Free Bible Commentary
“First Peter 1:22-25”
Categories: First Peter“Since you have in obedience to the truth purified your souls for a sincere love of the brethren, fervently love one another from the heart, for you have been born again not of seed which is perishable but imperishable, that is, through the living and enduring 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 off, but the word of the Lord endures forever.’ And this is the word which was preached to you.”
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Peter carried his brethren back in time to the memory of when they “purified” their “souls” by obeying the Gospel and were spiritually “born again,” to encourage them to “love one another from the heart” (verses 22-23). Their “obedience to the truth” entailed believing the Gospel, turning from the sins that separated them from God, and being baptized in order to have those sins forgiven. It was the Apostle Peter himself that commanded the penitent believers in Jerusalem on that Pentecost day so many centuries ago to “repent, and each of you be baptized in the name of Jesus Christ for the forgiveness of your sins; and you will receive the gift of the Holy Spirit” (Acts 2:38). The same obedience that was required of the first converts to Christ is necessary for all who desire the new spiritual beginning.
Peter reminds all of us that the spiritual rebirth we experienced at our conversion to Christ was into something much larger than our own, individual salvation. Our purification by obedience to “the word of the Lord” that “endures forever” (verse 25) should prompt us to love our brethren “fervently from the heart” in all sincerity. It was Christ’s love for all people that prompted Him to die for the sins of the world and establish His church. Because of Christ’s love for us we should have abiding love for all people, and especially our brethren who have been born again into the same spiritual family. Jesus said in John 13:34-35, “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 men will know that you are My disciples, if you have love for one another.”
When we were born into this world we were “fearfully and wonderfully made” (Psalm 139:14), but it was from a seed that “withers” and perishes. The inspired word of God is “living and enduring” and “imperishable” (verse 23). It is spiritual seed that “endures forever” (verses 25). When we are born again by obedient faith in Christ through the word, we will endure forever as well.
Please read 1 Peter 2:1-3 for tomorrow.
Have a blessed day!
-Louie Taylor
