I Peter 1-Trials and Holiness

Genuine Faith
The genuineness of your faith is tested through trial.
When a believer comes through a trial with his faith intact he is assured that his faith is genuine.

Prophets of Old Testament
The Old Testament prophets inquired and searched carefully for this salvation. They looked forward with faith. They prophesied of the grace that would come to you. The spirit of Christ testified through the prophets. This is an encouragement to us as New testament believers that hundreds of years before Christ came, it was prophesied that He would come. And even back to the beginning of time, Adam and Eve were told of the Messiah that would come.

Here's an interesting thought:


In his book, Science Speaks, Peter Stoner writes of the probability of just 8 of the prophesies of Christ coming to pass. However, there are many more that were prophesied and came true!

"Let us try to visualize this chance. If you mark one of ten tickets, and place all of the tickets in a hat, and thoroughly stir them, and then ask a blindfolded man to draw one, his chance of getting the right ticket is one in ten. Suppose that we take 10 to the 17 silver dollars and lay them on the face of Texas. They will cover all of the state two feet deep. Now mark one of these silver dollars and stir the whole mass thoroughly, all over the state. Blindfold a man and tell him that he can travel as far as he wishes, but he must pick up one silver dollar and say that this is the right one. What chance would he have of getting the right one? Just the same chance that the prophets would have had of writing these eight prophecies and having them all come true in any one man, from their day to the present time, providing they wrote using their own wisdom. Now these prophecies were either given by inspiration of God or the prophets just wrote them as they thought they should be. In such a case the prophets had just one chance in 10 to the 17th power of having them come true in any man, but they all came true in Christ."

Holiness

As He who called you is holy, you also be holy in ALL your conduct. If you are a Christian, conduct yourself while on Earth in the fear of Lord.

You've not been redeemed with money, but with the precious blood of Christ. You have been foreordained before the foundation of the world. Since you have purified your souls in obeying truth through the Spirit, then you should love one another fervently with a pure heart. Fervently means stretched to the limits, going the extra mile, going above and beyond the call of duty!

I'm reminded in these last few verses of I John. John speaks of basically 3 essential for a true Christian:
1. Love your brothers
2. Obey God
3. Know God--sound Biblical doctrine, Truth.