Salvation Comes by Faith in Christ

1 Peter 1:1; 1. Peter] The senior apostle of God on earth in the dispensation of the meridian of time. With James and John he held the Melchizedek Priesthood, the keys of the kingdom of God on earth, and the keys of the dispensation of the fulness of times, all of which he, in concert with his two associates, conferred upon Joseph Smith and Oliver Cowdery in about June of 1829. (D&C 27:12-13; 128:20.)

1 Peter 1:1; An apostle] See Commentary II, pp. 130-131; 328-333.

1 Peter 1:1; Strangers scattered] Pilgrims, travelers on earth; Israelites who are scattered in the named locations and who have joined the Church.

1 Peter 1:2; 2. The elect are foreordained to be sanctified, by virtue of the blood of Christ, on conditions of gospel obedience.

1 Peter 1:2; Elect according to the foreknowledge of God] See Commentary II, pp. 267-269; 271-278; 283-285.

1 Peter 1:2; Sanctification] See 1 Thessalonians 4:1-8.

1 Peter 1:2; Sprinkling of the blood] See Hebrews 12:24.

1 Peter 1:3-5; 3-5. The elect are born again and shall be saved if they keep the commandments.

1 Peter 1:3; 3. Hath begotten us again] See Commentary II, pp. 471-473; 1 John 5:1-5.

1 Peter 1:4; 4. An inheritance incorruptible] Salvation.

1 Peter 1:5; 5. Kept . . . through faith] Those foreordained to be saved shall be saved if they keep the commandments.

1 Peter 1:5; Salvation] With three or four possible exceptions all of the revelations of all the ages speak of salvation as being wholly, completely, and totally synonymous with eternal or everlasting life, with exaltation in the highest heaven of the celestial world, with attaining Godhood and being like God the Eternal Father. The exceptions are given to enable us to gain a complete perspective of the plan of salvation and to have an understanding of the goodness of God even where the wicked and ungodly are concerned. In substance and thought content these exceptions equate salvation with resurrection or immortality only, rather than with immortality coupled with eternal glory. (2 Nephi 9:26; D&C 76:40-44; D&C 132:17.)

1 Peter 1:5; We may, of course, for purposes of clear understanding create definitions of salvation of our own, as telestial or terrestrial salvation, meaning an inheritance in one or the other of those kingdoms. But the gospel is a gospel of eternal life, of exaltation, of glory and honor, and so the Lord chooses to have his prophets equate salvation with the type and kind of life he lives, rather than with the ultimate inheritance of some lesser being, or of some wicked and rebellious person who rejected the gospel, suffered in hell until the second resurrection, and then came forth to that telestial inheritance whose inhabitants cannot go where God and Christ are worlds without end. (D&C 76:109-112.) Amulek, for instance, says that "no unclean thing can inherit the kingdom of heaven," and then asks: "How can ye be saved, except ye inherit the kingdom of heaven." (Alma 11:37.)

1 Peter 1:5; Salvation is defined and explained in the Lectures on Faith in these words: "Where shall we find a prototype into whose likeness we may be assimilated, in order that we may be made partakers of life and salvation? or, in other words, where shall we find a saved being? for if we can find a saved being, we may ascertain without much difficulty what all others must be in order to be saved. We think that it will not be a matter of dispute, that two beings who are unlike each other cannot be saved; for whatever constitutes the salvation of one will constitute the salvation of every creature which will be saved; and if we find one saved being in all existence, we may see what others must be, or else not be saved.

1 Peter 1:5; "We ask, then, where is the prototype? Or where is the saved being? We conclude, as to the answer of this question, there will be no dispute among those who believe the Bible, that it is Christ: all will agree in this, that he is the prototype or standard of salvation; or, in other words, that he is a saved being. And if we should continue our interrogation and ask how it is that he is saved, the answer would be—because he is a just and holy being; and if he were anything different from what he is, he would not be saved; for his salvation depends on his being precisely what he is and nothing else; for if it were possible for him to change, in the least degree, so sure he would fail of salvation and lose all his dominion, power, authority and glory, which constitute salvation; for salvation consists in the glory, authority, majesty, power and dominion which Jehovah possesses and in nothing else; and no being can possess it but himself or one like him."

1 Peter 1:5; Then after quoting several Biblical passages, the account continues: "These teachings of the Savior most clearly show unto us the nature of salvation, and what he proposed unto the human family when he proposed to save them—that he proposed to make them like unto himself, and he was like the Father, the great prototype of all saved beings; and for any portion of the human family to be assimilated into their likeness is to be saved; and to be unlike them is to be destroyed; and on this hinge turns the door of salvation." (Lectures on Faith, pp. 63-67.)

1 Peter 1:5; Immortality and eternal life] See 2 Timothy 1:1-22.

1 Peter 1:5; Work out your own salvation] See Commentary II, pp. 535-536.

1 Peter 1:5; Few saved or many?] See Commentary I, pp. 494-497.

1 Peter 1:5; Salvation for the dead] See 1 Peter 3:18-22; 1 Peter 4:1-6.

1 Peter 1:7; 1 Peter 1:6; 6. Manifold temptations] 7. The trial of your faith] See 1 Peter 4:12-19.

1 Peter 1:10-12; 10-12. 'All the ancient prophets sought salvation and prophesied of the coming of Christ and his sufferings and atoning sacrifice. They knew beforehand, by the power of the Holy Ghost, what God had in store for the Meridian Saints. And so glorious is the message of redemption that even the angels desire to learn of it.'

1 Peter 1:11; 11. The Spirit of Christ] The Holy Ghost] The Holy Ghost, a personage of Spirit, is a Revelator. Revelation comes by his power. He is broadcasting all truth out into all immensity all the time. And the Spirit of Christ—the light of Christ, the light that proceedeth forth from the presence of God to fill the immensity of space—is the means and agency used for carrying the revealed word to men, for disseminating eternal truth to mortal hearts. See James 1:17-21.

1 Peter 1:13-16; 13-16. Christ is the Prototype of salvation, the great Exemplar, the only one who can say with perfect propriety, and without any reservation or limitation on the language used: "Be holy, for I am holy." (Leviticus 11:45.) "What manner of men ought ye to be? Verily I say unto you, even as I am." (3 Nephi 27:27.)