Faith in the Fire – Chosen by God

This sermon, delivered on Sunday January 24, 2021, opens a new series from 1 Peter titled 'Faith in the Furnace.' The pastor recalls the hardships of 2020—the COVID-19 pandemic, civil unrest, economic hardship—and notes that 2021 holds its own unknowns. In this context, the series aims to help believers hold fast and grow in faith precisely within the furnace of trials, because faith refined by fire is genuine and precious.

The pastor introduces the author as the Apostle Peter, listed first among the twelve apostles in all four New Testament lists (Matthew 10, Mark 3, Luke 6, Acts 1). Peter is portrayed as zealous but impulsive, someone who denied Christ three times yet was entrusted to shepherd His flock and became a pillar of the first church in Jerusalem. The historical backdrop of the letter is described in detail: the brutal persecutions under Emperor Nero in approximately AD 62–64, when believers were tortured, burned alive, and thrown to wild beasts. It was in this setting that Peter wrote to scattered believers in Asia Minor to help them maintain their faith.

The theological heart of the sermon revolves around the doctrine of the Trinity as found in the opening two verses of 1 Peter. The pastor explains that salvation is the work of all three Persons: the Father foreknew and chose, the Holy Spirit sanctifies, and Jesus Christ redeems through His shed blood. Two practical applications of the Trinity are drawn: (1) love is the very nature of God because the three Persons have loved one another from eternity (1 John 4:8-9); and (2) their perfect unity is the model for the unity of the church (John 17:11, 23).

The bulk of the sermon addresses the doctrine of divine election. The pastor presents three parallel biblical teachings: (1) God desires all people to be saved (Ezekiel 33:11; 2 Peter 3:9; 1 Timothy 2:4); (2) human beings have genuine freedom of choice (Deuteronomy 30:19; Joshua 24:15); and (3) God foreordained and chose specific people to be saved (John 15:16; Romans 8:28-30; Acts 13:48; Ephesians 1:4-6). He argues that these three truths are not contradictory. Using the illustration of a dog's natural instinct to choose meat over vegetables, he explains that because of the sinful nature inherited from Adam's fall, humans naturally would never choose God. Those who receive the Gospel do so because the Holy Spirit moves them—and this happens because they are people the Father foreknew and chose before the foundation of the world.

The sermon closes with a practical reminder: God's election is entirely rooted in His love and grace, not in any human merit or quality (Ephesians 2:8-9; 1 Corinthians 1:26-31; 15:9-10). The purpose of this doctrine is to eliminate all boasting and to motivate believers to serve God from the deepest and most sincere gratitude.