The Purification
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After some doctrine last week, this week we’re moving back to practical teaching, and then back to doctrine. We’re going to see a major point Peter has been developing under the surface come to light and get tied up, ready to launch into chapter 2.
3. The Purification (1:22–2:3)
We’re going to see in these verses yet another look at the concept of holiness. Peter built toward it for the first several verses, and now is reaching back toward it with supporting reasons and applications. I think he’s really trying to get his point across.
i. Holiness should lead to love of other Christians. (1:22, James 4:8, 1 John 3:3; John 17:17, Psalm 119:9; 1 Timothy 1:5, Romans 12:9–10, Hebrews 13:1, 2 Peter 1:5–7)
We first see that the churches in Asia Minor had made their souls pure through obedience to God. It seems that the churches were thriving for the most part. They were rejoicing in God as we saw earlier, and according to v. 22, were obeying the truth and loving one another. Peter does commend them for acting in a pure way consistent with their redemption.
This idea of purifying our souls through obedience is interesting. We see multiple parallels in Scripture.
Draw nigh to God, and he will draw nigh to you. Cleanse your hands, ye sinners; and purify your hearts, ye double minded.
Sanctify them through thy truth: thy word is truth.
BETH. Wherewithal shall a young man cleanse his way? By taking heed thereto according to thy word.
It is by doing righteous things that we become holy people. Obviously, we already have the righteousness of Christ, and cannot become more righteous before God than we are. But we can always act more righteous. I believe the point he’s making here is that holiness is not just an idea, and neither is it a bunch of stuff we shouldn’t do, but it leads to doing right things that God has commanded.
It’s also worth noting how it says they obeyed the truth “through the Spirit.” This purification of our souls does not take place by our power or actions. It is the Holy Spirit Who gives us strength to obey and purifies our souls.
Next we see one thing this obedience involves--”unfeigned love of the brethren.” The word for that phrase is “philadelphia.” Literally, brotherly love. This is friendship and a shoulder-to-shoulder relationship, ready to face the hardships of life together. Despite whatever else they might have been failing in, the churches of Anatolia were not lacking in their love to one another in the midst of suffering.
Imagine how vital this kind of brotherly love would have been to them. If, like is probable, they were facing social persecution where they were mocked and resisted by their old friends, how valuable would it be to find a new family of believers that loved them like a brother or sister.
Let love be without dissimulation. Abhor that which is evil; cleave to that which is good. Be kindly affectioned one to another with brotherly love; in honour preferring one another;
Let brotherly love continue.
But then he says, “Seeing that you are doing this, also do something else.” They were not supposed to be content with where they were in their obedience. He reminds them to strive for more.
What is that more? The word for “love” is “apape,” or, the love of God. Love from a pure heart of service and expecting nothing in return. As admirable and commanded as brotherly love is, these Christians were encouraged to an even greater degree of love in their dealings with one another. Not only were they to show brotherly love, but also agape, selfless love out of a pure heart. And additionally, to show that fervently.
Fervently means either continuously or wholeheartedly; emphatically, earnestly. And either of those definitions work here. He may be saying both. We should show charity always and throw ourselves totally into it.
Now the end of the commandment is charity out of a pure heart, and of a good conscience, and of faith unfeigned:
And beside this, giving all diligence, add to your faith virtue; and to virtue knowledge; And to knowledge temperance; and to temperance patience; and to patience godliness; And to godliness brotherly kindness; and to brotherly kindness charity.
Everything on that list is good and right. But there’s still a progression of moving toward the ultimate goal of charity.
Though I speak with the tongues of men and of angels, and have not charity, I am become as sounding brass, or a tinkling cymbal. And though I have the gift of prophecy, and understand all mysteries, and all knowledge; and though I have all faith, so that I could remove mountains, and have not charity, I am nothing. And though I bestow all my goods to feed the poor, and though I give my body to be burned, and have not charity, it profiteth me nothing.
And now abideth faith, hope, charity, these three; but the greatest of these is charity.
ii. The eternal nature of salvation rearranges priorities. (1:23–25)
a. The Bible stands forever. (1:23, 1:3, 1:18)
The command to show charity is built on the fact that Christians are born again by an eternal birth. We are not born to eternal life by things that can perish.
Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, which according to his abundant mercy hath begotten us again unto a lively hope by the resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead,
Forasmuch as ye know that ye were not redeemed with corruptible things, as silver and gold, from your vain conversation received by tradition from your fathers;
That incorruptible seed is the word of God. It is the pronouncement of God that all men should be saved, and that all who would repent would receive eternal life. That promise of salvation is an eternal one and one that cannot fail. God gave His word and He will keep it.
We’ve looked at this already, but it bears repeating. Our physical bodies are born of corruptible seed. They are only mortal and will perish because they were born from perishable parents. But our spirits are born of the eternal God, and therefore are eternal. They will never die.
There are two characteristics of God’s word that is mentioned here. First, it is living. Books are remarkable in that they can allow you to have a sort of conversation with people who lives decades, centuries, or even millennia ago. You can read their words and engage with their minds even after they are gone. But this is even more true with the Bible, because the author is still alive. He speaks to us through His written word and we can speak to Him.
It is also alive in the sense that it is competent. It always gives just what you need in the same way that a living person can see where you are and tell you specifically what you need to hear, for both encouragement and exhortation.
The word of God also abides. It is living, but that does not mean it changes. It is always dependable and predictable.
The phrase “for ever” literally means “into eternity.” Imagine standing on a timeline. God’s word is there beside you. If you look back in time, it stretches all the way back, far out of sight into eternity past. If you look forward, it reaches into the future until it fades into eternal ages.
b. Man’s highest glory is, in light of eternity, no more significant or lasting than grass. (1:24, Isaiah 40:6–8, 2 Kings 19:26, Psalms 37:1–2, Psalm 90:5–6, Psalm 92:7, Psalm 102:4, Psalm 103:15–16, James 1:9–11)
“For” is a simple word, but it’s worth keeping all the grammar and meanings straight. It marks that the following is a continuation of the preceeding thoughts, and it also notes that this is a quotation from the Old Testament. He’s calling back to his previous arguments but also to previously-written Scriptures.
The voice said, Cry. And he said, What shall I cry? All flesh is grass, And all the goodliness thereof is as the flower of the field: The grass withereth, the flower fadeth: Because the spirit of the Lord bloweth upon it: Surely the people is grass. The grass withereth, the flower fadeth: But the word of our God shall stand for ever.
“All flesh” connects with “corruptible seed” (v. 23), “corruptible things” (v. 18), and “vain conversation” (Ibid.). “Flesh” necessarily refers to physical human beings, or in other words, things that can perish.
What does it mean that all flesh is as grass? Does it mean that all humans can do photosynthesis and are secretly green? This phrase is actually used frequently in the Bible and reading some of those passages can help shed light on its meaning.
In 2 Kings, the Assyrian king Sennacherib is describing to King Hezekiah of Judah how he has destroyed the other kings of Canaan and how he will soon destroy Jerusalem.
Therefore their inhabitants were of small power, They were dismayed and confounded; They were as the grass of the field, and as the green herb, As the grass on the housetops, and as corn blasted before it be grown up.
It’s especially frequent as a poetic picture in the psalms.
Fret not thyself because of evildoers, Neither be thou envious against the workers of iniquity. For they shall soon be cut down like the grass, And wither as the green herb.
Thou carriest them away as with a flood; they are as a sleep: In the morning they are like grass which groweth up. In the morning it flourisheth, and groweth up; In the evening it is cut down, and withereth.
When the wicked spring as the grass, And when all the workers of iniquity do flourish; It is that they shall be destroyed for ever:
The most thorough explanation of the phrase is seen in James.
Let the brother of low degree rejoice in that he is exalted: But the rich, in that he is made low: because as the flower of the grass he shall pass away. For the sun is no sooner risen with a burning heat, but it withereth the grass, and the flower thereof falleth, and the grace of the fashion of it perisheth: so also shall the rich man fade away in his ways.
From what these passages indicate, it was common for grass to grow up in the cool morning and flourish only to wither in the burning afternoon sun. We have a similar thing here, where grass will turn brilliantly green in the winter when it rains, and then in the summer, it all dies and turns brown. This is especially visible on the hills outside Patterson.
You might also use the comparison of a leaf. Leaves are flourishing and bright during their season, but when it’s winter, all the leaves are just gone.
Not only is all flesh as grass, but also even the things men glory most in. They are as the flower of the grass—perhaps more impressive to look at, but no more lasting.
The Plants of the Bible Grass
In the flower of grass, the most conspicuous organs are the stamens, which commonly hang out of the surrounding scales when the plant is in flower. The upper parts of these stamens are attached to slender threads, and the wind easily blows them away. This is very emblematical of the thread of life, which is so easily snapped in a moment.
We see very much stressed the temporal nature of mankind. I don’t know how much more strongly Peter could make this point. He’s been talking about it earlier in the chapter, and now it becomes the focus for a few verses. The things of the earth, no matter how impressive and enduring they may seem, are no greater than a patch of grass that springs up in the morning and withers in the afternoon.
c. The Gospel is delivered by the eternal Word. (1:25)
This is a pretty straightforward verse. In an almost incomprehensibly huge contrast, the word of the Lord lasts forever. [talk more]
[talk about this passage]
Who hath measured the waters in the hollow of his hand, And meted out heaven with the span, And comprehended the dust of the earth in a measure, And weighed the mountains in scales, And the hills in a balance? Who hath directed the Spirit of the Lord, Or being his counseller hath taught him? With whom took he counsel, and who instructed him, And taught him in the path of judgment, And taught him knowledge, And shewed to him the way of understanding? Behold, the nations are as a drop of a bucket, And are counted as the small dust of the balance: Behold, he taketh up the isles as a very little thing. And Lebanon is not sufficient to burn, Nor the beasts thereof sufficient for a burnt offering. All nations before him are as nothing; And they are counted to him less than nothing, and vanity. To whom then will ye liken God? Or what likeness will ye compare unto him?
This eternal God and His eternal word secures our salvation. It is the nature of our new birth.
d. Christians must live by eternal, not perishable, principles.
This point doesn’t cover a specific verse but summarizes this whole point.
He is saying this: “The things of this world are temporary and transient. The word of God is eternal. Set your mind on eternal things, not fleshly things, because you are only strangers in this world but will be eternal citizens in the next.”
It raises another theme of the book that I haven’t noticed before. Peter is really stressing the temporal nature of this world, both its good and bad parts. He encourages his audience to have an eternal perspective, looking to a city which hath foundations, anticipating rewards in heaven, abhorring anything that would rob us of those rewards.