One of the most misunderstood and missing characteristics of the church, 1 Peter 1;22-25

1 Peter 1:22–25 (ESV)

22 Having purified your souls by your obedience to the truth for a sincere brotherly love, love one another earnestly from a pure heart, 23 since you have been born again, not of perishable seed but of imperishable, through the living and abiding word of God; 24 for “All flesh is like grass and all its glory like the flower of grass. The grass withers, and the flower falls, 25 but the word of the Lord remains forever.” And this word is the good news that was preached to you.

One of the truths that I believe is most misunderstood and lost in todays church is the nature of our relationships with one another as Christians… in particular- the nature of our relationships in the local church.

Sincere brotherly love for one another is a defining characteristic of those who have been born again.

22 Having purified your souls by your obedience to the truth for a sincere brotherly love, love one another earnestly from a pure heart

Purified your souls = salvation through faith

Immediate cleansing of sin and future results (past action with future results) We now have the capacity for love through Christ.

Our souls have been purified by obedience and for a purpose. To love one another!

1 Peter 1:2, “according to the foreknowledge of God the Father, in sanctification of the Spirit, for obedience to the truth and for sprinkling with his blood.”

What is the truth?

John 14:6, Jesus said to him, “I am the way and the truth, and the life. No one comes to the Father except through me.”

What is obedience to the truth?

Obedience to the truth = faith.

John 14:15, “If you love me you will keep my commandments.”

Romans 6:16, “Do you not know that if you present yourselves to anyone as obedient slaves, you are slaves to the one who you obey, either of sin, which leads to death, or of obedience which leads to righteousness?”

22 Having purified your souls by your obedience to the truth for a sincere brotherly love, love one another earnestly from a pure heart

We have to ask: Who are we to love?

One another, other believers, our brothers and sisters in Christ.

John 13:34-35, “A new commandment I give to you, that you love one another; just as I have loved you, you also are to love one another. By this all people will know that you are my disciples, if you have love for one another.”

“Sincere brother love” means without hypocrisy, this is the standard by which all Christians should love .

22 Having purified your souls by your obedience to the truth for a sincere brotherly love, love one another earnestly from a pure heart

Who and how do we love?

Christians love one another intentionally, sacrificially, and truthfully.

love = “agapao” a love of the will, not from emotion or reaction. This is intentional, not the result of what people do for you, but the result of your will expressed in loving your brothers and sisters.

earnestly = “ektenos” physiological term meaning to stretch a muscle to its farthest limit. To go all out, to reach to the furthest extent possible. It means to exert yourself with all of your energy… it means that loving one another is something that we work at, it requires sacrifice to love one another.

1 Peter 4:8, “Above all keep loving one another earnestly, since love covers a multitude of sins.”

The idea of loving from a pure heart is rooted in the forgiveness and grace that comes from Jesus Christ. There is no such thing as a pure heart apart from Christ.

Love that is sincere, and love that is the result of effort and intentionality, must also be true. Love that is pure and true is love that flows from the heart that beats to do the will of God.

1 Peter 1:23

23 since you have been born again, not of perishable seed but of imperishable, through the living and abiding word of God;

23 since you have been born again, not of perishable seed but of imperishable, through the living and abiding word of God;

Looking at the word “since” or because

God’s commands are rooted in His saving and transforming work, especially the command to love one another.

1 John 5:1–2 (ESV), Everyone who believes that Jesus is the Christ has been born of God, and everyone who loves the Father loves whoever has been born of him. 2 By this we know that we love the children of God, when we love God and obey his commandments.

Looking at the words “born again”

Salvation, or being born again, is a work of the Holy Spirit…

Ephesians 2:1–10 (ESV), “And you were dead in the trespasses and sins 2 in which you once walked, following the course of this world, following the prince of the power of the air, the spirit that is now at work in the sons of disobedience— 3 among whom we all once lived in the passions of our flesh, carrying out the desires of the body and the mind, and were by nature children of wrath, like the rest of mankind. 4 But God, being rich in mercy, because of the great love with which he loved us, 5 even when we were dead in our trespasses, made us alive together with Christ—by grace you have been saved— 6 and raised us up with him and seated us with him in the heavenly places in Christ Jesus, 7 so that in the coming ages he might show the immeasurable riches of his grace in kindness toward us in Christ Jesus. 8 For by grace you have been saved through faith. And this is not your own doing; it is the gift of God, 9 not a result of works, so that no one may boast. 10 For we are his workmanship, created in Christ Jesus for good works, which God prepared beforehand, that we should walk in them.”

John 3:1–16 (ESV)

Now there was a man of the Pharisees named Nicodemus, a ruler of the Jews. 2 This man came to Jesus by night and said to him, “Rabbi, we know that you are a teacher come from God, for no one can do these signs that you do unless God is with him.” 3 Jesus answered him, “Truly, truly, I say to you, unless one is born again he cannot see the kingdom of God.” 4 Nicodemus said to him, “How can a man be born when he is old? Can he enter a second time into his mother’s womb and be born?” 5 Jesus answered, “Truly, truly, I say to you, unless one is born of water and the Spirit, he cannot enter the kingdom of God. 6 That which is born of the flesh is flesh, and that which is born of the Spirit is spirit. 7 Do not marvel that I said to you, ‘You must be born again.’ 8 The wind blows where it wishes, and you hear its sound, but you do not know where it comes from or where it goes. So it is with everyone who is born of the Spirit.” 9 Nicodemus said to him, “How can these things be?” 10 Jesus answered him, “Are you the teacher of Israel and yet you do not understand these things? 11 Truly, truly, I say to you, we speak of what we know, and bear witness to what we have seen, but you do not receive our testimony. 12 If I have told you earthly things and you do not believe, how can you believe if I tell you heavenly things? 13 No one has ascended into heaven except he who descended from heaven, the Son of Man. 14 And as Moses lifted up the serpent in the wilderness, so must the Son of Man be lifted up, 15 that whoever believes in him may have eternal life. 16 “For God so loved the world, that he gave his only Son, that whoever believes in him should not perish but have eternal life.

1 Peter 1:23

23 since you have been born again, not of perishable seed but of imperishable, through the living and abiding word of God; 24 for “All flesh is like grass and all its glory like the flower of grass. The grass withers, and the flower falls, 25 but the word of the Lord remains forever.” And this word is the good news that was preached to you.

We see through Scripture that being born again is the transforming work of God in the lives of those who believe… and because the work of salvation comes through the hearing and believing of the Word… we need to expand our last point.

Salvation, or being born again, is a work of the Holy Spirit through the Word of God.

Though Jesus is the Word made flesh… and the basis of the Gospel is the person and work of Christ, the Word that Peter is referring to is the good news that is proclaimed from the Scriptures concerning Christ. See verse 25, it ends with; “And this word is the good news that was preached to you.”

Peter says that we have been born again by an imperishable seed, and this seed is the living and abiding word of God.

He also reminds us that every person has been born by a perishable seed. The life we have is what we have through Adam. A life that is stained by sin, in fact we are not considered alive by the Lord, but instead because of Adam we are dead in our sins and stand condemned for our unrighteousness.

But, the glory of the gospel is that just as sin came through one man, salvation also comes through one- Jesus Christ. And salvation comes to those who hear the good news of Jesus Christ.

1 Peter 1:22-25

22 Having purified your souls by your obedience to the truth for a sincere brotherly love, love one another earnestly from a pure heart, 23 since you have been born again, not of perishable seed but of imperishable, through the living and abiding word of God; 24 for “All flesh is like grass and all its glory like the flower of grass. The grass withers, and the flower falls, 25 but the word of the Lord remains forever.” And this word is the good news that was preached to you.

This word… the enduring and imperishable word of God- the word concerning the word- Jesus Christ. Peter reminds them that it is through the Word that they were saved- and transformed.

God transforms the lives of sinners through faith in Jesus Christ through the preaching of the gospel.

Romans 10:9–17 (ESV) says,

9 because, if you confess with your mouth that Jesus is Lord and believe in your heart that God raised him from the dead, you will be saved. 10 For with the heart one believes and is justified, and with the mouth one confesses and is saved. 11 For the Scripture says, “Everyone who believes in him will not be put to shame.” 12 For there is no distinction between Jew and Greek; for the same Lord is Lord of all, bestowing his riches on all who call on him. 13 For “everyone who calls on the name of the Lord will be saved.” 14 How then will they call on him in whom they have not believed? And how are they to believe in him of whom they have never heard? And how are they to hear without someone preaching? 15 And how are they to preach unless they are sent? As it is written, “How beautiful are the feet of those who preach the good news!” 16 But they have not all obeyed the gospel. For Isaiah says, “Lord, who has believed what he has heard from us?” 17 So faith comes from hearing, and hearing through the word of Christ.

Faith comes from hearing… and hearing through the word of Christ… meaning hearing comes through the good news concerning Christ. And it is through hearing the Word of Christ that people are saved.

And, yes, that means that those who do not hear will not be saved. It’s a matter of justice and grace. God has told us how He works, and the He has sent us out to take the word of Christ to those who have not yet believed… As Paul writes, “how then will they call on him in whom they have not believed?” And how can they believe in him of whom they have never heard?

They can’t… and its why we have to say yes to the Lord and do two things:

We have to send people out to spread the good news We have to say yes to spreading the good news

In summary…

Love one another because you have been born again, and love one another without hypocrisy by loving hard and the your limits for the sake of others. This kind of love is the result of the saving power and indwelling presence of the Holy Spirit.

A few more observations or applications before we go:

You cannot love without relationship, and you can’t have relationship without being together.

I mentioned at the beginning that this is missing in so many places…

The members of your church are the people you practice the “one another’s” with.

And you cannot do this without being here, and you can’t do this by only being here every now and then.

This small section in Peter shines a bright light on one of God’s goals in salvation- that we would love one another. And yet, there are so many who trivialize gathering with the church, and by doing so they trivialize their relationships with one another.

I don’t want to sugar coat this- Being with the gathered church less is bad for your walk with the Lord.

You can’t justify disobedience, but you can ignore what the Lord wants and says.

The goals of the Christian life do not change, regardless of circumstances.

The recipients of this letter were in a hard situation, a situation where it would have been easy to say everyone needs to focus on me… but that’s not what Peter tells them. He tells them to sincerely love one another with pure motives and intentions.

God’s commands are always in effect because His Word stands forever… The implications of God’s word standing forever is that His promises never fade, and His purpose and commands never change.

The contrast between the love in the church and the selfishness of the world is a witness to the goodness and glory of God.

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The greatest display of love the world has ever seen is the death of Jesus Christ for sinners.

Romans 5:6–8 (ESV), “6 For while we were still weak, at the right time Christ died for the ungodly. 7 For one will scarcely die for a righteous person—though perhaps for a good person one would dare even to die— 8 but God shows his love for us in that while we were still sinners, Christ died for us.”