Chapter 1 Verses 19-25
TITLE: True Love
TEXT: 1 Peter 1:21-25
Who by him do believe in God, that raised him up from the dead, and gave him glory; that your faith and hope might be in God. [22] Seeing ye have purified your souls in obeying the truth through the Spirit unto unfeigned love of the brethren, see that ye love one another with a pure heart fervently: [23] Being born again, not of corruptible seed, but of incorruptible, by the word of God, which liveth and abideth for ever. [24] For all flesh is as grass, and all the glory of man as the flower of grass. The grass withereth, and the flower thereof falleth away: [25] But the word of the Lord endureth for ever. And this is the word which by the gospel is preached unto you.
THEME: Brotherly love
PROP.: We must understand the importance and significance of brotherly love.
INTER.: What is the significance of brotherly love?
FERVRENT LOVE: UNFEIGNED & STRETCHED OUT
I PETER 1:22-25
READING THE TEXT
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, 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.
INTRODUCTION
There is no greater force than love. If two people truly love each other, they will do anything for the other. There is no greater bond on earth than true love. This is especially true of the love between believers. Why? Is there a difference between the love that believers have for one another and the love that neighbors have for one another? Scripture says yes, emphatically yes. Believers are to have a different kind of love than neighbors have for one another. The love that believers are to have for one another is what the Greek calls philadelphian love, a very special kind of love. Philadelphian love means brotherly love, the very special love that exists between the brothers and sisters within a loving family, brothers and sisters who truly cherish each other. It is the kind of love...
· that binds one another together as a family, as a brotherly clan.
· that binds one another in an unbreakable union.
· that holds one another ever so deeply within the heart.
· that knows deep affection for one another.
· that nourishes and nurtures one another.
· that shows concern and looks after the welfare of one another.
The importance of believers loving one another with a philadelphian love cannot be over-stressed. Note what 1 Peter 1:22 says: We are to have unfeigned love (anupokritos) for our Christian brothers. Unfeigned means genuine, sincere, without pretension, hypocrisy, or play-acting. We are not to pretend, play, and act like we love one another; we are to love one another genuinely and sincerely.
But note this: there can be no mistake about the importance of love, for 1 Peter 1:22 says more and it is forceful: "See that ye love one another with a pure heart fervently." The word "fervently" (ektenôs) "does not mean ’with warmth’ but rather ’with full intensity’." It literally means to stretch love fully out or to love one another in an all out manner.
This is the love believers are to have for one another, a philadelphia kind of love. There are three reasons why we are to love one another fervently.
MAJOR POINTS OF THE TEXT
1. Reason 1: you have purified your souls (v.22).
2. Reason 2: you are born again by the Word of God (v.23).
3. Reason 3: your flesh withers and falls away (v.24-25).
REASON NUMBER ONE
Believers are to love one another because they have purified their souls. This means that the soul of a true believer is cleansed of sin. He is forgiven and purified from every sin he has ever committed. His soul is pure and clean, completely free from all guilt and moral dirt, pollution, and corruption. The true believer is no longer guilty of any misbehavior or sin, no matter what it is. He stands before God with a pure and clean soul, a soul that is perfect and acceptable to God.
But note a significant point—note what it is that cleanses the believer’s soul: it is obedience to the truth. The believer obeys the truth and as he obeys the truth, the Spirit of God continually cleanses his soul from sin. This is critical to note: a person is cleansed only while he is walking in the truth, only while he is obeying the truth of God’s light. When a person walks in the light of the truth, the Spirit cleanses his soul through the blood of Christ: "But if we walk in the light, as he is in the light, we have fellowship one with another, and the blood of Jesus Christ his Son cleanseth us from all sin" (1 John 1:7).
This is the reason we are to love our brothers. God has cleansed our souls from sin for the very purpose of loving others, and we are obedient when we love them. It is a circle: we are obedient when we love them and we love them when we are obedient. God has cleansed our souls so that we can love people with a clean and pure heart—with no restraints of guilt or shame or weakness whatsoever. Therefore, let us love one another in the freedom of a pure and clean soul.
SCRIPTURES TO PONDER
"A new commandment I give unto you, That ye love one another; as I have loved you, that ye also love one another. By this shall all men know that ye are my disciples, if ye have love one to another" (John 13:34-35).
"He that hath my commandments, and keepeth them, he it is that loveth me: and he that loveth me shall be loved of my Father, and I will love him, and will manifest myself to him" (John 14:21).
"If ye keep my commandments, ye shall abide in my love; even as I have kept my Father’s commandments, and abide in his love....This is my commandment, That ye love one another, as I have loved you" (John 15:10-12).
"Let love be without dissimulation [hypocrisy]. Abhor that which is evil; cleave to that which is good" (Romans 12:9).
"And the Lord make you to increase and abound in love one toward another, and toward all men, even as we do toward you" (1 Thes. 3:12).
"Now the end of the commandment is charity out of a pure heart, and of a good conscience, and of faith unfeigned" (1 Tim. 1:5).
"Seeing ye have purified your souls in obeying the truth through the Spirit unto unfeigned love of the brethren, see that ye love one another with a pure heart fervently" (1 Peter 1:22).
"And this is his commandment, That we should believe on the name of his Son Jesus Christ, and love one another, as he gave us commandment" (1 John 3:23).
REASON NUMBER TWO
Believers are to love one another because they have been born again by the Word of God. All believers have been spiritually born again and spiritually remade. They have been spiritually created into new men and new women, created anew by God to be brothers and sisters to one another and to love one another.
Note two points: First, believers are not born again by corruptible seed, that is, not by the seed of mere man who is corruptible. If we were born again by the work of some man, we would still be corruptible. We would still be...
· abusive
· self-seeking
· hypocritical
· prideful
· angry
· deceptive
· envious
· snobbish
· selfish
· jealous
· withdrawn
· arrogant
· bitter
· neglectful
· hateful
This is the behavior of corruptible seed; it is the nature of human beings. It is the way man acts toward others. But this is not to be the nature of believers, for believers have been born again.
Second, believers are born again by the incorruptible seed, by the Word of God itself. God spoke and convicted us and led us to repent of our sins and turn to Him. It may have happened when we were reading God’s Word or thinking about God or when we were listening to some preacher proclaim God’s Word. It does not matter when or how we were born again. What matters is that it has happened. When we turned from sin to God, God spoke the Word and quickened our spirits, making them alive to Him and His Word.
Note that God’s Word is the incorruptible seed; it is the seed that is planted within our hearts and lives. The word incorruptible means that it does not perish. Imagine! The Word of God recreates us, and it is incorruptible. This means a most wonderful thing: we are incorruptible; we will not age, perish, deteriorate, or decay. As this verse says, "the Word of God...lives and abides forever." Therefore, we shall live and abide forever.
The point is this: as born again brothers and sisters, God has put His incorruptible Word into our hearts. And the very first Word or commandment to believers is to love one another. Therefore, we must love one another with a pure heart fervently. We must obey God.
SCRIPTURES TO PONDER
"And this is his commandment, That we should believe on the name of his Son Jesus Christ, and love one another, as he gave us commandment" (1 John 3:23).
"Jesus answered and said unto him, Verily, verily, I say unto thee, Except a man be born again, he cannot see the kingdom of God....Jesus answered, Verily, verily, I say unto thee, Except a man be born of water and of the Spirit, he cannot enter into the kingdom of God. That which is born of the flesh is flesh; and that which is born of the Spirit is spirit" (John 3:3, 5-6).
"Therefore if any man be in Christ, he is a new creature: old things are passed away; behold, all things are become new" (2 Cor. 5:17).
"And that ye put on the new man, which after God is created in righteousness and true holiness" (Ephes. 4:24).
"And have put on the new man, which is renewed in knowledge after the image of him that created him" (Col. 3:10).
"Not by works of righteousness which we have done, but according to his mercy he saved us, by the washing of regeneration, and renewing of the Holy Ghost" (Titus 3:5).
"Being born again, not of corruptible seed, but of incorruptible, by the word of God, which liveth and abideth for ever" (1 Peter 1:23).
"Whosoever believeth that Jesus is the Christ is born of God: and every one that loveth him that begat loveth him also that is begotten of him" (1 John 5:1).
REASON NUMBER THREE
Believers are to love one another because their flesh withers and falls away ever so quickly. Life is ever so short. It lasts no longer than the grass that appears so quickly and then withers away or the flower that appears just as quickly and falls away.
Note the phrase "glory of man." People work and work to be glorious, to be...
· attractive
· acceptable
· honorable
· upstanding
· esteemed
· recognized
· charming
· appealing
· dignified
· beautiful
But no matter how much glory man achieves, he ages, wrinkles, deteriorates, and passes off the scene. His flesh is no more than the grass that withers, and the glory of his flesh is no more than the flower that falls away. But this is not true with the believer.
SCRIPTURES TO PONDER
"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....For the wind passeth over it, and it is gone; and the place thereof shall know it no more" (Psalm 90:5-6, 16).
"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" (Isaiah 40:6-7).
"I, even I, am he that comforteth you: who art thou, that thou shouldest be afraid of a man that shall die, and of the son of man which shall be made as grass" (Isaiah 51:12).
"But the rich, in that he is made low: because as the flower of the grass he shall pass away" (James 1:10).
"For all flesh is as grass, and all the glory of man as the flower of grass. The grass withereth, and the flower thereof falleth away" (1 Peter 1:24).
"Behold, thou hast made my days as an handbreadth; and mine age is as nothing before thee: verily every man at his best state is altogether vanity" (Psalm 39:5).
"Nevertheless man being in honour abideth not: he is like the beasts that perish" (Psalm 49:12).
"For when he dieth he shall carry nothing away: his glory shall not descend after him" (Psalm 49:17).
"For he remembered that they were but flesh; a wind that passeth away, and cometh not again" (Psalm 78:39).
"For he knoweth our frame; he remembereth that we are dust" (Psalm 103:14).
"My days are swifter than a weaver’s shuttle, and are spent without hope" (Job 7:6).
"The earth is given into the hand of the wicked: he covereth the faces of the judges thereof; if not, where, and who is he?" (Job 9:24).
"Cease ye from man, whose breath is in his nostrils: for wherein is he to be accounted of?" (Isaiah 2:22).
"Therefore hell hath enlarged herself, and opened her mouth without measure: and their glory, and their multitude, and their pomp, and he that rejoiceth, shall descend into it" (Isaiah 5:14).
"Mine age is departed, and is removed from me as a shepherd’s tent: I have cut off like a weaver my life: he will cut me off with pining sickness: from day even to night wilt thou make an end of me" (Isaiah 38:12).
"Whereas ye know not what shall be on the morrow. For what is your life? It is even a vapour, that appeareth for a little time, and then vanisheth away" (James 4:14).
The believer endures forever: "the Word of the Lord endureth forever" (1 Peter 1:25). The Word of the Lord lives in the heart and life of the believer. Therefore, the believer lives forever (1 Peter 1:23). What is this word that endures forever? It is the Word of the gospel that is preached to you. If we receive the word of the gospel—really bring it into our lives—it will live within us forever and keep us living forever.
The point is this: believers have received the Word of the Lord into their lives. Therefore, they are going to be living together forever. We are the family of God. Therefore, we are to live and act like the family of God; we are to love one another with a pure heart fervently.
SCRIPTURES TO PONDER
"For ever, O Lord, thy word is settled in heaven" (Psalm 119:89).
"The grass withereth, the flower fadeth: but the word of our God shall stand for ever" (Isaiah 40:8).
"For verily I say unto you, Till heaven and earth pass, one jot or one tittle shall in no wise pass from the law, till all be fulfilled" (Matthew 5:18).
"Heaven and earth shall pass away, but my words shall not pass away" (Matthew 24:35).
"But the word of the Lord endureth for ever. And this is the word which by the gospel is preached unto you" (1 Peter 1:25).
"Verily, verily, I say unto you, He that heareth my word, and believeth on him that sent me, hath everlasting life, and shall not come into condemnation; but is passed from death unto life" (John 5:24).
"For ye have not received the spirit of bondage again to fear; but ye have received the Spirit of adoption, whereby we cry, Abba, Father. The Spirit itself beareth witness with our spirit, that we are the children of God: and if children, then heirs; heirs of God, and joint-heirs with Christ; if so be that we suffer with him, that we may be also glorified together" (Romans 8:15-17).
"Morever, brethren, I declare unto you the gospel which I preached unto you, which also ye have received, and wherein ye stand; by which also ye are saved, if ye keep in memory what I preached unto you, unless ye have believed in vain. For I delivered unto you first of all that which I also received, how that Christ died for our sins according to the scriptures; and that he was buried, and that he rose again the third day according to the scriptures" (1 Cor. 15:1-4).
"But when the fulness of the time was come, God sent forth his Son, made of a woman, made under the law, to redeem them that were under the law, that we might receive the adoption of sons. And because ye are sons, God hath sent forth the Spirit of his Son into your hearts, crying, Abba, Father" (Galatians 4:4-6).
1) WHEN WERE BELIEVERS ENABLED TO LOVE?
1 Pt. 1:22 Having purified your souls by your obedience to the truth for a sincere brotherly love, love one another earnestly from a pure heart
Scripture repeatedly makes it plain that the unconverted person is far from having the ability to demonstrate genuine love (cf. Job 14:4, Ps. 58:3, John 15:18, 25, Rom. 8:7�8, 1 Cor. 2:14, 2 Cor. 3:5).
John Said:
1 John 2:9 Whoever says he is in the light and hates his brother is still in darkness.
1 Jn. 3:10 By this it is evident who are the children of God, and who are the children of the devil: whoever does not practice righteousness is not of God, nor is the one who does not love his brother. (ESV)
1 Jn. 4:20 If anyone says, "I love God," and hates his brother, he is a liar, for he who does not love his brother whom he has seen cannot love God whom he has not seen. (ESV)
Please turn to Ez. 36
How are believers able to do this?
It was at salvation that believers received the capacity to demonstrate supernatural love (Rom. 5:5).
Rom. 5:5 and hope does not put us to shame, because God’s love has been poured into our hearts through the Holy Spirit who has been given to us. (ESV)
Ezekiel looked forward to this spiritual reality when he prophesied of what God would do for believers under the new covenant:
Ezek. 36:25-27 I will sprinkle clean water on you, and you shall be clean from all your uncleannesses, and from all your idols I will cleanse you. And I will give you a new heart, and a new spirit I will put within you. And I will remove the heart of stone from your flesh and give you a heart of flesh. And I will put my Spirit within you, and cause you to walk in my statutes and be careful to obey my rules. (ESV)
(Ezek. 36:25-27, cf. Jer. 31:31-34, Matt. 26:28, John 3:5, Eph. 5:26, Titus 3:5)
Peter is therefore declaring in his letter 1 Peter, that when believers show evidence of salvation or obedience to the truth, they also purified their souls.
Purified is a perfect participle that describes a past action with continuing results. Not only did God cleanse Christians’ impure past (cf. 4:1-3, Heb. 9:22-23), He also gave them new capabilities for the present and future (2 Cor. 5:17, cf. Rom. 6:3-14, Col. 3:8-10, 2 Peter 1:4-9).
If genuinely given by God it will result in believers’ regularly obeying the truth (cf. James 1:22-25, 2:14-26, 1 John 2:3-6, 3:7-9, 24) and manifesting God’s love to others (cf. 1 John 2:10-11, 3:10-11, 14-17, 4:7-8, 16, 20).
We have seen 1) 1) WHEN WERE BELIEVERS ENABLED TO LOVE?
1 Pt. 1:22, and now:
2) WHO ARE BELIEVERS TO LOVE?
1 Pt. 1:22 b for a sincere brotherly love
At salvation, believers become members of Christ�s body, the church, which then becomes the target for their new, Spirit-empowered capacity for love (Rom. 5:5, 1 Thess. 4:9, 1 John 3:14, 23, cf. John 15:12, Phil. 1:9, 1 John 3:18, 4:7-8, 5:1-2). This brotherly love (philadelphia) is to be sincere (anupokriton, unhypocritical).
Knowing the danger of hypocrisy, Paul admonished the Romans:
Rom. 12:9 Let love be genuine. Abhor what is evil, hold fast to what is good. 10 Love one another with brotherly affection. Outdo one another in showing honor. (ESV)
-There is nothing that turns people away from an assembly of believers faster than hypocrisy. We lose all credibility to proclaim the message of truth when our lives do not match our message.
-People look at who you are before they listen to what you say.
-Who you are speaks louder than what you say.
Sincere brotherly love is the prevailing standard for believers (2 Cor. 6:6, 8:8, Phil. 2:1-2, Heb. 13:1, 1 John 3:11, 18)
-Remember the context of 1 Peter. These were people under persecution. It is natural to have our witness short-circuited and snipe at each other in times of stress.
-The concept of sincerity is an interesting one. The word literally means: without wax
-When potters made pottery, if there was a mistake in the process, the vessel would be useless. Unscrupulous potters would cover their mistakes with wax. But when put under stress, the vessel would fall apart.
-Genuine love does not fall apart under stress.
In a beautiful passage of what sincere brotherly love looks like, Paul writes:
Phil. 2:1-2 So if there is any encouragement in Christ, any comfort from love, any participation in the Spirit, any affection and sympathy, complete my joy by being of the same mind, having the same love, being in full accord and of one mind. (ESV)
Our ultimate love in an earthly sense is to be directed to those of faith. One verse that comes to mind, that I didn’t list in your outline is:
Gal. 6:10 So then, as we have opportunity, let us do good to everyone, and especially to those who are of the household of faith. (ESV)
Please turn to Mt. 10
The hardest thing to comprehend on the living out of brotherly love is its predominance. People in their sinfulness are prone to extremes.
-On one extreme, people think they are safe if they misunderstood the love of God, leads them to isolationism, believing that God is impressed by isolationist devotion:
-This exhibits itself today in the love of spirituality over the people of God. People pride themselves that they love Jesus, but have no time for those Jesus died for, His church.
Quotation: Christian love links love of God and love of neighbor in a twofold Great Commandment from which neither element can be dropped, so sin against neighbor through lack of human love is sin against God.
GEORGIA HARKNESS (1891-1979)
Lest you think this sincere brotherly love is easy, Jesus put it in perspective:
Mat 10:34 "Do not think that I have come to bring peace to the earth. I have not come to bring peace, but a sword. 35 For I have come to set a man against his father, and a daughter against her mother, and a daughter-in-law against her mother-in-law. 36 And a person�s enemies will be those of his own household. 37 Whoever loves father or mother more than me is not worthy of me, and whoever loves son or daughter more than me is not worthy of me. 38 And whoever does not take his cross and follow me is not worthy of me.
When properly understood, this explanation looks like:
1 Corinthians 10:31 So, whether you eat or drink, or whatever you do, do all to the glory of God. (ESV)
The hardest things to work out in the proper exercise of sincere brotherly love, is its proper superseding of all earthly limitations and considerations
When misunderstood, this sincere brotherly love is what the cults twist to the other extreme of isolation. Everton used to belong to the disciples of Christ denomination. In examining the denomination, I came across its most infamous member.
Illustration: The Peoples Temple congregation led by Jim Jones was affiliated with the Disciples of Christ at the time of the mass suicide of its members on 18 November 1978 at its compound in Guyana. Jones was ordained by the Disciples of Christ. His fellowship and standing with the Disciples was in the process of being revoked due to mental defect at the time of the events in Guyana. Because of the congregational polity of the Christian Church (Disciples of Christ), regional leaders did not have the power to intervene in a decisive manner.
God can use the genuine sincere brotherly love of believers to attract a lost world and awaken it to its need for salvation:
John 13:34-35 [34]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. [35]By this all people will know that you are my disciples, if you have love for one another." (ESV)
We have seen 1) 1) WHEN WERE BELIEVERS ENABLED TO LOVE? 1 Pt. 1:22, 2) WHO ARE BELIEVERS TO LOVE? 1 Pt. 1:22 b and now:
3) HOW ARE BELIEVERS TO LOVE?
1 Pt. 1:22c love one another earnestly from a pure heart
The well-known New Testament verb agapa expresses the ideal kind of love, that which is exercised by the will rather than emotion, not determined by the beauty or desirability of the object, but by the noble intention of the one who loves.
Earnestly/fervently is a physiological term meaning to stretch to the furthest limit of a muscle�s capacity. Metaphorically, the word means to go all out, to reach the furthest extent of something (Luke 22:44, Acts 12:5, cf. Acts 26:7).
-The Greek word is often used in relation to prayer, as when the people prayed for Peter when he was imprisoned in Acts 12. Here the word is translated without ceasing in Acts 12:5
To love earnestly means you try to understand the other person
It means you will give the person the benefit of the doubt�
It means you will not be easily offended.
It means you take the effort to reach out to others
Quotation: Every love has its own force, and it cannot lie idle in the soul of the lover. Love must draw the soul on. Do you, then, wish to know the character of a love? See where it leads.
SAINT AUGUSTINE OF HIPPO (354�430)
Such strong love, however, does not derive from some external, legalistic requirement (cf. Ps. 40:8, Rom. 8:2, Gal. 5:1). On the contrary, Peter told his readers that this love is an attitude compelled from within, from a pure heart (Prov. 4:23, Matt. 22:37-39, Eph. 4:32, 1 Tim. 1:5, cf. Rom. 12: 10, 1 Cor. 13:8, 13, Gal. 5:14, 1 Thess. 1:3, Heb. 6:10), because it is a fruit of the indwelling Holy Spirit.
Paul told the Galatians that if they lived by that Spirit, they would see His fruit in their lives:
Gal. 5:16 But I say, walk by the Spirit, and you will not gratify the desires of the flesh. (ESV)
Gal. 5:22-25 But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, self-control, against such things there is no law. And those who belong to Christ Jesus have crucified the flesh with its passions and desires. If we live by the Spirit, let us also walk by the Spirit. (ESV).
(cf. Eph. 5:15-21)
Quotation: Joy is love exalted, peace is love in repose, long-suffering is love enduring, gentleness is love in society, goodness is love in action, faith is love on the battlefield, meekness is love in school, and temperance is love in training.
DWIGHT LYMAN MOODY (1837-1899)
We have seen 1) 1) WHEN WERE BELIEVERS ENABLED TO LOVE? 1 Pt. 1:22, 2) WHO ARE BELIEVERS TO LOVE? 1 Pt. 1:22 b 3) HOW ARE BELIEVERS TO LOVE? 1 Pt. 1:22c and finally:
4) WHY SHOULD BELIEVERS LOVE?
1 Peter 1:23-25 since you have been born again, not of perishable seed but of imperishable, through the living and abiding word of God, for "All flesh is like grass and all its glory like the flower of grass. The grass withers, and the flower falls, but the word of the Lord remains forever." And this word is the good news that was preached to you. (ESV)
Please turn to 1 Jn. 5
The perfect tense of the participle of "have been born again" emphasizes that the new birth occurs in the past, with ongoing results in the present.
-Just as God is the author of physical life, He is the author of spiritual life.
Believers are to love one another to the fullest extent because it is consistent with new life in Christ.
The apostle John wrote:
1 John 5:1-2 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. By this we know that we love the children of God, when we love God and obey his commandments. (ESV)(1 John 5:1�2, cf. 3:14, 4:7).
Those who are born again go from being godless, lawless, and selfish (Rom. 3:9-18, 8:7-8) to manifesting genuine repentance, trust, and love. The Holy Spirit enlightens them to discern spiritual truth (1 Cor. 2:14-15, 2 Cor. 4:6) and empowers them to serve the law of God (truth contained in His Word) rather than the law of sin (Rom. 6:17-18).
The new birth is monergistic, it is a work solely of the Holy Spirit. Sinners do not cooperate in their spiritual births (cf. Eph. 2:1-10) any more than infants cooperate in their natural births.
(cf. John 1:12-13, Eph. 2:4-5, Phil. 2:13).
Quotation: The egg’s no chick by falling from the hen,
Nor man a Christian till he�s born again.
JOHN BUNYAN (1628-1688)
Seed represents the source of life. Everything that comes to life in the created order begins with a seed, the basic life source that initiates plant and animal existence. But nothing in the material world has the capacity to produce spiritual and eternal life. Thus God did not effect the new birth using seed which is perishable. In contrast to how an earthly father initiates human birth with his corruptible seed, God initiates the spiritual birth with an imperishable seed. Everything that grows from natural seeds is a sovereign creation of God (Gen. 1:11-12), but it all eventually dies (Isa. 40:8, James 1:10-11). However, sinners born again of Gods Spirit gain eternal life. That is because He uses the imperishable seed of the living and enduring word of God. (cf. Rom. 10:17).
To strengthen his point, Peter quoted from Isaiah 40:6, 8, which contains a familiar biblical principle about life’s transience (cf. Job 14:1-2, Pss. 39:4, 103:15, Matt. 6:27, 30, James 4:14). All flesh refers to all humans and animals, and grass refers to the wild grass of the typical Middle Eastern countryside. The phrase glory like the flower of grass denotes the beauty of that scenery in which colorful flowers (cf. Matt. 6:28-29) occasionally rise above the grass. So Peter noted that whether something is as common as grass or as uniquely lovely as a flower, it eventually withers or falls off-it dies.
Human life is brief in this world. People pass away like dry grass under a withering east wind. In their graves, the poor and illiterate of no influence are equal to the wealthy and highly educated of great influence (cf. Job 3:17-19).
In Christ, however, whether people are common or uncommon, they will never deteriorate or die spiritually. Instead they are like the word of the Lord which remains forever.
That saving word is the gospel, as Peter�s choice of words indicates. He used a for word (rather than the usual logos, the more broad reference to Scripture), which denotes specific statements. Preached is euangelisthen, from the same root word that means "good news," or "the gospel". He is referring, then, to the particular message of the gospel, that scriptural truth which, when believed, is the imperishable seed producing new life that also remains forever.
Quotation: Hope is like a harebell, trembling from its birth,Love is like a rose, the joy of all the earth,
Faith is like a lily, lifted high and white,
Love is like a lovely rose, the world’s delight.
Harebells and sweet lilies show a thornless growth,
But the rose with all its thorns excels them both.
CHRISTINA GEORGINA ROSSETTI (1830-1894)
Though believers possess new life in Jesus Christ and the capacity to love in a transcendent, godly manner, the continued presence of their unredeemed flesh (cf. Rom. 7:14-25) causes them to fail to love as they should. Thus, as in all matters of obedience, the New Testament contains a number of other exhortations for believers to genuinely love (John 13:34, 15:12, Rom. 12:10, Phil. 1:9, 1 Thess. 3:12, 4:9, 2 Thess. 1:3, 2 Peter 1: 7, 1 John 3:23, 4:7, 21).
Those are admonitions for the church to do what it, by God�s grace and power, is already capable of doing. The call in this text is for saints to manifest an undying love for fellow believers, which is consistent with an imperishable new life in Jesus Christ by the power of the gospel word which is itself imperishable.
Poem: Love For Others by Anonymous
Lord, let me live from day to day
In such a self-forgetful way,
That, even when I kneel to pray,
My prayer shall be for others.
Help me, in all the work I do,
Ever to be sincere and true,
And know that all I’d do for Thee,
Must needs be done for Others.
Let "self" be crucified and slain,
And buried deep, nor rise again,
And may all efforts be in vain,
Unless they be for Others.
And when my work on earth is done,
And my new work in heaven begun
May I forget the crown I’ve won,
While thinking still of Others.
Yes, Others, Lord, yes, Others.
Let this motto be,
Help me to live for Others,
That I may live with Thee.
The twenty-first verse rounds out the thought which began with the injunction to godly fear (vs. 17). It contains a reminder of the way in which these Christians came to call upon God as their Father. Their faith in God was mediated through Christ (cf. Acts 3:16), not in the sense merely that Christ introduced them to the Father, but that faith in God comes through faith in Christ, and centers particularly in the resurrection. Hort is probably right, however, in his contention that the emphasis is not on the initial act of faith here. It is rather the life of faith. It is the faith which makes faithful. Faith impinges on Christ notably in respect to the resurrection, without which the shedding of the precious blood would lack evidential guarantee. How clearly the Peter of the Acts is reproduced in his epistles! He loves to put the strong foundation of a risen Savior under a trembling faith and thus insure its stability and permanence. Without the resurrection, saving faith is really impossible (cf. Rom 10:9).
The ὥστε is more likely to introduce result here than purpose-“so that your faith and hope are in God.” The New Testament consistently represents God the Father as the One responsible for the resurrection. He designated the Son before all time as the Redeemer, sent Him into the world, then raised Him from the dead. Incarnation, redemption, resurrection-these are the weighty themes which have been enunciated. Not only faith, but hope is generated by the resurrection, in keeping with 1:3. Alford summarizes the teaching of the verse under consideration, “Your faith rests on Christ’s resurrection-it was God who raised Him: your hope, on Christ’s glorification: it is God who has given Him that glory.”
We come at length to the closing exhortation of this portion of the epistle-the plea for brotherly love (vv. 22–25). Contrary to normal Greek usage, there is no conjunction or particle serving to bridge the construction. We have to jump right into the new phase of thought. Although this is, technically, a case of asyndeton, in reality all the words from τάς to ἀληθείας combine to tie the thought to what has preceded, and thus effect the needed transition. Souls (cf. vs. 9) answers to the pronoun you or yours occurring repeatedly in the foregoing paragraph.
The participle ἡγνικότες, rendered “seeing ye have purified,” points back to the insistent demand for holiness. The perfect tense alludes to two things, the positional aspect of holiness stated in verse 2 and the experimental aspect developed in verses 14 to 16, the latter being the consequence of the former.
Obedience, likewise, has had its seed-plot in verses 2 and 14. It is about to be signalized for producing its fairest flower-love of the brethren.
And finally, the mention of truth sets up a contrast with the ἄγνοια of verse 14, as well as glancing forward to the Word of permanence and fruitfulness wherein the truth is enshrined.
Brotherly love (φιλαδελφία) is something distinctly Christian. Save for denoting affection between actual blood brothers, the word is absent from pagan sources of religion and philosophy up to this time, and even from the Septuagint and Apocrypha. It is the mark, above all other things, of that fellowship shared by believers, as the Lord declared in the intimate converse of the Upper Room (John 13:35). It takes account of the family tie rather than of individual attractiveness. This feature makes possible the realization of the appeal that this love be unfeigned (ἀνυπόκριτον). There is a divine workmanship in every saved life; a fair and incorruptible beauty quite different from the bloom of any natural excellence. The Father’s grace and love poured out upon His children make them lovable to one another (1 John 4:11; 5:1). They see the Father’s likeness in each other.
The word ἀνυπόκριτον is reinforced by ἐκ καρδίας. There must be affection without affectation. John’s words come readily to mind, “My little children, let us not love in word, neither in tongue; but in deed and in truth” (1 John 3:18). But even true love is capable of variation in its intensity, so ἐκτενω̂ς contains a further challenge. Love must be “stretched out” to attain its maximum worth. Jowett beautifully pictures the thought. “There is a suggestion of increased tension in the word, as when the string of a violin has been stretched to a tighter pitch that it might yield a higher note. That is the apostle’s figure-a little more tension, that you may reach a little higher note. There are heights of love unreached. Tighten the strings of your devotion, that your soul may yield the entrancing strains.”
The source of love is the new life which comes through being born anew (ἀναγεγεννημένοι). Some interesting problems emerge here. What is the incorruptible seed (σπορά)? Is it to be identified with the Word? What, in fact, is the Word? Are the terms living and abiding intended to describe God or the Word? What is the purpose of introducing the quotation from Isaiah? Let us take these matters under consideration. One might easily conclude that the seed is the Word, if only from the Master’s teaching in the parable of the Sower. “The seed (σπόρος) is the word (λόγος) of God” (Luke 8:11). Without laying any special emphasis on the fact that Peter uses σπορά rather than σπόρος, it is well, nevertheless, to note that he does not put λόγου in apposition with σπορα̂ς as defining it, but introduces a preposition. The new birth is ἐκ σπορα̂ς ἀφθάρτου διὰ λόγου Θεου̂. Evidently the seed and the Word are not quite interchangeable terms. The seed is the divine life itself, implanted in us at the new birth through the medium of the Word. Closely allied to this passage is 1 John 3:9, “Whosoever is born of God doth not commit sin; for his seed (σπέρμα) remaineth in him: and he cannot sin, because he is born of God.” Peter is referring to the same great spiritual fact which he describes in 2 Peter 1:4 as partaking of the divine nature. Doubtless the λόγος is the spoken or written, rather than the personal Word, the Lord Jesus Christ, since the conclusion of the matter set forth in verse 25 emphasizes the spoken message. Perhaps the two are not to be too sharply differentiated. The early fathers were zealous for the personal sense wherever they could find the slightest warrant for it, and delighted to combine it with the other in mystical fashion. The assignment of ζω̂ντος καὶ μένοντος to λόγου or Θεου̂ is not an easy decision. Hort favors the latter, saying, “The contrast to οὐκ ἐκ σπορα̂ς φθαρτη̂ς is rather enhanced than weakened by referring the abidingness of the new life at once to its highest source, not to the intermediate channel.” He bases his case somewhat, too, on Daniel 6:26, where living and abiding are epithets of God. But the Word is a living entity, too (Heb 4:12) and its permanence is vouched for in passages too numerous to mention. The first statement of verse 25 would seem to be decisively in favor of this latter meaning.
We will not attempt a careful discussion of the quotation from Isaiah 40. The chapter is one of the most remarkable in all Scripture for placing God and man in sharp antithesis. Human life, however beautiful in appearance, is fleeting and perishable, but God in His being, word, and purpose, is enduring. Masterman finds the utility of the passage for Peter’s purpose to be along this line. “The design is to bring into contrast the transitoriness of the human forces arrayed against the Gospel and the stability of the Church of Christ.” The Word abides, and so does the life which it engenders.
Peter closes the chapter by calling attention, as before (vs. 12), to the faithful testimony of those who had evangelized his readers. The hand which once clasped Paul’s over the conference table in Jerusalem in token of their agreement as to the Gospel and their respective spheres in its proclamation, would fain clasp it again over the heads of these converts. Paul planted, Cephas is watering; the God of both will give the increase.
[1]
Let us examine first the doctrine of the Word of God. This has a double reference, since Christ and the written Word both answer to this title. Such a double reference is not accidental. The written Word is intended above everything else to set forth the glories of our Lord. He Himself is called the Word (John 1:1, 14; Rev 19:13). In His being, He is eternal (John 1:1, 2). Therefore, maintaining the correspondence noted above, the written
Word must be eternal also. It is settled for ever in heaven (Ps 119:89). It liveth and abideth for ever (1 Pet 1:23). It will outlast the present heaven and earth (Matt 24:35). Doubtless through the ages to come we will occupy, among other things, in tracing the excellencies of our Lord as they are reflected in His Word, seeing them no longer dimly, but with full understanding.
But the written Word is also related to the Spirit, since He is the One who moved and controlled the human writers (2 Pet 1:21). It becomes entirely reasonable, then, to expect a dynamic quality in the Word. It is called living and powerful (Heb 4:12). It has vitality and motion. It is like a fire (Jer 20:9) and a hammer (Jer 23:29). It speeds upon its divine mission (Ps 147:15; Isa 55:10, 11; 2 Thess 3:1). Like the Spirit Himself, it breathes infinite variety and unfailing freshness. The Word is never dull and drab, but instinct with life. It abounds with varied provision for the needs of God’s people, containing spiritual food for every day’s routine as well as special guidance and help for crisis times. The very form of Scripture attests its nature and origin, the Spirit providing a generous variety. The Word contains both prose and poetry, history and prophecy, instruction and admonition, promise and pleading, prayer and praise. It is a fountain that never fails, a treasure store that cannot be exhausted. A lifetime spent in its careful and devout study enables one merely to touch the hem of the garment.
[2]
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[1]Dallas Theological Seminary: Bibliotheca Sacra Volume 98. Dallas Theological Seminary, 1941; 2002, S. 98:188-193
[2]Dallas Theological Seminary: Bibliotheca Sacra Volume 95. Dallas Theological Seminary, 1938; 2002, S. 95:440-441