In yesterday’s post we asked the first of two application questions surfacing from a careful study and reflection upon the richness of Christian salvation outlined in 1 Peter 1:3-12. We asked whether we really treasure our salvation, remembering that our salvation is something so wonderful that “angels desire to look into” it! (1 Peter 1:12)
In today’s post we address the second question for thinking Christians:
Do You Treasure The Scriptures?
Just as angels desire to look into the things of our salvation so should we desire to look into everything concerning our salvation. In order to do this, we must look into God’s Word, the Bible. We must be students of the Bible, treasuring the Scriptures, believing the Bible to be nutrition for our soul.
In the next chapter, Peter will say in 1 Peter 2:2, “as newborn babes, desire the pure milk of the word, that you may grow thereby.”
The way we grow as a Christian is to desire the pure milk of the Word and to drink the pure milk of the Word so that we may grow; nutrition for our very soul.
Recall verse 10: “Of this salvation the prophets have inquired and searched carefully.”
The words, “searched carefully” translate a Greek word that occurs only here in the New Testament, but over 30 times in the Greek translation of the Old Testament (the Septuagint), as well as in the writings of early historians. It is a word that connotes the idea of searching to find something, like searching through a house for a treasured item.
That’s the way the Old Testament prophets searched the Scriptures, looking for information about this salvation you and I enjoy as Christians. They searched the Scriptures the way a person turns the house upside down to look for a treasured piece of jewelry.
In the words of Wesley, the prophets were “like miners searching after precious ore.”
Do you see the value of treasuring the Scriptures? The Scriptures inform us about our salvation, that wondrous gift Peter describes as the “grace that would come” to us (1 Peter 1:10).
Without a comprehensive understanding of the Scriptures, we will not fully understand the doctrine of salvation. We will remain lost in obscurity and darkness.
This is the sense in which Jesus finds the two travelers on the Road to Emmaus in Luke 24. Remember this? Shortly after Christ’s resurrection, you’ll recall that Jesus came upon these two guys wandering home from Jerusalem. They were sad, dispirited, and likely shuffling along with their heads down.
Jesus comes upon them–incognito–and asks, “Why are you so sad?” They say, in essence, “Well we thought Jesus had come to redeem us and instead He died on a cross.”
The irony of that statement! “We thought He had come to redeem us, to save us, and instead He died on a cross.”
But, of course, we know that this is precisely how Jesus would redeem us and save us, by dying on a cross for us.
So this is why Jesus gives those two guys that comprehensive Bible lesson from the Old Testament:
Then He said to them, “These are the words which I spoke to you while I was still with you, that all things must be fulfilled which were written in the Law of Moses and the Prophets and the Psalms concerning Me.”
And He opened their understanding, that they might comprehend the Scriptures. Then He said to them, “Thus it is written, and thus it was necessary for the Christ to suffer and to rise from the dead the third day
Luke 24:44-46
Peace comes to us when we read and study the Scriptures.
Without careful and regular study of the Scriptures we become like those two guys walking throughout life with their heads down. You want to go through life that way? You can. Or you can treasure the Scriptures; you can become a student of the Word, “desiring the pure milk of the Word that you may grow thereby.” (1 Peter 2:2)
Barna Research continues to show that while most Americans own several copies of the Bible, few actually read the Bible consistently, allowing it to transform their relationships and shape their choices.
We must treasure the Scriptures if we’re going to treasure our salvation. Again, the Bible is nutrition for our very soul.
What About You?
- Do you read the Bible regularly? If not, consider reading a chapter of Proverbs as it coincides with the day of the month (today is the 9th; read Proverbs 9) and read through Proverbs every month.
- When was the last time, if ever, you memorized Scripture? Consider memorizing a verse today, maybe 1 Peter 2:2.
- If you have children or grandchildren, read to them from the Bible. It will teach them much about what they should treasure.
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