In the gospels, Peter told the Lord He should not go to the cross. The Lord rebuked him for this, and then gave His disciples a strong word about the need to lose our life, or our soul (it is the same word in Greek) for His sake in this age, so that we may save it in the next (Matt. 16:24-27).

So, not surprisingly, when we come to Peter’s letters, we find that all through them he is very concerned that the believers would experience this saving of their soul. At the start of his first letter we even find what may be called the “thesis statement” of his letters, when he tells the believers that we are

…receiving the end of your faith, the salvation of your souls.
— 1 Peter 1:9

When we were born anew in Christ, we received a “once-for-all” salvation in terms of the forgiveness of our sins; thank the Lord for that! But according to what Peter says in this verse, the “salvation of the soul” is something in addition to that. Unlike forgiveness, it is a present-tense salvation; it is something we are receiving now, rather than a free gift that was given to us once-for-all when we first believed in Christ. How we need to see this! And in the context of this section, Peter is saying that this salvation is worked out in our lives as we pass through various trials (v. 6) for the proving of our faith (v. 7). So, it is not simply that once we believe, we already have this salvation; rather, the salvation of our soul must be worked out in our daily, life-long experience, often through sufferings and trials.

Peter confirms this understanding later in this same letter. First he exhorts us in this way:

Beloved, I urge you, as sojourners and pilgrims here: stay far away from fleshly lusts, which war against the soul.
— 1 Peter 2:11

Here again we see that the struggle for the salvation of the soul is an ongoing matter. No doubt, that is why we need to have the Lord, as Peter also says in this letter, as “the Shepherd and Overseer of your souls” (2:25).

And later in this letter Peter tells us:

It is the time for the judgment to begin from the house of God; and if first from us, what will be the end of those who disobey the gospel of God? And if the righteous man is saved with difficulty, where will the ungodly and the sinner be seen? So then, let those who suffer according to the will of God commit their souls to a faithful Creator in doing what is right.
— 1 Peter 4:17-19

What a sober word is this regarding the salvation we have in Christ! According to the apostle, even though we are already in God’s house, we are nonetheless under His judgment, so that “the righteous man is saved with difficulty.” And again, this relates to the salvation of the soul, because those who are under this judgment need to “commit their souls to a faithful Creator.”

Finally, in his second letter, Peter tells us we are partakers of the divine nature (2 Pet. 1:4), and therefore, we need to exercise ourselves to develop the virtues inherent in this nature (vv. 5-7), all of which pertain to our soul. If we fail to do so, we will be “idle and unfruitful unto the full knowledge of our Lord Jesus Christ” (v. 8), even though we have already received “the cleansing of [our] past sins” (v. 9). But, if instead we do develop these virtues,

…In this way the entrance into the eternal kingdom of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ shall be richly, bountifully supplied to you.
— 2 Peter 1:11

Lord, grant us to be those who are so faithful to you in this present age, that we may indeed experience the salvation of the soul, and thus have a rich and bountiful entrance into Your kingdom!

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— 1 August 2026 —