(A verse-by-verse study of First Peter from a NCT perspective.)
1 Peter 1:5 [You...] who are guarded by the strength of God by means of faith, into a sure-to-come deliverance, to be disclosed in the last time.
The believer's endowment is secure, but what guarantee is there that a believer will persist in his belief? Again, our surety is the Lord. God protects our inheritance and He protects the faith required to attain to it. We are guarded by the strength of God so that our trust in the gospel of Jesus Christ will continue until we reach the intended goal—salvation. ("Salvation" means 'rescue' or 'deliverance'.)
Christians usually speak in terms of being "saved" in the past tense, as though it were already accomplished. We speak this way because the Bible speaks this way (ex. Eph. 2:8; Titus 3:5). More precisely, however, we understand that our salvation is a deliverance from the eternal condemnation that is properly awaiting all who have sinned against their Creator; and since this eternal retribution has not yet been executed, our rescue from it has not yet occurred. We can talk about our salvation in the past tense because its certainty is absolute; it is, as we say, "As good as done!" But the actual experience will not be experienced until the last time, the time of universal judgment (see Matt. 25:31f; Rom. 14:10; 2 Cor. 5:10).
To Ponder:
Our hope is not in our faith, but in God through His Son Jesus Christ. Strictly speaking, faith does not save; God does. If even our belief in the gospel is dependent upon our own strength to maintain, we are doomed.