1 Peter 1:8-9 BSB (Berean Standard Bible)

“8Though you have not seen Him, you love Him; and though you do not see Him now, you believe in Him and rejoice with an inexpressible and glorious joy, 9now that you are receiving the goal of your faith, the salvation of your souls.”

By His Great Mercy

The context here is about Jesus Christ. By the grace of God and by God-persuaded faith in Him we are born anew into the family of God. We are delivered out of our bondage (addiction) to sin so we might now serve God with our lives in obedience to his commands. All this was made possible via Jesus’ death and resurrection. For in his death he put our sins to death with him so that by faith in him we might die to sin. And in his resurrection he conquered death that we might live with him in obedience to his commands.

By genuine biblical faith in him, which comes from God, and which is not of our own doing, we receive “an inheritance that is imperishable, undefiled, and unfading, reserved in heaven for you, who through faith are shielded by God’s power for the salvation that is ready to be revealed in the last time” (vv. 4-5). But by “faith,” which comes from God, and which is not of our own doing, if our faith is genuine, we deny self, die to sin, and follow our Lord in obedience to his commands, as a matter of life practice, by his grace.

For Jesus Christ taught that to come to him we must deny self, take up our cross daily (die daily to sin), and follow (obey) him. For if we hold on to living in sin and for self, we will lose our lives for eternity. But if we deny self, die daily to sin, by the Spirit, and we walk in obedience to our Lord and to his commands, in his power, then we have eternal life with God. For not everyone who calls him “Lord” will enter the kingdom of heaven, but the one DOING (obeying) the will of God (see Luke 9:23-26; Matthew 7:21-23).

You Love Him

What does that look like if truly we love Jesus Christ, the second person of our triune God – Father, Son, and Holy Spirit – our God who we are not able to see with our physical eyes? The Greek word for love is agape, which means “to prefer,” and in this context it means to prefer what God prefers which is all that is holy, righteous, morally pure, upright, honest, faithful and obedient to our Lord and to his commands. We prefer to live through Christ while embracing God’s will, which results in obedience to his commands.

So, how is that we are able to love someone who we cannot see? How can we believe in him who we cannot see with our physical eyes? How can we be sure that he even exists? God persuades us. He reveals himself to us in his creation (see Romans 1:18-20), and in our minds, hearts, and spirits. And he reveals himself to us through his written Word. But “seeing” is not just physical. Seeing is also perceiving, sensing, and comprehending in our spirits what is of God as it is revealed to us by God, if we are willing to receive what is of God and by faith in him follow him wherever he leads us.

The Goal of Our Faith

The goal of our faith, in this life, is that we deny self, die to sin, and obey God and his commands; that we follow him wherever he leads us, that we do all that he says to do, that we love God with our whole being, and that we love our fellow humans with the love of God, which comes from God. And the end goal of our faith, which by faith we are now receiving (progressive), is the salvation of our souls. But we must die to sin, obey God, in practice, and we must continue in that until the day we die, for us to have salvation.

[Matthew 7:13-14,21-23; Luke 9:23-26; John 10:27-30; Acts 26:18; Romans 1:18-32; Romans 2:5-10; Romans 3:23; Romans 6:1-23; Romans 8:1-14; Romans 12:1-2; 1 Corinthians 6:9-10,19-20; 1 Corinthians 10:1-22; 2 Corinthians 5:10,15,21; Galatians 5:16-24; Ephesians 2:8-10; Ephesians 4:17-32; Ephesians 5:3-6; Titus 2:11-14; Hebrews 3:1-19; Hebrews 4:1-13; Hebrews 10:19-39; Hebrews 12:1-2; 1 Peter 2:24; 1 John 1:1-10; 1 John 2:1-6; 1 John 3:4-10; Revelation 2:1-29; Revelation 3:1-22]

Shield About Me

By Thomas Donn Charles / Williams Charles Henry

Thou Oh LORD, are the shield about me
You’re my glory, You’re the lifter of my head
Hallelujah

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Though You Have Not Seen Him
An Original Work / July 13, 2026
Christ’s Free Servant, Sue J Love