1 Peter 1:22-2:3

Christopher Lindsey

1 Peter • Sermon • Submitted a year ago

1 Peter 1:22–2:3

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You should live with brotherly love and grow in godliness.

Notes

Transcript

Turn with me to 1 Peter 1:22-2:3.

Pray

One great theologian was once quoted saying, “I love you, you love me, we’re a happy family, with a great big hug and a kiss from me to you, wont you say you love me too.” Of course, that is Barney the great purple Dinosaur. Barney, or rather the creators, understood something. They understood the type of love one was to have for one another. Barney reminds that we are a happy family and love was shown as those who are brought together as family. Barney was by no means Christian; of course, secular culture cannot help but walk into the Christian worldview so that they may possibly find some sort of footing for their views. The Christian Church today should be able to express this same love to one another because we all are a family. Evermore we should express a brotherly love as a family. We have been adopted by God into a family that consist of believers all around the world and for centuries past. Our adoption brings about a new family. Just as the believers were gathered in Acts 2:44 and it says that they had everything in common, likewise the church gathers, not because they believe that it is a ritual to be here, but because they have everything in common. This common community was not found in Gamecock football, tv shows, or even in politics. The commonality that caused the church to gather was found in Christ and the new family that they were now born into. This is family that breaks all exterior bonds, and the Christian is now united with other Christians because of Christ.

As we have seen throughout 1 Peter, Peter is writing this letter to the elect exiles of the dispersion. Christians that have been pushed from their homes and their livelihoods due to persecution. Peter is reminding the Christian of their hope and the mercy that they have received through Christ. Peter also reminds the Christian of their adoption, calling them obedient children who are called to live in holiness. And those who call on God as Father are to conduct themselves with fear and live with their faith and hope in God.

Peter is writing to the church in the dispersion explaining to them what they are to look like during their exile. We can understand since we are also elect exiles, the gathering body of believers, traveling through this earth, looking forward to the future grace that will be imparted to us at the revelation of Jesus Christ.

While in this community, Christians should carry themselves certain ways. Peter in the text we see before us today is demonstrating to the Christian Community what it looks like for them to live in community with one another.

MP: You should live with brotherly love and grow in godliness.

We will break this passage up into two points.

Love one another (1:22-2:1)

The main imperative that Peter gives in this section is a command to love one another earnestly from a pure heart. I really like the ways the message paraphrase this verse, Love one another like your life depended on it. This is a love that exceeds all expectations. It overcomes all things and the Love we are to have is an outcome of our salvation.

Of course thinking of Love, we can think of Galatians 5 and the fruits of the spirit. The first fruit that Paul gives us in Galatians 5 is love. Remember what Jesus says in John 13:35, “By this all people will know that you are my disciples, if you have love for one another.” Our love for one another is linked to our own regeneration. This is why Peter says in verse 22, “having purified your souls by your obedience to the truth for a sincere brotherly love.” Peter here is saying since you have obeyed the command of the gospel, to repent and believe the truth, there is purification that happens. The unrighteous becomes the righteous. The unjustidied becomes justified, the dirty rotton sinner’s heart becomes pure through Jesus Christ.

When we are born in this world, we are born into sin. Our nature is a sinful nature. The heart of the unbeliever is not pure. There is nothing pure about our heart upon birth. Sin darkens the heart, brings about death and destroys relationships.

How does one become pure? Or obtain purification? Peter says that we obtain purification of our souls by our obedience to the truth…

Peter in referencing our obedience to the truth can hurt our ears or make our face scrunch up. If we weren’t sure what Peter is talking about we could take the statement of obedience to the truth as a works-based salvation. This isn’t what Peter is getting at here.

The obedience to the truth that Peter is referring to is repentance and faith in the gospel itself. Faith and repentance are things that we must do, repentance is an daily act, faith itself is given to us by God, but we are to continue to have faith. By living in faith and repentance we are living in obedience to the truth. If salvation was an act of our own working out or put this way if our salvation depended on us, we would never be saved. Our works are like filthy rags to God. Therefore, this obedience to the truth is not a work of salvation in our own hands but rather submission to the gospel.

We in submitting to the call of the gospel, to repent and believe, are following it in obedience. This is not a means of you yourself securing your salvation on your own but rather, it is an answer to the call that has been received by the gospel itself. Paul writes in Romans 1:5 says, “through whom we have received grace and apostleship to bring about the obedience of faith for the sake of his name among all the nations…” again in 15:18 For I will not venture to speak of anything except what Christ has accomplished through me to bring the Gentiles to obedience- by word and deed.” Believers are called to repent, believe, be baptized and confess Christ to be saved. Following these commands is what Peter here is referring to. This is not a man centered approach to salvation; Peter has reminded us earlier that; According to God’s great mercy he has caused us to be born again to a living hope through the resurrection of the Jesus Christ. It is the Christian’s response to believe in this news in which they are then purified. Their souls have now become pure. They have been brought from the domain of darkness and are now brought into the light. The un-pure in Christ has became pure, righteous and redeemed.

Next, we see the purpose of our salvation is for a sincere brotherly love. It is only through the work of the gospel can one have a sincere brotherly love for one another. It is not an outward appearance of love, but a genuine love for the fellow Christian. Specifically, for the fellow Christians in our current local gathering. I know that some of us may have had bad brothers and sisters. Maybe our idea of the familial love is skewed because of the relationships that we have had with our family. Families can be messed up, you may not talk to your siblings currently, or the relationship may be distraught. You may have a fantastic relationship with one another. What Peter is reminding us of here is that We are to have a brotherly love for one another. Why? Because we are born again into a new family.

The first time that we are born of the perishable seed, the seed of man. We are born into sin. Our hearts are consumed by sin. This sin that manifest itself in us often is shown in hate for one another. There is a change that needs to happen, one must be born again. Regeneration needs to occur in the person. They must be born again. The sinful nature of the person cannot inherit the things of the kingdom. God causes us to be born again. He gives us a new heart, one that beats for him. God causes us to be born into the kingdom of God as his Children. How does this regeneration take place. Its through the imperishable seed.

they need to be born not from the perishable seed but the imperishable seed. This imperishable seed comes from God. This contrast between a perishable seed, one like the flesh and can die, and the imperishable seed, one that will never die, shows us that our regeneration into the new Child of God isn’t the same as our former bodies which are perishable, they are now regenerated into the imperishable, through the great mercy of God.

This imperishable seed that causes us to be born again is through the living and abiding word of God as Peter says. The change that happens in regeneration is more than just an inward changing of the heart. We are now adopted as Children of God. We are able to call on God as father. We are to be obedient children.

This adoption brings us into a relationship with God and a relationship with others. We now have brothers and sisters here in our own gathering and throughout the world.

Ji Packer says this about adoption. Adoption is the highest privilege of the gospel. The traitor is forgiven, brought in for supper, and given the family name. To be right with God the Judge is a great thing, but to be loved and cared for by God the Father is greater.

Peter then goes addresses the way in which we are born again, through the living and abiding word of God. the means about which we receive regeneration is through God’s word. This word is the imperishable seed, it will never die. It grows in us and sees us to maturity. The word of God is living and abiding. It brings life, it is the means in which one comes to know Christ. The word of God is abiding, it is longlasting, perminant, enduring and it remains forever. It causes us to change, not only in regeneration but in our saintification. As we grow in godliness, the word is what bring about this growth. We hear the scriptures, read them, study them, and we grow through them. The imperishable seed is implanted in our hearts and grows. It is only through the imperishable seed of God in scripture that we can understand the gospel and to grow up into salvation and to love those who we are now unified to through the word of God.

Without God speaking to us in his word, we would not know the gospel truth.

Peter goes on to quote Isaiah 40.

In Isaiah 40, God is comforting his people who are in exile during the Babylonian captivity. He reminded that no enemy can triumph over his own will. The nations of the earth are like the grass and flowers. They fail and fade away. Peter is reminding his audience, while they are in exile, nothing can stop God’s promises. The constant reminder of Hope for the Christian causes change. They hope in the glory of God. The fulfilment of God’s promises, The messiah had come, Salvation had been made known, and it was preached to them. We just like the original audience can see the promises of God and their fulfillment and we can hope in what is to come. WE can continue to live in community and bask in our adoption as Children of God.

When we are born again as God’s Children our life then shows the love of God.

The church, the people of God is our new family. Barnabas Piper says this about the church, The Church is a group of sinful people who believe the same things and are trying to go the same direction, such adventure, is fraught with mistakes, hurts, stupidity, and frustration.” Just like in the family we will and can get on each other’s nerves. However, The Love of our Father in Heaven and our Hope that is found in Jesus can over come these things.

What if I don’t feel Love for my Brother or sister?

Pray

Pray for continued growth of love to others in yourself.

Pray for humility and understanding of the person situation

Pray for Grace in situations where it is hard to love.

Continue looking to the future grace that you have received in Christ

If the grace that we experience does anything, it reminds us that we are all sinful. Because of this we know one day, when we are with Jesus we will no longer be affected by sin. This is the same for our brother and sister. This grace that we will experience one day will be the same reality that they will also experience. So when we are hurt or wrong, we can remember Jesus is our vindication. WE look to Jesus more and more.

Grow Up (Love is grown when it is cultivated)

Love is a fruit of the spirit. Fruits are cultivated, not just given. Use time in God’s word to allow for God to show you what love is and how it is shown. Spend more time just showing this love to others. Don’t leave the church without trying to show an outward affection of love to another.

We may be hurt by something that happens and we forgive. Forgiveness is a pathway to love. How can we love our brother and sister in Christ if we have not forgave them for their misdeeds and sins. Don’t hold on to them. Seek Forgiveness in all things.

Greet one another with a holy kiss.

I put this in here a little sarcastically, but both Paul and peter write about holy kisses.

The point I’m making with it is, show the love, don’t just say it. Hug, laugh, get to know one another, cry, be in each other lives as much as possible. Invite each other to dinner, spend time together. Cultivate this relationship that you have for one another.

Please don’t kiss one another because of covid.

Put away those things that disrupt community

Peter says in 1 Peter 2:1, “put away all malice and all deceit and hypocrisy and envy and all slander” These things disrupt community.

We are to rid ourselves of these sins. This put away is like a taking off of clothes, Paul uses similar language in Colossians with the putting off and putting on.

Malice is planning to do evil to one another or rejoicing when someone you do not like fails. Because of our new nature in Christ we can experience peace with one another, therefore let us put away malice.

Deceit and Hypocrisy could be lumped up in saying “lets not lie to one another.” I’m not saying this as a political statement, im sure it could be skewed as one but Don’t wear masks. Don’t cover up what is really going on with a mask. I have a dear friend that you could look on their face and know that eternally something was up, but when you asked them, a fake smile would appear underneath the anguish and they would say, “I’m Good”. Tony Merida says this, “To love one another earnestly there needs to be trust; and trust is eroded by fakeness and falseness. So put away Deceit and Hypocrisy.

Envy must be put away.

Envy hopes for the downfall of others or is self-centered, rather than concerned with others. We should as Christians be looking after one another. Not wanting something that the other has. We shouldn’t be thinking about ourselves and how we can make ourselves known, rather we should seek to bring Glory to Christ. So Put away Envy

Slander must be put away.

This is harmful speech that dishonors a person’s character.

Gossip and slander are the most acceptable sins in the Christian church today. Do not spread false stories about one another in the church. If you know something that others don’t know, and you do not have permission to tell it, don’t. Show love in this regard.

Charles Spurgeon says, “I think some people read the wrong way upward, and they make out, “see that you hate one another fervently from the heart.” And oh, how fervently they have done it; how fervently they have hated one another. Now the mercy of God in having elevated us, the mercy of God in having bought us with the precious blood of Jesus, should tend to keep us very low in the dust of self-abasement.

We look after our brother and sisters’ interests before our own. Just as if We wouldn’t send a fully armed battalion to show our love for one another. We are not to damage the relationships that we have with each other in the church. This takes humility. And a Putting away of our sins. We humble ourselves and look after each other. We look after the weaker brother or sister in the church. We look after their needs before our own. We seek to be the least of these in our service to them. We love them as if we could do nothing else.

This is what Peter is reminding us to put away these sins that disrupt the community and the Love that one has for each other. We have been united to Christ. Through Christ relationships with one another have been restored. We can experience grace and love now that we know this grace and love. So, Put away these things, and love one another as if our lives depended on it.

I do want to address one more thing before we move on. To the non-Christian in the room. The culture wants to define love on their own terms. Think about the Beatles song all we need is love. One of the verses goes like this. Nothing you can make that can't be made. No one you can save that can't be saved. Nothing you can do, but you can learn how to be you in time, It's easy. All you need is love.

Love as defined by the culture is done by what you can do for another person. Secular culture understands that we need love for one another and we were made as relational beings. WE can show love and have relationships, but only through Christ can we know perfect love and show this perfect love to others. Why is that? Because Christ has shown true perfect love to us by laying down his life and dying in our place for our sins. Repent and believe in the gospel, turn from disobedience and turn to obedience to the truth of the gospel.

Grow in Godliness

Next Church, we see Peter say, Verse 2 of chapter 2, “like newborn infants, long for the pure spiritual milk, that by it you may grow up into salvation, if indeed you have tasted that the Lord is good.”

Peter is calling for those who have been born again to long for the pure spiritual milk. This isn’t the same milk that Paul speaks of in 1 Corinthians 3:2, “I fed you with milk, not solid food, for you were not ready for it”.

Rather, Peter is addressing the Christian, who has been born again, no matter how old, to long for the pure spiritual milk. The point that peter is making is as newborn infant desires milk, so should the Christian who is born of God, should desire the word of God.

Courtney and other mothers know this feeling oh so well. The baby wants nothing else but momma and her milk. If the baby is hungry, milk is the answer. If the baby is tired, Milk is the answer. If the baby is hurt, milk is the answer. If the baby is lonely, milk is the answer. The babies desire for milk comes as a burning passion. Peter says that we ought to desire pure milk of the word, just like a baby desires milk.

This milk is pure. It is unadulterated, uncontaminated, clean, perfect, holy. Often after the kids go to bed, I like to enjoy a big glass of milk and some Oreos. When I go pour my milk, I don’t want skim that is just a little bit like the real thing. I don’t want 1% or 2%, that is watered down milk. I don’t want fake almond milk disguised as a real milk. I want good ole whole milk. Nice red label and red cap, Whole milk. This is the same for us, we shouldn’t want just a bible verse out of context a day, a skim milk bible, or 1% or 2% of bible that is watered down, You should want the whole bible, the pure scriptures, All of God as seen throughout all of Scriptures. When you don’t have it, run to it like your seeing it for the first time in a while. Desire scripture with a burning passion. Desire to see God in his word.

In the scripture we are able to Grow. Just as a farmer cultivates, fertilizes, till, weed, water, their plants so that they may grow. This is also what happens when we are drinking from the pure spiritual milk of the word of God. Coming to God’s word is coming to him himself. Scripture has been given to us, so that we may know God. His divine words to us are held in this bible in which sits Infront of us. One commentator writes, “We cannot detach the word from the lord and profess to cling to the scriptures while refusing the lord. ON the other hand neither can we profess obedience to the Lord while rejecting his word. To separate a living lord from a dead book or a divine lord from a merely human book is to reject the gospel.

The word of God is what pushes our sanctification and it grows us.

RC Sproul says, you will not grow as a Christian unless you are nurtured by the word of God.

We have been changed by the holy spirit; our desires are not of this world anymore. Our desires are of Christ. No one has a great desire for spoiled milk. The sour milk that fills your mouth is quickly spewed out. It is impure. We are to desire to be fed by the word of God, because it is a substance without impurities. We subject ourselves to a plenty of impurities in the world. We consume Netflix, hulu, news, tiktok, facebook, twitter, and other things that are not glorifying to God. But how often are we consuming the word of God. How often are we taking time in our day to feast upon the Lord. To taste and see if he is good. Spiritual milk and growth in godliness comes from knowing God and his word. Being in it daily. Seeking his face. Jesus said, “Blessed are those who hunger and thirst for righteousness, for they shall be filled.” (Matthew 5:6)

What is your motivation to coming to church, or reading his word. Is it because you have tasted God and you can tell that he is good. That old spoiled milk that you spewed out of your mouth, do you go back for another swig. No. but the pure milk, you get you a second cup and continue to drink from it and continue to return and return. The people of God have tasted and seen that he is good. They have a desire to grow in godliness. To be holy for he is holy, to love one another. They have tasted God and they know he is oh so good. They cannot get enough of his word. They cannot get enough of talking about spiritual things, they cannot get enough of studying scripture. Drinking from the word of God is what grows us. Going to it time and time again helps us to conform our mind to be more like God, it grows us. Nurtures us. Causes us to b holy and grow in godliness. If we were to put away all the things above and to love one another, religion would just be a moralist religion, but because we grow through the word of God we are living in obedience to the truth of the gospel.

Peter finishes this section with a condition, If indeed you have tasted that the Lord is Good. This If then statement could be made to sound like this, If you have tasted that the Lord is good, then you will long for the pure spiritual milk. If you have tasted that the Lord is good, then you will put away all malice and all deceit and hypocrisy and envy and slander. If you have tasted that the Lord is good then you will Love one another like you can do no other. The encounter that we have with God, when we taste his goodness, causes us to desire him more. It causes us to want to continue to Go back time and time again to him. It is better than the best Chinese buffet. It is better than getting another coke. If we have tasted something a like it, we will go to it again. If we have tasted the goodness of God, why do we run from him. Do the things of this world taste better, They do not satisfy like God does, they do not comfort like he does. They do not heal us like he does.

No he is better than all.

Have you tasted the Lord? Have see tasted the goodness of him? Does this drive you to know him more and grow in godliness? Do you want more of him? Go to God and seek him, taste and see that the Lord is Good. As the Psalmist says in Psalm 34, I sought the Lord, and he answered me and delivered me from all my fears. Those who look to him are radiant, and their faces shall never be ashamed. This poor man cried, and the Lord heard him and saved him out of all his troubles. The angel of the Lord encamps around those who fear him and delivers them. Oh taste and see that the Lord is good. Blessed is the man who takes refuge in him.