that even though the converts have not seen Jesus, they still love Him, and even though they do not see Him at present they believe in Him and rejoice with an indescribable and glorious joy (verse 8).

MacArthur says:

So we are protected by a living hope, divine power, trials, and the promise of eternal glory.  Can I just give you one more, number five?  We’re protected by undying love.  We are protected by undying love.  Verse 8.  “Though you have not seen him, you love him.”  Though you have not seen him, you love him.  That’s the bottom line.  We have a love for Jesus Christ.  “If anybody doesn’t love the Lord Jesus Christ – ” 1 Corinthians 16:22 “ – let him be accursed.”  This is a profound statement about the nature of true salvation.  It is characterized not only by faith in Christ, believing in him, but loving him … 

If you were to define Christianity in its purest sense, you would have to use that word “love.”  You could talk about believing in Christ, but you really wouldn’t get there because so many people say they believe in Jesus Christ.  In fact, I read a foolish article today in which a man said there are three billion Christians in the world.  Well, there are probably three billion people who believe in Jesus, but I’m quite sure there aren’t that many who love him, who love him sacrificially, who love him totally, who love him obediently, who love him worshipfully, who love him righteously.  “And because we love him, though we do not see him now – ” verse 8 says, “ – but believe in him, you greatly rejoice with joy inexpressible and full of glory.”

You can tell a Christian because they love Christ so much it comes out in joy.  It comes out in joy.  Do you know the only religion in the world that sings is Christianity?  Do you know that?  A few others chant in a minor key, sort of non-biblical rap.  And you know what?  True Christianity sings in a major key.  We sing.  Why do we sing?  We sing because we’re filled with joy.  About whom do we sing?  We sing about Christ …

You have been given a faith that never perishes.  You have been given a faith that is protected by the power of God, a faith that has a hope that never dies, a faith sustained by a divine power that can’t be overthrown, a faith that is proven, tested, strengthened through trials, a faith that is designed for the fulfillment of eternal glory, which was promised before the world began, a faith that contains within it an undying love for Christ.  And the outcome of that faith will be the obtaining of the final salvation of your souls. 

Simply, folks, there is no escape from this reality.  No escape.  The result of this saving faith is your final salvation.  The present salvation which you now experience is a result of this faith.  The initial salvation was a result of this faith.  And the final salvation will be yours because this faith will persevere and endure to the very end.  That is the nature of this faith.  It is nothing less than a permanent gift from God.

To even consider the possibility that you could lose your salvation is a misrepresentation of God’s grace.  It’s a misrepresentation of the nature of faith, the gift of his love, the work of his Spirit.  It’s a misrepresentation of his power and his purpose.  It’s a misrepresentation of his eternal decree in the lives of his elect.

Peter says that, through the converts’ love of Jesus, they are receiving the outcome of their faith — the salvation of their souls (verse 9).

MacArthur explains:

In other words, even though you’re having trial, it doesn’t touch your joy … 

We will receive praise from God because of salvation …

When we face Jesus Christ at the revelation, at His appearing, at the apokalypsis, the unveiling, the manifestation of Christ, we will receive praise from God.  I believe that has to do with verbal praise.  I believe that’s when God will commend us verbally.  “Well done, good faithful servant.”  We will find praise from God to us …

God is not just going to give us verbal commendation.  He is going to give us His glory.  He is going to endow us with His glory.  Jesus Christ, you remember, it says in Scripture, John 1:14, was God incarnate, and it says, “we beheld His glory, the glory as of the only begotten of the Father, full of grace and truth.”  Jesus was God’s glory incarnate and the Bible says that when we see Him we’ll be what?  We’ll be like Him.  So we’ll possess the glory of God, so we will receive verbal commendation and perfection, eternal glorious perfection of person, in Christ’s likeness …

We will see the Lord in close and intimate communion.  That’s the supreme vision of heaven.  We will be loved and adored, and that is the supreme honor of heaven.  We will reign and share His glory, the supreme privilege of heaven.  And we will serve and that’s the supreme duty of heaven.  What an honor …

Why is your great joy inexpressible and full of glory?  Because you love Him, and because you trust Him, that’s the two things he says.  You love Him, and you believe in Him, and you’ve never seen Him.  Peter exalts love and trust …

Present active indicative, agapa, you are loving Him, constantly the love of choice.  That word expresses the love of the will.  You’ve chosen to be faithful in loving Him.  And that, to me, is the essence of joy.  It’s that intimate love relationship you have with Christ.

Now let me just take this a little bit deeper.  I believe that what Peter is saying here is categorically the description of the essence of what it means to be a Christian.  If you ask me what is a Christian?  I will tell you it is someone who loves Jesus Christ with the love of the will, who loves Him.  I don’t believe there’s any better way to describe the essential expression of the new nature than to say it loves Christ continually …

And what makes us rejoice?  A protected inheritance, a proven faith, a promised honor, and a personal fellowship.  And it gives us – notice at the end of verse 8 – “rejoicing that is joy inexpressible.”  What does that mean?  Aneklalt, it’s above language, it is above speech, “higher than speech is what that literally says.”  It’s so divine that exceeds the power of speech and thought, you can’t communicate it. 

It’s hard enough to communicate loving other people.  I mean, we try in the human realm.  Songs about love are ad infinitum, ad nauseum, aren’t they?  I mean, we just keep piling them up, trying to express all the feelings of love from a human to a human.  But the love that we have for Him, inexpressible, higher than speech.  By the way, that’s the only place that word is ever used. 

MacArthur explains ‘receiving the outcome of your faith’:

I don’t think he’s looking at the future here.  He doesn’t say, “you will obtain.”  It’s present tense, “obtaining,” here and now, present.  You could literally translate this, “presently receiving for yourselves.”  It’s the middle voice.  The word, by the way, komiz means “to receive what is deserved, to win something that is due to you.”  And joy inexpressible and full of glory links not only to verse 8, but also to verse 9.  Flowing out of that personal fellowship we have with Christ through love and trust is the outcome of our faith, which we have here and now obtained, namely the salvation of your souls. 

So you now possess the outcome of your faith, or the result, the end, the result of your faith, the logical end of it, the logical result of it, even the salvation of your souls.  What salvation?  That ongoing present tense deliverance.  What does “soul” mean?  The whole person, the whole person, you.  You could read it this way.  “You rejoice because you presently have obtained and continue to hold the logical result of your proven faith, even the constant deliverance of yourself.” 

From what?  Oh, what do we need to be continually delivered from?  Sin, guilt, condemnation, wrath, ignorance, distress, confusion, hopelessness, everything that’s fallen and defiling.  It’s not a future thing he’s talking about.  We’re delivered – we’re delivered from the power of sin.  We’re delivered from its delights, from its passions and pleasures.  And in exchange for that He gives us new life and unspeakable joy.

We have a constant present tense salvation.  That’s what he’s talking about here.  The present result of your proven faith is the ongoing deliverance that you enjoy.  Our salvation right here and now rescues us from sordid damning, scarring delights, and causes us to long for Christ … 

… And so, there’s even joy in our trials because the Lord delivers us from them all.  There’s no trial that ever comes our way that the Lord won’t make a way of escape. 

MacArthur concludes:

A great reward calls for great rejoicing.

And again, just to ask the question: Does that describe you? Or do you find yourself falling into the milieu and the malaise of a very angry, unfulfilled, hostile, dissatisfied culture? You ought to be continually filled with the joy of heaven because of your salvation …

So the highest bliss this side of heaven is the ability to enjoy all the blessings of salvation, which is only possible to people who believe they’re saved. If you live with doubt and fear, you literally shut the door to the treasure house of blessing, and you find it very difficult to have an inexpressible joy that is full of heavenly glory … Without assurance you’ll still get to heaven, but you won’t have heaven on earth …

I’m afraid so many Christians, real Christians, have so much doubt that they can’t unlock the treasure house to joy because they can’t even rejoice in the reality of their salvation. That’s where all joy starts. That’s what opens the door to your joy in response to all blessing …

How do you know your soul is saved? How do you know your faith is real? Because of what you believe and whom you love. “Obtaining”—present middle, komizō, presently receiving here and now, for yourself, “the salvation of your souls.”

This is heaven on earth, folks. This is heaven on earth: to know you are saved. If you don’t know that, you can’t find your way to enjoy the richness of salvation, because you can’t get through the door of assurance to even know you’re saved. If you know you’re saved by what you believe and who you love, then your joy should be inexpressible, and it should be full of heavenly glory. Your life should be so filled with joy that you leap for joy no matter what’s going on in the world around you. The psalmist said that God had put gladness in his heart, Psalm 4. Isaiah said that “the ransomed of the Lord will . . . come with joyful shouting . . . with everlasting joy,” Isaiah 35:10. Isaiah also said that the Christ was appointed to give the oil of gladness.

Coming with salvation is gladness and joy. Isaiah 61:10, Isaiah writes, “I will rejoice greatly in the Lord . . . for He has clothed me with the garments of salvation.” If you’re clothed with the garments of salvation and you know it, you need to rejoice greatly.

Now there’s an Eastertide message for the ages.

Rejoice! Rejoice forever — in this life and the next!