whom, not having seen you love, because now you do not see Him, but while believing you rejoice with an inexpressible joy, and you, being in a state of having been glorified, received the end of your faith, the salvation of your souls (1 Peter 1:8–9).

When a person believes that Christ died on behalf of our sins and was raised on the third day according to the Scriptures, the Holy Spirit washes and regenerates him (1 Corinthians 15:3–4, Titus 3:4–5). By taking God at His Word, this person now has a promise of salvation. Initially, this salvation begins in the spirit, which is where a believer is born again. When Christ returns to take His Church home, the believer will receive a resurrected body, and the salvation of his soul.

When the Holy Spirit washes and regenerates a believer, a new birth occurs. This is the birth Jesus spoke about in John 3:3 that is from above. It is a birth related to water, even the Spirit (John 3:5). This is not that one must be born of both water and Spirit; rather, this birth is by water, even the Spirit, for out from his belly will flow rivers of living water (John 7:38–39). This birth involves God’s seed being placed into the believer, giving him new life in his spirit (1 John 3:9), which also connects his spirit with God (1 Corinthians 6:17).

The spirit of a human is the rational center (1 Corinthians 2:11). One who is connected to God in spirit is now able to understand Spiritual things, and thus worship God in Spirit and truth (John 4:24). Along with God’s seed being placed in the believer, the Holy Spirit is given as an anointing, seal, and guarantee of complete salvation (Ephesians 1:13–14; 1 John 2:20). The Holy Spirit then places the believer into the body of the Christ, removing the condemnation he was under in Adam (1 Corinthians 12:12–13).

Initial salvation involves the human spirit. The body and the soul are not yet saved. The body is the tent in which the soul and spirit reside (2 Peter 1:14). The soul is the center of emotions and interprets the five senses (Lamentations 3:51; Psalm 94:19; Proverbs 27:7; Job 6:7). Since the soul is not initially saved, Christians are to protect their soul because it is how their three enemies attack them, especially the flesh (1 Peter 2:11).

Peter writes concerning the end of our faith. It directly relates to when our souls are saved. Thus, we will be in a permanent state of full glorification: body, soul, and spirit.