I’ll say up front that I don’t like the chapter break from 1 Peter 1 to 1 Peter 2. We know that the chapter breaks were not part of the original texts, and here it seems to break up the flow of what God is wanting us to see. Specifically, God is giving us a full picture of what it looks like for someone who is a Christian, honestly pursuing God, and growing in their faith. Like most scripture, God speaks most clearly when we slow down, so that is what we’re going to do today.
1 Peter 1:22-25 – “Having purified your souls by your obedience to the truth for a sincere brotherly love, love one another earnestly from a pure heart, 23 since you have been born again, not of perishable seed but of imperishable, through the living and abiding word of God; 24 for
“All flesh is like grass
and all its glory like the flower of grass.
The grass withers,
and the flower falls,
25 but the word of the Lord remains forever.”
And this word is the good news that was preached to you.”
Our faith, our trust in God and belief in the gospel of Jesus comes from the Word. Romans 10:17 tells us that “faith comes by hearing, and hearing by the Word of Christ.”
The overflow of a heart that has felt the weight of the gospel of Jesus, and is believing on Jesus alone for salvation, is a sincere brotherly love. Why is that? How is that tied into your own salvation? When you have Jesus, you have everything you need. Believing that in Christ you have been forgiven of all your sin, past, present, and future, should lead you to be eager to extend forgiveness to others in love. As you grow in that love towards others, you are simultaneously growing in your own faith and trust that Christ is enough.
2 Peter 1-5 – “So put away all malice and all deceit and hypocrisy and envy and all slander. 2 Like newborn infants, long for the pure spiritual milk, that by it you may grow up into salvation— 3 if indeed you have tasted that the Lord is good.
4 As you come to him, a living stone rejected by men but in the sight of God chosen and precious, 5 you yourselves like living stones are being built up as a spiritual house, to be a holy priesthood, to offer spiritual sacrifices acceptable to God through Jesus Christ.”
The foundation for a Christian’s salvation and their ability to love one another is Christ. If Jesus is to you, to your heart and mind, all that you need, you will draw near to Him in His Word and trust what He calls you to do. How can you be angry with your brother, unforgiving/unloving, and yet at the same time remember how much God has forgiven you in Jesus? How can you be deceitful when you know that in Christ all your sins, past, present, and future, have been forgiven? Instead face your weaknesses and seek out forgiveness to those you have wronged. How can you be hypocritical? Again, you are righteous in Christ – we all have struggles – be honest about where you are and know that in Christ, the battle has already been won. How can you be envious? Is not Christ enough? What else will matter in 10,000 years except who Christ is to you and for you? How can you slander someone? Is not God the one who judges? If God were to count faults, none of us would be able to stand? Instead, if we see someone sinning, ought we rather to mourn, and in love encourage such a person towards God?
Again, everything goes back to the Word of God in the gospel of Jesus. Do you believe that the Lord is good, and has done what He has said He has done? If that’s not you today, my exhortation is to take that humbly to God, and then ask Him to encourage your Faith from the Word. This faith that we have cannot be mustered up in someone’s heart in their own power, it is a gift of God. Having received it, we continually go back to God in His Word for His sustaining grace, with the outcome in sight – our salvation in Jesus. When we have tasted that the Lord is good, we are free to love one another, to conquer sin more than outwardly, but from our heart that has been freed, based on the shed blood of Christ and the Word of the gospel.
Romans 1:16 – “I am not ashamed of the gospel, for it is the power of God for salvation to everyone who believes”
Grace and Peace,
Adam
Following the Way 
Ty for sharing what He laid on your heart. I too have learned to slow down as I read His word; to really weigh each word. I locked in on “earnestly” love and again on “spiritual sacrifices acceptable”. Earnestly, I can get my head and heart around. But I needed to sit for a while on the spiritual sacrifice. There is a big difference between simply giving and sacrificing. We feel it when we sacrifice. Sacrifice indicates a trade off between one or more things – can not have it all concept. But what is it to offer a spiritual sacrifice? Perhaps our pride? Or, perhaps our “right to be right ” on an issue. I think it is calling for a recognizable shift in our heart. That is something acceptable to God.
Your Sis,
Denise
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