For the tenth week of our Exiles series in 1st Peter, We looked at 1st Peter 3:18-22. These verses show us three things:
1. The best news in the world
2. How to make it yours
3. What to do next
The Best News in the world
1 Peter 3:18 Is one of the spots in the bible that boils down the entire mission of Jesus’ life, death and resurrection down into one sentence. Everything that Jesus is about and has done gets wrapped up into this little verse and is literally the best thing imaginable and it’s broken into 3 parts:
- The greatest problem in the world, the greatest problem in your life and mine, is sin.
- God has taken the initiative to overcome our sin by offering Jesus to suffer in our place. Christ suffered for sin in our place
- Christ suffered for sin in our place, in order to bring us to God. Not only does Christ’ sacrifice declare us righteous, but it brings us to God
How to make it yours
This is the most important thing any of us can do with our time here on earth. The way we take the free gift of Jesus’s baptism is to trust in Jesus to save us. There is nothing else that will satisfy, nothing else that will cover our sin, the only answer is to trust in Christ alone, he is the only vessel.
What to do next
What to do next is what Jesus commanded, repent and be baptized. Once we have realized that we are a sinner in need of a savior we are commanded to repent and be baptized. We repent in order to be washed clean of our sins by Jesus Christ and we are baptized as a symbol of what Jesus had done for us. It is a declaration to the world that I have been saved by Jesus Christ. That our debt has been paid in full.