Kept by the power of God 1 Peter 1:5 Explained

 

Kept by the power of God explained

Many evangelicals use this verse in 1 Peter 1:5 to say they are guaranteed eternal life, without enduring to it. In this teaching, I will prove it does NOT mean that at all and I will refute their Calvinistic/Luther theology with God's Holy Word. 

Note: I have many articles that refute once saved always saved, easy believism and Calvinism at the links below. To be clear; we do not teach you are saved by your works. We need Christ's perfect work but; our saving faith in that perfect work is only shown when we have works/obedience and that is part of what justifies us/our faith. See James 2 / To live in any willful on going sin means you are serving the flesh/sin, NOT God and that leads to death. See Romans 8 

Most often people who come to this false theology do so by several ill means:

1) they love their sin and do not want to repent to all holiness. 

2) they have been trained up by false teachers; not God's Word

3) they cherry pick a verse here or there vs using all of God's Word for theology. 

Lets get right to 1 Peter 1 / see it in blue and my words with **** by them.

Peter, an apostle of Jesus Christ, to the strangers scattered throughout Pontus, Galatia, Cappadocia, Asia, and Bithynia,  Elect according to the foreknowledge of God the Father, through sanctification of the Spirit, unto obedience and sprinkling of the blood of Jesus Christ: Grace unto you, and peace, be multiplied.

***** Here we are told what the elect means ... it is the foreknowledge of God knowing who will make it to heaven. It does NOT mean only a few have the opportunity of heaven. No, all men can repent and enter as God wants all to repent Acts 17 NONE to perish. see 2 Peter 3:9

3 Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, which according to his abundant mercy hath begotten us again unto a lively hope by the resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead,

***** Here we see Peter uses the word... hope... it is Elpis in the Greek ... it means to anticipate. Scripture teaches us that we are NOT "guaranteed eternal life" this side of heaven as it is a hope if we endure to it. See Col 1 "In the body of his flesh through death, to present you holy and unblameable and unreproveable in his sight: If ye continue in the faith grounded and settled, and be not moved away from the hope of the gospel, which ye have heard, and which was preached to every creature which is under heaven; whereof I Paul am made a minister;"  

4 To an inheritance incorruptible, and undefiled, and that fadeth not away, reserved in heaven for you,

******** In this verse, Peter tells us about heaven, how it will not fade and that it is reserved for God's saints. That word reserved is Tereo and it means to keep guard, to keep a eye on watching it. God is indeed keeping guard on heaven and what He has promised those who seek after Him born of the gospel (Christ) He will do it! It in no way means a guarantee or Heaven before we have even run our race (obeyed/endured as fruit) for Him. See Matt 24:13 on enduring. Now on to verse 5 and a favorite cherry picking scripture of evangelicals 

5 Who are kept by the power of God through faith unto salvation ready to be revealed in the last time.

******* Peter uses the phrase kept by the power of God and evangelicals always say see, we do not have to do anything as God does it all for us. He keeps us but that is NOT what is means at all. The word KEPT in the Greek is phroureo and it means to guard, be a watcher or to protect. The word power is dunamis and it is a force. We have a great hope that God will guard and protect us with His force; as we live for Him. This in NO way means He does ALL our faith work for us or we have some guarantee no matter what. A shepard can keep and protect a flock but sheep can run away. James says He draws close to us when, we are drawing close to Him. I can give you many many many reasons to prove we can be lost...for this article here are two. 1) we are in a covenant with God and like a marriage covenant, I can protect my wife and keep her safe which is my duty but; we have a free will as humans. She can LEAVE me any day she chooses to go with another man. In that case, my protection is not in affect as she left / tramped our covenant in sin. She is not my forced slave and nor are we forced to serve God as we do it by choice. 2) You may say well you are not God. But His word tells us we MUST remain / do our part and that we can fall out of that keeping power. Read Hebrews 6:4 thru 6  "For it is impossible for those who were once enlightened, and have tasted of the heavenly gift, and were made partakers of the Holy Ghost, And have tasted the good word of God, and the powers of the world to come, If they shall fall away, to renew them again unto repentance; seeing they crucify to themselves the Son of God afresh, and put him to an open shame." That word power dunamis is the same word Peter uses in 1 Peter 1:5 and it is clearly the power of God. We see they tasted and fell away from salvation/God's power and it is as clear as can be in scripture and many more verses teach this as well. God does not give the spirit to those who were not obeying. Acts 5 /  These people did fall away!  See Romans 2 for more faith and works in play "But after thy hardness and impenitent heart treasurest up unto thyself wrath against the day of wrath and revelation of the righteous judgment of God; Who will render to every man according to his deeds: To them who by patient continuance in well doing seek for glory and honour and immortality, eternal life; But unto them that are contentious, and do not obey the truth, but obey unrighteousness, indignation and wrath, Tribulation and anguish, upon every soul of man that doeth evil, of the Jew first, and also of the Gentile; But glory, honour, and peace, to every man that worketh good, to the Jew first, and also to the Gentile: For there is no respect of persons with God." Kept by the power of God does NOT mean you are guaranteed heaven as we do nothing or keep sin. We have to endure/obey and strive per Jesus in Luke 13 to enter. He made the gate open as ONLY He could. Now we must follow and deny ourselves! Lets keep going in 1 Peter 1 as it too backs up my case against these evangelical heretics. 

  

6 Wherein ye greatly rejoice, though now for a season, if need be, ye are in heaviness through manifold temptations: 7 That the trial of your faith, being much more precious than of gold that perisheth, though it be tried with fire, might be found unto praise and honour and glory at the appearing of Jesus Christ:

***** Do you see here that Peter is saying our trials are like fire and we need to be found with praise and honor.... at His coming? We can indeed fail and so we have much to do in this faith life!

8 Whom having not seen, ye love; in whom, though now ye see him not, yet believing, ye rejoice with joy unspeakable and full of glory: 9 Receiving the end of your faith, even the salvation of your souls.

***** Here we are told we receive at the "end of our faith" (end of faith is after we live out this life) This matches other verses like 1 Cor 15 Moreover, brethren, I declare unto you the gospel which I preached unto you, which also ye have received, and wherein ye stand; By which also ye are saved, if ye keep in memory what I preached unto you, unless ye have believed in vain. Clearly you can believe but then it can be all in vain per Paul! No kept by God's power if we stop believing there. Lets keep going as there is more.....

10 Of which salvation the prophets have enquired and searched diligently, who prophesied of the grace that should come unto you: 11 Searching what, or what manner of time the Spirit of Christ which was in them did signify, when it testified beforehand the sufferings of Christ, and the glory that should follow. 12 Unto whom it was revealed, that not unto themselves, but unto us they did minister the things, which are now reported unto you by them that have preached the gospel unto you with the Holy Ghost sent down from heaven; which things the angels desire to look into. 13 Wherefore gird up the loins of your mind, be sober, and hope to the end for the grace that is to be brought unto you at the revelation of Jesus Christ;

***** Peter commands that we HOPE to the END for the grace and this is.... faith with endurance!

14 As obedient children, not fashioning yourselves according to the former lusts in your ignorance:

***** Here we see Peter commanding faith with works that prove our faith as he mentions obedience. We do not just sit waiting on God's keeping power we walk, obey and live holy for His glory. Look at the testimony and examples of the man who walks with Jesus. Did they just sit around expecting to be kept by God's power or did they have an active striving holy obedient faith enduring to their deaths? 

15 But as he which hath called you is holy, so be ye holy in all manner of conversation; 16 Because it is written, Be ye holy; for I am holy.

***** This is a command to be HOLY ... it means set apart for God in obedience.  We are we to serve? Romans 6;16 says "Know ye not, that to whom ye yield yourselves servants to obey, his servants ye are to whom ye obey; whether of sin unto death, or of obedience unto righteousness? But God be thanked, that ye were the servants of sin, but ye have obeyed from the heart that form of doctrine which was delivered you". Heb 12:14 says without holiness you will not see God and Heb 5:9 says Christ made the way for those who obey Him. Acts 5 says he gives the spirit to those who obey Him. This idea of you having to do nothing; is a lie from hell/false heretic men. He did NOT make the way for those who will not obey or who keep sin or who are not striving daily in truth but are idle. Lets keep going..... 

17 And if ye call on the Father, who without respect of persons judgeth according to every man's work, pass the time of your sojourning here in fear:

***** Peter says God judges works ...Go read John 15 / Matt 25 and see Jesus taught that exact same thing. Evangelicals who say grace alone and faith alone are liars and deceivers, please run from them! Faith and works do go together per Jesus, Paul Peter and James....

18 Forasmuch as ye know that ye were not redeemed with corruptible things, as silver and gold, from your vain conversation received by tradition from your fathers; 19 But with the precious blood of Christ, as of a lamb without blemish and without spot: 20 Who verily was foreordained before the foundation of the world, but was manifest in these last times for you, 21 Who by him do believe in God, that raised him up from the dead, and gave him glory; that your faith and hope might be in God.

**** Peter remains us that our works cannot save us as the blood of Christ is our true hope. (works are important as they are the proof you have a saving faith and that you are born of God serving righteousness, NOT sin) 

22 Seeing ye have purified your souls in obeying the truth through the Spirit unto unfeigned love of the brethren, see that ye love one another with a pure heart fervently:

****** Again Peter teach us that faith and works go together just as Jesus, Paul and James taught. The word purified is hagnizo ... it means to make clean. We are made clean by the truth just as Jesus said in John 4:24 / We cant worship God without TRUTH / doctrine / obeying and holiness. Paul says this to back up Peter in 1 Tim 4:16 "Take heed unto thyself, and unto the doctrine; continue in them: for in doing this thou shalt both save thyself, and them that hear thee." You cant purify your soul or obey God in good doctrine if you are a evangelical sitting around expecting God's power to keep you and do it all. He gives us the Spirit and power to go and DO! James says be a doer of the word not a hearer yet: these false men say; do nothing at all and be saved! The Word of God slices up their theology as I am proving here once again. 

23 Being born again, not of corruptible seed, but of incorruptible, by the word of God, which liveth and abideth for ever. 24 For all flesh is as grass, and all the glory of man as the flower of grass. The grass withereth, and the flower thereof falleth away: 25 But the word of the Lord endureth for ever. And this is the word which by the gospel is preached unto you.

***** Peter finishes up by reminding us of God's enduring eternal word ...what a great hope we have!

As you can see the idea that God is keeping us with His power no matter what we do but just have faith, is NOT found in scripture. When we just use God's Word to interpret Gods Word the message is very clear. We are saved by the perfect work of Christ (death burial and resurrection) that gets applied to us  when we repent (change or mind then ways to obey) and we get new hearts and minds. Then as fruit we are of Him serving righteouness NOT sin; we live in power unto holiness and obedience keeping His NT Word (and pre torah ways) enduring in that hope till the end. Our salvation is Jesus Christ our bride groom. But as His bride we are to keep ourselves spotless! See 2 Cor 11:2 / We are in a covenant and it is foolish to say we have nothing to do when in this marriage / NT covenant both parties have a part to play. Jesus did His part and does it still via the Spirit. And now we must do our part to the end and to our great HOPE! Just look at NT examples like the man tossed out for sexual sin 1 Cor 5 or Simon who wanted to buy God's power and Peter warned him of Hell. Acts 8. Or the couple killed over one lie by God in Acts 5 . Did these people have God's power keeping them too? That would be foolish to think but the evangelicals will tell me that the couple in Acts 5 still went to heaven. They are so deceived and void of truth!    

I trust this has blessed you and kept you from being stumbled by wicked evangelical men who love sin, by their fruit are not even born of God but are set on deceiving others as workers of satan. We can have the hope of Gods power helping us but; we must be obeying in this covenant or we are a rebellious and adulterous bride!

I pray those who keep this false way repent to the saving of their souls.  

Go here to see MANY articles that expose once saved always saved and calvinism:

https://spiritandtruthdiscernment.blogspot.com/search/label/Calvinism%20Exposed

https://spiritandtruthdiscernment.blogspot.com/search/label/Once%20Saved%20Always%20Saved%20Is%20a%20Lie

Test yourself at the gospel link below an let me know how I can help you in the faith. 

God be praised

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Here is the biblical gospel:

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