Born Again Through the Word of God

Born Again Through the Word of God What does it mean to be born again? To begin our second week in 1 Peter, let me read part of one verse from last week's text and of two from this week's, 1 Peter 1:3, 23; 2:2: Praise be to the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ! In his great mercy he has given us new birth into a living hope ... For you have been born again ... Like newborn babies, crave pure spiritual milk so you may grow up in your salvation... God has given us new birth. We have been born again. We are then like newborn babies. What does new birth mean? How are we to respond to this teaching? Let us begin with 1 Peter 1:13-16: Therefore, prepare you minds for action; be self-controlled; set your hope fully on the grace to be given you when Jesus Christ is revealed. As obedient children, do not conform to the evil desires you had when you lived in ignorance. But just as he who called you is holy, so be holy in all you do; for it is written: "Be holy, because I am holy". This paragraph begins with a "therefore". One should always seek what therefore is there for. What was Peter referring to as he gives this command? In the previous verse, he spoke of the gospel being preached to us. In verse 10, he said that salvation has come to us by grace. And in verse three, he praised God's mercy in giving us new birth. We are to respond to all we have been given. We are to respond to God's grace. And how are we to respond? In the Greek, verse 14 has only one command. We are told to set our hope, to focus out attention and attitude "on the grace to be given", on the hope and inheritance to come when Jesus returns. We are to do this by preparing our minds for action, to gird up the loins of our minds. That image is of a man securing his robes so he can move quickly. We are to clear our minds of things that hinder us from focusing on God. We are also to be sober which means to stay alert and clear minded. Literally, it means to be free of alcohol. We are to respond to the gospel with mental focus because it is our response to the gospel that results in new life. The point of the new birth metaphor is that at salvation we begin a new life in Christ. When a baby is born, he transitions from a fetal life limited to his mother's womb to begin an independent life in a new and greater environment. Similarly, when a person is born again, she transitions to a totally new lifestyle. Verse 14 emphasizes that we move from conformity to the evil desires of the old life. Peter says that we are now to live as obedient children, God's children living lives characterized by obedience to Him. Peter then emphasizes two major qualities that characterize our new lifestyle. First, he calls for holiness. To be holy means to be set apart, to be separate. Primarily, this means to be set apart to God, to be set apart to serve God in all we do. Secondarily, because we serve the holy God, we must also separate ourselves from all that is sinful and evil. The second characteristic will be introduced in verse 22 where we are told to "love one another deeply". Our new lifestyle that results from the new birth, will be recognized by our holy living and by our healthy relationships. Let us look at each of these in more detail. In verses 14-21, Peter gives us three reasons why we are born again to live in holiness. In verses 14-16, which we have already read, we find the first reason. God requires that His children be like Him. God is holy, holy, holy. He is set apart to goodness and from all evil. We are born again to be His children. Since children are to live like their father, God's children will not persist in living in sin. In verse 17, we are given a second reason to be holy: Since you call on a Father who judges each man's work impartially, live your lives as strangers here in reverent fear. God is both our Father and our Judge! Do not expect special treatment as His child, for He judges each man's work impartially. Therefore, we are to live as strangers in this world as Peter called us in the very first verse. As Christians, we must remember that our citizenship is in heaven. God is our King. We are to live in reverent fear, not terror of our Father, but respect and reverence for His majesty and His holiness. This fear is based on personally knowing God as the Holy One, and it produces a hatred of evil expressed in holy living. The third reason for holiness is given in verses 18 and 19 which read: For you know that it was not with perishable things such as silver or gold that you were redeemed from the empty way of life handed down to you from your forefathers, but with the precious blood of Christ, a lamb without blemish or defect. Redemption in scripture reflects first century slavery. A slave could be set free by the payment of a ransom price. We are redeemed from the state of slavery to sin, the empty way of life, the conformity to evil desires. We are redeemed to a new state of freedom to serve God in holiness, living as strangers here. And we are redeemed by a remarkably high price, the blood of Christ, God's Son dying in our place. While the Father judges impartially, that did not keep Him from planning a way to redeem us even before He created us. Verse 20 continues: He was chosen before the creation of the world, but was revealed in these last times for your sake. Peter then states that we receive Jesus as Savior through faith in His resurrection: Through him you believe in God, who raised him from the dead and glorified him, and so your faith and hope are in God. In calling us to holy living, God is asking so little of us in comparison to the price He has paid for us! But we are not only born again to live in holiness, we are also born again to live together in love. Listen to verse 22 and the beginning of verse 23: Now that you have purified yourselves by obeying the truth so that you have sincere love for your brothers, love one another deeply, from the heart. For you have been born again... God expects His children to live together in love. We have purified ourselves by obeying the truth, which means believing the gospel. The result is philadelphia, a Greek word meaning brotherly love. When we are born again, we are born into a family. We are brothers and sisters, and we should love one another as family. But a deeper love is expected. We are to express agape, the unconditional love with which God loves us. We are to love one another, everyone in His church, not just those in your fellowship. And we are to love each person deeply, earnestly, from the heart. Our new birth produces both holiness and love in us. The born-again believer should manifest both His Father's holiness and His love. But how does this come to be? Before we conclude we need to discover the source of both new birth and new life. Peter did not write in chapters, and this search will take us over the artificial boundary into chapter two. But we begin with the last three verses of chapter one: For you have been born again, not of perishable seed, but of imperishable, through the living and enduring word of God. For, "All men are like grass, and all their glory is like the flowers of the field; the grass withers and the flowers fall, but the word of the Lord stands forever." And this is the word that was preached to you. Our new birth comes through God's word. It does not come from the perishable seed of human effort, for that will wither and die. God's word is imperishable. It is alive and able to give life. It is enduring and will stand forever. And this word was preached to us in the gospel. Romans 10 tells us that opportunity to believe comes through hearing His word. Believing in Jesus through the word receives new birth. This faith and new birth require repentance. In 1 Peter 2:1, we read: Therefore, rid yourselves of all malice and all deceit, hypocrisy, envy, and slander of every kind. "Rid yourself' literally means "having laid aside". Repentance is choosing to lay aside all malice, which means wickedness or badness, as well as all deceit, etc. Repentance is the decision to turn from living for self to living by faith in Jesus. We must then live by that decision relying on Jesus to do so. Peter then returns to the value of God's word. Not only does the new birth come through the message of God's word, but our growth in our new life requires taking in more of His word. Our text for today concludes with verses 2 and 3 of chapter two: Like newborn babies, crave pure spiritual milk, so that by it you may grow up in your salvation, now that you have tasted that the Lord is good. As newborn babies need to drink milk in order to grow in their new life, a Christian must receive spiritual nutrition to grow spiritually. In the context, this is referring to the living and enduring word of God. To continue to grow in Christ, we must with faith feed regularly on God's word. Two lessons summarize this study. First, new birth leads to a new life characterized by two qualities received from the Father. We are to be holy as He is holy. And we are to love one another as He has loved us. The second lesson is the value of scripture. Hearing God's word enables us to receive this new birth, and then feeding on God's word enables us to grow in our new life. Are you feeding on God's word? Are you walking in holiness, serving God? Are you fellowshipping with one another in love? Let us pray.