Episode 2 - 1 Peter 1:22-25

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What’s up, guys!

This is Josh with Shepherd’s Cast and I want to welcome you to the podcast where I talk to you about the things that I find important. My content is meant to inform, educate, puzzle, or be funny. If it does something other than what I’ve just said, then Soli Deo Gloria, we will just call it providence. All of what I say is read from blog posts that I have written and can be found on my website with the link in the show notes.

So, anyway, yeah, here we go…

Before I dive in… I want to explain what I’m doing with this.

I used to do verse break-downs like this a lot a few months ago but they became very time consuming and managed to become something that had fallen off my plate. In beginning these, again, I, instead, wanted to turn them into short podcasts that you can listen to on your way to work, or wherever, to encourage you or inform you as to what these things mean.

Some will certainly be obvious. But I sincerely hope that these can provide you with tools that can help you further your Christian walk as you get to know the God of the Bible.

The Text

So, without any further pause, today we are going to be digging through 1 Peter 1:22-25. It says in 1 Peter:

Having purified your souls by your obedience to the truth for a sincere brotherly love, love one another earnestly from a pure heart, 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. 1 Peter 1:22-25

This passage comes from one of Peter’s epistles. He is making the case for the saints to become holy, which is just as applicable today as it was in the time of the writing. In this passage we can pull out a couple of different things, one being how we are called to be holy, and two being the reason we are called to be holy.

“Having purified your souls by your obedience to the truth for a sincere brotherly love…” The first thing we should clarify is how purification, in this instance, is sanctification. Sanctification is the act in which we are renewed to become more like Christ, or the process in which we are being made holy. And, as you see above in verse 16, the saints are called to be holy.

We, the elect (verse 1), are called to be “obedient to the truth.” In modern language this can sound almost legalistic as we are often met by a more Antinomian view of how Christians are to act in the modern church. You may often hear “Yeah, but I’m forgiven.” Or “It’s a good thing God knows I’m not perfect.” The problem with this is that we are called to “Go, and sin no more.” (John 8:11). And, beyond that, if we love God, we will keep His commands (John 14:15). This is not to downplay Christ’s forgiveness in His act of justification – it is merely to annunciation how we, the justified, are called to a higher standard – one that exemplifies the fruit of our salvation (Matthew 7:17)

I’ve often heard “Well, the commands given by Jesus are to love God and to love people.” People use this as a copout to ignore the call to follow the moral law. And that copout is hardly reconcilable with the knowledge that Jesus is God and that the will of both the Father and Jesus are not against one another. The statement Jesus makes in Matthew 22:37-40 is a summary of the moral law. If we love God, we will not have any other gods, we will not make any images, we will not use His name in vain, etc. If we love people, we will not steal, kill, or commit adultery. And this follows alongside with what Peter continues to say in his epistle. “… love one another with a pure heart.” If we love one another with a pure heart, we will be obedient. And why will we do so? Because we have been born again.

So, we know, and understand, that we are called to obedience once in Christ, but for what reason should we do so? It is not works that save us but faith. Likewise, it is only faith that saves us. But if we do not want to do good works once saved in Christ, is that evidence that we are not saved? Jesus, as mentioned above, says that a good tree will not produce bad fruit. So, if we were a good tree, we would produce good fruit as a result. Likewise, Jesus’ brother James says, “So also faith by itself, if it does not have works, is dead.” (James 2:17). What we see is that we are saved by faith alone, but not by a faith that is alone. Our works justify us as to who we are by evidence while our sinful lives are judiciously justified before God in salvation through faith in Jesus Christ.

Peter goes on in this passage to express deeper what it means to be born again. We have cast off the flesh, the temporal, or the world (verse 24), being born of the imperishable through the living and abiding word of God (verse 23). In this explanation, Peter cites Isaiah 40:6 and 8, expressing how the flesh is as temporal as grass, but that which has renewed us will last forever. That imperishable seed is the word of the Lord (verse 25) which is the good news that was preached to us. The word used for “good news” is the definition of which would define the word “gospel.” The gospel, itself, is good news. But what is that good news through which we have been born again?

The Father sent His Son into the world so that He could live the perfect life that we could not, free from the curse of the original sin. His Son defeated every temptation, fulfilled all righteousness - positively securing salvation, and then died a sinner’s death on the cross in our place. In this death, the punishment for our wretchedness was imputed to Him while His perfect sinlessness was imputed to those who have faith in Him. This news is good, indeed, because He has done it for us; justifying all who place their faith in Him. He, our Perfect Sacrifice, is our Redemption, Mediator, and King. And this word is the good news that was preached to you (verse 25).

Final Word of the Day

I want to thank you for taking the time to listen to this podcast. It is always a pleasure to bring the word of God to those who are seeking to know more about Him.

The final word of the day comes to us from someone who, through her wonderful wisdom, keeps me in line daily.

*Listen to hear this part?*

A special thanks to Jesus Wannabeez for allowing me to use their newest track, Ephesians 6, in my intro and outro music. You can find a link to their Spotify in the show notes.

And, as always, do everything that you do to the glory of God. Forever and ever.

Amen.