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I Peter 1:9

for you are receiving the goal of your faith, the salvation of your souls.
(NIV)


It would be best if you were to go back and read through the previous verses, starting at verse 3. Since I know that you might be like me, and be a little bit lazy when it comes to going back over things, I have copied it here:

Praise be to the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ! In his great mercy he has given us new birth into a living hope through the resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead, and into an inheritance that can never perish, spoil or fade—kept in heaven for you, who through faith are shielded by God's power until the coming of the salvation that is ready to be revealed in the last time. In this you greatly rejoice, though now for a little while you may have had to suffer grief in all kinds of trials. These have come so that your faith—of greater worth than gold, which perishes even though refined by fire—may be proved genuine and may result in praise, glory and honor when Jesus Christ is revealed. Though you have not seen him, you love him; and even though you do not see him now, you believe in him and are filled with an inexpressible and glorious joy, for you are receiving the goal of your faith, the salvation of your souls.
(NIV)


I have the tendency, many times, when I see phrases that refer to salvation, to immediately go to thoughts of being saved from Hell. I would also say that many of us focus on that aspect of salvation, and it is truly a marvelous aspect. It is an absolute miracle that we have been saved from eternal judgement, like we deserve.

This passage, though, like so many others in scripture, focuses on the fact that we are saved from our sins. We have been made new. We are restored, and that restoration has given us a new nature.

We can receive the goal of our faith now. We do not have to wait. Salvation, true salvation, is much, much more than an escape from hell ticket.
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