This morning we will be looking
at the book of 1 Peter, chapter 1. But I want to read a verse
in chapter 5 to begin with. In chapter 5 of 1 Peter, verse
12, The last part of that verse,
Peter says, I have written briefly exhorting and testifying that
this is the true grace of God wherein you stand. This is the
true grace of God wherein you stand, Peter said. Now, Peter
is writing to the church, to believers. He makes that clear
in chapter 1, to the elect. to the strangers that are scattered
throughout in various churches. And Peter says, this is the true
grace of God wherein you stand. That sums up what Peter is writing
about throughout this whole book, the whole letter of 1 Peter,
is concerning the grace of God. The first chapter is grace bestowed. The second chapter, grace tasted. The third chapter is grace lived
or exhibited. The fourth chapter is the grace
of God tested or tried. And the last chapter is grace
established or mature grace. Now, Peter says, I'm testifying
that this is the true grace of God wherein you stand. True grace,
he says. He clarifies or qualifies what
grace he's talking about, true grace as opposed to false grace,
or what may be called grace but is not grace. Paul makes the
same qualification or clarification in Galatians chapter 1 concerning
the gospel. He says, this is the gospel. It's not that other gospel or
perversion of the gospel, he says. He also talks about the
true Jesus Christ, Lord Jesus Christ, and not another Jesus
or a false one which some were preaching. Peter says, now this
is the true grace of God. Grace, by definition, grace is
a free gift. a gift bestowed. Grace is not
something offered to us by God. The modern definition of grace
is that God loved everyone, and Christ came and did something
here, died for everyone, and offers a general amnesty to all,
a general salvation to all who will have it, that he provided
the possibility of salvation, that he made salvation possible. And it's up to man to accept
or reject that offer of grace. It's up to man to make his choice,
his decision, to exercise his so-called free will and accept
this offer of salvation. Now, that is not the true grace
of God. That is not Bible salvation. The grace of God, the true grace
of God, true salvation by sovereign grace is not something offered
to us by God, but grace is something done to us by God. Grace is something done for us
by God, something done in us by God. great problem with all that I
said just a moment ago about this general offer of amnesty,
and it's up to man. One huge, insurmountable problem,
and that is man is dead in trespasses and sin. He does not have the
capacity, he does not have the will, he does not have the ability
to choose God. He's dead. And this work of sovereign
grace, true grace, is God Raising a dead sinner to life. The faith
that a sinner exercises is given him, is according to the working
of his mighty power, the Word of God says. That faith is not
even of ourselves. It's the gift, or rather the
grace of God. And anybody that is willing,
is made willing, Psalm 110 verse 3 says, made willing in the day
of his power, in the day of his sovereign saving power. Sovereign
saving grace, the true grace of God, has no works of man in
it. There is no decision, no will,
no choice, no faith that is a part of this work. No sir. These things,
faith, The will is a result of this sovereign saving grace. True grace is unmerited, unearned,
unsought, sovereignly bestowed favor upon a chosen vessel of
God. True grace is sovereign grace. And Peter says, wherein you stand.
Now, everyone doesn't believe that. But I tell you, who does
believe it? Those who are objects of this
sovereign grace. Alright, in chapter 1 now, Peter
is going to write to these people and he says in verse 1, Peter,
an apostle of Jesus Christ. Now, stop right there. Peter,
an apostle of Jesus Christ. How was Peter an apostle? Did
he apply for the job? Did Peter go to seminary and
study to be an apostle? No. And neither does any other
of God's apostles or prophets or preachers. Peter was chosen
by the Lord Jesus Christ, equipped by the Lord Jesus Christ, called
by the Lord Jesus Christ, and sent and doors opened for him
to preach by the Lord Jesus Christ. Peter was an object of the sovereign,
electing, saving grace of the Lord Jesus Christ, as is everyone
who is saved. Who better to write of this grace
bestowed than Peter? Consider Peter's story. Peter
was standing in a boat one day, washing his nets. Here's an old,
rough, gruff, lifelong fisherman standing in his boat. He's not
seeking God. He is not interested in this
teacher named Jesus. And along comes this man, the
Lord Jesus Christ, that is. He comes walking along and sovereignly,
powerfully says to Peter, follow me. And he dropped his nets and
boats and left his family and followed him. Now, Peter was
an object of the Lord Jesus Christ's electing sovereign grace. So who better to write of this
grace than Peter? And he writes to the strangers,
verse 1, to strangers scattered throughout Pontus, Galatia, Cappadocia,
Asia, and Bithynia. Strangers to Peter, that is,
not strange to God. Strangers to Peter. And so he's
also writing to all believers everywhere. He's writing to us
if we are believers. He says, now this grace, Verse
2, I'm writing to the elect, and I'm reading. Elect according
to the foreknowledge of God the Father. Electing grace. Peter is writing of sovereign
electing grace. Right away, Peter testifies of
the true grace of God. that it is sovereign electing
grace. All who are saved, all who will
be saved, were chosen or elected by God before the foundation
of the world. Ephesians 1 verse 4. This is
undeniable, irrefutable. Besides, who would want to refute
the truth? This is what separates believers
from unbelievers. Believers believe God's word. They don't question it. They
don't argue against it. As a matter of fact, they love
it. Every word of it. They don't try to explain it
away. No. Who would want to deny election? I tell you who would. The non-elect
would. Who believes that God elects
his people? God does the choosing. Who believes
that? Why the elect do. God had to
choose his people or they would not have chosen him. And he had
to do it before the world began. That's what Romans 9 verse 11
said. Now let me ask you a question.
If you claim to be a child of God, if you claim to be saved,
Let me ask you a question, and I want you to answer this not
from your own thoughts or from your own opinion, but answer
from the Word of God. Let me ask you this. Did you
choose God, or did He choose you? Do you claim to be a believer? Answer from the Word of God.
Did you choose Him, or did He choose you? Well, Ephesians 1
verse 4 says, According as He hath chosen us, in Christ. All right? When did He choose
you? If you're a child of God, if you're a believer, you call
yourself a Christian, when did God choose you? Did He do it
after you believed? Oh, no. Answer according to the
Scripture. Verse 4 says, According as He
hath chosen us in Christ before the foundation of the world.
All right? Let me ask you another question.
According to God's Word. Answer this. from God's Word,
not from our opinion. Why did God choose you? If you're
a believer and God chose you, why did He choose you? Because
He saw some good in you? Because you exercised your will
or your faith? Or God needed you? Is that it? According to God's
Word. According to God's Word, It says
in Ephesians 1, verse 6, to the praise of the glory of His grace,
according to the good pleasure, verse 5, according to the good
pleasure of God's will. God's will, God's choice, God's
power. This is the true grace of God. Did you choose God or did He
choose you? Well, what a question. If you had asked Peter that,
he would have said, well, that's ridiculous, man. I didn't even
know God. I wasn't even interested in God.
Why, He chose me and bestowed His sovereign grace and power
upon me. Irresistible power. What a question. Ask Abraham. Ask any believer
in the Scripture. Ask Abraham. Abraham, did you
choose God or did He choose you? Abraham would laugh. He would
say, I was 75 years old and idolater. I didn't know the true God, wasn't
interested. Worshipping a God of my imagination. But God, who is rich in mercy,
chose me and called me by His grace. Ask Jacob. Ask David. Ask Mary Magdalene. Ask the thief
on the cross. Ask every sinner saved by the
sovereign, electing, saving grace of God. Well, they would say,
that's a foolish question. Elect, Peter said, according
to the foreknowledge of God. His foreknowledge is the love
of God. For whom he did foreknow, or
that is, forelove, Romans 8 says, he did predestinate. Foreknowledge. This is not God looking down
through some giant telescope in time to see who would believe
on him. That's absurd. No, this is God's
foreknowledge, God setting His love upon some. He had to do
that. He had to sovereignly set His
love upon the objects of His saving purpose because none are
worth loving. But God set His love, bestowed
His love upon and determined to save, purposed to save these
people in and by the Lord Jesus Christ. elect according to the
foreknowledge, forelove of God before the foundation of the
world. God had to do that, and he elected to save them and give
them to Christ who came to this earth to do all that was necessary
to save them, to establish a perfect righteousness and impute it to
their account, thereby making them holy before God and then
and then washing away their sins by his blood, for without the
shedding of blood there is no remission of sin. And everyone
for whom Christ died, their sins are gone. And then Christ sends
the Holy Spirit to convict them of their sins, give them repentance
and faith in the Lord Jesus Christ. Now, this is the true grace of
God, the grace of the Father, the grace of the Son, the grace
of the Holy Spirit, sovereign, saving, electing, keeping eternal
effectual grace. I hope you believe this. If you
do, you're an object of God's grace. Until next Sunday, Amen.