Living Loving Lives

Catch up

Let me first bring everyone up to speed. the main theme running through 1:13 and 2:3 is 1:15-16, “as He who called you is holy, you also be holy in all your conduct, because it is written, “Be holy, for I am holy.”” This sums up the entire Christian experience on earth. Peter says we are to have holy minds and holy lives as we live before the all seeing redeemer God. There are no exceptions. Live your lives in holiness whether you are in a time of blessing or a time of suffering. And if you will remember First Peter was written to Christians who were going through various fiery trials.

We have already seen two commands. In verse 13 Peter commands us to rest our Hope in the future grace of God. In verse 17 he commands us to conduct ourselves in fear. In our current passage we have another command. In verse 22 we are commanded to “love” one another. There is a fourth command in 2:2 where Peter commands Believers to “‘desire’ the pure milk...”, but we will get there next year, God willing.

LET US PRAY

Contrasts

The Bible is big on contrasts and First Peter is no different. He uses contrasts to bring out the huge differences between Believers and non-believers. The first contrast is of the mind “Gird up the lions of your mind, be sober,” in v13, and is contrasted with “former ignorance,” v14. God has made us aware of the salvation He alone can offer. More than that, He has brought us into His salvation through the death and resurrection of His Son, Jesus Christ our Lord. We can not claim ignorance of God, nor claim ignorance of His grace and mercy in our lives, and for this reason Peter declares in verse 16, be holy for I is holy.

The second contrast is the redemption price in verses 18-19. Verse 18 says that we were not redeemed with material things because they have a use-by date; silver, gold, traditions. In contrast, verse 19 reminds us that we were redeemed with the perfect and precious blood of Christ.

Coram Deo

This whole section is really about how we are to live our new lives. Living our lives knowing God is watching our every step, our every word, our every motive. The recipients of Peter’s first letter were struggling with living as Christians among vocal and violent opposition. These Believers were being ridiculed and mocked because they served a different Master, the Lord Jesus Christ. Peter encourages the Believers to live their lives according to the standards of God.

Jesus tells us similar things in some of His parables, as does the rest of Scripture. We should not go through life doing the right things by God because we want to rise up the ladder of power in God’s kingdom. We do the right things by God, live according to His standard, because He loves us, because He graces us with a new heart. He made us a new creation, and gave us the desire to choose Him and the salvation He offers in Christ. This obedience we have to God isn’t our ticket into heaven. We don’t pass over our holy living cards, like coffee club, for St Peter before he allows us through the Pearly Gates. Peter himself has been reminding us that is only by God’s grace that we have rebirth, and an eternal inheritance; Only by the perfect sacrifice of His Son, Jesus Christ, whom God rasied from the dead; Only through His Spirit whom He gave us do we have the capacity to live in obedience to His word. What we give back to Him in the form of works, is a token gesture of thanksgiving for all the grace and blessings He gives to us - FREELY.

Love the brotherhood

If verses 13-21 speak of our personal relationship with God. Verses 22-25 speak of our relationship to other Believers. Verses 22-23 are like a sandwich. The meat in the sandwich is the command to love one another, while the bread on either side are the reasons for us to obey the command.

The first reason for the commanded to love is because we have been purified. Peter says, “Since you have purified your souls in obeying the truth through the Spirit in sincere love of the brethren.” Peter begins by looking at our new life in Christ from our perspective, “you have purified your souls,” though we play no part in our salvation, we do co-operate with the Holy Spirit in our growing to maturity in the Faith. And if you are following along with the NIV or ESV or some other translation, you will notice that part of this verse is missing from your Bible. The words “through the Spirit” are a later add on, and provide a link back with verses 1-3.

Purified and Purifying

Verse 22, as I have just mentioned, can be taken in two slightly different ways. The first is the continuing sanctification of every Believer by the Holy Spirit. This is demonstrated in the larger passage, 1:13-25, which is speaking about our obedience to God: “gird up the loins of your mind, be sober…conduct your stay here in fear...” are all general commands for every Believer to strive for. coming to faith is all God, continuing in the faith is co-operative, with the Spirit as the primary mover and ourselves as the lesser agent. Throughout Scripture God’s people are commanded to obey Him, Obey His laws and statutes.

The other way this can be taken, and is the meaning we get from the NKJV, is speaking of the moment of regeneration. As soon as we come to faith we are purified by the blood of Christ. Our sins are cast as far away as the east is from the west. The guilt has been covered by Christ’s blood sacrifice. This is the new birth.

My opinion is that Peter may in fact be using these words in both ways. You see, in one sense we are purified, or righteous, right now, before God because He has redeemed us. We are clothed with Christ’s righteousness. We are credited with Christ’s righteousness. And in continuing sense the Holy Spirit, along with our obedience, continues to purify our souls as we live according to God’s word. In reality we can’t take any of the credit because it is the living and abiding Word of God, as we read and study it, that lives and breaths and makes us grow to maturity.

Born Again From Incorruptable seed

The second reason we are commanded to love is because we have been born of the Spirit. Verse 23 tell us that Christians are, born again . Our regeneration, being born again, is the result of the immediate work of the Holy Spirit. We are in Christ because the Holy Spirit has raised us from spiritual death, and given us a desire to love God that is not born of our sinful nature.

Through our new birth we are now governed by the Spiritual nature. So in verse 3 we are born to a living hope, and in verse 23 we are born to a fervant and pure love of the brethren. In verse 4 we are told of our incorruptible, undefiled and unfading inheritance, and now we told we are reborn “not of corruptible seed but incorruptible seed.” We know this ourselves but, Ecclesiastes tells us that human life is gone before we know it. Peter is full agreement with Solomon, and does so by his use of a quote from Isaiah 40:6-8,

The voice said (that is God’s voice), “Cry out!”

And he (Isaiah) said, “What shall I cry?”

“All flesh is grass,

And all its loveliness is like the flower of the field.

The grass withers, the flower fades,

Because the breath of the LORD blows upon it;

Surely the people are grass.

The grass withers, the flower fades,

But the word of our God stands forever.”

The human life is as glorious and short lived as the grass of the field and wild flowers. But, we are told, the Word of the Lord is enduring and eternal.

Rudi told me about his time in the Presbyterian Inland Mission. The PIM took him into dry desert areas where grass is thin and flowers few. whenever he found flowers growing in the outback he would stop his vehicle and take photographs, because they are a rare occurance. They vanish just as quick as they come. I reckon if I asked all the older men how fast life goes by, the answer would be almost unanimous: too quickly. We are here today and gone tomorrow.

Peter exhorts us to look not to this world, because it will only last a short time, then perish. Rather, look to the imperishable “word of God which by the gospel was preached to you.” Because the “Word of the LORD” is alive and dwelling within the hearts of every true Believer.

If I were to ask you, why are you here today? Some would answer, I like the people. Others might answer, the style of worship. Some would answer that the morning tea is absolutely top notch. These aren’t bad answers, it is good to worship in style you like with other likeminded Christians. It is good to build relationships over morning tea. The better answer, though, is, we desire to hear the preaching of the living and abiding Word of the LORD as we worship in fellowship with our spiritual family.

Today’s Christian often choses a church based on the music, the demographic, or even the easy on the ears preaching. We have a culture of Christians who come to church to get something out of it. This is the wrong attitude. First Corinthians speak of spiritual gifts. These gifts are not for personal edification. they are not for personal gain. The gifts the Holy Spirit are given to God’s people are for the building up of the body. To edify the whole church and they flow from a pure heart of love for God, and love for the brethren - the family of God.

We can have all the programs under the sun. We can have a great speaker in the pulpit. But if we don’t have love, What are we? A loud noise. We are extremely blessed with faithful preaching of Holy Scripture.

I was speaking to a friend the other day and the conversation turned to recreation, not very high on my activity list, but we both agreed that we like to watch science fiction movies and play video games to relax; to turn off our minds. immediately after he left it occurred to me that we could just as easily turn our minds down, not off, but down, as we just read through a book of the Bible, or a Christian book. Even one of the short ones. I have an app on my phone where I can remove the verse numbers. How easy could it be for all of us to relax with the word of God. It would allow Holy Scripture to abide on the forefront of our minds. This doesn’t mean we can’t do things we find enjoyable. Like sport, boardgames, cards, video games, etc. Just that we do them in moderation.

It doesn’t have to be reading the Bible either. We can just as easily listen or watch Christian teachers, or the Bible being read, or music. These are simple suggestions to get God’s Word into our minds and certainly isn’t an exhaustive list. We all have diferent ways we think of God and His Word. Next time you are relaxing aski yourself this question,

How can I incorporate God’s Word into my downtime?

The Word is picked up by the second half of verse 23, “through the word of God which lives and abides forever.”

Paul, in 1 Thessalonians 2:13, says, “when you received the word of God which you heard from us, you welcomed it not as the word of men, but as it is in truth, the word of God, which also effectively works in you who believe.”

the Word of God is alive because it is at work in God’s children, purifying the Believer.

Are you a Believer?

If you are, Good

Do you Believe the Bible is the veritable Word of God?

Then this Word. This living and abiding word of God is working effectively in you. Peter then says, Love one another fervently with a pure heart.

Love One Another

The general rule for all Believers is to love other Believers fervently, sincerely, eagerly, from a pure heart. If you profess to be a Believer, then possses your new life in Christ, “LOVE one another fervently with a pure heart.” The command to love is not a new idea to the New Testament church. Jesus says that His disciples will be known by it in John 13:34-35, “A new commandment I give to you, that you love one another; as I have loved you, that you also love one another. By this all will know that you are my disciples, if you have love one for another.”

Mark 12 gives the greatest and clearest summary of all of God’s commandments;

Mark 12:29–31:

“Jesus answered [the Scribe], “The first of all the commandments is: ‘Hear, O Israel, the Lord our God, the Lord is one. And you shall love the Lord your God with all your heart, with all your soul, with all your mind, and with all your strength.’ This is the first commandment. And the second, like it, is this: ‘You shall love your neighbor as yourself.’ There is no other commandment greater than these.””

What does Jesus say in Mark?

Love God with everything you are and everything you have. And He adds, love everybody else in the same way you love yourself. These are the greatest commandments. The problem is that we know we only love God and other humans in a fallen way. We need constant reminders to stay on track, don’t we? Love of neighbour means treating them with care, kindness, and long-suffering. The greatest example of neighbourly love is in the parable of the good samaritan.

Loving other people has very little to do with feelings of deep warmth and affection. The good samaritan teaches us that personal feelings toward another person should not change the godly love you show them. In mafia movies the common law is - family comes first. If we are going to love our neighbours then we must begin with loving the family of God, it will then naturally flow out to everyone else. The outward aspect will be covered in upcoming sermons. Today we are concerned with unity within the Body of Christ, though similar principles govern our attitudes and actions to all mankind.

Conclusion

This entire passage from 1:13 through 25 has given 4 pillars on which to build the Christian life. Hope, holiness, fear God, and our current text, love one another. When we put these things in the forefront of our minds, hold them as precious jewels in our hearts, we will be able to face any difficulty which is brought into our path. From these 4 pillars we are able to ask 3 questions in order to know whether we are living loving lives.

Do your motives and actions conform to the character of God?

Do they naturally flow from a regenerated life?

Will they pass God’s judgement in the final day?

We must love one another, not with lip service, but sincerely from a pure heart. We should not think we are better than anyone else, in this way or that. But genuine forgiveness will reap genuine love. Genuine love is possible because our enormous and unpayable debt has been paid. If you truly love God then build your spiritual house upon Biblical foundations. Love covers a multitude of sins.

Let us pray