EVERYTHING IS READY

"Who are kept by the power of God through faith unto salvation ready to be revealed in the last time." (1 Peter 1:5)

AND WHY DOES THE POWER OF GOD "keep" us? Why is it necessary to keep us? First, we must see that the whole of salvation has not yet been experienced. We have but "the firstfruits of the Spirit" (Rom 8:23). The bulk of our salvation is yet to come.

THE COMPLETION OF OUR SALVATION, or, more precisely, the revelation of it, is an emphasis of Scripture. "And do this, knowing the time, that now it is high time to awake out of sleep; for now our salvation is nearer than when we first believed" (Rom 13:11). "Are they (the holy angels) not all ministering spirits sent forth to minister for those who will inherit salvation?" (Heb 1:14). "Much more then, having now been justified by His blood, we shall be saved from wrath through Him. For if when we were enemies we were reconciled to God through the death of His Son, much more, having been reconciled, we shall be saved by His life" (Rom 5:9-10).

WE ARE EN ROUTE TO GLORY, and have not yet arrived. We have received the "earnest," or pledge, of our inheritance, and not the whole of it (Eph 1:14). We are to conduct our lives in an acute awareness of this reality, not living as though we have already finished the course and were already in the promised land. We are still in the journeying posture!

HERE IS A MESSAGE faith requires: the salvation is "ready to be revealed." While we are working out our own salvation (Phil 2:12), we are contributing nothing to it. We were born again to obtain the inheritance. It is not obtained by our work, though we will not enter into it without "the work of faith" being fulfilled in us "with power" (2 Thess 1:11).

HERE IS A GREAT MYSTERY. There is a sense in which our labors determine the measure of our inheritance. As it is written, "Well done, good and faithful servant; you were faithful over a few things, I will make you ruler over many things" (Matt 25:21). And again, "He who sows sparingly will also reap sparingly, and he who sows bountifully will also reap bountifully" (2 Cor 9:6). It is possible to "suffer loss" in the day of the Lord (1 Cor 3:15). However, the inheritance itself is already in tact. It but remains to be seen how much of it we will possess.

THE GREAT SALVATION" (Heb 2:3) brought to us by Jesus is infinitely larger than ordinarily conceived. Throughout the centuries, the people of God have been subjected to minuscule views of this salvation, and thus have not extended themselves to obtain its fulness. Our hearts must take hold of these words: "Therefore I endure all things for the sake of the elect, that they also may obtain the salvation which is in Christ Jesus with eternal glory" (2 Tim 2:10). Paul extended himself because he knew the saints could "come short" of the "rest" reserved for them (Heb 4:1).

SALVATION IN ALL OF ITS FULNESS is "ready to be revealed." In a very real sense, the "kingdom" you will inherit was "prepared for you from the foundation of the world" (Matt 25:34). Just as the land of Canaan was reserved for the children of Israel, so our inheritance is reserved for us. The only question is whether we will possess it or not. It is possible to be a "castaway," forfeiting the inheritance altogether (1 Cor 9:27). It is also possible to "suffer loss," not possessing the fulness of our inheritance. However, if our hearts are convinced of its greatness and worthiness, and if we remain strong in faith, we will obtain more than we have dared to imagine. If God can do "exceedingly abundantly above all that we ask or think" now, in this time (Eph 3:20), what can be said of the "salvation that is ready to be revealed?" The only question that remains is our capacity to receive and handle the inheritance reserved for us, and the salvation ready to be revealed.

THE PURPOSE OF THIS TEACHING is to nourish hope, assisting us to look forward to "the last time." Those living in aloofness from the Lord fear "the last time." Those living in fellowship with Christ, and in the energy of faith, look forward to it. Our text is strongly affirming that when everything temporal is brought to a conclusion, everything that is eternal will be made known. In the interim, it is only to the degree that we are not distracted by the seen that we obtain any significant awareness of the unseen. As we take hold on the promises and nourish our faith, God, will keep us from the wicked one, and enable us to develop a large capacity for the "salvation ready to be revealed."

– Given O. Blakely