NOTES for Pe1 1:17-21

We know that God loved the world and gave His Son for the salvation of all people. But today the apostle Peter tells us that Jesus appeared in the last times not simply for everyone, but also personally for us. Precisely for us. Moreover, Christ's Resurrection too was for us: "so that we might have faith and hope in God."

Perhaps it is worth thinking seriously about the fact that the Lord did so much specifically for me, that He did not simply save everyone and me along with them; He saved me specifically. If we understand and feel this even a little, obedience to the truth through the Spirit may become natural for us. And then, having sensed His boundless love for us, we will be able to answer it with love for Him, and through Him, for our brothers...

The prophetic experience was well known to the yahvism, and later to the Judaism. It was not less known to the early Christianity. And in all the times and to the yahvistes, and to the Jews, and to the Christians it was known that one become a prophet not because he wants, but because God calls up to this ministry. Moreover, as to "what one wants" indeed could be debatable. It is spoken practically in all the prophetic books about false prophets, which become particularly numerous in anxiously and uncertainly periods. And almost always the crowd takes these false prophets for real prophets, and listens to them with a bigger desire, than it does with the genuine. But why so? And who are these people, posing as prophets? As seen, it is not actually about prophets, but of a kind of prophesying ecstatics. Such persons existed in all times and in all societies, and they are usually activated for the periods of special public concern.

There is nothing surprising here: because the ecstasy in itself is a purely psychological phenomenon, it is connected with the spontaneous extension of the borders of the perception, which is usually accompanied by a fast and rough reconstruction of the consciousness of the perceiver (usually temporary, but sometimes very long, and in certain cases even irreversible). Such an extension can be caused by various reasons, from drugs to direct spiritual influence.

Ecstasy for the real, genuine prophets was exactly connected with such a spiritual influence: it is not accidentally that they themselves spoke about this breath ("the spirit") of God, which they completely really felt. And they witnessed of what they heard during their communication with God. And to what the false prophets listened? As seen, what, as they say, was in the air. And they said, accordingly, what wanted to hear from them those who inhaled this air.

Unlike the real prophets, who could say only what they heard from God. And God, as is known, does not always say what we want to hear from him. Well then the listeners have to choose, whose words to listen to. The mind calls to listen to what is unpleasant to hear: because, nobody will begin speaking willingly about unpleasant things to a feverish crowd. Emotions call to bend on the side of those who say something melodious. Well, the choice, as usual remains to the listeners.

At first, the call to be obedient children may seem demeaning. But then it becomes clear that self-abasement is the first and necessary step toward accepting the astonishing destiny which the Lord reveals to us. The call sounds so simple and brief: “Be holy”—and the reason God gives for it is so unexpected and incompatible with human logic: “because I am holy.”Unexpectedly, yet in fact quite naturally, we are given a glimpse of the direction in which we are called to move: toward the Lord, drawing closer to Him.

Even many Christians find it difficult to accept the conclusions that follow from this call. We are accustomed to seeing ourselves as sinners, and this is a truth we must recognize if we are not to fall into pride, which separates us from God. But the truth is also that the Lord redeemed us with His Blood, and now we belong to Him. This is why He wishes to raise us up to Himself.