Exposition Upon 1 Peter, Biblical exegesis · Chapter 1 · Verse 9
Verse 9. Receiving the end of your Faith, even the salvation of your souls.
HEre's the ground of their joy, the end and reward of their Faith, the salvation of their souls: Salvation of their souls, why, was there any danger of the contrary? O yes! By nature, and through sin,Every man is danger of utter destruction. we have deserved the utter damnation both of our souls and bodies, but through Christ we escape it, and obtain, the salvation of both; every man is in this danger, neither is there any help to be had, but in and through Christ apprehended by Faith.Acts 4. 12.
How then doth it behoove every man to bestir himself about this so weighty a matter?Use. For what shall it profit a man, Mat. 16. 26.to win the whole world, and lose his own soul? yet the most makes small account hereof, but rather set themselves altogether about their profits and pleasures, O madness to be condemned! nay, if they see any earnest about this, they wonder what they mean; what they mean? they seek salvation; if thou wonder at that, wonder still; but the time will come, when thou wilt wonder at thine own folly, that sought'st not after this, though thou hadst missed of whatsoever else: when thou seest any grieve and mourn, wondrest thou what they ail? Its for the want of salvation, as thou art when thou wantest money; if thou thinkest their grief and heaviness to be but melancholly dumps of foolish weak folks, which they may shake off at their pleasure, and be merry as formerly they were wont, thou art much deceived.
Receiving] He saith not you shall receive, but receiving in the present tense:The godly by faith do even here enjoy salvation. Whence note, that
The Servants of God by faith do even here enjoy Salvation and Eternal life, even presently we have glory, though not in the fulness thereof;2 Cor. 3. 18. 1. Because we are as sure of it, as if we had it, as who have Gods Hand for it, even his Word,2 Cor. 1. 22. his Seal, his Sacrament. 2. Because even here we have the earnest of it,Eph 1. 13, 14. which is his Spirit; when earnest is given between honest men,Ioh. 3. 36. there's no going back; and shall God say, and not do it?See also Ioh. 5. 24. shall he promise, and not perform? He is not a man, that he should lye or repent: He that believeth on the Son (saith the Son himself) hath everlasting life. 3. Because by faith we are already entred into the first degree of it; being knit to Christ, and so perfectly justified, we are come to the suburbs of our glory, and are as it were at the gate, lacking nothing but to be let in by death: As we say to our friends, having come a long way to a City, and are but at the walls thereof,Rom 8. 23. and not entred therein, Now we are at it, ye are welcom to this place;Eph. 2. 5, 6. so having received the first-fruits of the Spirit, we may thereupon affirm that we are in Heaven.Heb. 12. 22, 23 This sheweth the happy estate of true believers,Use. that are so sure of their happiness, and as it were entred upon it already: Thou therefore that believest, be of good comfort, thou art even as sure of Heaven, as if thou wert there already; Rejoyce always, serve God chearfully, and bear afflictions patiently: Being at the suburbs, thou wantest but letting in, when Death as the Porter shall open the gate. Thou hast paid the price, and hast good Evidence to shew for it, which by thy learned Councel is judged sound and good; God hath given thee his own Writings, and thou hast sure under his Hand and Seal, onelyonly thou wantest Livery and Seisin, which thou shalt have in good time, which in the mean time is never the farther from thee.
The end of your Faith] Or the reward which God hath promised so often,No pains too much to get faith. who would not take any pains to get faith, being so rewarded? The world wondreth at them that take pains to hear the word, yet this is the means of faith, which is the instrument of Salvation; yet wonder they not at themselves and others, that travel weekly as much and more for worldly trash,Use. who for faith would scarce stir their foot over the threshold: But do not we rest our selves either upon our gifts of Knowledge, Utterance, Profession, shew of Zeal, outward Civility,Eph. 2. 8. and the like, for nothing will save us but faith, and Salvation is the end hereof. If a man had lived in the days of Christ, and both heard him, conversed with him, and seen his miracles, yet without faith he might be damned, as Judas: Were one the kinsman of Christ, should he handle him in his arms, nay, were one his mother, what would the same avail without faith? Therefore refuse no pain to get faith; for though its beginning be bitter, yet its end is happy.
If the Apostle had said,Salvation not the end or reward of our Works. End or reward of your works, the Papists would have had their mouthes made up, and run away with a full cry, Lo here, whether our Works merit not Heaven and Salvation, or no: Alas! there's no such matter; Can they not distinguish between Merit and a Reward freely given? True, the Scripture calleth Heaven a Reward, and promiseth the same to them that hold out in welldoing; but doth it not also call in an Inheritance? and who knows not that that is free? There are two kindes of debt, one of desert, and another of promise; Herod made conscience to keep his rash Oath to the daughter of Herodias, she deserved it not, but he promised it: And when God promiseth Eternal life to constancy in well-doing, is it to puff us up, as if we did deserve it? no such matter, its onelyonly to help our weakness.
He calls us to deny our selves, to wean our selves from the pleasures of this world,See Mr. Greenham, pag. 754. to suffer Reproach, Persecution, and the like; now these be harsh to our nature, therefore to encourage us, God makes these Promises, and accordingly at the end of our work, we shall have the thing promised,We cannot inherit heaven. not because we have earned it, but because Christ hath purchased it, and God hath promised it to us. That we cannot merit heaven, may thus appear; 1. Because our best works be stained with many imperfections; and what's good in them, is Gods gift, not our goodness. 2. Because there must be some proportion between the thing merited,Rom. 8. 18. and that wherewith, but here there's none; as a man cannot buy a great Manor for a trifle, so the things we can do or suffer here, are not worthy the glory to be revealed. 3. Because that whereby we must merit, must be free, and that which we are not bound to do; but we are bound to do all that we can, and having so done, we have done but our duty, and consequently not merited; As if we had a lame servant,Luke 17. 10. and assoon as he did a little service, he would think he merited of us, when if he could do much more, by the state of a servant, he owes us more;1 Sam. 18. 23. David said, Seemeth it a small thing to you, to be son in Law of a King? (yet hereby should not he have had the Kingdom) howsoever by his Victories he deserved well; what then should we in respect of God? But as the whole Scripture labors to beat down our Pride, Arrogancy, and any Conceit that we might have of any thing in our selves, so this place saith, The Salvation of our Souls, is the end and reward of Faith, not of Works; and yet not the reward of Faith, as if it merited any such thing, as it is a Grace in us, no, but onelyonly it apprehends it an instrument, that whereby we are justified and saved, and that which meriteth our Salvation.
The Salvation of your souls.] Believers shall have also the Salvation of their bodies.Not but that the servants of God shall have Salvation of their bodies also, as being made by God, rede…r… ed by Christ, and shall be glorified after the Resurrection; and therefore Christ took not onelyonly a soul, but an humane body also: but he speaketh of the soul, as of the principal part, which first entreth into Glory; and for the bodies of Gods servants, wherewith they endeavor to praise and glorifie God, they shall be glorified as well as their souls.
Be we therefore encouraged even in our bodies,Use. to take pains in Gods service; never a member that honors him, but shall be filled with honor at the last day, and for ever.
But what's that we have, and our Faith findes in Christ Jesus? not Ease, Health, Worldly Honor and Preferment, but Salvation;1 Cor. 1. 30. CHRIST was not made these unto us, but Wisdom, Righteousness, Sanctification and Redemption: We have by him also right unto outward things, and possession of as much as shall be meet, but so as we may have and must expect, to drink of the same cup that our Master did, even to meet with Reproaches, Afflictions and Trouble.
Whe must therefore when we follow Christ,What those are to look for that follow Christ. or embrace him and his ways, not expect all Prosperity here, and Ease and Contentment outwardly, but rather think of the contrary, that it may appear that we follow him not for any by-respect;See Mat. 8. 19. but Salvation we shall have, and he that thinks not that sufficient, though it be joyned with troubles, knoweth not its worth. The favor of God, the Kingdom of Heaven, is great riches, though not accompanied with outward either pleasure or profit:Ioh. 6. 26. Many profess Religion for advantage, and many will profess so long as no hurt comes of it, but if any trouble arise, then they give over.