Can You Really Start Over?

Caleb: I've turned over a new leaf more times than I can count, and it never sticks. Can a person actually start over for real?

Hannah: Fair question, and I've been there. Near the start of his letter, in 1 Peter 1:3, Peter writes about being born again. Listen to this.

Scripture: Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, who according to his great mercy caused us to be born again to a living hope through the resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead,

Caleb: Okay, that stirs something in me. But who was Peter even writing to?

Hannah: Good question. He wrote to scattered believers living as outsiders in places like Pontus, Galatia and Bithynia, and Peter says that, for a little while and if need be, they had been put to grief in various trials.

Caleb: So early on he speaks of a fresh start, to people who may have been hurting. Why lead with that instead of just telling them to hang in there?

Hannah: Peter grounds it in God's mercy and Jesus rising from the dead. A few lines later he speaks of an inheritance that doesn't fade, reserved in Heaven.

Caleb: That's the part I trip on. Doesn't something that big need me to be good enough first?

Hannah: Peter says God, according to his great mercy, caused us to be born again. Paul says Jesus died for our sins and was raised, and that the good news brings salvation to everyone who believes. I'm a sinner too, and I only have that mercy, not being good enough.

Caleb: And the hard stuff? Does it just disappear once you trust him?

Hannah: No, and Peter acknowledges trials. He says that for a little while, if need be, they've been grieved by trials, and the proof of their faith is more precious than gold that perishes, though tested by fire. New birth and trials appear together here.

Caleb: Honestly, I'd like that. If it's really offered to someone like me.

Hannah: Peter says God caused us to be born again through Jesus's resurrection, and that by God's power believers are guarded through faith.

Hannah: I love you, and I want you with me in this. If you could begin again in one area of your life, which would you choose? If you want, tell God honestly, 'God, I want to know you,' or reach out to me or a Christian friend.