21. The Word of God Living and Abiding

The Word of God: An Incorruptible Seed and Living, Abiding Word of God

1Pe 1:22-2:3 Since you have purified your souls in obeying the truth through the Spirit in sincere love of the brethren, love one another fervently with a pure heart, (23) having been born again, not of corruptible seed but incorruptible, through the word of God which lives and abides forever, (24) because "ALL FLESH IS AS GRASS, AND ALL THE GLORY OF MAN AS THE FLOWER OF THE GRASS. THE GRASS WITHERS, AND ITS FLOWER FALLS AWAY, (25) BUT THE WORD OF THE LORD ENDURES FOREVER." Now this is the word which by the gospel was preached to you. Therefore, laying aside all malice, all deceit, hypocrisy, envy, and all evil speaking, (2) as newborn babes, desire the pure milk of the word, that you may grow thereby, (3) if indeed you have tasted that the Lord is gracious.

The verses we read: 1Pe 1:22-23 form one sentence, and the imperative "love one another" is its heart. The new life should be lived out in a community setting; as a result of our being born again there is a mutual affection among the brethren as the members of God's family. Peter reminded his readers of their experience of inner purification (1Pe 1:22a), emphasizing the urgent duty of mutual love (1Pe 1:22b), and explained that regeneration is the basis that enables the Christian to agape love (1Pe 1:23-25). 1Pe 1:24-25 are an illustrative expansion of the teaching of 1Pe 1:23.

The reason we are able to love the brethren unhypocritically is because we have been purified by obedience to the truth through the Spirit. But then, the command is given to love another fervently. It is the same kind of love that God loves us with. It is not based upon any benefit derived from loving the object. It is not based upon the value of the object to be love. God’s love for His people is in spite of who we are and what we have to offer because there is nothing in us natively that would cause Him to love us. Simply put God loves us because He chooses and He has sealed that love to us by means of a covenant. He did this, not because there was any threat of His changing His mind concerning us, but so that His people might be all the more assured of His faithfulness He sealed it in a promise.

This love that God has freely bestowed upon us we freely bestow on our brothers and sisters in Christ. A fervent, earnest love. It is a love that is based in commitment and covenant. It is a love that is shown actively rather than passively. Little children, let us not love in word or with tongue but in deed and truth.

The command of the outward action to love another fervently is sandwiched between two statements of salvation: We have been purified by our obedience to the truth through the Spirit and having been born again…through the Word of God. And the two statements of salvation both include references to the Scripture.

In this chapter we have seen the rich doctrine of salvation that includes God’s election/predestination, the sanctifying work of the Spirit and the redemptive/ransoming sacrifice of Christ. It is God who has caused us to be born again. It is God who has brought us into His household through adoption. It is the Holy Spirit Who has applied God’s election and Christ’s redemption to the people of God. If God is the one who caused us to be born and again and sanctifies us to obedience through the Holy Spirit and redeems us and cleanses us in the blood of Christ Jesus, why does it say that we are born again through the incorruptible, living and abiding Word of God?

It is because God is pleased to use means in our salvation. It is the message of the Truth, God uses, as it is declared, to move men and women to repentance and faith. Rom 1:16-17 For I am not ashamed of the gospel of Christ, for it is the power of God to salvation for everyone who believes, for the Jew first and also for the Greek. (17) For in it the righteousness of God is revealed from faith to faith; as it is written, "THE JUST SHALL LIVE BY FAITH."

This is not the first time the Word of God is alluded to. 1Pe 1:10-12 Of this salvation the prophets have inquired and searched carefully, who prophesied of the grace that would come to you, (11) searching what, or what manner of time, the Spirit of Christ who was in them was indicating when He testified beforehand the sufferings of Christ and the glories that would follow. (12) To them it was revealed that, not to themselves, but to us they were ministering the things which now have been reported to you through those who have preached the gospel to you by the Holy Spirit sent from heaven—things which angels desire to look into.

In the midst of chapter 1 we see the Triune God accomplishing His work in decreeing, accomplishing, and applying His redemptive plan. We see the focus on the Spirit in not only the application of the redemptive work but also in the revelation and proclamation of the gospel in history! Here we see the primacy of the Scripture and it is Word of God at the end of chapter 1 and the beginning of chapter 2 that Peter directs those Christians in the churches in Pontus, Galatia, Bithynia, Cappadocia and Asia Minor. Peter, in directing us to the Word of God, describes it in four ways which will be our points in this section.

The Word of God is: 1) the Truth 2) lives forever 3) abides forever 4) the good news, the gospel 5) the means of growth. The last time we were in 1 Peter we looked at the Word of God as the Truth and just to summarize we will use John MacArthur’s definition of truth. From his article ‘What is Truth’ he writes, “ Here's a simple definition drawn from what the Bible teaches: Truth is that which is consistent with the mind, will, character, glory, and being of God. Even more to the point: Truth is the self-expression of God. That is the biblical meaning of truth. Because the definition of truth flows from God, truth is theological.

Truth is also ontological — which is a fancy way of saying it is the way things really are. Reality is what it is because God declared it so and made it so. Therefore God is the author, source, determiner, governor, arbiter, ultimate standard, and final judge of all truth.”

My hope is that many of you will remember these points from past sermons. Just as teachers will attest to the importance of repetition in the classroom for students to learn and understand the concepts taught it is even more important here. 2Pe 1:10-15  Therefore, brethren, be even more diligent to make your call and election sure, for if you do these things you will never stumble;  (11)  for so an entrance will be supplied to you abundantly into the everlasting kingdom of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ.  (12)  For this reason I will not be negligent to remind you always of these things, though you know and are established in the present truth.  (13)  Yes, I think it is right, as long as I am in this tent, to stir you up by reminding you,  (14)  knowing that shortly I must put off my tent, just as our Lord Jesus Christ showed me.  (15)  Moreover I will be careful to ensure that you always have a reminder of these things after my decease.

Before we move on to the second point, the first being that the word of God is the truth. This points us to the command to love one another fervently from the heart is possible only because we have been born again through the incorruptible seed.

II. The Seed Incorruptible – having been born again not of corruptible seed but incorruptible.

The first observation to note is Peter emphasizes the abiding reality of regeneration or our being born again. It points us back to verse 3 Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, who according to His abundant mercy has begotten us again to a living hope through the resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead, in verse 23 born again through the Word of God, v18 that we have been redeemed/ransomed from our futile way of live. God causes us to be born again and we live the life of faith. The result being having purified your souls in obeying the truth through the Spirit. These are complimentary to one another. In regeneration God works to implant the new nature and the new nature motivates us to moral purity of life. Peter’s expression indicates the certainty of regeneration. Dj Kenyon says it this way ‘The Christian is alive by God’s creative act and lives by God’s continuing creative miracle.”

Peter continues with his contrast with perishable, imperishable, corruptible and incorruptible. 1Pe 1:7  that the proof of your faith, being more precious than gold which is perishable…

1Pe 1:18-19  knowing that you were not redeemed with perishable things like silver or gold from your futile way of life inherited from your forefathers,  (19)  but with precious blood, as of a lamb unblemished and spotless, the blood of Christ.

And here the corruptible seed versus the incorruptible seed. What does this mean? Normally the word seed used in the Greek denotes the activity of sowing but in the context it is clear that it is in the context of birth. It is not the natural corruptible birth which natural life springs forth all that is perishable. Our natural lives are all subject to decay and destruction and that which arises out of this life is therefore subject to the same limitation of death and decay. It is also moral decay and destruction. Paul said in Ephesians 4 ‘the old man which grows corrupt according deceitful lusts..’

But incorruptible seed implies God the Father’s seed from which new life springs.

Joh 1:13  who were born, not of blood, nor of the will of the flesh, nor of the will of man, but of God.

Jas 1:18  Of His own will He brought us forth by the word of truth, that we might be a kind of first fruits of His creatures.

1Jn 3:9  Whoever has been born of God does not sin, for His seed remains in him; and he cannot sin, because he has been born of God.

The seed that is incorruptible produces that which is not subject to corruption and death. It has the same nature as our inheritance of verse 4 to an inheritance incorruptible and undefiled and that does not fade away, reserved in heaven for you,

The next observation is ‘through the Word of God’ which indicates the means of regeneration. What do we mean when we say ‘means’? It is the instrument the God ordains to bring about a desired end. We may hear a teacher say ‘I taught my class math’ but the means or the instrument is the curriculum. I may cut my grass, but I use a lawn mower to do so. When God causes us to be born again, it is the Spirit of God using the means of the Word of God to bring about regeneration. This bring us to our second point.

II. The Word of God is living and abiding

Peter uses to present active participles to describe the Word of God. It is living and abiding. Living in that is active possesses life and abiding as it is permanent and unchanging. It has the very character of God whose message it is.

Heb 4:12  For the word of God is living and powerful, and sharper than any two-edged sword, piercing even to the division of soul and spirit, and of joints and marrow, and is a discerner of the thoughts and intents of the heart.

Rom 1:16  For I am not ashamed of the gospel of Christ, for it is the power of God to salvation for everyone who believes, for the Jew first and also for the Greek.

It is also abiding or some versions may read enduring meaning that it is intended for all periods of time and never to be superseded by human philosophy. It does not change to suit the times we live in. It does not change in what is required for salvation or for holy living. Just as the 10 commandments were inscribed in stone to indicate the unchangeableness of the commands the word of God is not on the sliding scale of morality of society is on. And it is way past time that the church of Jesus Christ stop being satisfied with not being as bad as society but rather live according to the right understanding of the Word of God which is the same yesterday today and forever.

This flows naturally into verses 24 and 25, (24) because "ALL FLESH IS AS GRASS, AND ALL THE GLORY OF MAN AS THE FLOWER OF THE GRASS. THE GRASS WITHERS, AND ITS FLOWER FALLS AWAY, (25) BUT THE WORD OF THE LORD ENDURES FOREVER." Now this is the word which by the gospel was preached to you.

Peter expands the idea of the abiding word of God by contrast to that which is temporal. All flesh is as grass depicts the transitory nature of man. The comparison is to the temporary nature of both. And the glory of man as the flower of the grass – meaning that all of man’s accomplishments and the greatness of them; his achievements, wealth, rank, talents, beauty, learning, etc. All of it is compared to the transitory nature of the flowers of the field. Of all the seven wonders of the world build by man’s hands very few remain having succumbed to the ravages of time.

The grass withers and the flower falls of but the Word of the Lord endures forever. The word in the Greek is not the word Logos as in John but the Greek word used for the message spoken by the mouth of God. It is the divine revelation made in the gospel. Heb 1:1-2  God, who at various times and in various ways spoke in time past to the fathers by the prophets,  (2)  has in these last days spoken to us by His Son, whom He has appointed heir of all things, through whom also He made the worlds;

Application: Broader evangelicalism has fallen into the trap of not teaching and preaching the whole council of God in keeping with fundamentalism. From good intentions but bad results fundamentalism has brought forth perpetually immature Christians who do not know the deep riches of God’s glorious truth and cannot explain them. The glorious truths of God’s word is a means to godliness and right living. It is a means to provoke in us praise and adoration but how can you adore and praise that which you do not know? This is the reason it is absolutely necessary for us all to be students of the Scripture, disciples of the Lord Jesus, seeking to know and understand so that we may live rightly before the Lord before whom we will all give an account.

Seeing in these verses the Word of God being the means God uses in the regeneration and sanctification of His people; how important is it to us? Do we read it regularly? Do we study it? Are we eager and prepared in mind and heart to hear the Word of God taught and preached on Sunday morning? Are we as excited about the Word of God as we are about other activities and hobbies in our life? Or are we apathetic, it holds no meaning, it has no priority in our lives. Do we believe that we have the Christian thing covered or do we judge ourselves by looking at those around us and say I am not so bad. The mark of being born again of God is our perseverance in purifying our souls in obedience to the truth. May God find us faithful in so doing that very thing.