The Transforming Power of the Word of God 1 Peter 1:22-25
Throughout our study of the first chapter of Peter’s letter to the scattered exiles who lived under the power of the Roman Empire we have seen how Peter clearly lays out what God has done on behalf of His people and how they were to live in light of God’s gracious acts on their behalf. Peter did not address them as a minority population, an oppressed people, or victims of the horrible things that were done to them, and would be done to them in the future. Instead, a little later in his letter, he will write,
9 But you are a chosen people, a royal priesthood, a holy nation, God’s special possession, that you may declare the praises of him who called you out of darkness into his wonderful light. (1 Peter 2:9 NIV)
What was being done to them, what they were suffering as a result of their being followers of Jesus, was nothing in comparison to who they were in Christ. Their hardships were not to define them. Who they were in Christ was their identity and that identity would empower them to be who God had called them to be. They were God’s “chosen people,” they were “a royal priesthood,” they were “a holy nation,” they were “God’s special possession” and they were all of these for a purpose: Their purpose was to “declare the praises of him who called you out of darkness into his wonderful light.”
This is such an important lesson and reminder to all of us who are living in the United States all of these many years later. Let me tell you, nothing has changed in regards to God’s calling on your life and mine. We are not to be defined by our hardships in life, or by any other identity for that matter. We have been chosen by God, saved by faith in Jesus, empowered by the Word of God, and guided and directed by the Holy Spirit so that we might proclaim the praises of Him who called us out of the same darkness into His wonderful light. There are incredible opportunities that are before us, if we will only let His light shine. That’s a big “if,” a really big “if.” Many years ago I heard Brennan Manning say,
The greatest single cause of atheism in the world today is Christians: who acknowledge Jesus with their lips, then walk out the door and deny him by their lifestyle. That is what an unbelieving world simply finds unbelievable. (Brennan Manning)
In my experience over the past forty years, I would say that the number one area of our failing is in the area of loving one another. We can easily come up with other areas in which the Body of Christ has failed to live out our calling, but I have seen a persistent failure in our willingness to love one another through the hard times of life. Let me give you an example. During the past four or five years the Church has been ripped apart through political elections, Covid, and cultural disagreements over hot topic issues. I have read stories about how churches have split and lost their witness in the community. I know about long standing relationships between brothers-and-sisters-in-Christ that ended over something as nonessential and silly as who they were voting or not voting for in the election, wearing masks or being vaccinated, and cultural issues that are important, but never should be a threat to the love which binds us together. There will be more divisive issues in the future and our Scripture for this morning speaks so boldly as to how you and I as followers of Jesus can avoid the divisiveness. Let’s read our Scripture found in 1 Peter 1:22-25.
22 Now that you have purified yourselves by obeying the truth so that you have sincere love for each other, love one another deeply, from the heart. 23 For you have been born again, not of perishable seed, but of imperishable, through the living and enduring word of God. 24 For, “All people are like grass, and all their glory is like the flowers of the field; the grass withers and the flowers fall, 25 but the word of the Lord endures forever.” And this is the word that was preached to you. (1 Peter 1:22-25 NIV)
I want us to take a look at verse 22 for a moment because if we isolate this verse it sounds like purifying ourselves is our work when in actuality the Bible speaks clearly that it is God’s work. The Greek word translated “purified” is the word “hagnizo” and it means to “purify” or “to make pure or free from sin or guilt.” Peter assumes those who are hearing his letter are those who have been purified by “obeying the truth.” What does it mean to “obey the truth?”
There’s lots of talk about truth in our day, but the truth that we talk about has nothing to do with what the Bible has in mind when it mentions “truth.” The truth of the Bible is the Gospel, the Good News of Jesus Christ. Let me give you just a couple of examples to show you what I’m talking about. Turn with me to Ephesians 1:13 and let’s read it together.
13 And you also were included in Christ when you heard the message of truth, the gospel of your salvation. When you believed, you were marked in him with a seal, the promised Holy Spirit, (Ephesians 1:13 NIV)
I’m thankful Paul defines the “message of truth” for us. He says the message of truth is “the gospel of your salvation” which comes through our faith in Jesus’ sacrifice on our behalf. There’s one more example I want to show you and it is found in Colossians 1:3-6.
3 We always thank God, the Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, when we pray for you, 4because we have heard of your faith in Christ Jesus and of the love you have for all God’s people– 5 the faith and love that spring from the hope stored up for you in heaven and about which you have already heard in the true message of the gospel 6 that has come to you. In the same way, the gospel is bearing fruit and growing throughout the whole world– just as it has been doing among you since the day you heard it and truly understood God’s grace. (Colossians 1:3-6 NIV)
Those who received this letter from Peter had obeyed the truth of the Gospel. They had been presented with the truth that Jesus died for the forgiveness of their sins, that He rose on the third day, and He is now empowering His chosen people through the ministry of the Word of God and the Holy Spirit. When we obey the truth of the Gospel, God begins to change us, our lives begin to change. John Piper wrote,
Faith alone unites us to Christ and Christ alone is the ground of our justification. Our obedience is the fruit of that faith. The faith that justifies is the kind of faith that, by the Holy Spirit, changes us. If your faith in Christ leaves you unchanged, you don’t have saving faith. Obedience—not perfection, but a new direction of thought and affections and behavior—is the fruit that shows that the faith is alive. James put it this way, “So also faith by itself, if it does not have works, is dead” (James 2:17). Faith alone justifies, but the faith that justifies is never alone. It is always accompanied by “newness of life” (Romans 6:4). (John Piper. Command of God: The Obedience of Faith. December 3, 2006)
At the end of our time together this morning I want to give you who have never obeyed the truth of the gospel an opportunity to do that before we leave this sanctuary. When we obey the truth of the gospel, God begins to transform us, mold us and shape us into the men and women, boys and girls that He desires for us to be so that we can live out His will for our lives. What is His will for our lives? Let’s go back to verse 22 and see if we can find an answer to that question.
22 Now that you have purified yourselves by obeying the truth so that you have sincere love for each other, love one another deeply, from the heart. (1 Peter 1:22 NIV)
God purifies us through our obedience to the truth of the gospel so that, in order that, we may have “sincere love for each other,” so that we may “love one another deeply from the heart.” “Sincere love for each other” and “love one another deeply from the heart” are two phrases that we could spend the rest of the year studying and seeking to live out this calling in our daily lives. I want to assure you that this type of active love, fervent love for others is not something that we can produce in and of ourselves. We do well loving the people we want to love, those that are closest to us, but even then, our love is only strong when they do what we expect them to do. I have known parents who have turned away from their children because of decisions their children have made. I’ve also known children who have cut off their relationship with their parents because they didn’t do what the child wanted them to do. And when it comes to those outside of our circle of love, we tend to fail miserably in loving them the way the Lord calls us to love them. Matthew Henry wrote,
The souls of Christians must be purified before they can so much as love one another unfeigned. There are such lusts and partialities in man’s nature that without divine grace we can neither love God nor one another as we ought to do; there is no charity but out of a pure heart. It is the duty of all Christians sincerely and fervently to love one another. Our affection to one another must be sincere and real, and it must be fervent, constant, and extensive. (Matthew Henry)
It is not possible for us to love one another the way God commands us to love one another apart from the transforming power of new life found in Jesus Christ. Some of you may disagree with me, but I want you to really listen for the next few minutes as we work to understand what Peter intends when he writes, “sincere love for each other” and “love one another deeply.”
The Greek word that is translated “sincere” in your Bible is the word “anupokritos,” and it means, “without hypocrisy” or “genuine.” This Greek word really originated in the Greek theater where actors wore masks and would switch masks when they switched characters in the play. The same idea is behind our phrase “two faced.” We all know what that phrase means don’t we? Peter is telling the followers of Jesus that their love is not to be two-faced, but it is to be sincere love. Our love for one another is to be completely real. Paul used this same Greek word for “sincere” when he wrote to the followers of Jesus in Rome, in Romans 12:9-10. Read it with me.
9 Love must be sincere. Hate what is evil; cling to what is good. 10 Be devoted to one another in love. Honor one another above yourselves. (Romans 12:9-10 NIV)
The second description of this love we are to have for one another is also found in verse 22 where Peter writes, “love one another deeply, from the heart.” The Greek word translated “deeply” is the word “ektenos,” and it means, “fervently, eagerly,” or “to stretch.” I’ve looked up other places where this Greek word appears in the New Testament and I love the idea that God calls us to love in a way that stretches us. Let me show you one example where you can easily see how the word means to be “stretched.” While Jesus was praying in in the Garden of Gethsemane, we read,
44 Being in anguish, He prayed more fervently, and His sweat became like drops of blood falling to the ground. (Luke 22:44 CSB)
Jesus was in anguish. He knew the time was drawing near when He would be beaten and nailed to a cross so “He prayed more fervently…” The same word is used in Acts 12:5 to describe how the church prayed for Peter, when Peter was in prison. We are to love one another “deeply.” Our love is not to be a shallow love, but a deep, deep love that is willing to be stretched. I shared with you earlier how disturbing it is to me that we, the followers of Jesus, allow so many things to destroy our relationships with other believers. This is evidence that we are not loving one another deeply. Because we are human, because we are sinners by our very nature, we are going to do things and say things that are going to hurt one another. When that happens the true test of our faith is this: Are we willing to love one another deeply, to the degree that we allow the grace, mercy, and reconciling power of Jesus, the One who has loved us deeply, to restore what has been broken in our relationship? I hope you will spend much time meditating on this truth the next time you get crossways with someone.
Another way we are stretched is by being around people who are different from us. They do things differently than we do them, they think differently than we think, and they enjoy things that we could care less about. We tend to form our friendships with those we have the most in common. That’s certainly how the world works, but it’s not how God desires for the Body of Christ to function. H.B. Charles wrote,
Church growth experts teach “The Homogenous Principle,” which claims groups grow faster when built around what people have in common. Many churches are built around this principle. It is why the church has little gospel impact in the world. We do church based on what we share in common naturally, not supernaturally. Race, money, and politics trump the supremacy of Christ in his church. The way the church can change the world is by a supernatural love that can only be explained by the gospel of Jesus Christ.(Charles, H.B. Love One Another. April 16, 2021)
Lives are impacted when we, the followers of Jesus demonstrate a supernatural love that can only be explained by the gospel of Jesus Christ. If you were with us last Sunday and you witnessed Nabi’s baptism then you saw a living example of the transforming power of Jesus’ love. While Nabi read his testimony he was surrounded by people who have shown him Jesus’ love in an unmistakable way. It is Jesus that has changed Nabi’s life, but Jesus’ instruments of love and grace were the men and women who have loved him.
Let’s take a look at our three remaining verses in our Scripture for today. If you will read them with me.
23 For you have been born again, not of perishable seed, but of imperishable, through the living and enduring word of God. 24 For, “All people are like grass, and all their glory is like the flowers of the field; the grass withers and the flowers fall, 25 but the word of the Lord endures forever.” And this is the word that was preached to you. (1 Peter 1:23-25 NIV)
Peter reminds the followers of Jesus, they have been “born again…” The term “born again” is a phrase that we don’t hear used too much today, but it was really popular among Christians back in the 70s mainly because of a high profile person in the Watergate scandal, Chuck Colson, who wrote a book about his conversion called, Born Again, and then, in 1977, a relatively unknown politician from Georgia named Jimmy Carter won the Democratic presidential nomination and was elected President. Jimmy Carter got a lot of attention during his campaign because he identified as a “born again Christian.” The vast majority of political commentators had no idea what the word meant. The description fell out of favor in Christian circles after a while, but I think it is such a helpful description of what God has done for all of those who become followers of Jesus.
Every person here this morning has experienced physical birth, but not everyone here has experienced spiritual birth, or been born again. We are given physical birth through the “perishable seed” and we experience “spiritual birth,” or being born again through the imperishable seed of the living and enduring word of God. The Greek word translated “seed” represents the source of life. Natural life begins from a perishable seed and all natural life is subject to decay and destruction. Perishable seeds can never reproduce imperishable seed, but as followers of Jesus, we have been given new life through the imperishable seed of God’s Word.
Jesus told a parable about a sower who went out to sow his seed. Some fell on the path, some fell on rocky soil, some fell among the thorns, and some fell on good soil. Only the seed that fell on good soil produced a harvest. In Luke 8:11, at the end of Jesus’ parable, He said, “…The seed is the word of God.” (Luke 8:11b NIV)
I want us to notice how Peter describes the word of God in verse 23. He says God’s word is both “living” and “enduring.” When I read those descriptions I immediately thought about Hebrews 4:12, which is such a powerful description of God’s Word. Read it with me.
12 For the word of God is alive and active. Sharper than any double-edged sword, it penetrates even to dividing soul and spirit, joints and marrow; it judges the thoughts and attitudes of the heart. (Hebrews 4:12 NIV)
God’s Word, the Bible, is living and active. It is unlike any book that has ever been written or will ever be written. God’s Word is able to speak to the deepest part of who we are as people. God’s Word is able to unmask those things we hide from others, hoping they will never find out about us. Do you remember the story I shared last week about James Tour, the young Jewish man who was addicted to pornography and thought no one knew about it, until he read Matthew 5:28? Let’s read it again.
28 But I tell you that anyone who looks at a woman lustfully has already committed adultery with her in his heart. (Matthew 5:28 NIV)
After reading the verse James said he knew that Jesus, a Man who lived 2,000 years ago was calling him out on his sin. God’s Word is able to reveal what we have concealed from others. God’s Word is also able to comfort those who have given up all hope. God’s Word is able to meet us at the crossroads when we have no direction and no idea which way we should go and steer us in the right direction. God’s Word is living and enduring, it has stood the test of time, the attack of those who have sought to discredit it and rid the world of it. In verse 24, Peter quotes from Isaiah 40:6-8. Let’s read those verses together.
6 A voice says, “Cry out.” And I said, “What shall I cry?” “All people are like grass, and all their faithfulness is like the flowers of the field. 7 The grass withers and the flowers fall, because the breath of the LORD blows on them. Surely the people are grass. 8 The grass withers and the flowers fall, but the word of our God endures forever.” (Isaiah 40:6-8 NIV)
“All people are like grass…The grass withers and the flowers fall, but the word of our God endures forever.” It is really remarkable the number of inventions we have come up with to try and postpone the withering of our bodies isn’t it? There are whole industries that have been invented to help us postpone old age and the decaying of our bodies and yet they all ultimately fail us. The truth of the matter is that from the moment of our birth we are not only living, but we are dying. Our time on this earth is so brief. James put it this way.
14 Why, you do not even know what will happen tomorrow. What is your life? You are a mist that appears for a little while and then vanishes. (James 4:14 NIV)
We are a mist, like the morning fog that so quickly is burned off by the noonday sun, and it happens so quickly. Some of you who are younger think I’m just a gloomy, dreary, depressing old man to talk like this, but it is so true. It happens so fast. It happens to everyone. And it has happened throughout history. Charles Spurgeon wrote, in 1874,
The whole history of man may be seen in the meadow. He springs up green and tender, subject to the frosts of infancy which imperil his young life; he grows, he comes to maturity, he puts on beauty even as the grass is adorned with flowers, and the meads are bedecked with varied hues; but after awhile his strength departs, and his beauty is wrinkled, even as the grass withers, and is followed by a fresh generation, which withers in its turn. (Spurgeon, Charles. Flashes of Thought. 1874)
I got to the pool to swim in the mornings and each morning I’m reminded of the withering and wilting of my body. God, in His Providence, has made it so that there are high school swimmers who work out with their coaches at the same time I swim each morning. Those young guys and girls remind me of just how old I have gotten. What has happened to me? As long as I know the truth, the truth of God’s Word, the reality of my wilting and withering body is not nearly as shocking, because I have put my faith not in my youthfulness, but in my King, the One Who’s Word endures forever! In 1944, Harry Rimmer wrote a sermon titled, “The Seven Wonders of the Word.” In his sermon he wrote,
Men have died on the gallows for reading it, and have been burned at the stake for owning it. Tortures too fiendish to describe have been visited upon delicate women and tender children for looking on its pages. Yet in spite of the strongest forces that Hell could unleash and in the face of the animosity of tyrants and despots, there are more Bibles in the earth today than there are copies of any other book ever written by the hand of man! (Rimmer, Harry. The Seven Wonders of The Word.)
God’s Word is not just alive, it is not just enduring, but it is also transforming. I want to invite you this morning to turn to the truths of God’s Word, the truth that is Jesus, the long awaited Messiah, the One who is able to save you from your sins, reconcile you to God the Father, and change your heart and your mind. Won’t you invite Him in?
Mike Hays
Britton Christian Church
April 7, 2024