1 Peter: Confidence in a Complex WorldSample

4: A Trustworthy Source

It’s hard to keep believing when everyone thinks you’re crazy. The shoreline of our faith can be eroded by the waves of public opinion, our trust in Christ washing out to sea. Peter sensed the danger of this happening in the lives of these Christians. That’s why so many of his words, absorbed by ancient papyrus, then read out in congregations, were designed to fortify the faith of the faithful. In these verses, he takes them to the source of the gospel. ‘Look where this comes from. The Old Testament, the men and women who first preached Christ to you, they can be trusted!’

The Old Testament tells the story of a loving, creating, and redeeming God, who formed a people to know him and make him known to the world. It didn’t go smoothly, though; more a tale of tragedy than triumph. Yet beneath the ash of disappointment lay a seed of hope. Hope of something better, someone better, who would bring about God’s ultimate purposes: an end to the yo-yoing of God’s people rebelling, turning back, rebelling again. The prophets pointed forward to the Messiah. To Jesus.

Peter’s point is this: the better thing the prophets saw beyond the horizon is now here, and through the gospel, you’re experiencing it! When they wrote and spoke, it wasn’t their hyperactive imaginations at work – they had searched ‘intently and with the greatest care’ for what the Holy Spirit was saying (1:10). You can be confident this joy, this new life you are experiencing now is what God promised back then.

The source is pure, and it’s not been polluted along the way. ‘Those who have preached the gospel to you’ did so through the same ‘Holy Spirit sent from heaven’ (1:12). This is no man-made myth. This is divine reality! You may be worn down by insults and shaken by humiliation, but this good news is solid. You can stand on it.

Your frontline in the twenty-first century might feel similar to theirs in the first. Or you might experience nothing like that. Some of us have friends, colleagues, and families who are supportive of our faith – receptive, even. Others may be subject to light-hearted joking. For others, it’s not so light-hearted. Perhaps hardest of all is where people around us are just plain uninterested, which leaves us feeling like the gospel is not just insignificant, but irrelevant. The waves are strong. What you need to know is the rock you stand on is even stronger. 

Reflect:

What convinces you of the gospel’s trustworthiness?

What does/would being confident in the gospel look like for you? What would that confidence look and feel like as you go about this day? 

Pray:

Thank God that the gospel is good news that can be trusted, because his Holy Spirit has overseen its transmission from beginning to end. Pray that you and other Christians close to you will grow in gospel-confidence.