If the proving of our faith is positive, this proving will result in praise, glory, and honor at the unveiling of Jesus Christ. What is the difference between praise, glory, and honor? It is characteristic of Peter that he does not stop with the word “praise” but goes on to mention glory and honor.
We may use graduation from school as an illustration of the distinction between praise, glory, and honor. Suppose a particular student receives the highest score on a final examination. This proving through testing first results in praise, for he will certainly receive praise for his outstanding achievement. This praise will bring in glory at the time of his graduation, when he is singled out as the most outstanding student in his class. That will certainly be a glory, and this glory will bring him honor. Therefore, first there is praise, then glory, and then honor.
Glory is a certain condition, whereas honor puts us into a particular position. At the time of graduation, the outstanding student in a class is in a condition of glory and also in a position of honor.
If through the various trials we have a positive proving of our faith, this proving will result in praise, glory, and honor when the Lord Jesus comes back. First, the Lord Jesus will tell us that we have done well. Following this praise, there will be a condition of glory and, along with that, a position of honor.
Before we go on to verse 8, I would point out that verses 3 through 12 are actually one long sentence. In his writing Peter does not care for good language, grammar, or composition. Peter’s way of writing indicates that he cares for the divine revelation and for genuine spiritual experience. Although Peter’s writings may not be highly regarded by certain scholars, he nevertheless expressed in these verses what he intended to say.
Referring to the Lord Jesus, Peter goes on to say in verse 8, “Whom having not seen, you love; in whom, not seeing at present yet believing, you exult with unspeakable and glorified joy.” It is a wonder and a mystery that the believers love One whom they have not seen. The phrase “in whom” modifies believing. We love Him whom we have not seen because of believing, because of the very faith which has been infused into us through hearing the living word (Gal. 3:2). Hence, this faith is under the testing, the proving, in verse 7.
According to verse 8, the believers “exult with unspeakable and glorified joy.” Glorified joy is joy immersed in glory; hence, it is full of glory, that is, full of the Lord expressed.
The King James Version adopts the rendering “joy unspeakable and full of glory.” We also have a song in our hymnal that says, “It is joy unspeakable and full of glory” (Hymns, #1153). Actually, Peter does not mean that we are full of glory. On the contrary, he speaks of a glorified joy. We exult with a joy that is immersed in glory. This joy is immersed in the Lord as glory; thus, it is full of the expression of the Lord.
Verse 9 continues, “Obtaining the end of your faith, the salvation of your souls.” This verse is the direct continuation of verse 7. The proving of our faith to be found unto praise, glory, and honor results in the obtaining of the end of our faith, that is, the salvation of our souls.
The salvation in verse 9 is full salvation, the salvation which is in three stages—the initial stage, the progressing stage, and the completing stage. We are of three parts: spirit, soul, and body. Our spirit has been saved through regeneration (John 3:5-6). Our body will be saved, redeemed, through the coming transfiguration (Rom. 8:23; Phil. 3:21). Our soul will be saved from sufferings into the full enjoyment of the Lord at His unveiling, His coming back. For this we have to deny our soul, our soulish life, with all its pleasures in this age, that we may gain it in the enjoyment of the Lord in the coming age (Matt. 10:37-39; 16:24-27; Luke 17:30-33; John 12:25). At the Lord’s unveiling, some believers through His judgment seat will enter into the joy of the Lord (Matt. 25:21, 23; 24:45-46), and some will suffer in weeping and gnashing of teeth (Matt. 25:30; 24:51). To enter into the Lord’s joy is the salvation of our souls (Heb. 10:39). This salvation is more precious than the salvation of the body, which the children of Israel expect to receive.
The full salvation of the Triune God includes the Father’s regeneration, the Spirit’s sanctification or application, and Christ’s redemption. This full salvation is revealed in 1:3-23. These verses reveal the full salvation of God in three aspects according to the Trinity. The Father’s regeneration brings something into us, and it also brings us into something. Do you know what the Father’s regeneration brings into us and what it brings us into? The regeneration of the Father brings eternal life into us. Furthermore, the Father’s regeneration brings us into the hope, the inheritance of eternal life. Therefore, eternal life has been brought into us, and we have been brought into the hope, the inheritance, of eternal life. We now have eternal life, and we are also enjoying the inheritance of this eternal life. This is the Father’s regeneration with its results, its issue. The result of the Father’s regeneration is to bring eternal life into us and to bring us into the full enjoyment of God as our life supply. This life supply is the living hope. This life supply is also the inheritance incorruptible, undefiled, and unfading. This marvelous inheritance is kept in the heavens for us so that we may enjoy it and participate in it daily, hourly, continually.
At this point I would like to say, parenthetically, a word of appreciation for Peter’s writings. The Gospel of John is wonderful. However, in certain respects it cannot compare with the writings of Peter. The Epistles of Paul also are marvelous. Yet, at least to some extent, the spiritual matters in Paul’s writings may be covered over by his excellent language. As we have pointed out, the writings of Peter, although much less in quantity than those of Paul, include the same span and scope as Paul’s writings.
In content Peter has some extraordinary “diamonds” not found in Paul’s Epistles. For example, Paul does not tell us that the Father’s regeneration has brought us into a living hope and that this living hope is the heavenly inheritance for us to enjoy today and for eternity. Because the Epistles of Peter contain treasures not found elsewhere in the New Testament, we surely need to dig into them and study them thoroughly.