In the book of 1 Peter chapter
1 is contained the threefold work
of salvation. That is the subject this morning,
and that is the title of this message, the threefold work of
salvation. What we have here is a summary
of what God's Word says about salvation. It's found in one
verse here. You see, salvation is of the
Lord, Jonah 2.9. Salvation belongeth to the Lord,
Psalm 3, verse 8. It's His prerogative to save
whom He will. It's His choice to save whom
He will. It's His work. He does the saving. Sinners are lost. He must save
them, find them. It is for His glory. It's all about His glory. Now, who are we talking about?
Him, the Lord. Well, we're talking about the
three in one, the Trinity, the Father, the Son, and the Holy
Spirit. These three are one, John said. in 1 John 3. These three are
one. 1 John 5 and verse 7 and 8. These three are one in this work
of salvation. They work together to save every
one of God's elect. Now this threefold work is found
in one verse here in 1 Peter. So let's begin with verse 1.
an apostle of Jesus Christ, Peter. He does not refer to himself
as Reverend Peter or Father Peter. Peter is not the head of the
church. Jesus Christ is the head of his
own church. He calls himself Peter. He does
not take flattering titles to himself. He says an apostle,
small a, apostle, messenger. of Jesus Christ. Of Jesus Christ. Christ is the message and Christ
is the one who chose his messengers and Christ is the message which
they went out proclaiming. An apostle of Jesus Christ to
the strangers scattered throughout Pontus, Galatia, Cappadocia,
Asia, and Bithynia. That is all of those whom he
did not know. Strangers to him But they were
not strangers to God, because they were known of God, foreknown
of God. That's what he goes on to say.
And he says in verse 2, he says to the strangers, elect according
to the foreknowledge of God the Father, elect. He calls him the
elect of God according to God's foreknowledge. Now, someone would
argue with Peter today if he were preaching. Yes, they would. Even though he was the great
apostle, they would argue with him saying, well, Peter, that's
not where you start preaching. You don't start with election. That's private doctrine, I've
heard many say. I've heard cowardly preachers
say is family doctrine. High doctrine is something we
slip in on people later on who are more mature and so forth. No, this is where Peter begins
because this is where salvation began in God's sovereign eternal
choice of a people. God's sovereign electing grace
or choice of a people unto salvation. The election is woven into the
speech of the apostles and of every believer. Every believer
knows what the Lord told Peter of old. He said, Peter, and the
rest of the apostles. He said, you did not choose me,
but I chose you. They all know that. The apostles
knew that. All of the patriarchs knew that. Abraham knew that. It was God
who chose him, and called him, and drew him, and everything
he was was by the grace of God. Abraham knew that. Jacob knew
that. They all know that. All of God's
people. The election is woven into their
speech. As one of the old hymn writers
wrote, "'Tis not that I did choose thee, for, Lord, that could not
be. If thou hadst not chosen me,
I would never have chosen thee.'" The Lord reminded Peter of that,
and he reminds all his people of that. Why? Because it is to
the praise of the glory of his grace, his sovereign electing
grace. Elect, he said, according to
the foreknowledge of God. What is foreknowledge? Now, here
in this second verse, what we have here is that threefold work
of salvation I was talking about, election by the Father, sanctification
by the Holy Spirit, and redemption by the blood of the Son, the
Son of God. He says, elect according to the
foreknowledge of God. What is foreknowledge? Quite
simply, it is God Almighty having in His mind, on His mind, a people. certain persons to save them,
set His affection on them, purposing to save them. He said, the Lord
Himself said in John 13 verse 18, I know whom I have chosen. He chose to set His love upon
His people. He must. He must set His love
upon them because there is nothing lovely about them. His foreknowledge
is God foreknowing, or that is, foreloving, His people before
the foundation of the world. And this is what Ephesians 1
talks about. It says, According as He hath
chosen us in Christ before the foundation of the world. Some people foreknowledge means
just what I said it meant. That God foreknew or foreloved
His people. Because in Matthew 7, he says
to some who brag of their wonderful works before him, he says to
some, I never knew you. God Almighty knows all things,
certainly. This means he never knew them,
never loved them. Same usage of the word as when
Adam knew his wife Eve, when they became one. The Lord in
purpose, in mind, in heart became one with his chosen one. Yes,
the foundation of God standeth sure, 2 Timothy 2.19 says, the
Lord knoweth them that are his. Why are they his? Because he
chose them. And it goes on to say here in
our text, elect according to the foreknowledge of God through
sanctification of the Spirit. sanctification of the Holy Spirit. This threefold work of salvation
is God the Father choosing a people and the Holy Spirit sanctifying
or setting them apart. That's what the word sanctify
means. Set apart. Separate. Separate
from others of like kind. Separate. The word sanctify also
means to set apart for holy use. I read that to you in Ephesians
1. Well, no, I didn't read all of
it. According as he hath chosen us in Christ before the foundation
of the world, that we should be holy and without blame before
him in love, having predestinated us unto the adoption of children
by Jesus Christ to himself. according to the good pleasure
of his will, to the praise of the glory of his grace, wherein
he hath made us accepted in the Beloved in Christ." So this sanctification
of the Spirit is the Holy Spirit setting apart to be holy, separating
from others, the people of God, the chosen
of God, the elect of God, to be saved, to be like Jesus Christ. I like to use the analogy of
an old cowboy or cattleman who's herding cattle. And he sets his
mind, he has his eye upon, his mind upon one of those cattle,
one calf. And what does he do? Why, he
separates that calf from the herd. He places his mark upon
it. He ropes it. He wrestles it to
the ground and he sets his mark or his brand upon it. And that
is exactly what the Holy Spirit of God does to all whom the Father
elected. How does he do this? Through
the preaching of the gospel. He draws them by the preaching
of the gospel. 2 Thessalonians 2 verse 13 says,
according as he has chosen us, we are bound to give thanks to
God, brethren, beloved of the Lord, because God hath from the
beginning chosen you to salvation through sanctification of the
Spirit and belief of the truth. Whereunto, that is, his salvation,
he called you by our gospel." It is the gospel that rounds
up his people. Some people argue against election. God's people don't, but some
goats do argue against it, saying, well, why preach if I believe
that? I wouldn't preach. Well, I believe
it, and I'm preaching right now, aren't I? And Paul believed it,
and he preached it, and the Lord believed it. Yeah, he's the one
that did it, that performed it, and he preached it. Well, because
this is the means which God Almighty uses to call out his people,
his elect. This is how he draws them. They
are drawn, what scripture says, as with cords, cords of a man,
as a rope. This is the rope which the Holy
Spirit lassoes or gathers in his people with the gospel. It's
not begging. It's not pleading. It's not gimmicks,
tricks, and tactics, and business methods, and trying to get people
to do this and do that. No, no. It's a declaration of
who God is, who Christ is, and what man is, and this is what
the Holy Spirit uses, the preaching of the gospel, to bring them
in. This is the power of God unto
salvation. What a preacher merely does is
stand up and declare who God is, who Christ is, what He's
done, what man is and stand back and watch God draw His people
in. Yes, it is setting apart, sanctification
of the Spirit. Somebody argued with Charles
Spurgeon one day. He said, Mr. Spurgeon, if you
believe only the elect will be saved, then why not just preach
to the elect? Spurgeon said, I would if they
had a big E on them. But they don't. So God said,
go into all the world and preach the gospel. So we do. But we
know that God has His elect out there, and He's going to call
them by that gospel. Why did the Lord tell Paul to
stay in Corinth? He was about ready to give up.
Why did he stay there? Because God said, I have much
people in that city. So Paul went preaching, and God
called them. sanctified by the Holy Spirit. This is what sets apart God's
people from the world. They are set apart by the Holy
Spirit of God, drawn by the gospel. Who believes that God elects
a people and the Holy Spirit sanctifies them? Who believes
that? Why, the elector, that's who. No one else will. And it
goes on to say, unto obedience and sprinkling of the blood of
Jesus Christ. The third work in this threefold
work of salvation is the sprinkling of the blood of the Lord Jesus
Christ. It is the blood that maketh atonement
for the soul. Not the blood of bulls or goats,
Paul wrote in Hebrews, but of the Lamb of God. without blemish,
without spot, the blood of Jesus Christ, God's Son, cleanseth
us from all sins, sprinkling of the blood unto obedience,
it said. The obedience of Christ is imputed to all of God's elect,
the obedience to the faith. Romans 1 says, obedience to the
faith. They all obey the gospel. They
believe the gospel. They believe Christ only. is
their salvation. They believe God's Word. They
believe God and obedience in life. Whatsoever He says, they
do. They keep His commandment. So
this is the threefold work of salvation. Election by the Father,
sanctification by the Spirit, and redemption is the sprinkling
of the blood of the Son of God. May God get the glory. For this
is my prayer. Amen. It's great. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you.