According to Jude 20 and 21, we need to pray in the Holy Spirit, keep ourselves in the love of God, and wait for the mercy of Jesus Christ so that we may have the enjoyment and increase of eternal life forever. This is a description of the experience of the Triune God.
Chapter one of 1 Peter and the Epistle of Jude both speak concerning the Triune God. Peter’s word concerning the Triune God is profound, and Jude’s word is somewhat simple. We may say that Jude gives a word to “elementary students,” and Peter gives a word to “graduate students.” However, many Christians are not even able to understand Jude’s elementary word concerning the experience of the Triune God. We thank the Lord that He has enlightened us to see the meaning both of Peter’s word in chapter one of his first Epistle and Jude’s word toward the end of his Epistle. In both 1 Peter and Jude we see that the Triune God is to be our portion, enjoyment, and experience.
In our study of the Epistles of 1 and 2 Peter and Jude we need to see the central focus of these books. Although the subject of 1 and 2 Peter is God’s government, especially His government shown in His judgment, this is not the central focus of these books. Neither is the divine government the basic structure of the Epistles of Peter. What is the focus of these Epistles? What is their basic structure? In order not to be distracted by the many precious matters in 1 and 2 Peter, we need clear answers to these questions.
In 1 Peter actually only one and a half chapters are crucial in relation to life. These one and a half chapters include all of chapter one and the first eleven verses of chapter two. In addition, we need to regard Peter’s word in 5:10 as crucial. In this verse Peter says, “But the God of all grace, who called you into His eternal glory in Christ, after you have suffered a little while, will Himself perfect, establish, strengthen, and ground you.” We have a similar situation in the Epistle of 2 Peter. In this book the first half of the first chapter and the last verse of the last chapter are crucial in relation to life. In these vital portions of 1 and 2 Peter we have the central focus of these Epistles.
In chapter one of 1 Peter we see the operation of the Triune God for His full salvation. In verse 2 we see the foreknowledge of God the Father, the sanctification of the Spirit, and the sprinkling of the blood of Jesus Christ. This verse reveals the Father’s foreknowledge, the Son’s redemption, and the Spirit’s application. This is the operation of the Triune God to carry out God’s full salvation. In verse 3 Peter says that the Father has regenerated us unto a living hope. The full salvation of God is composed of three elements: the Father’s regeneration, the Son’s redemption, and the Spirit’s application. When we experience this salvation, we have a life that is characterized by holiness and love. We are holy in our manner of life, and we love the brothers. Therefore, holiness and love are the issue of God’s full salvation. Furthermore, in this salvation there is a seed, the incorruptible seed, which is the living and abiding word of God. This is a simple sketch of chapter one of 1 Peter.
Let us now go on to consider 1 Peter 2:1-11. Having been regenerated, we are now newborn babes longing for the guileless milk of the word so that by it we may grow unto salvation (v. 2). In chapter one we see that we have been regenerated and that the full salvation of God is our portion. Now we need to partake of and enjoy this salvation. For this, we need to feed on the milk of the word.
By feeding on the guileless milk of the word and by growing unto salvation, we shall be transformed into precious stones. Therefore, Peter refers to the believers as living stones (v. 5). These stones are for the building up of a spiritual house, and this house is a holy priesthood: “You yourselves also, as living stones, are being built up a spiritual house, into a holy priesthood, to offer up spiritual sacrifices acceptable to God through Jesus Christ” (v. 5). On the one hand, this spiritual house is God’s dwelling place; on the other hand, it is something that tells forth the virtues of God, that expresses what God is.
This spiritual house, of course, is a corporate matter. We are being built up together in a corporate way to afford God a dwelling place and to tell forth God’s virtue, that is, to express Him.