1 Peter 1:22-25 Seeing you have purified your souls in obeying the truth through the Spirit to unfeigned love of the brothers… The direct precept of this passage is, "Love one another." Many other duties are implied in the words that surround these, but the kernel of duty here is, "Love one another." I. MUTUAL LOVE A DUTY OF THE PURE AND THE OBEDIENT. "Seeing ye have purified your souls, in your obedience... unto unfeigned love." The very end and purpose of becoming pure, which is only by obedience, is not to be safe or happy, but to be able in the highest sense and forever to love, and to live a life of love when it is the life of God. This love is to be unfeigned. Dissemble anywhere rather than in the region of love. It is counterfeiting the coin of the Divine mint. This love is to be deep - "from the heart;" not of hand only, or of purse only. or of life only, but of the fontal source whence all activities and gifts will flow. This love is to be intense - "fervently." The powers are to be on stretch. The harp only yields music when its strings are tightened to their fullest tension. II. THIS LOVE AND PURITY AND OBEDIENCE ARE THE SIGNS OF A NEW LIFE WHICH EVERY CHRISTIAN IS LIVING. 1. The life is indeed new, for it has a wondrous origin. "Begotten again." No stronger figure could tell of loftier thought and nobler affection of the Christly man in contrast with the meaner views and selfish aims of his old life. 2. The life has a wondrous Originator. The quickening is from God. III. THE FORCES OUT OF WHICH THIS NEW LIFE ARE DEVELOPED. The life of holiness is developed from seed. It has its origin in forces that (1) appear insignificant; (2) are often hidden; (3) are vital. IV. THE WORD OF GOD IS THE MEANS BY WHICH THESE FORCES OPERATE ON THE HEART OF MAN. "Through the Word of God." The Word of God is not the seed, but the vehicle by which the seed is communicated to man. The seeds are the thoughts of God, the truth of God; and they are seeds out of which the life of holiness must burst and grow. But even the Word of God that conveys these is imperishable. "It liveth and abideth." It lives and continues to live, though men, like the grass, perish and pass away. This word of" good tidings" is preached to men. Amongst those to whom it is preached, the penitent who receives its pardon, the mourner who receives its consolation, the dying who is strengthened by its hope, all witness to us with clear, convincing tone, "The Word of the Lord endureth forever." - U.R.T. Parallel Verses KJV: Seeing ye have purified your souls in obeying the truth through the Spirit unto unfeigned love of the brethren, see that ye love one another with a pure heart fervently: |
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