The Vehicle Of Our Salvation 1 Peter 1:22-25 Introduction

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1 Introduction Peter knew the truth about suffering, pain and hardship. The great theme of this letter is God s grace and the living hope we have in the Lord Jesus Christ. Peter has drawn attention to the source of our salvation (vv.1-2); the security or the guarantee of our salvation (vv. 3-5); the joy of our salvation (vv.6-9); the Old Testament testimony as the theme of our salvation (vv.10-12a); and the angels fascination with our salvation (v.12b). Peter has touched on our response to our salvation (vv.13-17); we are to be holy before God (vv.14-16); we are to honor God (v.17). Then Peter wrote about the cost of our salvation (vv.18-19); we were not purchased by temporal treasure but rather the precious blood of Jesus Christ. God planned our salvation and Christ s sacrifice before the foundation of the earth (vv.20-21). Now Peter writes of the vehicle of our salvation; we are born again; the new birth is brought about by the Spirit of God working in relationship to the Word of God. That new birth is characterized by a Spirit Directed Love (v. 22); A Spirit Delivered Life (v.23); A Spirit Determined Legacy (vv.24-25). We are Christians. Our lives are characterized by our love for one another. We are Christians. We are born again. We are Christians. Our life is not temporal but eternal. We are Christians. We are Christians because we have heard the gospel and received Jesus Christ and because something powerful, supernatural, and eternal has happened. Peter encourages us to live in hope (vv.1-12); to live in holiness (vv.13-21); and now the appeal is to live in harmony (vv.22- to the end of the chapter). Would you say your life is lived in hope, and holiness and harmony? Harmony is a foreign word in many hearts and homes and sadly even in the church. Our lives as Christians within the Body of Christ are supposed to be marked by unity and love for one another; we are supposed to be characterized by our love for those who have no love for us; but sadly we are often seen by both believer and unbeliever as fragmented, factious, divided and distressed. Accusations abound; unity and love are desirable; but discernment and doctrine seem less desirable. Peter does not preach unity at the expense of purity or truth; but Peter has in the back of his mind the backdrop of suffering, pain and persecution. Clearly the people in Peter s audience are going through trials (v.6); and some no doubt were hurting; some no doubt were facing a constant barrage of testings, temptations; temptations to conform; to compromise; to give up altogether (vv.14-15). Has that thought crossed your mind lately? Peter reminds the reader of their need to pull together instead of pull apart. Can we build a community of mutual support; love and kindness? Probably not. Unless there is a miracle; unless there is a supernatural work of the Holy Spirit! What tools or resources are available to make such a thing even possible? We have the example and instruction of Jesus. In John s Gospel; with only hours left to live; Jesus took a towel and washed the disciple s feet. A new commandment I give to you, that you love one another, even as I have loved you, that you also love one another. By this all me will know that you are My disciples, if you have love for one another (John 13:24-35). 1

2 How can we live in holiness, honoring God and in harmony with one another? We must demonstrate that supernatural love, commanded by Jesus and demanded as the sure sign of a watching world. A Spirit Directed Love (v.22) 1 Peter 1:22 (NKJV) 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, The text is rich and each word is important. This is no ordinary love. This is a Spirit directed love. Since you have purified your souls in obeying the truth... Peter points to several things in this passage. All deserve our careful consideration. A Spirit-Directed Love includes (1) obedience to the truth; (2) a purity of soul; (3) and a lack of hypocrisy. Obedience To The Truth The truth obeyed means the truth of the Gospel; we obeyed the Gospel by believing the Gospel. Peter is not promoting a works based righteousness or a works based faith. Paul wrote in Romans 6:16; Do you not know that when you present yourselves to someone as slaves for obedience, you are slaves of the one whom you obey, either of sin resulting in death, or of obedience resulting in righteousness? Saving faith brings with it the ability to believe the gospel; obey the gospel; believing the gospel and obeying the gospel gives us the ability to manifest the love of God in our lives and share that love with others! What does obedience to the truth include?...love one another fervently The word fervently (ektenos) does not mean simply with warmth but rather with full intensity. The expression was used to describe something fully stretched out; we would say go all out. When an athlete warms up she stretches her muscles; he stretches the muscle so that he can exercise the muscle to the greatest extent. The Lord might say to you; Love that person. You say That s a stretch. The Lord says; Exactly. In a few chapters (4:8) Peter will write; And above all things have fervent love for one another, for love will cover a multitude of sins. 2

3 How far can love stretch? Can love stretch and cover sin among believers? Kenneth Wuest: These Christians to whom Peter was writing already had a fondness and affection for one another. The feeling of fondness and affection was perfectly proper in itself, but it could degenerate into an attachment for another which would be very selfish. But if these Christians could blend the two kinds of love, saturate the human fondness and affection with the divine love with which they are exhorted to love one another, then that human affection would be transformed and elevated to a heavenly thing. Then the fellowship of saint with saint would be a heavenly fellowship, glorifying the Lord Jesus, and most blessed in its results to themselves. There is plenty of the phile fondness and affection among the saints, and too little of the agape divine love. A Purity Of Soul The purity of soul does not come from personal cleansing or personal will power. The purity is not a human work; but rather the divine work of God. This is the purging of sin that accompanies saving faith. Peter has already written that we are saved according to the foreknowledge of God the Father, by the sanctifying work of the Spirit, to obey Jesus Christ and be sprinkled with His blood (v.2). We might think that we are made pure so that we can be accepted by God; and that is true! But we are made pure for other reasons as well. We are made pure so that we might love one another! Souls here stand for the entire moral and spiritual being (see v.9). The purification is stated as a fact of the past with abiding results in the present. Obedience to the truth is what secures this purity. A Lack Of Hypocrisy...in sincere love of the Brethren The word sincere is anupokriton. The literal translation is without hypocrisy. Paul knew the dangers of hypocrisy: Let love be without hypocrisy (Rom.12:9). Sincere love sets the standard. The word hypocrisy started out as one who answers and then came to be applied to the rehearsed lines of actors on the stage. Often actors would wear masks and augment voices in order to make their part more believable. Someone once said that hypocrisy was the lubricant of society. No so for the Christian. In case some wanted to default to some kind of command or legalistic external requirement; Peter adds with a pure heart or from the heart. We are not simply motivated by the external commands of loving Savior who has every right to command us to love one another. But we are compelled from within; the fruit of the Holy Spirit living inside our hearts; we walk by the Spirit, and you will not carry out the desire of the flesh...but the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, self-control; against such things there is no law. Now 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 (Gal. 5:16, 22-25). 3

4 C.S. Lewis wrote: A perfect man would never act from a sense of duty...duty is only a substitute for love, like a crutch which is a substitute for a leg. Most of us need the crutch at times; but of course it is idiotic to use the crutch when our own legs can do the journey on their own. A Spirit Delivered Life (v.23) 1 Peter 1:23 (NKJV) having been born again, not of corruptible seed but incorruptible, through the word of God which lives and abides forever, Peter s comment about being born again is in the context of a call to harmony; to love each other in purity, fervently, sincerely; because we are born again! having been born again the perfect past participle anagegennemenoi; the emphasis is on a past event with ongoing results in the present. One of those results is the fact that believers will show love for one another. The Bible speaks of this radical transformation of going from dark to light and from death to life. Jesus spoke to the religious leader Nicodemus and describes this as being born from on high. Paul writes to the Romans 6:3; Or do you not know that as many of us as were baptized into Christ Jesus were baptized into His death? Therefore we were buried with Him through baptism into death, that just as Christ was raised from the dead by the glory of the Father, even so we also should walk in newness of life. Paul is not speaking of a religious ritual or a water baptism; Paul is speaking of spiritual immersion in Christ symbolized by water baptism. Immersion into Christ means believers are placed into his death; and we are placed into His death; are old life is dead; and we are identified with Jesus in His resurrection by which we share a new life; eternal life. This life is radical. 2 Corinthians 5:17 (NKJV) Therefore, if anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation; old things have passed away; behold, all things have become new. Someone once asked Billy Graham, If Christianity is valid, why is there so much evil in the world? Billy Graham replied, With so much soap, why are there so many dirty people in the world? Christianity, like soap, must be personally applied if it is to make a difference in our lives. The seed represents the source of life. Life produces life. But nothing in the material world has the ability to produce spiritual life, eternal life. Clearly God did not produce something spiritual and eternal by using something material and temporal. God uses the eternal and spiritual. Jesus said, My words are spirit and they are life (John 6:63). 4

5 Theologians speak of the new birth as being monergistic. It means that the work is one way; it is the work of God; by God s Holy Spirit. A baby cannot be born by his or her will power. A baby is born by the activity of two people; a mother and a father. In our world of modern science and advanced technology, a seed is still required, and so is an egg. The Spirit of God and the Word of God unite to produce new life. The Bible teaches that God does something that only God can do. Save us. But there is something that only we can do. Repent of our sins and believe the Gospel. Peter points out that we have all received new life in Christ; and because we have received new life in Christ we are motivated to please God, obey the truth, keep ourselves pure and love our brothers and sisters! A Spirit Determined Legacy (vv.24-25) 1 Peter 1:24 (NKJV) 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, Peter contrast the temporal with the eternal; the perishable and the imperishable. The living Word, the enduring Word, the powerful Word, has as its source the living God; the unchanging God, the powerful and personal God. Peter quotes Isaiah 40:6-7; 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 withers, the flower fades. We don t usually call people flesh. We call them people. Plants grow quickly and die quickly. Plants produce flowers; and the flower is beautiful. The songwriter may produce a song that is sung for a very long time. The writer may write a book that is read for a very long time. The movie maker may produce a film that is watched for a very long time. The glory of man are all those things that make us appear attractive or acceptable or honorable. Stars of stage and screen may long for their hand prints to be placed on Hollywood Boulevard. But human beings age; some die young and some die old. Someone once said, Know this: though love is weak and hate is strong, yet hate is short, and love is very long. The poet Robert Browning confessed; What s earth with all its art, verse, music, worth compared with love, found, gained and kept? And there s the rub. Human love found, human love gained, and human love kept is by nature temporal. Temporary human love makes poverty bearable. Albert Einstein devoted his life to math, physics and the study of gravity. But even this genius admitted; Gravitation can not be held responsible for people falling in love. 5

6 I deeply admired George Washington Carver. He wrote; Anything will give up its secrets if you love it enough. Not only have I found that when I talk to the little flower or to the little peanut they will give up their secrets, but I have found that when I silently commune with people they give up their secrets also--if you love them enough. 1 Peter 1:25 (NKJV) But the word of the Lord endures forever. Now this is the word which by the gospel was preached to you. The word of the Lord lasts forever. If the word of God lives in you; abides in you; you will last as long as it lasts! The only thing that will last forever is God s will and God s word, and God s work. We are mortal. God is immortal. God s Word, God s promise, God s hope, God s love, is eternal and unfailing. Peter s audience faced suffering and persecution. The suffering was temporary. The persecution limited--in the sense that it would come to an end. The saving Word is the gospel. Peter uses the word rhema (rather than logos) and is a broad reference to the Scripture. The word is preached; the same root word which means the good news or the gospel. John 5:24 (NKJV) Most assuredly, I say to you, he who hears My word and believes in Him who sent Me has everlasting life, and shall not come into judgment, but has passed from death into life. The born again believer possesses new life in the Spirit. We have the capacity to love with God s love. We also have the presence of our unredeemed flesh (by that I mean everything we are apart from Jesus Christ). We sometimes fail to love as we should. With God s grace and by God s power we are capable of responding to God s call to love one another. Conclusion In the opening chapter Peter calls us to live steadfastly in hope (v.13) set your hope fully upon the grace that is coming to at the revelation of Jesus Christ. Set your hope. We are not only to live steadfastly in hope we are to live sensitively--in holiness (vv.14-21). Set apart in love. We are to live sincerely--in harmony (vv.22-25). Some things are essential to Christian harmony. Some things are enemies to Christian harmony. Peter asks us to consider that we are children in the same family. We have experienced the same birth. We express the same love (v.22). We share the same Spirit and embrace the same Word. 6

7 Clearly we have seen that love is essential; love from the heart. In a few short verses Paul will give us a laundry list of what not to do. It s not often I get to watch a baseball game. Last week I got to see our Rockies play the World Series Champs--the Boston Red Sox. Long ago I remember reading about a game played on July 15th Roger Clemens was a right-handed pitcher in his first All-Star Game. In the second inning he came to bat, something he hadn t done in years because of the American League s designated-hitter rule. He took a few uncertain practice swings and then looked at his forbidding opponent, Dwight Gooden, who the previous year had won the Cy Young award. Gooden wound up and thew a white-hot fast ball past Clemens. With an embarrassed smile on his face, Clemens stepped out of the box and asked catcher Gary Carter, Is that what my pitches look like? You bet it is! replied Carter. Although Clemens quickly struck out, he went on to pitch three perfect innings and be named the game s most valuable player. From that day on, he later said, with a fresh reminder of how overpowering a good fastball is he pitched with far greater boldness. Sometimes we forget the Holy Spirit within us and how powerful our love and our witness can be. The gospel has supernatural power--and Jesus has supernatural love. When you live in hope; and live in holiness; and live in harmony; you will take the world s breath away. They will want to know; how do you do it? They may want to know the source of salvation! Will you be able to share how you have been chosen by the Father (vv.1-2a); how you have made holy by the Spirit (v.2b) and how you are cleansed by the blood of the Son (v.2c)? Will you be able to point to the guarantee of salvation (vv.3-5); and the joy of salvation (vv.6-9); and share how this salvation has been the theme of every Old Testament saint (vv.10-12a). Will you be able to share the angels curiosity (v.12b); and your own response to God s glorious gift of Jesus Christ? Can you share the cost of our salvation (vv.18-21); and the vehicle of our salvation (vv.22-25)? A new birth from an old book! 7