1 Peter 1:21-25
1 Pet 1:21 (KJB)
Who by him do believe in God, that raised him up from the dead, and gave him glory; that your faith and hope might be in God.
 
(1 John 2:23 KJV) Whosoever denieth the Son, the same hath not the Father: (but) he that acknowledgeth the Son hath the Father also. It is only through the Lord Jesus Christ that we are able to come unto the Father and believe in Him. This is why those religions which deny the Lord Jesus Christ will never attain to reach the Father. (Mat 11:27 KJV) All things are delivered unto me of my Father: and no man knoweth the Son, but the Father; neither knoweth any man the Father, save the Son, and he to whomsoever the Son will reveal him. The Lord Jesus Christ is the one who has given us the knowledge of the Father and through Him we became a child of God. God raised the Lord Jesus Christ from the dead and gave Him the glory He had before He had come to earth. (John 17:5 KJV) And now, O Father, glorify thou me with thine own self with the glory which I had with thee before the world was. The hope and faith of the believer must not be in world systems or schemes. Our faith is in God the Father in whom our hope also lies. One day God will end the world as we know it and we will be forever with the Lord, our blessed hope.
 
1 Pet 1:22 (KJB)
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:
 
Purified - Cleansed
Unfeigned - Without hypocrisy or insincerity
Fervently - Eagerly or earnestly
 
At one time every believer was impure, that is before salvation, but since we have become saved our souls have been cleansed by the Holy Spirit which has allowed us to obey the truth of the Scriptures and that obedience removes any false love toward the brethren. Many times a person will fake liking or loving someone just for personal gain but once we are truly walking in the Spirit, all such faking is removed and truth replaces it. Peter then admonishes that we are to love the brethren with a fervent love, this is because these people were facing coming persecution and to be divided would only weaken the Christian community. In our present day we have a very divided Christian community because of too many phony leaders who are abusing the Scriptures and puffing themselves up to their own destruction. True love of the brethren is an evidence that a person has been truly converted.
 
1 Pet 1:23 (KJB)
Being born again, not of corruptible seed, but of incorruptible, by the word of God, which liveth and abideth for ever.
 
Being born again - Beget or produced again
Corruptible - Perishable
Seed - Sowing of seed
Incorruptible - Imperishable
 
We can love the brethren fervently because we have been born again. That word is a different word from John 3:3. It means we have been beget again or reproduced. We have been reproduced by means of the incorruptible seed which was sown in our heart by the Holy Spirit. (Mark 4:20 KJV) And these are they which are sown on good ground; such as hear the word, and receive it, and bring forth fruit, some thirtyfold, some sixty, and some an hundred. The world lives on the source of corruptible seed such as philosophy, psychology, or other worldly belief systems. The incorruptible seed we have is the Word of God, which is eternal in nature as the verse teaches us. There is also one more seed we need to include in this and that is the Lord Jesus Christ Himself. (Gal 3:16 KJV) Now to Abraham and his seed were the promises made. He saith not, And to seeds, as of many; but as of one, And to thy seed, which is Christ. Christ also lives and abides forever. So it is not only through the spoken word of God we have salvation but through the living Word of God, the Lord Jesus Christ Himself.
 
1 Pet 1:24 (KJB)
For all flesh is as grass, and all the glory of man as the flower of grass. The grass withereth, and the flower thereof falleth away:
 
Withereth - Dries up or Dries out
Falleth Away - Drop away or fail
 
Here Peter is telling us basically by metaphor what the corruptible seed is. He makes a comparison with the grass and flowers that they all fall away. This is why the things of the earth are never to be clung to because of their transitory nature. This verse is from Isaiah 40:6-8. Not only do the things of the world fail, the glory of man fails with it. Some may think they are sitting on top of the world because of their present position. Once they relinquish that position they are forgotten very quickly and all the glory they possessed is gone. This is why Peter warns us not to attempt to grab hold of the things of the world because they are here for a short time and are then gone.
 
1 Pet 1:25 (KJB)
But the word of the Lord endureth for ever. And this is the word which by the gospel is preached unto you.
 
Peter makes a quick comparison to the fading things of the world. He states that the Gospel which is preached to us and has made us born again, is of an eternal nature and will never perish. All the hopes that the believer has in the Gospel will never fail or fade. This is why the true believer will never lose their salvation because it is rooted in the eternality of the Lord. If something is eternal it does not change. (Mal 3:6 KJV) For I am the LORD, I change not; therefore ye sons of Jacob are not consumed. (Heb 13:8 KJV) Jesus Christ the same yesterday, and to day, and for ever.
 
The believer can count on these two great promises found in Scripture.

Back